My Pillow!

Cash and his favourite Pillows ... he claimed these pillows on the first day he came into our lives, at just 8 weeks old ... and today, 9 years later, he still suckles on them like they are his Mum!

Photo's

Just sharing some of these pic's we've taken over the last few weeks at home ... while it's still very chilly outside everyone loves to be in the warm lounge.

Carrie, in disguise with her Dalmatian sleeping bag!

Chilli, very privileged on the lounge!

Cash, just keeping one eye on the toy ...

Carrie, still in the warmest spot ...

Cash with his sucky pillow

It's a Chilli Scarf ... my real, live neck warmer!

Last Agility Trial 2007 & friends from afar!

Saturday 15 December was the last Agility/Jumping Trial for 2007 … the middle of Summer and the weather delivered us a different kind of night with a damp, cool evening with gusty wind. We also had the company of our good friend (and agility enthusiast), Johanna Allanach, all the way from Denmark. Johanna borrowed Cash for the evening, running him in both Masters & Open, Agility & Jumping classes. Cash thoroughly enjoyed himself … after the first run (call it a practice run) they tuned in to each other beautifully … some lovely smooth runs followed and they managed to place 6th in Open Agility!

Johanna’s company is always a pleasure and it was fun to share notes, catching up on the last 2 years since she last visited. Johanna is a very constructive, positive person – she is fun to be with and her agility experiences in and around Europe are always fascinating to hear about. Johanna has been lucky enough to compete at the World Agility and also qualified three of her dogs for Crufts next year. As well as Agility, she is also very successful in Rally Obedience and Heelwork to Music. All of this reminds me of just how isolated we are here in Australia.

Saturday night also saw Ticket compete in three classes – doing some very nice work, well tuned in to me and very focussed. We qualified in Excellent Jumping on a lovely open course and “flying by the seat of my pants!” … we also won First Place! That was the best way to end the trialling year … looking forward to some training time with Johanna over the next week and now, I can’t wait for next years trials to start again!!!

Happy Birthday Cash!

Today, Wednesday 12th December 2007, is Cash's 8th Birthday … how time flies! I can clearly remember when he was conceived like it was yesterday … my we’ve come a long way since then!

Over the past eight years Cash has taught me so much about everything “dog” from understanding canine behavior and communication, through to dog handling and training skills needed to work as a finely tuned human and canine team. I have enjoyed every step of the way with Cash and if I could, I’d have him all over again without changing a thing. He has helped me educate new dogs and teach new handlers, he has happily worked with other handlers for me and been amazingly patient with me as I have learnt and practiced my own handling skills. Otherwise known as Edenbrae Western Mustang CD ADM JDM ADO JDO GD SD SPDX ET, Cash has been the best teacher I could ever have asked for. My best buddy and the best team-mate you could ever wish to have.

Cash loves to work with you; he is incredibly tuned in to your body movements and a graceful dog to watch. I have always said, on the agility course he doesn’t feel fast, however many a time he has been in the top few dogs and his speed has compared to the dogs I thought would have been much faster than him. I feel that his ability to cover the ground with such ease creates the illusion of him traveling slower.

Committed to the task, Cash is always focused on his job. His dedication to his work is faultless and he always gives me 100% of himself. A few years back we discovered he was affected by Osteomyalitis in his toe-nails, (he always had trouble with his toenails) and he had one toe amputated. He had about 6 months off from trialling altogether whilst dealing with the side effects of some of the drugs they used.

Following that we’ve taken things a little slower and over the last couple of years Cash’s trialling career has been more focused on Agility Games rather than running the standard Masters classes that he’s already titled in. We’ve really enjoyed the Strategic Pairs trials, partnered with a great team, Amanda Houston and border collie Sonny (Ob Ch Brynbank Magic Sunday JDM ADM JDO ADO SPDX SD UDX) … with all but one of our Qualifying runs being a 1st, 2nd or 3rd place!

Cash regularly visits our Bowen Therapist, Tracy Hockley, who has helped me keep him in good condition for his occasional trials, along with regular runs with the Frisbee and backyard fun runs on the agility gear. The rest of his time he now spends comfortably sprawled across the lounge with Dalmatian friend, Carrie, and manning the front window to announce new arrivals and departures!

Happy Birthday Crash-man … you’re a “one in a million” dog!