The Gang

The Gang
Ain't We Got Fun?

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Club Day

Our first Fall Club Day was somewhat sparse in attendance with six members on hand, but enthusiasm ran high and a good time was enjoyed by all. It was all about puppies today as Nancy travelled from Cranbrook with her performance Papillon, Brie, and two youngsters, and Liz brought all her 11 week old flatcoat retriever babies, plus 9 month old Cava and Loopdeloop. our favorite girl as well. Nancy arrived just as Russell, Moira, Deb and I had released Mojo, Maggie, Drummer and Fox to roam the hall as a 'gang' unleashed. Mojo ended up being the one in charge and Drummer and he chased around with Maggie in tow. Fox wanted nothing to do with any of them and was definitely uncomfortable about the entire effort. As soon as Deb held out her leash, Fox was happy to follow her and allow Deb to leash her.

We set up three rally courses today ranging from Novice to Excellent, and in between doing the actual courses, we shared training tips with each other, trying various ways to make an exercise easy for the dog to handle. I was especially happy with Swayze who has not seen the rally ring since his horrible accident in April. He wasn't as rusty as I thought he'd be. Drummer managed to hold things together in the Advanced ring with food up his nose most of the way, but what a nice performance. He knows how to back up!!! With some intense practice, he may just be up for his Advanced title competition soon. He has had no work since he developed a sudden onset of 'boy brain' in Osoyoos a couple of weeks ago.

Mojo did the course with loads of pep and was happy to try all the levels. Maggie was best worked on lead as she has been away all summer from practice.

In between rally courses being set up and changed, Liz and Deb visited with puppies. One of the flatcoat pups tore over to Drummer, the sheltie, and then, when Drummer turned to face it, it began to shriek as though it had been stepped on and it continued to do so until Liz distracted it with a cookie. What a little nut. Cava came out of her crate and immediately locked onto the shepherds. She knew Swayze from last winter when she stayed with us as a young puppy. She recognized him right away. Cava impressed everyone with her ability to sit for ages holding a dumbbell. She was so comfortable with it. Of course. Liz did remind us that she was a retriever and should be happy to hold a dumbbell.

We did restrained recalls with Drummer back and forth over the scent hurdle jumps and he ran clean and quickly. We added one dumbbell to the floor at the end of the jumps and he had no problem racing down the jumps and grabbing his bell and racing back. He sometimes dropped the bell when he came over the last jump so we worked at giving him more distance and things improved.

Mesa was good until we added another dog to run and then she got so worked up that she turned into Miss Snatchandgrabfromthebox. But she had a great time and since she is not going to do scent professionally, she can do pretty much as she pleases.

Lupine was much like Mesa; adding the jumps made her want to grab and run. We came up with a couple of strategies to help her find her own and we'll see how things go next Saturday.

We blew the whistle many times during the practice and Token, waiting on the sidelines, was much better about staying calm. When it was her turn, she zoomed down the jumps and was faster on the box today. We intend to practice our hearts out from now until January.

Came home to a message from a 'movie dog-wrangler' asking if she could put my dogs on her list in case they ever needed a German shepherd. I said, "Sure thing." I am sure Token could learn anything they needed her to do. She is pretty versatile.

Got news that Amanda's terrier, Boone, has gone missing. We are all hoping he comes home soon.

All in all, it was a good day for everyone. Nobody was rushed and we all got to play with puppies.

Hope to see everyone next Saturday around 10:00 a.m.




Helena brags!!!!

Newsflash!!!!!!!
Shar and MaryEllen have great news for us from the Helena Dog Show. Sharlet and Ryder completed both their US Rally Advanced and Rally Excellent Titles this weekend. Tessa, MaryEllen's bitch, ended the weekend with 10 points towards her US Championship title. She has two majors to pick up and she will have the title in the bag! Last night she went Best Bred By in Group as well.
The girls are on their way home with big smiles, I can tell.
Congratulations to both of you!

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Jagged Action



Here are a couple of shots of Jagged at the Lethbridge Go Dog Go Agility Trials.
She makes it look so easy. Thanks, Denise, for sharing.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010





OMG! We had a great weekend at Osoyoos! Hunter picked up four points towards his Championship by going Winners on Friday and then Winners, Best of Winners, and Best of Breed on Sunday. Three points to go. Mesa, Ryder and Drummer were entered in the rally obedience and Mesa received the Highest Score in the entire trial twice and Ryder got the award once. Mesa won High in Class in 6/8 of the classes she entered. Ryder was High in Class once.Drummer was High in Class twice and then developed Boy Brain on Sunday. We made it to the second sign before I retired him to his crate. What a noodle. We had good weather for the entire show and took our time getting home, stopping to visit with Jeff and Cheryl and their big shepherd, Brenner, at Moir Park in Cranbrook. Got home just in time to unload the dogs and leave for Cowley to instruct Dog Obedience Classes. Whew..... no time to unwind, but what a weekend. The best picture of all, Mesa and all her loot, came today. Photos by Tedy does such a good job. We should bring her to Alberta.


Tuesday, September 21, 2010

News Flash!!!!

On the 12th of September, Tubby's wonderful Newf, Lexi, got her Canadian Senior Water test title and a week later she got the U.S. Senior Water title. Yahoo, Lexi was awesome . It doesn't get amy sweeter than that. Congratulations, Tubby. What a trip!!!!


Monday, September 20, 2010

It is so nice when you manage to sell one of your pups to someone who ventures out into various dog sports and

puts your pup on the map. Nancy and Dick Lopaschuk would like to pay tribute to an owner who has done just that

for L'acy.



A little brag from some proud doggie “Grandparents”. L’acy’s owner Donna Konkin sent this today. L’acy is the “Cover Girl” on a dog magazine. Her sire & dam are: AM CAN CH Nanrich’s L’Only Butterfly (Brie) X BIS AM/CAN CH Arkeno’s Three Ring Circus (Barney) Donna has done a fabulous job of training her.

So far, these are her accomplishments...

CKC titles are: CH (Canadian Champion), CGN (Canine Good Neighbour), RE (Rally Excellent), ANJ (Agility Novice Jumpers)

CARO titles are: Rally Novice

AAC titles are: ADC (agility dog of Canada)

She also is a registered St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog and is pointed toward her US Championship.

Thanks for letting us brag a little and thanks to Donna for making this all happen and giving L’acy the best home ever.


Nancy and Dick Lopaschuk