Rain, or Shine Puppies Need Socialzing

Our local Carp Market is now open Saturdays with everything from handmade jewelry, to veggies, plants, herbs, honey, pies, bread, and even a dog biscuit vendor ..... can't wait for the Hudson corn! Dogs are allowed as long as they are on a leash not more than 6' long. People are very respectful of, and even a dog watering bowl is provided.

Well, rain or shine and it was rain ... Marylou, Mary-Anne and myself headed over there mid morning and I brought Kodak out, our 13 wk old boy from our Rush x Sibelle litter. He did really well, handling all the kids that wanted to pet him, with the most fun part .. stopping to drink from all the little puddles.

Time to sit and relax for a bit ... the rain had let up.

I bought him a pumpkin ring, he wasn't quite sure about the taste of it at the beginning.
Loads of things to watch and take in while ML & MA went back to pick up items they wanted.

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Not A Dead Dog - Just An Old One Sleeping

Saturday I got a frantic call around 8:10am as I was getting dressed, from my good girlfriend ... will leave her name anonymous but anyone that follows this Blog should figure out who she is .... it went something like this 'uuuuu ... mo uuuuu (this are those deep short fear breaths) ... can't move .... uuuu... help ... I can't ... uuuuu ... (could hear the tears) .... she's ... d uuu .... help!' I finally figured out who it was and was trying to reply in between ... you can't get out of bed?, what's wrong, you're back? you can't move? ... hang on, I'll call ML as she'll get to you faster than me,' ... well by this time the voice was calming down .... 'it's OK, she's awake!!!' What do you mean, who's awake? .... Opal, she scared me I thought she was dead!.'

"Opal" December 2009

OK, so here's the crux of what was happening. My BGF had taken our old gal Opal home for a few days to work on her coat so we could bath her. Opal was SOUND asleep by her bed and altho the other 2 dogs were up and ready to go out to potty, Opal was 'dead', dead to the world, asleep. She's deaf now too! Her breathing was shallow and with her fluffed out coat it was even harder to see her breathing. She thought she was indeed dead! and was calling me for help. Even a few 'soft' prods weren't waking her up.

So, what's the info behind this ... old deaf dogs sleep, very deeply and one must either almost jump on the floor beside them so they will feel the vibration, or 'rattle' them in a cautious manner as it can startle them to the point they could snap at 'you', to wake them up.

Dead dogs ... usually their eyes are open, many times either their bladder or bowls have let go and if you check their gums they will be white.

So if you're not there yet with an older dog, take heed as this time will certainly come!

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Animal Talk Naturally

Just came across this website that have weekly Wed afternoon talk shows ....

Animal Talk Naturally

there are all kinds of subjects discussed from allergies, vaccine issues in dogs (Rabies Challenge Fund for one), what you need to know now; nutrition, parasites & pest control Naturally; aging in pets, natural healing modalities ... a whole host of programs even on horse care, birds, elephants ... I could spend all day listening to many of them.

The vaccine one a lot of my clients will find interesting since I do my best to help you make informed decisions on this vary topic throughout your dog's life.

Check it out, but get your coffee or tea ready 1st!, you might just find a subject you've been wondering about.

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1st Regional Specialty -CSSA East Ont/PQ

The 1st Regional Specialty for CSSA East Ont/PQ was held in conjunction with the Kingston & District Kennel Club this past Sat, June 19th.

I have not posted before this as I've been waiting to hear the final results from the Obedience & Rally side of the Specialty - still to be done however need to get this post up.

Given that Michael is the Regional Director for this area, it seems only fitting that we post this event on our Blog. Much of the behind the scenes work is never known to the general public, nor is much of it ever publisized. If the event runs smoothly, everyone is happy, if not then that's where it seems the 'non-workers' are the 1st to complain.

We have to thank Nestle Purina for providing several items in the goodie bags that all entrants received - Conformation, Obedience & Rally. We received loads of 'OH WOW How Lovely' from the Performance people!

We had a lovely day for it. Yes it was hot & humid and treatening black clouds in the area, but the breeze kept it very comfortable, clouds blocked the heat rays and there was no rain on our parade. What more could we ask for a June day! Thanks for all your praying Bill (Nancy's husband)

This Specialty also had Sweeps (6 thru 18mths classes) and a Booster for Obedience & Rally in the regular Sat show, which more often than not is not available, but we were lucky that this club holds these 2 Performance events on the same weekend.

We were pleased to have Lloyd Lambert (Pinnacle Shelties) accept the honour of judging the Sweeps. Nancy Tibben (Golden Hylite's Shelties) graciously accepted to do the assignment for the Specialty.

A Specialty can't run without monetary donations or prizes coming from the members or associated sheltie enthusiasts, as more often than not the portion of the entry that is received back, in no way covers the costs (ribbons, prizes (bags to put them all in!, decorations) & the meager judges expenses in this case).

THANK YOUS go to The Pats (Macbarra) who started us off with a large donation, Pennylynn Woodruff (Ruffleith), with several prizes & advertisments on the Sheltie Strutt site, Tom & Liz Graham (Graloch), Cathy Graham (Onawhim), Mary-Anne Yolkowskie, Grace & Darryl Barton (Dawnoday), and ourselves.

Results as follows for Sweeps - 8 dogs entered

Best in Sweeps: Toven On Angel's Wings - breeder T. Mapes

Best of Opposite in Sweeps: Sharrow Ensemble - breeder M. Pratt & M & M Lynch

Results for the Regional Specialty 7 males, 8 females, 1 male Spec, 1 female Spec, 1 Female Spec Veteran

Best of Breed/Veteran - BISS BIS Am/Cdn Ch Laureate Fifth Avenue b/K Aston, P Culumovic, o/ J & T Pavey

Best of Opposite Sex - Ch. Rumor's Prince Of Darkness b/o L Millman, S Tilbury

Winners Dog/Best of Winners/Best Puppy - Sea Haven Rikadon Moon N'Starz b/Yvonne Samuelson, o/D Mcculloch & Y Samuelson

Reserve Winners Dog - Sharrow Ensemble (b/see above) o/M Pratt

Winners Bitch - Laureate Epitome b/o K Aston, P Culumovic

Reserve Winners Bitch - Toven On Angel's Wings b/ T Mapes, o/S McHugh-Boumans

Obedience had 7 eligible shelties and 8 in Rally.

We also had an armband draw with a gift basket of over $70 provided by Petempire and that went to a Rally entry - Kellie & Jeff Whiteside (Herdabout). You'll find more info on the mini seminar further down in this post.

Here are some of the better candid ringside shots taken by various people we handed our camera off to since Mike was busy handing out the goodie bags and I was ring stewarding.

There was certainly a good crowd that gathered around the ring. The brown tent in the background we had put up, just in case it rained or we got beating down sun, so the exhibitors would have added space to keep their dogs dry & cool. Needless to say it didn't have to be used.

Am sure those of you in shelties will recognized many of the faces taking it all in.
After the show we held a mini product seminar put on by Steve of Petempire. He demo'd some of the new products from Isle of Dogs and ones from Chris Christensen that are best for grooming shelties.
Penny brought her pup Rio to be used as the demo dog.

"Everyone, touch it, feel it, so you know."

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Casey - The Travelling Man

Our clients, the Morin's have now gone thru Grand Tenon National Park, WY, USA. Here's 2 pics I received.

Hey mom, hurry up and snap that pic .... wanta get going!

And this one .... it's my fav of him so far. Worthy of being the cover of a sheltie calendar.

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A Day To Relax

I am behind the 8-ball with keeping current postings since the weekend as it's just been SO busy here.

On Sunday, after the 2 day hustle of the Kingston Dog Show, Mike & I went with friends Marylou & husband Ron to an Artist's garden display just outside of Perth, a very relaxing an enjoyable afternoon .... sunny, not too hot, cloudy at times, just an all round great temp day.

Boarding & Grooming are picking up, which is a good sign I'd say that owners are caring well for their shelties. A change in plans unknown to us, really threw me off yesterday, with the pool people showing up to fix the lining that had come loose. That meant rearranging the dog's out time schedule and organizing the delivery of water to make sure the fix would work.Pool drained, lining being fixed, now it has to be filled to see if it will hold, otherwise an estimated cost of a new liner - $1,000!. It took the fire truck 3 trips, at a cost of $450!!! not what we'd expected, but then what do we know about pools .... this pool stuff is all new to us and we seem to face something going wrong every summer it's opened. Let's just hope this YEAR is a hot one and we get way more use out of it than any of us did last year. Last yr Mike was in it 3x and that was really only to clean it.

Back to the Sunday garden trip ....

The more open garden area with various artists

Ron and Mike checking things out. Some lovely stained glass work.
Ron ... marking down the items Marylou says she needs to come back to determine a possible buy.
tucked away down one of the paths near the refreshment area was a band playingwood art - not my thing but do like the toad stools; there was another artist that had ones also but they were much smaller and very cute

this one I loved ... no price on it, I was scared to even ask!
BEST OF ALL

2 sizes of lambs made out of metal .... these I wanted big time .... however, the price of the large one ???? $1,2000, yes that's one thousand two hundred dollars. They had teenie ones, some not more than 6" high for $16.00, but they'd be overtaken by plants in my garden in no time.

After browsing all the artists, returning for a few buys, Ron & Mike relaxed under the tents in the refreshment area, while Marylou and I browsed the plant sale area. We did come home with some very different hens & chicks that we will split.

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A Sad Goodbye

This past weekend was full of making great accomplishments, and remembering great accomplishments.

Shelamo English Rose SAAGJ, SMJD

October 21, 1996 - June 19, 2010

"Harmony" in the summer of 2004

Peacefully curled in her bed beside Jack, Jack and Pauline Richardson lost their beloved girl "Harmony".

"Harmony" had been returned to us by a client who had developed severe allergies to her 2 dogs and 2 cats and was instructed by her doctor to reduce her numbers to only one. Thus "Harmony" was returned to us. Jack and Pauline just happened to come to us looking for a small, agile and potential agility dog to begin their life in agility. Well, didn't I have the perfect dog for them. She was picked up on August 31st, 1997 the day Lady Diana lost her life, and since I had yet to register this girl, she was apply named Shelamo English Rose.

the speedy little girl

Jack and "Harmony"

"Harmony's" caricature done on the back of their agility chair
she will never be far away, always following them where ever they go

as she's pictured on the back of their motor home

Rest in Peace Little One, we will all miss you at the agility events

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Two New Champions In Two Days

It was a gorgeous weekend for a dog show. Friday it was on the warm side (28C or so) but a lovely breeze that kept it comfortable. Today, the sun was out in the morning, the afternoon saw it overcast with the drizzle of rain holding off till very late in the afternoon.


Yesterday, needing only a judge, we finished our "Ruby" by going Best of Breed! She is now Ch Shelamo That's Amore. This makes champion #2 for her dam Ch Shelamo Sugar Shack from her 1st litter, and lucky #13 for her sire Ch Highledge Irish Cream. Her brother Shelamo Sugar Rush was Reserve Winners Dog.
"Rush" on the left, "Ruby" flaked out after her BOB win and being pulled for consideration in the Group ring.

Then today, with the expert grooming & handling by Pennylynn Woodruff, (Ruffleith Shelties)our BPIS Shelamo's Riding The Sky (just turned 1 this week) went Best of Winners and Best of Opposite Sex for a 5 pt win to finish his Championship. He is owned by Linda Howie.

This boy gives you his undivided attention and just loves to show! He's so much like his grandfather "Rocky".

"Whistler" on the move

I'm going to have to gain experience to aim the camera when the subject is in motion.

Thanks Mary-Anne for all your help yesterday at the show and kennel watching today and to Marylou for all your help today!

5:30 am came quickly this morning, so it's been a very long day, I'm all pooped out .... I will work at posting the results and pictures taken of our 1st Canadian Shetland Sheepdog Assoc Regional Specialty tomorrow.

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A Motorcycling Sheltie

How's this for enjoying your dog! Clients Rick & Kris are travelling to the west pacific coast on a GoldWing motorcycle with their sheltie "Casey" in tow. I just think it's an awesome thing for this dog to enjoy such a fantastic adventure. Shelties can be SO versatile. I am following their adventures that started late May on Facebook.

I've captured a few of their pics on Facebook ....

"Casey" riding 'shot gun'!

Shelamo Autum Dream

And what a dream dog he is.

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My Unkown Plant - Finally Named

Last year I posted pics of a garden plant I had, yet couldn't identify it. Was told to bring it to our local nursery in when it's in full bloom, which is now, June. So I took it to one of the flowering spikes in and got an answer. It is a Valerian!
As noted on one site ... "In the 16th century Valerian plant served as a perfume. Today the plant’s root covered with hairs is widely used for medicinal purposes; it serves as a sedative. It is of common knowledge that a cup of Valerian tea reduces stress, and aids falling asleep with no difficulties. It is a perfect aromatherapy herb for the bath as well. Valerian makes nice flower arrangements."

I can attest to the to aroma, and putting it in flower arrangements, but haven't tried the tea/stress part :) Sounds too complicated for me, so I'll just enjoy it's beauty and fragrances.

What I will do tho, is figure out the proper location and how to get it to seed properly so I can ensure more propagation next yr. Just love this plant!

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A Garden - With Love

Yesterday late afternoon Marylou and I started working on our friend, Mary-Anne's front garden. Last year she had the new walkway put it and did some landscaping, but it needed a boost. Marylou and I bought some perennials at the Carp Market last weekend to help give it a yearly look, dug more up from Marylou's place, all with the intent for less annual care & maintenance. We gated the front walkway allowing for the 2 11+wk old pups, Kodak & Taphee to enjoy a good romp and socialize with all the street noise - like 2 fire trucks & their sirens that went down the main street. We had to move back the cedar mulch, add more compost and peat moss all to give the soil a better quality and to hold the moisture better. We also added newspaper under the cedar mulch to help keep weeds at bay. Between us we remembered all the 'to do's' we'd discussed previously.

At lot of digging, turning over soil and deciding what was going to go where. MaryAnne's girlfriend Gail popped by and we sent her over to the local store to pick up some annuals to add constant colour.

Pups and Tim Hortons go good! Kodak supervising our efforts.In several places, especially under the tree area we put in water bottles - ends cut off, cap off - helps to get the water right to the roots rather than draining off. MA take note - a short sprinkle watering doesn't do it here!

Another Kodak pic ... can't help it! Such a sweet face.

I rummaged through her house to find a few things to add to the garden. We used the 'tree trunk' pot, putting some portulaca in to spill out as they explode in colour. The Cow Welcome, that was for fun and I've heard it will be retiring to the basement :) Gotta find something else MA to add a whimsical look to the garden.
Finally, after clean-up a 3.5 hours job is done. Looking pretty fine to me :) We had FUN doing it and can't wait to see it grow and produce the blooms we hope for. Know the neighbours were impressed!

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Too Many Possible Escape Artists

The MASSES of PUPPIES are taking over!!!


Flirt's pups having a 'chewing feast' ... some are now big enough, trying hard to hike up and over the front board to get to mom, so it's time to break their area down. Now they start to learn paper/potty training too.
Here they are starting to learn how to climb over the 'hump' from the potty area to their bed area. "Hey guys!, there is a new feeling over here.' ... something new to their touch are the fluffy vet pads to help wisk away their pees.

Gosh, they are growing fast.

Now Bliss's pups, they are all snoozing and don't have any idea of what's about to happen.

The one of the boys, just snoozzzing away!

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