Goodbye Spiceman

Lochisle Spice of Life CD HT AGI AGNJS AGNS ATChC ExStSilver ExJBronze Silver (April 21 1996 - - November 17 2010)

I got Spice when he was almost 2 years old through Sheltie Rescue. He was my internet dog as I found out about him via a mailing list - not that unusual now but it was twelve years ago. Spice is not my first sheltie that has gone to the bridge (Taari's mom Angel died of lymphoma at 5) but he was my first sheltie. I got him a week after I started working at my first job after university. I really wanted a dog and was determined to get one even if my allergies were a problem. Luckily I had outgrown my childhood allergies to dogs.

I have made many friends because of Spice, both in my neighbourhood and in the dog world. His best friend was Sheba (my friends's sheltie). I had never seen dogs wrestle before like these two did. They had such a good time playing and it was an instant friendship. My friends's place became his second home. In the past few months if I took him for a walk he would insist on going to visit and if they were not home it was a struggle to get him back home. When I would turn around he would stop and not move as if to say you are going the wrong way.



Together Spice and I learned the sports of obedience, herding and agility. He was a natural herder and did better if I didn't try to tell him what to do. He got his CKC herding started title but we didn't continue on in herding. He didn't pay enough attention to the sheep and they started to head butt him when he wasn't looking. At first I think that he thought it was a game but then he decided that it wasn't a game and he would run the other way if the sheep started coming towards him. He did well at obedience and even won a few prizes at our first trial. I decided after a fun match in which we did both agility and obedience that he enjoyed agility much more than obedience so we just concentrated on agility after that.

He was not big on toys unless they had food in them. Getting out the "magic" Frisbee (one with a food pouch) really helped his speed in agility.




Spice didn't usually get very excited but I do remember that Teo (a Belgian) would usually get him barking in class. It was too bad that Teo couldn't run right before Spice at trials. Spice was a steady accurate dog in agility. He did well at standard courses and it was games that we needed to finally complete his Bronze and Silver Awards of Merit. Spice sped up as he got older and was able to sometimes be under regular course times as a veteran. There have been times lately when I wish we could run together again. Below is one of his later runs where he saved the run for me a couple of times.



He loved puppies and was a great uncle/big brother to all of my girls or his girls as he thought of them when we visited my friends and their male sheltie got a bit too friendly.

I am grateful that we were able to spend so many years together. Thank you for being such a wonderful part of my life.

Spice we will miss you.

Twister and the girls

I bought the Nina Ottosson game called Twister. I have had it out about 4 or 5 times since I got it. Here are some videos of both girls playing with it. Taari is seven years old and Nessa is 9 months.





I can think of a few reasons why they are different when they play it (and why Nessa is better at it). It could be their personalities. Nessa is more thoughtful. It could also have been that I helped Taari out too much when I was training her initially and she hasn't been trained to think as much as Nessa. It could also have been some of the games that I played with Taari when she a puppy. For example the door stop makes a noise no matter how you hit it. Perhaps I should play more of these games with Taari to get her to think more.

Nessa at almost 6 months

New spring agility jacket

Since it is spring I decided to get another agility jacket from Discovery Trekking Outfitters (DTO) in Campbell River, B.C. This time I got a jacket made from a light weight Wind Pro fabric. It is the same style as my black winter jacket. I chose the same features - hood, back pocket for toys and reflective piping.

Nessa at 5 months

Nessa at 4 months

Here are some pictures of Nessa at the age of 4 months. She is 13 7/8 inches tall and 14 lbs.

Nessa growing up

Nessa has grown quite a bit since I first got her. Nessa and Taari are about the same size now and Nessa is only 17 weeks. Nessa and Taari have become best buddies. They love to play with each other and occasionally Nessa will cuddle up with Taari when she is sleeping. I am conscious of the fact that I do not want Nessa to bond more closely with Taari than with me but it great to see them having so much fun together.