February 2nd is National Sled Dog Day. Unfortunately it is way to cold today to go for a kicksled run (-33C with the wind chill) so I have to use pictures from a couple of weeks ago. I played with a few filters to jazz them up a bit.
National Sled Dog Day
Filed under Brodie, Iron Paws, Kick Sledding, Spirit
Training for 1/2 Corked Marathon
This Sunday we are supposed to start our training program to prepare for the 1/2 Corked Marathon in May. Unfortunately Mother Nature has decided not to cooperate. The forecast calls for temperatures around -24 degrees celsius and who knows how much colder it will be with the wind chill factored in (just checked and it will be -41 with the windchill…yikes!!!!). I decided to start our training program a few days earlier to avoid Sunday’s chill. Brodie and I did a lovely 7km canicross on Thursday morning using all our new gear…..Brodie’s pulling harness, bungee leash and my canicross belt. Everything worked great together and was so much easier on my back.
Brodie’s belly and legs were filthy by the time we finished but his cooling rolls in the snow did a great job to remove the worst of it.
Iron Paws Week 5 Challenge
This week’s Howladays challenge is to show you and your dogs relaxing and enjoying a movie together. Unfortunately it is hard to fit all three of us on our love seat but we tried.
Filed under Brodie, Iron Paws, Spirit, Uncategorized
Iron Paws Week 4
This week’s Howladays challenge is a little different. It says “Stage 4: Heroes week. Feel free to interpret this however suits your fancy, and don’t forget to share your vision.” I am not sure that hero is the right word but these dogs are my world. They mean everything to me. Before Brodie and Spirit I had never done any dog sports. Now our lives revolve around driving to various classes, practices and trials. They make sure that I get out and about every single day. They give so much but ask for so little in return. They may not be “heroes” in the traditional sense but they are my heroes.
Filed under Brodie, Iron Paws, Spirit, Uncategorized
Iron Paws Week 3 Challenge
Since our crash on Sunday I have not been able to do much and now it is getting very cold (-20C and even colder in the evenings) so I doesn’t look like we will get much if any sledding or canicross in this week. But we rocked this week’s challenge. We had to take pictures of our team catching popcorn….now this is our kind of challenge!!!
Wipeout(s)
Kicksledding this winter has been fun but painful. I’ve had a few spectacular wipeouts. First run of the season…I made it through the entire run without wiping out. Got to the parking lot and the dogs took a sharp corner to get to Don and I ended up with one ski caught on a snow pile covering a curb and flipped on my right side. Don was so busy laughing and videoing that he forgot to catch the dogs and the sled as they ran by.
Today was my best wipeout ever. We were 1/2 way through the 4km run at Blackfoot. During a steep downhill run, Spirit stopped to gobble up a frozen ‘poop-sicle” on the trail. The sled caught up to her and was going to hit her so I bailed. Got the tow rope and one of the sled skis tangled around my ankle as the dogs took off running again. Big boo boo and fat ankle. Hope this won’t end my Iron Paws season 💔😟 (and yes that is dog hair all over my socks….can’t vacuum with a boo boo right?! 😂). I am hoping that at least I can get some sympathy points…maybe some spoiling and extra attention from the skinny guy. A girl can dream?!??!?
Filed under Brodie, Iron Paws, Kick Sledding, Spirit
Iron Paws Week 2
This week’s Howliday fun challenge was to play One-eyed-Jack-is-wild virtual poker game. You have to answer 5 questions and your answers are decoded into poker cards. Let’s just say we aren’t going to win the game. You can tell by the dogs’ expressions that we have a really crappy poker hand.
Filed under Brodie, Iron Paws, Spirit, Uncategorized
2019 Iron Paws
Just for a little winter fun and motivation, I have signed up for the 2019 Iron Paws Stage Race. It is a 6 week virtual sled dog race. The whole idea is to get you and your dogs out and active and meeting up with local like minded people. It also includes some fun challenges that you must do each week.
For our first week we have been challenged to create a magazine cover featuring our team. This is what I came up with:
We accumulate points by participating in races, going on group training runs and participating in regional events. As long as we do at least one run per week we should earn a medal at the end of the 6 week program. The real reward is the time spent and memories made with your dogs.
Sometimes it can be hard to keep motivated during a cold Alberta winter so I am hoping this virtual race and meeting up with other Kicksled/canicross/skijor/bikejor teams will keep us going out and about.
To start our New Year off on the right foot and accumulate our first points, the dogs and I did the Running Room 5km Resolution run as a canicross team.
We got SDDA mail
We received two new official titles in the mail today. Brodie got his SD-MACH (Sporting Detection Master Champion) and Spirit got her silver level SD-E (Sporting Detection Excellent Title). They sure love this sniffing game. So proud of my “kids”.
We Got CKC Mail
My handsome boy got his CKC Novice Sprinter title in the mail. Only 6 weeks from the day he actually earned his title, that’s really good for CKC.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Sprinters, CKC Title
Happy 4th Birthday Spirit
I can’t believe that she is 4 years old already. Time continues to fly by too quickly. Our girl has had a good year. She earned both her Rally Novice and Intermediate titles as well as her Sporting Detection Excellent title. So proud of her.
Here’s a trip down memory lane:
MACH Photoshoot
This fall I made myself a promise that if we were lucky enough to earn our Sporting Detection Master Champion title, I would book a photo session with an amazing local photographer Bev Holoboff Photography Brodie proved to be a bit of a challenge. He wasn’t comfortable posing on top of the table so he was just panting like crazy. Nearly every picture she took, either his tongue was hanging out or his ears were back and he looked nervous. We decided we would try getting some actions shots by throwing a bunch of his scent detection ribbons in the air. Not sure that Brodie found it as funny as we did.
Filed under Brodie, SDDA, SDDA Title, Sporting Detection, Sporting Detection Dog Association
One more sniff for 2018
When we finished our last trial in October I thought that would be the end of our 2018 season but I was wrong. When I saw the premium for the K9 Scentinels trial in Surrey BC, I just knew we had to enter. The best dog teams in our sport were going to be there and we would have the opportunity to trial along side them and learn so much. Traveling through the mountains at this time of year can be very treacherous but we were lucky and had great weather both ways. It is very rare to be able to see the top of Mount Robson…it is usually hidden in the clouds.
Brodie only needed one more Q in Excellent Interiors so I entered him both Saturday and Sunday hoping that he would pass one of them and earn his Master Championship. I also entered him in Elite for both days but we didn’t get a spot on either day. We ended up first on the waiting list for Saturday and 3rd on Sunday. Spirit has been “off” on scent work lately so I did not enter her at all. A few days before the trial we got the great news that someone has cancelled on Saturday so Brodie would get a chance to do an Elite run.
For Excellent Interiors you have 15 minutes to search 3 rooms. One will have 1 hide, one will have 2 hides and the other will be clear. You cannot leave a room until you call it clear or finished. As luck would have it, Brodie passed his Excellent run in 2 minutes and 40 seconds and earned his Master Championship on Saturday. K9 Scentinels made a video of each dog’s run and shared it with us after the trial (thank you!).
Since Brodie didn’t need his run on Sunday, K9 Scentinels allowed me to substitute Spirit in for him and switch it to Exteriors. I was so proud of Spirit. She worked her little heart out (slow and steady) and not only got high in trial but she earned her Excellent Title. Here’s Spirit’s video It was early Sunday morning, -2C and the whole search area was on a steep frosty covered hill (concrete and grass). There were 3 hides.
We ended up getting the opportunity to run Elite on both days. Elite is so much harder than all the previous levels combined. There are an unknown number of hides, you have to deal with converging and pooling odour and it is a real head game for the handler. Unfortunately not a single team qualified in Elite either day. I was so hoping to see history made and witness the first team ever to earn their Elite Championship or Grand Master Championship. There are two teams that just need one more elite title to reach both of these milestones.
Kicksledding Team???
After Brodie’s learn to pull class last weekend, I had planned to take the dogs out this weekend and introduce Brodie to a kicksled and then if things went well, connect them to the kicksled as a team. Mother Nature actually cooperated and gave us a good dump of snow yesterday, so rather than pulling the sled on grass they got to work in the snow with me riding and kicking behind them. We didn’t get much speed or distance but it was a decent first effort.
Filed under Brodie, Kick Sledding, Spirit
5 Mile Classic
Another Running Room 5 Mile Classic is in the record books. Spirit did the race with us but she could not come into the hall after the race so she wasn’t included in the picture.
Filed under Races, Uncategorized
Intro to Pulling
Yesterday Brodie and I took a dry land pulling clinic at the Nordic Ski Club in Fort Saskatchewan. Dogs with any kind of obedience training have a hard time transitioning to pulling while in harness and he was no exception. We did manage to get him to pull me on the scooter a few times. My hope is that he will like this pulling game so that he can join Spirit and I kick sledding this winter. Thanks to Marc Debrule for the great pix.
Filed under Brodie, Kick Sledding, Training
We got mail
So proud of my little man being the first Golden Retriever to earn his Sporting Detection Elite Title (SD-EL) and of course a Championship title is a nice addition too.
Filed under Brodie, SDDA, SDDA Title, Sporting Detection, Sporting Detection Dog Association
A Sprinter is Born
This weekend we attended the ALCA (Alberta Lure Coursing Association) Frosty Canine Trial. We had a blast. We were shocked to see how intense Brodie’s prey drive was. I wasn’t strong enough to hold him back if he caught a glimpse of another dog running after the lure. We decided that I would be the catcher at the finish line and Don would be the holder at the start line. While we were waiting for his first run, Brodie flipped Don over trying to get to the lure on the opposite side of the field. We ended up using two leashes and both of us holding on for dear life to get him off the field after his run. It took him just under 9 seconds to complete his first 100 metre sprint which equates to 40km per hour. Wow!! His second run was identical. We walked away with two Q’s and 80 points.
In the afternoon we tried Chase Ability for the first time. It is a 600 yards (545 metres) with several twists and turns. The runs are not timed but the dog must complete the run without stopping and with enthusiasm. I was a little worried that the distance might prove to be too much but I was wrong. He never got distracted or lost interest in the chase.
When we got home Saturday, I thought he would eat and pass out….not! He showed no sign of being tired.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Chase Ability Program, CKC Sprinters, Lure Coursing, Sprinters
All Sniffed Out
Saturday – Excellent Exterior, Advanced working 1st overall and high in trial
This weekend we participated in our final sporting detection trial for 2018. Chinook Dog Centre put on a really amazing event and it was their very first trial. Big congratulations to Joanne and Brandy-Lee. The timing of runs was fantastic, we were fed really well and we even finished early on Sunday.
On Saturday Brodie had a very busy day trialing at 3 different levels. Normally I would never do that but at the last minute we decided to pull Spirit’s entry because she just didn’t want to play scent games at the last trial and I didn’t think it was fair to force her to do it again (will be play over the winter to find out if she is still interested in Scenting or if it is time to retire). You can only get a refund for medical reasons so we substituted Brodie in for her events. He qualified in Excellent Working Exteriors and finished in 3rd place. He rocked Advanced working qualifying in all 3 components with a 1st in Interiors, 2nd in Containers and 2nd in Exteriors. He finished first overall in Advanced Working and we also won high in trial and got a basket full of goodies. He was fantastic at the Elite level. We qualified in containers and exteriors and got to the final room in our interior search and he alerted at the top of a fire extinguisher but the hide was 2 inches higher in the light switch. So close. It was a heart breaker.
Sunday – Advanced working 1st overall and high in trial
On Sunday he only ran in Excellent and Advanced. We were both tired, he was a little crazy running all over the place and then decided to play soccer with the containers instead of searching them. Needless to say we NQ’d. He managed to slow down a little bit for the Advanced searches. We qualified in all 3 components with a 3rd in Interiors, 1st in Containers and 1st in Exteriors. Once again we finished first overall, won high in trial again and got a second basket full of goodies. So proud of my little man. If we had managed to get just one Excellent Interior qualifier this weekend we would have earned our SD-MACH (Master Champion). On the positive side, we have something to look forward to next year.
Big thanks to Judges Mary-Ann Warren and Doug Wilson
Filed under Brodie, SDDA, SDDA Title, Sporting Detection, Sporting Detection Dog Association
Sniff and Tell
This past weekend we made the long drive down to Picture Butte Alberta to attend the Sniff and Tell Sporting Detection Trial. The trial was held at Coyote Flats Pioneer Village. What a terrific venue for a scent trial. The weather was amazing and Team Brodie had a fantastic weekend. We ran in both Working Advanced and Elite. On Saturday in Advanced we got 2nd place in Exteriors, 3rd place in containers and finished first overall. Elite didn’t go as well. We didn’t qualify in any component nor did any of the other competitors. On Sunday we finished 1st in Advanced Working Exteriors but the big news is that we earned the elusive Elite Title and we are the first Golden team to earn it. It was such a rush and an emotional roller coaster all in one. The Judge gave me a big hug after our last component and all of the other competitors were huddled outside cheering for us when we came out. That is one of the things that I love about this sport. We are all cheerleaders for one another and we are happy for each other even when we haven’t been successful. We were the only team to earn a title so by default we got the High Overall Elite award. Look at the haul of awards and goodies we came home with.
Spirit ran in the Amateur Excellent stream on both days but false alerted on every run. Very unusual for her but she seemed very happy doing it.
Brodie Loves to Run
This morning I took Brodie out to the country to give lure coursing a try. He loves playing tug and runs like the wind so I thought he might like this sport. Boy did he like it. He didn’t even need a lesson. When the lure started to move he was off like a jet and he didn’t stop until it did.
I tried to get video of his sprint but he flew by so quickly. On our way back to the start line, it took all my strength to hold him back when he saw another dog take off on her run. I can’t wait until we get to play again.
This is his second run. Twice the distance as the first one
A photographer got these amazing action shots:
Filed under Brodie, Lure Coursing
More Pet Therapy
Today, on behalf of the Pet Therapy Society of Northern Alberta, Tilly and I went to visit 311 operators at the City. There were many visitors who enjoyed petting and visiting with the dogs. These two lovely ladies volunteered to pose with Tilly.
Filed under Uncategorized
Champion Sniffer
We went to the Canine Coaching SDDA trial in Bowden Alberta this weekend. We drove down on Friday so that we wouldn’t have to get up at 4am on Saturday morning in order to get to the trial on time. That turned out to be a good choice because when we woke up Saturday morning and looked out the window of our hotel room we saw a freezing winter wonderland. It would have been a scary drive. I’ve never practiced in a snow storm never mind trialed.
Neither dog titled on Saturday but Spirit got a 2nd place in Advanced Working Containers and Brodie got a first place in Excellent Working Containers and was the only dog to qualify in that component.
Sunday was an amazing day for Brodie. I am so incredibly proud of my boy. He just loves this game of Scent Detection. He earned his Excellent Working Title with a 2nd place in Containers, 1st place in Exteriors and a 3rd place in Interiors. We finished 1st place overall. With a total score of 194/200 we earned our second gold level title.
But the good news doesn’t stop there. Brodie earned his Scent Detection Championship, a beautiful ribbon and beautiful swag. I have to remind myself that he is only 19 months old and he has already accomplished so much. I checked the latest title stats (updated as of 2018SEP09) and determined that as of that date, there have only been 6 Goldens who have earned their Scent Detection Champion SD-CH title so far. When they have them updated I will check again and confirm if he is the 7th.
We got so many compliments on how amazing he was for such a young dog and how well we work together as a team. Those compliments mean so much more to me than any title we have earned.
Spirit came so close to titling on Sunday but we just missed on the exterior component. We qualified in containers with a 3rd place and she finished first in interiors.
On the more humorous side, on Saturday Brodie and I got an extra special fun ribbon for “Sassy Handler” because his Mom let out an expletive during one of our searches. On Sunday we got another special ribbon for “Most Dramatic” because I was so excited when we completed our final component and I realized that we had earned our Championship….I rolled around on the floor with Brodie and smooched him up. And believe it or not, Spirit and I also got one of the “special” ribbons for “Epic Fail” when we NQ’d on our Exterior search on Sunday. They didn’t hand out that many “special” ribbons but somehow we managed to snag three of them. Crazy handler. There was a lot of laughing and a good time had by everyone.
Welcome baby Cleo Isla Paige
Over a period of 3 months this summer, amongst friends and family, we had 5 beautiful babies born. Although this was the first quilt I made, it was the last one to go to its new home. I made this one for our Niece’s first baby. We didn’t know the gender and Mom wanted a marine/ocean themed gender neutral quilt using blues and greys. I found this pattern (Preppy the Whale by Elizabeth Hartman) and instantly fell in love with it. It is just perfect for a marine themed baby quilt. I didn’t know when I made it that Dad’s favourite colour was orange.
A member of our walking group saw me working on Cleo’s Preppy quilt and asked me to make one just like it for a close friend who was expecting a baby girl.
Filed under Baby Quilt, FMQ, Quilting
Baby James Andrew
On July 9th we welcomed James Andrew into our extended family. He joins his big sister Leah. This was the 4th baby quilt I made this summer. It is a little unique because it is two sided. Instead of having a plain backing, it has another quilt top on the back giving the family two options. This is the front:
This is the back:
Baby James on his new quilt (with Don)
Here is a close up of the free motion quilting.
Filed under Baby Quilt, Quilting
Welcome Baby Edward Andrew
In June we added a beautiful new member to our extended family. Baby Edward joins his big sister, 2 year old Ava.
Filed under Baby Quilt, Quilting
Cowichan Valley K9 Noseworks Trial
On the weekend we participated in the Cowichan Valley K9 Noseworks scent trial on Vancouver Island. Brodie had a great day on Saturday, He qualified in both Excellent Amateur Interiors (2nd place) and Containers. With those 2 qualifiers he earned his Excellent title.
Spirit struggled a bit but she qualified in Advanced Working containers with a 2nd place. We were really thrilled to learn that we were chosen as the Judge’s favourite team.
Sunday was complete opposite of Saturday. Spirit qualified in all 3 components and earned another Advanced Working Title. She also got a first place in containers and once again we were chosen as the Judge’s favourite team (different Judge).
Brodie didn’t qualify in any of his runs. Our exterior search was particularly interesting. He was so focused on whatever scents were in the environment that he completely ignored me for the entire 5 minutes before we timed out and were disqualified. The Judge and her assistants were in tears from laughing so hard watching me trying to get Brodie to engage with me. I had a good giggle when I was given my score sheets and saw the Judge’s comments……
Thank you to CWV9 for hosting a wonderful. A big thank you to Judges Jane Book and Kathy Hansen and all the wonderful volunteers.
Filed under Brodie, SDDA, SDDA Title, Spirit, Sporting Detection, Sporting Detection Dog Association
Another Scent Title for Spirit
This morning I was awake at 4am to get ready to drive to Red Deer to compete at the Little Nose That Knows/Canine Coaching SDDA trial. The trial was held at the Sunnybrook Farm Museum. We are so lucky that businesses like Sunnybrook support SDDA and allow us to hold trials there. Both Brodie and Spirit competed today. Running two dogs at the same trial can be a little hectic but I was very lucky because their searches didn’t overlap today. This was Spirit’s first trial in almost a year. We had to cancel several trials earlier this year because she was having trouble with her eyes. I was a little nervous since we had been away from the sport for so long but she was a wonderful. She qualified in all 3 components and got her advanced working stream title. She came in first in interiors with a perfect score of 80/80, second in containers with a 57/60 and got a 50/60 for her exterior search . The icing on the cake was finishing first place overall in the advanced working stream. So proud of my girl. With an overall score of 187/200 she earned a Silver title.
Not wanting to be outdone by his big sister, Brodie had a smokin’ day at the trial too. He Q’d in both excellent containers and exteriors. He would have got his title with SP designation but his Mom got too excited and called the alert too quickly on the last interior room search. If I had waited 2 seconds longer I would have been able to tell the judge exactly where the hide was instead of being off by a few inches. For only 18 months old he just rocked it. It was a tough trial and no one earned their excellent title. We were thrilled to find out that we placed 2nd in containers and first in exteriors and we were the only team that qualified in exteriors.
Thank you to all the amazing volunteers, Judges Paul Dyer and Ryan-Ann King Smith and to Little Nose that Knows and Canine Coaching for hosting another great trial.
Filed under Brodie, Nosework, SDDA, SDDA Title, Spirit, Sporting Detection, Sporting Detection Dog Association
Rally disappointment but good lesson learned
Not a good day for us in the Rally ring. Although we have practiced, we have never trialed in an outdoor ring before. Both dogs were completely distracted. All they wanted to do was sniff and explore. A very embarrassing and humbling experience. Between the morning and afternoon trial I spent some time walking each of them around and letting them sniff everything and meet people. They were a little more focused in the afternoon but still quite distracted. Spirit managed to squeak by with a 72 (a very generous judge) and get her first Q in advanced rally. I know that I have a lot of work to do so that both dogs find being with me more rewarding than all the distractions in a trial environment. I learned a big and very valuable lesson.
Filed under Brodie, Rally Obedience, Rally-O, Spirit
Big Surprise
For the first time, Klondike Days (our annual summer exhibition) featured a Makers Exhibition to showcase and celebrate local makers, creators, artists and producers. On a whim, I decided to enter my Bridges of Madison County quilt into the Longarm Quilting category. Unfortunately I was so busy that I completely forgot to go and see the exhibit before it closed. I went this week to pick up my quilt and was shocked to see that it had a first place ribbon on it. The judges comments were “Superb. Small pucker on backing but otherwise excellent”.
Filed under Quilting
Life In The Dog House 