Odin - Day 3

Photos:

I am so impressed with this new hound of ours. Hard to believe how young he is, and yet how quick he picks things up. He comes to me when I call, He has only had a couple of mistakes in the house, he seems to adapt to all the different situations I have had him in, and he is viewing the kennel in our bedroom as his domain and goes to bed himself in it. I just got back from taking him on his second leashed walk this time to the Gorge. He did not pull very much, stayed close to me, when we were done we sat on the grass and had quite a few people and dogs come up to greet him. He seems to be great meeting other dogs or people, no aggression showing, just normally curious of course. The Gorge is a great place as I was able to see how intentive he is, He was tracking both Kayaks and Geese a a very good distance, as well as people and dogs walking towards us. His hearing seems very good too, and he spent much time listening first before turning towards the sound. He settled right into the truck, and found a couple of blankets in the back for him to sleep on, while I ran into the library. No noise out of him he simply watched me close the door then went back to sleep. I came back out and he was still snoozing. I think he is going to be a great traveller.

Our other two seem to be doing a good jub of accepting him, Emma has settled into the notion. Nick is doing well considering he never had to do this before. Think he still wants to make sure he is the boss...

Got a lot of training I want to do with him, and socializing. Going to start taking him to all the "dog parks" I think it could only do him good to meet othr dogs, and people. As with all of our dogs I want him to be good with people, kids (not that they are not people but just some important differences on top of the height) and with other animals. So since this is a long weekend I am able to spend it getting him aclimatized to our house. Then later this month I am on holidays and will be able to spend a ot more time working with him.


EOF   --- LC

Hello world - welcome Odin

Our new Pup, Odin has joined the pack.  All the pictures here.

I have been looking for a Lab pup, feeling a bit out of sorts since losing the big guy nearly three months ago. It has been really hard to find any pups, a good thing I think, maybe all the work the SPCA and Vets have been doing is working in reducing the numbers of unwanted or mass bred for profit dogs. I hope so. In visiting the shelters though heard some really terrible stories of how our species have treated some of these guys...

Today though I was in the Victoria SPCA,  they had just rescued 5 puppies, three female (all golden lab looking ) and their two brothers, (check the picture out). Well this guy picked me, he basically forced his way to the front of the crowd while I was sitting in the cage, then parked himself right in front of my, facing the others seeming to say "keep back he's mine"    :-)

I brought Odin home, and our two Boston's were less than impressed, "what he's staying?"  lol  but they have all settled in now. Guess the training begins... just cleaning out the Kennel for our room. Figure we start right this time and kennel train him. Going to be great (yes and hard I know) having a puppy, but as we are heading into a long weekend then soon to take some time off work I figure it is the best time to take on a new dog when I have so much time to focus on him.

EOF   ---   LC

Saw this little beauty at Nanaimo Airport think it's a Nanchang CJ-6 (knock off of the Yak-18)

Sweet!!

Call to Irons Tattoo

Main Character Done - Background later this year

Happy 150th Birthday British Columbia!!

You don't look a day over a hundred Dear! This Monday is our Province's Birthday, the 150th. Our Latin Motto says it all  "Splendor sine occasu"  (Splendour without Sunset (Diminishment)). The current TV campaign lead line is "The Best Place on Earth" and while I do not believe in the politicalization that the commercials are used for, that lead line is very true. We have it all here, some quick facts from the BC Gov factoid page,

• 
  Spirit Bear - Provincial Mammal  The Spirit Bear (also known as the Kermode Bear) was added to the list of B.C.'s official symbols in April 2006

• Western Red Cedar - Provincial Tree  The western red cedar (Thuja plicata Donn) was adopted as the official tree of the province on February 18, 1988

• British Columbia is Canada's third-largest generator of hydro electricity, providing some of the lowest power costs in North America. The province is also Canada's second-largest natural gas producer, and the oil and gas industry continues to see tremendous growth, particularly in north-eastern B.C.

• B.C.'s total land and freshwater area is 95 million hectares, larger than France and Germany combined. Only 30 countries are larger. British Columbia occupies about 10 per cent of Canada's land surface.

Why is the Monday closes to August 1 known as BC Day...
From the B.C. Debates, 4th Session, 30th Parliament, May 1, 1974, the Hon. Hall states, "August 1, or the closest working day to it, is a statutory holiday in every other province in Canada. By coincidence, an Act to provide to the Government of British Columbia, which changed us from the Colony of British Columbia, was passed by Parliament in the United Kingdom on August 2, 1858.

We have many varied climactic zones, from rain forest, to Alpine to Desert, from the very cold temperatures of the Northern Areas like Stewart and Dease Lake in the winters, to the very warm summers in the Okanagan (Osoyoos raching record highs as well as Lytton in the Canyon being known for thier high temeratures in the summer), typically warm and wet winters on the southern-coast areas like Vancouver, and here in Victoria, Our summers though are usually very nice (with avg temperatures ranging between low to high 20's C).

We should be thankful for living in such a great place, in a wonderful country, yup we have issues we need to work on, but one only needs to turn on the evening news to see how others have to live, to be grateful for being a citizen here in British Columbia. I can't not mention my Favourite place in the Province, while there are so many other beautiful areas to live in each with their own Natural beauty, for me Terrace is still the best (with access to everything outdoors that you could ever want, rivers, Lakes, Ocean, HIking , camping , fishing,  an incredible place for sure.)

EOF - LC