Noarlunga Trials

Here is a photo of me leaping through the Hoop at the Noarlunga City Trial yesterday. I could only run in the morning because Keith was judging in the afternoon. I missed a weaving pole in Agility so there was no qualification there, and in the jumping I went the wrong side of a jump and got a DQ. Hannah did not do much better in her runs, but our half sister Maggie passed in jumping and agility with two first places and a title.

Warrnambool Beach

We are on holiday at Warrnambool with Maggie and Minty. The pic shows us running on the beach, I am in front with Maggie next and Hannah close behind. Minty is too small to run with us, but she had a good time at the beach too. The waves were pretty big and when I got too close to one it knocked me over. After that we were not allowed in the water, something about a rip, but it wasn't us that ripped anything. We will be down here for a week then returning home.

Tiffany's 5th Birthday

Tiffany is 5 years old today. We have had extra chews and Scooby snacks and a present each. I got a Yellow Dog and Tiffany got Rancid Raccoon. If you don't know who Rancid Raccoon is then you probably don't play Farm Hero's Saga on face book. KnK took a great delight in watching Tiffany de-squeak him then cheered when we started playing tug of war with him.  The pic shows Tiffany giving Rancid a good chewing. The toys are really good because inside them is a plastic drink bottle that makes all sorts of noises as we chew them, and when the bottle is completely wrecked, the humans stick another one in.
It has been a good year for Tiffany, she has gained titles in Agility Games, Agility, Rally and has several qualifications towards her Masters Title in Agility and Jumping. We have been in competitions in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Northern Territory, so we have seen a lot of the Australian Outback, met up with old friends and made many new friends too.

Agility Games

Agility trials are back. We were at the Agility Dog Club's Games Trial last night, the Pic shows Hannah jumping a "Red" as she looks across to Kathy for direction to the next jump. Not a very successful night. Hannah popped out of the weaving poles two poles before the end on the last obstacle in Snooker then bumped her head in a tunnel and was shaking her head instead of running to the gamble in Gamblers. I missed a critical contact colour and also missed the last poles in Snooker. I ran up the Dog Walk as the siren went for the Gamble and by the time I got to the gamble I was out of time. I did do the Gamble in 8 seconds so Keith was happy with that.
Strategic pairs was our usual laugh. We take turns in doing sections of the course. I missed a weaver so Hannah had to do them for me. I did her next section which left Hannah to do the final twisty bit of 5 jumps which included a tight turn on the Broad jump. By the time Hannah had done that I was right with her and we both did the final two jumps together. Unfortunately we were out of time, but we did have a good time.

Hot days in Adelaide

What can you do on a hot day?

It has been a hot summer. Temperature is in the 40+ degrees Celsius for lots of days and stays warm all night. We have been hiding in the air conditioning most of the time, but come out to play in the evenings when it cools down a little. Kathy waters the garden and we help. Hannah chases the water where it hits the ground while I go for the nozzle where the water comes out of the hose. We get our blue shell filled with water and we play in that too. I kick the water up and Hannah bites it, we can keep it up for ages, but eventually when we have had enough KnK towel us down and we go back in the air conditioning for a sleep.
Training is starting again and we have been practising our agility and obedience skills. I can still get round the course, but Keith needs a sit down about halfway round to get his breath back. It should not be too long before we get the handlers back in shape.

Happy New Year 2014

Happy New Year everybody. We spent New Year's Eve at a dog trial in Gawler, and Hannah won the Agility Dog Excellent class with her fourth qualification towards her title. The pic shows us lying on the Beach Lounge that she won. It was a hot night, I was the first dog to run in Agility Masters, but it was too hot for me, and when we got round to Jumping Masters at about 2:00 AM I was too tired to run, as was Hannah, so we did not do very well at all.  Keith judged Rally and was busy for most of the night. Hannah got her excellent run at just the right time, the temperature had cooled down a bit, and she was ready for a run. The course flowed nicely with some tricky bits but Hannah got round it very well with Kathy steering her through the twists and turns. She had a bit of a moment approaching the Weaving Poles, but it all went smoothly in the end with her completing the course well under the time.
We got home about 4:00, went to bed and did not move until noon today, thankfully New Year's Eve is only once a year!

Merry Christmas to All.

Not many people realize that Reindeer do not cope with the Australian Summer, so Hannah and I often help out with getting Santa's presents to the outback kids. Being from Nova Scotia originally, we had connections at the North Pole so we got the job this year. We had to look like Reindeer just in case we were seen,so we put on the antlers and ears, hitched up the sled and off we went.
Sleds are good in the snow, but  there is very little snow in the outback on a 45 deg. C. day. We will have to see about getting wheels fitted so we can pull the sled across the desert more easily. Reindeer may be able to fly, but if you think a Toller can fly, you will believe anything.
Click on the picture to get a bigger view.