GOLDEN RETRIEVER PUPPIES......

Well I had to make a difficult decision....when to breed Quila....after much thought and soul searching I have decided to do it now. So she was bred this past weekend and is due Nov 22,2012. I am excited but also worried about her search and rescue training. Search and rescue is something we both enjoyed and she has been doing so well. I plan on continuing for as long as is safe for her and hopefully will only have a couple of down months. We will continue to do our practising at home as long as she is ok to do so , so that she doesn't loose too much.
 So I will now have the experience of balancing a pregnant dog with training...should be interesting.
I will be keeping one of the pups and hope to train her for search and rescue as well....that should make interesting blog material!!
We will do ultrasound the end of Oct ....stayed tuned....pregnant and how many?


QUILA ALL GROWN UP
AFTER A REFRESHING SWIM 



MANASLU AVALANCHE 2012

MANASLU

Shawn is the one in the front...the days before the avalanche

Little did he know that his trip would have such a sad and tragic end

Once again I will say that I don't usually talk about my day to life on this blog...it is for my dog activities...but I just wanted to talk about my son and his climb for a minute and then I will get back to dog business...some of you may have heard on the news this past weekend the in Nepal at Manaslu they had a avalanche on the mountain....my son is fine but was at camp two that was hit as well. As him and his tent partner were in their tent , they were woken up by the winds...they thought that they might be blow off the mountain. They did not know that there was an avalanche....their tent was collapsed and covered with snow....they were able to cut their way out of their tent and get out. No one in their camp was killed but 12 tents were hit, 2 slightly injured...which is lucky compared to camp three where 11 are known dead and many more missing....thanks you for your prayers ....I like to think it kept my son safe...now continue to pray for those missing and dead...and their families.

MANASLU

Now for those of you that don't know what that title means....it is a mountain...the 8th highest in the world....my son is climbing it right now. I don't usually put anything but my dog stuff on here but I thought some of you might be interested....you can follow him on his blog at peetclimb.com ....you can also go to  www.mountainguides.com/wordpress/climb/manslu/  and that will be updated with news of how they are doing....

 This is Shawn just about to leave for the airport....it took about 30 hrs to get there....his route was Houston to Newark to Dehli to Katmandu ....Nepal

Here they are setting up the tents for the night..

This trip will take about 40 days...he left on Aug 24,2012 and will return home on Oct 11,2012

This takes temendous training, determination and drive to complete something like this....he has made many climbs now...you can see them on his blog....but this is one of the highest....keep him in your thoughts and prayers for me....

A LITTLE BIT OF EVERYTHING...SWIMMING, GEOCACHING, ARTICLING ETC

Well have been busy training with Quila for search and rescue....hard to take pics and run after her... sorry about that. We have been progressing her training and so now she has to wait to be release to find her "hider"...first it was a minute and then five ...we are now up to ten minutes. It hasn't seemed to bother her and she now knows she has to wait until I release her. I have to say I learned alot about the wind by watching her...the hiders have tried tricking her by going around things etc but it doesn't matter ....when she gets that scent she is gone right to them. I also made the mistake of correcting her when I thought she was going the wrong way, and in fact she had the person's scent thru the bushes and was going that way to her....as I had corrected Quila she would not alert on that person....I learnt a valuable lesson....listen to your dog and allow her to fiquare it out. About  a week later I was in a similar situation , due to the wind, and I allowed Quila to work thru it and she did...and alerted well on the hider.
We are also working the articles....we have decreased the number of articles and increased the area for her to search...it is going well. I have found that I really need to make this a fun activity as she was loosing interest ...so since I increased the " fun " of finding something it is going much better. We have also started to include some gun shell casings to see what she would do....this was after a discussion with a member of my local RCMP as they call their dogs in from a great distance to find evidence , such as guns , shell casings , knives etc. So I just wanted to see what she would do. The first time I put out a pile of them ....shs alerted no problem. The next time I only put out one , and it was hiden in high grass....she alerted really well on it. So I don't anticipate a problem. We want to try a gun next...empty of course.
Tracking has been on the back burner although I would like to get at it. Did do one short track the other day and she went no problem....the corners still need a little work but the biggest problem is that I need to learn to read her body language better and to trust her...getting there!

Well all work and no play makes for a dull girl and dog....so my friend, Jackie and her golden, Quincy came to the trabin for a visit....we did a short track ( as above) and some articles....them we did a geocache with the dogs ...it was so much fun

This is what we found...it had another rock on it. If you haven't tried it you really should....you can get the app...geocaching and you can see where some are in your area or you can go online to geocaching and print off the ones in the area where you will be....beware it can be addicting!! When you find the item....and they are all different....you will write the date and your names on the book in it ....then you will usually add an item inside and can take one if you want....great to do with kids

We tried a second one but where it was was in a swamp due to all the rain...have to go back when it dries up!

So the dogs were getting tired of this game so off to Peliquen Point ( spelled wrong I think)...to the lake.
I love this lake for the dogs ,as it goes out for a long ways before it gets deep....so they can run and play and not have to swim all day.

                                             I love this picture of Quincy bringing back the frisbee

The dogs had such a great time....my girlfriend and I enjoyed the sunny day as well.

Quincy will fetch all day long and did so!! Quila was learning to bring back the frisbee...she did pretty good but was really just happy running in the water.

This was the two dogs at the end of the day....I think they are both dreaming of the beach!!


The next day I headed off to Calgary to help my daughter move ....Jackie was so kind as to keep Quila for me for the day....when I went to pick her up she was having a blast with Jackie's dogs....in the water again!!

So all in all a great few days......and one very happy dog!!

I am hoping to breed Quila down the road....working it around Search and Rescue....we will see...but one of the things that my breeder and I want is to be responsible in our  breeding....we do not want contribute to the growing problems that our breed  has...as do all breeds... due to the breeding of purebreds that have genetic problems but are bred anyways passing on those issues to further offspring

So first we have tested her eyes and heart....all good.

Now we have had her hips and elbows tested...looks good but waiting on the official word....

We have also sent her blood to the states to be tested for the three prominant genetic issues with this breed....one test is completed and is negative...waiting on the other two....

So if all this testing is good then we will go ahead and breed her in the future.

Now if I haven't said it all correctly....I am sorry as I am a novice at this myself.

I just want to be sure that we are breeding healthy puppies and not passing on undesirable traits.