Bright Sunny Morning in Whistlepipe Gully

I contacted the agility club we were supposed to be visiting on Friday night and they were on holidays!!!!

On Saturday we went to see the Fremantle Dockers (my Aussie Rules team) beat Hawthorn in the preliminary final. Their first final since 2006! And they WON! The dogs got a long walk that afternoon, but we decided we had to do something special for them today.

First though, we went out for breakfast. The dogs weren't allowed to come for breakfast because of previously mentioned 'no dogs in cafes' rule.



Then we drove up to the hills and went for a walk in Whistlepipe Gully. It was about half an hour, and Bender spent the whole time huffing and puffing. He didn't recognise the route and was pretty excited to be going somewhere new.



Barbie started off slow, while Bender attempted to drag Nic down the trail. I think Bender needs a backpack to slow him down a bit. Lovely Barbie decided to poop very early in the walk so we had to carry it the rest of the way. I tied the poop bag to her lead.



They both enjoyed some yummy smells on the trails. Probably rabbits and kangaroos!



There was some nice fresh water trickling down the gully, making for some cute little waterfalls.



Barbie went wading a couple of times to cool off. She loves water. She likes to dip her whole face in. I haven't seen her swim yet. Being so lean I think she will have floatation issues.

We came across two large logs that had fallen over the trail. They were probably about 80 cm tall and Barbie leapt over them with minimal encouragement. A very big improvement from last time we went hiking in the bush!

At the end of the trail there was a house. Barbie was convinced we should go in and visit. The woman who lived there came out with her old German Shepard and they said hello to each other. The GSD was barking at first but then it's body language softened as the lady grabbed hold of it's collar. It took treats to lure Barbie away from the house.



On the way back we met an adorable Border Collie pup with a blue eye and a brown eye. I think he was about 6 months old and he played a short wrestling game with Bender. Barbie said a brief hello then I held her back because I got the feeling that she was going to turn into the fun police and tell them off for wrestling.

The view from the top of the hill was quite stunning...



although I think it was lost on the dogs.



Barbie did well with the walk and we made it back to the car with minimal paw-dragging.

We dropped in to City Farmers on the way home to pick up more kibble for the dogs and the kittens. Barbie was cool as a cucumber because she has been there a few times lately. Bender found the environment very very stimulating. He tried to steal the tennis balls, and then perked up his ears and looked around when he heard someone squeezing a squeaky. He also discovered the fish in tanks at the back of the store and left nose prints on the glass. The staff gave both the dogs treats, though Bender was a little snappy with them!

Midday we got home and now Barbie is sleeping in her crate and Bender is outside in the sun. I think they had a good day.

Barbie passing level 1

(Barbie and Mittens chilling)

Barbie passed her level 1 test today. I am so proud of my little greyhound. She still didn't want to go with Desma when she led her away for the recall. I found a bigger tunnel today and Barbie actually put both her front feet into it. It's still not as big as a competition tunnel. The two little dogs went through the tunnel a lot. There is a little mop called Bowie who is still a pup, food motivated, toy motivated and loves the jumps and tunnels. They have joined up with Cloverdale agility club and I am looking forward to seeing him in action. Barbie was even sitting for the other people in the class. She is familiar with them all now and was willing to take direction from them!

Bender, Barbie, Nic and I are going to check out a local club on Friday night. Hopefully the Level 2 course will start soon, and then Desma is planning on holding the first Canine Good Citizen course in Western Australia (and Barbie will be the first WA Greyhound with a CGC). We need to suss out the club first in case they don't want a greyhound in their midst while the stupid laws are still in place. I won't be quoting the Dog Act to them though.

My ankle is healing up OK, and I can walk like a normal person. My finger is pretty gross looking, but I've adapted to typing with 9 digits instead of 10. I am looking forward to checking out the local agility club.

I choose you!

My Sweet Dogs!

Last Sunday we spent many hours down at Riverside Gardens awaiting the paddlers finishing the Avon Descent. The paddlers last year started finishing at about 11am, but this year because of the very low water levels, the paddlers were finishing at 1pm. The dogs were very well behaved, mostly.

We walked about a kilometer to the river, and Barbie walked very slowly. We put her muzzle on because there were City of Bayswater Rangers around and I didn't fancy being fined. Bender realised we were going to the river, got excited and started pulling like a freight train. Nic had trouble holding on to him for a while. When we got there he kept looking at us.

"Where's my BALL? Why are all these people at my park?"

It took him a little while to 'get' it. We even walked past the 'horsie' rides and neither of the dogs reacted to the horses. Which is good, because Bender is slightly freaked out by all farm animals. He hates cows the most, but he isn't a fan of horses either.

There were a couple of guys dressed up as sea captains, with boats they made out of foam hanging off their shoulders. They stopped to talk to us, and both the dogs dealt well with these two strange people waving these weirdly shaped pieces of foam around.

We found a spot to settle down in. Barbie decided she wanted some nearby people to pat her. She is a sweetheart. She will just stand next to someone and wait quietly for them to notice her. Then they do, and give her a scratch and she wags that long tail of hers. A 12 year old girl pretty much launched herself onto Bender while he was minding his own business. I think he gave her a kiss. She came back a second time. He loved her.

Bender also found a little scrappy dog, and crawled on his belly into it's family group in order to interact with it. The fluffy dog's family loved on him. Had a few hairy moments when Bender spotted soccer balls and footballs nearby. He lunged towards one and got his front feet on it. Nic managed to pull him away before he put holes in it!

After a while, they both settled on the blanket. Then Barbie found a comfy spot in Nic's shadow, and slept for an hour or so. Bender got a bit grumpy and started barking at dogs. We went home before the powerboats made it over the line. I think the doggies did really well, and I was very impressed with how confident Barbie was with so many people around. There were quite a few people who stopped us to tell us how unfair they thought the muzzle laws were.

I also got a letter this week from the Minister for Local Government. I had written to him about the muzzle laws. The letter stated that he would be drafting legislation to allow for retired greyhounds to go muzzle free by the end of the year. Good news for Barbie!

Day One of the Avon Descent

Oh, we're in the car again?

We went for a drive out to Toodyay to watch the poor suffering paddlers who took on the race down the Avon/Swan River despite the pathetic water levels. There were no free rides today and I think a lot of the paddlers appreciated the puppies watching them.





We walked along the river for an hour or so, checking out new vantage points...





It was very fun! Barbie had already been to obedience class for an hour, and Bender had been to the river closer to home. By the end of the day the Greyhound was most tired!

Bender and Barbie visit Bells Rapids

Today we noticed that they were testing all the boats for the Avon Descent, and we decided to go and check the water levels up at Bell's Rapids. Barbie had never really been on a rocky cross country walk before but she was quite confident on the rocks, like a little mountain goat!



Bender: We are going somewhere new today, but why is it so far?



Barbie: Look at all the interesting big furry animals out of the window!



Bender: That was a big hill! Can I has nap now?



Barbie: I'm HOT. I want to go back down to the WATER!



AHHHHH!



Hello!



Barbie: that was fun. Time for naps!