Nugget, all grown up

We spent Thanksgiving up at the cottage with Robert, Elizabeth and their gang of 4 dogs- two pet dogs and two foster puppies from Autism Dog Services. I brought my own four with me so we had quite the Labfest with a Golden and a Golden Wannabe thrown in!!
A great time was had by all. Even Molson, the old guy, was up for a hike back to the beaver pond and was able to keep up with the youngin's.We decided to grab a few geocaches in the area and were amazed by how stunning the Fall colours were this year. I've been up North many times during the Fall and don't remember the leaves ever being so magnificent. We drove up to the Depot Lakes area and were successful in finding the cache hidden by a gentleman who had hike the area for many years with his beloved Golden who died at the age of 16. The area was picture perfect and we will definitely be back for a hike with our gang.

Dock Diving Con't

The season has ended and Fortune managed to obtain a personal best jump of 15' 10". That distance puts her at the low end of the Senior Division but I think she'll continue to improve next season. I will also be training Jive over the winter and plan to enter her in competitions as well. She's a natural. A professional photographer attends many of the Dock Dog events and she has taken some amazing photographs of the dogs in action. Take a peek at her website Deb Hitchins Photography and see if you can pick Fortune out. Here's one of my favourites...



photo by Deb Hitchins Photography

We're not even back to the halfway mark on the 40 foot dock but Fortune continues to improve at each competition. Her personal best is 15' 8" which she achieved last week in Bradford. Not too shabby for a newbie at the sport!!!

Dock Diving

Being without a foster puppy has afforded me the time to do other things with my own pet dogs. This past weekend Fortune and I headed to the International Food Festival in London Ontario to compete in the Dock Dogs Event. We tried this sport a couple years ago and Fortune did quite well but life became busy with some interesting, or rather "challenging" pups so we haven't had an opportunity to hit the docks again.

Fortune entered one Wave on Saturday and jumped 8' 10" and 9' 8" to earn her the top Novice dog in that Wave. Most dogs run the full 40 foot dock before leaping into the water but since we haven't really had any practice I thought it best to have Fortune jump from the edge and then work our way back as she (and I) gained more confidence. We learned at the end of the day that Fortune's jump of 9' 8" was the highest of all novice dogs (those who jump less than 10 feet) and meant that she would make it to the finals on Sunday. I hadn't planned on attending a second day, but figured we'd give it a shot and see what happened.

On Sunday we didn't take any practice jumps so Fortune was wired when it was finally her turn to jump. I moved her back about 5 feet from the edge of the dock and let her go.

She launched herself 11' 8" and secured the Novice Division! She will move up at least one level, if not two, when we compete again in July since I am convinced she will be running the full dock in no time. As a handler I am holding her back from accomplishing what she is truly capable of so it's time to let her show her stuff. She's the confident member of the team LOL

Career Changed

Nugget has always been a sensitive and somewhat timid Golden. We all hoped (and thought) he would become more confident as time progressed but the opposite has happened. He is getting worse instead of better. A broom falling to the floor sends him high tailing to the furthest room with his tail tucked, the roar of a motorcycle causes instant anxiety and a trip to the mall is just too much for him to handle so he has been released from the program to live life as a much loved family pet.

I am saddened that he wasn't suitable for the program because he is a great (but slightly neurotic) dog, however, I am thrilled to be able to keep him with the pack he has grown up with.

The 'Fostering Hat' has been hung up indefinitely and the No Vacancy sign has been place out front.
This house has truly Gone To The Dogs!!!

This Week's Adventure

We're puppysitting at the cottage this week. We have Frites, Java, Fortune and three ADS pups in training... Benson, Bella and Nugget. Benson and Bella are siblings but don't look anything alike. Benson is big for 5 mos.....more like huge....very stocky and solid, whereas Bella is petite and delicate in appearance. I've been trying to get pics of the two together but it hasn't been that easy. All are getting along ok and spend most of the day playing outside. Nugget is keeping up just fine with everyobdy. He's such a good little guy.

Journey Update

It was determined that Journey just wasn't cut out to be a Service Dog so she was disqualified a few weeks ago. She is now living out in the country with no close neighbours, a forest full of trees to chew, and a lake to swim in whenever she wants. The young lad who adopted her is an avid hunter and his family has a hunting camp on the shores of Lake St Clair. Journey, who was a very late starter in the sport of duck hunting, is proving to be quite the natural. On her first outing she retrieved 4/8 ducks. Way to go, girl.... you're exactly where you belong!!