October 28, 2010: Wintry Weather

It's a wet, windy night here. All the dogs are tucked up in their beds after a quick walk. None of them seemed overly keen to be out in this weather. I had them all out running in the forest this afternoon, or should I say, they had me out running in the forest. I'm not sure who liked it most, me or them!

Despite the rain, we rest easy in the knowledge that no matter how much the heavens throws at us, the cottage is not going to be flooded. We finally got the culvert repaired and the guys who did the work, did an absolutely superb job. It was worth the wait. The road to the main training field is now much wider, flatter and properly laid. The fencing has been repaired and the gate to the small field above the kennel even swings better! We are making progress. This week we also repaired a piece of fenceline the sheep have been jumping in their escape from the main training field...and we sold the worst offending jumping sheep! Beulah Specked face sheep - who would have them?

Liam is doing great - thanks to all of you who emailed with your kind messages. Don't ask me to kiss Liam on the head any more...I've almost worn a bald patch on his head! The wee fella is back to his irrepressible self and becoming naughtier by the day. He is hugely interested in food (this is new!) and gaining weight. There is hope yet that he will grow out of his nickname - Jack (as in Jack Russell Terrier). Perhaps by Christmas he'll be joining sister, Tahi, out training on sheep.

This week our friends Rona and Julie came over to train their dogs. We had a gloriously sunny Sunday afternoon out with the dogs. We almost needed sunscreen. There can be no better way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Next week I hope to get to Rona's to run some of my dogs away from home. Hmmm...in fact, I think I am going to be calling a few friends to see if I can train at their place! Be warned!

The last couple of weeks has seen a number of people training here and it has been a total blast. There's lots of talent out there (both human and dogs), many an inspiring story to be heard, and darned nice people around! It has been SO much fun having people to train with.

The news of the week would have to be the acquisition of a computer by our friends Mike and Nora. You heard it here first. They've gone high tech!! They're even hooked to the net and lo and behold, Kelvin got a Facebook Friend request by Nora (ah-hem not sure why I didn't?). They can now read this blog without having to get their grandchildren to print it out for them. So Mike...you still owe me a bottle of Baileys (that's for whipping his butt at some trials). Actually, last count, he owed me two bottles of Baileys and I owed him one bottle of whisky. I suppose at some point we will settle up...perhaps I'll do double or nothing for the 2011 Nursery trial season. That's when I'm going to roll-out my next little superstar. Now if only I could learn to actually handle a dog...!