Sophie and Daphne

I was trimming nails this morning and Daphne our cat jumped onto the grooming table. (Let me introduce her to you....this is CH Bridalpath Daphne, our 13 year old Ragdoll cat.)  Anyhow as I was saying, I was trimming Sophie's nails and up jumped Daphne.  I grabbed the camera thinking this was a good opportunity to show that even though the Barbet is a hunting dog it can get along very well with cats. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFPTnoyli54

Fun Retrieves

Well it has been over-long since I've last posted but heck I'm new to this whole blog thing and I don't really find the time to sit and update all that often.  Never-the-less, here I am again with a couple little videos of the dogs.  I decided to video Sophie and Quincy with the puppy bumper I rigged up with a couple of bird wings.  Dug it out of the freezer and away we went to the backyard.

I am so pleased with Sophie.  She is certainly proving to have the natural instinct with regard to swimming and hunting.  She does like feathers and is seeming to be quite birdy.  Loud noises do not seem to bother her (I imagine living with a four year old and a six year old helps one get used to noise pretty darn quick). 

I've just been keeping things fun with her.  She is a baby dog after all and so we are steadily building our foundation in obedience and giving her opportunities to swim and interact with feathers.  The puppy retrieves with the bumper are very short, only 2 or 3 at a time and then it is put away.  I am not overly concerned about her coming straight back to me.  I keep her on long line but this is more for her to be used to it so that when we get out in the field it's just par for the course.  If I make a big fuss over her (which I shamelessly do) she does want to come back though.  My main goal is to just build drive and get her to love going out for it and holding it in her mouth.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwsexz8r0yw

Quincy is a joy to watch.  His love of retrieving has not diminished over the years.  We've made a lot of good friends and memories together.  These photos go back a few years.  They are dated TBK (time before kids)  Here is his video.  Please excuse my sloppy handling.  We are both very rusty :0)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3pThXKyp6o

Air Show

Yesterday we went downtown to visit my Aunt who lives in High Park.   The air show at the CNE was on http://www.cias.org/content/view/37/52/  and you can watch the planes from her balcony.  We brought the kids and Sophie.  Sophie took the elevator in stride and was absolutely fine being up so far (16th floor).  We figured the noise of the planes would be really good for her.  No one wants a dog (especially a gundog) who is afraid of loud noises.  She was great and when the big jets flew by she got a piece of cheese :0)  She really is a super good dog.  It wasn't long before she flopped down and just lay off while we had our visit.  The children got birthday presents from Tante Sylvia and we sat and drank tea and ate biscuits while watching the show.  Now that folks is the way to do it!