Finally walking with a little spring in the air!

Well the snow hasn't totally left... So we now have mud, water and snow....a golden retriever's delight!
They are looking so much alike now...mom and mini me....Quila and Halo. Getting hard to tell them apart at a distance.
They have a great time on their walks.

PInk Girl...Sadie , Red Girl...Halo and mom....at the Park

Sadie , Halo and Quila got to spend some time at the park ....it was great to see Sadie.
They all had a great time...as you can see by the pictures below. Karen and I drank our hot drinks as it was wet and cold out.... The girls didn't care!

Search and Rescue Does Helicopter Training....thanks to Delta Helicopters

April 21 I went to SARDAA meeting...which had 24 members present....and although the meeting was good it was after the meeting that had me excited...and maybe a little scared! A number of us ...dog handlers and Field Techs....as well as ours dogs ...headed out to Delta Helicopters...where we first went over helicopter safety ...then on to a cold training. Cold training is loading on to the helicopter when it is turned off and not running...in fact it was inside a building.
Kayle's dog is the first picture....we put the helmet on for the picture...the dogs don't actually wear them....we do.
Quila did really well....she had a little problem reaching the edge where I needed her paws. I needed her paws up on the edge of the chopper and then I lift her in. Once she is in ...I have her in a sit stay...get in and buckle myself if, helmet off and head set on....ready to go! You can see in the next four pictures me getting ready to go to the chopper, then the steps in loading her. Finally us leaving the chopper . I did learn that I will have to lift her in as her paws don't quite reach the place I need her paws to be on...which is good to know as I don't want her injured or scared.

Next was little miss...as I like to call her...know as Halo to everyone else. I really thought if I got her to do the cold training that would be great....and she did it with no problems...you can see her in the chopper....in the next couple of pics. It is really hard to get harnessed up while keeping control of a puppy!
Well now that we have all completed the cold training ...on to the hot training.
Hot training is with the chopper running, blades spinning, wind blowing etc....scary!
I only have a couple of pics of the hot training....was a little busy with the dogs.... They are the last two pictures. The first is Quila waiting to board the chopper...she is really calm...and did so well. As you can see by the second picture we are in the chopper getting ready to take off.
Halo surprised me greatly by doing the hot training really well and getting up in the chopper and into the air with no problems. She was a little scared but settled right down and enjoyed the ride.

I was so proud of both my girls , as well as all team members and the dogs ...everyone did great...and I think I can say we all had a wonderful time! As well we learned some valuable skills for us and our dogs.

I am hoping to get some more pics from the other members later and will post more then.
I have also added some more pics of other members in the cold training...