Caitland True Colors ( Quade x It's True )

Congrats to Winnie and Heather Forbes on finishing 12th in Advanced cattle & 10th in Advanced ducks in the merit standings.
( She didn't run on sheep last year ) ASCA trials are very few and far between here in Canada with alot of traveling to get to even
one....which means a person sometimes has to make time to leave the country to find an ASCA event. When I see a Canadian team listed
on the merit list or finals list with ASCA ( doesnt matter 'who' ) I know they had to go more than the extra mile to find enough event(s) to get a toe hold
in the top placements.
Congrat to Jerrie & Desi ...picked up her Open Jumpers title at the ASCA trial this weekend & is now running Elite in all areas.
Good Luck at the AAC Nationals in August ( location Calgary, Ab this year) :
Steve & Lisa with Paris & Ziggy, Amber with Zack & Whoopie, Kathy with Hope and Christine with Duffy...safe travels, enjoy the comradrie Agility Nationals brings with celebrating those memorable moments....they'll carry you for weeks/months following as you relive 'the Nationals' ...and a person has to have been to such a large event to truely appreciate ( and understand ) that sentiment :)

Wkend projects...

Weekends around here are for catching up on stuff around the farm...seems to be endless ( kinda like housework ....always there )
Tore down 40 feet of windbreak on the one end of the bull pen....it's been standing there for over 38 years and overdue in replacing the timber.
The base consisted of railway ties behind 8" round posts with rough planks. Takes 2 people to hold a plank to hammer spikes in. Will pick up 1/2
bundle of slabs from the neighbor since 1/2 bundles arent available locally.
Managed to get a couple of dogs combed out and bathed/trimmed today. Repainted the dog walk a couple of coats of paint/sand....'my stuff' tends to
hit the back burner to the grunt work projects when DH is off work. Burned the midnight oil giving a son a ride part way to his home next province over as he
left his Hydrovac truck with one of the partners to work.
Moved the sheep back across the highway to graze, ended up needing help with spotting for traffic and to help get the new moms over with their lambs...it was ending up a confrontation in the middle of the road trying to keep the laggers up with the rest of the flock. Will see if I can fix up a working area to train stock where they are...I'm losing valuable time on training. Kept the flock numbers up for a trial but the trial has unfortunately been canceled so plan b is to wean later this month and take most of the lamb crop to the auction mart. With flock numbers down I should have enough grass to keep them on the farm instead of finding extra grass to keep them.

Tiger lilies are 2nd generation and bloom profusely this time of year...picture taken later afternoon with back lighting.

Dare ( Walker x Jinx daughter )

Shapes...

Shape...when working livestock a person gets alot of clues on how their dog is covering the heads of the sheep in a flock by the general shape of flock ie) wide..the dog is more or less following and allowing the sheep to spread out...with the dog not covering the eye/heads of the ones on the outside edges. Perhaps more ideally a tear drop shape with the leaders infront and the dog tucking the rest of the heads in.
The off days with my pushy dog that tear drop looks like a 'V' with the center pushed in when we start a lesson...
The other day with severe storm warnings I wanted to move my flock across the highway to a permanent fence / shelter to be on the safe side. Was easier to hold them and cross the road going over than it was on the return back home due to a big blind spot for viewing traffic and timing the best time to cross. Didnt help that I had a 2 day old lamb/new mom that hadnt been worked by a dog ( on the defence and not keeping up with the rest because she was on the fight from the get go) My leaders tend to be like a horse that decides to take the bit between their teeth and take off running....tunnel vision on the new grass. Quade got his work out holding /settling sheep to one spot and from a distance nudging the new moms to join the rest of the flock.
Not pretty but got the job done...would help if my voice doesnt change as we still have the feeding off each other in some situations...my voice comes up and the dog think's there is something 'more' to worry about...which results in pushing harder. With crossing the highway with no spotters I had to get it right the first time to avoid causing an accident...my dog feeds off of 'me' in spades...something I have to always keep in mind.
Having a dog that 'feels' his stock and a person can trust will cover his stock with no fences....like the commercial ....'priceless'.

Ms Jinx ( Bayley x Deuce )

Crossing a few things off the list...

Canning jars passsed along to Mike & Loro when they were down visiting. Root cellar cleared of old spuds that were over due in clearing out.
DH slicker re- waxed or I should say one side is done...a job for outside. More grass cut, sheep checked on across the road....having problems
getting enough juice to shock through the tall grass...sheep not bothering the fence. Topped off the water tanks.
Steers left yesterday to local abbatoir in town...down to one bull in the yard....bull from the pasture will be pulled in a few wks.
Cloudy day, forecast for some rain....trying to get a few loads out on the line since it piled up this last wk when nothing much got done.
Winter clothes not really put away...a few boots but not the chore clothes...another project to wash / pack away for a few months...for awhile there it seemed quite pointless to pack anything away with low spring temps.
Played abit with the camera I got through Erika ( her old camera ) took a few shots of Grandson Cohen and later the sheep. Will play around some
more this coming wkend at the Races / Town's celebration/Mother in Law's Birthday bash. Thanks Erika...think I'm going to quite like it.
Need to see if I can pick up a 'shoe' for the top of an old Slik tripod we have here...not sure if a store in town will carry something that will fit it...or if it's just be cheaper to go ahead and pick up a new tripod.

Sea of green...

Sheep seem to be more than belly deep in grass...young lambs disappear in the sea of green. So nice to have access to this amount of grass and have content
animals....no signs of coyoytes but do hear them all round from 8:30 pm and on. Lost over a wk of training being down and out with some type of bug. Seems a person gets so far behind there is no catching up ....not going to stress about it...not like the work load is going to pack up and leave....
Congrats to Jo with her red dawg Gunny going BOB twice in a row and placing 4th in the Group this past wkend...told her the rosette was going to look just fine hanging on the wall beside her Herding Ribbons :) Nice job ladies.

Buckley's...

Been sick since Monday....Buckley's tastes terrible and when it's expired since '09...just as bad...nothing else in the cupboards.
( I stock up before winter hits on over the counter cold meds but the supply was used up between then and now )
Not getting much of anything done on my days off....which is frustrating as have no time to have down time. The taps havent shut off yet...we get a couple of days of no rain followed by more days of rain. Farmers burning the midnight oil trying to get their seeding done when they can...hoping for late snow fall so they can take things off late fall.
One young ewe left to lamb...had a couple of late ewe lambs last year and kept them as it wasnt worth the gas to take to the only close auction mart that handles sheep. 'Close' meaning a few hours away. By the time a person pays the fuel/commision there isnt much of a 'paycheck' to take home. So these two ended up being my tail enders. I really liked the lamb crop this year so decided not to bring out the bardizzo's and will keep the ram another year, he's still compliant and easy to handle. Will just have to seperate him in abit before the girls start to cycle so I dont have winter lambs.
Middle son Barrett kicking off his race season winning the Modified Stock race wkend in Edson and leading the points on the CMRO circuit. Motor he built for his friend is in 2nd place. Oldest son Michael & Loro coming to visit this wkend...never get enough of Grandson Cohen visits.

Fate....

A few people may remember Ray from the Canadian Aussie Nationals in Camrose in '05 and his then side kick Arda.
Received a note from Ray about his present sidekick Louie. Ray has been a great inspiration that as dog people we really are ageless when it comes to being active with them. Ray turned 83 years old this spring and Louie is a rehomed Caitland bred dog that ended up going from a so so situation to the best match for both
Ray and Louie. Ray had lost both his wife and his Aussie Arda and was looking for a companion ...best fit an adult dog to continue on with the canine sports ( to get out of the house and stay active in the community ) When Louie became available, a safety net was put in place incase Ray became ill and he wouldnt have to worry about his dog and.... in less than 3 years of training/competing these two veterans have acquired 9 titles in Obedience, Rally and Agility.


'Hi Cathy,
the first weekend of May in Kelowna we got two titles in CKC: RN in Rally and C.D. in standard obedience. On my birthday May 16 he got his Versatility title in CARO. This past weekend he got his Advanced Standard title in AAC. So now we have nine titles.
Cheers Ray'

Moved the Sheep across the highway...

Light drizzle of rain today...forecast is a few days of rain. Moved the sheep across the highway to the neighbors to a new graze. We live on top of a hill so
have to time the crossing with traffic and make sure everyone is 'together' and moves across as a 'one' group. The new set of twins kept up as we crossed the
pavement and into the unfenced area on the other side. Quade kept his flock together with some overflanking...sheep were hungry and wanting to hurry themselves to the new grass area....he wanted to control their speed....so let him feel in control of his stock before moving them to our staked fence area.
Have been putting off moving them across the road for several reasons...coyotes in the area, getting it right the first time with moving a flock across the highway with the amount of traffic and they just arent very handy across the road when it comes to training the young dogs. So may just move them across every morning when not working and back again in the evenings...will play that by ear. Good practise for Quade who at this point is the only dog I can trust will get the job done without a wreck..which means I really need to work the other dogs and put more practical work miles on them.
New set of lambs look so small compared to older lambs so a good 'bench mark' for the older's ones growth. Have a couple of 'ewe lambs' ( last years lambs )
that havent lambed yet...then officially done lambing season. The late ones will be too young to trial on.
Picture of this lamb was easy...pretty trusting at his age checking me out as I was sitting on the ground with the camera...only 48 hrs old.

Update pics on Derby x Desi pups

Thanks Jerrie for sending pics...always wished I had a set of Happy Legs stilts for training stacks from the get go.

Penny for your thoughts...

Husband thought I lost a screw a few weeks ago when I was hanging up a couple of ziplock bags of water containing a penny outside in our front porch.
He actually snorted in disbelief and walked away shaking his head.
. ..flies seem to be part and parcel of farm life and when I read this great tip on the Aussie Herders ... thought 'what the heck, I'll try it'.
A few days later my husband made the remark that a person should go out and patent it before someone else grabs on to such a great idea :):)
Anyways...yes it does work...the fly's that usually hang out sunning in our open outside porch is now ZERO population...which means no nuisance
flys in the house.
Interestingly not a new idea but one passed along..since it was posted on the Herders list have either seen it at other people's places or have
talked to someone who has seen it before.
Why does it work ?
.....something to do with the design of the fly's eye (compound ) and the way the sun shines /reflects through the water on the penny.
Anyways something cheap and 'green' in this world of pesticides worth trying.

Is it Spring yet?

I see by the forecast that the rainy stretch isnt over yet....makes it hard for the farmers to get the rest of seeding done with a short growing season
here on the prairies....think we had too much wishing for moisture when it was looking pretty dismal earlier this year....hopefully the wishing for the taps to be turned off doesnt turn around and bite us in the butt... :)
One day off today and spent cutting the neighbors grass and setting up the electra net fencing in areas where a person cant get in with a swather nor a mower.
I'm hoping the sheep dont strip their trees too much instead of getting down to grazing. Middle son has promised me he'd help with hoof trimming on the sheep after his race wkend this coming wkend. Need them done well before they are trialed on in July. Also need to start working them into smaller groups instead of the entire flock for both my dogs sake and for the sheep sake. Good practise for the dogs to bring into the barn for gate sorting before training sessions.
Now to catch up house stuff and get a few meals ahead so I can make time for training.

New WTCH!!

*WTCH / Canadian Dual Champion HCH / CH Caitland's All The Rave CDX HX
Congrats to Heather Forbes & Winnie picking up her last cattle leg needed to finish her WTCH !
Certainly couldnt ask any more from a dog well in her Veteran years at over 10 years of age...wow what a lovely retirement achievement.
Note Winnie was the first dog in Canada of ALL Breeds to earn her dual championship in both the working arena and the conformation ring...
as well she has been a Multi HIT and on the Top Herding Dog lists for a number of years.
Hats off to a grand career not only on the trial field but at home on the farm as a chore dog.
Heather we need to do a little celebrating at Nationals this fall when we catch up to each other.
*ASCA pending