January 30th and an amazing +8°C (it actually got to 10°). I think we have a little spring fever happening in our backyard.
Tag Archives: Coppermoon Golden Retrievers
Bitey-Face
I’m so happy that Brodie has started appreciating having a wild and crazy little brother. They are playing together more and more. This is their first sustained session of bitey-face.
Fit as a Fiddle
Annual Vet exam today. Both got a clean bill of health. Titres showed immunity is excellent so no unnecessary vaccines were required. Spirit was especially thrilled to hear that she should put on a few pounds. She ate enough dehydrated liver during her appointment to help her start the process. When she got home she inhaled a huge frozen turkey neck for an afternoon snack. She is really going to enjoy getting all these extra calories. She now loves her Vet 😉😂
New Title for Brodie
This handsome super sniffer just got his CWAGS CW-SSSA Scent Super Sleuth Ace ribbon. Big thanks to Anneli Hilton (you have the most beautiful ribbons) See Spot Run Doggy Daycare & Training Inc and all the amazing Judges (Deb Proc Robbi Bitner Mark Eckley Christina) and volunteers. Not to be outshone by her brother, Spirit the photo bomber earned two Level 4 Q’s tonight.
Filed under Brodie, CWAGS Title, Nosework
Lamb-chop Love
I could watch him play all day long. He knows when he starts rolling around upside down it will entice me to engage with him.
Filed under Brodie
Tribute to Mom
Yesterday we got the very sad news that Brodie’s Mom Ceilidh crossed the rainbow bridge unexpectedly and much too young. Our hearts go out to our breeder Shannon. We also received a bunch of CKC mail for Brodie which is a fitting tribute to his wonderful Mom.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Scent Detection, CKC Title, Nosework
Xmas Countdown Has Begun
They have been staring at this box for more than a month now. The time has finally come to open Day 1 of their Doggy Advent Calendar. Looks like freeze dried lung and it was a big hit.
Rally-O here we come again
It has been over 4 years since the last time the dogs and I participated in Rally Obedience. In fact, Brodie was 18 months old when we last trialed. This past weekend we took a big leap of faith and participated in the Lloydminster Kennel Club’s fall trial. Brodie’s very first Rally trial was in Lloydminster when he was only 7 months old.
My goal for this weekend was to have each dog earn their Advanced title. I am thrilled to say that not only did they meet my goal they exceeded it. Brodie Q’d in 3 of 4 runs, earning his Rally Advanced title and 2 Q’s towards his Rally Excellent. He also had a perfect score of 100 on his first run and a high in class (HIC). His NQ was completely my fault, I had a total brain fart melt down and failed him miserably.
Spirt was the big star this weekend. She Q’d in all 4 runs, earned her Rally Advanced title, 2 Excellent Q’s and 3 HIC. We went home with $80 in prize money for the 4 HIC.
There were a group of Berner breeders sitting together near the Rally ring. When Spirit was strutting her stuff around the Rally ring one of the breeders asked “Any one know who’s dog that is? She is a wonderful performance dog”. It just so happens that Spirit’s breeder, Tailspin Bernese Mountain Dogs, was in the group and she took great pleasure in saying “Why yes I do know who that is, she is one of my dogs”. A proud breeder moment brought to you by my big, shiny, black and beautiful girl.
Filed under Brodie, CKC Rally Obedience, CKC Title, Spirit
Fall in Edmonton
Took the dogs for a much deserved off-leash run this morning. Although Edmonton’s fall colour consists primarily of shades of gold, there are a few trees and shrubs that turn a magnificent red or orange. Stopped for a photo shoot to capture the brilliance.
Coppermoon Meetup
We had a wonderful Coppermoon family reunion this morning. Brother and sister Brodie and Cricket, Felix (Cricket’s son) and Dolly (a niece from Brodie’s sister Maddie). They all got along famously and ended the visit with a lovely swim.
(L-R Dolly, Brodie, Felix and Cricket)
Filed under Brodie
Lucky Elite #7
Once Brodie earned his SDDA (Sporting Detection Dogs Association) Elite Championship and Grand Master Championship I hadn’t planned to trial him anymore. Well plans change. Since Spirit was still working towards completing her SD-MACH2 and we were still attending trials, I decided to let him continue to play since he loves it so much. Much to my surprise he earned his 6th title in July and today his 7th. That’s his 4th Elite title this year compared the very long drought (2.5 years) between #3 and #4. He really loves this game.
Disc Dog
This weekend we attended an UpDog seminar to learn how to play 2 games: Throw ‘N Go and 4 Way Play. My throwing skills are slowly improving. I’m lucky that I have a smart fast dog who can make up for my inaccuracy. Brodie had an amazing catch in 4 way play. We had a few seconds left when he caught a frisbee in the 3 point zone. I quickly threw one into the 2 zone and he ran there still with the frisbee in his mouth. My soft mouth boy managed to catch a second frisbee in his mouth, without dropping either, just as the time ran out. Unfortunately one of the instructors stepped in front of Don while he was filming so you can’t see the amazing catch but you can hear everyone cheering. We did get a video of a successful catch in throw ‘n go.
New Favourite Toy
Auntie Dawn gave Brodie a new spiky squeaky ball. To say he loves it would be an understatement. He plays with it by himself and he will come and find me to ask me to engage with him and his new ball
Filed under Brodie
A New Blood Donor
Brodie made his first donation to the Canadian Animal Blood Bank (CABB). He did so well in a strange environment with 4 students holding him down. He is continuing the legacy of Wally who donated blood regularly until he was 10 years old.
Rat!!!
We spent this weekend at Prairie Dog Sports’ Barn Hunt trial. Although we’ve done some local barn dog trials, we haven’t been to a Barn Hunt trial since before COVID. Our weekend didn’t start out great but it ended with a bang. Although he Q’d in every Crazy 8 run we NQ’d in 3/5 Open runs. Sunday morning things started to click. We got our final Open qualifier to earn our RATO title. Brodie finished 1st in the large dog category and 1st in class. For our last run of the day we moved up to Senior. He was awesome and got 1st in the large dog category and 1st in class again. I am over the moon proud of how he managed to control his over excitement and hunt so well. We came home with a mitt full of ribbons and swag.
Big thanks to everyone at Prairie Dog Sports, Judge Christina Benishin, all the amazing hard working volunteers and my fellow barn hunt enthusiasts who support one another and find joy in each other’s success and share in our ‘oh so close’ moments.
Elite #4
It has been a very long drought for us but I am so thrilled that we earned our 4th SDDA Elite title today. Even better than that, my normally “chicken sh!t” dog amazed me by not only jumping on a table but he climbed up on a tractor and even on an open grate spiky metal platform. I couldn’t be more proud of him. Big thanks to Kristina of Little Nose That Knows, our Judge Kelly Ladouceur, the volunteers and my fellow competitors for cheering us on.
Parkour for Nosework?
Brodie and I took an Intro to Parkour workshop today. I learned that he is a whole lot more confident/brave outside than he is climbing on stuff inside. I was shocked how quickly he took on each challenge. I am hoping I can transfer this confidence to his interior nosework searches. In SDDA Elite searches dogs need to be able to search up to 4 feet above a stable surface.
Sprinting Again
It has been almost 2 years since Brodie has been to Sprinters. We are signed up for a trial next weekend so we were thrilled to find out that there was a practice last night. As we were pulling into the parking lot it was clear he knew what was coming. My normally quiet, well behaved dog started moaning, barking and vibrating. I had wondered if he would remember the game or still enjoy it….. he LOVES it 
. He is so crazy at the start line that I can’t hold him….Don has to release him. It takes all of his strength to hold on to him as the lure is approaching the start line. I get to be the “catcher”. It takes all my strength to leash him up and drag him off the field. He is possessed!!! Took him 8.74 seconds to do 100 metres, which is just over 41km/hr. In between his 1st and 2nd run we had to put the shade cloth, doubled up, over the back of the car so that he couldn’t watch the lure go by.
Filed under Brodie, Sprinters, Uncategorized
Great Weekend Sniffing
We spent the past weekend in Olds Alberta at the Canine Coaching SDDA trial. Both dogs had a great weekend. Although Spirit had retired from SDDA more than 2 years ago, she came back this weekend without missing a beat. On Saturday so got an advanced title with 3rd place in exteriors, 2nd place in containers and 1st place overall. Sunday morning she ran in Advanced again and got 3rd place in interiors, passed containers but we timed out in exteriors. Sunday afternoon she tried Excellent and got 3rd place in exteriors and 3rd place overall. So proud of her. She got a Mickey D’s ice cream cone to celebrate her achievements.
Brodie ran in Elite on Saturday and Sunday. No title for us (or for anyone this weekend which is not that unusual for Elite). On Saturday he got a 2nd in Exteriors and Containers (we finally broke our container jinx) and Sunday he got a 2nd in Interiors.
It was so nice to reconnect with so many handlers that we haven’t had a chance to visit with in over a year. Overall and fantastic weekend.
Filed under Brodie, Nosework, SDDA, SDDA Title, Spirit, Sporting Detection Dog Association
Real Bikejoring
We had some fun this morning at Chickakoo. First time Brodie and I have tried bikejoring in the woods instead of on sidewalks in our neighborhood. I am struggling to get him to run in front, he always wants to be in heel position. Brodie did almost 4km and then Don Ho and I went and biked another very hilly 5km. Can’t wait to go again. Thank you Angela Stuber for you excellent guidance and the photos. It really helped having you and your dog in front for motivation.
A Very BAD Dog!!!
Breaking News: a very naughty Golden Retriever was seen committing a very bad and dirty crime in broad daylight today. The perpetrator has not been seen in public since the “incident”. It is not known whether he is still alive 😩😡.
Filed under Brodie
Happy Mother’s Day
Who could ask for a better way to get your Mother’s Day card delivered?
Filed under Brodie
Happy Gotcha Day Brodie
Four years ago today I flew to Victoria to pick up this beautiful bundle of joy. Best decision ever!!!
Filed under Brodie
Brodie Got Mail
Brodie got his medal and $50 cheque today for coming in 2nd place at the Boneyard Challenge (scent detection) He thinks that the cheque should have been made out in his name so that he could decide what to spend it on.
Last swim?
We went out to a local man made lake for what could possibly be our last swim before it gets too cold. Brodie just loves the water.
Filed under Brodie
We got C-WAGS Mail
Both Brodie and Spirit got some bling in the mail. They both earned their Scent Ranger Level 1 titles. For the first time Spirit actually beat her brother by earning her title with 4 straight Q’s whereas it took Brodie 5 trials to earn his. Spirit also earned her Scent Detective Ace title which required 14 Q’s. Both dogs just love to play scent games.
First post COVID SDDA Trial
Big thank you to Samantha Freschette of Canine Coaching and all of her amazing volunteers for putting on a socially distanced SDDA trial. Thanks also to Judges Richard Hatchman, Lou-Anne Lambert and shadow judge Shanna Chynoweth. No Elite dogs titled on Saturday but 2 were successful on Sunday (#4 for Tracy Woroschuk and Max and yahoo Darla your 1st elite title). Although we struggled all weekend, I was so pleased with our final search today. Not because we were successful but because it felt like we were in unison functioning as a connected team. A positive end to our weekend. Thanks to Kerri for the pix.
Father’s Day C-WAGS Fun
We spent this morning at See Spot Run having some fun sniffing. The dogs both did great passing 7 of 7 runs. Spirit earned her Level 1 Scent Ranger title (CW-ScR1) and her scent Detective Ace title (CW-SDA) and Brodie also earned his Level 1 Scent Ranger title.
Big thanks to Anneli, the Judges and volunteers.
Life In The Dog House 