Five days left!

…then we’re off to perform at the Wallumbilla Show! I still have no idea where we’re performing or what times, so I sent an email to the organizers on the 28th. Nothing back from them yet!

 

We got costumes, a couple of packs of dog treats, speakers for the computer, etc. etc. so I reckon we’re about ready! As long as Sparkie is motivated and doesn’t looked bored, we’ll do ok. Unless Chantel freaks out or Chana forgets her routine or holds Lassie’s collar too much or Tess jumps on the boogie board too early… But yeah, we’re getting there.  We finished shopping this afternoon and headed back out to Wallumbilla.

 

Some photos taken in the last week:

 

Meanwhile, we’re pretty sure Lassie’s pregnant. Her teats have grown an amazing amount in the last few days!

 

The weather’s been unpredictable – cold and rainy one day, hot and sunny the next. Not real good weather for dog training! A few other show guys are here now but not many. And we also finally got our Emergency season one DVD a few days ago! And we’ve watched all eleven episodes already. They’re awesome!!

Train rides and rain

Remember our trip to the Gladstone Gaol in February? We also went to the Peterborough Steamtown in December. And last week we went on the miniature train in Roma. The best thing about all of those things is that the dogs could come too!

That’s the driver, me, and Mummy in the left picture. You can’t see Sparkie but she’s sitting on the floor in front of me. The picture on the right is of Chantel (just her hair actually!), Chana and Lassie, and Jessica with Tess. It only cost $2 each for a ride – and no, the dogs didn’t have to pay. They got on for free! :)

 

It’s currently wet and rainy, not cold though but definitely cooler than it has been the last few days.

 

The other day I came across an old photo of me and Lassie, which looks a lot like the one of us that was taken just a few months ago!

Wallumbilla

No internet out at Wallumbilla and I’m a bit short on time right now, but when we come back into Roma next week I’ll tell you about our ride on the miniature train.

Dogs and routines are all doing good, everyone but me and Daddy are down with colds, and the weather’s been warm but not overly hot.

 

Check back Tuesday and I’ll have another post for ya!

Easter Weekend 2012

Last Easter we were still reeling from disaster upon disaster that had left our world not quite so cheery as it could have been. We were camped at Six Mile Creek in Gympie. Here’s the blog post I made about it. Anyway, THIS year…

 

Friday we spent at a gorgeous park in Coonabarabran, NSW. Green grass, lotsa leaves on the ground – it felt like autumn! (It is, by the way) We managed rehearsals before we left camp in the morning and did our heelwork at the park.

 

Saturday we were camped right by the bush, and we spent from about 9am to 11am training the team and rehearsing our routines.

 

We stayed in the same camp Saturday and Sunday. Unfortunately the camera ran out of battery about halfway through Sparkie’s first rehearsal on Sunday.

 

On Monday the Easter stuff was on special in Woolworths, so we got a whole stack of goodies and went to a park in Narrabri where we had an egg and spoon race with some of the chocolate eggs! The nearest busy road was a fair distance away so we managed to practice our routines too.

 

Overall a decent four days – a little busy though but fun!

Tess

Yesterday was Tess’s third birthday, so I figured I’d better put up some stuff about her like I did for Gyvie.

I remember Mummy ringing the owners from a phone box on the side of the road at one point. How excited Jessica was when we found out they still had two female puppies left! We arrived in Rockhampton in the afternoon a few days later, and the owner walked down the long driveway to meet us. (It was a good thing, because we would never have got up there with the bus!) He was carrying two puppies. One was black with a spotted, lopsided, white blaze and spotty white toes. The other had full spotty white legs. Jessica held them both separately and although I was keen on the white legged pup, Jessica decided to take the other one. Sparkie didn’t know what to think when we brought the puppy inside!

After a bit of suggesting, we decided on “Tess.” She had a few aggression issues to work on – such as, if we touched her back she’d try to bite us. It was a bit disconcerting seeing such aggressive behaviour from a nine week old puppy! And after we broke her of that, we had to work on food aggression. After a few months of training, Tess finally settled down, only to start getting territorial over Jessica’s bed. She’d growl and snap whenever someone touched the bed. By the time she was nearly two, she was doing it to other little kids who came in to pat her. She also had dominance issues – she’d attack other dogs if they showed any dominance towards her. This led to her snarling viciously at the other competing dogs at the Gympie Show in 2010. When we got Lassie in July that same year, Tess was so aggressive we were afraid she was seriously injure little Lassie!

Nowadays, Tess still gets in the occasional fight with one of the other dogs, often Sparkie or Sambo then Lassie tries to join in. She still growls at new dogs but the actual attacks are getting less. She doesn’t get territorial over the bed anymore.

Despite her aggression problems, Tess managed to get a first place in Best Medium Dog at the Gympie Show in 2010. She also placed first in Best Tricks and second in Agility in 2011. She knows about thirty tricks – including jumping into Jessica’s arms, lifting her back leg, putting a toy in a bucket, pulling a towel off the handrail, and jumping through a rolling hoop. She loves to play disc, flyball, and agility, work cattle and goats, chase rabbits, and eat. Once we found her INSIDE a rubbish bin snacking on somebody else’s garbage!

Last day of March

This month, we’ve been in three different states (SA, VIC, and NSW), checked out a fire station, did a whole lot of disc, and went swimming in a lake. It sure went by fast, but somehow March was packed full of… well, stuff!

 

We managed to avoid the flooding through NSW, although there’s still a bit of water lying around in Wilcannia.

 

We were all up early this morning, some of us at sunrise, and got some gorgeous photos!

 

Yesterday and today we’ve been seeing these REALLY old cars. To celebrate 100 years since the first west to east crossing of Australia, a group of people are driving across there using the same type of cars that were around in 1912. How cool is that?

Jireh says they look like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang! (that’s his all time favourite movie at the moment!)

 

As for the team’s training - the dogs are all pretty laid back at the moment after two hour bush walks and a few hours playing fetch over the last few days. Our routines for WS still need a fair bit of work. Tess and Sparkie are learning some new tricks.

 

And Mr and Mrs Fluffy are expecting little fluffies at the end of May!

Fire station!

Last time we were in Broken Hill, NSW, in November, I was always looking for excuses to walk/drive past the local fire station. So when we came through Broken Hill again this week, our walking track through town included walking past the fire station. And on Monday, we got to check out the fire truck! The firefighter was happy to show us around and we even got to SIT IN THE FIRE TRUCK!! It was so exciting. But kinda unfortunately, it happened something like this…

I was sitting up on the back bed watching an episode of Emergency on the computer, when suddenly I heard bang! bang! bang! of feet hitting the steps at the front of the bus. Then thuds as whoever it was raced up the “hallway.” It was Chantel, eyes shining, practically bursting with excitement. “Guys, guys, guys! Come on, come on, you wanna see the fire truck?” she shouted, before turning and thundering back down the hallway. Jessica hit the pause button on the video and we exchanged confused looks. “Chantel, what happened? Chantel?” Bang! bang! bang! and she was out the door again. Jessica, Chana, and me scrambled off the bed and thundered after Chantel. I was first out the door and saw Mummy standing just outside the big roller doors of the fire station. And she wasn’t alone. She was with a firefighter. “Jess, did you shut the bus door?” I asked as Jessica joined me. Chana flew past us. “Nope,” came Jessica’s short reply. “Man, I hope Sparkie stays inside.” I couldn’t help getting excited though. We all filed in beside the fire truck and eagerly watched as the firefighter opened the door to it and asked us if we wanted to hop in. I couldn’t help grinning like a Cheshire cat as I climbed in. I was IN a fire truck! I also kinda lost my tongue, leaving Jessica to answer the questions. Apart from things like, “Yeah,” “Uh huh,” or nodding, I was pretty much silent the whole time. The firefighter showed us his helmet, some cool heat detecting thing-ummy, and then we all climbed out again. After a tour of all the equipment they use, the firefighter gave us a handful of balloons and temporary tattoos. And suddenly it was over. We thanked him and walked out of the station. I finally found my voice again. “Wasn’t that just awesome?! We got to sit in a REAL fire truck! How AWESOME is that, guys? A REAL fire truck! And we got to talk to a REAL firefighter in a REAL fire station!” And for the rest of the day, I pretty much talked about it non-stop.

But in the rush, nobody thought to bring a camera. So the next day we parked nearby and took some photos while the doors were open. Hmm, I wonder when we can check out another one…