Ottawa to Saskatoon - Day 2

Day 2
(Am slowly finding the time to get our Saskatoon CSSA National Trip Blogged)

We' were now on a slower 2 lane highway so making time was more difficult.

Still no pet store to buy the right kind of dog food. Guess Wally Mart is where everyone goes.

We also had plans on making more stops in this area to see some of the sights. The 1st place we stopped was at Munising where there was a water fall that had been created over thousands of years by erosion. We were anticipating a grand water fall. We walked up these criss-crossing boardwalk trails, watching a small creek babble it's way down the hill side.

As we got closer we could hear the waterfall .... still not sounding gigantic like Niagara Falls ...

then we reached the end .... lovely, peaceful area, but nothing tremendous ....

We then followed the road down to the shores of Lake Superior (previous Blog pics) where Mike put his foot in, "Rocky" said .. "huh, NO thanks!". The interesting part was we saw all these prints in the sand. You could tell they went down to the water's edge and then back towards the road and off into the bush that was right there. I think they are deer hooves, but if anyone has another thought please let me know.

We then followed another road which led us to Picture Rocks in Michigan.

A short walk to the cliffs with a specially built look-out and what a view! You look straight down from the look-out and this is what you see.

On the far side you can see even more erosion and a hole in the rock where the water splashes through. You just have to wait for the perfect wave to hit it right and then it gushes thru.

It was now time to get back on the main highway and find a place to eat. There were so many small restaurants, motels and gas bars that had been abandoned it was quite astonishing. Some were obviously old and been abandoned for years ... you could tell by the worn paint, boarded up windows, long grass/shrubs, others appeared to have only recently shutdown. We came across a town called Christmas, and places were certainly open. It was a reserve area with a Native Casino. It was called Kewadin Casino. Interesting note, one place still left at this point right now, smoking is allowed in the restaurant and casino area.

The whole place was decked out in Xmas decor. We had a great lunch bar, all you could eat soup and salad. It was then on down the road to make up time. Our overnite stay was in a small town called Ironwood, which also meant we picked up an hour with the time change.

The one thing we noticed was the lack of dead animals hit by cars at the side of the road. The grass was getting greener, you could spot some of the trees with their leaf buds, and the road was getting flatter and straighter. The worst part, was the coffee! didn't matter if it was hotel room, restaurant or a local gas station, it was all terrible. We were missing our Timmies BIG time, and we still had 2+ days to go. I started switching to tea, at least then I could make it as strong as I wanted to.

Day 2 we put on 584 km, vs 771 km from Day 1.

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Ottawa To Saskatoon - Day 1

Mike and I looked forward to our trek out to Saskatoon by van. Both of us had never seen the flat grain fields via the ground (always by air), nor seen Lake Superior, our largest Canadian lake of the Great Lakes and the largest freshwater lake in the world. Maureen has gone west by train when she was a young teen, however memories aren't as prolific. We've both seen Canada by land to Nova Scotia & PEI and north to Thunder Bay, but always flown the westward route, stopping in Winnipeg for our CSSA Nat'l in 2002, and otherwise Vancouver or Victoria being the end destination. Maureen is a 'God's Country' girl by birth, so has made many a trip to visit relatives since being in Ottawa in 1961.

We left on a lovely Saturday morning. Getting away at 7am just didn't happen. One thing after another delayed us, like fixing a screwing in one of the platforms in the dog run.

So the runs got fixed, the van loaded and we hit the road around 8am. If it were not for my mom, her husband and our good friend Mary-Anne looking after the kennel, with not one, but 2 3+wk old pups (8 pups in total), there wouldn't have been peace of mind that all things would have been taken care of.

Loaded up for the ride out was our just 6mth old girl "Tootsi", our Ch "Tyme" and our senior boy BPIS Am/Cdn Ch "Rocky", who he himself has flown to Winnipeg dog shows as a young dog and also to Florida where he competed for his Am Championship.

West we went with our 1st destination being Sault Ste Marie to end our day. We weren't far from the US boarder when a call came in from Mary-Anne - 'You guys forgot a bin!! and it contains the dog food, treats, bowls and blow dryer!' Yikes .... now what are we going to feed the dogs tonite? Do you think we could find a pet store open in the Sault area? Everything seemed to close up around 5-6pm. But, Wal-Mart is open!!! The Garmen led us to one and there we were able to at least get a small bag of food to tide them over till we hit a pet store to buy our regular Proplan & Proplan Selects.
At the 1st hotel this is a vehicle parked next to us. Just loved their slogan!

Arriving late day, finding dog food, and x-ing the dogs meant it was a quick bite to eat. Next to the hotel happened to be an Arby's. YUMMM .... I just love their roast beef on a bun so that was fine by me. Up until about 2 mths ago when an Arby's was put up here in Ottawa, the closest we could come was one about 1.5 hrs away. On our show travels to the TO area we'd always make a point of stopping at one - MA knows how to work the Garmen to find them! I hadn't realized that on those trips Mike wasn't with me, thus he'd never tried one. So, here's his chance ... well it wasn't to be. Yep, they were all out except for 3oz! Who'd of thunk at 8pm they were all out?? They'd had a rush at dinner time, guess the Ottawa Sens hockey playoff game against Philly was the reason, who knows, but poor Mike was left with just getting a salad.Arby's is calling me ....

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Rocky At the CSSA National

Thank-you to Peter Culumovic for taking these pics of "Rocky" being presented in the Veterans Class at this year's CSSA National. These pictures Peter captured of "Rocky" still moving strong @ 10+ yrs of age will be treasured.

He is one trooper of a dog, and just loves to show. He's done his fair share of travelling, enjoyed his hotel/motel stays way too much ... been to the CSSA National in Winnipeg in 2002, spent some time in Florida with dear friend Dr Sherry Lee who easily put his American Championship on him for us, and went to the CSSA National in NB in 2004.

After his day of winning BOS at the CC&SSA Specialty, Feb 2010.

and usually always by my side.

and then in his 'show pose' for respected breeder judge Judy Kelsey.

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Grooming - Paw-Pads- What Will They Think Of Next

I receive a magazine called Pet Product News and enjoy reading it every month. There is an ad in this May issue for what are called "Paw-Pads". They are designed to be put on each of the pads of the dog's foot to help provide secure footing. I can see this very useful for senior dogs, arthritic dogs when you have mostly hard surfaces in your home vs carpeting. Or you may have mostly carpeting, but you visit elsewhere where they don't and the dog has issues with the floors. Here's the website ...

http://pupgearcorporation.com/Products/Paw-Pads

This does not mean you don't need to take care of your dog's feet! Grooming 101 is NAILS!

Here is a picture of a JR nails that I did a few years ago which really shows the problems that can occur. The foot will start to splay, nail beds turn inwards/outwards, the dog's pad fails to touch the ground fully thus lack of traction, and with the upward pressure the nails put, then the pastern (like our wrist) will 'go down' and in time cause lameness. Depending on the weight of your dog ... remember dog's carry more of their weight up front ... this puts even more strain on their front assembly, especially when their nails/feet don't provide the right support.

Here's the foot afterwards.

A sheltie's foot with long nails.

With shelties I find many people loose sight of their dog's nails ... literally! As you can see in the picture below, one foot has yet to have the hair trimmed, so it shows how much hair can grow, and thus creating what we call 'slippers' ... and yes that means the dog will slip on surfaces like floors. They will also track in WAY more dirt, water, sand, burrs, end up collecting all those winter snow balls, and I've even removed gum.

Here is what the feet look like when fully groomed.

If you ask me how often should we do our dog's nails, I say about every 3 wks or for most dogs, when you can hear them 'tick' on the floor.

I think these "PawPads" as they say ....

"Paw-Pads provides traction for senior dogs, or any age dogs with hip dysplasia, arthritis, and dogs recuperating from hip or back surgery."

could certainly have their place and provide consumers with another tool to help make their dog safe and secure in any one of these circumstances. How often they need to be replaced, they don't say.

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A Great Mother's Day Weekend

Two Shelamo dogs, owned by Linda Howie made for a great Mother's Day weekend with their wins. Her young boy, Shelamo's Riding the Sky (Am/Cdn Ch Playland Dallas Cowboy x Ch Shelamo Tyme Descends) went with us to the Arnprior Dog Show taking WD & BOS both days entered, and a BOW on Sunday. While "Whistler" was off strutting his stuff, Linda was racing around an agility field with her Shelamo's Highland Eagle ADC RN-MCL, RA-MCL, AGN, AGDC, ADDC,AGN, AGI, SMADC, SMTRDC, "Gryphon". He had qualifying runs, with a 1st place and best run in both his Masters Jumpers and Steeplechase.

Linda sent me this picture of her two boys smiling for the camera :)

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Ottawa To Saskatoon - CSSA National Road Trip

This will be the start of our blogging of our trip, starting on Apr 24th, arriving back home on May 5th to attend our Cdn Sheltie National Specialty in Saskatoon. Right now I'm only going to cover a few of the highlights as we have to get ready for another local show to attend this weekend.


We travelled from Ottawa thru North Bay & Sudbury, crossing over at Sault Ste Marie.


The bridge crossing to the US side of Sault Ste Marie.

On the second day, following the southern part of Lake Superior it was a slower trek on the way down as we stopped at a few places to see the sites. Above is Mike touching the water of Lake Superior in the Munising area where the Picture Rocks are. Needless to say Rocky wasn't about to put his paw in the water!

We then worked our way, crossing from Michigan, into Wisconsin then into Minnesota, North Dakota and then headed north to the Canadian boarder and into Saskatchewan.

Once into North Dakota the land became flat with the wide open grain fields and silos jutting out at various points.

Late on our 3 rd day we hit Rugby, ND which is the geographical center of the North American continent.

North Dakota and somewhat into the lower portion of Saskatchewan you also see these oil pumps, we kept calling them the 'bobbing water birds'. You would drive for miles/km and not see any and then you'd see small ones, medium and larger ones, in rows across the fields, going up and down.

Then we entered Canada!!! BACK to the land of COFFEE!! Tim Horton's here we come! Almost 3 days of drinking dish washered down coffee was no fun let me tell you. The 1st pot I made I still had to add two teaspoons of instant coffee into my TH mug to make it drinkable.

This is me just across the US/Canada boarder at Portal, Sask. Timmies where the sign says "Welcome Home".

The 3 dogs we took on the trip ... l-r is our BPIS Am/Cdn Ch "Rocky" our 6 mth old tri girl "Tootsi" and our Ch "Tyme" who made the 1st cut of the females in the Best of Breed competition.

We arrived on the Tues, had to rebath the dogs on Wed, especially "Tyme" who had gone down a sink hole in some tall grass where we'd stopped for a potty break (story to come later). The show was from Thurs to Sat, with a seminar on the Sunday. Monday we headed on our trek home.

More to come ....

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Shelamo That's Amore - Her Winning Pics

YEAH! Pictures have arrived from our latest show in Petawawa, The Champlain Dog Show, where our "Ruby" (shoes), garnered consecutively 2 Group 2nds putting her on 10ts and just needing a judge to finish her Cdn Championship.

winning under Ms P Otero of Mexicowinning under judge Mr C Bett, Ontario

Ch Highledge Irish Cream ROMC x Ch Shelamo Sugar Shack

WOW, do we love how she's grown up!

Thank-you to these two respected judges for finding our girl from the classes.

This will be our last post until back from our CSSA National in Saskatoon. I've provided the link in our last posts as to where you can watch on-line as the class results come in real time.

Come follow us!

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New Canadian Sheltie Breeders Advertisement

Spent some time today, working on perfecting my photoshop skills and did a new advertisement for the Canadian Sheltie Breeders website. Am pleased with the outcome.

Book mark the site and check back often as breeders are adding new ones on a regular basis. Remember you'll also be able to follow in live time the results of our CSSA National.

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First Local Dog Show Of The Year

This past weekend, Mary-Anne, Marylou and myself headed up to the 1st conformation show in our area, the Champlain Dog Show. It's close to a 2 hour drive and I don't think there was a quiet moment, as we chattered about everything and anything.

A Great Girls Weekend!

We showed our Shelamo That's Amore, "Ruby" all 3 days, and her litter brother Shelamo Sugar Rush just on the Friday. "Rush" is just now starting to coat up and learning the show ropes after the last 7 months doing obedience and having fun and Marylou's.

Our "Ruby" did us proud. Friday, we were off to a slow start, however we found ourselves taking Group 2nds both Saturday and Sunday for a total of 10 pts, in a very competitive field!

Shelamo That's Amore

On Saturday our judge was Mrs. Otero from Argentina (she gave our "Tyme" a RWB/BPIB in 2007), and on Sunday, Mr. Charlie Bett from Ontario.

We took a few moments on Saturday while the sun was out to capture these 2 now as adults.

Shelamo Sugar Rush

In trying to get these pictures of Rush ... it was RUN Marylou RUN!

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Getting Show Ready

Today is brush, bath, blow dry, brush, trim, doing all the pre-show work on several dogs we're taking to the show this weekend.

Our "Rush" has been visiting at our good friend Marylou's, growing coat, doing obedience and just having fun running in the bush with her other 2 shelties. Knowing I was taking him from a 'raw' state he would be the 1st I started on. Once done, I took him out to the pen to shake off ... and captured a few pics of him to see just what I'd accomplished. Here are a few ... with a little playing with some of my new Photoshop brushes - I think he's maturing to a stunning boy.

Shelamo Sugar Rush - 2 yrs of age

He's from our litter of 4 out of Ch Shelamo Sugar Shack, sired by Ch Highledge Irish Cream ROMC.

Now we just have to wait and see whether his genes can produce any pups in our new litter with similar traits.

Well back to more bathing & grooming.

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Easter Surprise

The Easter Bunny brought us a surprise in the late hours of Saturday night. Maple gave birth, by c-section to a 9.5 oz sable boy. Many thanks to our vet Mark and tech Chris who worked late into the night to bring him into the world.
Mom and pup resting after a long hard night.
As of this morn, Monday, everyone is doing just fine. It's been a few long days & nights of us watching and making sure everyone is OK.

For whatever reason, lack of # of pups to help push one another down the uterine horns in a timely manner, pups to big, just not getting into full labour early enough, Maple was discharging a bit of the 'greenish' substance which just about always says a pup & placenta have been detached from the uterine wall too long and time is becoming of the essence. If there is anyone thing of a female's delivery that scares me, this 'greenish' discharge does. Maple did go into pretty hard labour, we knew there was a heart beat from ultra sound, but he just wasn't 'getting thru' & over the last hurdle. A c-section seemed the best bet in order to get this pup out alive.

It is just another one of those things we breeders face, ensuring everyone is taken care of properly.

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Spring Gardening - Cocoa Mulch

Spring is in the air; temps rising this Easter weekend here to around 20C+ and our May long weekend when we get out and plant, dig and plant some more is not far away. In our efforts to provide our gardens with environmentally friendly ingredients, help water retention, prevent weeds we seek out products that will not only do the job but look (and smell) attractive.

One such product is Cocoa Mulch, sold at so many garden centers - BUT - yes there is a but ... it contains some of the lethal ingredient Theobromine & caffeine, that could potentially cause problems for our dogs.

Yes, it depends on the dog's size and how much they ingest causing gastric upset to start, increased heart rate and on to seizures.

Remember, you may decide not to use it, but DO consider your neighbour's gardens or backyards where your pet may visit.

You can read more here ... and be more informed ...

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/cocoamulch.asp

http://www.avma.org/onlnews/javma/jun06/060601b.asp

You should also check out what garden plants could be toxic to your pets ... here's one site to visit.

http://www.canadogs.com/Toxic_Plants.htm

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Ch Shelamo Burleigh Casino Rama CGN CD

More exciting news today!!! Mary-Anne obtained our "Casino's" Companion Dog obedience title. She's taken "Casino" from a show girl, to an obedience dog in just over a year and at just under 10 years of age. Am so proud of these two. This is the 1st dog Mary-Anne has trained at this obedience level, so it's been a real learning curve for her. It's certainly not like taking a 10 week old puppy and molding it as you go through the classes.

Ch Shelamo Burleigh Casino Rama CGN CD

(Am/Cdn Ch Toven Wintertide CD, ROMC x Shelamo Linden Decoration)

Now a balanced dog ... beauty & brains. Always a willing worker and ready to please. Way to go ladies!

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Pulling An All Nighter

Am I getting to old to pull all nighters? Nope, not when it comes to whelping pups. Sibelle delivered right on her expected delivery date, starting at around 11pm last night and finishing at 3 am. What she did do is surprise us in numbers. SEVEN pups, 4 boys and 3 girls. I spent the remainder of the night on the couch monitoring the whines and ensuring Sibelle was comfortable. Needless to say we only got a few winks here and there and then it's been cleaning her up, laundry, getting the puppy room ready, all the while eyeballing everyone to ensure they nurse and are warm.

Shelamo Sugar Rush x Ch Shelamo Chasing Rainbows

This is our Rush's 1st litter so we are anxious to see what he produces.
Sibelle is pretty tired. It is amazing how these 7 hour old pups can motor. This one has obviously climbed up over mom and settled in against her head. Time to put the board across the front so they don't climb out of the 'nursery box'.

I need another coffee!

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Learning New Things

On Saturday I went over to Penny's to see her new Ruffeith pups now that they are all over 8 wks, (Ya got some nice ones Penny!!) and to learn more about Adobe Photoshop & DreamWeaver, their different tools, all to better understand the in/outs of web designing and doing advertising designs. Below is what I created with our beautiful girl "Chinook".

Am I going to remember all the tools, layers, masking, opacity, gradients ... hummm ... not so sure :) It was certainly a fun and enjoyable day, and know there is a lot more 'playing' I will be doing. TAL Penny.

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Dog Obedience Class Graduates

I did this one a month ago and totally forgot to publish it!

Wednesday night my 2 winter dog obedience classes graduated. I had a great bunch of students who were hard working. Their dogs have come a long way in 9 weeks.

There are several students missing from this Level 2 class picture, as it was March break. I'm looking forward to working again with them in the spring class, as we'll be able to get outside and do more distraction work.

Level 1 also graduated.

PS ... everyone has come back to attend a Level 3 ... a great group of hard working students.

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