Posts Tagged ‘Australian Shepherds’
A rescued dog with a lot of love in him and for quite awhile some serious issues; he was loving referred to in this blog as the neurotic chocolate lab; Duke went over The Bridge, August 19th. His final post is dedicated to ………….
What Duke Learnt – In His Own Words
Eating a stick of butter off the kitchen counter makes your tummy ache
When you’re scared good mummies take your head in their hands and tell you how handsome and smart you are
My first Australian Shepherd sister Jenna took care of me & taught me important dog stuff
Australian Shepherds are bossy and tell you that all the toys are theirs
I got so sad when Jenna went away but then funny Mia came to live with us
Wow, mom can get peanut butter to come out of these black rubber things and my dog chow to fall out of orange balls
I don’t have to be afraid of TVs, candles, fireworks, foil, ball caps or thunder
It’s kinda cool to have a cat friend who sleeps with you
If I smile at dad when he comes home from work it makes him laugh
The best thing about winter is my favourite blanket warm from the dryer
Happiness is the dog park, dirty tennis balls, bison bones, my plastic purple squeaky toy
For some reason it’s not ’helpful’ when I lick the dishes in the dishwasher
Mom makes a really funny noise when I wipe my cookie crumb mouth on her black pants
When you get old your head and body don’t feel good
On Friday daddy was sad, Dr Jodi is talking softly; mummy took my head in her hands and whispered “You are handsome and smart and you’re going to see Jenna”
What I learnt is I am loved …………
Thank you to Ringneck Kennels for taking in a once troubled young chocolate Labrador Retriever and then entrusting him to our care.
For looking after Duke not only physically but mentally we are so grateful to Dr. Jodi Silvernagle and all the staff at the Animal Care Centre of Strathmore.
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This past Sunday morning I enjoyed what I like to call the running of the Australian Shepherds. Periodically Mia’s breeder Theresa invites the dog owners out to her farm. It really is quite a sight to see all them bounding around the fields; different coat colors, ages, generations and personalities. While the dogs are chasing one another, we the doggy moms (and occasional dads) get to catch up and compare notes on all things, Aussie! Mia will be two in May; she has gone from puppy to adult and Duke is now a senior dog, how quickly that time went.
Winter is slowly starting to wane in Alberta but the landscape has a dull, muddy look to it. Is it a midlife thing when we start to measure our life by the seasons? I know that I need to break the brown monotony, with some flowers. This is actually my favorite time of year for flowers. In my dating prime I always thought that the man who really got me would have come to the door with spring flowers instead of those expensive roses. A bouquet of daffodils, some vivid iris and tulips, the scent of jasmine or a beautiful bowl of hyacinths would have delighted me. Add to this offering a leather bound copy of one of my favorite books and I would have ……… (insert own words).
Another measurable part of my time is the chunks of it that I spend R&Ring or doing Reading & Research. Finding information & resources for clients and my writing has me uncovering all sorts of interesting material. I therefore thought that I would start to share with you some of the websites and articles that I come across in that process. Some engaging bits and pieces from around the world that will go well With Your Biscotti & Coffee
This week we have; ladies only trains, why acquiring water is still such a challenge in may parts of the world and an article on what may be happening between you and your best friend. Enjoy
1) Ladies Special
In countries where women are breaking with tradition and becoming the bread winners we are seeing some unexpected outcomes. India is now running women only trains. This came about because the women are tired of being verbally and physically abused on the regular trains. Another offshoot is women vendors who sell everything from earrings to hairpins to frozen yogurt to the female passengers.
BBC News: Joy of India’s women only trains
2) Water.org: Women Can’t Do Everything Campaign
Searching for water takes hours out of the day for women around the world.
3) The Myth of the BFF by Kate Fillion
Irene S Levine has a PDF version of this really interesting article that was published in Chatelaine Magazine, January 2010.
It was a cold Christmas and New Years’ here in Alberta with temperatures often in the -20′s. We however were comfortably ensconced at home having made a decision to have a quiet holiday season; wanting to relax, regroup and restore.
Needless to say this was not ideal dog walking weather so I stretched my imagination to keep them amused with indoor activities. Duke who is known to many of you as the neurotic chocolate lab recently turned nine and his long legs are showing the early onset of arthritis. His vet has just started him on a course of Cartrophen Vet which is of plant origin and not a steroidal anti-inflammatory. There are four shots so we will see if it helps. Mia, his 18 month old Australian Shepherd sister has no sympathy and continues to bug the hell out of him until he plays with her so he needs something!
The weather is particularly hard on the two feral cats who have adopted me or vice versa. I have my quota of indoor cats; anymore and I will be close to ‘cat lady’ status. So we built them a shelter and ensure that they receive dry bedding, regular fresh water and food. No matter how cold and hungry it is my voice that they wait for first when I go outside. When I speak to them their bodies relax and ears perk up, next they want the fresh water and then finally they eat.
Whether soothing a frightened animal, talking to a friend or writing an article it is our voice and the words that we choose that carries the message.
Blogs are all about our voice, the words that we type convey the nature and style of the blog. One of the first things I ask my clients. What do you want to achieve with your blog? Do you want to post about business, life, lifestyle, travels, writing? The range is vast so in order to stand out you have to have a clear vision and goals for your blog.
So with that in mind we have changed the look of this blog to reflect more of what we are about. Imagine that you are sitting in a café with friends discussing movies, politics, books, food and life in general. Life Deco is a blog where we aim to capture that same atmosphere. Drop by anytime all you need to bring is your favorite beverage. We hope that you will leave a comment for that will keep the conversations stimulating.
Thank you to Alanna Morley of Alanna Inc for designing the Life Deco blog.
Being in the throes of puppy raising I decided to read Marley & Me by John Grogan and it had me laughing out loud. I admire John and Jenny for persevering. Chris & I had to call on a lot of patience when we acquired our chocolate lab. While I loving call Duke ‘neurotic’, in fact he 
came to us as a rescue dog and we went through a lot to get him to a state of near normalcy. It took years to socialize him and for us to learn what he could and couldn’t handle. For instance the reason that there are no pictures of this fairly handsome boy is that he cannot overcome his fear of cameras.
Duke has finally realized that despite all his best attempts to end her young life that Mia is not going away. He is willing to play and interact with her from 8am -8pm, then he retreats to his bed with a do not disturb snarl at the ready. At 6 months of age Mia is an Australian Shepherd in progress. She recently started puppy classes where I tend to get more attitude than obedience. Overall though she is the happiest of dogs so I don’t have the material for a Mia & Me book, but with that face maybe a bit part in a Disney movie?
As it is uncharacteristically warm in Alberta and there are no icy sidewalks to contend with we are able to continue our regime of 5:45ish am walks. While Mia & I are ready to go at that time, Duke and beloved need to stretch, yawn and perform various masculine rituals before we can even get out of the door. As you can see from the pic, Mia is wearing her favorite scarf and her impatient “I’m ready to go” expression.
We made the decision, found a great breeder and got an Australian Shepherd puppy. What was I thinking!!!??? Actually Mia is wonderful but all that energy. I have surprised myself though, I am more patient than I use to be, laugh at her antics and quickly realized that the best thing to do was go with the flow and enjoy her.
I especially like the way that she has re-decorated the house. The living room is a delightful blend of PetSmart toy aisle accented with a few chewed up magazines tossed here and there for that splash of colour. The kitchen she has done in the wet look of upended water bowl. But nothing can surpass the bathroom now a trendy grunge look of toilet paper draped everywhere except on the roll .
House breaking is so much easier in the summer, as is her training and exercise. The blip is that the chocolate lab really doesn’t like her so I have to keep a close eye on the two of them. The back yard is fenced but I worry that he may try to push her through one of the few small openings or whisper in her ear that the little green unripe crab apples are really puppy treats. So I usually sit outside with them which has actually been a good thing. I stop slaving over a hot laptop, grab my book and relax for awhile. I have even strayed from my schedule, made my afternoon tea and herded them both outside. Quelle shock!
A friend of mine, UK Life Coach Lynette Allen is currently raising TWO spaniel puppies, she is using the Life Coaching puppy training method mixed with some timely cursing. While I am trying the Zen like ‘what the hell’ method mixed with expletives. Lynette’s blog is aptly entitled The Life Behind the Coach .
Here are some pictures of our new addition Mia on the Casselcreek Australian Shepherds website.
(For those of you who are new to this blog the Aussie in the picture with me is Jenna, we lost her to a brain tumor in May.)
On Friday, May 16th at 5pm we lost the beautiful Australian Shepherd that you see in the photograph on this blog. She had a brain tumor. My husband and I shared our life with Jenna for 10 years.
Here are a few things about living with these lively dogs -
They are very smart, so when you get your Australian Shepherd puppy they have already read the training books, therefore if you make a mistake expect a distainful ‘you’re not doing too well’ look. Actually they have a lot of facial expressions.
Whenever I left the house without the dogs, the chocolate lab goes to his bed with a “whatever”, while Jenna stood in front of me requiring a detailed explanation as to why she couldn’t come.
You also find yourself talking to them a lot as they enjoy a good conversation.
I work from home so she would spend time in my office, helping me build my company. When she got bored with business she would bring all her toys from the living room into the office but I never could get her to take them back at the end of the day.
Please note that all the toys are the sole procession of the Australian Shepherd and if you have another dog they are usually out of luck.
Jenna was high energy, fun & bossy. Always very loyal to & loving of those in her circle.
The house is very quiet now. I picked up her ashes yesterday, another rite of passage in the grief process.
When we move to Nova Scotia they will be scattered on our property so that she can again be young and strong and running against the wind.
It seems like a few weeks ago when I was writing my spring blog posting about putting in my garden for ‘Maximum impact, minimum effort’ and now I have just finished emptying my clay pots and putting the garden to bed for another winter.
Inspite of my protests that I don’t particularly enjoy gardening, I realize that I am going to miss the time away from my tightly scheduled day.
Early summer mornings would find Jenna (Australian Shepherd) and me watering and tidying our pots and beds and just generally enjoying the peace and each others company. While husband and chocolate lab could be found in the house drinking that first cup of coffee and reading the morning paper.
I recently hired a landscape designer for a consultation. My back yard isn’t big and somehow has to embrace; bird feeding area , dog area, garden tool storage area and oh! yes somewhere for Chris and I to relax and barbecue. We not only discussed space requirements but also my budget and schedule.
The outcome is that next year I will have an even more attractive garden for minimum effort but more importantly I will continue to allow myself time to recharge & renew and fully accept how important time outside is to my mental and physical well being.