A new year - so - whats one more?

Well its the beginning of a new year with so many new goals to set and so many new goals I get to break.   Come one - surely I am not the only one that goes through this at the beginning of each year am I?

2011 has to have been simply one of the best years of my life.  Both work wise and personally ( which I guess are one and the same thing) and again , I got so busy that life with the "girl" just flew by and before long, I would not see her for days, even though she was by my side all day long ( well okay - when she was not outside with her flock of 1)

We added a new addition to our house over the holidays and it was, yet again, a case of the dog found us not the other way around.  This is our new girl Jess.  She came from "paws for Thought" rescue in Sydney after being saved from death row at Renbury Pound.  She is fully grown and all of 5.5 kg, about 1 year old and the vet has classified her breed as 100% pure pocket rocket ( he did have a laugh how I seem to end up with these zippy rescue dogs).  She is Jacks dogs exclusive;y.  She sleeps with him, sits on him, adores him and follows him.  When he is away at school or for a sleep over, she just hangs very quietly by my side but the moment Jack comes back she lights up with pure joy.  As some put it, they may have just rescued each other and I think its safe to say from this photo taken on Australia day, they are a perfect match.

Jack is really looking forward to starting agility when he turns 10 and when we stopped and looked at the dogs we had, it became clear that none of them would suit him and encourage him to stick with it.

Firstly, we have Ben

  Rescue dog extrodinar.  Saved from death row given everything including a whole new knee and a place called paradise to live in.  And in return we get the "I only work at exactly 18.1 degree with zero dew point and 12% humidity at exactly 1.05 am".  Anything out of this results in the paw being stuck up at us and a growl/snap to follow.  Not the ideal dog for a new handler to "enjoy".

Then we have "the Girl" - Bug

As simply beautifully natured as she is, she gets a little over excited as does any Koolie and if you are not giving her instruction well and truly prior to what she needs to do, then she will keep going until stopped.  Adorable and she simply adores Jack as well - but just to fast as the first dog for him we think.  She will be a brilliant step up dog though when they have both had time to grow up and learn a bit more.



Then lastly we have hmmm.......Maverick

Simply put - Mav is a wild child.  He is head strong yet vague.  It has taken me many years to learn how to work Maverick out and I am a much better person for it I have to say.  Has lead me to pure frustration and back and with this in mind, he could not be further from the ideal dog for a novice to learn on.  

So - you can see we really had no option ( well we could have said no but where is the fun in that) than to look further ahead and see that Jack needed something of his own.  

I am happy to say that he has shown such responsibility already from holding a towel under her head while she is car sick to standing outside at 4 am in the rain waiting for her to go to the toilet.  Welcome to our forever home Jess and I guess now it will be a double girl blog

Today I learnt that although we had plans to downsize our numbers, the Dog God ultimately controls what is going to happen with your life - not you.

Hug your dogs.

Natalie

Gentle reminders from a dog............

There really is nothing like the sweet gentle reminder that you really have managed to ignore your dog for a few weeks ( okay - months) while you set up a new business.  Ways in which you are reminded are 

1) The "I am not looking at you because you dont exist in my life" look in the eyes when you call her and she just pretends that you are made of glass.  This can be coupled with a slight but gentle head turn as the nose raises to the air.

2) The " I refuse to sleep next to you on the bed - even if they are 1000 thread count sheets" which is shown when you walk in the room to go to bed and you get the look "oh - your here".  She then gets up and moves over and lays on your husband instead.  Now, in my mind, this is really not a bad one and can be kind of handy not having a huge horse on your legs all night.

3) You are not longer spending hours running to the front door to answer it from all the paw tapping that used to go one when she would try to get my attention to come outside and make her "flock" (Ben) run and chase the ball.

4)  You take her to your agility yard and she says - "Whats that?"  or even worse - take her to do club for the first time in 3 months and she runs around barking and screaming like a nob while making up her own course then barking at you as you are not following

5) When she sneaks into the chicken pen at every moment she can when your back is turned and is only caught when poor Gloria is safely clamped between her jaws.

6) She is as jumpy as a Jack rabbit which is very abnormal for a dog that was perfectly names "B Kool"

When you add all of this up, you have to think that there are one or two signs that I have been ignoring the girl and I think we can all agree that a Koolie that is not mentally and physically worked is something no one wants in there house.

So - time to get off the computer, put the business away for a while, and go and see what she can teach me today.

Today she has taught me to read the signs and preferably the first one when it happens so 2,3,4,5 & 6 dont follow suit.

One day you are dreaming of owning a Koolie, the next she is turning 2....

One day I was dreaming of owning a Koolie, the next day she is turning 2. What an amazing 2 years we have had! Out of the 8 dogs I have owned, by far she is the easiest to live with and the most fun to work with ( Mickey - close your ears!). Everyday is a party, Everyday she is happy and everyday she makes me smile. I cant ask for any more than that from her.

I had made this movie when she was 18 months and if you have not seen it yet , you can see what and action packed life she leads. She is one lucky Koolie......

Bugs first 18 months - Movie.

Her Agility is progressing well with finally some real training. I seem to always be full of excuses for her but she had to take a back seat for a while so I could get my cavalier Maverick up to speed for the ADAA Nationals. Maverick was the only dog I had in the advanced level to try out for the world team to compete at the World Agility Championships in Texas in May 2012.

I am pleased to say the work payed off and I made the team and Bug was a great supporter of Mav over the tryout weekend. Those that know Cavaliers know that they need other dogs around them ( if not on them) and Bug and Mav get on so well. She would be the only person in the family that actually gets him I would say. Anyway, back to Bug. I am so pleased to say she is finally doing 4 weave poles and is really enjoying figuring things out. Now I have a whole lot of life things all sorted, I can really go out and enjoy working with my Girl.

Oh and look what she gave me as a gift on her 2nd Birthday - 4 poles!  First time ever and I am so proud of her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_cIY7esBjA

Today she has taught me that life can pass in a flash and you should take time to enjoy those moments before they go right on by.

What is really a winner?????

One of my blogs from my old page.....that is nice to refresh.

Sometime ago my idealistic bubble was popped in a rather sad way.  I thought that most people doing dogs sports were in it for the right reason.  How naive I was after doing this sport for 20 years.  I was very saddened to find that some people moved their dogs on because “they were not winning”.  I guess on reflection, those people that have this attitude really don’t have the slightest Idea on what winning really is.

I think Bug is a winner.  I think this because she wins when it comes to being first in for a pat.  She wins for being the dog that literally makes me laugh multiple times a day ( it the Koole dag factor and those with Koolies will know exactly what I am talking about).  She wins the hogging stakes in the bed having my husband complain that with a King size bed and  koolie in it, he still has to hang his leg out the side. She wins when she seeks me out and just stands next to me for no hidden reason. I could go on about how she is a winner but you get the drift.

So what is winning?  Is it the dog that is locked away from animal and human contact so that it will want to be with its owner when it goes in the ring and comes home with the shinny blue ribbon – only to go back in a crate until the next event?  or is it the dog that is a part of your life no matter what and that makes your heart sing the winner.  I know my choice and actually feel very sorry for the dogs that live with the former.

Today she taught me that the best part of winning is a run on the beach, in the sun without a cloud in the sky, and she is a girl with the biggest grin who is now sound asleep at my feet. She definitely won today 

So…What do you think constitutes a winner??????????