Home on the range

Working long hours the last few months has taken a toll on not only my blogging but my picture time with the pups. This morning with coffee in hand i strolled onto the back deck enjoying the sun and warm breeze and had a wee little photo op with the pups. The co-pilot’s are doing great and adjusting to the new routine in the family.

Olive looking old as usual.

Olive went for a nice walk over the weekend with mom and dad. Most of the time we kept her on leash so her legs didn’t give out as much, but man she still jumped like crazy when the chipmunks chirped!! You could see it in her eyes, she wondered why her body wouldn’t let her mind carry on like she had in her younger years.

Tractor, english bulldog, plenty of woods to play......what more does a guy need??

 

After over a year and a few setbacks Valentine’s legs are finally getting close to where they used to be. She still walks bowed out, and i will never do a ACL/CCL surgery again on a dog like her, but she is leading a happy life. She is still her crazy reactive emotional self but her father loves her for who she is! She got a fun tractor ride and helped us unload all the agility equipment from the trailer back onto the agility field.

Anna the most regal dog of them all!!!!

Anna’s been keeping up with her job well, as resident ear cleaner that is 🙂 She likes to keep everyone in order and try to maintain a certain level of cleanliness with everyone!!

Abigail nails it!

Last month Abby completed her certification for live airscent and Human Remains Detection for New York State Federation of Search and Rescue. Earlier this month at our annual Combined Federation Training she completed her water HRD certification as well. Congrats to abby for such a wonderful job!

Certified Airscent Live, HRD, and Water K9 Abby!!!!

 

 

Playing catch up!

Well it would be impossible to catch up this blog as i have lagged behind to much! My free flow of words just seems to get stopped up, whats that called writers block???

A quick recap finds everyone well. The sar girls are amazing, really working their butts off!! Emeline is doing great, her indication is solid and fast. I will never have to question whether or not she finds a subject. Her multiple refinds provides long hard bark and  bounces at me loud enough to wake a deaf person! She actually makes the ground tremble!!!! Her searching was natural, just pure genetics but her brain was assembled differently then her sisters, something her mother threw in to the mix. She is a thinker and will not allow me to pass by the scent cone. I’m amazed at the progress she has made and am thrilled that i gave her the chance to nail everything perfectly like i knew she could do before moving her on. Bravo Emeline Bravo!

Eme-lion the beast!

Raina will be a year old in less then a month! It’s crazy to imagine that she has already been with us for that long. Such a quick learning pup she amazes me every day with her balance, work ethic, and drive to be a prominent friend to her owner. I have held back on her testing because of her age, not lack of ability. She could have certified months ago with flawless searching and indication, and has yet to reach that “hiccup” period in her youth. While everyday i wait for it, every time we train she re confirms to me that she really is just that good. There are good things to come in the future with miss Rainy and i will keep you posted!

Rainy taking a quick break from her search area.

Abby has been doing great and is proving to be a solid worker. Her skill level is above and beyond what i had dreamed and she is fitting into the pack well now that she has learned all the dog play rules. The remainder of this month will be a huge test for Abby and i know she can do it. I’m so proud of her and what she has already achieved!

My amazing "knock you to your butt" indication dog!

Problems, problems

That is of course search problems 🙂 below is a picture of our GPS log. We use the Garmin Astro, this way i can track my path and with a collar on Raina i can track her exact path as well. Then we load them into MapTech software and bingo i know exactly where we have been!! This track i believe is in Harpursville New York and the BLUE track is mine and the RED track is Raina. You can see the huge swing out she took away from me, this was when she had a blast of his scent from his location which is right after the curve. If  the wind had been stronger, she would have gotten him before we finished the area around.

Me blue Raina Red

The show that goes on

I’m a little behind in my blog posts but trying to catch up!!

Last sunday Eagle Valley search dogs had to attend the dog show in Whitney Point NY. I was presented with the AKC CAR award money for the grant i wrote earlier this year. This 2000 dollars will go to supporting our fall Combined Federation search seminar in the end of september. Abby and her real sister Raven both did short demo’s of the recall refind indication sequence and abby was available for people to meet and greet.

social butterfly

 

Our table attracted a lot of attention and hopefully we were able to scout out some new volunteers to come hide and train with us!!! If you are ever interested and in the Broome County or Delaware County area email me EliteInstinctCanine@gmail.com  We are always looking for volunteers to go get lost!!!

 

 

The working girls

Last weekend was a rough one, but we still did what we could and the girls had fun. Saturday we trained with Amigo Sar dogs up in New Berlin. We ran everyone on some HR hides as well as live hides. The HR was great, we hid it in a 130 pounds replica guy from the firehouse!!

Our "subject"

Abby decided not only was it an easy find but also an easy indication to mom!

BAM!!!!!

It was hot out and everyone went for a swim after their problem to cool down. Raina had a blast jumping into the fast moving water to grab her ball. She’s getting pretty good at catching it, though mom doesn’t let her do it often she is still to young to beat up her bones like that!

I bounce like Tigger!!!!!!

 

 

play time after a job well done

 

Raina and Abby both sustained some muscle and pad injuries and were put on light duty.  This last week they rested up and appear good to go! Down time is always the worst with these girls, they are just not meant to be couch potatoes!!

It’s a holiday weekend?

Well of course we humans know its a holiday weekend but honestly the dogs have no idea. Despite numerous k9 injuries all weekend long (the human actually stayed semi healthy!) we still made the best of what we had. Friday was a quite morning and mom got to celebrate her birthday with a long pack hike.  It was peaceful and relaxing.  The dogs too enjoyed it even though mom always makes them behave during these things!!!

Obedience and focus is necessary in the Canine Copilot pack

The weekend was filled with an enjoyed balance of outside sun and fresh air and nice quite evenings by the fire in the backyard. As usual the afternoons were doggie nap time

And then back to the wilderness we returned!!!!

Girls

 

Sometimes words aren’t necessary…….i’m pretty sure the pictures say it all!