Thursday, October 2, 2008

Where To Begin




Wow, raising a kid, dogs, ranch and a husband doesn't leave much extra time to write in my blog. Where did the summer go?
OK, let's start with the dogs.  Lash and Risk are headed with me to the Cynosport World Games in October.  This is at West World (Scottsdale, AZ).  I am just polishing up training stuff with them and trying to close any holes in our training.  I have a great jumpers course set up for this weeks work.  I will try to get some video of the girls training.
I have been working more and more with Singe.  He is a total blast to work.  We are behind in his training because, unfortunately, when he was young I had to have back surgery and that put me out of a lot until I was released to work dogs again.  Murray keeps saying he is going to start Havoc, but sometimes ranch and house work gets in the way, especially after he has had a long day at the office.
*************************************************************************************

Jen and Singe's puppies are now 4 1/2 weeks old and they are wrestling and playing all of the time.  They are inside in the evening and morning and then go outside to play during the day. They have a big pen on our grass.  They can hear all sorts of noises and see our dogs run.  We also take them for little puppy walks in the field.  You can see pictures of our puppies on our website www.hillcrestbordercollies.com
*************************************************************************************
Mick had a new love in his life.  No not a female dog......It is the Alpacas here on our ranch.  We have 7 Alpacas and they are not halter trained.  We move them from area to area to eat, so I started using Mick.  He is in heaven working them.  They are in between cattle and goats as far as working style.  They kick, charge and don't flock nicely.  I think that is why he likes them, it is a challenge. You can see him working the group on You Tube. www.youtube.com/HillcrestBCs  I started introducing Risk to them, but she got zapped by the electric fence and that sent her flying.  So, now she is back working them with Mick.  Kate also loves to work them, but at 10 1/2 years old I don't want her to get in a situation that she will get hurt.  I still let her work them.  She LOVES doing any of the animal chores around here and always has a smile on her face after.
I have started Singe on sheep.  He is a bit freer moving on stock than his mom Risk, but he still has a very nice amount of eye.
*************************************************************************************
Connor is in preschool now, so that is allowing me a couple hours 3 days of work to do "me" stuff.  "Me" stuff is usually training dogs, doing dog nails or occasionally I will actually sit down and relax.  He loves school and it is great for him to be with all of the kids, since we live out in the country.
*************************************************************************************
Murray, Connor and I actually had a vacation this year (no dogs).  This is the first vacation in about 10 years (that didn't include dogs).  We met my parents in Maui and we had an awesome time. This was their Birthday Gift to all 3 of us.  Snorkeling was awesome and we saw some amazing sea life.  We also got to explore some caves that not a lot of people get to see.  The beaches and water were great.  Soft sand and warm water.  Connor learned how to Boogie Board and Body Surf.  He loved the sand and was basically a beach and pool bum.  We saw some gorgeous sunsets while we were there.  I had a blast taking pictures with my camera.
    
*************************************************************************************
We are getting a new Border Collie to try out.  We will get her either Sunday or Monday morning.  I will let her settle in here and then do some stock work with her to see how she is. If she works out then she will be here to stay and help us with chores here on the ranch.  She is coming from Idaho  www.hayewebc.com.
*************************************************************************************
I will try and write about our happenings more often now that things are settling down here.

Brittney

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I wanna live by you and help you do chores. Yourchores were fun when i visited! And working dogs more in all venues would be fun. Alisa we need to move up there...