Kira and her "sticks"...

Walk in the forest today, there's still some snow in there, the rain has removed it everywhere out in the open. Kira was driving us nuts with her log, branch, and stick hunting and running into us. We decided to "trick" her....that's pretty much a joke!

We were about 1/3 of the way through here and she had just dug up this one, about 8' long and was swinging it around. David took off running down the path, and she just cued in to this, paused, and was gone in a flash. I ran off behind, and we prevented her from running back for this one. Of course, she momentarily found another.....This stick was balanced up on a couple of knobs on this tree, above the level we felt she would be able to get it...let alone even find it to begin with. She had been way ahead, and ran back, scented it above her and up she goes. This dog does not know what "quit" means. Such a tenacious little she-devil she is!

It was a lovely day for walks though, we did three separate ones in the forest, for her, Blast, and Tank and Trust together. We're all pooped..time for a 'toes up' as my friend, Eileen, would say...

Kira in the Forest

Yesterday, we took all the dogs for a forest walk in the afternoon. So nice back there, haven't been in for a while. There's been lots of action...deer, fox, bunny, lots and lots of overlapping tracks.

Headed back to the house, we did recalls with Kira on the trail. David was up towards the house and I stayed back down the trail. Here she comes, full speed ahead!!!There's always 'something' worth inspecting up on the top of this rock.Kira stole my glove and had run off with it. We had to "trick" her to get it back and David was whacking it against the trunk to get the snow off and out of it....he "thought" high enough so she couldn't jump up and get it....right....lost it again!We spent much of the time trying to get rid of all the branches she was picking up, as she would run towards us either from behind or front and almost knock us down in narrow spots. She has a firm grip on this one and REALLY doesn't want to let go.

The dogs all have him wrapped around their finger...(paw?)...and alway win a tugging match with him.So, if we keep taking "her" branches away, she just "has" to work at removing a live one still attached to the tree.And even better, the giant ones! I never thought she'd get anywhere with this, it was solidly locked in place. She pulled and yelled at it for the longest time, and wasn't going to give up. We had walked on and heard her still snarling at it. To my amazement, although I should know by now, suddenly she ran up behind us with about 5-6' of it. She had bit right through it. So once again, it's dodge the tencious little devil dog. Kira had a non-stop good time out there. Back at the house I was hoping she'd be a tiny bit pooped, but she was still raring to go. I wish I had a fraction of her energy.

Nature can be brutal...

But nature is also amazing! Something must die so that another may live...

What's the chances of ever seeing a weasel in the night, having killed something way larger than he is and dragging it possibly a good distance so it can feed?! These 4 pictures aren't great, but it was 9 p.m. at night out behind the house and I had only a flashlight to watch this and take pictures. The weasel is brown in summer and changes to white in winter..like wild rabbits do. The grouse feeds normally on the ground, nests in the trees at night, and I have to assume the wily weasel surprised it. Weasels are voracious killers, brave beyond belief.I was taking the dogs out when I heard something odd behind the house and went to inspect. When I got too close, he would leave his kill and run large circles around me. He certainly was not afraid of me, and was warning me not to get too close. He's actually very cute and very fast!I backed off and he went back to the grouse, trying to drag it off the pathway. Where he was going, I don't know. He ended up eating and this morning much of it was still there. I might go out tonight to see if he has come back. If not, something else will come along and finish it off. It's just Mother Nature working her wonders.

Our Precious Storm

On Saturday morning, we lost our wonderful little Storm. He would have been 17 in January. Storm brought joy and laughter to so many people, not only us. He was the favorite of all visiting therapy dogs, for 9 years, taught children how to behave around dogs and made them laugh with his favorite toy, "the rat" and sniffing each ones' feet. A beautiful sheltie, with two blue eyes, he caught everyones' attention.

He was a ham in the obedience ring with an "I'm smarter than you are" attitude. And he was! After his second leg in "Open" competition, he knew in training he could be perfect, but in a trial could refuse an exercise and get attention. Storm loved the camera, and enjoyed wearing party hats to have his picture taken. He was the boss of the house, never doing anything to be top dog, the others just somehow respected him. We always called him "annoying" - he was just too cute and funny to ever get truly annoyed with. He loved his walks through the woods with the big dogs until the last couple of years.

With the hundreds of pictures I have of him, I've always loved this one. He will live forever in our hearts, and his breeders', Jo Ann and Terry Pavey.

Jo Anns' favorite memory of Storm is watching him play with and whack his wind-up frog. He was quite the guy.

CH Fairisles Whitegates Powerline CD CGC St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog (extraordinaire).

The BIG Snow!

Well, we had an extremely late first snow this winter..it began on Tuesday night and continued all through Wednesday. Under a Winter Storm Warning for over 24 hrs. and ended up with snow over my knee-high boots. Freezing rain, ice pellets, snow, back to freezing rain and then a huge dump of snow. Not happy here! Considering it was the first snow of winter, we already have no walking paths left, and it looks like January. The dogs LOVE snow, but they cannot navigate well into the very deep and very heavy stuff. We pretty much have only the driveway for walks so am praying now for a few sunny, warm days and rain. Way too early for these conditions!Tank and Blast tried to go down a trail and turned around and came back!Tank still standing on the same trail, wondering where we are going to go...Trust, Blast and Tank on the driveway. David had already cleaned the snow off this section the night before, and drove out in the morning. A lot more snow fell after this.Kira behind the house, was digging out branches and flying through the snow. She seemed to be able to navigate the best of all, probably as she's lighter and just leaps and bounds through.She was hunting for something in here, perhaps heard a rodent under the snow.She made a 'racetrack' around some bushes and trees in this area, so she could actually run through fairly well and 'chase' me with one of her branches. She thinks she's so smart!This was a branch she ran into, actually was attached to a tree, and she seemed to feel the need to punish it when she couldn't pull it out.I just like this head shot of Blast!

And we have more snow falling tonight....

Kira In The News!

A couple of weeks ago, when Kira and I were working through a local indoor shopping mall, we crossed paths with a reporter/photographer from an area newspaper. She was interested in what we were doing, Kira had just gone through a childrens' ride where she found articles I had placed in there. We arranged to get together in a few days for a story for the paper, North Bay Nipissing News.

Kira is "identified" as most places we are permitted to work in for training do not allow dogs. We do some searches, and she meets lots of people. As she is training, I allow her contact with people, she's a great ambassador for the breed, "shakes hands" and kisses for kids. Some other locations, she is able to climb, jump on, dig through obstacles so it is all great work (play) for her.

Shayla Brunet took all these photos, the ones below are from our second meeting at a local resort. Thanks to Shayla, for her interest and time spent with us.Shayla worked to get a sampling of Kira's personality and took a ton of pictures. We spent time outside discussing the value of service dogs, the importance of these dogs socializing, and to be confident working in any venue. What to look for in a puppy to prepare for this work, the extreme ball drive and search work ethics you want in these dogs is so important. Not 'just' a sound body, but a sound mind is critical. Kira has just turned one year old at this time, and is confident and alert with everything she is being exposed to. What we would refer to as "work" for these dogs is just fun and rewarding for them. Hmmm, who's been walking through here? Kira has been entrusted to me to prepare her for service work, and is owned by her breeder, Carmen Duggan, Carmspack. Carmen has produced many, many German Shepherds that are in police services in Canada and the U.S. Many are general purpose dogs while others specialize in explosives, drugs, etc. My Trust and Blast are from Carmen. These dogs have amazing scenting ability and love to work. Blast finds articles in the dead of winter under deep snow, frozen solid, that were left out weeks previously. Trust just earned her Canadian (CKC) Tracking Champion title this year, the 18th dog in Canada to do so.Here we were coming out of the resort and there was a small group of teenagers standing at the bottom of the stairs. Kira is instantly alert to them and they were certainly 'alert' to her. We joked a bit about what they might have hidden on them...and then went down to see them. People have become knowledgeable about not touching dogs wearing vests, but because she is training, I encourage some contact and they always have questions.While in the resort, we did a couple of quick searches. I also have to be aware of some people worrying about what we may be looking for, and often explain this is a "set up" for training. Kira has not been put on any specific scent, that will done when she is placed. But dying to search, is what it's about. The instant I tell her our search word, her whole attitude changes and she is raring to go. I had hidden a couple of small cotton gauze pads in the building. After we walked through, we did a 'search'.

In the picture above there is an article squished between the wall and the door. The door was propped open and heavy and she was reaching in the little space trying to dig it out with her paw. I was looking in, hadn't realized it was too far back and the door wouldn't budge, so in this case, I eventually helped to pull it out. She wasn't going to quit, but I also didn't want her scratching the carpet or door in here.Out in the lobby, she's found 'something' inside the phone book, another piece of cotton I placed there. Her reward is normally her favorite ball, or we pull on a knotted sock. Often depends where we are, sometimes I have a special pc. of food if playing might be a problem. She's not that interested in a food reward, much better to play, but not always possible (like in a hotel lobby!) She will often just spit the food.I only included this picture, that Shayla captured, to show how Kira loves her special ball. And she did catch it! It bounced up from an odd direction. She is very athletic and quick, and that ball is not going to get away from her!!!

These pups are hand-picked from very selective breedings. As sound as they are, they need to work, having boundless drive and energy, making them unsuitable for most pet homes. These dogs live to work, providing valuable service.

Blasts' Short but Interesting Track

Just a short drive from the track that Tank was doing, Blasts' track had a nice mix of grass, gravel/sand, nice grass, chunky gravel. I also saw fresh deer tracks when I laid the track and a couple of fresh deer poop piles almost on the track.

His track started beside a building on grass, headed out to this area where he's made a turn and nearly completed a long leg on gravel. The deer crossed here and there were fresh truck tracks also, probably looking for the deer. He'll hit the grass soon and turn right, over a narrow driveway and back onto nice grass.Blast has just made another corner, and is just passing the deer poop. There is an article just ahead as a reward/lure to pass the poop. Up ahead, we cross the chunky gravel, through a bit of a ditch and climb up the little hill.He's just making a corner here, continues to near the end of the tennis court before turning right again. There was also an article up here.Heading down the hill, I had to carefully go sideways, it was steeper than it looks. Why I turned down here is beyond me! I had to keep telling Blast to 'wait'.We head up this stretch of grass, cross a gravel driveway and his leather article is on the far side. I stopped taking pics. here, as I saw a lady with a small dog walking towards us from the left. I guess she spotted us, as she turned and went around the other way. Blast worked really well, he hardly veered from the track at any point from start to finish. It was aged about an hour.