Shelter To Showbiz > Death Row Dog turns Actor!
)
Gunner on set with Thomas Craig (Inspector Brackenried) and Jonny Harris (Constable Crabtree)
Morgan the Bloodhound with actors Jonny Harris (Crabtree) and Patrick McKenna (Stronach)
this is the fake arm that Ripp had to carry > sitting on the very realistic fake ice
Colleen & Ripp practicing the "hold". The arm was quite heavy.
Western Canadian Skyhoundz Regionals
Congratulations to all the competitors who came out this past weekend to participate. You are now officially a part of Canadian Disc Dog History!! Blazing the western trails for those who follow I feel priviledged to be a part of this history.
Pat Nadarajah from Ottawa joined me as event judge, & 2007 MicroDog World Champion Katherine Ferger was on hand to score the throw/catch ratio. Katherine has been a mentor to the Western disc dog community having traveled to Edmonton to teach disc dog seminars to this great group of disc enthusiasts. Len Silvester from TTL Action Photography was also on hand as official event photographer.
My flight to Edmonton was uneventful and ran on time, but Katherine & Lens flight was a bit more entertaining. Their plane pulled into the new section of the airport only to discover that the lines on the runway were painted wrong and thus, the bridge that goes across from the airport terminal to the airplane doorway, did not reach! The plane had to be towed into a parking space! <lol>
Lara Sorensen was our gracious hostess for the weekend and we stayed at Lara’s parents home, which they very generously vacated for the weekend so that we would have a place to stay. On Saturday night everyone was invited back to the house for a BBQ > buffalo burgers, homemade guacamole, and a decadent Drumstick Icecream Cake were on the menu. Yummy!! And yes … I have already looked up the recipe for the drumstick icecream cake
I was so very impressed with all the up and coming disc dog talent Western Canada has to offer. So many amazing people and dogs. And a great turnout for their first event as well. The event was held in a massive off leash dog park. The frisbee competition area was fenced off so that canine visitors to the off leash park would not run into the competition area. The challenge for the competitors was that there were off leash dogs running and chasing tennis balls all around the competition area. And yet, the disc dogs stayed focused & performed like pros
Of course it would not be a Canadian disc dog trial without inclement weather <haha> Saturday started off as a sunny day with only light winds …. perfect conditions. But towards the latter part of the day the wind had picked up and made throwing a challenge. Saturdays humour was Katherines fashion statement > solar blanket draped over her like a caped crusador …. she looked she belonged in some kind of alien movie <lol> And yes … there are photo’s!!
Sunday was a whole other ball game!! The weather network was calling for storms in the afternoon so we got underway quickly to get as many as the qualifying divisions done before the storm hit. We were about 1/12 way through the Sport Division D/A elimination round when the wind picked up and blew a few tents away & about 3/4 of the way through the round the rain hit. And it hit hard. We managed to finish that round and then everyone huddled under their tents to wait out the storm. Thunder/lightening .. torrential rain …. high winds. We debated whether or not to continue with the day. Some people were checking the weather network on their Blackberries and saying that the storm was going to last another 3hrs, but …. those of us from Ontario having had a summer of rain, rain, and more rain …. have acquired a talent for reading the clouds. Pat looked up & said, “it’s going to clear > let’s give it 20min or so.” The competitors faces suggested they didn’t believe her but sure enough about 20min later the sun came out and we continued with our day.
A huge thank you goes out to Lara Sorensen (president of the Alberta Redneck Furry Flyers Disc Dog Club) for undertaking the monumental task of hosting this event. And thanks also to everyone both on site & behind the scenes who stepped up to volunteer & make this weekend a roaring success. A great time was had by all and last I heard, at least three of the people who Q’d for Worlds, have booked their flights, so look out Chattanooga!!! Western Canada will be invading soon!
Awards Table
View from the plane as we were leaving Edmonton
Katherine's "space" look
Group shot of competitors & judges
Last 2 photo’s by ttlphoto
Canadian Disc Doggers “Tough It Out!”
Well the snow is finally gone and the disc dog season is officially underway in Ontario. My friend Katherine Ferger started a new disc dog club called the Barrie Disc Dog & Dock Club and she hosted her first ever disc dog competition a couple of weekends ago. The weather did not cooperate at all & we found out just how tough Canadian disc doggers are!! It rained & I mean RAINED non-stop all day long!! It was torrential with high winds, hail at times, thunder, and lightening. And still, there were no “no shows”, and everyone stayed for the duration of the trial. The judge was Pat Nadarajah from Ottawa and she stood out in the cold and rain all day long without taking a break. Talk about a hardy constitution!!!
On my way to the trial I was driving along the 407 highway and as I approached the Brampton area, I looked to the south towards Toronto and the sky was BLACK!!! And I thought, ‘uh-oh .. that doesn’t look too good.” And within seconds BAMB! The storm hit Brampton and I found myself in the midst of torrential rain, high winds that rocked the vehicle, and huge hail stones. The highway traffic was brought to a standstill. As the storm let up the traffic started crawling forward again and I debated whether or not to turn back and go home. The radio was taunting me with reports of a severe storm watch for Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga, and north to Barrie, while also stating that the sun was shining back in Hamilton. I decided to push forward …. afterall …. it could get better, right? Wrong!! The weather for the trial was horrific!
At the trial site we were not able to park on the field for fear that our vehicles would sink in the swamp like conditions created by the storm. So we all just parked in and around the area and drudged through the mud to get to the field. Fortunately I had thought to pack waterproof shoes, although I was without any other type of rain gear & got throughly soaked. The throw line quickly turned into a mud pit as competitor after competitor took the field. But no one complained. And no one went home early. Everyone stayed and played!! We Canadians can really tough it out when we put our minds to it. Katherines first disc dog trial was going to be a success > a hurricane like rain storm was not going to put a damper on the day!
I decided to take a bunch of “newbie” dogs ….. no pressure ….. my only goal was that they didn’t get drunk with the sense of freedom and run away <haha> Katherine offered an unofficial Puppy Roller & Beginner Dog class in which dogs could be kept on long lines if necessary. I opted to enter this class with two very new dogs. Both Stryker and Shelby are still doing rollers so this was an excellent opportunity to have them outside, off leash (well sort of …. I let them drag long lines), and in a new environment. I had my doubts about Stryker when he spotted a litter of puppies nearby, but fortunately the disc won his attention and he was able to play his round. Shelby had only started retrieving 2 days prior to the trial so I had my doubts about her ability to focus and retrieve in a new environment as well, but she did me proud and stayed on track. I entered my young retriever, Kahlua, in the novice class and had she not insisted on doing victory laps inbetween each throw/catch, she might have scored higher. But hey ….. she didn’t run away …. and that was my goal afterall <lol> Rowdy also played and did well considering that toss/fetch is not his strong suit.
Overall, we had a great day with a great bunch of happy and enthusiastic players. Heck Len Sylvester from TTL Action Photograpy even managed to get a few photo’s before being totally rained out and lucky me ….. he got a few of my dogs )
Finally! I know where the time goes!
Okay I admit it ….. I have been remiss in my blogging duties!! Problem is .. I just don’t know where the time goes! That was, until I received the following very funny post > it sounds a lot like the way my days go. Now I know what the problem is! <lol>
(hmm … can’t seem to alter the size of the font on the copy/paste but if I spend too much time trying to figure out how to alter it I’ll probably get distracted and even more of today will get away from me! )
Thank goodness there’s a name for this disorder.
Somehow I feel better,even though I have it!!
Recently, I was diagnosed with A.A.A.D.D. -
I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway,
As I start toward the garage, I notice mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think, since I’m going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only one cheque left.
My extra cheques are in my desk in the study,
so I go inside the house to my desk where
I find the can of Pepsi I’d been drinking.
I’m going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the Pepsi aside so that I don’t accidentally knock it over.
The Pepsi is getting warm, and I decide to put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Pepsi, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye–they need water.
I put the Pepsi on the counter and
discover my reading glasses that
I’ve been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk,
but first I’m going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the counter,
fill a container with water and suddenly spot the TV remote.
Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonigh t when we go to watch TV,
I’ll be looking for the remote,
but I won’t remember that it’s on the kitchen table,
so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs, but first I’ll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on to the floor.
So, I set the remote back on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
the car isn’t washed
the bills aren’t paid
there is a warm can of Pepsi sitting on the counter
the flowers don’t have enough water,
there is still only 1 cheque in my cheque book,
I can’t find the remote,
I can’t find my glasses,
and I don’t remember what I did with the car keys.
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I’m really baffled because I know I was busy all damn day, and I’m really tired.
I realize this is a serious problem, and I’ll try to get some help for it, but first I’ll check my e-mail….
Do me a favor
Forward this message to everyone you know,
because I don’t remember who the hell I’ve sent it to.
Don’t laugh — if this isn’t you yet, your day is coming!!
Great Weekend!
We had a great weekend this past few days. It started on Friday with a semi-private disc dog workshop with Tracy Custer. What a great time we had working with our dogs. Worked on some stuff with Rowdy. Started a new freestyle dog. And got a chance to socialize little Nick. Saturday saw us getting a bunch of dog food donated to the farm for our dogs. And today I audited the afternoon portion of a disc dog workshop Tracy Custer was teaching at a nearby dog school, and then …. a private session for Rowdy to work on some Pairs Freestyle moves/idea’s. What a great few days!!
Rough Couple Of Weeks
Well it’s been a rough couple of weeks here ….
(1) on Friday February 20th my sixteen year old jack russell terrier passed away. Reidell Ruffian Hellfire ran as the height dog for our flyball team for 11yrs before retiring at the age of 12 1/2 years; he performed with the International Superdogs shows as one of their star high jump dogs; he traveled to San Fransico twice to appear on both episodes of the TSN Specials Superdogs SuperJocks; he performed with Team K9; did countless photo ads; appeared in television commercials; and worked/performed in six movies. He was an exceptional athlete and played/performed frisbee catching & tricks long before I knew anything about disc dog competitons or that there was even a “sport” of disc dog. At one of the Superdog shows Ruffian met Andrew Mouser, who at the time had an awesome Texas Heeler named Cogi that did amazing frisbee feats. That was my first introduction to frisbee as anything other than toss & fetch (we’d not yet heard of “disc sport” here in Canada). I remember Andrew teaching Ruffian a few frisbee tricks …. the spin on the disc terrier style & Andrew style …. disc in teeth while spinning dog on disc!!! I have a photo of that somewhere … I’ll have to find it. And teaching Ruffian to vault off my back for a disc. And showing me how to teach frisbee back flips. Andrew was the first person that I saw doing freestyle disc and the first person to show me a few cool moves. And yet, we still knew nothing about competition disc sport because it didn’t exist in Canada yet. But Ruffian was more than a sport dog. He was my companion. He was loyal to a fault. At one point when I spent almost a year in bed with a herniated disc, Ruffian spent almost every minute of every day on the bed beside me. He had to be physically removed and taken outside to do his business because he would not voluntarily leave my side. Ruffian had my heart in every way. During Ruffians last days he became quite feeble. We knew that he was in the process of dying and that it was just a matter of time. He had no physical ailments ….. he was just old and fading. He had no good veins for a humane euthansia so it was decided that as long as he was not suffering or in distress, we would keep him at home and allow him to pass naturally. The last week was difficult as we watched him fade. I held him and cuddled him and told him how much I loved him and that it was okay to leave me now. On the Wednesday he stopped eating and drinking and entered a coma like state. Now it was just palliative/supportive care. And on the Friday he finally succumbed. Ruffian died peacefully in his little dog bed, in my bedroom. I miss him terribly.
(2) my dad was in a bad car accident this past Monday. He has a bad head wound; his left hand/arm is bashed up; and his left leg is bashed up. He has no memory of the accident. He was knocked unconcious & doesn’t remember anything prior to the ambulance attendants bringing him to the hospital. No one called me!! Not the police, not the hospital …nobody! When it started to get late and dark outside I started to panic. He’d gone into town earlier in the day but it got too late. He should have been home. I had supper cooked and ready to put on the table. He should have been home. When it got to be “too late” I decided to start calling hospitals and police stations. I started with hospital emergency rooms and found him at the Norfolk General Hospital emergency. They kept him overnight to watch for signs of concussion but discharged him on Tuesday. Our van is totaled!! Right now I have rental van …. much nicer vehicle than I’ll likely ever be able to afford!! Talk about luxury!! I’m unaccustomed to having all the ‘bells & whistles’ at my disposal. Here is a photo of our wrecked van and what my dad managed to survive ….
smashed up van
The Gift Of “Hope”
But I digress. Henrie, my friend, said that the dream haunted her. She couldn’t get it out of her mind. So she went to my website to look at the photo’s of the dogs & as soon as she saw the photo of Hope, she recognized her as the dog in the dream. This led her to contact me and tell me about the dream and ask ….. would I consider letting her adopt Hope. 
"Hope" - Halloween 2008
Happy Birthday Valentine
Well I’m finally back! Had some computer glitches going on with regards to accessing my blog. Still not 100% sorted out but at least I found a ‘back way’ into accessing my blog and uploading entries
I realize I’m a couple of days late for Valentine’s Day, but I wanted to send out special Happy Birthday wishes to two of my rescue dogs. Harley-Dawg is an American Bulldog that I adopted through a friend 8 years ago. He had been at the Toronto Humane Society & was pulled out of the shelter and put in foster care. He was a year of age at the time. Harley-Dawg turned 9yrs old on Valentines Day. He loves to play disc (toss/fetch) but due the Breed Specific Legislation in Ontario, he can no longer compete in disc sport 
The banned breeds are listed as Pit Bulls, American Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, and “anything that looks like” any of those breeds. For his own safety Harley stays close to home, as many people think that he looks like a Pit Bull.
My other Valentine’s Day baby is Josie. She just turned 5 years of age. She is a chihuhua/jack russell terrier mix and is a little spitfire. She came to me Thanksgiving weekend a few years back. She was one and a half years of age at the time, and I am her FIFTH home!!! I’m also her last home!! You’ll have to pry her out of my cold dead hands to get her away from me Josie competes in disc and does disc demo’s. Being as she is so little, she always draws a lot of attention. People are always amazed at her drive and intensity for the game and her athleticism. She has a little fan club of fair goers who come out regularly to see her at our fair shows.
So Happy Birthday to Harley-Dawg & Josie > my Valentine’s babies
This is my Harley-Dawg
This is little Josie sitting in the dandelions
Josie playing disc
Casualties Of War
There are many fallouts to war. Sons/daughters, fathers/mothers, sisters/brothers. All casualties of war. Senseless losses that leave families devastated.
But there is another casualty of war that often goes unnoticed. The hundreds, possibly even thousands, of pets who lose their lives when their owners are deployed to war torn countries. Many of those pets find themselves awaiting their fate at a local shelter. In the U.S. there are still many many ‘kill shelters’, and they are all over-flowing with unwanted dogs and cats. More than two thirds of those animals will lose their lives. The lucky ones will get adopted quickly before their time runs out; or will be picked up by a local rescue group. And then … there is the Canadian rescue effort. Every weekend there are volunteer transports bringing dogs from the U.S. to rescue groups in Ontario. It’s really quite remarkable.
All the drivers are volunteers and everyone drives one hour north. The transport starts at the southern most point that a dog is in need. Someone picks up that dog (or dogs) and drives them one hour north. They are then transferred to the next driver who drives them one hour north. Then transferred to the next driver who drives them one hour north … and so on. Dogs are collected along the way from various shelters and rescue groups. And Canadian rescue groups are waiting to receive them.
I first discovered this U.S./Canadian travel caravan back in December of 2008 when Jack Russell Terrier Rescue Ontario asked me to foster 3 jack russell terriers coming up from Alabama. I picked up my charges in Grimsby, Ontario and then drove one leg of the transport to deliver another dog to yet another driver in Brantford, Ontario. It was so exciting to be part of the process. Receiving email updates every step of the way. Knowing the dogs were enroute and following their journey. And when the message came that they had safely crossed the border … I had an emotional ’woohooo!!’ moment …. knowing they were almost here.
Shortly after that first transport I (along with many others) received an urgent plea from a rescue in Cox Creek, Kentucky. Hilltop Haven Halfway House for Dogs was having to close down temporarily and ALL the dogs had to be off the property by January 12th/09 or face euthanasia by the county animal control. And that’s where I found Gunner … a casualty of war.
Gunner (previously named Jack) belonged to a U.S. soldier who was deployed to Iraq. The soldiers family deployed Gunner to the local shelter. Gunner was on death row when a local all breed rescue group pulled him and took him in. Unfortunately that rescue had to close down and Gunner, along with 14 other dogs , was taken in by Hilltop Haven in August of 2008. So here we were in December of 2008 and once again Gunner’s life was on the line. Knowing that Gunner belonged to a soldier serving his country sparked an obsession in me to save this dog. I immediately contacted Hilltop Haven and said I would step up for Gunner. I had the funds to vet 2 dogs at the time, so I decided to step up for a 7mth old coonhound as well. And then a friend came on board and adopted the coonhound, and another friend stepped up for a 3rd dog; and then there was one dog left that nobody wanted, so I added him to our little rescue effort as well. So my little Kentucky rescue effort started with Gunner and ended up with 4 dogs. All but one have been adopted. Beau remains in foster care at this time.
Everyone who meets Gunner is touched by his story. And we all wonder if his previous owner has become a casualty of war. Is he dead or alive? Is he wondering what became of Gunner? Does he know that Gunner is not there waiting for him to come home? Does he know that Gunner is safe? And Gunners story got me to thinking about how many other dogs and cats meet the same fate or worse (as not all would be rescued).
War destroys countries. It destroys families. And it kills innocent victims both human and animal. Let’s not let the animals become the forgotten casualties of war. Let’s not forget the pets left behind & the broken hearts of the soldiers who had to leave them. I’m so grateful to have had the priviledge of saving a soldiers dog. Gunner is now safe …. always …. and forever.
This is the photo of Gunner that I saw on the original urgent plea for help. He is a 2yr old foxhound.
This is Gunner lounging on my bed the night he arrived in Ontario
Not sure if Gunner will ever be a disc dog > right now he prefers to ‘eat’ frisbees! <lol>
The Great White North
It snowed again overnight …. not too much this time …. just a few inches. But snow is snow & I’ve had just about enough for one winter …. I’m not a winter warrior …. I prefer to hibernate during the cold months <lol>
It’s been too cold and icy outside to practice disc with the dogs and I think I’m going into withdrawal > afterall disc play IS an addiction!! But the ground conditions are not safe for the dogs. So it’s inside training for now. Trying to come up with new tricks that can be adapted for disc play & putting some basic obedience training on the puppies. I have 3 youngsters right now that need my attention. Of course you’ve already met “no name” puppy in my last post. Then there is Kahlua who is a retriever mix who is 15mths old. And little Nick who is only 14wks old. Nick is the son to my Rodeo and Rowdy. You can read all about him at his blog site at http://dogsportpups.blogspot.com/
Kahlua
Nick
We moved down to this location almost 4yrs ago to get away from the snow! However it seems to have followed us. The first 2 winters here were wonderful … not too cold …. not too much snow …. and no need for snow plowing. Last winter and this one though are brutal! We’ve already had to be plowed out three times. Our driveway is 400ft long so definitely too long to ‘dig’ our way out! And when the wind gets blowing the snow drifts make it difficult for even a small plow to get through. The last time ‘snow plow guy’ was here he had to call for a bigger plow to come by to move the drifts. Here is a photo of the farm as it looks right now all covered in the white stuff. My frisbee field looks the same ….. just a great expanse of white as far as the eye can see!
This is the view of the barn from our kitchen window
This is the top end (close to the house) of our driveway after the last big snowstorm. The road is 400 ft straight ahead! The snow drift to the right completely covered the driveway about 1/2 way down
and this is ‘snow plow guy’ getting us out