All That's In There

I've just had the great fortune of getting a 30 generation pedigree on my dogs and all the stats. on the inbreeding in their lines. Just out of interest as my dogs are not breeding dogs. But isn't it interesting to think of all the dogs that came before yours and how their genes affect your dogs.

Thank you to Chris over at Border Wars for this and the great conversation about borders collies and breeding.

If you have never read his blog you really should as he has MANY very thought provoking articles about border collies, breeding and the culture surrounding them. Lots of food for thought.

Fun In The Snow!

Zephyr just loves the snow! To run and play in it, he wants to be out there all the time!He doesn't even seem to mind the frozen whiskers and snow covered face He loves to play fetch anytime of the year even in the snow, having to dig it out of drifts.

Of course Zen never gets a turn unless I take the ball from Zephyr and give it to her....which I do :) Zephyr is very patient, for the most part following her around (she LOVES gettng him to chase her, as it's the only way he'll play and pay attention to her). When he's had enough of this game he'll put the pressure on and she'll spit the ball, making him happy once again!!

Victory!!

52 Weeks of Zephyr

Happy New Year to everyone! A morning shot of Zephyr when we finally had some sun! I am thankful that 2011 is here and I am hoping it will be a better year than last. Last year was dealing with loss and health issues for our dogs. I guess I should be happy that it is the first year in so many of owning dogs that we've had all these issues to deal with. Nothing short of stressful both on an emotional and financial level.
Anyway one good thing that did come out of it all is a year long photography project that I did with Zephyr. One photo taken each week to represent that week. Often the photos were not the best ones that I took of him, but they spoke of that time. It was a hard project at times to push on with in light of our struggles but I'm glad I did. Here is a slideshow of it...enjoy!! SLIDESHOW

Flattering

I was contacted this week to have an old photo of Zephyr published in a book. As much as it was flattering, for various reasons I declined. This was the photo.

Other than that winter is here, the dogs don't mind however as long as we still get out for our daily hikes!
Also today was Chase's birthday. I know it is not good to dwell, which I'm not too much, only remembering. It's only been 6 months and of course I still miss him!

Enjoying Autumn

Well Zephyr has been having a great autumn....not as much trialing as I had planned, but daily hikes, agility training and a return to herding has made this fall fun for him! I am planning on trying to get photos of Zephyr working sheep soon!! For now some other photos!

Run Red Dog RUN!!!

He's back!! Feeling good and looking to trial this fall!

Cancer

Sorry I have been away from the blogs for so long....what can I say it's summer which is always busy, as well we've had a bit of a tough time with Zephyr. Back in July I found a mass on his chest, which I had aspirated right away and it showed to be a spindle cell tumour...not good at all. So then I took him in to see a specialist we did a biopsy which showed it be a low grade tumour which was good news as the chance that it had spread to other parts of his body remained low, and the lower grade tumour meant less of a margin when they did surgery.
Anyway to make a long story short he had surgery, the margins were clean and he has healed very well. It has all been a very upsetting and stressful time but I hope this surgery was a cure as the pathologists thinks it may have been. He is still not moving 100% he doesn't have the reach and looks a bit tight in the front end. But considering how much skin and tissue was removed it's no surprise and with all the swimming I'm sure he will be back to doing everything without a hitch soon!
Since getting the stitches out he has been enjoying the weather and this past weekend came with me up to my friends cottage and enjoyed the lake both in the canoe and swimming!