Gibson's New Wardrobe

  I've been supplementing my retirement income with polishing collars for the Kenyan Collection.  The goal is to polish enough collars to defray the cost of show entries, but when I see those beautiful bead patterns, I imagine how nice one would look around the neck of a Hillcroft Collie!  I've tempered my collar envy by telling the pups they must earn their wardrobe addition, either by producing a litter or earning their championship.
  Gibson received his first collar a couple of weeks ago by becoming an employee of The Kenyan Collection himself.  JMS Ventures, the owner of The Kenyan Collection, is my neighbor so when I've finished a batch of collars, Gibson goes to work.  I hitch him up to the parade wagon and we walk up the road to deliver the inventory.  Good exercise for us and a confidence booster for Gibson, but Joan declared that he needed to be on the payroll and to choose a collar.
  That was easier said than done!  When I work on the collars, I mentally put them on our dogs and thought the Earth pattern would look best on Gibson.  My husband thought the Cheetah pattern would be ideal.  I thought I would only have to choose between the two, but Joan suggested I try both on Gibson.  I'm so glad she did!  The Cheetah pattern didn't look good on him at all and the Earth was too bland.  The Jacaranda wasn't quite right but the Maasai Shield was close to looking right.  Then we tried the Topi on Gibson and it was perfect!  It suited his personality just right and he seems to hold himself differently when he wears it.  Somehow he knows he's extra handsome!
  Now we're looking for places to take him so he can show off his new wardrobe.  We walked him to our favorite winery, Casanel, on Labor Day and spent a relaxing afternoon on their patio.  Gibson thought his new duds entitled him to our cheese and crackers rather than the everyday treats I had brought for him.  Of course, we indulged him!

A close up of the collar's Hopi pattern

Expecting a slice of that nice cheddar cheese!

Our handsome boy!

An Afternoon Out for Treasure

  Treasure has been entered in her first show.  She's been a homebody for a few weeks so we thought it would be good for her to meet new people and experience new things before the show.  We took her to Casanel Vineyards for a fun, relaxing afternoon.  Treasure met lots of new people, a couple of other dogs and had a snack of bread crusts and cheese rinds.  She even seemed to enjoy the musician that was playing when we first arrived!

Relaxing on the Patio

Hoping there is something left to share!

Walking home

In Training

  Earlier in the month, we took Ref and Gemma to a match in Maryland.  Both the pups behaved horribly, bolting around the ring, backing away from the judge.  Ref was so bad, I truly wanted to just put him back in his crate!  The match judge said (after three attempts at the down and back), "I've yet to see that puppy move".
  But, it showed what I needed to work on with the babies and they've been receiving daily lessons.  One mile walks to improve leash manners, time on the grooming table to accept nail filing and whisker trimming and close monitoring of their ear carriage.
  Yesterday, it was time to put all the lessons together and try another match.  After taking out the braces in Treasure's ears, I decided she needed to stay home as her ears were not in placement yet.  Ref's ears are breaking over way too far, but I felt it was more important to have him in the show atmosphere again after his last experience.
  Ref was terrific at the match!  Everything he did wrong last time, he did right this time.  He moved nicely, stood for the judge's exam and even stood confidently enough that I could move to the end of the lead instead of standing next to him.  Gemma, however, did not show as well.  She was in a headstrong mood and would not gait correctly.  She did stand nicely for brief periods, though.  Ref won the Variety, then placed third in the Puppy Group!
  Even though the forecast had called for cooler temps and the chance of showers, the afternoon was warm and sunny.  We decided to celebrate the puppies' improved behavior with relaxing the rest of the day at Casanel Vineyards.  We shared our cheese and crackers with Ref and Gemma, who were not content with their snacks.  Ref was determined to eat the cigarette butts in the large container and Gemma knocked over a glass of wine, then lapped it up, which caused a sneezing fit.  Not even six months old and they've developed vices!
  Today was back to work.  Ref and Treasure have braces back in their ears and all three puppies took a trip to Buckeystown so Ellen could see their progress.  I had a nice visit with Ellen and a good lunch--it was a great day!

Gemma gets a whisker trim

And a bath!

Waiting for the match to start

Ref relaxes at Casanel

Puppy Socialization

  The Barkfest didn't turn out to be too much, but then we got there quite late.  The puppy did get some attention and she got to see other dogs that aren't collies.  She just started to get comfortable with the leash and collar as the Barkfest was ending so we decided to take her to Casanel Vineyards for more socializing. She really put the social into socializing!  She got attention as soon as we arrived and within minutes of sitting at a table, she started acting like the patio hostess.  She looked up at every arrival, often walking over to try to greet the new customers.  When part of a wine bus tour group came to see her, she went into full adorable puppy mode!  She flopped down to get her belly scratched, she looked sweet, she chewed on both boots and fingers and the base of a wine glass, all the time looking around as if to say "Aren't I cute"???
  We think this is the smooth puppy that we will keep for showing.  Her name will be Callie, which we called her this afternoon and she quickly picked up on it.  She is a sweetie!

Jackson at Casanel Vineyards

  On Saturday, we took advantage of being within walking distance of a winery and took Jackson to Casanel for an afternoon of relaxing and listening to live music from a local band, Andy Hawk and the Train Wreck Endings  (makes for a very cheap date!).  That was the farthest Jackson has walked on a leash!  He did pretty well and enjoyed himself on the patio.  The only available table was closer to the band that I wanted to be, but Jackson was fine with it.  He got to make the rounds of the other tables and meet the band, then quickly realized he would far more enjoy the cheese I brought for us than his dog cookies.  I made him "show" for his cheese, then let him drape himself across my legs while I listened to the music.  We realized while we were at Casanel that it was Jackson's birthday!  He's 3 months old!  So of course, he got to finish off the cheese plate. We decided we needed to go home after some Boston Terriers arrived and didn't want Jackson near their table, or even near our table.  Their owners kept saying everything was fine, but when the dogs rushed at Jackson who was under my chair, we thought the wine may have clouded their judgement (and they certainly weren't keeping their dogs under control) and went home.

Jackson hoping more cheese is in the offering!

Andy Hawk and the Train Wreck Endings