Sunday, November 30, 2008

I Am Sorry For I Have Been Busy

OK, I am back alive and well.  Fall time has been hectic here.  We are trying to finish things before winter comes.  I am not complaining, but I don't think winter is coming any time soon now.  It was in the 60's today (end of November).  Murray and I have been able to accomplish so much since it has been good weather.   Murray took some time off of work, so that means I have had 6 days with hubby.

Today I started to Aussies (client dogs) and then worked Singe and Skar (Skarlet) on sheep.  It was so nice to work Skarlet as she has been laid up for a few weeks.  When I was out of town she nearly ripped her big pad (not stop pad, but big pad) off.  There was no way that stitches could stay in, so she had to be rapped and put on antibiotics for a few weeks.  I didn't want her to work sheep before it was healed.  I am back working on square flanks with her.  That is our major area of work.  I will not let her do any outruns until she shows me that she can give to the sheep.  I am fine with this as I am having fun.  She is similar to Risk and now Risk is one of my major ranch dogs.  Singe was fun to work as he is a clean slate.  He is so biddable and a total cross between his parents, Risk and Divot.  I truly enjoy working him in anything that we do.

We have been busy with our boarding dogs.  We managed to finish most of our dog room before the holiday.  I will take some pictures tomorrow when the sun is shining through.

Below is a picture of Connor playing Chuck-It with the dogs.  He is growing into such the dog boy.  I love to see his relationship with the dogs.  I can see who he REALLY likes and then the ones he LOVES!  Kate is his absolute favorite.  That is good as that is his agility dog for next year.  


Pat and Cheryl's dogs came to stay with us through the holiday.  Pat owns Scout (Jen x Mick) and Cheryl owns Spark (Lash x Sooner).  Below is a picture of Spark.  He is very intense.

Kate, at 10 1/2 years old, is still getting the ball before the others.  I think she is going through her 2nd puppyhood as she has been playing quite a bit lately.


Well, what can you say about Singe, but he is a freight train.  He is super powerful in his stride.


I got this picture of Mick relaxing in a bed my friend, Christie made.  ALL of my dogs love this bed.  The problem is I have 9 dogs and 1 Christie bed.  What to do, What to do????


Oh Murray's new  baby girl, Fusion.  Fusion is from our Jen x Singe litter.  We did not plan on keeping a puppy, but somehow Murray and I fell in love with this girl.  She is a total combination of both of the lines.  I absolutely love her.


Rosie is Fusion's sister.  She is still available to a working/performance home.  She was the most independent of the litter, but with much attention she is now very into humans.  She is already showing herding behaviors.  She is still too young to bring to sheep, but I see it in her.
She LOVES Connor and I put a video of Rosie an Connor on our You Tube  www.youtube.com/HillcrestBCs



Nan is also from our Jen x Singe litter and is available.  Like her sisters, she is working on her basics plus fun tricks.  I taught Nan to jump into my arms the other day.  I bring the puppies out with all of the other dogs and work on recalls with them.  I kneel on the ground and call them to me and then reward them.  Nan was taking a leap into my lap, so I started to push her back witch made her leap at me even more.  Soon she was leaping all the way into my arms (chest high on the ground).  All of the puppies have an awesome recall as all of my dogs do.


I couldn't resist taking this picture from our front field.  We live with the rocks surrounding our property.  I have taken some spectacular pictures from our front field and front deck.  This was the latest with the rainbow over the rocks.


Well there you all go.  I have started to blog again and hopefully I can keep up with it.  Maybe not everyday, but hopefully at least a few times a week.  Raising working dogs, a 3 year old, a ranch and a husband is a lot of work.

Till The Next Blog,
Brittney