Arrival in Calgary

Janet and I got up early and were on the way to Calgary by the crack of dawn. Janet is a morning person and I am not. She is not chatty and I am super happy and chatty in the morning. We found ourselves at the Bonners Ferry Starbucks (in the Safeway). I can truly say this Starbucks has a -3 rating out of a 1-10 rating. They got both of our coffee order wrongs and I pointed out mine was wrong. Then they noticed after they gave Janet her coffee that hers was wrong. They had a hard time even comprehending what we were saying. It was over their heads. Oh well, in the end, after much ado from them, our coffees were right. However, they did not mess up the slices of banana bread they got from the racks.

The trip up to Calgary was scenic and stunning. We had allotted buffer time for breaks and lunch. Rolling, grassy hills dotted with fat cattle surrounded us as we meandered up the highways. Deer with fawns bounded over the swaying fine grass and it reminded me of a a delicate ballet. Herds of horses, stood next to each other, tails swishing in the wind and their coats gleamed.

Of course, we had to stop at Tim Horton's. Janet had no say as I was driving and the car *suddenly* veered off and *parked* itself in the parking lot. Apparently 10:30 a.m. is the doughnut rush hour as the line snaked out the door. Unfortunately we were at the end of the line but fortunately the line moved quickly.  We ate our second breakfast and soon were on our way.

Then as I was still driving, we saw a sign for the "Largest Truck in the World".  We had to see it and it was the hugest truck that I have ever seen. I took some pixs and will post them in the next few days. It was in a mining town and had some rich history.

Janet took the wheel so I got to soak up the sights of the rich country side. we passed miles and miles of Cattle ranches, each with their name on the gate post. We saw many more herds of fat, content cattle and gain, I took some pixs. As we were taking the pixs, the cows eyed us suspiciously while the calves wandered up to us in curiosity.

We had lunch in a quaint town called Nanton. we spied a restaurant named "Ken" so we thought it would be home style food. Much to our surprise, it was a Chinese Restaurant. However, we order sandwiched which were served opened-faced and were quite good.

We arrived in Calgary in mid afternoon and found the admin office where we picked up our packages.  We decided to scout out the area where our dogs would be kept and the handler's meeting would be. That way we would not be rushing around in the morning, trying to figure this all out. We got it all squared away and finally made our way to our hotel.

Janet booked the Raddison Hotel which is a nice hotel. We have free Internet access so I can blog. We were tired so went to the hotel restaurant. I never had Yorkshire Pudding. I always never had this but Janet twisted my arm to try it. It was delicious. I had a steak and Janet had lobster mac and cheese. Soon, we waddled back to our room and prepared ourselves for our runs tomorrow by reviewing the past runs of the Stampede.

Wish us luck in the first go-round of the Stockdog Challenge!

Calgary Stampede Bound

Janet Thorpe and I are headed out to the Calgary Stampede. We have entered in the World Stockdog Championship.  We left early this morning and picked to stop at Bonner's Ferry. It was a nice drive and we even had time to tour the Wildlife refuge. Of course, there was not much wildlife to see in the late evening as it was too early for the night grazing.

But I took some pictures and will post them. We did see a doe with twins. The lighting was bad so the photos didn't turn out. It was in the shadows but I will try to edit them tomorrow and post them. As it is, we are pretty tired and plan to hit the road before 7:00.

Janet is running Scott in his last trial and then he will be retired. He has been a good dog for her and taught her lots. Additionally, he has taught me tons. He is a honest dog that has won many hearts with his tremendous work ethics.

I am running Roo. He has been working well with me and I hope he shines as well as he should. He is a great dog with a heart of gold but people cannot get past the fact that he is red. he is fearless but has wonderful stock sense.

Both of these dogs are older, Scott being 12 years  and Roo is 8.5 years old. But they have done well by us and they are the best dogs we have to take to the Stampede.

I will be posting nightly from Canada so stayed tuned.

Weekend working dogs

I love seeing dogs develop in their training; from being a raw piece to a finished product. Each dog’s journey is different and some take longer while others can be quicker. I never know how long each dog’s journey will be as there are many factors that come into play. Tess’s journey started with me close to thirteen years ago and we still are on the journey together.

 

So on Sunday, Audrey, Kathleen and I went on a journey with our dogs. Namely to the far field on undogged ewes and lambs. The flock is a mixture of North Country/Coop, Clun forest, Katahdins and a few Suffolks. The lambs are three to six months old and maybe worked a couple of times prior. The field has several hard draws, one is where we put the sheep to be held until we need them as well as an exhaust area. The sheep that were being worked can see both sets and want to join their companions in a big way.

Kathleen brought Josh, Emma and Gael. Josh is her fourteen month old Kelpie which is starting to mature and getting a good solid foundation on him. He is keen and quick and handled the ewes with ease. The Suffolks gave him the evil eye but when he walked up on them like he owned the world, they turned and marched onward. Kathleen is getting miles on him so he will be well seasoned on all type of sheep as well as terrain. Nothing seems to fazes him that I could see.

Emma, the seasoned dog at 4.5 years old, is her main dog. Kathleen put a Thundershirt on her to settle her down since she was spooked at the fireworks. It did help and she was not edgy. The sheep really tried to sneak past her to the draw and it was an effort to keep them out in the field. It was the same for all dogs. By the end, she was driving about 250 yards and holding the draw pressure. Emma has no issue moving sheep or cattle as she will stand up and if needed, do an appropriate nose grip. She has set sheep for trial, works a large mob over 1000 sheep, worked cattle and done farm chores. Kathleen has taken the time to round her out and it showed. Kathleen is working on her whistles and soon, she will be running her in PN. She has run her in PN but not on whistles.

 

Gael is the newest of her pack and just over two years old. She just had a winter of training with Scott and now is learning to team up with Kathleen. There are a couple of rusty spots but they are getting on the same page. Gael is a different sort of dog than Emma, so that is an adjustment for Kathleen.

Audrey work Dan( Pleat x Tess) and he finally has come into his own. He is pacing well and had a great feel for the stock. Hits the edge of the bubble and the sheep know he means business. It was a struggle for this team in the early years as Dan always wanted to take the reins but now, he is letting Audrey run the show. Dan is very nice dog and reminds me of a younger version of Roo.

Kael was the other dog that Audrey worked. He too, finally matured and is handling the sheep well. He is still green but now is able to handle the pressure. He is casting out well and walking firmly into the bubble and holding the pressure. This litter was slow to mature and his sister, Rainey finally was able to take pressure and do well.

 

I used Roo to put the sheep away and then sort out the lesson sheep. he did quite well and did as I asked. we have come so far in a year. A year ago, we would fight each other and butt heads. Now, he really tries to please and we get along better and our work shows smoothness.

Several times a single would break away and Roo would back the single off the exhaust and back to the lesson sheep. it was like poetry in motion, one step at a time, nice and slow and good work on Roo's part.  Roo was the backup lesson dog and we worked well on that. I was very pleased on how we clicked as a team. I was very excited to see him take my lookback and then flank whistles when the big flock was in front of him. She spun around and then took my flank to get the second flock that was out of sight and under a shed. He had to flank an away, then through a gate and then flank a come bye, down a hill, and to a shed which was out of sight. He took every command and had no hesitation. I am feeling good about our relationship now and how well we trust each other. He is the replacement for Tess and has filled her shoes quite nicely. I am happy that he is my partner now.

We all got several rounds of work in and called it a day. The dogs had improved and we were happy at the progress. Kathleen and I went out to a late lunch and then hung out for a bit. The dogs got to play in the pond pasture and we could see the happy wags of the tails as they swam about. It was a good way to end the day with good dogs, good friend and good food. Oh yea, we had some sun and that was a real bonus.

Rest In Peace, Wally Green

Wally Green, husband of Dodie Green passed away yesterday at their home near  Sonoita, AZ.

Services to be announced.

Dodie Green
P.O. Box 250
Sonoita, AZ 85637

Stainless Steel Flat-Sided Pails - on sale

Jeffer's Equine has these flatsided pails on sale for half off. I use these pails for my kennels as well as in the dog crates. In case you are interested, here is the link. This special will only be good for today.

Stainless Steel Flat-Sided Pails - ENDED

The special price has ended.