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Canine Sense - Did You Know

Check out these articles by Dr. Stanley Coren (BC, Canada) Canine Corner

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Christmas With Our Family

Here's a bit of our life during the Xmas Season, with some of our traditions.

Our Christmas tree is simple at our home. We started a tradition in 1999 with this small table tree and each year we place another bow with the newest dogs that are with us. Over the years we've received some sheltie decorations so they also go on this tree. There are two shelties at the top, one with wings. I'm slowly running out of room where the lights don't show thru as well.

Our Shelamo Sheltie Xmas tree
At my sister's here's their boy Hudson's water bowl

Christmas Eve, it's been a long tradition where we spend the evening at my mom's. This year my sister made a yummy seafood chowder ... loads of lobster and scallops .. YUM.
Christmas day we all get together at my sister's - open presents, stockings and enjoy a turkey dinner. This yr we think the butcher mixed up the lb # of the turkey .. instead of a 23lb one, we had a 32 lb one! if nothing more a lot more skin for us to fight over this yr - that's a family tradition too ... the piranha's come out at this time of yr :)

Hudson helping mom with her gifts
Mike got his FAV hockey team Ottawa Senators summer jacket.
Connor always plays Santa - the old blinking hat failed last year so I went searching for a new one. They weren't easy to find ... it was at Dollarama that I got this one, go figure.
Alexander got his FAV NFL Chicago Bear's #54 shirt and cap! Happy kid he was.
We usually take a dog or two over. Here's Wilf (my mother's husband) spending some time with Pumpkin while he waits for dinner to be put together. Dinner usually consists of the standard turkey & gravy, fried up sweet potatoes (YUM), my broccoli/cauliflower casserole & mashed potatoes. Dessert now has become a large variety of cookies my sister gathers thru cookie exchanges & fund raisers, with coffee/tea, along with two types of Christmas pudding. Mom has one style she's made for as long as I can remember, and then there's a 2nd topping that brother-in-law Al's mom always made (from NFLD). That seems enough by the time we're all done feasting.
Xmas time now isn't complete unless the 2 boys are playing in a hockey tournament which was on Tuesday. Mike, Mom & I were able to get to Connor's final game where they won the tournament 6-2. Connor is #14. Alexander who plays goalie, was playing at a different location, unfortunately we didn't get to see his games. I hear they didn't win the finals.

New Years is just around the bend ... it's hard to believe that it will almost be 11 years that we all feared our computers would die, phone lines would go, we'd loose electricity, anything with a computer chip that was dated would go ... and what, nothing happened that 'stopped' the world! we've continued on as if nothing happened.

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Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas & The Best For The New Year

A simple request ... may you all have a very Merry Christmas, a safe and happy holiday and 2011 be one of your best.

The Gang here @ Shelamo wishing Sheltie Claus was good last nite to all your furry companions.

pictured is our BPIS Am/Cdn Ch Shelamo's Prospector in 2000 @ the dog show in Winnipeg, just 10 months of age

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Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Where has Seventeen Years Gone?

Time seems to be slipping away ... to fast. Today my oldest nephew turns SEVENTEEN!

Me (Maureen) and Alexander

Alexander has always been a good puppy socializer

Last year's Birthday dinner ... he now towers over me ... and got his permit driver's license
(Mike, Alexander & Al)
he's into sports now ... playing goalie for his hockey team
plus plays football for two teams

Today he goes for his final driver's license!!!
Hope he's successful as today we have terrible windy, snow covered, slippery roads.

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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Season's Greetings

All of us here, the furkids included, wish everyone a very Merry Christmas, and the Best in the New Year.

May SheltiePaws be good to all of you.


Thanks to Penny Woodruff for creating this winter image of our lovely RBIS Ch Shelamo Sugar Shack and her son Shelamo Jumping Jelly Bean, to be featured on The Sheltie Strutt Holiday Edition. We're proud to be part of this Canadian fund raising effort for our Sheltie National in 2011.

Hoping your furkids have fun in our upcoming Winter Wonderland.

Chinook's 2 girls playing with chewies in the 1st fluffy snow fall in early December.And when it's too cold, a fun romp in the kitchen with their tunnel wears them out, at least that's the hope :)

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Friday, December 3, 2010

Shelties Can Do!!

Too Cute .. just had to share

Skate Boarding Sheltie ... Yep, NOT kidding. And Twig does it with glowing wheels at nite.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tWrJo7-o2c&feature=player_embedded

and on this one Twig takes it in side practicing turns & retrieving ... and not the mouth kind of retrieving either ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udEnefvJUfQ&NR=1

And this one ... dogs getting ready for xmas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG3O6UBLGbA

Enjoy .. what fun stuff has your dog done today?

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Sunday, November 21, 2010

Puppy Sitting - What Our Clients Do

Last week we had one of Chinook's 14 week old pups Dawson, come stay with us while his owner went off to New York city for a VERY special engagement.


Cindy (and her husband Bob) are long time sheltie owners of ours. Morgan is their 1st, now 14 yrs old, then came Winston which sadly they lost this summer, and now they have their cutie pie, Dawson.

Morgan showing Dawson how to sniff and 'read' a tree.

So what was so special about Cindy's get away??? She had the opportunity through her family contacts to attend an interview by LIVE! with Regis & Kelly with Elton John!!!

Here's the pic Cindy sent me of the two of them .... 'a dream come true', she said. Lucky gal!!
Cindy & Elton John in New York city

The interview will be aired on Wednesday Nov 24th according to their website.
Live! with Regis & Kelly Guest GuideHere's a quick pic we did of Dawson before he went home - @ 14 wks
(Ch Shelamo Sugar Rush x MBPIG Ch Shelamo's Riding The Wind)

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Friday, November 5, 2010

Cesar Millan - Live in Ottawa

Wednesday was a great nite for me and 3 of my doggie friends. We all loaded up and headed to our ScotiaBank Place (where our Senator's Hockey Team play). We were seated 21 rows from the front, so as best I could with Cesar's movement on the stage, I captured some of the moments.

Cesar came out during the 1st half in a #10 Sens jersey.

He was very animated, sometimes playing a dog, or even a very good cat. This scene he was describing was how we deal with our 'modern' dog when it comes to answering the door bell.

Cesar talked about the 180 days one has available from the time the pup comes home to work on specifics, rules and boundaries and being calm around food. Here he is trying to interact with 2 puppies. The lab puppy, oddly enough was calm and cool, not even going for the food. The Dash puppy, another story! He was a bouncy one, to where Cesar just ran out of time waiting for him to be calm before giving the food.

This next challenge was with two women whose dog goes nuts when dinner is being made and preparing the dog's food. He just bounces all over, won't sit still, nothing has worked.
Cesar instructs on how to present and hold the food bowl ... and in one go ... doesn't the dog sit calmly! It broke the audience up. Oh, but one must remember too, saying things like 'want your dinner', 'it's supper time!', doesn't cut it as this only excites the dog with your uppity voice and your own excitement.

Then he takes the time to instruct the owners. 1st attempt the bowl isn't even down and the dog is jumping up. It took a few attempts but they got it.

2nd 1/2 of the show the stage looks like a park setting. His next demonstration is with a young girl's dog who just pulls her everywhere. She has to wrap her lead around her waist to brace herself when out on walks.

1st off his collar is just a buckle collar, so he switches to one of his leashes so it can be kept high up on the dog's neck. I always appreciate it when he talks about how those of us that show dogs do just that ... how it makes the dog feel proud of themselves when the head is up. You also are able to control the head/mind of the dog rather than trying to control the whole body. I've talked about this in my dog classes for 15 yrs now.

After several walks across the stage, Cesar taking the lead at the beginning, and showing her how it could be done with just 2 fingers .. and she actually responded to the audience ... 'Really! he's only using two fingers!'. She was so surprised at how fast it happened and that her dog could be walked this way, in gosh less than 10 minutes (camera time shows about 15 mins during this session of pictures)

if you stay tight like this and posture over ... poor girl she handled all the changes well considering she was in front of over 5,000 people ... what stage fright will put into one's mind :)
body like this ... she gets it! and starts to relax

then she does it in motion ... what a lucky gal! received one-on-one training from Cesar and got to walk the stage with him, plus doing something other than worrying about her dog ... holding Cesar's hand.

In his discussion about low, medium, high energy dogs and how some dogs need a job to do, our Canadian Boarder Control was brought on stage to explain how they need high drive dogs as sniffer dogs. They did a demo where their Nova Scotia Duck Toller had to go looking for 3 areas where drugs had been placed. Here the dog is trying to locate the scent, which is actually up in the tree.

I think there are several main things we do wrong with our dogs today ... we put them out in a fenced backyard and expect them to play, exercise and do their business without us there to supervise, and then wonder why they bark, dig, fence run; we don't learn how to properly 'read' them -their body language, their tail wags, their barks; (the good breeders of dogs spend hours when raising their pups learning with each new litter how mother nature has programmed these creatures - we see so vividly the nose, eyes, ears principle he talks about - and is so why by the time they are 8 wks old we can evaluate them better, not just on their cuteness, but on who will fit the best with each client's lifestyle); and lastly, which I think in today's times, we don't take enough time, nor patience to work at getting the behaviour we want.

I wonder how many dogs woke up Thursday morning, seeing their world change for the better?

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Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Rescued Shelties

Have you thought of adding a rescued sheltie to your home?

There are several of us breeders in the Ottawa area, along with a couple of companion owners that stepped up when there was a major need to help a large number of shelties after a hoarding/cruelty seizure that took place over a month ago.


All these dogs have been spayed/neutered, vaccinations updated, heartworm tested, microchipped and any dental work attended to.

Presently in the Ottawa area we have a 7 yr old sable and white female; a sweet red sable boy, approx 5 yrs of age and an 8.5 yr old sable boy. All homes must have a fenced yard. All dogs are fully crate trained. They have been doing well in their foster homes, so we look forward to homes that can continue with their socialization and provide a loving environment.

You can find an application for consideration of these dogs on Petfinder.com under sheltierescuesos. SOUTHERN ONTARIO SHELTIE RESCUE
http://www.sheltierescuesos.petfinder.com/
You can email me for further direction/email to SOS Rescue if you are interested in finding out more.

Nicky - 5 yrs old

Nicky doing his 'ain't I sweet'
Dakota 8.5 yrs old
Dakota 8.5 yrs old
Inca a 7 yr old female

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Thursday, October 28, 2010

Diva - Available

Until I can get our website back up and running after a new system upgrade ... for those of you that have asked ..... "Diva", is 11 months old and available to a companion home. She has a sweet disposition, friendly, loves play king of the castle on our kiddie play forts. She is UTD on shots and spayed.

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Monday, October 25, 2010

Our 1st RESERVE BEST IN SHOW

What can we say, our lovely Multi Group Winning girl Ch Shelamo Sugar Shack took at Group 3rd on Saturday, and then topped off Sunday with a Reserve Best In Show from a lovely group line-up at the Belleville Dog Show.

She has been a dream girl from the beginning, obtaining her Championship with a Group 2nd under breeder/judge Denise Cornelsson and a Group 1st under breeder/judge Mark McMillan. She also became Champion #6 for her dam Shelamo's Party Pack ROMC. In the whelping box, she's produced a litter of 4, which 3 are now Champions.

In her last litter she produced our newest hopeful Shelamo Jumping Jelly Bean, who is now well on his way towards his championship, at just over 6 months of age. He also did us proud this past weekend garnering 6pts with 2 BOW/BOS/BPIB. He is co-owned with Jan & Steve Silcox.

Thanks to Penny Woodruff for capturing this moment of mother & son.
"Maple" - Reserve Best In Show

"Jelly Bean"

Yes, he's growing up mom! He's no longer that little fat ball of brown fur, who snuggled & gave you kisses at 5 wks of age. He's now full of himself ... just as his name implies.

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Thursday, October 21, 2010

Jelly Bean Is Growing Up

Our Shelamo Jumping Jelly Bean, co-owned with Jan & Steve is growing up! Took some pics of him yesterday after I'd groomed him all up. He's just over 6 months, and fits his name perfectly. Can't wait to get him out to some shows. He so reminds me of his dam Ch Shelamo Sugar Shack.

Here he's looking very regal.


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Tuesday, October 19, 2010

A Special Gift - From One To Another

It is certainly a 'gift' that pleases us no end to be able to light up people's lives through shelties, especially of long time customers.

Morgan & Winston - Xmas 2007
(picture from their owners - thanks)

On June 8th it was a sad day for long time clients of ours who had to say good-bye to their boy Winston. He was a faithful friend to their 1st sheltie Morgan who continues to motor at 14 yrs of age! Even tho our contact has been sporadic over these years, Cindy didn't hesitate to make contact with me for advice as they witnessed Winston declining. We've always said, we are always here to help in anyway possible no matter what age of the dog, and I'm glad Cindy & Bob felt comfortable to draw upon that.

Time was needed to grieve his loss, however they quickly realized their lives weren't complete without 2 shelties.

The time was right, and we just happened to have a male from a very lovely litter out of our Chinook that was ready to go this past week.
Dawson, pictured at 7 wks of age
(he is 6 generations down thru Morgan's mother)

And from them ... a lovely fall floral arrangement.

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Monday, October 18, 2010

An Outing With Friends - Gotta Relax More Often

It only took close to a year to organize a free Sunday between us!!! That's way too long ... however it all came together on a gorgeous sunny fall day for us to travel across town to meet up with co-owner friends Jan & Steve Silcox for a luncheon at a seafood place called Pelican Fishery and Grill. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, a relaxing time, mostly talking wine & dogs ... what else :)

background l-r Jan and Steve
foreground l-r me (Maureen ) and Michael

Jan is a past breeder of Shih Tzu's, Am/Cdn Ch's & ROM/C dogs, and now a lover of shelties ... humm a real difference in breeds I'd say. They are co-owners of our Ch Shelamo Winds At My Back, Nino and newest acquisition that is now just 6 months old, Jelly Bean ... Shelamo Jumping Jelly Bean.

Thanks again Jan and Steve for a lovely luncheon.

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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Day Of Herding Instinct Testing

It's been some years that I've personally put one of our dogs through a Herding Instinct Test, so when the opportunity came up, and my schedule was clear, Mary-lou and I headed out on Monday to a town east of us called Alfred to test a couple of dogs. It was a lovely day, sunny, a bit cool with the wind, and probably one of the last days to see all the fall colours in their glory.

Mary-lou took her boy Harley and I took our Chinook. Figured after her brother BPIS Ch Shelamo's Riding The Sky HIC could do it so could she.

Harley passed with flying colours, Chinook figured she's just follow behind the sheep as I moved them around the field.

Chinook figuring I'll move the sheep

Chinook still staying with me, at least on the backside of the sheep ... I'm sill doing the work.
Ain't I doing a good job! Sheep did well to at least follow and stay with me.
Harley getting his 1st rear end introduction.

Harley moving the sheep

Harley keeping them together.

Now at least able to upload pics, at least sometimes! New system with all the new stuff is a challenge to have it work like we're used to.

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