Training in extreme weather

Irish heatwaves are a rare thing, but 8 weeks into extremely sticky heat and we are experiencing problems. For me and the four dogs, training now takes place at unlikely hours or at unlikely venues. We try to vary it as much as possible. Most days they are each given a task to do and so trained individually but then if the two-legged handler sleeps late, training takes place in the river. The dogs love this but I don’t as I generally end up the wettest of the lot.

 

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Ellie is on the left on the last photo in the slides she prefers to stand on the bank and manage the recovery – this collie only gets wet as the last resort.

 

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Lazy Days

Time is short for everyone these days so I have decided to be just like Bob and make this a short and sweet post.

I am dog crazy, always was and always will be but sometimes I don’t get that people fail to see the benefits that we get from having a four-legged friend in the house. The bonus in our house is varied;

1. Getting rid of scraps is no problem as Bob is always too happy to help out. It doesn’t matter what type of meat or veg is left over, he will gladly reduce the amount heading to the bin.
2. Getting in our 10,000 steps a day is not a huge problem in this house as Bob gets a very short sedate walk and then the crazy collie gets her fast-paced walk or jog. She is not limited by terrain either, beach, riverside, fields or roads Ellie will take them all on.
3. Finding a person to give you a hug (Bob) or nudge (Ellie) to help reduce stress levels is a handier way of bringing down blood pressure than trying to remember to take pills.
4. Time – on the odd occasion when the batteries in the clock failed, our friendly four-legged friends were highly reliable regarding meal times.
5. Then there are the amazing way dogs can assist people, – Therapy dogs, Assistance (guide) dogs, Search Dogs, Security Dogs, Cancer Detection, The trouble with this one benefit is that it takes time and patience to find which category the dog fits best with

Happy Mothers Day everyone!

 

Two pups gaining access to a bus

Willow learning from Bob

Ellie, making snowballs

Bob doing what he does best, relaxing

Life with Dogs

Life with dogs…is not easy, just take a look at these pictures

Dressing up for my blog site didn’t turn out the way I hoped this Christmas

sdr

They both were behaving like a Diva. So I took Ellie outside, this is the best I got..

Are you for real? I am not posing out here it is mucky and cold.

So I tried Judy. She wasn’t much better as all she wanted to do was find fish.

 

A good days work

Working means many things to many people. But in the world of dogs (as in my two) work means the following:

For Ellie, – collecting sticks while out walking

Hisilicon K3

Bob sitting

Ellie finding lost tennis balls.

Hisilicon K3

Getting mucky while finding the smallest trace of scent hidden in the weirdest of places. Today was weird it was a pipe buried in the ground.

Bob – sitting.

I think you get the idea there is a pattern here all pointing to one thing – Bob likes to sit and be sociable while Ellie loves to work.