Coolhand Luc, Then and Now

These 2 pictures are of Luc at 10 weeks old and the first day I met him and he stole my heart.
Luc got his 3rd Starters Standard run last night and another Steeplechase run.
He is now in Advance standard. He has 2 Advance Gamblers, one more to go and he is up in Masters. He still needs one more Starters Jumpers and Snooker.
He has started to test his contacts and has self released a couple of times. He is very eager. That's ok... he reminds me to stick to my criteria and he needs to be reinforced for when he does them correctly. He also needs to have quick releases mixed in with times of having to hold them. This is also true for the start lines.
I have watched Rachel Sanders DVD Bridging the Gap, between Training and Competition for Contacts. Really liked her ground work and last winter Luc and I worked on the flat work without equipment. Then through the spring and summer transferred it to the contacts. I really liked what she does on this DVD. It made sense to me.
It was one of many components I used to teach Luc his contacts.

Then (May 2009) & Now (Dec. 2009)

Picture of our training field in May and the field now. My husband clears a path so we can walk the dogs there.
Maybe only 3 1/2 months till we get back out there.
We were able to start classes this last spring in April. Hopefully that will happen again for 2010.

Merry Christmas !

Wishing everyone the very best Christmas ever!
Cavall 7 yrs, Reba 11 yrs, Luc 21 months, Lessa 12 yrs

-35 this morning , no wind

-35 this morning, there was no wind , so was bearable enough for the dogs and I to do 2 laps around the field. My husband keeps a path cleared around the fence line so we can walk in the field. Luc is never still. Running, running. I think he figured out if you keep moving your feet do not freeze. The 2 old ones, Lessa 12 and Reba 11 walk right behind me waiting to go back to the house for breakfast. Cavall runs around with a stick, sometimes lies in the snow and shreds it.
Our older sons are coming down next week and we are having Christmas early this year, on the 23rd. This weekend was productive, Christmas pudding, shortbread, gingerbread, Carmel popcorn all made plus the tree up. Still have butter tarts and muffins to make and last minute shopping. We will have 3 of our 4 grandkids here. One is almost 15 months old. Should be fun with the tree and all the Christmas decorations.

DAL trial

Yes I drove to Edmonton on Friday. When I left Olds at 9 am I got on the #2 and got as far as Bowden and turned off and went for coffee at a friends. I was debating to wait till early Saturday morning ( 4 am ). Glad I did not.
I phoned friends in Red Deer to see if they were still going. They were. We met up in Red Deer at noon.
To get to Red Deer I drove the 2A. It was a very good choice. the hiway was snow covered , hardly any traffic and visibility was good.
Trip to Edmonton was twice as long as usuall as we drove mostly at 80kms. Sometimes slower.
Mostly both lanes were clear of snow, slippery sections, visibility was still good.
The wind however was really pushing on the van.
The big 4x4 trucks blasted past us and shortly ended up in the ditch. My little van and I tootled along and made it without any scary incidents.
At the trial boys did fairly well, not alot of Q's , lots of learning stuff, especially with Luc. I really, really have to pay attention "all the time" where on the course he needs the collection cues...will someone hit me on the side of the head to remind me?!!!
Standard and jumpers were the NQ's, gamblers on the other hand were unbelievable...
Luc was in his first Advance gamblers, under Christina, there was 2 mini gambles, one worth 14 pts with 12 weaves and a tunnel and the other was 12 pts with 3 jumps which included the 4 pointer. He got both those twice which left us at 52. Then we did the wall twice, teeter some other jumps and tunnels.then I was left standing wondering where to go next as I ran out of obstacles to do.Christina laughed, she knew exactly why I stood there. Finally the whistle blew and he blasted the main gamble and got it!!! When the dust had settled he ended up with 130 POINTS!!! Now that blew my mind. I have gotten just over a 100 with Cavall once or twice , but this? What a start to the weekend!
His second advance gamblers he earned 84 points. one more advance and he is in Masters.
What a dog!

remembering the special ones

This is Lisa Von Birkland, our beautiful intelligent pure of heart, German shepherd. She passed away 2 months before her 14 birthday.
1980-1994

Lisa came from working lines,
her father was:
Ulk vom Bungalow SchH III AD KK1 11a who was originally
from Germany
her mother was:
Katja Vom Bergmannshof SchH I AD KK1 Ia, also originally from Germany

She was with our 4 boys and was the best dog ever, so kind and gentle with kids, She actually got some kids over their fear of dogs.
Always remembered with love, Thank you Lisa!

Brrrrrrr

Its here, - 21 this morning,
winter tires on today. Starting to get ready for the DAL trial. Long underwear and wool socks will be packed.
Dogs are in the house alot more now. Sleeping inside.
Cats have the heater on full blast in the "cat house"
Mama cat who is 16 1/2 yrs old does not want in the house, probaly because she has always been an outside cat.
Cheech our 12 1/2 yr old cat and is a huge one ( 18 lbs ) is helping to keep her warm.
Luc loves the cold and the belgians are having a hard time walking in it.