I love it when we can start our mornings out on the deck enjoying our morning coffee/tea together.
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Tag Archives: German Shepherd
Gone but never forgotten
It was a year ago today that we said goodbye to our beloved Tango. We still think about her daily. Those big, pointy ears….
Her beautiful, gentle brown eyes…
The way she ran like a cheetah. She would flatten her ears for increased aerodynamics and speed…them bring them up to use as flaps to help slow her down…..
And the big wet puppy kisses she would give to anyone that would let her get close enough.
She was a real ambassador for the Canadian Search Dog Association…..
We still miss you our little ‘search girl’. We know you will be faithfully waiting for us to join you.
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Filed under Tango
Honouring Tango
Earlier this year SARShop.com contacted search and rescue groups from around the world asking members to submit photos of their dogs. Their plan was to produce the first Search and Rescue calendar. We submitted a couple of pictures of our beautiful Tango and then promptly forgot about it. Just a couple of days before Tango crossed over the rainbow bridge we received an email telling us that Tango’s picture had been chosen for the calendar. This weekend we received our complimentary copy of the 2015 calendar. It was very emotional for us to see our girl’s picture in the calendar. The picture above is the one they chose. She is part of a group of pictures for the month of July.
Back in 2012 this picture of Tango was chosen to hang in the Royal Alberta Museum as part of their Wolf to Woof exhibit. (read more about it here).
Just a few more pictures of our girl. She always looked like she was smiling. Gosh I miss her……..
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Filed under BlogPaws, SAR, SAR Dog, Search and Rescue, Tango, Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday
Filed under BlogPaws, Wordless Wednesday
Hint …. Hint …..
Our girl loves her food and when she thinks it’s supper time she does her best to make sure we know it too.
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Filed under BlogPaws, Wordless Wednesday
Pets on Quilts Blog Hop
Today I am joining the 2014 Pets on Quilts blog hop. Tilly loves to “help” by sitting in the middle of any and every quilt that I try to hand sew the binding on. She is so darn cute and flirty when she does it that I don’t have the heart to kick her off. Here are just a few of the many quilts her hairy, little body has graced.
She even likes to “help” with the piecing:
How can I sew with her cute face in front of the needle
Wally and Tango thought they should be included in the blog hop too:
Linking up to the Pets on Quilts blog hop at Lily Pad Quilts
Filed under Uncategorized
Wordless Wednesday – Mmmm Yogurt
The ‘kids’ love licking the empty yogurt containers. I used to buy 500ml containers so they got to ‘clean’ one every 3 days. When I switched to the 1 litre containers they had to wait a whole week. They still join me in the kitchen every morning hoping that today is the day that the container is ready for their pre-wash cycle.
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Filed under BlogPaws, Tango, Tilly, Wally, Wordless Wednesday
Tango’s new transportation
As Tango’s degenerative myelopathy progresses she is having a harder time trying to walk around. She is constantly getting her back legs crossed or having them slip out from underneath her. She can still bunny hop/run fairly well but changing direction and stopping are a real challenge. We ordered a wheelchair for her and we have started getting her comfortable with it. This is a video of her first time testing her new wheels.
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Filed under Degenerative Myelopathy, Tango, Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday – Goin’ for a drive
Hurry up Mom….lets go!!
Keeping Mom’s seat warm while she shops
Tilly and Wally watching the world go by
Musical chairs – Tango and Tilly watching the world go by
Hanging out in the car can be exhausting
Filed under Wordless Wednesday
Wordless Wednesday – Sunday drive
Tango: Nice day for a drive to the off-leash park
Wally: Yes dear
Tango: Crazy Human Driver….signal your turns!!
Wally: Yes dear….it is a nice day for a drive to the park
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Filed under Tango, Wally, Wordless Wednesday
Chewed Slipper’s Surprise
We found this DVD in our mailbox this week. It was a surprise from Lorena and Amanda, the co-owners of Chewed Slippers Dog Photography. This summer we did a photo shoot with them. Wally is almost 13 and I wanted to capture some special pictures with him. They allowed 2 dogs in the sitting so we brought Tango along so that Don could get some pix of him and her together in the Canadian Search Dog uniform. I wish we had known how special the pictures were going to be because we would have paid extra to add Tilly to the session (sorry Tilly….next time we will include you). We didn’t know at the time, but a few weeks after the shoot we found out that Tango has Degenerative Myelopathy and the future prognosis for her is not very bright. It just makes the pictures of her even more special. They took well over 100 pictures. When we went in for our viewing, we were overwhelmed. Several of the pictures brought tears to my eyes. I am so glad we did the session. If you are looking to capture some memories of your family (two and four legged) I highly recommend Chewed Slippers.
Filed under Uncategorized
Merry Christmas
From the Dog House to your house……we wish you a very Merry Christmas. We hope you are surrounded by family, warmth and joy.
Congrats Team Tango
Yesterday Don and Tango had their annual RCMP certification in 4 profiles (small article, alley, large article, person) and obedience . I am very proud to say that they passed. During their large article test a stray dog came into their search area and wanted to play with Tango. Our girl just kept searching and didn’t even look at the other dog. There were four RCMP dog handlers observing the certification and they were really impressed with her focus and dedication to her search. Knowing our dominant, bossy girl….I bet she didn’t want to share her “prize” with another dog so she was determined to find it first.
Filed under SAR, SAR Dog, Search and Rescue, Tango
Mock Search
Last weekend we were in Slake Lake to participate in a large multi-agency Mock Search put on by the Slave Lake Regional Fire Service. There were people from the RCMP, Edmonton Regional Search and Rescue, Canadian Search Dog Association, Slake Lake Search and Rescue to name a few. We had 9 dogs teams there representing Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge. It was a very well planned and thought out exercise that had scenarios and search areas to suit each group. We even had helicopters flying low over head throughout the day. The dogs did great and didn’t seem concerned about the noise or the low flying choppers. No one encountered any bears or angry wildlife and we all had a great time.
Filed under SAR, SAR Dog, Search and Rescue, Tango, Volunteering
Congrats Team Tango
I am proud to say that Don and Tango passed their annual RCMP Cadaver certification last night. They had three 20 x 20 metre fields that they had to search, one had no material in it and the other two had 1-3 samples. The scent sources were placed 48 hours prior to the test. They were allowed 30 minutes per field but they completed all three fields in approximately 20 minutes. They found all samples and correctly identified the negative field. Don said that it was a ‘thing of beauty’ watching our girl work the fields. Tango got Timmy bits as her reward and the skinny guy and I are going out for dinner tonight for our celebration. Yeah Team!!!!
Filed under SAR, SAR Dog, Search and Rescue, Tango, Volunteering
Easter Celebrations Doggy Style
This morning we gave the ‘kids’ each a prime rib bone to enjoy on Easter Sunday…..better than chocolate eggs any day!!!
Bed hogs
Even with a king size bed there is no room for the two-legged members of the family when all 3 dogs decide they want to cuddle in our bed. Seriously we do manage to fit all 5 of us in bed.
Door step surprise
We found this surprise sitting on our front door step. We don’t know who left it there. As you can see by the pictures, Wally liked it more than Tango did. Those of you that know my boy will know exactly what he did with his new friend.
Filed under Tango, Two legged family, Wally
Wolf to Woof
Last night we attended the opening night of the Wolf to Woof exhibit at the Royal Alberta Museum. It was exciting to see Tango’s picture hanging in the museum. There was a wonderful formal presentation and we got to hear the stories behind all the winning pictures. There were 30 winners chosen to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Friends of the Royal Alberta Museum Society (FRAMS), 10 in each of the following 3 categories: Best Buddy, Hall of Shame and Hall of Fame. Tango was a winner in the Hall of Fame category. We were presented with a beautiful framed copy of her picture and bio. When the exhibit ends this fall, we will also get the framed picture that was hanging in the gallery all summer.
I highly recommend checking out the exhibit. It was well done and very informative for people of all ages who are interested in dogs.
Filed under Tango, Volunteering
Amazing Drawings
I found a talented local artist who did these spectacular drawings of our “kids”. I just gave her pictures of the dogs and I got these wonderful keepsakes. I know that when they have all gone to puppy heaven, I will have these amazing drawings to ease my heartache. She is particularly talented at capturing the eyes…they show the heart, soul and personality of our dogs. People who have seen the drawings and know our dogs comment on how she has managed to convey much more than just an image. I love them all but I especially love the one of Wally with his big, jowly puddles. If you would like to commission a drawing of your beloved companion animal, get in touch with me and I will give you her contact info.
I surprised Don and got this extra drawing of Tango in her search vest that he can hang in his office at work.
Filed under Tango, Tilly, Two legged family, Wally
Yeah….Team Tango!!!
Picture Courtesy of: Rene Mercier
I am thrilled to announce that Team Tango passed their annual RCMP cadaver certification this morning. As a reward, Tango got a Mega-P’nut treat from Bone and Biscuit in Sherwood Park and Don is going to get a nice ‘take-out’ dinner from the restaurant of his choice. I think Tango got the better end of this deal.
Filed under Tango
Pets in the Park
On Sunday we volunteered to set up a booth at the Humane Society’s annual Pets in the Park. Tango was a little excited when we first got there. Both she and Don were wearing their “search gear” so she thought that she was there to work. Once she figured out that there wasn’t going to be any searching, she settled down and helped greet all the visitors and their pets.
Filed under Tango, Volunteering
Yeah Team Tango!!!
Don and Tango passed their annual RCMP certification test today. Although it has been raining non-stop all day they went ahead with the testing. The large articles have been laying out in the test field for two rain filled days, but Tango found them all. The people search was picture perfect and a thing of beauty. She hit on the scent more than 75 yards away. They were tested on 4 profiles today: large articles, small articles, people and alleys. Their cadaver test will happen this fall. I wasn’t allowed to watch the certifcation tests because I am too much of a distraction for our girl. While she is searching she likes to do a ‘run-by’ just to say hi to Mom.
I’m so proud of them. We are going to have a celebration dinner tonight!!!
Filed under Tango, Volunteering
True search girl
I got Don a book on search and rescue training for his birthday. He had been reading it and when he took a break, he put it down on the couch beside him. Next thing we know, our search girl has crawled up beside him and put her paw on the the cover of the book. It was such a perfect photo opportunity that you would almost think that we posed it…..but we didn’t.
Big Puppy!!!
We spent another wonderful day at Patty’s acreage with all the dogs. It was great to walk the property without trudging through thigh deep snow…..but…..the damn mosquitos were crazy. I’ve never seen so many in my life. We had to bathe our entire bodies in deep woods off to keep from getting eaten alive. There were so many that you could hear a loud hum. The City is saying that we are experiencing the worst mosquito infestation ever in recorded history. The annoying part is that this variety is out in full force during the hottest part of the day. Poor Hope got so many bites on her pretty, black face that she was all swollen and itchy. She must have an allergy to them.
Even with all the skeeters we had a wonderful time. Tilly got to meet a horse up close and personal…..I think the horse enjoyed it more than she did.
Wally managed to roll in everything stinky and disgusting that he could find. His beautiful golden coat took on a greenish patina from all the poop he ground into it. We left the big dogs outside in the dog run so that they could dry off. Tango managed to squish her fat head through the gate and got herself stuck. Thank goodness my “mommy” instincts kicked in and I decided that I needed to check on the kids so we were able to free her before any damage was done. It took two baths to get the green tinge and disgusting smell out of Wally’s coat.
Filed under Foster Puppies, Tango, Tilly, Wally
Provincial Mock Search
Team Tango are in southern Alberta participating in a provincial mock search. Both ground pounders (people) and dog search groups work together on different wilderness profiles to practice their skills and working with one another. The scenario for Saturday’s morning was to search was for a missing 30 year old woman with her 19 month old baby. All of the various search teams headed off looking for the pair. Team Tango left the base camp around 11am. First Tango found an abandoned campsite with some clothing followed by a pen sitting on a mound of snow. Around noon Tango starting indicating that she detected another human scent and headed off in pursuit with Don following closely behind her. We are proud to say that Team Tango found the missing pair. As is her custom, she has to give everyone a very enthusiastic face wash….and she was particularly interested in the baby in the back pack. She keep going up on her hind legs to get a sniff. Needless to say Don was thrilled with her performance and she was rewarded with playtime with her favourite ball.
Filed under Tango
River valley search continues
Team Tango continued their search in the River Valley on Tuesday. It seems like every picture and video that has been taken of the search features Don’s rear end. People are starting to tease him that that is his best profile.
We hope that the search will provide some closure for the many families affected by the large number of missing women in the Edmonton area.
Here is a new link to an Edmonton Sun article. Again….I don’t know how long these link will be active.
Filed under Tango, Volunteering
Team Tango Searches River Valley
Today Don and Tango took part in a search at the request of the RCMP and Project Kare. All the local print and tv news groups were there. Although there were 3 teams from the Canadian Search Dog Association it looks like most of the coverage features Don and Tango….probably because my girl is so beautiful and photogenic.
Here are the links to the various media sources:
Edmonton Journal
CBC
Edmonton Sun
Global Edmonton
CTV
Here’s a picture of Don and Tango from Global News Edmonton:
I don’t know how long these links will work but hopefully they will be valid for a few days.
Filed under Tango, Volunteering
Life In The Dog House 