Thanksgiving on the Bruce Trail in Canada

Lori, Jazz, me, Emma and Will on the Bruce Trail

Lori and her Springer, Jazz

Jim, Emma and Will at the ruins on the trail

Jazz and Feather have a swim

Puff balls 'exploding'

Last Monday was Thanksgiving Day in Canada and a wonderful day for a nice walk on the Bruce Trail in Burlington. The sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant blue, making a great backdrop for the bright oranges, reds and yellows of fall. It seems like the colors are much more brilliant in southern Ontario than those in Connecticut this fall. The very dry weather we had through August and September in New England have taken a toll on the usually colorful fall foliage. We've had color, mind you, but just a lot less brilliant than normal. The oranges and reds have seemed much more muted. The yellows are just as bright, though, but it almost seemed like everything was yellow this year. And now, mid-way through October, we're already into the golden bronze and copper tones, which is the customary second part of fall color. Well, I guess this is the time for that since we're halfway through October already.

Anyway, my sister Lori and her dog Jazz joined us for a Thanksgiving weekend walk on the Bruce Trail just north of Burlington, Ontario. This part of the trail has multiple side trails and runs in part alongside a creek that winds through the woods. We saw more people than we usually do when we've gone there before with my son, Aaron, probably since it was a holiday weekend, and it was such a nice day. We were joined by a dog that lives on the property that flanks the trail by the road access. We learned her name was Feather, but we called her Tramp because she looks just like the dog from Lady and the Tramp, grey and raggedy but cute and friendly. She walked (or ran) the entire way with us and our dogs, until we were near the end of our walk and thought we were lost. We thought she might lead us back to the beginning of the trail so we asked her to 'Go home', and she took one look at us and ran off through the woods. We decided not to follow her, bushwacking like she did through the woods, since we didn't know where she was going. We ended up meeting a woman who knew the trails well and she told us the way back to the beginning. It was a maze of trails and we weren't sure enough that we were on the right track, but as it turns out, we were heading in the right direction after all. We made it back to the cars with no problem once we got the directions straight. I guess we need to pay better attention when we walk there. Usually Aaron is the one who leads us through, and he's much better with directions!

Tobermory, Georgian Bay side

Jim and Emma

Will on the lookout

Aaron and the dogs

Will watches

Happy Cajun

Cajun and Eevi

Eevi

Trip to Tobermory, Ontario

Here's a few photos from our short camping trip in September to Tobermory. We went with my son, Aaron, and his two dogs, Cajun and Eevi. It was the first camping trip for Will and Emma and they had a great time, as we thought they would. We all love being outdoors, and it was a great weekend, even though it did get a little rainy and windy. We still got some great shots of the water and the rocks, and we all enjoyed the walking and being together.

Herding Training at Nutmeg Farm

Jim's first time with Will and the sheep

Will gathers the sheep

On the run

Emma watches the action

We are really trying to keep to weekly herding lessons for Will and Emma, but it's been tough due to our schedules. But we've had two weeks in a row of lessons, and we've actually had a great break-through with Will. He was the reluctant border collie when it came to the sheep up until now, but 3 weeks ago he actually seemed to notice the sheep and came to life! Lynnette had him in the small pen with a flock of sheep, doing the lunging that she leads him through, and he was going along with it all. We didn't notice anything different in his attitude towards the sheep. He usually seems like he doesn't really care that they are there, and in fact, seems like he wants to get away from them. The change happened when Lynnette opened the door to the pen to let the sheep into the large area of the barn for to give more space for lunging. Well, the sheep took off out the door as fast as they could and Will suddenly seemed to notice them. He perked right up, and ran out after them, with Lynnette still holding the lead. The instinct and the training came into play, and he began to circle around the sheep, gathering them into a circle, like he knew what he was doing. He raced and raced in a wide circle around the startled sheep. Startled because he had shown no interest prior to this, and they did nothing else but what they knew to do they gathered together, and turned and turned , watching every step that Will took as he ran around them

Lynnette was not as surprised as we were. She knew that he would the interest would 'kick in' at some point. . She let him have his rein for a short time, but stepped in to have him turn around to go in the opposite direction. She kept him going back and forth in his running circle, first one way, then the other. He was in his glory! And we were in awe that he finally had discovered the sheep, and his true nature to do something about them!

We've had one lesson since then, and each week, he goes through his paces, with the warm-up exercises, putting up with all the stretching, the flexing, and the backing up and side-stepping. But for the second time, when he got into the pen with the sheep he suddenly came alive. This time, Lynnette worked with him for a short time, and then called Jim into the pen. While Will continued to work the sheep, Jim changed places with Lynnette, and got himself into place, complete with horse whip and all.

For the first time, Jim was surrounded by the flock of sheep who were all trying to avoid the crazy running Will. Will just kept his pace, running a circle around the sheep. Jim did what he was told, working Will back and forth with the sheep, around and around, back and forth, changing directions just as Jim instructed him to do, by holding out first the left hand with the whip, then the right. Back and forth, back and forth. Shorter and shorter circles, then, when Jim was in the corner surrounded by the sheep, Will came to a stop and laid right in front of Jim and his flock of restless sheep. He did it!

It was the greatest feeling to see Will find his sheep, and to see Jim in there, whip in hand, looking like he knew what he was doing in the middle of a big flock of sheep.

Will and Jim wait in the hangar while Emma has her lesson

More herding training

Learning how to herd is a long, slow process, even for border collies. Especially border collies that don't get to work with sheep every day. We live in a semi rural area, not a farm, so it would be impossible for us to have sheep at home. We can have chickens, according to our zoning, but they draw the line at any other fowl or four legged farm creatures. Even geese are out of the question. So for now, we are limited to taking Will and Emma for their almost weekly sessions to become familiar with the animals, and to learn how to do what supposedly comes naturally to them.

We have always thought that Will would be the one to pick it up quickly, since he really likes to herd Emma. He also tends to go out wide around us and Emma, and will stand or lie there and watch what we're doing. If we move, he moves. If he gets bored in one spot, he moves around to the opposite side of his imaginary circle around us, and lies there watching everything we do. He can do this for quite a long time. And he really does herd Emma, especially when we're on a walk.He makes sure she stays on the path, or if she goes off the path, he will chase her down and bring her back, or will stand and watch that she doesn't go too far.

Emma has a knack at herding behavior too, but in a different way than Will does. She is obsessed with anything that moves, as I've mentioned before. She monitors the outdoors through the windows for all moving creatures or things, like squirrels, birds, even blowing leaves. She is getting better at controlling this behavior (or we are, I should say), but it could become a real problem. Border collies can be quite obsessive-compulsive in certain behaviors, and this is definitely one of them. We really want to keep this one at bay, and are learning how to handle it. This is one reason we really thought that if Emma had a job to do, she wouldn't continue to do this. We're working on it!

Emma is also good at herding her brother, Will. As I said, Will likes to lay at a distance and watch the action. We can tell Emma to go get Will, and she will go out to bring him in. This is usually successful, not always.

Well, about this training we are involved in. It is a slow, slow process and we began with learning how to give the dogs a good warm-up before they work. This is similar to how a person would warm up before doing some sort of physical exercise. The sequence begins with neck flexes, to the left and right. One side seems stiffer, but that is common, and it is now not as stiff as it was a few weeks ago when we began. The next is to stretch all four legs, and this is the part that always makes me laugh because it looks so funny. Working with one leg at a time, you hold it straight out for a few seconds, then to one side, then the other. We bought a DVD that Lynnette recommended by an animal physical therapist to understand some of this. She demonstrates with different dogs, and they really are quite agreeable to all of this. Besides being a good warm-up, this is all supposed to make it easier for you to handle the dog, and have them get used to being handled.

The warm-up continues with some 'yielding' exercises. You are supposed to get the dogs to go in a circle, first rotating around their front legs and then the back legs. They are learning how to make turns by crossing their legs at the ankle, rather than just moving to the side. It is much more efficient to turn this way, and it does not just happen. The latest exercise we have added is to move sideways, each way and to back up. This is getting easier, and they really don't seem to mind working at it. It's just trying to incorporate it into our daily routine is the difficult part.

Once we do all these steps at each lesson, the dogs are then given some lunging work. This is most similar to the way that horses trained. Using a long line (our teacher Lynnette, at Nutmeg Farm, recommends marine rope for it's 'life') she walks them first one way, then another, in big circles. This is done in a big structure she has on her property that resembles an airplane hangar.She will work each dog separately without animals, then will do the same thing with sheep or geese. Back and forth, back and forth, getting used to the movement, and to being in the pen with the animals.

Here's a few photos with a family of geese, father and his babies, from a few weeks ago. As you can see, neither Will nor Emma are too excited about being in with the geese. I worried they would just chase, but they are quite calm about the whole idea of being near them.

Will with the geese and Lynnette at Nutmeg Farm

Emma with the geese

Big daddy goose and his four 'babies'

Emma again, not wanting to get too close

Will in Herding Training

It's been a pretty packed summer with lots of travel and training and fun in this the hot and humid weather. A few weeks ago, we started Will and Emma in some sheep herding training, something that Jim has really been anxious to do. He found a trainer in Portland, CT, who does one on one training, and we've had a few sessions with her. She has shown us some warm-up exercises that we should do with them, and says that dogs, just like humans, need to stretch and tone their muscles to prepare for exercise. It's also a way to get accustomed to handling your dog, and for them to get used to being handled and manipulated physically. They both really struggled against it at first, but now they know what it's all about, they don't seem to mind being pushed and pulled, and having legs stretched one way and head stretched back and forth.

Will doesn't seem to be very interested in the sheep at all, while Emma is pretty good at the herding. We thought she might just chase them once she got into the pen with them, but on the contrary, she seems to have a second sense about what she needs to do. What they are learning now is to be comfortable with the sheep, to figure out how to move in tandem with the handle, and to figure out how the sheep move when they move. It's one step at a time.

Here's just a few shots of Will in training. More with Emma later.

Lunging practice (just like training a horse)

Is it done yet?

Not my turn yet

Father and Grandfather sheep

Self esteem dog bowl

Trip to Stowe VT

What a great place to visit in the summer! I know, it's really a ski place, and you can really tell by all the ski shops, mountains in the distance, names of the hotels and inns (like Stoweflake Inn, where we stayed) but it is also a great place to visit in the summer. Jim had to go for a day and asked me if I wanted to tag along. We've often talked about doing this, but I don't always have the time available to take him up on it. And it isn't always convenient for him either, depending on what he's doing. Anyway, we found a kennel in Stowe that was available, so we booked Will and Emma in there for their mini vacation, and we went on to the Inn for ours (or mine, really).

It is really a dog friendly place to be. As one woman told me, everyone living there has at least one dog! And the trails prove it. We were told about a couple of places that we really loved and so did Will and Emma. The Quiet Path was the first place we took them to, and it is accessed right in town, behind the little white church with the big steeple. It seems like there is one of these in every little Vermont town! Always white, always with a big white steeple, and always right in the center of town! A real landmark. We picked the dogs up from the kennel when Jim finished work the one day, and took them for a nice meandering walk on the Quiet Path that follows the West Branch River. We met a few other dog owners, all with their dogs off leash. That's the beauty of the Quiet Path, it's for dogs and their owners, and it's to give a chance to get off leash without bothering other walkers who don't care to walk their dogs that way. How wonderful! Why doesn't every town think like that?

The views were so beautiful, mountains in the background, a river to one side, and farmland stretched out along beside us. And the sky was so blue! It's reminded me of 'Big Sky' country in Montana, it was that blue. Must have something to do with the mountains. Or the clean air, or something good and wholesome.

Joggers use the Rec Path

A nice view of the mountain

Will and Emma play in the river

Walk on the Quiet Path

Salt marsh at Hammanasset State Park

Emma beats the wave!

Will gets the stick before the wave gets him

Will and Emma run the rock pier (or is that one dog with two heads?)

Favorite pastime: chasing the stick

Emma scans for birds

Beach toys, even in winter

More Winter Fun

Where there's a beach, there can be fun! It doesn't matter if it's winter, if there's snow somewhere on the ground, as long as it isn't too cold. The good thing about living in CT is that you're not far from just about any type of activity or terrain that you want. We live just in the north central part of the state, which means we are about an hour away from the closest sandy shoreline. Our favorite place to go is Hammanasset State Park, where you can walk the boardwalk or the trails, and can get onto the beach with dogs, but only if it's almost deserted like it is at this time of year. Actually, on a sunny day in the winter, there's a surprising number of people that head to the shore. Maybe we are all ready for summer, or just have cabin fever and can hardly wait till summer to get out to enjoy the sun and sand.

Our border collies just love the beach. They run along the sand, but try to stay away from the breaking waves. Jim tried to get them close to the water by throwing their stick just into the edge of the wave and they would creep up as far as they had to to get the stick. Emma was the bravest. Will was reluctant to get involved, but did finally creep in to capture the stick. They much preferred to run the sandy beach, and then along the giant rocky pier built out into the water. The waves didn't bother them there, because they were well above them.

One thing, though, we've noticed that Will has been scratching himself pretty seriously since our trip to the beach. We're not sure if he got bit, or got sand fleas (we can't see anything), or maybe got into something else. Emma isn't bothered by it, so we don't know if it's from the beach or just dry skin. Border collies apparently have dry skin, so maybe we should try giving him something to treat that.

Emma loves to watch TV

Emma wants in on the action

She watched every dog in the competition from this point of view

Then came the running, and she watched that too

Will is just happy relaxing on the couch

A family of couch potatoes!

Another favorite winter activity: Watching sports on TV

What can you do on a cold winter day? Well, you can watch TV with your sports loving dogs! Not only do Will and Emma love to run and play and swim, but they enjoy some downtime in front of the TV watching their favorite things to do. Emma really does like to get involved with whatever is going on. If there is a dog on the screen, she's up there too, trying to get in on the action. Here's a few photos of Emma trying to get in the swim of things. Will, on the other hand, is content to watch from a distance. He loves to snuggle into the cushiest chair in the room, and just relax.

Will on the lookout for Emma
Will
Twistin' and Turnin'
Emma is sure there's something under there!
Little Emma
Birch tree

Best way to enjoy winter

What else can you do outside in winter with two active, fun-loving border collies? We've found that it's much more fun to have a frisbee or a stick in hand when we walk these two, no matter what the weather. It's become almost a daily part of our routine to go to the public golf course about a mile from our house. We walk the links, play frisbee, chase sticks, run and have fun in the snow. There's been some days when the snow was almost all gone from the ground but just last week we had another few inches fall, so it's like winter again. Emma must think there's something hiding under the snow, because she will sometimes stick her nose in the snow, with her head mostly buried, and sniff and sniff. Will doesn't seem to care about what's under it, he just loves to run in it!

My favorite time of day to go is in the late afternoon, just before sunset. There's some good light on the hills and trees at the end of day, and I have taken many photos of my favorite birch tree in all types of light. Here's one with a deep blue moody sky, taken the day after the last snowstorm.