Another year ...

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Another year, been and gone, and here we are again ... reminiscing over the past 12 months, chewing over the ups and downs, taking notes on our successes and finding the lessons in our not so successful experiences.

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Sometimes, just when you think you've got it all sorted out, someone throws you a curve-ball and your whole world is turned upside down!

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2009 delivered many challenges for me,

and many successes for Westurn ...

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... oooOOOooo ...

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Firstly, we had a new edition to the family. Something I've wanted for a long time and all I can say is "be careful what you wish for" ... "Party" (Belgian Malinois) joined us in August, threw our household into a whirlwind of chaos with her wild and crazy ways. Nothing has changed, she is still the wild child of the house and I've even heard a whisper that someone here would gladly have another dalmatian puppy instead of a "working-line malinois" puppy! now that's saying something!!! Party will continue to challenge and educate us as the new year evolves and I look forward to the journey with her as our relationship grows.

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Latest video of Party on You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuaKY61BXGU

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... oooOOOooo ...

The Girls (Mum and Rene) had a really successful year in the show ring with their Papillons, earning numerous "in Group" awards in 2009 including ... Tiger (2 Minor in Groups), Genie (2 Puppy and 2 Minor In Groups), Satu (State Bred & Junior in Group) and Comet (State Bred & Intermediate In Group) also finishing his Championship Title!

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... oooOOOooo ...

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Krash (Belgian Malinois), or Mr Muscle as we call him, gained his Championship Title and continues to demonstrate his friendly personality to the judges that he has been lucky enough to meet.
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... oooOOOooo ...

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Agility has tapered down for me however we still managed a number of achievements ...

• Ticket gained her Snooker and Gamblers titles (SD & GD)
• Chilli gained her Gambler, Excellent Jumping and Agility Dog Titles (GD, JDX & AD) and also qualified in the finals at the State Trial for Agility and Excellent Jumping!
• Summer gained her Agility, Excellent Jumping and Strategic Pairs Titles (AD, JDX & SPD) and also qualified in the finals at the State Trial for Excellent Jumping!

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... oooOOOooo ...

As you all know I also ventured into a new career last year, with thanks to my friends and family who encouraged, and are still supporting, me ... the detector dogs have arrived and I start full-time "dog training" from tomorrow!

This has brought many changes ... in my daily life and also in my own personal values. I've had to make some serious sacrifices, more so than I really anticipated, sometimes frustrating my human and furry family and sometimes at the expense of my own goals and expectations ... as they say, one door opens yet another door closes and occasionally we are forced to re-evaluate our goals, to move our goal posts to a more realistic place.

2009 has brought me many new friends, many unexpected new experiences and relationships. Some will bless me forever, some will be a memory to cherish.

Roll on 2010!

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Hectic! Crazy! ... soooo Busy!

Crazy ...

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It's just crazy ... Christmas is here (almost), Mum's flat out with the kennels, the Summer heat is dictating our routines (with exercising the dogs, watering, training - everything has to be either really early or really late!), everything is growing before our eyes ... meaning more gardening, mowing, raking, weeding ... work is full on - I'm working all the public holidays this Christmas, including New Years Day on a 4am start (so there'll be no New Years Eve celebrations for me this year!), it's just never-ending!

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Anyhow, it's been a while since my last post - I've been really busy! - it’s been an interesting few weeks … with trying to fill my bosses shoes whilst she was sunning herself in beautiful Queensland and a number of unexpected airport shifts, I’ve hardly had time to scratch myself, let alone find the time to play with Party (as she grows up before my eyes!) and then trying to get enough sleep to keep functioning without losing every last bit of the little amount of patience that I have left!

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I have found time, however, to take some video of some of the kids in the backyard ... check them out at our You Tube channel ...

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"Who let the dogs out?" - Krash & Chilli playing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1La2K4K8-8

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"Hunter & the Girls" - BC's Hunter, Delta, Summer & Ticket

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0Qwg5AYzz4

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Krash "Hunting Ants" (you wouldn't believe where Krash finds ants!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_iRRajfWss

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Party "Duck Diving" – toys in the water bucket!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwTOxqWgtZ0

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Lights!

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We've finally got the power connected to the kennels (it’s only taken us 3 years!) so now we’re lit up like a Christmas Tree (just in time for Chrissy) ... and geeze it makes like easier! You don't realise what you make do without until you have it.

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Detector Dogs

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Our detector dogs for work finally arrive 1st January! I’m looking forward to finally getting into it and doing what I came to the job for. With 2 months of “handler training” scheduled for January/February to look forward to, being paid to play with dogs, the new year is looking promising already … a new year and a fresh start in more ways that one!

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Happy Birthday Crash-Man!

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Cash had his 10th birthday yesterday, 12th December ... wow, that means it's that long (10 years) that I've been competing in agility?!!! Thats a decade! Hmmm .... well, Cash isn't any worse for wear, even tho retired from agility years ago he's still thoroughly enjoying the comforts of home ... sleeping on the bed, still bossing the girls around (the boys bash him up!), bench surfing in the kitchen (when we let our guard down ... and oh my, he has done some serious bench surfing damage!!!), and just simply couch potatoing wherever he can.

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My "Heart Dog" ... who weaved his way into my heart, showed me the passion of dog training and taught me so much ... bless him!

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Agility

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Last night was the last agility trial of the year for us. Ticket & Carrie were entered and good ol' reliable "Carrie Dalmatian" gained another Qualifyer in Masters Jumping ... only one more Q and she's achieved her JDM2! I think she really enjoyed herself on this run ...

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She's such a fun dog to work with ... she really takes the pressure off after running a dog like Ticket who is so unpredictable, and regularly knocks bars ... it's actually a nice change sometimes, to run with a dog like Carrie that only needs clear course direction, rather than micro managing and continual support!

Even so, Ticket also did some lovely runs, although no qualifying rounds, but some really nice work. Here's a couple of her runs ...

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Not sure if I'll get time to post again before Christmas/New Year ... so here's wishing you all a very Merry and Safe Christmas and a Happy New Year! Love to all your families and friends and not forgetting your friends and relatives far and wide!

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What have you been up to ???

Okay Okay …

I know I haven’t updated on the doggy stuff for a while

so here’s a bit on what we’ve been up to …

On the nose ...
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We’ve started to play with a little bit of tracking. Just simple straight line tracks for now and our aim is to get the nose down and heading in the right direction “on track”! Krash and Carrie are having a go at this stage (yes, a Malinois and a Dalmatian - what a combination!) Chilli might even get a play at it a little later on.
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Krash tends to want to run and often overshoots the food on the track, but that’s okay, so long as he’s following the track. To start with, he was a little confused as to where “tracking” started and that the jackpot at the end was the finish … after a couple of goes he had his nose down so I decided to start putting the harness on him at the start of the track and taking it off when he’d finished – it definitely helped. He worked out that once the harness went on it was time to start "doing something". I think he feels a little bit important too, with his brand new harness – a gift to him from friend Marty – Krash says “thanks”!
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Carrie also joined us to try her paw at tracking and, as you know, if there’s food involved, Carrie will do almost anything! She worked out very quickly that following a track would lead to more and more treats! All going well, we will reduce the rewards vert soon and may also be able to add some curves in our tracks next week.
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Thanks to Kath and Lisa (who are also having a go with their GSP’s learning by trial and error just like me) for trudging along with me and hunting down strange places to play at! Also thanks to Justin who has been ever so patient in answering my never-ending questions on "what to do next"!

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Puppy Stuff
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Party has finally decided that bringing her toy back to me to play with is more fun than zooming around the backyard with it all on her own! Yay - finally!!! Our training basically consists of play, and play, and play, and play … we are implementing a few control games now but I'm very careful not to make things too serious ...
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Getting to know a Belgian is quite different to getting to know a border collie (something I can compare to). They are very tactile dogs and their interaction is often very physical – teaching the boundaries of where that physical interaction becomes bad manners is the challenge. Party is also very stimulated by her environment – new things are sooooo exciting. We’ve been doing lots of flatwork, follow me/my hand and tug rewards beside me (thanks Simone!) and sending out/around cones, poles, trees for a game of chasey reward (she loves that) and sending to the tunnel for a tuggy after a lightning-speed exit!
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We will start some target training this week … hmmm, how yet, I am not sure. Free-shaping is not a Belgians favourite method of learning; they much prefer clear instructions of your agenda and then like to add their “twist” to it! So targeting will be an interesting challenge … stay tuned.
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The serious stuff that pays for the fun stuff …
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Work has been hectic, to say the least and I am sure once “Gorgon-itis” ramps up to full speed ahead we are going to be abolutely frantic! I feel like I’ve been around the world and back in the last month, working from locations all over the Perth outer-metro areas, from crawling around under huge mining machinery, accommodation units, barges and aircraft, trucks, busses, cars ... to inspecting bananas and apples ... all destined for Barrow Island!
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Good news ... the detector dogs arrive in about 8 weeks time … I’m really looking forward to starting work with them and doing what I really came here to do! We’re starting out with beagles, for the beginning of 2010, to be followed up with Labradors early next year. This training will be a whole new learning experience for me … will update when I have more ... if you’re really lucky I might even be able to manage some photo’s!

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Other stuff ...

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One good thing about being busy … I’ve be so busy I’ve managed to break my habit of biting my nails! Yay ... don't ask me how but amongst all the manual work I've managed to grow a nice set of nails (no, they are not false!)
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Also, night trials started this weekend and continue now until March next year - yippee!

Party will be going to some more shows soon (she had one today and was very excited to see the judge!)

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The heat of Summer has got us running with the lawn mower and whipper-snipper as everything decides to start growing at a rapid rate, we need to mulch the gardens (eeewww, back breaking stuff!) and the gum leaves are starting to form their little fire-hazard bundles around the block, poisoning the unwelcomed weeds is neverending and the demand of keeping everything watered is just another task to add to Mum's busy day of looking after the block … don’t even mention Christmas!

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Back to the early bird airport shifts for me again next week for another two weeks ... rising at 2am isn't the easiest time of the day to be asking your body clock to adapt to ... on that note, think I'll be off to bed to put some credit in my sleep bank ...

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All photo's on this post are "Party" at approx. 5 months old, taken today Saturday 31st Oct.

Would he protect me?

He’s strong, he’s tough, he’s handsome,

he’s got muscles to die for … he’s awesome!
He’s loving, he’s gentle, he’s affectionate, he’s faithful …

but would he protect me?

I have often wondered … if I was ever fronted with the situation where I was in danger of being hurt or assaulted, he would protect me?

I was comforted the other night when we went for a run, a passer-by appeared to be admiring Krash as he approached, and Krash returned the gesture with a rumble as he approached and a definite growl as he came close … not sure what he would have done if I hadn’t had a firm hold of the lead ... well, at least I know he has an opinion and isn’t afraid to let someone know what he thinks.

OK, he might have four legs but he’s still awesome!

Perth Royal Show 2009

Thank God it's over! We say it every year,

yet year after year we go back for more!

It's exciting, it's fun, it's stressful and it's very exhausting;

but we survived another year and here's what we did ...

Saturday 26th & Monday 28th September - Agility & Jumping

This is the first time Ticket has been to the Royal Show ... in previous years I haven't been game to let her loose in such a crowded environment and, given that her biggest fear is the approach of strangers, she coped incredibly well. She had to cope with walking through crowds to get to/from exercise areas and also competing in a ring completely surrounded by strangers, up to 4-5 deep on some sides. She was focussed, held her start lines allowing me to lead out some 4-5 jumps and she tried very hard to do everything I ask of her on course.

As a dog trainer, I feel that I have actually achieved much of what I set out to do when I first took this troubled little girl on at 2 years old. As a team, I feel that we both achieved a lot this weekend, our trust in each other grew and my team mate still gave me her very best in one of the most stressful situations she has ever had to deal with. Well done little Tick - I am proud of you!

Carrie also flew the flag for the Dalmatians, and without making a comic of me, she made a good impresssion in both Masters Classes! and still the only Dalmatian competing in agility in WA.

Sunday 27th September - Group 1 (Toy Dogs) Showing

Sunday was Group 1 Day (Toy breeds, including Papillons). Mum and Rene showed the Pap's and little Tiger won his class for the breed.

Certainly glad I didn't have to go on Group 1 day ... needed a day off inbetween Sat and Mon.

Thursday 1st October - Group 5 (Working Dogs) Showing

The biggest challenge was getting there with two entire males and one very "nearly" in season bitch in the one car! They were all very good and we all got there and home in one piece. Unfortunately I forgot to take photo's of Hunter (Mum's border collie) however, plenty of pic's of the Chilli & Krash (Malinois) ... and a big thank you to Andrea Carde who was there to from dusk to dawn helping us, including showing Chilli for Best of Breed and snapping away with the video and camera too ... thank you Andrea! Will upload video's to you tube soon!

Pic's of Krash (Ch Vanrusselhof Krash) and Chilli (Ch Vanrusselhof On Fire AD JDX GD) ... Krash won Challenge Dog and Best of Breed for the Malinois, Chilli was Challenge Bitch and Runner-up Best of Breed.

Both were great ambassadors for the Belgian Malinois breed,

greeting the public with lots of licks and cuddles, adults and kids alike ...

... and the end of a very long day ...

till next year!

Another Malinois Champion!

"Australian Champion Vanrusselhof Krash"

Above Photo by Tim Abidin (www.yourdogphotos.com)

This boy, who came to us quite unexpectedly at the start of this year … who had lots to learn on the manners side of things, along with being socially lacking, he has caught many an eye in the Conformation Show Ring.

A very obliging boy, offering his opinion regularly, however he learnt very quickly to stand fast as the judge was approaching him. Krash loves people and one of the most difficult things was for him to keep all four feet on the ground when someone offered a pat. If a judge stood admiring him for too long, he would eventually be wagging his whole body by the time they put their hands on him. He would start with tail wagging “please touch me, please”, then the bum would wriggle, then the head for a whole body-wag!

He has achieved his Champion title in just a short time (since February this year till now).

Krash decends from working line Malinois, his father being AUST/DKBR/DK CH Bryan Vom Haus Mecki IPO3 SchH3 (Imp NWY) and litter mates achieving well in other performance fields.
Congratulations (and thank you!) to Amanda Camiller (Vanrusselhof Malinois Kennels, QLD) on breeding yet another Australian Champion!

Malinois on the Move!

Awesome! I just had to share this photo of Krash in the show ring last weekend … taken by Robyn Evan (Winpara Border Collies).

If you know what good, balanced movement looks like then you’ll appreciate this almost perfect shot of Krash in full gait.

If you don’t know what good movement and balance is, then take a good hard look at this picture … because you won’t see this too often!

A New Concept in Trialling ...

Above photo credit to Robyn Evan (Winpara Border Collies)

"Summer" Westurn Secret Sunrise AD JDX SPD

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This weekend just gone saw one of our WA Clubs try a new concept in our trialling format … Perth Training Club ran their Agility & Jumping trial on Monday 27th April with separate courses for all heights. All heights in all classes competed on courses specifically designed for that particular height and class for the very first time in Western Australia.
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It was very interesting … and I have to admit that if I hadn’t had my 200 dog entered I probably would have poo poo’d the whole idea. It was a long day, there was a lot of waiting around to your walk courses and a lot of course changing, etc. HOWEVER, when I finally walked the 200 Masters Jumping course I was pleasantly surprised. It was just delightful (thanks to judge Cindy Didsman) and to see the little dogs run this course it was even better. These little dogs didn’t have time to lose interest, wonder where they were going next, get mislead or stressed … they just flew!!! Dogs that usually lost their handlers on the big courses were focused and really enjoying themselves.
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With that in mind I understand the argument of having courses designed specifically for different heights, and until you’ve actually competed with an extra small (or extra large) dog I don’t know if could really appreciate the true value of this innovation. I certainly would not have supported it if I had only had a 500 dog!

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Unfortunately we don’t have the numbers in all heights in WA to really justify running all trials like this, and I must admit if I was only running a 500 dog I’m not sure that I would bother going to such a long day of trialling. There are certainly changes and improvements to be made to the whole process, and I doubt the 5 separate height courses will stick but I can certainly see a future with maybe splitting the heights into two sections - maybe 200 & 300 dogs on one course then 400, 500 & 600 dogs on another course, or maybe the 400’s could go with the lower heights? Who knows, but congratulations to the club for trying something new!
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Our trialling Results this weekend were fairly positive ....

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Sunday’s double header saw Summer win first place in Excellent Jumping in the morning, also gaining her JDX title, then placing 2nd in Excellent Agility and Monday saw her gain yet another Q in Excellent Jumping, and in 3rd place.
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Carrie (above) competed for the first time in 18 months on Monday, and blowing out the cobwebs in the Masters Jumping class she placed 6th with a lovely run! It was nice to have the spotty dog off the couch and out there having a blast again! She really is a fun dog! You can see her run on YouTube at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl0PKVk2nLI
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Krash came for a day out to the trial on Sunday, and took some time out to pose for the camera. Thanks to Graeme Fairley for these pic’s below (and above of Carrie) ...

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Easter Fun!

Well Easter has been and gone and we managed to stay far away from all the Easter egg temptations! We had one box of Guylian Chocolates between the three of us so I reckon that was a pretty good effort.

These holiday breaks are always busy for us with the kennels so really, there’s no rest for the wicked! We did find time for a little Easter fun. Some photos above and below of Carrie, who sneakily trapped the Easter Bunny and snuggled up with him on the lounge, keeping him all to herself.
In the meantime, Krash has found a new toy. The big “exercise ball” has been floating around the yard for some time now … It certainly isn’t used for our exercise efforts! Whilst giving Krash his evening run one night, I tossed the exercise ball to the middle of the yard … well, it bounced about 6 feet in the air and Krash promptly met it mid-air and bounced it back to me. We had a great game, tossing it back and forth around the yard whilst he herded it around, rolling over it, racing it, trying to catch it … Krash was totally exhausted by the end of his play session!

We did take some pic’s (below) however it was getting a little dark and they didn’t turn out so good … we’ll try and get some better ones during the daytime some time in the future, however in the meantime these will give you the idea!

Proud Dad ... Malinois in the News!

Monday morning at work I walked past the boardroom and glanced over at the front page of the newspaper and to my surprise, sprawled across have the front page was Belgian Malinois … obviously I don’t need to say that the newspaper was swiftly tucked under my arm, never to be returned to the boardroom!




When I actually got to read the article, it was introducing West Australia’s Police latest recruit, Police Dog “Argus” ... son of our recently adopted boy "Krash". Argus comes from full working malinois parentage lines from the very successful Vanrusselhof Malinois Kennels in Queensland (owned by Amanda Camiller). WA Police also have Vanrusselhof Raptor in training … nice to see the Malinois finally coming to the fore in the service fields in Australia!


Anyway, I was so proud I had to take the article home and show young Krash what a clever boy his son had grown into!




Full reports here ...

• Front Page "Police unleash latest recruit"
• Report "Dog Squad plays a key role on Police front-line"
• Article "Dogged by a crim's worst enemy"