Ivy and Jim 4 months

Sisters

I'm glad that Amy bought Sam a pretty pink collar so we'd know which pup was which!! Above is Sam and below is Clare. If I had a profile of the same side, you'd really see how much they are marked alike. Sam has a little more white on her chest and a more perfectly even blaze, but other than that they sure look alike.

Sam was out for a visit this weekend. She had much better time playing with them than she did a couple weeks when she was here. When she was out a couple weeks ago, things were a bit over whelming. She preferred to stay close to mom, and watch, rather than get involved. (Smart pup! I'm not so sure I'd be real quick to get right in the middle of my 4 hooligans' antics either!!) This weekend she was much more open and less concerned about where her mom was. In the above picture she's getting a friendly greeting from Sly.

Clare's wondering if she's looking at her own reflection, or another pup! Sam and Clare are near identical, not only in markings, but in build and how they move.

Pretty girl, Sam! She's doing a Deal trademark move with her foot. When Deal's watching something with great interest, she will lift her foot. Kit does this too. I think I've noticed it in Clare as well.

Amy is having a really good time with Sam and enjoys her a great deal. Sam's doing great with the family and their lovable, and rowdy young dog, Rocket. Amy's very excited to start training Sam in agility, which I have no doubt she will excell at. I'm sure that Sam will get sheep time too! Even if Amy doesn't have much serious interest in it, I know Sam will be out fairly often to work sheep with me. (smile)

Too big to fill?

Jim. Jim was whelped on Nov 23, 2007, so he's just a bit over 4 months presently. I love this pup. So much of what he does reminds me of his sire, which is so cool. Not only because it's exciting that he may be able to follow in Cruz's stockdog shoes, but also because I love Cruz on a "just the dog" level, so when Jim acts like Cruz, he's being the kind of dog I love being around. I'll be posting a video of him playing with a toy just like Cruz does- making up his own game and just ignoring all the other dogs.

Jim's the largest pup from the litter. Now at 4 months he's more in proportion and I can see that he is going to be a gorgeously put together, big strided, easy moving kind of dog. He didn't get this from Cruz, as Cruz is a more 'square' dog that has to take a lot strides to be as fast as he is. Cruz is only 18.25" tall. It looks like Jim will be closer to 20". I'm not sure if any of the HatsOff dogs were a bit larger, but I know Del'Mar Turk is a larger built dog (in comparison to Cruz) and many of his offspring tend to be of the same build. Gwen's sire is an Imp Jim (Turk's sire) X Imp Nell son and is a very large framed Border Collie. I'm incredibly drawn to this pup and can't wait for him to mature. To date there is nothing I see in Jim that I don't like and his Cruz-like behaviors keep me hopeful I have a shot at having another exceptional dog at a time in my life where I can do more things right than I did with poor Cruz in the beginning. But at the same time I worry that because his is similar in many ways that I am going to hold him to an unfair standard. I'm concerned that because he's "his daddy's son" and I'm only human I'm going to always compare him. I'd like to think that I won't, as I have many dogs and have no trouble at all letting them all be their own personalities and treat them as individuals. I feel so very blessed that I have Jim and Ivy. After Cruz, Gwenie is my favorite dog to just simply be around. She's a trip. She's quite funny and clever and loves attention and does everything with the after-burners on. How can you not love that? She gets by with a few things because of her cleverness. For example I hate begging for food. But she's just so funny about it that I can't help but give in. It's a sort of ritual that when I go to NC to train, I stop at the McDonalds in Suffolk on the way to get a breakfast burrito. She isn't a typical begger. Instead, from the backseat, she politely taps me on the shoulder with her foot. If I ignore her she starts to poke her nose in my ear. Like "um, hello, I want some too." She never gets rude, but she continues to problem solve and find something I find amusing enough that it deserves a piece of burrito. Brain power. All of Cruz's tricks (if they're not there right now, they'll be up soon) where simply shaped off behaviors he'd offer to get something he wanted, so they are very similar in how their brains work. I waited a long time for a bitch I thought worthy to cross Cruz with. I wanted a bitch similar to Cruz in working abilities and personality. All 4 puppies from this cross are being raised as stockdogs in very able hands. The 2 puppies I didn't keep for myself are close-by and with friends, so I'll know exactly how this cross turns out. I am sure it will be a very fun summer, getting these pups started on sheep. By the fall they may be in real training- but only if they are ready.

They wear it well

Border Collies! You've gotta admit they look their best wet and covered in muck!! They simply wear it well! Maybe part of why they wear it so well is that usually if they're covered in mud, stock poop, bits of straw and grass it means they've been doing something they greatly enjoyed! Be it doing a job that needed to be done regardless of the weather that would keep a lesser dog sleeping in late on sofa, or a play session that took place regardless of the icky weather and terrain. Real Border Collies not just tolerate situations like that, they enjoy them. The above pictures are Gwen and Jim. Yesterday after a 4 wheeler run just around the yard, Gwen got in the stock tank to cool off then promotly had a great roll in the grass. Happy dog! The photo of Jim is from this morning. I played with them for an hour in the rain this morning. He looks so glamorous due to the wrestling matches with Ivy.

Cool Weekend and Videos

Yesterday I was able to get a few videos of Gwen and one of Deal before it got too warm. All my ewes are bred, so I didn't want to get them too warm. They're in good shape, but it was certainly the warmest day in a very long time. The wind blew all day. I'm convinced we live in a wind tunnel. I'm sure living surrounded by fields on 3 sides is part of it, but this just seems to be a windy area. People will come from only 10 miles away and comment on how windy it is....

The videos of Gwen and Deal are on my youtube account. I video taped them myself, so for the most part they were doing silent gathers. Both girls are doing such a nice job and I so very much enjoy working and owning both of them. I'm so excited that I have offspring from both of them. Yesterday Ella was here and we played with Wren on my friend's lighter hair sheep. Ella did a great job with her, but just couldn't quite see how to help Wren follow thru when she picked a direction to start going around the 3 ewes. So we traded places and I was able to help Wren go around the sheep several times. What a nice pup, and not that looks are important, but man what a drop-dead gorgeous dog she is going to be! She went around sheep about like Cruz. She had enough eye that Ella had a bit of a time getting her to go all the way around, but not so much that it was hard for me. She has less eye than Gwen did at that age, which is nice. Gwen does fine with her eye, but she could do with 2 clicks less. If Wren is that perfect middle of the road like her sire, Ella will have a very easy pup to start. I haven't tried any of my pups on the lighter sheep yet- but I need to before they go. I'd like to see if all their motion will grab Ivy's interest, and I'd love to see how Clare and Sly do, as they were going around my heavy sheep, just couldn't really move them forward. Jim acts like something inside his head has clicked, as he's much more interested in the sheep on the other side of the fence when they're up by the gate when I'm feeding the sheep. (all my dogs are very good about not being up by the sheep if I'm not) All the pups are doing good. Jim is going to be much bigger than Ivy or Wren. I haven't seen Keele in several weeks, but I bet Jim is bigger than him too- he was the biggest at 8 weeks. I think Jim has maybe picked up some of the Del'Mar size and body build. He's a bigger boned, 'lopey' kind of mover, much like his Del'Mar Turk son sire, Dan. Jim seems to have a lot of Cruz too. He is my puppy. Meaning he pretty much adores me, and prefers me over almost anything. Even in the morning, after being crated over night he pesters me for attention before he even goes out to pee. And other than wrestling with his sister, he tends to pretty much be a loner. Cruz is the same way. He is 100% dog-friendly, but other than to occasionally flirt with a pretty bitch, he would not be the least bit disappointed if every other dog on the planet disappeared. I can see this in Jim already. It's not uncommon at all to see the other 3 pups playing together and Jim off doing his own thing- or hanging with me. To date I only see Gwen in Ivy. She is hard core, sweet temperamented with people, and generally friendly with dogs- unless they try to take what she thinks is hers- then she's a little bitchy. Just like Gwenie. Of course that doesn't fly around here, but it clearly a Gwen trait. Keele did a great job in the round pen last week I was told. Hopefully next week I will be able to go to NC one day to work dogs, visit, and see Keele. I'm still planning on going one day to the cattle trial in Gladys, VA in April. They're running 2 trials/day, so just going one day will get us a couple runs. My only other planned trial is Dixie Meadow in NC the weekend after the cattle trial. Again, I'll probably only be able to attend one day. I highly doubt I will do any summer trials.

Transportation

(photo from CreativeSportsSupply Co in AL)

Transporting the dogs back and forth to trials and training safely is important and not always easy to accomplish. When I drove the Excursion, they rode in their usual crates. Although this was fine, it did mean allotting for the extra time to get them in and strap them down and then doing the reverse upon arriving home. Finding crate space for 6-8 dogs, even in a large vehicle can take some trial and error. When the vehicle is not just for the dogs, the crates don't get to be left in the van/suv. Now that I'm driving a crew cab truck, my current dog transportation is less than ideal. They all ride in the cab with me. I don't mind that at all, (in fact I enjoy it) but it's far from a safe, and riding in strapped in crates in the bed is even worse. I've gone back and forth between a very nice dog box (I could get a stacked 5 dog one- 2 on the bottom and 3 on the top) and a dog trailer. The trailer is not that much more than a 5 dog box of equal quality. The trailer has everything! It's insulated, has powerful fans, rain guards on the doors, a water tank with hose, lights, dog tie outs, storage, etc... Of course having a trailer means the bed of the truck is still available. (I could put on a topper and sleep in there if the weather or trial site was not tent friendly) I think it would soon become a PIA to take the dog box out to haul stuff and then put it back in every time I want to transport the dogs. I also question the safety if an accident happened. I've pretty much decided on a trailer from http://www.creativesportssupply.com They seem to have very well built trailers with all the right kind of extras, and appear to be built for the dogs' comfort. Additionally they are in AL, which is a doable state to buy a trailer from. It's a bit silly for me to look at trailers from places like OK or TX! The above photo is a 6 dog trailer from creative sports supply. I plan to purchase an 8 dog trailer. I don't trial 8 dogs at one time, but very often I'll take that many to training sites. Additionally, an 8 dog trailer will allow me to take all the working Border Collies with me when I go to a trial- therefore only leaving the pets at home for Ben and the kids to care for. This is a big ticket item, that will hopefully help make working 6PM-3AM 4 days a week worth it! Knowing I have a job will allow me to finance the trailer. I'm willing to for-go spring trials if it means it will allow me to purchase a safe, convenient way to transport my dogs.

Speaking of the job, I go in for training most of the afternoon on Tuesday. I feel quite lucky that I found the kind of job I was hoping for, with the hours I wanted, at the distance I wanted to drive- and it all fell into place immediately after I applied! Since I'll be leaving for work after Ben gets home, I'll be able to take "his" car, which gets almost 30mpg, in comparison to my V-8 150 that, well... pretty much gulps.

It's supposed to be 80 today!! Already windy though. It's been windy all week. :-( I'm finally done moving all the panels for the 11 10x10s! Whata job! Now I just need to buy about 17 bales of straw and they'll be set. I'm hoping I can get some videos of Gwen and Deal. Yesterday my heart sank when I saw the farmer out with his sprayer. But to my relief, he was only spraying the edges along the road. :-) It won't be long though. I believe the next ewe to lamb is very close. I hope she goes today, as it's going to be much cooler over the weekend. It'd be nice for the lamb to have a few hours of warm air.

Peep,Peep,Peep

Our youngest son's Gifted and Talented class incubated eggs that hatched right before spring break. They hatched around 20, and we are now the owners of 12, adorable Red Island Reds. I've raised day old chics one time before and made the big mistake of putting them outside too soon. I was going to lock them in the wonderfully spacious coop Ben made until they knew where 'home' was, but was talked out of it... I knew better, but didn't follow my gut. Sure enough, all that peeping and no mother hen meant breakfast, lunch, and dinner for our cats... I was really upset, and mad!! I wish birds weren't such a great things for cats. I don't mind the rodents, but I'm always a little sad when I see they've killed a pretty Blue Bird or Cardinal. They never seem to catch the nasty Jays or Sparrows... We don't have too many barn cats now, and they're all 'fixed', so hopefully someday we can have some bird feeders again! LOL! I'm really getting used to the sound of the chicks almost 24 hours a day. They've graduated from their box, to a large rubbermaid tub, and are about ready for another move. I was going to use one of the 4x4' whelping boxes, as that's perfect! They're about 30" high. I'd like to move them out into the garage so I don't have sawdust in the house (again), but I don't know what I'd do about the darn cats. It's impossible to keep them out of the garage 100% of the time. I hate to put plywood over it, as they poor babies would never see day light, and I'm not about to hook a heat light in there and then put plywood over it. I'd have frrried chicken(s). So I guess in here is where they'll be. I'm sure Ben could make a top out of that rigid screen material, (like rabbit cages) but I'm a little scared that if a cat jumped on it, it would knock the heat lamp off. (I'm a 'freak' according to Ben- but hey, when was the last time we had something stupid happen...) I need to look in my chicken info book and find out how much longer they need heat. They are about 50% feathers now. Rhode Island Reds are such a pretty bird. I've also read they are pretty tame and bond with humans. These will be our layers. (All but 2 roosters will be butchered for the dogs) I need to order a nice batch of day olds from McMurry's. They have a hybrid of sorts that is a wonderful meat bird. I'll be stuffing a freezer with them. Some for us and some cut up for the dogs. Supposedly these birds are at finished weight at 8-10 weeks. That's hard to believe, but I guess it's so. I'm also thinking seriously about ordering day old Khaki Campbell ducks for both herding and eating. They are attractive duck that is light skinned, so it's easier to pluck. Like the chickens, they'll be in the freezer for both us and the dogs. Probably more for the dogs, but we'll see. I have enclosure made for them already, so it's just getting the money to order them. The more I think about things, the more I think I might skip an awful lot of the up coming trials and get things "right" around here. There isn't too much more to do. The priority being finishing the last 315' of the property with fence. Then the entire property is fenced and the dogs can just be out being dogs even if I'm busy with something else. It'll take one roll of fence and the posts. I already have 2, 8' gates for the driveway so that's a big expense already covered. Yesterday I spent nearly 8 hours taking down the kennels along the south side of the house (11, 10x10's with canopies). I got 2 remade over by the garage where there is natural shade nearly all day. It's completely shaded during the hot hours of the day. The canopies last a year. It wasn't the wind, it was the sun. They faced south, and from about #4 as they went west, they just got completely dry rotted from the summer sun. I replaced them with $20 tarps (6 of them!) that were uv and seemed heavier duty. Problem was they weren't a perfect fit. They were just a bit wider. So Ben kind of layered them. Well this meant that not all the holes had a bungee, and that the bungees were hooked to the next canopy over's tubing. Well... that was a mess in the wind! The tube that is at the top of the Aframe is two pieces. Since the canopies were hooked to the next one over, what happened was in the wind the 2 pieces got pulled apart, and they looked like *hit. I hate stuff that looks half-*ssed. So since we're finishing the fence, and the dogs can just be out in the yard most of the time, I'm just going to move their kennels were there is natural shade and not even put tarps over them. I don't kennel them in the rain. When it rains they can either be loose in the yard so they can lay on either of the 2 porches, or under the trees in the grass, or they'll be up in their crates. I never hooked them in a wet 10x10'. Eventually Ben is going to build me a kennel building that will include a permanent cover over the outdoor enclosures, but that is a long way off. I'm kind of thinking of putting in a 10x(up to) 100' garden were the kennels were. It's very good soil there and it's in a good location. That wouldn't be till this fall.

So I'm off to get some more kennels put back together. Taking them down was a fairly slow process. I did the canopies and aframes Tuesday and the panels yesterday. I didn't get any dogs worked yesterday since I just dove into that project. I should get some worked today, as I don't know when I'll loose this field across the road. It's a late crop they put in (it's always been either beans or peanuts), but I don't know when they'll start getting it ready.