JULY NEWS

I was reminded last night that I hadn’t got around to July yet! It seems to have come along too soon somehow; I used to get sick of hearing the ‘oldies’ say all those tired things about time flying faster as you got older. It’s some consolation that I’m frequently hearing people a lot younger than me say the same thing! Maybe we need to switch off all those e-gadgets for at least one day a week and try to disconnect our brain from the rest of the world at the same time…. enjoying friends and family without interruption is likely to be much more rewarding than what the wider world is providing at present!

I had this email from Marina Angel-Smith about going kid hunting in the dark with Karmala Landy, it’s amazing what these dogs can do…or what Marina can get them to do!?

Hi Jan,

I thought all the goats had come in yesterday evening and fed hay then just on dark I realized a few young kids were missing so I took Cash out and he found two in separate hiding places in a rough gully, one had blood on it, looked like the job of pigs and had sent them into hiding and hidden they were.

I took the two home and let them in to mums but realized there was still a doe calling so I put Cash in for a rest and took Landy out with the spotlight, he moves so fast on rough ground that I can’t even keep up with the spotlight, I was out there knowing he had found the kid but I then couldn’t find him!! I tried telling him to speak but remembered he stands and eyes when he finds so the only way was to call him and re-track which I had to do five times (this inhibits tracking something bad) but what a job he did! Every time I called him he came back and when I asked him to track he headed off towards the kid and never faltered. It was pitch black and my spotlight was going flat and believe me when goats want to hide? They do it well, this kid was right up under logs where water had washed rocks up behind the logs and made a cave that I never knew was there. Considering he had 700 acres to track in with pig, Roo and deer and goat scent everywhere I thought he did a brilliant job:-)

Sent from my iPhone

Lots of rain again, not doing a lot of good at this time of the year, but it will be a good start to spring. The really exciting kelpie news: Heli and Cherry are both in pup to Wilson. I was really worried that he wasn’t well enough, and that the younger bitches were a bit too silly, but he’s a shrewd old dog and obviously a smooth operator! It would be excellent to get some more bitches to carry on this line.

Wilson’s been on herbs for his nasal problem and I added some extra ones to hype him up a bit when the girls came on. He went on a silent resistance campaign at first, only eating his ‘brew’ under sufferance and only some of the time. It’s taken him a couple of months to give in, and just this last week he’s started cleaning it up properly. Very frustrating, as his breathing is a lot better when he has two lots a day. Physically, he looks great and he has plenty of energy…but the noise he makes when breathing sometimes is really gross!

I have a list of people waiting for pups and enquiry from Hawaii and Oregon, USA. There’s no doubt that older bitches have smaller litters, but hopefully the quality is still there. Quiz is really enjoying her single pup by Wilson and looks really well. Both she and Win had caesarians for their previous litters, so have done a good job avoiding another. Win lost her two cream pups, which was disappointing to say the least. Not sure what caused the problem but it was a fairly close mating…although it had been OK previously.

Wills(WilsonxBrandy) has been back to Arthur Crumblin for a bit more ‘training’, although Arthur says he can’t improve his work, it’s so natural and correct. He’s a dog that responds well to quiet suggestion and has calmed down and is working more confidently. Some of you will have seen the video I took last week. Lovely work from a big pup. This is the second part of the vid.

I had a lovely visit from Di and Lynnton Martin from Trangie when they came to pick up a couple of pups recently. Lynnton’s been good enough to take Brock back with him for some work; I’m keen to get his opinion before mating Brock again, although there have been very good reports on the Chanel and Lily litters. It was lovely to watch Lynnton working some of these young dogs; Wings(WilsonxPeg) went like a dream, despite doing very little for ages.

There have been too many dogs here, with more pups being run on to make sure of keeping the best by the two old dogs. I’ve had a bit of a tidy up this month, selling some older pups and placing a couple of others. The art of keeping a number of young bitches happy seems beyond me; only one way to describe them….bitchy! To add to my worries Rev(HarveyxRemy) has discovered she can easily get out of the big run…over the 6′ fence. Her mother scaled 8′ fences, so not surprising I suppose!