No.. this isn't some new breed of dog!!! it is a Canadian goose, who seems to have moved in for a while here on the farm. Sometimes, I see two... but mostly just this one, so I don't know if there might be a pair, and one is off nesting some place. I do understand that they can be a bother, but here, we have plenty of room and all are welcomed.
Not sure what "he" is hunting for or finding, but he seems to be finding whatever it is!!! And I so enjoy watching......
Now, this is a dog show!!! and sadly, I haven't been to one in years. Today, I volunteered as a ring steward, because it has been so long, and I wanted to see "what was going on in the dog show world". With any luck, Livy and I will be "in" the ring next year......
Our assignment was with the obedience rings. Being a steward is great way to get ring side "seats" and have a chance to watch the dogs close up and personal. I have to say there seems to be way less dogs competing in obedience these days. I know there can be lulls... people retiring old dogs, training puppies for the ring again... and perhaps dog showing isn't as popular as it used to be.
(nice lab doing the scent articles)....... I can remember going to shows where there could be as many as 35 dogs in one class.... today, there weren't even a total of 35 dogs within all the classes combined.
(corgi retrieving over the high jump) . There also weren't many that qualified... some dogs did seem "ready" and just messed up on a few things, but a number of dogs I watched, I just didn't get the feeling that they were really ready to be showing. Perhaps people rushed them a bit, because this was a local show and we don't have too many that are this close to home. But either way, it was fun to be "out there" again.
I also had the chance to watch the confirmation rings (especially the cockers)... and there were all kinds of dogs there... big to little. I would have taken more photos, but I was suppose to be "working". It was nice too to meet up with old friends, many didn't know that I have Livy, so they were excited to hear that I will be back...... (I'm excited too...)
Livy, Livy.... she continues to become as fun as I thought she would. She has attitude and is always up to try something new. But the one thing that amazes me the most... it doesn't bother her one bit to be "messy" or "wet". My other dogs, if there is the slightest sign of "rain"... they will hardly pop their heads out the door... but not Livy, she loves to be "out" and the wetter and dirtier she can get--- the better....
I have to wonder if it might not come from her lab buddies. First she had Debbie to play with and keep her entertained... and now she has Danny. They are such good friends, and they play together for hours!!!! Right now he is the same size as she is, but that's not going to stay that way for much longer....
"OH.... what's on the other side of the fence??"
We waiting on the arrival of our second bee hive.... they have been delayed a bit due to the wet weather we have been having. But, I'm already for them. This hive looks so little and cute, and I can't wait to have it out beside the other one.
I feel like we are working in between the rain drops. We have truly had weather where one day it's beautiful (like this one) and then it's rain the next. Everything is so nice and green, but I groan when it's another wet day. We took advantage of this day to get the spot for the other hive done.
Ed cleared some branches of the near by trees, got the base made and leveled a spot for it. I guess now, we can say we have an "official" bee yard!!!!!
Since we were playing with the bees, we decided to check out the hive and see what the girls are up to. I know that some keepers can do this "alone", but I find that an extra pair of hands is the best, so Ed and I go into the hive together.
I'm just so happy that we got them threw the winter. They seem to be doing quite well....
The honey stores are low, but they are finding plenty to eat. There are lots of new bees coming (those are the combs that are capped over) and if you look closely you can see pockets of pollen.. (those bright yellow things in the combs)....
and this is another frame, pretty much the same thing... pollen pockets, brood, and even some "grubs"....
But things are in bloom, so the girls are busy, busy and honey season is just around the corner....
You got it.... another "dog event weekend".... this time, we are at NEADS!!!! for the volunteer appreciation picnic!!! I was excited to be invited and to go, we usually only get to meet other puppy raisers at graduations (where it isn't the best place to be able to talk)... and so today, it's the perfect time to meet other, and re connect with old friends...
As it turned out, Danny was the youngest one attending today... he knows who to schmooze with... (Dave)... and happily cuddled right up to him the moment we saw him.
Linda had made the cute yellow scarfs for all the Maine puppies.... which only added to Danny's cuteness factor....
The day had started out pretty grey and drizzly... we actually drove threw some pretty good rain showers on our way down. But, by the time we got to NEADS, it was brightening up and there were plenty of folks who weren't going to let the damp weather stop them. I thought it was an amazing turnout, especially being Mother's Day weekend...
They had all sorts of fun things planned for us.. one being the "duck race". When we arrived we were given a ticket with a number that matched a "duck".... then, they floated all the ducks down the stream.. and the first four ducks to cross the finish line won some pretty nice prizes. Mine - for the record - did not win anything.....
Some of the duckies got off to a slow start, so Gerry (CEO) thought he would get them moving.... I though Gerry might end up swimming with the duckies.... but, he didn't!!!! (though Danny would have loved to gone swimming with them!!!)
Aside from games, good company, food... awards that were given... they also brought in their professional photographer, who took pictures of each puppy raiser and their dog.... these will be mailed to us later, and I will be excited to see them. Winn takes amazing photos at the graduations.....
I hope that one day, Danny will learn to walk more than 50 feet... this is pretty typical whenever we are out and about...we move about 50 feet or so, and someone has to stop and say hello... so we do (while he is still young)... and then we move along, only to be stopped again. I really think that Danny may learn that we only have to move in 50 feet increments..
OK.. so that face is pretty hard to pass by......
By the time I got back in the afternoon, it was still pretty warm and sunny, so I decided that we should get into the bees and see how things are going there. We haven't done a true check in a long time, and even though I have seen them flying and from the outside they looked good, I just wanted to be sure.
Last fall we made a "candy board" to put in the hive, just in case they should run of out honey. Some keepers swear by them, and others say they don't bother. Since we really didn't know what we thought, we decided to go with one. Well, once I saw how much they had eaten.. and the fact that they made it threw this very long and cold winter... I think I'm on the "swearing" side. And next year, we will certainly go with candy boards again.
We pulled a couple of frames and was happy to find that there is brood (baby bees) coming along, and we're seeing small pockets of pollen being collected... honey stores are low, but I sort of expected that. All in all, once things begin to bloom, I think we're going to be in very good shape..... yeah girls!!!!
And it's Mother's Day weekend, which the sun came out for and the day was so pretty. As we have done over the past few years, we went to one of our favorite buffet breakfast places. Reagan arrived liked this.... thinking of how little he was last year, makes you realize that time flies by so fast....
We had the same little private room that we always do.. which is so nice, because we can all visit and this year, allowed Reagan to have some room to move around. He isn't quite walking yet.. but certainly does that "cruising" thing... going from one thing to another....
The buffet was amazing... all sorts of good thing to eat and try.. though Reagan wasn't so sure of his Mother's choices.....(he's actually going threw a bit of picky phase right now)....
running his trucks threw food seemed like such a better idea......
Sadie and Abbie had made plans with Jessie's family, so they weren't here for our Mother/daughter photo :( but this one is pretty nice just the same.....
And in true little boy fashion... the "pond" was way more fun than picture taking.....
Not only was Mother's day wonderful with family, good food, beautiful weather... but look what I got!!! Yup, we expecting again... hive #2... and Ed went and got all the parts and pieces needed for that....
But look here.... not just a regular top.... a Copper top!!!! how fancy is that!!! (just hope our current bees don't get jealous of their neighbors pretty new home!!!)
When our girls were little, I tried to have one day a week that we called "adventure day", a day that we "did something". Often times, it really wasn't that big of a deal... visiting different places, taking a picnic lunch, something of that nature, but I think my girls remember it fondly... now "adventure day" is all about puppies!!!!! (my how times change). and we typically meet up with Kathleen - who has Cappy at the moment - and go somewhere to "work" the puppies.
Our latest spot has been the hospital. It's a great place to work... and of course, the pups get a lot of attention as well. We do things like, ride in the elevators (there are three to choose from)....
Cappy doesn't see what all the fuss is about......
And there are stairways to practice in... this one is quite good, because the steps are tiled, and the hallway echos....
Danny seemed to have an expression of "oh no... I have to do that... I can't look"... but actually he did very well on the stairs, which are still a little hard just because he is still so little.
After we "play" at the hospital, it's onto puppy school, so these guys get a full day of "fun' on adventure days....
But today we took a road trip and I brought Danny and Camille along. We're back at the antique fire engine place, Ed is still working away on the restoration project, and he had a couple more pieces he had to deliver. Danny was a good boy - it's a pretty long trip and he rode well.
While Ed was going over some of the details of what he needed to have done, I took Danny around the big pieces of equipment. He was far more interested in the smells that were all around than in the great look fire engines....
But perhaps you need to be a white dog with black spots to truly appreciate fire engines!!!!! Though I thought he looked pretty cute sitting on the back of this truck.
Our visit wasn't very long, mostly a drop and run for Ed, but we'll be back again to pick up the pieces.... so, it was a potty break for Dan and we were heading back for home.
However, it wasn't without stopping at one of our favorite lunch spots!!! where a lobster roll and a piece of chocolate cream pie, made it all worthwhile for me!!!!!
In typical fashion of my life... "when it rains, it pours".. I go months and month (even years and years) without any weekend dog events, and this month I feel like almost every weekend is going to involve some dog event or another. This weekend was all about therapy dogs!!! I packed up Camille, Livy and Danny and headed out. Sadly none of these dogs were a part of this seminar.... Livy is too young to certify and Danny isn't "mine"... but just the same, I was there to help, get the puppies out and just enjoy the time.
A number of my students and friends were there for the seminar, so, it was fun to be with all of them. Livy got to meet Brian, my friend's Skye Terrier and Danny got to schmooze with some other friends, including another black lab.
It's been a long time since I had a dog with a therapy certification... and I'm hoping Livy will one day have her's. It was nice to see what things have changed since I was last in it, and what is now expected of dogs who do therapy work. The most interesting thing (to me anyways) are all the different fields of therapy work that dogs can do now. It used to be "just visiting nursing homes" and the like, but now, there are all sorts of fields... one for example.. "reader dogs"... who are used for children to read to.
For the certification of therapy dog, you must have dog that is well socialized, and has very good - if not excellent - basic training skills. As you can see, this group certainly had all that going for them....
But, the work goes beyond that... here is Gina (the instructor) and friends, Rick and Scott setting up an exercise that involves a person who might be in a wheel chair.... the dogs must show they are steady and trustworthy around things like wheelchairs and other medical type equipment....
And then, the handlers are given tips in how to properly approach someone. Case in point, Elaine's Brian is a small dog, and someone in a wheelchair might not be able to see or touch him if he were down on the floor, so Elaine decides to pick Brian up and bring him to an easier level....
Melissa on the other hand, has a golden Rangley, who can easily be within reach of the chair. But, (being a golden) he had to be encouraged to "greet" more gently , so Melissa went down on Rangley's level to keep him a bit more "controlled"..... all sorts of good tips like these were taught....
Lunch break gave everyone a chance to sit outside in the sun and go over the mornings lessons and experiences....
And I took advantage of things myself... Danny and I "played" with the wheelchair. He certainly didn't think that this was any big deal.....
And it was nice for him as well.. to meet up with some different dogs.....especially dogs that are well trained and good "examples".....
As the afternoon continued, the handlers got to practice in all sorts of situations... this one here was "how to visit someone who might be confined to a bed"......
And to keep the dogs motivated and happy, there where breaks where games were played that weren't just fun, but also tested their obedience skills.....
Sunday was a review of Saturday's work, and then the certification itself. It was also a time to ask questions, and share about the possible future therapy dog visits would be. It was fun to watch the certification and very happy to say that all the dogs (and handlers) passed. I can't wait for Livy to be "old enough" (which is a year of age)... because this is certainly something we will do together....especially since we are already doing some of this type of work, and I think she' going to be a great little dog that will bring a smile to someone's face.
