Hi folks, sorry for the lack of blogs lately, been pretty busy with so much stuff. I have several ideas for future blogs but getting the time to sit down and type them out is getting hard to find. Well today's blog won't be about agility or dog sports at all really.
My family also likes to ski in the winter. Wentworth the local ski hill opens for the season tomorrow and we are heading out early to get a few runs in before we have to take part in some family activities. We have been skiing here for about 9-10 years now....hard to believe it has been that long. Actually Leanne and the girls have never skied anywhere else. I have skied a couple of other hills. I'm kinda hoping that we will get a chance to hit another hill somewhere sometime in the near future, although I doubt we will be able to get Tamara to go anywhere for a ski vacation overnight without the dogs.
I had skied a couple of times over the years with school trips and with friends and always had a wonderful time, but my family was not sports minded and it was something that I never got to do much of. I thought that if I could get the girls interested I might be able to begin skiing myself, so that is what I did. I tried to get them to watch it on TV and they didn't want anything to do with it; they were always a little difficult to get to try new things. So I decided to take a different approach. "Who wants to go for a drive and get some hot chocolate?" Now I had their interest. We sat in the lodge and watched for a while... it wasn't long before they were asking if they could give it a try.
It was late in the season but we went twice....they really enjoyed it and so did my wife. Santa must have been watching because the next year he brought skis and season passes for the family for Christmas. We have gone from not being overly excited for the winter to being unable to wait for the snow to start once it gets cold. I must say it is an wonderful wintertime family activity.
It has not come without it's challenges. Jessica had a fright with the chair lift that 1st winter we had passes and took a couple of years off. Tamara and I really spent a lot of time together on the slopes that year. Eventually Jessica returned to it and has really been enjoying it. We have also had a couple of injuries over the years as well but we take it as it comes. I have separated my shoulder and sprained my knee. Tamara has suffered a broken leg, just last winter for her, although she is really excited to get back on the slopes she will also bring some apprehension. Her injury was caused by another skier that in my opinion was travelling far to fast for the particular area and the number of skiers on the hill when she hit Tamara. My injuries were both caused by my inexperience and tendency to forget my actual age (not 20).
Jessica has decided to give snowboarding a try this winter, I will be curious to see how she makes out, I am sure she will not abandon her skis altogether.
Our climate doesn't always agree with our ski season these days (I seem to remember much more snow through the winter when I was growing up). I know the first few years we skied they had problems getting and keeping enough snow. Things seem to have come around the last few though because even though the natural snowfalls have been limited the snow making weather has been fairly cooperative. We were excited to see about 10cm of snow fall in our area today to go with what they have made on the mountain so far this year. I am sure that the open trails list will be pretty small, but at this point in the season I am happy to keep the number of runs we do in a day fairly limited till my ski legs come back.
Wish us luck for an injury free start to the season. Maybe we will see ya on the slopes. If you are not a skier I encourage you to give it a try, I am sure you will have a ball.
Till next time
Trevor
Saturday 24 December 2011
Thursday 1 December 2011
Our First Trip To Agility Nationals
So here we are in at the beginning of our 2nd year of competitive agility and we have entered the regional championships which is a qualifying event for the national championships. Tamara and Meeka are working well together this weekend and even without the main gambles Meeka is able to make the qualifying score. I had promised Tamara that if she qualified I would take her to compete at Nationals....what was I thinking.
Fast forward a few months to the beginning of August.
Andre and Ace are travelling with us to save on expenses, also Tamara refuses to leave Storm home. So the Mazda 5 is pretty full with 3 humans and 3 dogs and crates and tent and chairs and other luggage. Ace is pretty excited about the trip and lets me know all the way there with a pretty steady supply of Wet Willies. We drive to Drummondville the 1st day. We are all pretty excited and have fun during our stops for the dogs to pee and stretch their legs. We also introduce Andre to planking and it is an instant hit with him so we find a few places to plank when we stop. We hit lots of rain on our second day of driving, but we refuse to let it dampen our spirits.
Our time in Ontario was fun and very exciting, and even though we went with no expectations other than gaining some experience, I think that we did accomplish some small victories and made some excellent memories. Some of the highlights include meeting Susan Garrett. Seeing Erin and Toffee win the 16" Specials division. Tamara and Meeka impressing one of the judges with their honesty and good character and also with her handling. Meeka having a 11th place finish in one of her Standard runs. Frozen yogurt. Mucho Burrito. Build your own Brushetta. Last minute visit from Elisabeth and Sophia. I am sure I have probably missed some but those are the ones that come quickly to my mind.
Overall I think the trip was a pretty successful one. We learned some things we needed to know about a big event like this. Overall we had an excellent time. Can't wait to get to do it again, but we will be sitting out the 2012 Nationals as it is too far away for us. We are hoping it will be closer in 2013, and maybe we will have 3 dogs competing at nationals by then...who knows.
Last off I would like to take the time to thank so many people that helped make this trip a reality. Tamara did a lot of fundraising to help with the costs selling hundreds of chocolate bars and also hosting a fun agility day at the Paws for Fun Canine Center. Big thanks to everyone who supported her.
Trevor
Fast forward a few months to the beginning of August.
Andre and Ace are travelling with us to save on expenses, also Tamara refuses to leave Storm home. So the Mazda 5 is pretty full with 3 humans and 3 dogs and crates and tent and chairs and other luggage. Ace is pretty excited about the trip and lets me know all the way there with a pretty steady supply of Wet Willies. We drive to Drummondville the 1st day. We are all pretty excited and have fun during our stops for the dogs to pee and stretch their legs. We also introduce Andre to planking and it is an instant hit with him so we find a few places to plank when we stop. We hit lots of rain on our second day of driving, but we refuse to let it dampen our spirits.
Our time in Ontario was fun and very exciting, and even though we went with no expectations other than gaining some experience, I think that we did accomplish some small victories and made some excellent memories. Some of the highlights include meeting Susan Garrett. Seeing Erin and Toffee win the 16" Specials division. Tamara and Meeka impressing one of the judges with their honesty and good character and also with her handling. Meeka having a 11th place finish in one of her Standard runs. Frozen yogurt. Mucho Burrito. Build your own Brushetta. Last minute visit from Elisabeth and Sophia. I am sure I have probably missed some but those are the ones that come quickly to my mind.
Overall I think the trip was a pretty successful one. We learned some things we needed to know about a big event like this. Overall we had an excellent time. Can't wait to get to do it again, but we will be sitting out the 2012 Nationals as it is too far away for us. We are hoping it will be closer in 2013, and maybe we will have 3 dogs competing at nationals by then...who knows.
Last off I would like to take the time to thank so many people that helped make this trip a reality. Tamara did a lot of fundraising to help with the costs selling hundreds of chocolate bars and also hosting a fun agility day at the Paws for Fun Canine Center. Big thanks to everyone who supported her.
Trevor
Tuesday 29 November 2011
Dec Disc Dog trial
OK So I am not sure where I wanna go with this blog today. Not too sure what to discuss today...I have a few things in my head but am not sure they are ready to come out....or if they even should.
So I will go with the upcoming Disc Dog Trials on Dec 18th here in Truro at the Agridome, I am actually pretty stoked about this. Especially after Storm's last disc dig trial in Norton NB, for more details on the last trial see Tamara's blog http://smartpupsdogsports.blogspot.com/2011/11/slick-quick.html. Storm had a great morning trial and a pretty good afternoon trial in Norton and I am hoping he does as well at the Agridome on the 18th. There is also a possibility that Blurr will attempt his RPT...we will wait till the day of to decide on that as he isn't ready today but 2.5 weeks is a long time in his world and he might be by then. Jessica has no intention of going after Storm's record of failed attempts.
Storm seems to really love playing disc and now with his RPT out of the way he is planning on racking up some points! Tamara at 13 has a great consistent throw in the 20 - 30 yard range indoors. We are hoping to get another Q on the way to his BDD title and hopefully a couple more Bronze ribbons! Tamara was considering entering the Freestyle competition but has decided to wait till she is a little more confident with Storm for this. Storm should also break the 100pt mark to get his DD title as well during this trial so that will be exciting as well. No pressure Tamara I am sure you and Storm are gonna do great. Hopefully we can get him returning with the disc nice and fast at this trial. Would be nice to get 5 throws a round in single disc.
Be sure if you are in the Truro Area to stop into the Agridome on the 18th to see some of the best Frisbee dogs in the Maritimes have a great time
I gotta say I am really enjoying Disc Dog far more than I imagined I would. It is actually rather exciting to watch. I am also pretty excited that it looks like next year I will likely be doing some competing with Blurr in single disc and furthest catch. But that will have to wait until after Blurr turns 1 in September. Who knows you may even see me doing some agility in the future... should be funny if nothing else.
So here is a question for my readers, what do you do with your dogs? Are you involved in dog sports? What ones? What have you tried and what do you like about your sport of choice. If you are not involved in dog sports and you have a dog...what is holding you back? It is so rewarding to spend time with your furry friend and as long as you are not too competitive you both will have lots of fun. I gotta say the people we have met on our journey into dog sports have been wonderful and supportive, and I am glad to have met them and call them my friends.
Sorry this blog is a little lame....I wanna try to keep writing at least every couple of days and some days I might not have much to say....but if I don't write I'm fairly sure I won't keep it up.
Till next time
Trevor
So I will go with the upcoming Disc Dog Trials on Dec 18th here in Truro at the Agridome, I am actually pretty stoked about this. Especially after Storm's last disc dig trial in Norton NB, for more details on the last trial see Tamara's blog http://smartpupsdogsports.blogspot.com/2011/11/slick-quick.html. Storm had a great morning trial and a pretty good afternoon trial in Norton and I am hoping he does as well at the Agridome on the 18th. There is also a possibility that Blurr will attempt his RPT...we will wait till the day of to decide on that as he isn't ready today but 2.5 weeks is a long time in his world and he might be by then. Jessica has no intention of going after Storm's record of failed attempts.
Storm seems to really love playing disc and now with his RPT out of the way he is planning on racking up some points! Tamara at 13 has a great consistent throw in the 20 - 30 yard range indoors. We are hoping to get another Q on the way to his BDD title and hopefully a couple more Bronze ribbons! Tamara was considering entering the Freestyle competition but has decided to wait till she is a little more confident with Storm for this. Storm should also break the 100pt mark to get his DD title as well during this trial so that will be exciting as well. No pressure Tamara I am sure you and Storm are gonna do great. Hopefully we can get him returning with the disc nice and fast at this trial. Would be nice to get 5 throws a round in single disc.
Be sure if you are in the Truro Area to stop into the Agridome on the 18th to see some of the best Frisbee dogs in the Maritimes have a great time
I gotta say I am really enjoying Disc Dog far more than I imagined I would. It is actually rather exciting to watch. I am also pretty excited that it looks like next year I will likely be doing some competing with Blurr in single disc and furthest catch. But that will have to wait until after Blurr turns 1 in September. Who knows you may even see me doing some agility in the future... should be funny if nothing else.
So here is a question for my readers, what do you do with your dogs? Are you involved in dog sports? What ones? What have you tried and what do you like about your sport of choice. If you are not involved in dog sports and you have a dog...what is holding you back? It is so rewarding to spend time with your furry friend and as long as you are not too competitive you both will have lots of fun. I gotta say the people we have met on our journey into dog sports have been wonderful and supportive, and I am glad to have met them and call them my friends.
Sorry this blog is a little lame....I wanna try to keep writing at least every couple of days and some days I might not have much to say....but if I don't write I'm fairly sure I won't keep it up.
Till next time
Trevor
Sunday 27 November 2011
How My Life Went To The Dogs Part 3 My Life Is A Blurr
So we have come to part 3...hopefully this will be the last episode of How My Life Went To The Dogs for quite a while.
So some of you may not be aware of this but I use to be Gymnastics Dad (without the super cool blog), my oldest daughter Jessica was a competitive gymnast for about 10 years, or pretty much all of her young life. I thought she would be in gymnastics till she finished high school and due to the time demands associated this gymnastics I never really considered getting her a dog seriously. There were certainly other considerations there as well...lack of patience and empathy being 2 major ones. Don't get me wrong....she is a good girl, but like all of us she has her weaknesses.
Her world, and mine, abruptly changed in Nov 2010 when she came out of gym and told me that was her last practice that she had quit. There were a lot of factors there developing hip problems being one of them, but certainly not the only one. She told me she wanted a dog at that time and I told her no we are a 2 dog family, our space works fairly well with 2 dogs and I didn't (and still don't) see how we could make our lives function anywhere near normal with another dog in the house. Storm was just over a year old and a big handful and I certainly wasn't ready to add to that chaos.
So the topic has come up over and over as I have tried to help her find ways to burn the time and energy that was previously used up at gymnastics; and time and time again I held steadfast that there is no way we can get another dog. As disappointed as she was I think she understood.
Let's fast forward to about July when my friend Andre (see his blog here http://ace-borderlinecrazy.blogspot.com/ ) tell me they are expecting a litter of border collie pups around September. "That's nice" I said "I am sure they will be cute...good luck placing them all I won't be taking one." not sure those were my exact words but you get the point. Also told my kids the same thing. Fast forward again to September and the puppies are born....the girls want to go see them We are there on their second day alive and my girls are in love "Don't get attached" I say "we can't get one", but we return to visit a couple of times per week to see the puppies grow. As we get into late October at the CAANS agility trial five of the seven puppies have found their forever homes and there are 2 left. Jessica spends her weekend at the trial with the blue merle male that has yet to be placed. Saturday at the end of the day Andre tells me that he has a potential buyer for the blue merle male coming to see him on Monday, it is not an agility home or a local home and we won't likely see the dog again (all the others have gone to local agility homes and we will get to see them all on a regular basis) Jessica is devastated....how much I am unsure until Sun morning when I see her with a red splotchy face and swollen eyes...now I am really in a pickle.
I am faced with making a very difficult decision very quickly, I talk to my wife, she wants the dog...the fool...how did I let them get this attached....I said there was no way we are getting this dog...now I am actually considering this an actual possibility....pro's and con's....con's...so easy....$$$, space, time, as well as a long list of others...pro's...I'm struggling here...this is good...hmmm Jessica's extra time could be filled with this new addition, and she would be with Tamara and I so I don't have to trade off times for 2 different activities, child stops crying....Needless to say Blurr is the blue merle male mentioned above, and he is now a part of our family.
So far training is going well and Jessica has been very responsible. We are certainly focusing a little differently than we did with Storm at this age and hoping to not repeat the same mistakes; I'm sure we can find a new batch to make. Storm isn't too sure about this new addition but I am sure with time he too will accept and forgive my weakness to give my child the happiness of her very own puppy.
Stay tuned for my next blog...who knows what it will be.
So some of you may not be aware of this but I use to be Gymnastics Dad (without the super cool blog), my oldest daughter Jessica was a competitive gymnast for about 10 years, or pretty much all of her young life. I thought she would be in gymnastics till she finished high school and due to the time demands associated this gymnastics I never really considered getting her a dog seriously. There were certainly other considerations there as well...lack of patience and empathy being 2 major ones. Don't get me wrong....she is a good girl, but like all of us she has her weaknesses.
Her world, and mine, abruptly changed in Nov 2010 when she came out of gym and told me that was her last practice that she had quit. There were a lot of factors there developing hip problems being one of them, but certainly not the only one. She told me she wanted a dog at that time and I told her no we are a 2 dog family, our space works fairly well with 2 dogs and I didn't (and still don't) see how we could make our lives function anywhere near normal with another dog in the house. Storm was just over a year old and a big handful and I certainly wasn't ready to add to that chaos.
So the topic has come up over and over as I have tried to help her find ways to burn the time and energy that was previously used up at gymnastics; and time and time again I held steadfast that there is no way we can get another dog. As disappointed as she was I think she understood.
Let's fast forward to about July when my friend Andre (see his blog here http://ace-borderlinecrazy.blogspot.com/ ) tell me they are expecting a litter of border collie pups around September. "That's nice" I said "I am sure they will be cute...good luck placing them all I won't be taking one." not sure those were my exact words but you get the point. Also told my kids the same thing. Fast forward again to September and the puppies are born....the girls want to go see them We are there on their second day alive and my girls are in love "Don't get attached" I say "we can't get one", but we return to visit a couple of times per week to see the puppies grow. As we get into late October at the CAANS agility trial five of the seven puppies have found their forever homes and there are 2 left. Jessica spends her weekend at the trial with the blue merle male that has yet to be placed. Saturday at the end of the day Andre tells me that he has a potential buyer for the blue merle male coming to see him on Monday, it is not an agility home or a local home and we won't likely see the dog again (all the others have gone to local agility homes and we will get to see them all on a regular basis) Jessica is devastated....how much I am unsure until Sun morning when I see her with a red splotchy face and swollen eyes...now I am really in a pickle.
I am faced with making a very difficult decision very quickly, I talk to my wife, she wants the dog...the fool...how did I let them get this attached....I said there was no way we are getting this dog...now I am actually considering this an actual possibility....pro's and con's....con's...so easy....$$$, space, time, as well as a long list of others...pro's...I'm struggling here...this is good...hmmm Jessica's extra time could be filled with this new addition, and she would be with Tamara and I so I don't have to trade off times for 2 different activities, child stops crying....Needless to say Blurr is the blue merle male mentioned above, and he is now a part of our family.
So far training is going well and Jessica has been very responsible. We are certainly focusing a little differently than we did with Storm at this age and hoping to not repeat the same mistakes; I'm sure we can find a new batch to make. Storm isn't too sure about this new addition but I am sure with time he too will accept and forgive my weakness to give my child the happiness of her very own puppy.
Stay tuned for my next blog...who knows what it will be.
Saturday 26 November 2011
How My Life Has Gone To The Dogs Part 2. A Storm In The House
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| How adorable is this |
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| Living up to his name |
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| Favorite pass-time |
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| Superstar |
Thursday 24 November 2011
How My Life Has Gone To The Dogs (Part 1)
OK So now I am blogging...who knew...
Not sure how I will use this forum or what I will have to say...but I'm gonna give it a go.
As you can guess from my blog title I am an Agility Dad...what does this mean? It means my daughter Tamara is involved in Dog Sports. It also means My other daughter Jessica will soon be as well.
We got our start with all this back in 2008. My wife came home from a visit from the SPCA and told me that we found our dog and that she had put in an application on her. I said "But we aren't getting a dog." I knew this was something that both our girls wanted so much, but I also knew that it was gonna change our lives in so many ways....just how much I had no idea.
This dog would come to be know as Meeka. As you can probably figure out Meeka is a rescue. She is some sort of lab mix...possibly some border collie...but it could be anything. She was about 7 months old the vet guessed when we got her in May of 2008. So we have guessed her birthday as Sept 2007.
When we got Meeka, I started to look into training options for her, at least some obedience. I knew the girls enjoyed the Paws for Fun Agility Shows we had seen over the years, so I got in touch with Yan. We did some obedience there and Meeka really caught on well. The 1st session we did was in the spring and Jessica ended up doing most of the classes as Tamara was too shy. We did another obedience session and an agility session in the fall and Tamara did both of these classes. She did really well and at the end of the session she was invited to join the Paws for Fun Agility team. She was thrilled. Shortly afterward Tamara was asked to handle Tucker a papillion that lived at Yan's house. Meeka was able to stay in the show with Jessica as a handler. Yan saw something special in Tamara and invited her to train Competitive Rally and obedience with Tucker. Meeka is/was ineligible for this (more about this in a future blog). Tamara went on to get a taste of competitive dog sports.
We had a great 1st year with Paws for Fun, and met many new and wonderful people. Also Tamara seems to have found her passion, her interest in dogs has helped her to come out of her shell so to speak. She is a very different girl now, so much more confident and mature.
This is where I will stop this story for now, but be sure to stay tuned for Part 2, A Storm In The House.
Not sure how I will use this forum or what I will have to say...but I'm gonna give it a go.
As you can guess from my blog title I am an Agility Dad...what does this mean? It means my daughter Tamara is involved in Dog Sports. It also means My other daughter Jessica will soon be as well.
We got our start with all this back in 2008. My wife came home from a visit from the SPCA and told me that we found our dog and that she had put in an application on her. I said "But we aren't getting a dog." I knew this was something that both our girls wanted so much, but I also knew that it was gonna change our lives in so many ways....just how much I had no idea.
This dog would come to be know as Meeka. As you can probably figure out Meeka is a rescue. She is some sort of lab mix...possibly some border collie...but it could be anything. She was about 7 months old the vet guessed when we got her in May of 2008. So we have guessed her birthday as Sept 2007.
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| a young Meeka |
When we got Meeka, I started to look into training options for her, at least some obedience. I knew the girls enjoyed the Paws for Fun Agility Shows we had seen over the years, so I got in touch with Yan. We did some obedience there and Meeka really caught on well. The 1st session we did was in the spring and Jessica ended up doing most of the classes as Tamara was too shy. We did another obedience session and an agility session in the fall and Tamara did both of these classes. She did really well and at the end of the session she was invited to join the Paws for Fun Agility team. She was thrilled. Shortly afterward Tamara was asked to handle Tucker a papillion that lived at Yan's house. Meeka was able to stay in the show with Jessica as a handler. Yan saw something special in Tamara and invited her to train Competitive Rally and obedience with Tucker. Meeka is/was ineligible for this (more about this in a future blog). Tamara went on to get a taste of competitive dog sports.
We had a great 1st year with Paws for Fun, and met many new and wonderful people. Also Tamara seems to have found her passion, her interest in dogs has helped her to come out of her shell so to speak. She is a very different girl now, so much more confident and mature.
This is where I will stop this story for now, but be sure to stay tuned for Part 2, A Storm In The House.
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