The start of a new year – the year that will be mine!!!

Well the end of 2008 is nigh and I must admit it is a year I am glad to say goodbye to. Reminiscing over the past year it has good memories, but unfortunately the bad ones outweigh the good ones by a hundred fold. I believe writing this down will allow me to get the bad ones out of my system and start off the New Year with a clean slate and optimism I thought may never be possible again.

In 2008 my best friend was seriously injured by no fault of his own. In agility he hit a tyre jump and as it wasn’t pegged or fixed it moved, by this time he was through the hole in the tyre, and the tyre and heavy metal frame collapsed on his back. His back legs weren’t moving although he was trying to pull himself up with his front legs. We were over in Melbourne when the incident occurred, far away from home and your “usual” surroundings. A big thank you to everyone at the trial that day who did rush in and help both him and I (as I was the one going into shock).



He was rushed into the vet hospital and was given the best care. He saw a neurological specialist who prepared me for the worst in that he may never walk again. As he is such an energetic and active dog, living a life with paralysis or semi-paralysis would be no joy to him and the unspeakable would have to happen. We returned home to have him strictly rested. I was sleeping on the floor with him as he wasn’t allowed to jump up on any beds, couches, etc. Each day went by and I’d say a prayer for him as we were told we would know by 12 weeks what the state of his condition would be. I cherished every second I had with him, although in the beginning most of that was spent with my head burrowed in my sopping pillow or sitting in a corner with a box of tissues to hand.












Now though by best friend in the whole world is walking again, may be a little funny at times and is pain free for most (although he doesn’t always let on). Samroc to you I want to say how sorry I am for the pain you incurred whilst trying to please me, and I would never ever hurt my wee man in any way. I love you boy and as long as I have my boy by my side I am a happy person. You may now be retired and unable to do the things we used to do, but you’re still my best friend and we have many a great time still to share – luv ya Samroc xxx


Now I’ve got that out of the way I want to focus on the future as we cannot change the past.

I have my best friend Samroc and my special girls Diva and Mini and we are going to have a blast in 2009. This is going to be a great if not fabulous year for us and I was told by someone very special to me that you make your own luck in this world – that is exactly what I am going to do. From the chime of midnight tomorrow night the world will be a different place - I will stop and smell the roses, listen to the birds singing to me so joyful and make sure I wear a smile :-)


I have made up a few New Year resolutions:

1: Stop working as much and spend more time with the fur kids
2: Do more training with the dogs
3: quit smoking – hard one but hey I’ve gotta do it
4: get motivated in agility again and enter more trials
5: do a lot more sheep herding – at least 1ce a week.
6: get fit
7: get a new car
8: be more optimistic

Some I will keep others I will probably sweep under the carpet for a later date, on the whole if I aim towards them and have a fun and prosperous new year then who cares?

This song brings many a good memory to me and as I sing it with a tear in my eye and a smile on my face. I invite you to sing along this very famous Scottish poem, associated with Rabbie Burns:

Auld Lang syne – English Translation = Old times (old long ago)

Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, And days o' auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my dear,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
For auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,For auld lang syne.

Sing CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes, And pu’d the gowans fine;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,Sin auld lang syne.

Sing CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn, Frae morning sun till dine;
But seas between us braid hae roar’dSin auld lang syne.

Sing CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !And gie's a hand o’ thine!
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught, For auld lang syne.

Sing CHORUS.


Have an awesome Hogmanay and all the best for the new year xxx

Harry and the mysterious chord

I'm so glad it's the weekend. I now have time to put on my Sherlock hat and investigate the chronicle of the mysterious chord. This past week has been sort of self enlightening :-)) I have found out that as much as Madonna is my idle I am certainly not a "material girl". I think having my Diva as a pup helped me through the materialistic phase and little harry has completed my journey :-) There's the video camera remote control with lovely little teethmarks through it, my mobile phone charger in 2 pieces, one half you can plug into the wall at home and the other half you can plug into the phone from anywhere in the country - but since the wire is not complete anymore it doesn't seem to charge the phone up??? any suggestions, lol, then there's the sleeping bag from the spare room with the fuzzy inside now out and holes over it, the seat covers from the kitchen with the fuzz out and of course the odd pair of socks. The one thing I cannot figure out is where in the heck does the chord come from? I've searched high and low and cannot find where the rest of the item it has been separated from is hiding. My suspicions are - buried in the garden somewhere, in a total random place where I would never think of looking or it magically appeared.

I've woken up a few times this past week with a dog snuggled up next to me, this is sometimes a trait of Mini Minx - however, I've discovered the dog has a different coat texture to Min and once I've come around and gotten my eyes open it has actually been Wee Harry doing the snuggling. Sound asleep, snoring away, showing off his tummy :-)) awww, wee Harry. I think he's gotten comfortable with being a house dog and loves the bed :-))

He loves going down the river and running with my lot as well as the other randoms :-)) I saw the cutest thing the other day down the river. My 3 were in swimming and Harry was lying at the side waiting on them coming out the water - a Great Dane approached him - it was David and Goliath - harry didn't shy at all - he stood there looking up to see if he could see the head of the Dane through the clouds and the Dane bent over and the both of them gave each other a kiss - Kodak moment - why is it times like this we never carry a camera with us????

I have taken my camera down to the river since then and of course nothing like this will happen when I have my camera to hand :-)) Here are some photos of them all down the river anyway -

Who do you think he is stalking?

Could it be Samroc & Mini swimming????

What are you looking at Harry boy????

Aaaahhh yes the view is very nice :-)

Will I play with Mini?.....or big sis' Diva??.....or big man Samroc?

Silly Question :-))

Harry loves to play with Mini, he thinks Diva is sooooo exciting and tries to run around with her, but if Samroc comes on the scene he only has eyes for him :-))

Exciting news - well I think it is and cute :-)) We were in the house the other night and I decided to teach Harry to sit - guess what................. Harry now sits on command :-))))) Well I thought it was cute - here's some more photos :-)

Diva showing off her 2o2o stuff

Awww, nearly wee man..............................


Diva will hold the board for you :-))


Hanging with Samroc.......... Mini............and big sis' :-)




Hey what's the noise?..I want in on the action ...take that Mini


can't keep my eyes open...............Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............



What...he's sleeping, do the others know??.....phew, we're stuffed!

Get some peace..........SWEET!!!!!!!

Wee Harry Potters around the garden

Well call me a glutton for punnishment but I've got another puppy at home :-))

Unfortunately he's not mine for keeping - that darn thing called work gets in the way of most of the things I want.

So little Harry came to live with us last Friday and it has now been just over a week with him living in the Discoroc house.

My 3 were a bit put out at first - in fact let me rephrase that - my 3 were a LOT put out at first. Diva had the major huff, Samroc wasn't very amused and Mini kinda kept out of the scene a bit. I think it was because we had just had Rocstar come live with us the week before and he is well full on will all 3 of mine. Well suck it up princesses :-))

He's such a magic wee pup though. He is definately on the potential "special dog" category and I'd very much love to keep him - 1 powerball eh!!!

In the first few days he was a little tiger - with an attitude. He was aggro with Mini and Diva mainly and tried to be with Samroc - until the big lion came over and said "whatever sweetpea, don't give me your lip" - that was his one and only "go" at big Sam. Diva and Mini have started saying the "sweetpea" to him and he's learned not to be so stupid - I've even chased him for beign snippy to Diva but I can't tell him off in the way the dogs can - the downfall of being human I suppose :-))



He's settled in fab now and absolutely dotes on Samroc - as do most younger dogs (and some older ones too). Mini has become his wrestling partner and Diva is good for a toy fight now and again :-) Mini's more his size though and has a lot more tolerence towards him.

So what's happened in a week? Well Diva has told Harry off, Samroc has told Harry off, Samroc has told Harry off and Samroc has told Harry off again :-))

Samroc & Harry - hang out and play tug



Mini & Harry - Mini getting beaten up by the evil one :-)



Diva (big sis') with little bro' Harry - don't try that crap with me ya wee scaff!!!



Harry's been down to an agility trial and down to training 3 times now. He seems to be very interested in the dogs doing agility. He plays with the other dogs like he's one of the big ones - he runs about with the toys letting the others chase him and runs along with the other dogs chansing the other if someone else has the toy. He is still very "me" focused though. I can call him and he'll come running back to me - good wee man. I am starting to fall for him but I have to be strong as I am desperately seeking a Sam/Diva pup next year (if it happens) and need to keep a clear head - and space for him/her.

I just hope the home he gets is loving and caring and he gets everything he deserves in this life, he is special and I will never forget the special time I got to share with puppy Harry and the smiles he brought to the house :-)) love you Harry boy!

WCRC WA Agility & Jumping Trial 22/11/08

Well we finally got back into the ring. I had wee Mini entered in Novice jumping and Diva entered in Excellent agility and Masters jumping - was her first Masters jumping run.....

So how did it all go. We started with little Mini in Novice jumping. It was a nice open flowing course - as I walked it I thought probably too open for Mini - she is still "green" and with gaps between obstacles mainly 8m there is too much room for error and her to shut down from the jumps. Of course the obstacles all being so far spread apart meant I had to move my butt and work every obstacle - that was probably the real challenge :-)). We were first in and I must apologise my little Minmin - she done a very nice round and clear - yay, she nailed it. Would've been nice to get it on tape though so I could look back and see it again to see what really happened rather than my recollection of the events whilst running her. Very proud of my Mini Minx :-)) The SCT was 40s and the wee Minxter done it in 18.42s so she was doing not too bad in time. In comparison, Diva and Samroc done their Novice runs in between 15 to 18 seconds so she's not too far behind them - go Mini. And to make it a bonus the trial was run in separate height classes so as Mini was the only 400 dog she also won :-))) Go Mini, she got a win, lol. The dog who got 2nd had a time of 24.95 so she didn't waste any time. Have to make room on the trophy cabinet for her wee Rosette, awww Mini, who said rescue dogs couldn't do it :-))

I ran Diva next in Excellent jumping and oh boy, Diva certainly wasn't Diva. She done about a +3 second dog walk (in comparison to 1.5s), her a-frame was slow and weaves felt about 10 minutes long - even her jumping wasn't like her normal zippy self. She nailed the seesaw, then we had 5 obstacles after that - this is when she turned into Diva. We got clear (2nd leg in EA) and was pleased with her getting clear but very worried with her style. After Samroc's accident I am such a worry wart. Sam W. was down watching as said the same as what I was thinking. Recall to earlier events in the day. Down at the river a guy had a ridgeback x bully (well that's what it looked like) - it was wearing a muzzle but the guy let it off to run - of course I had to be there at that point - well it nailed Diva 2ce - I had puppy Harry and he was screaming - I couldn't let the lead go or pup would've been off - Diva had got away and then it nailed her again - I rushed over as soon as I could and went to boot the dog off her but the owner was there pulling it off Diva. Had to pick up poor Harry who was still screaming and get over to check out Diva - tried to walk off as soon as I could, got about 20m and the dog came screaming past me and nailed diva again. The owner was running behind and had grabbed his dog "again" before I could even react. Now this is just down right daft to me. Why do people like this have dogs - especially big powerful ones that are likely to cause damage to other dogs, people and even itself?????? So back to the Diva and agility story - now I'm all worried thinking she's hurt and got Kriszty to have a look at her. Her back was all twitchy and sore so Kriszty kindly put her massage machine thingamajig over Diva and the flinching of the back went away after a few minutes - big thanks to Kriszty. With much apprehension I put her in Masters jumping - with the thought if she runs slow again or drops bars I'm pulling her - I'm glad I did put her in - peace of mind for me - she was running beautifully. I royally stuffed up the course though. It was a fantastic challenging course set by Jill Houston. A true masters level course which I look forward to seeing more of this standard - pity I couldn't remember it and had even walked the end bit wrong, OMG - the way the numbers were I had it in my mind to jump the jumps the opposite way - thank god we hadn't got that far - I really stuffed up before that point. But I still have to say a big thanks to Helen S. who told me the correct way of the end bit. So Diva got her quali and still got 2nd in 500 (not sure if there were only 2 qualies though in this class, lol). Cathy with the awesome Snazzy got 1st place so we can't moan at coming 2nd to him and Cathy. Well done Snooky and Snazzy :-)) Their round was fantastic too and a well deserved win.

It ended up being an awesome night after all. I had such a great time and getting back into that ring was such a high - I LOVE AGILITY :-)) The competitors and judges are fab too and make the scene. I'm looking forward to getting back into the ring at the next trial we enter (probably Dobe club) with the girls who ma

ke me so proud - with qualifiers or not - they do it for me and I truly love them whether we make it round the course the judges way or our way :-))

Samroc / Bundy pups birthday - 1 year old

Well it was the birthday of the Samroc / Bundy pups on 18/11/08 and we had a party down at Riverside gardens (a beautiful off lead dog park). All the pups were there and also of course mum (Bundy) and dad (Samroc). It was awesome to see them all together again. Gosh how much they have changed and all grown up - I'm a very proud grandma :-)) This is a photo of the poster which Blake, Luke and Chanel made for the pups as a birthday gift. how sweet!!! it has all pups photos in the middle and mum Bundy looking to the furkids on the top left and dad Samroc looking to the furkids on the top right - legend poster - and oi you guys I didn't get to take it home for the wall :-))

There are 6 from the litter. 4 girls and 2 boys. The 2 boys (Solar Eclipse and Rocstar) are totally different from the rest of the litter and both don't have the "traditional" markings. Sol has a split face where Roc has a back head. The girls are quite amusing. out of the 4 there are 2 pairs of almost identical(s). Jazz and Roxy are very similar in looks, and Stormy and Lucy are very similar in looks - more so in fact that it is very hard to tell them apart.

Dad (Samroc) and Mum (Bundy)

The Boys

Rocstar (AKA Roc) & Solar Eclipse (AKA Sol)

The Girls

Jazzy 'G' (AKA Jazz) & Roxy

Stormy & Lucy

From the litter there are 4 of them doing agility - Jazz and Roc does agility down at Perth training, where Sol and Roxy do agility (along with mum Bundy) at Rockingham. Will be great to see them all competing. Jazz is doing awesome and I think she will give my Diva a run for her money.

Here's some more photos of the birthday bash :-)

I hope we can get them all together again as they all had a fab time running and playing together. Diva and Mini had an absolute ball too, and even Jo's old Bonnie was getting in on the action. Looking at them and seeing their natures, if I was to have kept one of the pups I wouldn't be disappointed with whatever one I got - they are all equally great, and I'm not just saying that as a bias Nana :-))