Shelties Rank In The Top 5 Breeds of Intelligence

Yesterday, it was reported in the news that Dr. Stanley Coren, Prof emeritus @ Univ of British Columbia presented his research findings to the American Psychological Association's (APA) annual meeting in Toronto in early August.

To cut to the chase, he figures the intellectual elite of the canine world, in descending order, are: Border collies, poodles, German shepherds, golden retrievers, Dobermans, Shetland sheepdogs, Labrador retrievers. He says the average dog has the mental abilities of a two-year old child, with an understanding of between 165 and 250 words.

Dr. Coren's Seminar in Ottawa put on by the group hosting the CSSA Nat'l 2006.

So how many words do you think your sheltie knows?

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Smiths Falls Dog Days Of Summer

15 mins south of us is a town called Smiths Falls and every Saturday from late spring to early fall there is a Farmer's Market, and today they had a special day for dogs. This was the 1st year for it, with donations going to the local LAWS animal rescue group. Every dog was given a bandanna ... blue for boys, pink for girls ... with a # on it. These were so the 'judges' could do the 'marking'. We started out at the market on a dog parade, followed the main street a few blocks, stopped in for a 'rest' at the Tea Room and then headed back to the market. All the dogs were well behaved. We had Pugs, to Dobs to GSD ... we took our Rocky and his granddaughter Chinook.
Ending at the Farmer's Market where there were 'prizes' given out ... we won for the best "Look-A-Likes". There was also 3 draws for a $10 Pet Value gift certificate .. YEAH!! we won that too.

Rocky & Chinook sporting their 'tags'.

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Secret - A Little Mite

Our little Secret is almost 8 wks old, still a 'little mite'. But OH, is she cute and with a sweet temperament.

Hummmm .... which direction might you go next? You can't surprise me!

The Bumble Ball has shown she's got some herding instincts, once it's stopped tho, it's just another chew toy that needs checking out.

And her soft squishy squeekie toys that Mary-Anne bought for her, she just loves! Pondering her next move.

in a high pitched voice just say .... "Secret!!!" and she's ready to give you attention

Her new agility home .... they are waiting impatiently for her vetting & shots ...

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Especially Summer Scratches

I do it for all my clients, grind nails after cutting to remove those sharp edges. Well, in grooming yesterday I didn't heed my OWN standards. It was Rush's day for dead coat removal & nail trimming, so I got the nails done, one side of the coat out and in turning him over, didn't I get a good scratch! It's itchy at times and really does look worse than it is ... but golly, do know these types of scratches seem to take longer than one would think to heal.
Lesson learned! again ....

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TIKO Show Weekend

It was a sweltering show weekend ... close to 40C with the humidity! It's been cloudy, rainy and cool so far this summer, so both us and the dogs have not yet acclimatized to it.

We just entered our Snr Puppy Chinook, as that's about the only dog in the kennel with any coat. I'm not sure she was pleased either to be out in the heat. Friday Mary-Anne went down with me (she took the pictures); on Saturday I had extra company with Mary-Anne & Marylou along for the ride, and I put them to work helping me out with 5 of our dogs having their eyes checked @ the Eye Clinic. Good news, all were Clear! Sunday, Mike made the trip with me.

Today, as I write this, it's still HOT! Some 41 C with the humidex. The A/C is working overtime for sure ... at least we're all in doors where it's cool. Guess tho, we shouldn't complain ... maybe we'll get some pool time this summer!

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National Agility Competition - Gryphon's Success

Linda Howie, owner of Gryphon sent me these pics that her neighbour took and wrote me the following. They are from the agility competition on the Aug long weekend, held here in Ottawa.

Gryphon had some top notch runs this weekend. He came in 5th for the 16" specials on Saturday in his jumpers run and 3rd place on Sunday! Because of his height Gryphon should jump 22". He had a small nagging injury so the decision was made to drop a jump height putting him in "specials" at age 8yrs.

Gryphon & his house buddy Duncan

When Gryphon arrived in my home one of the first things he did at age 10 weeks was to leap over a little wooden structure I had put up to barricade him in the kitchen. I said to myself "Yes, he will be a great agility dog!" He has been just amazing. He is fast and and has tons of drive. He absolutely LOVES to work and agility is his favourite! So for us to finally arrive at the AAC nationals and do well was an exciting occasion! Certain jump heights such as 16" and 10" are dominated by our favourite breed, the sheltie. They are great to train and excel at the sport. The Canadian world agility team has many shelties who will compete in Austria this October. If a person wants to seriously compete, ( it was not my plan but my great dogs led me down this path) it is important to have a puppy that has sound structure, a confident personality and the drive to work. Other shelties who are maybe not as sure of themselves, will gain confidence through the sport and love the activity and stimulation it provides. The bond between the handler and the dog becomes very close, it is a very fulfilling relationship.

Gryphon in the Steeplechase

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Enjoy Today - For Tomorrow ???

Mike came home from work today ... said to me "remember Dean's wife that was at the golf BBQ on Monday night?" .... I said 'yes' .... "well, you'll never believe it, she passed away in her sleep last night."

She is the woman in the middle of the picture, knees crossed, "Scarlet" the dog is lying in front of her.

Shock me or what!? Does start to make you ponder how each day just seems to be gone before you know it.

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Agility National Competition on Saturday

The sun was out, fluffy clouds, and LOADS of spectators gathered to watch 6 rings on the go for the National Agility competition. Owners & their dogs came by car or plane from all over Canada. One group drove from Alberta because her one dog, a rescue, has separation anxiety so she can't fly the dog (our local Citizen newspaper had quite an article about this event) Saturday I headed over to the Agility competition again with friends Mary-Anne & Marylou, meeting up with Jack & Pauline, owners of Tic @ just 2 yrs of age, who was competing for the 1st time in this special event. Besides shopping, again! just bought a pair of socks with sheep/herding on them and 3 more charms (BPIS, Am/Cdn CH, AOM) for my bracelet, we spent most of the day sitting in what shaded areas we could find, or creating them with umbrellas, watching the runs of the 2 competitions Jack was in with Tic. We also met up with friend Kate Freeman (who owns Panda) and old time obedience friend Marilyn Fraser (trained with her with my 1st dog back in the 70's) with her girl Cricket.

Tic (and Jack) taking advantage of some down time in the shade.

There were some 140 runs in the Gamblers competition. Some owners might have had 2 or 3 dogs entered. Here is the group walking the course and being given instructions by the judge (back turned in the foreground with the white top & hat). Teresa Kroeker from Toronto with her girl Taari. She's doing what is called a back cross over.

Tic coming down the A frame. She hasn't fully learnt yet to NOT fly off these contact jumps.

And then, off the A frame she heads out over the 1st jump in what's called the Mini Gamble. Run Jack, RUN! Everyone, trying to keep cool! Super day for this event.

Sunday the competition continued, although the black clouds rolled in on two different occasions, the last one late afternoon with pouring rain, thunder & lightening.

If any non sheltie-owned person is reading this, agility is for any dog, any age, any one's ability. There were young kids, maybe 13 or so, and women in their 80's. It is a fun, rewarding, bonding time with your dog. You don't have to compete in events like this to enjoy the experience.

An email in from Linda Howie with Gryphon, they placed 5th & 3rd in his 2 jumpers today. Way to go, you two make an awesome team!

Monday, the sun came back out, LOVELY day and for us it was a catch-up day here, removing dead coat from our girls that have had litters, pups got to play outside without fear of rain, and the fun stuff, laundry, vaccuming, and some TV watching.

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Birthday's For Two Gentlemen On Friday

Friday our family celebrated my nephew's & stepfather's birthday. Brother-in-law Al manning the BBQ with steak & shrimp. Yum, YUM, my fav!Time for Connor & Wilf to blow out the candles. My mom made his (and mine) favourite Flapper pie.
Connor received a set of 'hats' for his drums. There were some 5 hats, Zildjian was their name and just know a lot of "oooo's' were said when the box was opened, so I'm guessing they are really good ones.

Once they were all put together, then we all headed down to the basement for a presentation of Connor's skills. He kept it somewhat on the quieter side .. hee hee ... we didn't all have ear muffs! He's pretty darn good, if I say so myself.

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August Long Weekend - Finally SUN!

As the radio & TV state ENJOY this one folks!! as it's the 1st generously hot & sunny days with little rain, compared to the last month's breaking record. the meteorologists are saying wee might not have any more days like this, this summer.

Thursday, was the start of the Agility Nationals here in Ottawa. I wandered over (or should I say drove over as it's about 40 mins from the house) with my girl friend Marylou to watch the opening runs and generally the set-up to get a feel for parking, food/drinks, shade & OH, vendors. Most start their competitive runs on Friday. The many vendors were mostly set-up BUT, more in-coming! Hide the wallet, cheque book & VISA Maureen!!! Didn't work ... I did buy a cute paw ring.

Massive tents, massive grounds (you only see 2 of the 6 rings) for this HUGE event, bringing in competitors from all across Canada.

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