Magnus made me a star

March 22nd, 2009 Magnus and I went out to http://www.ewe-topia.com/ for some play time and herding. Annette is one of the instructors there and this time she gave me the herders staff and I moved the sheep in a figure eight pattern with magnus following direction of "away, go-by, and wait". The guy made me look like an experienced hand, Joe suggested I may be able to get a job as a herder, apparently the country is short handed of them. And everybody heaped praise on Magnus, this was the best he's done and he was ready to go in again, and not ready to leave at the end of the day. So this week he'll be back out there and also we're going to investigate http://www.packleaderdogtraining.net/ to see if there is something there to interest us.

Our pups are 14 months old and we hope all are well. Cheers, Larry & Carolyn (L)

We wish all of Lark's pups the happiest of holidays and a wonderful new year. From Magnus and all 11 months of life he's absorbed. Cheers, L&C

Magnus has a new video

Hi all, Magnus has been to the herding farm and while he seems to think it just a great opportunity for controlled chasing, he does pick up the cues quickly and gets to work. This video is over the 100mb limit here so I posted it to YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW6WGF6hngI
Magnus is doing well, Carolyn & I are learning how to clip and trim him from DeMarias Brown, a local breeder and show exhibitor near our home. She has been very generous with her time and knowledge. She has 5 Bouvs from about 9 years to 11 weeks. We stripped out almost all his puppy hair and of course ended up with a few divots, but we now have a new starting point to go with. Here's a tip we learned from DeMarias, when trimming nails, poke them through a knee high or like women's nylon stocking. That works well if you're using a dremel, and also makes them easy to see for clipping. We have a local dog show here in the Northwest in November and again in January and we always like to get Magnus out to those for fun and socializing. I'll try and post a better photo of our guy sooner than later. Larry & Carolyn (L)

Ceilidh checks in

Ceilidh is doing fine. We still have a match of wills occasionally. She complies in the usual training environment. However, when she's off-leash occasionally she feels spirited and will intentionally ignore me in a very playful way. I'm working on this and as a result she is finding herself tied more often than not.We had a wonderful 2 week vacation. Our dog sitters emailed us and asked if they could keep Ceilidh another week (rather than kennel her for the last week). Both dog and sitting family had a great time. I'm hoping that there enthusiasm continues for future dog-sitting needs.We're going camping next week. Our intention is to follow the headwaters of the Mississippi through MN. We'll camp for a couple of days at Itasca and explore. Ceilidh is coming along. I think that she'll have a good time.Ceilidh has grown a fair bit over the summer. Ceilidh is also starting to have a more prominent brown coloring. This shows especially when she stand in front of the light. Would this be a possible color change in her coat?I'm looking forward to agility tonight. Ceilidh has shown a lot of enthusiasm for the little bit of agility that she has done with Alice Howe. I hope that her enthusiasm continues.

Comet Update at 6.5 mo

Hi Sunny,

The pups are great! Both need haircuts, but other than that it's all good. Comet is just a hoot! He's such a loving little character, and smart as can be. Still working on manners--or maybe just controlling his extreme enthusiasm for everything. My son and his friend have been visiting for about a month and the dogs are absolutely loving that. Lots of running and romping and silliness going on around here. The dogs have also been "helping" them do some yard work around here. :)

Comet is about as tall as Nikkou now, though quite a bit thinner & smaller overall. He moves like a little deer! Very energetic (unless he's asleep with his dirty feet propped on the wall or cuddling), and always looking for somebody or something to play with.

Kairos at 6.5 mo.

Here is an updated Kairos at 6.5 months. We had him clippered down last week since we are going on vacation and there is no a/c and we will be in the lake and on the beach daily. As you can see our little guy has gotten quite large and leggy. We weighed him the other day and he is 78+ pounds. He & I just finished Level II obedience which was harder than level I and in class he would look the other way when I told him to sit as if he had never heard the command. My instructor got a real kick out of him and told me he was approaching the early stages of adolescence. Yep he is...Kairos is trying to lift his leg which is quite humours since he hasn't mastered it and he kinda hops around on 3 legs trying to figure it out. He is very lovey & quite talkative. I know you told us that he had "low prey drive" but we beg to differ... Kairos actively attacks the giant bumble bees in the garden and in doing so he has clomped down numerous plants and flowers while at the peak of their bloom. I have enjoyed reading about all the other pups. Thanks for posting the picture of Bird with your grandson. They look pretty happy together.

Birdie and her Boy

Proof finally that Birdie does still exist! This is my grandson A.J. (Anthony James) who will be starting 'real school' this fall. It seems Bird hasn't grown as much as Magnus but hey, she's sitting!!