I’m working at home today because poor Tango has a bad case of diarrhea. I was able to capture this cute video of Tilly trying to entice Wally to play with her. She has a chewed up straw in her mouth that she wiggles in front of his face. When she drops it he grabs it and the game is on. You can see him pushing his muzzle in her face so that she can grab the straw and the game can continue. He is just such a sweet, gentle boy when he plays with her…..I just love my golden boy! Sorry the video quality is so poor. I had to use my phone to capture the moment because my video camera was in another room and I didn’t want to take the chance of interrupting the interaction by getting up and leaving the room.
Monthly Archives: August 2010
Holy Smoke!
For the last two days we have been blanketed with thick smoke from forest fires in BC. Visibility is quite poor and there are air quality warnings. They even cancelled Tango’s training session last night so neither dogs or humans would be exposed. I have asthma and I am noticing that my breathing is affected. Yesterday there was only a few blocks visibility…..today is a little better. Don took this picture from his office downtown. It looks like it is night time but the picture was actually taken in the middle of the afternoon. The wind direction is supposed to begin shifting tomorrow so hopefully that will improve our air quality.
Filed under Uncategorized
More training for Tango
Last night Tango started training for her next level of certification. She is learning how to identify the scent of human remains. It is called cadaver training.
She did 3 trials and appeared to be getting the idea. As her training progresses she will learn to lie down when she finds this scent. They are out training again tonight.
Filed under Tango
Search Update
Team Tango was at the search site until noon on Thursday when the search was called off because it was too dangerous to continue. It had been raining all morning and the trails became very muddy and slippery. Thursday night another request was made for dogs to search on Friday. Don took another vacation day and headed out to the command post at noon on Friday. Unfortunately the missing person was not located but it was an excellent opportunity for real life training for the dogs.
Tango has been taught to search for human scent. She found 2 laptop cases, a pair of rollerblades, 2 running shoes, a bicycle and last but not least….Tango’s personal favorite…a pair of men’s underwear. She came prancing out the woods with her treasure dangling out the side of her mouth. Don was particularly grateful that he was wearing leather gloves when he accepted that human scented article and told her what a good girl she was.
Filed under Tango
Tilly hide and seek
We took our kids and our house guest Hope for a free run. The grass was so tall that in places all I could see was the tip of Wally’s tail curled up high over his back. Forget about finding Tilly….it was impossible. She had a great time running through the grass and chasing after her much bigger buddies. I captured this cute video of everyone just being a dog and having fun….not to mention running into my camera. Check out Tilly’s giant ears flapping like wings as she runs.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
Calling Team Tango
Last night the local Police requested dog teams to help with a search. Don was able to take a vacation day from work and bright and early this morning he and Tango grabbed their gear and headed off to assist. Good luck and be careful.
Filed under Tango
The morning after….the night before
It is 6am and I am trying to survey the damage. It is still a little dark, more rain and storms today. I can’t believe that there is still tons of hail on the ground 10 hours after the storm hit. I braved the mosquitos this morning to video some of the damage and the left over hail.
Update: I came home at lunch to get a good look at the yard. I can’t believe how much hail is still in our yard almost 16 hours later. Our deck faces south and the current temperature is 26 degrees Celsius and yet there is still a layer of hail on my plants. It is so overwhelming and disheartening to see the damage. In Alberta, our summers are very short so you put a lot of effort into your garden and planters to enjoy a connection with nature…no matter how short the season is. To see all the blossoms and leaves lying on the ground and what leaves are left on the plants are sliced and full of holes, it is heartbreaking.
I guess it is important to remember that there is always a positive side to everything. We are all fine and other than damage to the shingles our house is still standing and protecting us. We are blessed.
Filed under Garden
One heck of a storm
I thought we had made some progress with Tango and thunderstorms but we have taken one heck of a step backwards tonight. I wasn’t sure if our house was going to remain standing. The rain and hail were coming down so hard and so fast that it was moving horizontally and driving towards our windows. At the peak I thought for sure I was going to hear glass breaking. The wind was so strong that it picked up our deck umbrella, inflated it and sailed it across the back of the house. The eavestrough and down spouts were so overwhelmed with the volume that it just poured out like huge waterfalls. When I thought the worst of it was over there was a huge bolt of lighting and all of a sudden our stereo turned itself on and the volume was at the maximum….how weird is that??? Poor Tango was just crouched low to the ground looking for somewhere to hide. When the hail stopped I grabbed my video camera and got these pictures of the damage to my garden and the huge piles of hail.
Filed under Garden
Tilly has been published
Just got an email this morning that the folks over at DrawtheDog.com have published the picture of Tilly looking out the front door. Check it out by clicking on this hot link…..Big World. How exciting!!!
If you are not familiar with DrawtheDog.com…..6 days a week they publish a cartoon inspired by pictures they receive. You can subscribe and get the picture emailed to you each day.
I think I am going to order a copy of the print. Thanks DrawTheDog!!
Filed under Tilly
Happy Birthday Ebony
I can’t believe that it has been 3 years since the E-litter was born. I can remember it like it was just last week. They were the 3rd litter that Wally sired. We had the pleasure of fostering Ebony for almost 14 months. She was so smart and so willing to please that she was just a joy to train. Here is a video of Ebony at 8 weeks old. In her first week with us she learned her name, come, sit, down, recall and she already had the beginnings of a pretty good retrieve with a set of keys.
By the time she was 5 months old she was able to turn on a light switch, pick up and carry items (even something as small as a dime), open drawers and cabinets and her retrieve was outstanding.
I have been thinking about her a lot lately and put together this presentation to send to her partner Sam on Ebony’s 3rd birthday.
Filed under Foster Puppies
Life In The Dog House 