Callan Park

Last Saturday we went for a walk in beautiful Callan Park. It is an old bit of Sydney that was last used as a psychiatric hospital, but is now preserved as a park right on the shores of the harbour.

There are some wonderful old sandstone buildings dotted around the extensive grounds.




And sure enough, there was a lot of heeling practice too. Kay has tried to think of all sorts of things to improve my heeling - hot dogs and my orbee ball are my favourites so far.

Here's a video of us practicing - you can see that I really do know how to do it...

We love Callan Park.

Obedience outing

I went to another obedience trial this morning. It was so boring. We had to wait for hours and hours until our turn. By that point, I didn't much care.

Kay tried to get me revved up, but to tell the truth, I wasn't feeling all that great.

I think I might have picked up something toxic last week when Gracie pushed me into the Cooks River. It's so polluted that you aren't supposed to eat the fish from it - and you sure aren't supposed to be swimming in it.

I was just sniffing around the edge, as I always do, when a bouncing Gracie careened into me and knocked me over the edge. It was a long drop down, lucky the tide was in so I splashed in the water instead of smashing into the mud.

Neil had to climb down a ladder and try to haul me six feet back up to the bank, while not falling in himself. Thanks a lot, Gracie.

Anyway, the point was that I didn't do very well in the ring - we actually failed big time evidently. Kay was not very impressed. I guess it's back to the practice ring for me.

swimming lesson

While we were up at the beach, Kay decided Gracie need a bit more encouragement to learn to swim. Even though the water was pretty chilly, we were hot from running around. So... time for a dunking!

I don't think Gracie was too impressed, but I'm sure she won't be let off until she's swimming happily...whether she likes it or not.

down by the riverside

We were out in the country last weekend and stopped by this fun little spot.
It's the Sherwood Rd bridge over the Macleay River, just west of Kempsey.

Very interesting with all these smooth stones.

The water was lovely and cold - it sure was flowing briskly too.

But that didn't stop me. I did a lot of fetching of sticks.

Gracie wouldn't swim, she just paddled at the edges
- she's going to have to learn how to swim soon, to be a proper Airedale.

She would steal my sticks as soon as I brought them to shore.

What a pest!

And off she'd bolt...

Kay always says Gracie runs like a jackrabbit - look at the Airedale bunny.

Very pleased with herself here - that was a very good stick.

I went back to exploring the riverbanks... very interesting smells... could even be RATS!
...or something very like them.

Gracie, the gannet

Have I ever mentioned that Gracie is a total guts and gobbles down any food she can find? Neil always calls her a gannet (those seabirds that swallow big fish down in one gulp) because she does the same with all her food.

So, I guess it wasn't such a surprise to see her in action with her birthday 'cake' (really a lot of smaller pieces of yummy liver cake).


Kay set up a table full of fabulous new toys for her - I was well and truly envious, I can tell you. But did Gracie go for the new chewber or the wonderful soft, chewy squirrel or the little bird toy that cheeps just like a real bird...?

No, as soon as that Airedale nose detected liver cake, she was into it.

She tried to eat it all in one gulp. Kay had to intervene, but it was too late. Luckily the video cuts out before showing Gracie going off and choking and vomiting it all back up. I won't even mention what came next.... but it was all cleaned up pretty quickly.

Happy birthday puppies!

Gracie and her brothers are a year old today! Happy birthday to them all.

How cute they were then.

That's Bossley, Fozzie, Ringo, Wendell, Gracie and Diesel. What a lot of fun they were... until they ate us out of house and home, drove me crazy and had to leave quick smart to their new families.

Ahh, the joy of puppies!

Gracie doesn't know, but she is having a surprise party this afternoon and meeting up with Fozzie and Ringo for a playdate on Saturday.

agility practice

Gracie and I are practicing our agility skills these days. Kay is trying to teach Gracie how to run weave poles using the channel technique. I get to have a go as well (even though I really do know how to do them)

It's so easy. You just run straight through and get the stuffie toy and have a little game of tug.

Gracie needed guidance and didn't even want the stuffie - unbelieveable! What is wrong with that grrrl?? I guess she's still a youngster