Wordless Wednesday

 

Oh So Close!

Usually when you post that something was "oh so close" it means you missed it but not at the agility trial we went to on 10 Sep. I entered Liam in two events and he got two qualifying scores, his first two Q's.  He was so close in both he never even got a jackpot of treats after his runs because I thought we were either over time or had faulted.

Our first run was a Gamblers, where you do what you want to collect points and then when the buzzer sounds you have to send your dog to do a set series of obstacles, in this case, a jump, a tunnel and another jump (marked 1, 2 and 3 on the course map below).

Starter Gamblers

I started with the jump at the bottom left of the course map. Liam didn't do it, he came around and I didn't bother to try and get him back over it. He did do the teeter and jump mini gamble with me behind the line. We then did the jump in the top left corner, I wanted him to come to me and do the jump just above the tunnel so we could do that mini gamble. Liam decided to do the tunnel instead. I put him over the jump and then sent him back through the tunnel so we did get that mini gamble after all.  I tried to get him out to do the three jumps in the top right corner, I think we did them all once, then the buzzer sounded.  Trying to get him up to do the main gamble was fun as he kept jumping and bouncing around in front of me. When I had him set up for the first jump, he hesitated for quite awhile before taking the jump, the rest of the gamble was easy peasy, Liam loves tunnels. I thought we were over time doing the gamble, you only had 26 seconds. But when the results were posted we had a Q with 0.10 seconds to spare. I thought that was close.

The next run was a Starter Jumpers. Liam has an issue called early take off syndrome, he has a hard time judging where to jump from; he does well at home but stutter steps at new venues. 

Starter Jumpers

In this run, I didn't lead out from jump 1 just in case he decided again not to do the jump. The first part of the course ran nicely for us but I thought we had a refusal at jump 9. I sent him to the tunnel and then did a cross to get in position for the jump. Liam should have been on my left side coming out of the tunnel but he decided when he came out and come over to my right hand side. I turned to get him over jump 9 so I thought we had faulted the jump. We finished the course with Liam doing some stutter stepping over the back line of jumps. He did the tire very nicely and read my cross to go in the tunnel and took the last jump fairly well. I thought we would be over time because of me having to get him set up again for jump nine and the time it took him to do a number of the jumps so again he didn't get a jackpot of treats. Then the results came out and he was the only one in his height class to get a qualifying score but could it have been closer; in this event he had only 0.06 seconds to spare.

Liam and his Q's

Don't worry he did get a jackpot of hot dogs but he had to share with Teddy. I hope with more exposure to different agility venues his jumping will improve, it has improved at home quite a lot.

 

Silent Sunday - Celebration and Memorial

 

National Arts Centre

Parliament Hill Tribute

Eternal Flame

Platinum Jubilee Banners

Platinum Jubilee Retrospective 

Platinum Jubilee Retrospective 

Floral Tributes British High Commission

To Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth of our happy memory, rest in peace. You served us well. 

The Journey Home - the Last Leg

On 10 Aug, we crossed the Canadian border at Sarnia, On; as luck would have it, we were in the line with the most diligent customs agent in the world. I think in our line only one vehicle got through for about 3 to five vehicles in the other lanes. One UHaul truck behind me, pulled out and got into the next line over, he was long gone before I got through the border. There was a shift change just as I got there, the new agent didn't take much time letting me through. 

Our first stop was Point Farms Provincial Park on Lake Huron near Goderich, Ontario.  It was at one time, like the name says a farm, a popular Victorian resort, so more like a health farm or spa where people came to relax.  The camp sites were wide but not very deep, even with my small trailer I had to park the car across the site. They had a very nice dog beach. I just walked down the first evening but took the dogs back the next day to play in the water.

Point Farms Provincial Park

Lake Huron dog beach

The next day I drove into Goderich, which calls itself the most beautiful town in Ontario. But first I stopped to see the grave site of Tiger Dunlop. I had never heard of him before but he seems like he was quite the character.  Goderich was very pretty and the dogs and I walked around town and down by the lake before returning to the campsite to go to the dog beach.

The next day it was quite windy so the waves were a little high. The dogs did enjoy chasing and snapping at the waves. I found it was easier to hold Teddy's leash and let him go out deeper while Liam on the long line stayed in shallower water.

I also caught a beautiful sunset on this second night at Point Farms. Actually I think I missed the best of it; the sun had just dipped below the horizon when I arrived at the lookout but the sound of the waves is also beautiful.

The next day we were off to Sibbald Point Provinical Park. Sibbbald Point is on Lake Simcoe and is only 70 kilometres from Toronto so the park and its facilities were quite crowded. We were camped on a small loop with only 6 or 7 campsites so it didn't seem bad but once you went down to the washrooms, the camp store or beach you noticed how crowded it was. In the afternoon, the parking lots were full and they stopped letting day users in, even the parking lot to the camp store was full as it was also the parking lot for a day use area.  There's a museum onsite called Eildon Hall which was once the home of the family the park is named after. Admission is free so that was nice but you're not allowed to take pictures inside. 

Sibbald Provincial Park

Eildon Hall

Also just outside the park is a church with a nice cemetery on the shores of Lake Simcoe. Stephen Leacock and some other notables are buried here including many of the Sibbald family.

St Georges Church

Lake Simcoe view from the cemetery

Stephen Leacock's grave

Sibbald family plot

Sibbald Point also has a dog beach so Teddy and Liam got to play in the water again.  I waited until the afternoon hoping that it would be a little less crowded; it probably was but I still had to maneuver between crowds of people picnicking to get to the dog beach.  The water was much calmer here so Teddy was easier to handle, with waves he is just so frantic to chase them.

Lake Simcoe

Teddy wading in Lake Simcoe

The next day we would be off to our last stop, Bon Echo Provincial Park. This is a very popular park and we were only able to get one night in the same campsites, staying even two nights would have meant moving campsites so the last stop on the journey would only be for one night. Bon Echo is a great place to canoe or kayak. There is a large rock face called Mazinaw Rock that has pictographs on it. Bon Eco also has a very nice dog beach. It's a small sandy crescent with a large grassy area. Dogs are even allowed to be off leash.

Bon Echo Provincial Park

Bridge to dog beach

Teddy wading at the bridge

Mazinaw Rock

Kayakers coming back.

When we started out the trip seemed like it would last forever but like everything else it had to come to an end. We had bad weather and little mishaps but in ten weeks we never set up or tore down in the rain, we got home in one piece and have many wonderful memories.  I'd call that a great trip! Am I ready to do it again? Well, maybe next year.