Happy Birthday to SEAGULL

Happy 5th Birthday to SEAGULL

wishing him Healthy and Strong

True Friends will leave pawprints in your heart

For those who knows me ... I am not the feminine type but I've received this gold locket for my Christmas pressie from my very dear friends Jim and Joan, they are like parents to me. In their card, they wrote: This is given with love and you must wear it.

I am allow to put two very tiny pictures inside the locket, I wish I could put all FIVE. I am going to put the dog of my HEART and the dog of my SOUL, can you guess them?

At the back of the locket, it wrote:

MANY WILL WALK IN AND OUT OF YOUR LIFE, BUT ONLY TRUE FRIENDS WILL LEAVE PAWPRINTS IN YOUR HEART

camera and photos

I wanted a reasonable good camera to take some action photos of the dogs for ages ... well, since before Discover Dogs. I bought an Olympus Digital Camera the day before Discover Dogs, unfortunately all the photos came out very disappointed and I was so glad that Jessops allowed me to return the camera if I am not happy with it. Colin suggested I should wait until we go back to Malaysia to get one as the electronic stuff are cheaper in Malaysia and Singapore.

Going into the frozen pond to rescue Sing made me cameraless and I don't think I can wait for a few months to have a new one. I told Santa if he could make all my shelties strong and healthy, I will be the world most happy mum and I also wish for a new camera if that is not too greedy.

Santa and his Shelties look a like reindeers brought me this camera

Thank you very much to Father Christmas for this lovely camera,

it makes my Christmas full of colours again!

I absolutely love this Christmas present, I spent most of the time studying the camera and enjoy playing with it ... I've taken some photographs with the new camera and I am very happy with most of the results, especially those action shots of the dogs.

my super diver Sing at Richmond Park today


I don't think Sing is traumatised at all!! He swims very well!!

Saturn loves chasing the ducks

a wet Copine

The boys and the girls at Richmond Park

Colin feeding the ducks
a spooky tree at Richmond Park and below, a spooky looking Titan

There is a street in Morden called Lower Morden Lane is famous for Christmas lights. Most of the houses put up some fabulous Christmas lighting for people to come and visit them. We went there for the last few years and the lights are getting bigger and prettier but this year, it is not as good as the previous, some of the houses has no light at all!! We were a bit disappointed. I was trying to take some photos of the lights but most of the photos didn't come up perfectly, here are a couple:

I like this one the best, especially the Santa's legs!!

Merry Christmas

We would like to wish everyone a very

Merry Christmas & a Prosperous and Successful 2008

Ockham Common

We met up with Marion and Ken and their lovely crew (4 BCs + 1 Poodle) for a nice Christmas walk in Ockham Common this morning then have a delicious pub lunch at the Black Swan. As we walked towards the beautifully decorated Christmas Tree, we saw Ian and his three children, Andrew, Sophie and Kieran and their EIGHT dogs!! It was amazing to have 19 dogs in among the three families!! A lot of walkers were asking if this is a Border Collie Rescue Walk? My four shelties looked so tiny among those big dogs!

some very kind person has left a lot of dog treats inside this box

update on Sing and Saturn's latest trick

I took Sing to the Vet this morning and the Vet inspected him and thought he might have sprint his knuckle joint, so more anti-inflammatory jab and some pain killer for a week. He needs a good rest too! As we came back from the Vet, he immediately brought me a ball, what can I do to tell him he has to REST for a week?

Eventhough this winter is not as wet as the previous one but I always like to take the winter months to teach the dogs some new tricks, I only started to teach Saturn this trick yesterday but he is pretty good already, he can't take his eyes off it!!

all I want for Christmas ... is ... HEALTHY dogs!

Dear Father Christmas,

All I want for Christmas ... is ... HEALTHY dogs!

Lian

Just as I thought Sing is probably injured his back spine or the muscle near his groin from the pond incident and today he twisted his left front leg, he is now limping very badly, he hardly put his weight on the leg and he looks all miserable again.

It was very cold over here this morning, -4.5c. I took all the dogs out for a good long walk around Mitcham Common, the boys and the girls enjoyed the frosty Common, they ran like maniac and we played ball. As Lucky is quite a "dominant" dog, she likes to "fight" when there is a ball and food invovlved. Sing always trying to tell her off when she gets too close but she always ignored him totally. This morning, before going out for the walk, I noramlly try to do some tricks with them and Lucky was very aggressive towards the treats and with no reason she bit Sing's right front paw; when we were out in the Common playing ball, she got very excited and when Sing jumped in the air to catch the ball, she tried to jump but landed hard on top of Sing. Well, Lucky may look small but she is well built so poor Sing landed badly and twisted his left front leg. I rang the Vet a couple of hours ago to check if the anti-inflammatory jab is still working as it normally last 24 hours. I need to make sure Sing is away from all dogs and keep very quiet for tonight and he will be back to the Vet again tomorrow morning. My poor boy, he had some very bad days lately!!

my poor Sing

the Sheltie Boys and the Collie Girls playing

Update on Sing and Seagull

A quick update on Sing not feeling right after the pond incident ...

He wasn't looking good since Friday and I took him to see the Vet last evening, he checked his temperature and listened to his heart, they are both normal. He suspected he either hurt his back spine or the muscles around his groin. He had an anti-inflammatory jab and was advised to take life easy for a couple of days.

My golden boy

Seagull has his 3rd Carthrophen injection yesterday and have some X Rays. The X Rays showed there are some pulling away of the fracture fragment and the healing is still incomplete but the Vet was very happy with his physical improvement. He still need his cage rest for at least two more weeks AND he needs to lose weight too!!

He looks so sleepy after the anaesthetic

Update on the pond incident

Sing is not looking too good for the last couple of days, he looks very tired and stiff, not energetic at all, he is eating ok and play a little bit, not quite himself. He had a loose toilet on Friday but he is toilet is back to normal today.

I took Colin to Seven Islands yesterday to show him where was the incident. As it was a little warmer and there were no frost on Friday and Saturday but the pond is still frozen solid and I show him the "channel" I have made to rescue Sing and he finally realised how thick the ice was.

Sing doesn't seem traumastised at all!!

with the photo above, you still can see the "route" I went in to rescue Sing

this photo above show some chucnky ice I broke

Weather Warning!!

Weather Warning!! Frozen Pond Warning!! This is a real story!! I hope people who read this blog will take care of themselves and their dogs!!

I nearly LOST my precious Sing today!

Normally, when I go to train with Bernadette, I'll take the dogs out walking on the way to her but today I have to change my routine because of the Border Collies staying with me. I want to give them a good walk before I go. Since it was a frosty morning, I decided to take all of them out early to Seven Islands bit of Mitcham Common for a good walk.

We walked and played ... Copine has to stay on the lead as her Vet said she either pull a muscle or torn a ligament (one of her rear legs is not looking too good, it only shown the leg is stiff whenever she wakes up from resting), so only calm walking for her; but for an active dog like her, it is very hard to keep her on the lead especially when she sees the other running around but she is trying hard to be a good girl. I keep her on the lead to start with until she calm down and let her off for 5 minutes to wonder off gently and put her back and off again. I found the other way to calm her down (walking gently/slowly) is to giver her a stick to carry. There were a lot of small pieces of tree branches in the Common and Copine was very happy carrying the stick and stroll gently alongside with me.

As we approaching the Seven Islands Pond, she decided she would "tose" a stick into the pond so she can go and fetch it (there is a restriction on her movement so playing fetch is not on her list), unfortunatley the frozen pond cannot hold her weight, instead Sing went in to fetch the stick she tosed. Copine and Sing thought this was a good game and the second time, Copine tosed the stick and the stick bounced a little further, Sing ran straight in to fetch the stick, as the pond is frozen, so Sing is half running and half slippering but he looked absolutely fine, then the third time, he ran even faster than the previous times and he slipped right near to the island across ... and the worst thing was, THE THIN ICE BROKE! Sing fell into the freezing cold water, he struggled to swim back to me, becasue most of the ice were still thick. I was all panic seeing him tried to swim and go nowhere, there was no walker in the early hours, so I can't get help from anyone ... I could not find any big branches to break the ice either. I was crying and shouting at him, I keep shouting: "Sing, come, Sing come back to mummy ..." to keep him going and my poor boy was trying all his might and I can see him getting slower and slower. I am not a swimmer and I don't know how deep is the pond but I couldn't care anymore, I just walked into the frozen pond wanted to get my boy out from there. I have no idea how deep is the pond ... as I go along, I used my both hands to break the ice, some of them were very thick and I have to punch them many times to break it ... I don't know how long it took me but I finally got to him and lift him up and walked back to the bank. The other dogs were very good, they probably were frightened too, they just stay quietly at the bank. When I got to the bank, I saw blood on Sing's fur, that made me sick then only to realise it was my blood, both my hands were cover in blood. I guess I must have punch the ice too hard and I've got cut on both of my hands.

Of course, I lost my mobile and camera (they are soak and not working anymore!!), luckily the car key is still working!! Most of all, I have my precious boy safe and sound! He is very attach to me after we came back from the Common, he will not leave my side at all and would not let the other dogs come near me. As for me, I am still in SHOCKING state!! Me and Sing has been wrapped up very warm and sitting in front of the fan heather all day. I tried to catch some sleeps but everytime I close my eyes I just jumped. I am very tired, upset and frightened!

I don't really want to post this story but Colin told me I should give all bloggers a warning as there were many similar cases happened for the last week ... so pleaseeeeeeeeee ... take care of yourself and your dogs when go out walking and possible please avoid any frozen ponds!!

Sing fetching the stick on the frozen pond

This is the last photo before the "accident". You can see Sing running/slippering and he fell into the thin ice close to those bushes (some water plants)

The DUO elephants

The new improved elephants

5 Shelties and 2 Border Collies

I have 5 Shelties + 2 Border Collies at the moment! Jenny has left Copine and Lucky to stay with us so she can visit her daughter in Zimbawee and son in LA for Christmas and New Year. The boys are very good with the girls and the girls fit in just right with the boys.

I took the boys out early this morning while it was still frosty in the Common. We were walking and playing around the Seven Islands Pond and we saw a lot of policemen and they cordoned off the area near the pond ... and it turned out to be ... there is a HUMAN dead body! I was very frightened and I didn't want to go near it as it was still very early in the morning. I am still looking out for the news what has happened in Mitcham Common!!

We have a lovely day today, sunny, dry and crispy cold! I took all the dogs out to a different part of the Common later in the afternoon and all of them enjoying running around ...

here is my very handsome boy Sing

Copine enjoys wetting her feet in the half frozen pond
the dogs by the pond
4 shelties + 2 border collies enjoyed the lovely walk in the Common and this is Lucky, she is so beautiful

how do you spend your rainny weekend?

I was planning to do a lot of gardening today, the last few windy days has smashed up the green house door and we have lots of broken glasses lying around in the garden. It is very dangerous when the dogs are running around in the garden especially when they see the foxes and squirrels. Unfortunatley the rain didn't stop since 9am! Well, it is good in a way that we can spend sometime relaxing indoor, listen to some good music, chill out, have a bit of a nap and practise our tongue twisting!!

Colin found a website full of tongue twister but I particularly like this one:

Betty Botter had some butter,

"But," she said, "this butter's bitter.

If I bake this bitter butter,

it would make my batter bitter.

But a bit of better butter--

that would make my batter better.

"So she bought a bit of butter,

better than her bitter butter,

and she baked it in her batter,

and the batter was not bitter.

So 'twas better Betty Botterbought a bit of better butter.

catching up ...

It has been a very hectic week for me, too much rushing about and never have enough time to do what I have planned to do! If I could have a wish, I want 36 hours a day, 12 hours catching up on sleep and the other 24 hours for training, tidying up the house and Christmas shopping ...

I had a very bad week with Saturn. Starts with Sunday at the Club Show, we haven't got a clear round at all! Then, we went to Bernadette on Wednesday, we were working hard but things were not smooth for us, again today at Pachesham, we can't work as a team! I am sure this is all down to me and not the poor dog. Sing was not doing too well either, so it has to be me! I wanted to blame the car! The Volvo is still leaking and we are still waiting for the parts to sent to my garage, so we have to put all the dogs in the convertible until we got the Volvo sorted. Obviously none of them like it, it was too crowded to put four dogs at the back and the convertible is too powerful and bouncy.

Seagull is improving ... a lot. I took him to see the Vet on Monday and Kevin was happy with his progress. He is not limping anymore but still need cage resting. He gave Seagull his first Cartrophen injection, this will carry on for the next four weeks but he will have a scan on the third week to see how is the fracture and then Kevin will advise if we can start exercise him 10 minutes a day to get his muscle going.

Skye was a good boy at the Club Show, he won the Agility at the Beginners Level. There were 20+ dogs (all sizes), I am very proud of him. He also have a 2nd in the Jumping and 2 x 4th at Steeple chase and Power and Speed.

I always like this Perry Como's "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas", I found this video on youtube, hope all bloggers feel more like christmas now ...

Ryan and Titan

I've like to post this photo of Ryan working Titan at C Side a couple of weeks ago. This team is getting stronger each day. I know Titan is a little mischievous and he is an everyone's dog, hopefully he will get mature soon and pay his full attention to Ryan. I hope Ryan enjoys working him.

Happy 2nd Birthday to SKYE

lovely walk

The weather was absolutely gorgeous this morning, sunny and bright and DRY! I went over to Ann with Sing, Saturn & Skye to fetch Titan (he had a sleep over so Ryan can take him training last evening) then for a lovely walk.

We went to Banstead Wood, that is such a wonderful place to walk the dogs, I like the woods, the open space and the hills and of course the lovely pub at the bottom of the hill. I thought I will take the camera with me but I left it at the porch and go without it, what a shamed. I have to use my mobile phone, the quality is not as good as the camera but it showed how much fun we have this morning.

C Side & 1st SNOW!

We had a great time at C Side on Sunday eventhough it was FREEZING cold! Even a thick coat, wolly hat, wind breaker ... were not enough to anyone of us warm! All my boys were trying their best and they did me very proud.

Like the previous year, they have the Grade 1-3 classes in the morning and Grade 1-7 classes in the afternoon. I have entered Saturn & Skye in the 1-3 classes; Sing, Saturn & Skye in the 1-7 classes.

Skye
We started with Agility first thing in the morning, I ran Skye first, this was his first show so I am not expecting much from him since I have not done a lot of training with him. He was a very good boy, his contacts were lovely, I need to work harder on the weave (we are still on the "wire" stage) but his speed isn't great. There were a few people telling me that they think he is either struggled to jump the medium height or he is measuring every single jump! I need to find out the real problem and solve it!

Saturn
Saturn was a very good boy, he was very excited and jolly and keeping his speed throughout the show. Unfortunately, my "alzheimer" problem confused him on the contacts again! I can get very excited (or nervous) when I go to a show, I always tell myself I have to be calmed and make sure what I want the dog to do but when I am running, I suddenly forgot everything!! I think I need someone to train me not the dog! In our agility round, when I sent him up the Dog Walk, he was fast for his speed and I was over excited and forgot to keep my eyes on his 2on/2off, and released him before he actually have his two front feet hit the ground. When we got on the A Frame, I was more careful and make sure he did his contact and he was a good boy then, the minute I saw him put his two front feet on the ground, I released him quick and his weave was fast too but my silly handling after the tunnel gave us a 5! He was very good at the Jumping classes, he got a 3rd in the 1-3 Jumping and a clear (he was one placed out from the places which they gave up to 4th) in 1-7 Jumping.

Sing
I let Ryan handled Sing in the 1-7 Jumping. Poor Sing is always a mummy's boy, he was looking out for me when Ryan set him up in front of the start line, I have to catch him a couple of times for Ryan but at least he did most of the course beautifully for Ryan until he went in the wrong tunnel and Ryan got a bit lost and he took the chance to ran off again!! I then handled him on the Agility myself, boy oh boy, I think his Dog Walk is getting better each time and he got a 4th. Hopefully all the "Hit It Board" hardwork paid off.

Titan
Ryan was working him in the 1-3 classes. He wasn't bad but he wasn't concentrate on what he was supposed to do. He is a everyone's dog and he likes to go and say hello to everyone. Hopefully, with more practise and more shows, he will learn to listen to Ryan more.

Here are the videos of Sing and Saturn @ C Side:

Thanks to C Side, the small and medium dogs finished nice and early, so we can pop in to see my in-laws in Brighton. On the way home, we even seen the first SNOW!!

Beowulf and popcorn

Colin said he is going to treat us to cinema this weekend, so off we went to see the latest Digital 3D film this evening - BEOWULF (http://www.beowulfmovie.com/). I don't know if I really like the film, it is too weird for me, too much screaming and the tale is as old as time! We got to the cinema nice and early, Colin was worried that we won't be able to get the tickets, so we got there 1.5 hours before the film starts, no problem buying the tickets; then we pop over to B&Q to get some cement and sharp sands to repair the patio ... We got back to the cinema 20 minutes before the film starts. As usual, I got myself a large popcorn, while queing to go in, I nearly finished the popcorn (for some reason, we weren't allow to get in until 15 minutes pass the start time!), so I bought another large popcorn, gosh! I am going to be sick tomorrow running the dogs!

she is a devil!!

-2.5c and walkies

The weather forecast last night was down to -3c/-4c with a deep frost! We woke up to -2.5c this morning and the cars were all covered with deep frost and the Common look so beautiful and the ponds were frozen!

I met up with Jenny and Copine & Lucky for a good walk at Wimbledon Common. I haven't seen Jenny and Copine for ages, so it was really good catching up with each other. I used to look after Copine when Jenny goes away to visit her daughter and son around the world and Copine is just like my own dog. When I got out from the car and walk around the car park, Copine spotted me from far, oh girl, she charged towards me without hesitating. I was very surprised she still remember me and can sense me from a distance!

Lucky is Jenny's daughter Polly's dog. Polly used to work in Singapore and there is where Lucky was born. When Polly and her family moved back to England a couple of years ago, they have to take Lucky with them and poor Lucky was traumatised and nearly lost her life. Now, Polly and her family is working in Zimbawee for few years, they decided Jenny should look after Lucky until they get back to England again.

Lucky is such a sweet little BC, she is small and stalky, not much bigger than Sing!

this is my baby, Copine

these two crazy sheltie and collie!!

they don't care what temperature it is, all they want is to fetch something in the half frozen pond!

at 11am, the ground is still covered in deep frost!

finally ... some update about Seagull

A lot of friends ask me how is Seagull ... well, he still need his 100% cage rest. I started to let him out more on the lead, so his movement is limited. He has been a good boy, he lies on his bed on command and I can see his eyes follow me everytime I move. I feel very sorry for him but I know for his own good, I HAVE to not let him move at all!

I went to Lesley Olden's training day on Sunday and didn't get back till very late in the evening. When I got home, he was so happy to see me and when I let him out of the cage, he rushed to me for a fuss and cuddle. I then took him to the garden for his toilet on the lead and was very surprised to see him limping very badly. I've checked with Colin to make sure he didn't let him run around while I was not around, he promised Seagull was caged all day while I'm out.

I thought he could be cramped inside the cage for too long and decided to wait until the next morning to examine him. He looked fine yesterday morning and afternoon, a little limpy but not bad, then in the evening he started to get bad again. Weird!

I am going to take him to see the Vet tomorrow ... will update more later.

this is poor Seagull sleeping in the soft crate during the night.

I have put the soft crate in our bedroom, so he will not feel left out.

Thank you ESSC Working Section for a fantastic training day with Lesley Olden

Sunday was another busy day for me ... I've booked a place with the ESSC Working Section Agility Training Day with Lesley Olden at Birchwood House Farm in Hampshire. I was supposed to take Sing and Saturn with me, unfortunately Sing isn't look fit on Sunday morning and I decided to take Saturn only. I drove down there nice and early and with my Tom Tom, I didn't get lost!

There were sixteen handlers and we were separated into 2 groups. The first group was for the Beginners and the 2nd group was for the Advanced. Each group has one and half hour session in the morning and one and half hours session in the afternoon. I was very lucky to be in the Advanced group at the same time I was very worried that I may not cope as Saturn was the youngest and lowest grade among the dogs and I don't know if I will be able to handle the advanced technique.

Lesley is a very nice trainer and I was a bit sorry for her to be put up with some noisy shelties, especially those in the Advanced group. I think she needed some paracetamol at the end of the morning session!! lol=)

Lesley encouraged all the handlers to motivate the shelties either with toys or food, for both the Beginners and Advanced, also she said basic is very important and suggested we do some basic every now and then to remind the dogs what they've learned.

In the Beginners group, they were some new handlers, first timers and a 11 year old boy. It was very nice to see how they handle their dog and they also reminded me that I was worst than any of them when I first started with Sing.

In the morning, we did some jumping sequences, front crosses, rear crosses, turning away, turning into the handler ...

In the afternoon, we did some contacts and weave entry. I always have "issue" with Saturn on the contacts, so it was very interesting to learn new method to see if Saturn will response better to it.

Saturn was a good boy, I think he did very well at the training and we have a lot to practise on. It took us less than 2 hours to get there but took us more than 3 hours to get home and my good Saturn kept me company all the way through the bad traffic on M3.

I have taken some photos of the Beginners in the afternoon session:

Back again after lunch

line up for the Dog Walk

here goes our Secretary Lesley and little Gypsy

young Lester and little Lassie. They are a cracking pair.

Christine's Badger is very confident on the Dog Walk

and this is Badger on the A Fame

Becky and her sweet Coco on the A Frame

Adrianne and her little buddy

poor Saturn was exhausted after a day long training, bless him!

Sorry ... no photos for the Advacned ... as I am busy listening and learning