Seaside Walks

We are near the coast and can go for a walk along the path at the top of the sand dunes. Hannah is in the pic having a look at the sea when we stopped for a break. Everything smells different here, we get going on the walk then we have to stop to check out the wonderful new smells we find, but the humans get grumpy and don't give us long enough to do a thorough analysis.

We went to the Warrnambool dog club last night for some training and a big run.

After the long walks and the exercise, we slept like logs last night.

Holidays

We are on Holidays again. After last night's effort I am surprised we are still alive. I missed a colour on the dog walk and went sniffing in the Gamblers excellent, and missed a qualification by 2 points, then I missed a weaver and lost so much time that we failed Snooker too! The day was bad, it got to 41 degrees at 5pm and they delayed the start until 7:30pm. No wonder I did not do too well.

Well KnK still love us because they are taking us out in the caravan again. We got to Tailem Bend tonight and went for a walk by the river, then up the cliffs and back to the van park. The pic shows us at the top of the cliffs overlooking the river.

We are going to Warrnambool in Victoria, but we are taking the pretty way round, so it could take us until Wednesday to get there.

Life of Luxury

We have made another movie. It shows a typical minute from our lives where Hannah and I have fun at home.

We play chasey, we play fight, pose on our beds and I get to do my trick with the dog door. All this in just over a minute.

Click on the link under Video Links on the left of the page and sit back and watch. It is about 4 meg so it may take a while to load on a slow computer.

Happy New Year

Happy New year to all our readers.

We have joined in the celebrations with lots of food and fun. KnK started with prawn, scallop and salmon shashliks at about 4:30, and we got a taste too. Then they had Oysters Kilpatrick, we got some of the bacon, then about 8:00 they had calamari, and some for us. On top of that we had our dinner and Hannah's Home Made Biscuits.

We are now full as a boot and can't move. The bottle was just a prop for the photo, we don't drink alcohol, but KnK did! They had the white wine and a Whales Tail, that's a drink made from Bundaberg Liqueur Rum, Bundaberg ginger beer and cream.

The fireworks will be on soon, so I have to go, KnK will be asleep by the time the fireworks finish.

Hannah and I wish you all a Happy New Year, and hope to see you soon.

Christmas for Dogs

We had a Christmas Day party at home. Molly came to stay for a few days, and Kevin came just for the day. Poor Audrey could not come because she had an allergy and was on medication. We got home-made dog biscuits, bits of turkey and pork, and all the treats we could scrounge. Molly had to have a lie down, and Tiffany went off on her own a couple of times, but Kevin and I kept it up nearly all day. We were running and playing and drinking and eating non-stop. I was glad when everyone went home so I could have a rest.

The humans had to sit around, just talking, eating and drinking while we played, it must have been boring for them.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everybody.
A few tips to help you to enjoy Christmas.
1) Decorate the house when you can. Shred coloured paper or material and spread it around.
2) Be grateful when your human erects an indoor toilet, and use it as much as possible.
3) If any presents are left by the indoor toilet, open them when you get a chance.
4) If it is edible chew it. To test for edibility, chew it. If in doubt, chew it again.
5) When visitors come, take a big drink then shove your cold wet nose in their groin.
6) Hang out with children, they do not protect their food.
7) At meal time, keep quiet, hide under the table and wait for food to fall.
8) Beware of drinking spilled liquid while under the table. It can make your legs wobbly.
9) Big sad eyes, a waggy tail and a pathetic whimper will always get treats.

Titled Tollers

Last night we went to the SAODC Christmas party, and we were given all these sashes for the titles we got during the year.

I got a Community Companion Dog Sash, and Tiffany got 4 sashes for her CD, AD, JD and JDX titles.

We met Terry the pup last night, he had been stung by a bee and had to get emergency treatment from the vet to stop the anaphylactic shock. Tiffany had a bad reaction to a bee sting when she was a pup, see the post Insect bite ; in 2009

We heard from Summa and Demon in Mt Gambier, and the Cat Gang raided them too, they got away with a Cherry Ripe. (See the comment on the previous post). Just as well the cats got the chocolate, because chocolate is poison to dogs.

Steak Thieves

Well, it was like this officer, the steak was on the kitchen top, almost defrosted, when these three great big cats broke into the house, jumped on the kitchen top, nicked the steak and ran out with it. We were so surprised by the speed of it we did not have time to bark. The cats are part of an international gang of Steak Burglars so it would have been minced and sold interstate within the hour. All we could do was grab the plastic bag the steak was in and bring that back as evidence. While we were checking it out for cat paw prints and cat smells, Keith saw us and then assumed it was us that did it. It could not have been us because we had just had our dinner and we were full. Luckily Keith had some sausages in the fridge so KnK still got their dinner.

Does anyone know if Quick-Eze are OK for dogs?

Hannah's first CD pass

Hannah passed her first Novice trial today, with a second place too. Kathy was a bit nervous, especially when Hannah ran off briefly between exercises, but it was still a good pass. The stays were interesting, Keith was judging in the next ring and Hannah had a good look at him, but she did not move. It was a relief when it was all over, only two more passes and Hannah will be a CD dog too!

I was in the Agility and Jumping, I almost got round the Masters Jumping course, until there was a tight turn on to a broad jump, and I went through the side. Maybe next time things will go better.

The pic shows us on the beach near the caravan park, and Hannah is wearing her Sash.

Wet Dogs

The humans have got us on the road again, this time we are going to Portland in Victoria for the Dog Trials. We stayed at Keith last night where it started raining at 2:00 am and did not stop until about 11:00am. The pic shows us in our "20 years of Tollers" raincoats when we went for our morning walk.

We got to Portland, very windy, but we still went for a walk on the cliff tops, said hello to Buffy, Summa, Demon and Gypsy, did some training and now we are ready for bed.

Top Dogs

We won trophies at the Gundog Club last night. I was the Top Agility Bitch, and Hannah was second Obedience Bitch. The pic shows us with our trophies.

We also got recognition awards for our other titles too, they are the smaller trophies in the pic.

It was Keith's birthday yesterday (he is 469 in dog years). We got him a present each and we helped to unwrap them. That was great fun shredding the paper and spreading it all over the house, a lot more fun than he had from the shirts we got him!

The Dog Walk

Our dog walk is ready. The surface is still a bit slippery so that will have to be fixed, but in the mean time it stops us from jumping off early because we can not get a grip. The pic shows us testing it out.

We have an extra panel for our shelter tent when we are trialling. Kathy made it today and we set it up to see if it fits. That is in the pic background.

We did not do too well in the trials, Tiffany forgot how to heel, and I got distracted by a bug in the Stand for Examination, then I sat. We both did all the other exercised OK, but the humans were still grumpy with us. Ah well, we will have to use the big sad eyes and the waggy tail for a couple of days and they will get over it.

Southern Trials

To paraphrase John Madden, of all my Agility Trials, this was one of them. The pic shows me just about to go into the weavers, but I missed the entry, because I had to "go", so I did and that got us tossed out of the ring. I had already missed a jump so we were not qualifying. I must have had a nervous bladder because I had been three times before we went in.

In the Excellent course I went the wrong way through the hoop, in the Jumping Open I missed a weaving pole and in the Jumping Masters I just got distracted and did a wrong jump. So we had four fails, but it was not all that bad. I did manage some very difficult parts and my times were good, so Keith was not too unhappy.

We now have a mini dog walk at home. Keith made it out of a work platform and some timber he found in the shed. At least Hannah and I can practice Contacts now.

Broken Hill Trials

KnK were judging the trials at Broken Hill, so we were just along for the ride. So far we have had Saturday night and Sunday morning at the trials, but we did manage to get in the ring, we were the make up dogs for the stay exercises. I did the UD and Open stays, and Hannah did the CCD stays. The pic shows some of the trial dogs with their humans, after the trial.

We start back tomorrow, very early, so we will not get a chance to have a look around.

Pass-less weekend at Mt Gambier

No passes in 5 attempts between us. I was in Novice Obedience and got distracted when Fur Dad Rio went past the ring and I forgot what I was doing on the first day, then on the Sunday I did not do the drop in the Distance Control but did everything else. Tiffany was in Master Jumping for the first time, until Keith got lost and went the wrong way, then in the Novice Snooker, Tiffany decided to go a different way to Keith and did not get enough points. The Open Jumping was Ok until Tiffany missed a bar in the distance sector.

It did not start out as a good week-end. Just after we left home the Navara got a fault and we had to take it and the caravan back home. The Honda Jazz was loaded up with everything we needed, accommodation booked, and we had to sleep in the dog crates.

While we were in Mt Gambier we met up with TeamJoseph, they comment on the blog quite often. On the chair is Summa and Gypsy, then Buffy and Demon with Tiffany and me.

Father Woods Tree

Trials time again, this time in Mt Gambier. We got in the car with the caravan hitched up, got 100 metres down the road when a light came on warning something was wrong in the engine. Straight down to Unley Nissan where the Navara was pugged into the computer which could not find anything wrong. The fault was reset and seemed clear, but as soon as we started off again, the light came on!. The caravan and the Navara were taken home, all the essentials were unpacked and loaded into the Honda Jazz and we came to Mt Gambier. Kathy booked us into a cabin for two nights.

On the way we stopped at Father Woods Tree. Father Wood was a local preacher who did a lot of work for the community, and he used to hold his sermons under a big tree. The council has built memorial park across the road from the tree. They cut down a lot of trees and carved statues out of the stumps which represent aspects of Father Woods life. The pic shows us looking at the carvings.

Ms Hannah, Tiffany JDX

Hannah has been converted from a Miss to a Ms and is doing very well. We have to keep her 'quiet and calm', for 2 weeks. We have a better chance of winning the lottery. So far so good, she has recovered from the surgery very well and is actively resisting all attempts to keep her 'quiet and calm'.

I went to the trials on Saturday, and passed two Jumping Dog Excellent trials which means I have another title to my name, JDX.

It was close for the first pass, I almost went passed a jump when Keith called me back, and Judge Joy was right in the perfect position to see if it was a refusal or not. After she said it was less than a centimetre in it, but I got the pass, and my Title. I will have to talk to Demon to see if he can get his mum to put me in the Masters Jumping at Mt Gambier next week.

20 years of Tollers

The Tollers have been in Australia for 20 Years, and to celebrate there was a gathering of Tollers at the United Retriever Club of NSW in Sydney. We were there and Tiffany won 1st place in the 400mm Agility Dog Excellent class,with a qualification. The pic shows her running through the weaving poles on her way to the win. The Jumping Excellent went wrong when Tiffany went the wrong way over a jump after leaving a tunnel , but the rest of the course was good.

I was in Novice Obedience, but it was all too much for me and I got put off by the thunderstorm that went through just before the start of the trial. Anyway, I did the heel work OK, but I would not sit at the start peg for the next exercise so I was sent home early.

There were lots of Tollers on the grounds. There was a Conformation Show, the Agility and Jumping trial, the Obedience Trial and the Retrieving Ability Test for Gundogs, with Tollers entered in all of them. Maybe next year at the 21 year gathering we will do better.

Wisemans Ferry

The Toller Tourists are out and about, this time at Wisemans Ferry, just a short drive from Castle Hill. We stopped at the lookout, and then went down to the ferry and had a walk round the park. Hannah started chasing the blossoms that were falling off the trees and we spent ages trying to convince her they were harmless and did not need to be driven off. We met some people that wanted to pat us, so we put up with that for about half an hour, then went down to the river bank to see the Blue Wren that would not stay still long enough for Keith to get a photo. I don't know which was the funniest, Hannah chasing the blossoms or Keith chasing the wren.

Sydney Trials

We have had a week-end at the Sydney dog grounds at Erskine Park. KnK have been judging for two days, and we have been left on our own. Well we fixed them, we chewed Keith's pillow on the first day, then chewed his hat on the next day.

It's not all been bad, we have had lots of runs on the ground and played with lots of new dogs and watched the end of a RATG trial.

Most of the other dogs have gone home today, so I suppose we will be moving on tomorrow too. Hannah is competing in an Obedience trial next week, and I am doing Agility, with lots of other Tollers. Hopefully we will get some practice in during next week.

The Dogs on the Tucker box

We are in Gundagai, where dogs are required to sit on a Tucker Box.

We stopped for lunch by the monument to the original Tucker Box-sitting dog and posed for pictures. First time for Hannah, but I have been here before.

It seems a long time ago, a bullock team driver broke down and had to walk 9 miles to Gundagai to get help. His Dog sat on the tucker box, which was where the Driver kept not only his food, but all his valuables too. The dog guarded the tucker box until the driver got back. Not much of a story really, but that was probably the most interesting thing that had happened in years. The monument was put 5 miles from Gundagai, as the 9 mile point was not very good for a tourist trap.

Anyway, whenever we pass the humans want us to pose with this statue, so we did.

Champion Hannah

She Did It! Hannah got Best of Breed and Challenge to get the final points she needed to be a Champion.

Her formal name is now

Champion Sherbrooke Highway Hannah CCD.

We went to Monato near Murray Bridge for the dog show. There were lots of dogs there, and Hannah was the best Toller. She did not do any good in the Group line-up, but that does not count for her title.

Hannah did her usual "wag everything while the Judge is approaching" trick, although she did not move from position during the examination and she ran round the ring perfectly.

Now we are both Champions of the Breed.

Whyalla

What a hot week end. The wind came up and blew all the dust about, the sun was out all day and we were hot and sticky. All we wanted to do was lie on the cool bed until we could get back to the caravan and the air-con. Keith expected me to run round the Agility ring, but I was too hot, sticky and uncomfortable to try. Hannah didn't have to run, so why should I?

Anyway, maybe the next run will be in better weather.

Tiffany and Hannah, One Year On.

Just look at us now after one year together. At the top of the page in the header is a picture of us when I was just 9 weeks old after I had arrived here. I have snuggled into Tiffany's side with my Lamb toy. See how big I have grown, I am now bigger that Tiffany, but Tiffany is a Petite Toller being just on the minimum size. We still have the Lamb, although not all his stuffing is still there and one leg is missing, but we still play with him. He is in the picture between our front legs.

Tiffany was at the agility trials yesterday and got another pass in Jumping Excellent with 2nd place and a pass in Agility Excellent with a 4th place. She needs one more jumping pass and three more agility passes for Tiffany to get her next titles.

Testing, testing.

Here we are practising jumping together, I am just telling Hannah to lift her feet, but she will get the idea soon. It took a while to get the picture, Keith set up the video camera then sent us over the jumps several times. This pic was a still taken from the video using Pinnacle Studio.

Blogger has a new interface, so this  post is trying it out, and it is also a test of the email notification system. Leave a comment if it works.

Games Trial

We went to the Gawler Games trial today, and Tiffany passed both of the trials she was in! She was in Gamblers Excellent for the first time and then passed Snooker Novice for her second pass. We were celebrating and then Ricky came over to congratulate her. The pic show the three of us. Ricky has his own blog, see the "Ricky's Ramblings" link to the left under Blogs to Read.

Ricky suggested we add a Submit Button at the top left of the sidebar, so we did. If you add your email address in the space under " Follow By Email" heading, then press the submit button, each day we post to our blog you will get an email to let you know. No post, - no email. You have to go through a verification process to stop spammers, but it is so easy a human could do it.

Bath Time

We have had a lazy few days, not doing much since we got home from the trip up north. Today was bath time. Now most dogs shudder at the "B" word but we love it. We bite the water as it comes out of the spray, we shake ourselves and get the humans wet, then we attack the blow dryer and make as much noise as we can. It is an outdoor bath, because of the mess we make, but the water comes from the laundry and is warm so we enjoy it so much more. I went first because I am the oldest. Hannah was barking and whining while I had my bath and blow dry, then it was her turn while I dried off with some biscuits. We have had our nails clipped, our feet trimmed and a good brushing, so we are ready to face anything the world can throw at us.

Agility Again

Tiffany had another pass in Excellent Jumping yesterday. We were at the Agility Dog Club Trial for the afternoon trials, and Tiffany was in Excellent and Open Agility and Jumping. She did the Excellent Jumping course first and passed, but that was the only pass for the day. Only one fault in the Agility Excellent, missed a weaving pole as she turned into the sun, but was DQ'd for a wrong course in the other two.

We were both back in training on Tuesday, getting ready for the obedience trials.

I am down to one pill a day for the SRMA, and Kathy is going to reduce them to alternate days. Hopefully, I have seen the end of the meningitis.

Back Home

We're Back! After nearly 6 weeks, we are back home. A week ago we were in Darwin in the warm, and now we are in the cold. The pic shows us at Mandorah looking at Darwin from the Cox Peninsula, and then underneath we were standing in the Outback near Coober Pedy on the way home.

For 6 days we have been travelling, only a quick walk break every couple of hours and back to sleep in the car. Now we are home we can run in the garden any time.

KnK are planning the next trip, so we wont be home for long.

Hannah - 99 points

Hannah is on 99 points towards her Champion title. Just one more to go and that will be it.

The trouble is, we have so many things to do over the next few weeks, we do not know when Hannah can try for the final point.

Keith was away in Singapore so Kathy looked after us and took us to the shows. I was there to support Hannah, gave her a few last minute tips, and some woofs of encouragement. She was even given a good long look for Minor in Group, but her shaved patch on her back is still noticeable, and the prize went to a Golden.

Keith is back, we both broke through the back seat barrier to get to him and give him a good licking when we picked him up at the airport, next time he leaves us we will bite him!

6 points and a Big Clock

Hannah got her first 6 points after her first birthday, so she is now 19 points off of becoming a Champion. She also won a dog bowl. After the show, I went in a Trial Class with Keith, and I won a Big Clock. Keith used to say he would not go in a show ring for a big clock, well, we went in and we got one. That's us with our trophies.

The Brace was good fun. First I was on the outside and I started to chew Hannah's ear, so she started to bite my leg, and Kathy went spare trying to control us. After that we swapped sides and did it properly for a while, and then we started playing again. In the end, the pair of Irish Setters won it, I don't know why, we were much more entertaining.

Next day Hannah got an upset tummy, we think she found some old food on the ground. She is going to the vet tonight for a check up because while she is on the Steroids her immune system is not at full strength and we have to make sure she is OK.

PS. Wed. morning. The vet said Hannah had probably picked up some possum poo and got a tummy wog. Some pills fixed her, she seems OK now.

Happy Birthday Hannah

Hannah is one year old today, and to celebrate, Burnie and Cherrie came over from next door for Biscuits. The top pic shows us looking at the Birthday Biscuits, and then underneath, we are getting stuck into them.

In Hannah's first year she has travelled to NSW, Vic, NT and most of SA. She has scored 90 points in Conformation, has a CCD in Obedience and is learning Agility.

The terrible SRMA struck her down at Easter and she is still on medication for that. It makes her tire easily and so she has to rest a lot. We still have time to get in trouble though, see the Great Pen Mystery and the BBQ cleaning episode for examples.

Hannah has packed a lot into her first year, and we expect to pack even more into the next year.

Royal BoB

Hannah won Best of Breed and the Challenge at the Darwin Royal Show. The pic shows her with her certificate and her sashes. She now has 90 points, but only 75 of them count because she is not 1 year old until Saturday.

The judge gave her a good look for Puppy in Group, but it went to a beautiful GSP puppy.

On Sunday Hannah will be old enough to score more points in her quest for a Champion title at the Gundog Show, and both of us are going to compete in the Brace class for the first time ever. In the Brace, we both strut round the ring together and we get judged as a pair. Just imagine Kathy trying to control both of us when we get playful, this could make Australia's Funniest Home Video!

100% Pass

What a brilliant sister I have! Tiffany passed both trials last night, with a first place in Jumping Excellent and a second place in Agility Excellent. There were two Tollers in the competition, and Bernie came in second in the Jumping Excellent class, so it was a Toller double.

The pic shows Tiffany relaxing this morning with her Sashes, Qualifying cards and her first place Trophy, an engraved whisky glass.

We had a moment of panic in the Jumping when Keith forgot the course for a second, and another one when Tiffany nearly missed a jump, but the final sprint home was great with Tiffany finishing two jumps in front of Keith.

I will not be old enough for Agility until I am 18 months old. 6 months to go and I can't wait for it.

Latest Toller video

There were five of us all in the water having a great time. With Hannah and I were Fur Dad Rio, Fur Mum Jaffa and Fur Auntie Cherry. There is a technique we have for making sure the water is free from crocodiles, we wait for a human pup to go in and if they come out it is safe for us. This lagoon is a stones throw from the centre of Palmerston, surrounded by a great big fence and is used by all the humans for miles around, so it is croc free. Mini Mac was worried about us getting eaten, but we were safe. Click on the 'Marlow's Lagoon' link under Video Links to see us having fun in the water, and Fur Dad Rio doing a trick on the dog play equipment.