July 1st Canada Day

A little Canadian trivia
Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world.
Is also known for having the longest coastline in the world at about 244,000 km (151,600 miles for those not on metric :)
It wasn't until 1982 that 'Dominion Day' was officially changed to 'Canada Day'
The single red maple leaf appeared on Canada's official National Flag in 1965.

Some famous Canadian slogans:
"Where you give like Santa and save like Scrooge." (Canadian Tire)
"I am Canadian!" (Beer)
"Always got time for Tim Hortons." (Coffee and Donuts)
"Only in Canada? Pity." (Red Rose tea)

Celebrations across the Nation today on Canada Day...enjoy your day.

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 )