Soccer Fun

Oak and I went to my grandkids soccer game last night. He was a wonderful boy. He sat still(most of the time), and didn't pull me around.



He had a great time( see the big smile!), met some new friends,



and got to spend time at the park. Unfortunately, he didn't get to play with the soccer ball or the kids!

Introducing InThePink Dagda's Sacred Oak

I just got Oak's registration papers from our breeder today and I'm so happy I got the name I wanted for him. There are reasons for choosing "Dagda's Sacred Oak" for his name and I thought I'd explain it here.
My last golden MacCartney's Phoenix of Dagda CD died in september 2008 after being my best friend for 14 years. When I decided it was time for a new puppy, I wanted to have his name connected to Phoenix somehow. So I started looking at names for the new puppy and decided to check into Celtic Mythology again. Another thing that figured into my name choice is his father's name, which is Leaf (Hyline's Branch of the Tree).
Dagda(part of Phoenix's name) is the god of life and death in Celtic Mythology. He is the Father of All Gods, also known as the "Good God" and the Irish Lord of the Land. During times of peace, the Dagda would play his living harp, also known as the "Oak of the Two Cities" or "Hand of Fourfold Music." As he played, the music would cause the seasons to process in order...Spring to Summer...Summer to Autumn...Autumn to Winter...and Winter again to Spring.
The Oak is Dagda's tree. The Oak was the principal sacred tree of the Druids, symbolizing truth and steadfast knowledge as well as the turning of the year. During this time, Druids would carve a circle in the tree for protection against lightning. The Oak was representative of the trials that individuals experience in life while changing and becoming who they were meant to be. This tree represented the soul which, in Celtic terms, was the "Eye of God." Doors made of Oak were believed to keep out evil. The word "door" derives from the Sanskrit "duir," Ogham for Oak and a word which symbolizes solidity and protection. In the realm of the forest, the Oak is the King of Trees, standing mightily solid with great branches, matched only be even greater roots. Often struck by lightning, the force of the strike and the heat bursts the sap and stem of the Oak apart, leaving the trunk gnarled and withered...yet, the Oak still manages to survive for decades or even centuries.
Also while I was researching I found that in Celtic astrology the Oak tree was my puppy's tree sign(July 4).
So everything seemed to fit together perfectly and he became InThePink Dagda's Sacred Oak.
He looks totally impressed with his name, don't you think? :)

My FIRST Birthday!!!

Saturday July 4, 2009 was my 1st birthday, so Mommy is letting me tell you guys all about it!
The best part of it all was the fact that we were up a the cottage! YAHOO!!! It's only the second time I've gone in my entire life and I love it there. I get to run around free, go swimming, go for walks in the woods, did I mention go swimming, play etc., etc. etc.....
After breakfast we went to the pond for a swim. Mommy threw sticks in and I fetched them. She said I did real good. Last time we were here, I was too afraid to even try swimming, but this time I loved it.


While we were at the pond, Daddy drove up on the quad and we went for a ride up the Old Road(they rode, I followed). They kept stopping and waiting for me, cause I wanted to check out all the interesting smells.
When we got back to the cottage, Mommy gave me a BIGGEST, BESTEST bone ever to chew on. It was the yummiest!!


I chewed and chewed and chewed, then I got tired of chewing, but I didn't want anyone else to get MY bone, so I searched and searched for a great place to hide it. I finally found the perfect spot and buried it under a tree in the bushes. Nobody will ever find it there, I'm sure of it!
Then my new friend Cerbrus came over and we all went for a great, big long walk in the woods.


(This is Cerbrus)
We found so many neat things on our adverture! There was a turtle(I didn't actualy see it, Mommy said I walked right over it, but at least I didn't step on it!).


We checked out the tree stands. Daddy has bunches and bunches of them set up in the bush for deer hunting. I wish I could climb up there!


And speaking of deer, check out this hole they made in the ground. Daddy puts a salt lick here for them every year and over the past 20 years, they've created this great, big hole in the ground! The holes I dig never get this big, but that's because Mommy keeps filling them in. I had to climb down in it and sniff around to see why it was so special. It smelled really different.


Daddy wanted to show us all a rock he found the last time he was in the woods. He was looking everywhere for it, but we found it before him! He says its like a giant jigsaw puzzle and the pieces all fit together. Why would anybody want a rock? You can't eat a rock, I know cause I tried :)


I found lots of sticks on our walk. Too many to choose from, but some were just too big for me to carry :)


Then we got to the bridges! There were a couple of them, that we had to walk over. I wasn't sure I wanted too, but Cerbrus went right across, so I figured I had to "pretend" to be a big boy now and go across too. Mommy was very proud of me, and it wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be.


Then we saw a frog! Well, at least Mommy did, I was running around having too much fun and ran right by it! There are just too many things to see and no time to see them all!


We stopped at the pond and went swimming again. Even Daddy and Danny went swimming this time. They didn't fetch sticks like I did though. Don't know3 why, it's the best part of swimming!


We stopped back at the cottage so I could eat my me supper then, we were off again. Mommy and Daddy ate supper over a Cerbrus's house. I got to steal some of Cerbrus's food, then Mommy made me stop. I snuck back over to it again, but by then, there were only a few crumbs left. After supper Mommy and Daddy and their friends were going to play croquet, but I kept taking the ball. I'm sure they were throwing it for me, why else would it be rolling around on the ground? Finally they gave up and played soccer with me instead. Afterall, it's my birthday, everything should be about me, right?


After our soccer game, we had a fire and Mommy took this picture of the sunset. I'm not sure why, who cares if the sun is setting?


What a fabulous birthday! What a fabulous weekend! Now I'm going to sleep for a week(or at least an hour or two :)

Swimming ... Finally!

At first he wouldn't go in deep enough to swim.
Then.... Yeah! He started swimming! And he loved it. He kept going in and swimming around, then coming back out again.
He also went in to fetch the sticks when I threw them(something he refused to do yesterday even). He was very hesitant at first, but when he realized he wasn't going to sink, he started to enjoy himself.
Now we'll go every few days to help build the muscles in his hips.
Yeah, Oak!

News From This Week

On tuesday June 2 we went to the chiropractor for our 4th week in a row. Progress is being made! She said now that he is more aligned the muscles in his back are developing more and therefore will hold his spine straight which in turn holds his hips straight. Yeah! We don't have to go back for 2 weeks this time and we'll see how everything is then.

I have looked into massage, but have yet to find someone in the area who does it. I have found a lady who has classes on massaging your own pet, but she is about a hour away. I've talked to a few people I work with, and they are interested in learning massage for their dogs, so I'm going to see if the canine massage therapist will hold a class in our area. I've also looked for a book, but there were none in the bookstores around here, and my vet has already lent hers out! Seems to be becoming a more popular therapy for pets.

We had our first advanced novice class on tuesday as well. It started out great, then all hell broke loose. Lots of fun and laughter though :) He was doing really well until we started practicing the recall. There are 5 of us in the class and the trainer had us line all the dogs up in a row. Then in no particular order she would tell us to call our dog. By the time it got to Oak he had his leash back on(due to the fact that he thought his name was Nick and Stella and Rocky :). So I call him, he starts heading my way, but his leash distracts him and he grabs it and starts running around in circles swinging his leash! What a clown. He really hammed it up for the audience. Then it was time for the down stay. He stayed down, but he rolled around on his back with his 4 feet up in the air and managed to squiggle about 3 feet away from where he started! Life is never boring with Oak around:)

He also got a chance to try swimming(if that's what you want to call it). He was trying to get a stick out of a pond and he got in over his head. It was pretty much downhill from there. My daughter and I decided he swims like the titanic! or maybe a rock. Maybe I'll need to get him water wings to keep him afloat :)

Humane Society Walkathon

This morning was the annual walkathon for the Humane Society of Durham Region. The sun was out (yah!) and it was nice and cool(no bugs). The walk is held at a conservation area, so it's really quite a nice 5 km trek. There was a fabulous turn out. I've never seen so many people there. This is the first time Oak has ever gone, so he was really excited! There were people and dogs everywhere, for him to meet. Even Mary was there! Mary is his favourite person in the whole world. Mary is my secretary and Oak just loves her.

Then Lite showed up and he got to play with him.


Then we started the walk. There were stations along the route where they passed out treats and water. He got to run around in the mud and the swamp. Then to top it all off he got to play in the river at the end.

Better still there were barbequed hot dogs afterwards. Unfortunately for Oak, they were for the people :) But that didn't stop him from trying!

There's one tired puppy sleeping upstairs in the hallway. I bet he's already looking forward to next year. :)

Graduation Night!

We finished our basic novice class(again) and we had graduation night. On gradutation night we actually go through all the exercises like we would during a trial. Oak did pretty good on all the heel exercises(although some of his sits were crooked and he did lag on the figure 8)but his recall and sits and downs were horrible. !



(On a side note, when he walks around the outside of the pile on, you can tell he isn't extending his hind left leg as he should. Hopefully massage will help enable him to fulling extend his leg.)
On the recall he sat, stayed and came running when I called. Unfortunately, just before he got to me he turned to the left and started sniffing around. She had me call him again, and he came running and sat (rather crookedly) in front.



He didn't stay at all for the sits or the down, but neither did half the other dogs. Only one dog out of 10 actually got a qualifying score!
Our advanced notice class starts in 2 weeks. That's when we begin heeling offlead, scary!