Shall We Dance?

Tess and Ali ready to dance.

Tess is learning to walk upright. Maybe soon she'll be bringing me coffee in bed!!

Our speed weave. The dogs just love doing this. They energize one another. Of course, if one goes over the top, then they both go. It's still fun though.

Let's do the twist!!

Two pooped pups after a good session!

Will that be "Fluff" or "Delicate" Cycle?

I'm sure everyone has heard the expression "curiosity killed the cat." I never fully understood it until having lived with a cat. They have to check out EVERYTHING. And it gets them in trouble sometimes. As I was folding laundry last night, Rooney decided to check out the inside of the dryer. He was quite fascinated by the light inside and kept starring at it trying to decide if it was worth eating or playing with.

After the Feast

I caught both Sportz and Rooney trying to sneak in a workout to work off some of the Christmas goodies. Of course, a cat's idea of a workout is more time on the couch. Gotta love that.

The festivities are over for another year. The feasting is finished and we can all get back to normal eating patterns. If chocolate were a vegetable, I'd have it made. So, I am going to use the cat's workout idea and hit the couch for a snooze. ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Merry Christmas To All

Sonic and Tess are going to make me pay for making them do this. Who can resist putting the old antlers on the pups though? Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas and health and happiness in the New Year!!

The Run Must Go On

Was it worth it? Check out the goodies. Lots left over even after sending everyone home with a doggy bag and delivering some cinnamon buns to a couple of friends.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

Nothing can keep the Ground Pounders from a feast. Here we are, a small, but hardy group of runners braving the elements. I'm the one with the red nose and fat knee. It took good drugs to get through the run. I'm really hobbling right now though. Probably not the most intelligent thing I've ever done, but I've been leading this run for 20 years. I'd really hate to miss one.

This is what we woke up to this morning. I was expecting a bunch of people for the cinnamon bun run. I was freaking out, worrying that nobody would show up and leave me with 10 dozen cinnamon buns.

Oh, I'm Such A Klutz.

This is the boardwalk through the bog. The small shrubs are covered with hoar frost. Notice the metal grating for non-slip(?) footing.

Another of my favorite views in the bog. The Alex Fraser Bridge looms in the background. On a clear day, the north shore mountains are visable. It's a spectacular sight.

This is what happens when you don't watch where you're going on the boardwalk. Fortunately, I was wearing long pants and don't require stitches like the last time I fell in there. Knee is now purple and swollen. I'm going to be leading a bunch of antler wearing runners tomorrow. Looks like the head reindeer is going to be lame.

What A Couple Of Mugs

Just checkin' out the new border collie mugs that came in the mail this week. I think Sonic and Tess approve, but wishing there were cookies inside!!!

So, did you get us anything else, huh, huh, huh?? More cookies please??

A River Runs Through It

Of course, Rooney and Sportz thought we were all a bunch of fools. Who would go out in that sort of weather except for crazy humans and border collies?

Sonic and Tess had a huge amount of fun. How often do you get to swim down the trail?

Below is what we discovered on our walk this morning. The water you see in the photo is not the creek. It is the trail. Do we let it stop us??



Of course not. We have our handy dandy frog boots to go slopping through the water. Luckily, it only came half way up my boots.

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

Meet Allie, an Australian Kelpie. She and Tess are working together on a new routine. We were practicing this afternoon down in the rec room. Tess, for some reason was being a real butt head. I guess everyone is entitled to having an off day once in awhile.






The girls are taking a bow after we finished working with them. Miss Coy is refusing to look at the camera.

Finally!! My new boots were delivered!! Now I can splash through all the mud and water in the bog while walking the dogs.

So Many Toys, So Little Time

Tess likes it too, So, put the damn camera down and throw it for me already.

This is the newest favorite toy. It has 6, count 'em 6 sqeakers in it.

OK. That's enough. I want it back now.

Well, ok Rooney can have it for a minute.

The great Loofa Stand off. Will Sonic share with Rooney?

Sonic's collection of "Loofa Dogs". These are one of her favorite toys. She has Halloween Loofas, Santa loofas and a bunch of others that are probably hidden somewhere. We did loose a Santa Loofa to Boo though when we ripped it in half. RIP Santa Loofa.

Air Dog

The interesting thing about Burns Bog is it's ability to swallow machinery. If you look closely at this pic, you will see the remains of a font end loader that got "bogged down" 30 some years ago. They were unable to get it unstuck without bringing in huge equipment with the risk of THAT getting stuck, so they built the boardwalk and benches around it. Over the past years, it has been slowly sinking into the bog. There isn't much of it left showing now.

Just chillin' on the walk yesterday. Sonic is NOT impressed.

Frisbee in the snow. For Tess, it doesn't get much more fun than that. As well as being a budding canine freestyler, she is an extraordinary disc dog. Of course, it's much more fun when she has an audience. She will do twists and spins and then snag the frisbee on the way down from a back flip.....but only if she sees people watching. What a little show off.

Snow Day

A snowy day on the west coast. Typical of west coast weather though, it has now changed to rain, so by tomorrow, we should have a sodden mess.

Dogs had a blast while it lasted though. Nothing like a long romp in the snow to tire our a pair of border collies.....or humans for that matter.

I took Tess to Lydia's place today and we practiced with Allie on a pairs routine we are going to work on. It's going to be fantastic!! We had loads of fun while we were working on it. Lydia's husband took some pics, so as soon as I get them, I can post. I couldn't believe how fast Tess was weaving. She and Allie feed of one another's energy. I think the 2 of them are going to be dynomite!!!

Poor Rooney

I think he must've been hallucinating. Maybe something really WAS there.

Rooney on good drugs

Poor Rooney had a rather bad day earlier this week. First off, he was not allowed any breakfast as we were taking him in for the big snip. When I left for work, he was protesting loudly and trying to claw the door down where big brother Sportz was happily munching away. To add insult to injury, he was then shoved in his carrier, taken on a car ride and got his balls lopped off. It just doesn't get any worse than that. Obviously, they gave him some pretty good drugs for the trip home though. He staggered around the house for a few hours, but at least he got to EAT. I think this guy must've been a labrador retriever in a past life. His mind is always on food, well, when he's not tormenting Sonic, Tess and Sportz. He seems pretty much recovered now, although I think he may have been in a bit of discomfort for a couple of days. Seems the little sneak was only pretending to swallow the pills the vet gave him for the pain. Charlie found them on the floor after I left for work. I was SURE he swallowed them. Little brat bit me while I was trying to get them down his throat, so serves him right.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Just throw the damn stick, already!!

I was SURE I heard a squirrel run up that tree!!!

My Partners in Crime

Self Portrait on walk this morning.

Woke up to a dusting of snow this morning. It's still coming down. Actually there is a snowfall warning. Of course, the dogs don't care about any old snowfall warning. Let's just get out and walk!!! Spent 90 minutes tramping through the nature reserve trying to take pics of the dogs. Sometimes they'd actually cooperate. Maybe one day I won't suck at taking photos.

Boo Hoo

So, Boo has left the building. I went to take pics of him today and the camera battery was dead, so this one was sent by his previous people.

It's very quiet here now and very calm. Almost from the minute he left, both of our dogs did a complete transformation, back to the social butterflies that they normally are. Sonic's tummy troubles seem to be gone as well.

Of course, he wasn't all bad and I wavered between thinking he was a sweet, goofy pup to the dog from hell. Mostly he was pretty sweet though and not at fault for his poor start in life. The person who is fostering him now has a much different training style than me. It's one that I am not comfortable doing myself as our dogs are very soft. It's totally different when you have a dog who is very headstrong. I have heard he is already starting to calm down. Poor Boo, he won't know what's hit him.

OK, I have to caution you that I am going to resort to my "chicken plucker" vocabulary here....BAD WORD ALERT!

I took Mr. Boo for a last run up and down the sides of the ravine by the house to calm him down before we took him to his new place today. He got in one last parting shot when he came charging up behind me on the trail, carrying a huge stick.....actually more like a small tree. Must've been 5 feet long. He whacked me behind the knees with it and sent me flying face first. I'm laying with a face full of mud in the trail, pissed off as all get out telling Mr. Boo that he is a friggin' asshole dog.

Did I say it's so quiet here now? I am very relieved and will miss some of his antics, but all in all, I am glad he's out of here. Tess and Sonic are still doing a happy dance.

Good Bye Molly

OK, so not a dog pic, but one of my most prized possessions.
This quilt was made up of a bunch of my t-shirts from races I have run. It's got my first marathon, first race, best time and just a whole bunch of other memories. It was made for me by a wonderfully talented friends.

Molly's Got It Made!

We took Molly to her forever home today. What a wonderful life she is going to have. I'm sure she is going to be happy to never have to run another step, although we DID have her up to 10K by the time she left us. It seemed strange this afternoon to not have her with us on our walk in the bog. However, we won't be 2 dogs for much longer as our new foster Boo is coming in a couple of hours.

Good luck, Miss Molly. We will miss you.

Gotcha!

Sleeping with the cat!! NO WAY!!
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I never would've believed it. Both Sonic and Rooney sleeping together at the top of the stairway. Will wonders never cease. Maybe there's even hope for world peace!!

Caught ya!

So Molly leaves tomorrow, but seems there is no shortage of dogs in need. She will not even be in her new home 5 hours and we will be getting another foster dog. This guy is a 7 month old pup named Boo. Family is expecting their first child and are worried about this high energy pup and a new baby. Been speaking with them on the phone tonigt. They're very upset over giving him up. They are brining him to us as they want their last memory of him to be playing with a couple of other dogs. Geeez, I hope Sonic and Miss Tess don't give him a rough time. I'm sure they'll be fine. Fingers crossed.