Autumn summary

It's not definately my plan to write only 4 season-summaries per year to this blog, but days just tend to be busy, very busy or very very busy :o). And on weekends - if I think on Friday, that I take computer to country with me, so I have it in case of bad weather, the weather is definately OK :o). So I take computer with me every Friday to secure we have good weather and then we can do something useful or fun :o). I take camera with me every weekend too, but it's also mostly for training my muscles when carrying it :o). Because I'm spoiled by Karin's beautiful pictures and usually I'm not satisfied with those I have made myself :o(.  Well, next to that  I'm well trained, I still have couple of pictures I would share with you.

First one goes back to the end of summer. Look how hard Lucky and Rocco tried to help me to prepare for coming winter :o)

 

Then just couple of photos captured on our walks

And Lucky beeing Lucky :o)

    

                                      

But now, please meet Griffin, the rat

He is our new family member, Kelli's very own pet and Rocco's absolute favourite.  Rocco's days are now filled with different reality show's - Rat sleeping. Rat eating. Rat in action... and so on :o). We have to limit his walking due to his joint problems and next to that he got kennel caugh which means even shorter walks, so it's just great he found a friend in Griffin. Griffin too trusts him, as when we let him to run free, he sometimes hides in Rocco's long coat.

 

Summer summary

I'm still hoping the real summer will come, but beeing realistic, it's probably time to make summary of what we had and call it summer summary :o). The biggest news get their own postings -  soon, I hope. And here's just some captured moments and important things that need to be mentioned.

 

We had wonderful, cold and windy summer day in June rowing on a lake. Fishing club's employees were kind to allow us to take dogs too. Well, looking the pictures they had, I think my dogs were smaller and looked very innocent compared to fishes that fisherman get from that lake :o). I'm very proud of my dogs, who acted just like beeing in boat would be something they do every day. Rocco in his endless kindness and loyality to me accepts all my crazy ideas and follows me faithfully where ever and Lucky in his curiousity doesn't follow but goes first :o). Of course it's impossible to be curious in the boat for hours, but then again, Lucky never feels boring when there's water around. He just looooves splash game  and never stops hoping somebody will play with him.

 

 

Near to our country home is sport center, where different big sport events are held. There's no sporty adults in our family, but usually there's also something for children and then Kelli with her cousin are representing us :o). On the picture abowe, Kelli and Jarek participated on duathlon for children witch was held within triathlon for adults. And Lucky and Rocco did their best cheerleading them :o). And got on the picture with mascots :o). And found a very dedicated little fan, who showed no interest on sport and gave all his attention to Rocco and Lucky. That I would say is right attitude :o)

 

Then daddy's new "offroad" friend :o) that gave us opportunity to see many new beautiful places we haven't reached before. The idea of the picture was to capture our "offroad" enthusiasts with beautiful yellow field on background, driving manners are safer

 

Lucky and splash game, he would play endlessly. Or in sea, or in lake or in puddle or even in bath. But swimming he goes only if there's no other choice and even then rather not.

 

  To get the real summer feeling and to have something to take to deers and elks for Christmas present we made hay (as every year). And dogs of course were helping - on best sheepdog-way they could :o)  

 

And last but not least - birthday present daddy made for me:

Every girls dream, isn't it? In case you don't think so, and you don't even know what it is :o) - it's agility waving poles set, on metal and everything. Just as good as "professional" ones. It was booooring to push all the poles one by one, in straight line and with correct distance between them to the ground and just after couple of days pull them all out again as lawn had grown too high.

Rocco is 11 years old

 It's Rocco's 11th birthday today.

Happy birthday, my dear old friend!!!

This year too Rocco got 2 birthday partys. First on tuesday already. We visited Inna and it was really very very happy day for Rocco with all the beautiful Sheltie-babes around him. He was so happy he didn't even take the "candies" I offered  - Rocco, who is usually like vacuum cleaner as it comes to food. Pictures are taken with phone, but it's sweet memory of wonderful evening we had. On second picture Pippi and Rocco are tired and sleeping next to me, but all the younger dogs continued party without them :o)

 

 And here's the birthday party with family :o)

 Rocco lifting cake to friends plates :o)

 

 

Whish you many, many more years with us, my dear sweet old friend. You are so very dear to all of us.

Lucky's 3rd litter and meeting Kati

On 31.05.2012 was born Lucky's 3rd litter. 2 tricolour girls, mother of puppies ACHOR'S SURPRISE DAISY-DIAMOND, breeder Inna Tolli, kennel White Coastal.

White Coastal Little Black Baby & White Coastal Little Broken Heart.

Little angels, don't you agree?

What makes me very happy and proud too - one puppy went to family who already has puppy from Lucky's first litter - to Katriina  & kennel Shet Up in Finland.   Well, actually the puppy is co-owned and lives with their very good friend, but point is the same - maybe I'm beeing vain, but to me it looks like compliment to Lucky <3.

When Katriina came to pick up the puppy and visit Inna, Lucky and I smuggled ourselves there too :o). We have been in contact with Kati for almost 2 years and now I finally had a chance to really meet her. I'm repeating myself, but still - Kati, it was very-very nice to see you and biiiiig thank you for the Sheltie-gifts!!!  Unfortunately Peppi couldn't come, as weather was very bad in Finland this morning, but we'll find the possibility for sure. We are very much looking forward to see you all again.

As usual, some photo evidence for you too:

Pick me, pick me :o)

& Essi sending kisses and best regards to her sister Peppi

Last time with mum

and telling secrets to daddy

White Coastal boys Darwin & Kimi checking the visitors
& later -  visitor checking them back

Lucky was BOS at FCI I group show

Lucky had very successful show day today - he was BOS at FCI I group show held by Estonian Society of Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Karin, for showing him. Karin just has eye to Shelties. As beautiful as on her photos are the Shelties showed by her. And biiiiiiig thank you to judge Mari-Maria Palgi for rating my dear Lucky so high. And conqratulations to Lucky's breeders Aud Jorun and Helge Lie, Lucky is 57th CC winner from their breeding.

Show critique (translation is by me, so it's probably very unprofessional):

Right size, elegant, specially beautiful head and expression, medium lenght neck, kind of upright shoulder, good rear angulation, chest could be deeper and broader. Good length of body, little bit short tail, which is carried in right position, well presented.

To tell you a little about our show day. There were 19 Shelties entered, 9 of them males - 2 dogs in junior class, 4 dogs in open class (incl. Lucky), 2 dogs in champion class and 1 veteran dog. Very different compared to good old times when we went to shows with Rocco. And number of Shelties entered was usually... 1 :o). OK OK, sometimes 2 or 3 too :o). I miss good old times :o)

Our main goal was to get good and fair show critique. As on litters registration in Kennel Union you have to give copy of daddy's show critique too, I have had to give his junior class show critique starting with word "крупный". Which translated from russian means BIG!!! Just as remark, Lucky is 37,5 cm and has very slim and sporty body, which in show context means he could weight about 1 kg more then he does. I wonder what did this judge mean then, his ego???? :o) Lucky cooperated with Karin so well. And we got the good show critique we hoped for and additionally open 1/1, best dog 1, CAC and BOS. I'm more then happy about the result!!!

Show day was one of the few warmest days this summer, it was even more then +30 C outside. We had little Caily, Rocco, our daddy and his Jossu too keeping thumbs to Lucky, so after the show we went to the river so dogs could have fun and cool down a little.

Below on the picture Lucky is teaching Caily that children are not allowed to go into too deep water :o)

And one more photo proofing that not only dogs had fun at the river :o)

2 days in bog with Karin, Fancy, Pippi & Caily

We had wonderful  Sheltie-vacation with Karin, Fancy, Pippi and Caily.  2 wonderful days in bog :o)

 We left home quite early in the morning and came back late in the evening, so we really had TIME to walk and talk and TAKE PICTURES. As I have complained :o) to you before - usually I walk with 2 saboteurs :o) - Kelli and daddy, who feel bored in the second I take camera out of bag and usually would like to return from walk before car gets out of sight :o). So it really was great time for me.

Karin's beautiful pictures you can see here -  in case you have account in FB. I was mostly photographers assistant, posing the dogs for Karin and my camera was mostly for balancing purpose - Rocco in arms and camera on back ;o). But I made a lot of photos too and here I post the one I like most

and some "backstage" photos:

Photographer in action ;o)

Dogs travelling, this is photo evidence to daddy we can take 2 more Shelties easily ;o)

This is a very sweet photo for me. We were trying to take family photo of Lucky, Fancy and Caily,  and it took time and candies to negotiate with 3 young dogs who would rather fly around instead of  staying  nicely on one place. When I looked behind me, I saw our dear old friends sitting there patiently, probably wishing they would be the ones getting the attention. And candies. Sooooooo sweet.

Tired girls sleeping in their Great Bear view bed :o)

And couple of back-stage photos Karin made:

Thank you Karin, it was really great time for me and I'm sure my boys agree. Next year again, yes?

  And thank you for the great photo fortune I got. Really heartwarming to look the photos and think back on it when it's cold winter outside.

Puppies 2 months old

Today Lucky's puppies got 2 months old. And today was the last time we saw them all together, on Sunday they will go to their new homes.

It was wonderful to see them growing for the last 2 months. I will miss them, their funny games, their sweet "hi" to us, their puppy smell. On our way home today, no matter I tried to be brave, tears just came to my eyes one after another. But still, I-never-become-a-breeder person in me has calmed down ;o) , all puppies will have good new families.

So, together with their daddy, we can only tell them to behave very well as mum teached them; to read the standard every day and develop according it ;o) ; and to write and send photos to daddy too. 

Thank you Karin, for sharing your knowlege, thank you for letting us to get part of all the joys and worries that are connected to growing up the litter. It was really wonderful to be part of it.

Photo Karin Põiklägu

Spring

It's wonderful spring outside in Estonia, I think the best time of the year. To share some of it with you, here comes the spring summary

 First 2 pictures are made in the end of March. There was a lot of snow still left, but in sunny places it was spring already. We went to walk the dogs to one of our beloved routes and found 4 elk antlers. And 2 more on next day. It doesn't happen often, that you see an elk in the forest and finding the antler is quite rare. But to find 6!!! Once in a lifetime opportunity, I believe. Probably we found the place where they held their antler wrestling before snow in autumn. 

Next pictures are made on beach near to our city home. Rocco looks so happy posing there, but in real, walks are not big joy for him any more. He harmed his paw in winter and was limping, so we went to a vet. And though the limping dissapeared soon, his joints looked bad on x-ray pictures. Vet suggested to limit his moving and Rocco seems to agree. So now, on the mornings we make a short doggy-facebook-walk :o) - dogs read, like and share the news on every tree :o)  and on the evening, if I go to long walk with Lucky, Rocco stays at home. It's really hard to leave him, so if Kelli and daddy come with us, we carry him with us too :o). This way our strenghts are equal with Kelli - otherwise we would want to go and go and go, while her legs are much shorter and get tired :o). Now, carrying +14 kg, shorter distances are very OK :o). For a 8 years old pure walking is boring anyway, so we usually go to some nice place and Rocco has possibility to take part of what ever fun Kelli will think up. Or pose for my camera like on photos below.

On right is photo from orienteering event where Kelli, his both cousins, their little friend, Lucky and the parents (as support team) participated.

And here's some photos of spring at country.