A Happy New Year...

A healthy, happy 2012 to everyone! Whatever your goals may be this year, I hope you achieve them. This year has brought a few changes for us at Birch-Bark Hill, and some highs and lows. Once again, we have lost two special dogs...Jess at 16 and Storm, nearly 17...our last two shelties. We have a number of friends who have also lost dogs this year; regardless of age, they just leave us too soon.

Tank earned his UTD this year, and will now be striving towards that darned UTDX. Our highest point this year would have to be Trust earning her Tracking Champion Title. She now seems to think of herself as a goddess and is acting accordingly...I guess that's ok.

Best wishes to all.

A Special Presentation for Trust!

Trust was presented with an engraved medallion from the Cross Country Tracking Club earlier this month. She was the first "member" dog to earn the CKC Champion Tracking Title. I joined CCTC back in 2000, when Spook earned her TDX there. At that time, no-one else was tracking in Northeastern Ontario, where I live, and it was great to 'head south' two or three times a year and be a tracklayer, or enter tests. We have a lot of fun there, and have made some special friendships. This was an honour (and a lot of work!) to earn the TCh title and being presented with this medallion was such a wonderful award from the Club. As a picture with Trust wearing the medallion was requested for the newsletter, I decided to do something a little special for this. Also, Trust will be ten years old in January. It just seemed right...I wanted something nice for her, and arranged a photo session.

This picture includes her CKC Tracking Champion certificate and her final UTDX rosette, and includes her long line, harness and glove. She completed her fourth track at CCTC with judge Marie-P. Babin, and tracklayer Joseph Weir. Her TD was at CCTC, her TDX was at Sudbury, and her UTD was in Ottawa. Of course, she is wearing her lovely medallion.We did a number of different "arrangements", both of her and the "props". The photo session took about 45 mins. and we had a lot of fun doing this. Trust just loves being fussed over, and was so easy to work with. The two young ladies working on this session had a lot of fun as well. The photographer was Jenny Brunet.I've included an assortment of pictures here...would you believe there were 60 in total?!! I am quite certain that Trust knows she is 'special'...she is definitely a real poser....and so very pretty, too! And she knows it!!

I'm breaking off a piece of cookie for her in this picture when we decided to play around with a few pictures. Although I take a huge number of pictures of the dogs, I have almost none with both of us together. So we played a bit and wound up with a bunch of candid shots. The young lady taking the pictures had not worked with a dog before and thought it was amazing. Of course, Trust is very well behaved, well trained and great with people. She has previously done Pet Therapy work with seniors and is very good in unusal or busy settings.

I just love this dog! I am so proud of her, as we struggled for some time switching from field work to urban settings. I learned so much from her, watching her figure out what was going on with the scent in tricky areas. We had only each other, and one little book, to learn how to become a good working team in urban locations.

The medallion presented to Trust by CCTC will be a cherished remembrance of a very special day when she earned her Tracking Champion Title. And a special day having earned it in the presence of good friends. Thanks to everyone who cheered us on along the way!

And it snowed all day....

A LOT of snow yesterday and overnight! We were trudging through out the back early, and the snowplow guy came later so we could head down the driveway. Kira was out with me before he came, and some pictures are in places where I took them 2 days before with the other dogs.

David and I returned from the afternoon walk down the driveway and into the field with Trust, Tank and Blast. Blast was hoping we'd forget him and he could stay out on one of the snow piles! He always seems to think that when he lies down, we can't 'see' him!!!The west trail into the west side of the forest, same as a couple of days ago, but with more snow today.Kira coming back on trail behind and west of house. It was so beautiful today with the sunshine, and we weren't getting the high winds from the north as the forest protects us.Just popped up for a minute before I run off again!!!If this branch had a point on the end, I swear she'd go out of her way to impale me!The forest was so pretty, with little sunbeams shining through, and some snow falling off the trees.Was that a snowball???!!Heading back up the driveway. So nice when it has been plowed...

The Day After Christmas...

Now this looks more like winter. It's perfect, as everything is sparkling with fresh clinging snow, yet it's only about 4" deep and so all the walking trails, or anyplace really, are open. Very pretty this morning, but rain is being called for then a deep freeze...crazy once again!

This picture is the trail to the west from the house into the forest. Only fox tracks on here this morning.And this is the vacant old barn across the fence on our east side. Always love this place...it's 400 acres of wilderness, where most of the wolves howl from.Heading up behind the house, in front of the back forest. Don't know what, but 'something' sure had Tanks' interest. He could be a show dog!!! Actually he did get one point in his early life, at his first show, but conformation shows were not my interest.Same trail, Trust (the new almost 10 puppy) is racing back to me.Next walk....Blast out in the front field, surveying the scenery atop a hay bale. He's the lookout, should have called him "Scout"...Then Kira and I went back into the forest, following the tracks from the buck to see where he was travelling to and fro. She had jumped up into this tree and all the snow on the branches fell on her. She thought this was fun and was about to try again, but no snow left this time. Oh, well, there's always branches to yank out!!!! And that's where she moved off to.

New Snow on Christmas Day!

Christmas Day brought a 'somewhat' unexpected snowfall...flurries were predicted, but the system stalled and what started as a light snowfall ended up to be very signficant by the evening. I have to go out early today and take a few photos as it is unbelievably beautiful. The temp. went above freezing and it was wet, so absolutely every little thing out there has snow stuck to it and it is glistening.

This is Blast, Tank and Trust on our first early walk heading out of the east field, across the driveway and over into the west side. Even early the small pines in front are being weighted down.Further into the west field, looking back towards the house. Snowfll much heavier now. It's hard to believe only a few hours ago, everything was bare...clear of snow.David and Kira beside one of the larger spruce trees at the side of the field. Skies are very dark, but it is nice and mild.The snowflakes were the strangest shape yesterday, either big and boxy, or looking like large white butterflies flitting downwards. David was tossing snowballs up in the air for Kira.I couldn't figure out what was wrong with my timing to take pictures of her jumping up to catch the snowballs. Finally I watched, and he was throwing them so high, she had to sit and wait for them to begin to come down. At least her timing was good. I gave up on these. We enjoyed a few walks though yesterday. For years we've looked forward to our Christmas Day Dog Walks, but hard to believe we used to take eight to nine dogs at once on these. Miss those old days and miss those old dogs...

Our buck has moved in...

Well, it looks like we might have a permanent visitor here! Our lovely little buck has rubbed off his antlers, within two days of his first visit. I wish we could find them, they were so lovely, but it's pure luck, no matter how hard you might search, to find them. He showed up three different times on Christmas Eve Day, and would watch me...watching him...from the window. He's pretty brave, or...not very smart - not sure, as the dogs don't seem to pose much of a threat to him.

When he has slurped up any bird feed on the ground, he licks around the bottom of this feeder. And tipping it brings out more, of course.

You can clearly see in this picture where the antlers were!He is such a beautiful fellow, counting the 'points' on his antlers the other day, he is three or four years old. He doesn't seem "hungry" as he is in great shape, but I think he has just found an easy place to find readily available 'extra' food here at the feeders. We are not trying to encourage him, it is difficult to take the dogs for walks into the forest and not have to worry about running into him!

More, please!!!