Inseguire Working Jack Russells

Time Marches On

2011-11-06T09:32:00.000-08:00

This summer flew by in a whirlwind of white fur, yellow tennis balls, grey highway, and green grass. With all that has happened around here is dawned on me I have been negligent in my updates. The puppies have grown and are gone, we have travelled to and from Ontario for Canadian Nationals, and the 2011 flyball season wrapped up with some incredible stories. I guess then I will start at the beginning and finish at the end.

PUPPIES!!!

Our Inseguire Calliope x Dig It Obsession litter turned out to be everything we could have hoped for and more. All the puppies seem to have inherited their mother's drive, their father's charm, and good looks from both sides of the pedigree. The little boy, Inseguire Nate, has gone off to Ontario to live with a wonderful young couple. One of the colorful girls, girl #2 now Inseguire Thalia, moved to BC to live in the mountains and keep her new parents company in their retirement. The biggest girl, Inseguire Strike-A-Pose, went off to the USA and a life of dog shows and couch cuddling and the tiny little girl, Inseguire Lokasenna who was girl #1, has stayed here for further evaluation. Some days I still miss them but thanks to facebook and the internet I often get peeks at how they are doing in their new homes.

JRTCC NATIONALS

When the puppies were just 9 weeks old we travelled to Ontario with the entire white-coated crew to compete at the JRTCC Nationals. Thalia flew off to BC the morning we left and Nate and Striker made the trek with us to be delivered to their new families. Everyone travelled well and the trip was surprisingly quiet for having 9 JRTs in tow. We arrived a couple of days before the show and spent some time with family and getting the puppies socialized with all kinds of new people, places, and things. Saturday was bitter sweet for me. Kiwi racing incredibly well making the finials in both flats and hurdles and placing third and second respectively. Sadie showed very well in the veteran class, and Cali had an absolutely wonderful time on the trailing and locating course. At the end of the day however I had to say good-bye to both Nate and Striker who headed home with their new families to being their new and wonderful lives. It is always difficult for me to say good-bye to our puppies but I can not help but smile when I think of all the fun they will have and the joy they will bring their new people.

Sunday morning was another early one for us as while racing was over for the weekend Mazel Tov had her agility classes. This was her debut in AAC type agility and she did very well. At the end of the day she walked away with a first in gamblers, a second in jumpers, and a third in regular agility - well worth the early morning wake-up call! Over in conformation Kiwi took a solid second in a lovely class of bred by exhibitor bitches. This is always a very competitive class as breeders showcase their very best efforts here and I was very proud to be standing on the other end of the leash from this beautiful little girl. I also had the opportunity to show Robert's brother Quick for Gaye Redpath in the family class and he took both the Stud Dog and Get class and a little while later the Family Championship. Between events I had Sadie and Cali entered in some performance classes, Sadie in Brush Hunt and Cali in Lure Coursing. Sadie always enjoys finding and marking quarry so to keep her happy and enthusiastic we always do one "find a rat" event at trials. She was right on today however and found the rat in short course with a time that was enough to earn her a second place in veterans division of that event! Not bad really for an old hunting dog who never really "schools" those kinds of things. Because Cali was not quite back to form after having her puppies I kept her out of the conformation ring for the weekend and focused her efforts on performance. I had never done anything other than a little trailing and locating with her and some spectacular reinventions of go-to-ground which involved her hitting the end of the tunnel, realizing she is blocked and finding another way to get to the rat. Let's just say once Cali is focused on doing something there is nothing that can stop her and with her diminutive size she is very hard to get a handle on sometimes. After the second chase through the trial grounds while she fiercely guarded her new found rat-in-a-cage we stopped doing that particular event. I had not however really tried her in any running type events. I knew from flyball

Apart form the ribbons and awards we had a great time. I got to see a bunch of my Eastern friends and see a bunch of new and beautiful terriers. I always enjoy the trials but it is so nice to be get to enjoy my friends on Canadian soil every once in a while as well.

The final update of the summer season comes from the world of flyball but so much happened in the 2011 season I think the recap deserves a post of it's own so stay tuned - it will be coming soon!

10 Simple Principles that all Jack Russells Live By

2011-08-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

I hear all the time how difficult JRTs are to train and yet I find them one of the simplest and uncomplicated dogs I have every worked with. They function on a couple of basic and unwavering principles and once a person understands these principles it makes training them an enjoyable, all be it entertaining, experience.

1) Jack Russells are fun loving dogs. They are ruled by their inner Freudian "Id" so to speak and want to be doing whatever is most fun. To convince them to do what you want all you have to do in convince them that it is the most fun activity in the world and only lucky lucky dogs get to engage in it. And, well, wouldn't luck have it you are looking for a dog to do it with right then and there!

2) Jack Russells want to be with you, they NEED to be with you. They can be social creatures who will learn to tolerate, and even enjoy, the company of other pets but what they really want, above all else, is to be with you. Once bonded they live by the mantra "if it's good enough for you it's good enough for me".

3) Principle #2 makes Principle #1 much easier to teach as whatever you are doing is, by default, possibly the most interesting thing in the world so if you look like you are having a great time doing it they will likely want to join you and there is your window of opportunity to engage them.

4) Jack Russells are sensitive. You may not notice it under their bristly, some times stand offish, exterior but if you punish them, discipline them too harshly or at the wrong time, or simply are not aware of the effort they are making to please you they will stop working for you. Period.

5) They have an amazing sense of fairness. Be fair in your requests, expectations, and corrections and they will respect you for it.

6) Jack Russells do not do delayed gratification. When they want something they want it now. Make sure you do not delay rewarding them or they will start to loose interest.

7) They work on a simple value system, they will happily give you any item you would like if you provide them with an item of higher value. Similarly, if they are doing something fun and you are doing something more fun, they will want to do that thing with you - every time.

8) Learn to laugh. These are happy, intuitive, dogs by nature and if they sense you are angry or frustrated (with them or anything else) they will also become angry or frustrated. If you have FUN, they will have fun and keep working for you and with you.

9) "Mistakes" happen, don't dwell on them and neither will they.

10) And possibly the most important principle I can think of. Jack Russell are like a mirror and will reflect back at you exactly how you are interacting with them. All dogs are like this to some degree but Jack Russells take it to the extreme so be very aware of exactly how you are feeling when you are working with them - if you do everything with them out of love and respect for them they will do everything out of love and respect for you.

I understand that not everyone who has a JRT had the luxury of getting them from a good breeder who instilled proper foundations but most of these puppy games will work in one modified version or another for any age of terrier.

When we start teaching our puppies as early as 3 weeks old we start ingraining all the important things we feel are necessary to having a happy balanced and highly trainable terrier. By keep my interactions with the puppies 100% positive and super fun (doesn't matter if they just bit me with razor sharp puppy teeth or not) I am starting to build the foundation of "people are fun to work with". When my puppies hear me come into the whelping room they start calling for me, and as soon as I step into their area they are crawling on me and under me, leaping up to give kisses and looking for attention and interaction. Every time I am with them we have fun, and lots of it.

As they age (around 4 weeks) I start working on recall. We teach them that and that while exploring and going off on your own is interesting, what ever I am doing when I call you is going to be WAY more fun. I always call them over in a very happy tone and play, snuggle, wrestle, and reward coming back to me. We reinforce this as they age by having treats or special toys and calling puppies in groups and as individuals for rewards. While this may seem like a basic, and easily trained command, to some JRTs are notorious for having poor recall and more often than not these early games help to produce the end result of an adult terrier that possesses excellent recall skills because it truly believes that whatever people are doing just HAS to be more fun than what they were doing.

We also play tug and exchange games. Playing with one toy, dropping it, switching to the next, dropping it, and then switching back. Doing this shows them that while toys are fun, toys attached to people are AMAZING. All my terriers when I am playing with them if I drop a toy will pick it up and try to shove it back in my hand (or face depending on how close they are to eye-level) to get me to continue the game. If I don't they will often abandon that toy and follow me around to see what fun thing I might be up to next.

We start trade games. If a puppy has a toy (never food as it is too high value), we trade them for a yummy yummy cookie by sitting down 2-3 feet away and calling them over. If they bring the toy with them that is fine, they will have to drop it to eat the cookie and then you can distract them by moving excitedly away from the toy. I never take the toy, or even bother to pick it up really at this stage, I just want them to leave what they are doing and come check out what I am doing. As they get a little older I start going over to where they are playing and putting my hand, palm up with cookies in it, on the thing they are playing with. At this stage most of my terriers will abandon the toy in search of more food which they are sure I have. Some will want to take the food and them steal the toy and run away at which point I follow them, slowly, and once I get to them I drop some cookies right in front of their nose. If they eat the cookies I will drop a few more an inch or so away, then a few more inches, and so on until we are about 2' from where we started. By this point they have often left the toy behind and are focused on the new trailing game. One of the ways you can use a puppy's short attention span to your advantage.

I always make sure to work with my puppies individually and with their litter mates or other dogs around. I want them to learn that I am the most fun thing in the world. I want them to truly believe I play all the best games and know where all the best toys and cookies are stashed. I want them to remain playing and engaged with me even as their sibling try to steal them away. I keep sessions short, fun, and sweet. While I may allow a litter mate or other dog to come over while I am playing with one puppy I will move them off when they got too close so the puppy I am playing with does not feel they need to drop what they are doing and tell them to "back off" themselves.

I protect my puppies at all costs. As young puppies they will naturally turn to me for security when they are scared or uncertain. A puppy who hears a strange loud noise in the yard will run over to me and then cock it's head, or bark, in the direction of the noise from the security of my lap. When I see one is getting picked on by a litter mate or other dog I will call them over and then "shoo" the other dog away. I teach them early that when you are with me you are safe and if you are in my 2' bubble of protection I will fight all your battles for you. This not only builds a bond that lasts the life time of these terriers but also curbs any aggression issues related to insecurity that a terrier may be prone to develop in it's future. Now this is not to say I allow my puppies to run over to me and pick on their litter mates from "high ground" on my lap, I set those puppies down beside me and move away. If they continue to jump on me it tells me that what looks like bullying is really insecurity so I pick them up and take them to do something else with just that puppy and I. Usually by the time we return whatever situation that made them so uncomfortable has passed and they are happy to go on being fun, social, puppies.

These are just a few examples of the things we do during the first 9 weeks of life with our puppies. I am sure that there are many many more I have forgotten to list but for me these are some of the core ones that address the most common problems people seem to have with these little white dogs. While I am adamant that these are most certainly not a dog for everyone I also hope that everyone who finds themselves living with a Jack Russell, for one reason or another, can learn to enjoy and experience the breed the way we have been so very fortunate to.

One more checkmark on the Bucket List

2011-08-20T19:52:00.003-07:00

It has always been a dream of mine to one day perform with my dogs in one of the world famous "Superdog" shows. Having grown up watching them as a child I was always in awe of the amazing canine athletes and as I aged I was even more in awe of the amazing people who handle and train them. Over the years I have kept an ear to the ground waiting to learn how I could get an opportunity to audition and this year everything just seemed to come together. I discovered that a long-time flyball friend of mine got her start in the sport due to Superdogs and was an integral part of their operation. I told her about my life-long admiration of this show and she worked her magic and facilitated an audition during the Saskatoon Exhibition shows this year.

Although we have a number of dogs that would be suitable for the show I chose Kiwi as my partner. Anyone who has met her and fallen, spellbound, for her enchanting ways will understand why. She has a presence, an energy, that far exceeds her athletic abilities and is impossible to ignore. Before the audition she only had the most basic of agility and disc training but her self confidence and trainability made me confident in my decision.

We arrived on the first day, Kiwi excited to be out in such a public venue and me a little nervous as to what was in store. It did not take long however for us to settle in and the familiar faces of my friends Courtney and Sam turned the nerves to excitement as I prepared to fulfill a life-long dream and check one more thing off my "bucket list". The whole week went by too quickly in a blur of people, dogs, new friends and laughter but some highlights stand out above all else:

The first time Kiwi did "Pat and Chat" after the show and I watched over a dozen people swarm around her, hands outstretched and petting every inch of her body. Even I felt a little claustrophobic in that setting but Kiwi, ever the social butterfly, soaked it all up and looked for more. The 8 more sessions of this to follow over the next 3 days did nothing to dissuade her of her notion that all people were put on this earth to love her.

The first time I asked her to run an obstacle course, complete with tunnels (an object she had never seen before) and she executed it with few errors - all of which could have been easily corrected with better handling.

Bringing Brynne on Thursday to expose him to the atmosphere and doing the final Pat and Chat of the day with him. He laid down on the podium and accepted all the attention like he was born into it, even handing out the occasional "kiss" on request to squealing and delighted children.

Stepping out onto the stage for my first show in front of 2500 people with Kiwi, looking out into the crowd and having only a brief moment to reflect before Kiwi hit her tug at full force and brought me back to reality.

Performing in my first Superdog relay event with Tov, my wonder puppy, and having her perform flawlessly - focused and unfazed by the large crowd. Time and time again I marvel at this little dog who was never supposed to be.

Making so many new friends who share similar passions to my own and meeting so many amazing trainers who skills and experience I will be drawing on for years to come.

It was a whirlwind and thoroughly exhausting week but I left on Friday happy and fulfilled and so very very proud of my dogs. I hope that there will be more opportunities in the future for us to perform with this amazing cast of canines and trainers but if "now" is the only time we have we certainly made every moment of it count and I would not trade in a single second.

Cali & Co.

2011-07-24T17:25:00.000-07:00

After a long wait Cali's puppies finally arrived the evening of Thursday the 21st. Her temperature dropped on Wednesday and she started to nest a little and show a few signs of discomfort so I stayed up with her all night and watched her as she slept peacefully beside my bed, blissfully unaware. By the next afternoon when there were still no puppies I was starting to get a little stressed but Cali was calm, cool, and collected so I waited. Around 7pm, almost 24 hours from the initial temperature drop, her water broke and minutes later we had our first puppy, a colorful little girl. The next one came 16 minutes later, a little boy with a half mask and a small spot on his bum. Cali was thrilled with them and continued to feed, clean, and dote on them for the next hour until the next one arrived at 8:06pm, another colorful little girl. We knew there was one more puppy to be had as we had done xrays and after waiting almost an hour and a half with no signs of any further contraction I was once again getting anxious. Cali however had a handle on the situation and gave birth to a beautiful, large, girl at 9:39pm. She was breech and had a slight purple tint to her back legs, a tell tale sign that she had been waiting a little too long to come, but she pinked up quickly and went right to nursing so I knew she would be fine. The final count was 3 girls and 1 boy, all healthy, happy and thriving, and Cali is in her glory being a mother. I am not sure I have ever seen her this content or at peace, it is like she was born to this job and I am sure she will enjoy these puppies even more once they get a little older and can play with her the way Sadie's last litter did. I myself can not wait to watch them grow and see what they blossom into as I think they are just beautiful but I am, after all, a little biased as I think their mother is just about the cutest litter terrors I have ever seen.

Fun from another angle

2011-07-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

This past weekend our dog sport club was proud to be host to the first disc (frisbee) seminar in Saskatoon. This has become my new addiction and while I still adore playing flyball with the Inseguire gang disc offers some new and exciting challenges for both the dogs and myself. It was a hot, hot, weekend and we spent the better part of Saturday working on our throwing skills without the dogs. Most dogs will catch a frisbee quite readily once they turn on to it, but they can only be successful if the disc is thrown correctly to them and that is what Saturday was all about. We threw hundreds of discs with different spin, angles, and grips, and only once we felt confident we could offer our dogs "nice" throws did we pull them out into the heat. All the morning work paid off when we did a mock "Distance and Accuracy" event where longest, successful, catch wins. The dogs were running out and for the most part able to catch at least a few of our throws. Sadie has always really enjoyed this aspect of the game and happily tracks the discs wherever I throw them. Once I can reliably hit a target Kiwi's speed should be an asset to her but she lacks the tracking skills of her mother so I will really need to up my game for her to be successful. We took a short brake for an early pot-luck BBQ dinner and then were back out in the field, again without the dogs for our own "D&A" event which consisted of throwing a disc between the standards of a flyball jump at 10 and 20 meters then running to the other side and throwing it back, into the wind, between a jump placed at 10 meters. It was a lot harder than it sounds as it is a very small target to hit but our group did well and we could really start to see the progress we were all making especially in the areas of disc control.

Thankfully Sunday was a little cooler and we switched gears to freestyle tricks for the second day. This is where my real interest lies. I love the flashy freestyle routines performed at disc events and demos and the girls love working on their aerials and tricks. Up to this point Sadie had not been too keen on jumping up for discs, she has always been quite content to track them and snatch them up as the reach eye level but she has left the flashier leaps to the younger dogs. I was more than a little surprised, but quite pleased, when she readily vaulted off my leg and left 5+ feet into the air after a disc. After that there was no slowing her down, she worked on back stalls, foot stalls (standing on my feet) and vaulting with an enthusiasm I have not seen in her in years. It was really wonderful to see her turn back the clock half a decade and out jump her much younger daughter on multiple occasions. Now Kiwi is no slouch, her vaulting is impressive and her back stalls are really improving but she has always been a careful and thoughtful terrier and add to that the fact that she is still easily distracted and she is much more of a challenge to work. I have to constantly keep her moving - catching, tugging, jumping - and I need to make sure she is successful as nothing disengages her more than too many missed throws in a row. Like everything else at this point, all she needs is a little more time in the sport and a little more maturity and I think she will have a bright future.
Tov attended the seminar as well as she has been showing a keen interest in discs and a natural ability to catch them from all angles. This little girl never ceases to amaze me and wowed everyone with her drive and athleticism all weekend excelling in not only D&A but also in the freestyle tricks as well. She is such a fun little dog.
All in all it was a fun weekend. We learnt a ton, spent 2 beautiful days outside with friends, and I got to enjoy a weekend doing something new and different with my girls. Now to sit at home for the next week and watch Cali as she gets ready to whelp, I did however promise her that once the puppies were out mommy had some great new games to play with her - hopefully that speeds along the process!

MAWTA

2011-07-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

Inseguire Keepsake and Ruffwinds Riddock
Reserve Open Terrier and Open Terrier Champion Respectively

Once again the Inseguire gang headed down to Nebraska at the end of June for the MAWTA Trial. The two-day trip is always well worth it as this is a fantastic trial in a beautiful location. The surrounding areas are rich with quarry and the dogs and I spent the Friday before the trial and the Monday after hunting with friends. Unfortunately we did not get into anything exciting on either excursion but I suppose that is why they call it "hunting" and not "finding". The trial that happened in between turned out to be the highlight of the weekend. Saturday started off well with Kiwi coming in second in flat racing and winning the hurdles in her division (over females). She was in serious contention in the final against some large, fast, older males when she misjudged the height of the last hurdle and nicked it with her back legs. How she did not crash into a somersault I will never fully understand but her athleticism and determination helped her do a hand-walk for a few strides and get right back into the race. Unfortunately for her it happened so near the finish she did not have a chance to place competitively. Thankfully though she did not injure herself and went on to help her mom win the family class later that day.

Sunday came early and we were back at the track, fresh and ready for another shot at the boys. Kiwi had her game face on and won both the flat and hurdle legs of her division handily. Being her first trial over high hurdles (puppies jump lower) she had to learn to adjust her stride and jump a little higher. You could tell in the steeplechase race she was jumping very deliberately and paying close attention to her take offs and landings and it paid off. She ran hard in the championship race and just got nosed out by a more experienced dog, but she beat everyone else so she won the Reserve Championship! We had a little time before conformation started so I ran Sadie through the barn hunt and she found her mark in less than twenty seconds, good enough for 3rd when all was said and done. I also took Robert over to run the lure and burn off a little energy. He loved it and placed 4th overall. By this time conformation was starting and with so many dogs in open conformation this year things were a little hectic for me. I asked one of the young terrier men, Ross, if he would be so kind as to pull out Kiwi for me and hold her the ring gate as there were no classes between her's and Cali's. As I walked out the ring with Cali and was about to exchange dogs Patti, the trial organizer and his mother suggested I let Ross take her in as they had been warming up really nicely together and he has loved Kiwi since he first saw her as a 6 month old puppy. I agreed as Kiwi obviously enjoyed his company as well and I would have the novel experience of getting to watch once of my dogs compete. They were a dynamic pair and won their class and then went on to win the Open Bitch Championship! Unbeknownst to me Ross ran out of bait at this point but kept his cool and showed her like a pro as the judge spent 20 minutes going over her and the winner of the Males class. Now Kiwi is not an easy dog to show, she does not like to stand still and she gets distracted very easily. Part of it is her youth and inexperience and part of it is who she is and what makes her so irresistibly charming so Ross did an amazing job keeping her on task and semi-still all that time to win the Reserve Open Terrier Championship. Not to shabby when the dog in front of her is the reigning 2010 National Champion! I could not have been more proud of my little hooligan, and the young man at the end of her leash.

Patton and Sadie did not disappoint either with Patton taking the Reserve Colored Terrier Championship both days to a striking red Fell, and Sadie once again winning the family championship with Kiwi and Cali at her side. Even though Cali ballooned up in the car on the way down and really started to show her pregnancy I put her in the ring anyway and she did quite well never missing the ribbons even though she was getting a little thick around the middle.

All in all it was a great weekend of sunshine, terriers, and good friends. The hunting was a great time to catch up with some people I don't see nearly often enough and I learnt a lot from one of the UK judges who is a professional terrierman on how to dig a better hole and how to keep after a groundhog as they dig away. This weekend marks the end of our terrier trial season until Nationals as I will now be home with Cali and her puppies and just enjoying the next generation of Inseguire Terriers.

A Matter of Trust

2011-07-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

We just got home from a week-long trip to Nebraska and while I have many highlights and stories to share I wanted take a minute to first address one particular event before I sort my thoughts on the rest of the weekend. It was Sunday night after the trial, the car was packed to come home complete with dogs and it was a cool evening so I made the choice to leave them crated in their familiar car rather than bring them back to the hotel and crate the in a strange place. Everyone was quiet and tired from a long day so I rolled down the windows a little and left them sleeping peacefully. A little while later as we were ordering dinner I lifted my head in reflex to visually confirm my car was still there and nothing looked amiss. I could see nothing. Literally nothing beyond the window of the restaurant for the rain that was sheeting down from the sky. I then heard the siren, the signal that a questionable storm was on it's way. Not thinking much beyond needing to see my dogs and rolling up the windows of my car which I was sure would be flooded at this point I ran out the door and was soaked instantly. When I got to the car, a mere 15 feet from the door, the dogs were howling, Sadie was hiding under some gear in the back and everyone was generally uneasy. I started the car, rolled up the windows, and turned on the radio to damper the sounds of the insistent siren. I then let my dogs loose and they instantly piled on my lap. A few soft kisses, a wary look or two outside, and they fell asleep content, feeling nothing but secure and completely safe now that "mommy" was here. It was one of those moments in life that really made me realize the bond that is shared between us. My dogs and I have always been close and have shared an eerie kinship that not many people can understand but in that moment it was made clear to me just how deep that bond goes. When I sat down in that car and they heard my voice the whole atmosphere changed. They went from stressed and scared to relaxed and secure, in an instant they believed with every fiber of their being that when I am present nothing bad could ever happen to them. I sat there with them for twenty minutes as 80mph winds rocked the vehicle. I watched the sky for signs of a funnel cloud and prepared myself for a potential mad-dash to the restaurant door with 5 dogs in tow. Thankfully the sky cleared and all went back to as it was withing the span of a half hour but the whole experience for me was deeply moving. It once again served to reminded me of the awesome responsibility we assume when we accept guardianship of an animal, and that true love is a matter of trust, a trust that is beyond merely taking a leap of faith, or doing something despite initial hesitation. Trust in a deeper, purified sense. A trust that does not waiver, or question, but truly believes that no matter the circumstance and no matter the cause that which you value most deeply will be protected and endure. This is the kind of trust we, regrettably, find so rarely in our human world. It is a trust that must be earned through our actions and fortified over time through reliability and dependence. It requires a benefactor free of misgiving and a recipient who will recognize and respect that which has been bestowed upon them. While I know beyond question that I am a better person for having my dogs it is nice to once and a while be reminded that their lives are better for having me as well.

Moose Jaw Mania

2011-06-20T20:17:00.000-07:00

We spent last weekend in Moose Jaw helping to host our "home" tournament. Even though we live 2hrs away we love our teammates and can not imagine playing with anyone else. The tournament was held in the same building as we practice and Friday night set up went smoothly and most of it was done by the time we got there from Saskatoon. We arrived in time to set up our crates and help with a few last minute details before heading off to a teammates house for the night.

Saturday morning came all too early, as it always does, but the excitement of the racing erases the fog quickly. Kiwi's team got off to a bang running in the 17s right off the bat. This is our fastest team, our Div 1 contenders, and Kiwi filled the big shoes left by her sister Cali with ease. Every time I race this little dog I am amazed. Cali works hard to do the 4.6s and 4.7s she posts but Kiwi easily ticks off 4.6s and a few in the 4.5 range. By the last race on Sunday, a little worn from the weekend, she still managed to post a new personal best of 4.5 flat meaning 4.4s and better are not too far off! Sadie was a trooper all weekend and earned her FMX (10,000 pts) which is half way to her ONYX title, a major honor in flyball. Tov was, as always now, super consistent and ran a number of 4.9s with a pass. That little girl runs her heart out every time and gives you everything she's got, I could not ask for a more honest little dogs! By the end of the weekend Kiwi had her FDCh-G, Sadie her FMX, Riley his FM (not bad for a dog who was never supposed to run!), and Tov was only 100pts off her FDCH-G too. Kiwi's team also set a new club record mid Sunday of 17.095 - 16s are just around the corner for that group! It was a great weekend, but I have to say I missed my little Cali. Flyball is her thing and it was a little weird to be playing without her. Oh well, soon enough I will have her back in the lanes with me and hopefully a new little daughter who can watch and learn from mommy.

St Croix Terrier Trial

2011-05-20T09:22:00.000-07:00

Event 2 of this past month involves the always exciting first trial of our JRTCA season. This year we chose to kick off a little early and attend the St Croix Terrier Trials in Lake Elmo MN. Structured a little differently than your typical terrier trial it was a JRTCA sanctioned trial on Saturday and an AWTA (American Working Terrier Association) trial on Sunday. The drive down was long but thankfully uneventful and we met up with old friends immediately upon our arrival. Being isolated up here in the "Great White North" I miss my American and Canadian terrier friends dearly over the winter and as such I am always very happy to have the opportunity to catch up with them. Friday evenings dinner was one of stories, cocktails, and good food - all the things a meeting of good terrier men and women should entail. Afterwards I unpacked the dogs, settled into the hotel, and was in bed at a shockingly reasonable hour.

With Kiwi now an adult I did not have to be at the racetrack quite as early as I had last year but for someone used to not having to have dogs ready to go until afternoon when conformation starts anything before 10am seems torturous. The weather as well was not entirely with us on Saturday as a little drizzle made for a damp start. Kiwi of course did not mind one bit, so long as there is a lure and a track she is happy to run in any conditions. She made her adult debut in style and won the Over Bitches flat race and then went on to take the hurdles race as well securing her a spot in the championship race. As an adult the initial races are separated by gender so the winner of the flat and hurdle races for boys and girls compete in the final. Like Kiwi the same dog won both the flat and hurdles so it was just the two of them for the Championship. It was a thrilling race to say the least as they ran neck and neck down the course, hit the hole together (an event that always makes me catch my breath) and ended in a dead heat! A rerun saw Kiwi come out victorious but I think that close match let her know the "big boys" will not be easy to outrun. We spent the rest of the day over at conformation where Kiwi and Robert took respectable thirds in their Open Conformation divisions and Robert won his suitability to Raccoon/Badger class. Sadie was the Veteran Terrier Champion and Patton took the Colored Terrier Championship.

There was no racing on Sunday so we were able to fall back into our old routine of sleeping in a little and taking our time arriving at the trial site. The day was much more inviting with near perfect temperatures and enough wind to keep any bugs that had been thinking about coming out away. While we waited for conformation to start I ran Robert through the Go-to-Ground tunnel and it did not take him long to figure out what he was supposed to be doing there. Cali and Patton both did a little trailing and locating work as I am hoping that Patton will take over as my tracking dog this summer once Cali has been bred. He did quite well on the scent trail, despite high winds, and as he matures a little more I think he will become a handy terrier to have around.

A cup of coffee and a little lunch later and conformation was ready to start. Cali was first in the ring and impressed me immensely taking the win in her class over some nice littler terriers and going on to take Reserve Champion Open Bitch. Robert repeated her performance in a little while later and took Reserve Champion Open Dog. We had a little fun and entered Cali, Kiwi, and Robert in the "Tool Box" class which they eventually won over some pretty handy competition.

All in all it was a great weekend filled with friends, of both the old and new variety, dogs, and pretty colored ribbons. What more could a girl want from life?

Warmen Flyball

2011-05-20T09:20:00.000-07:00

As I have been a little negligent in my blogging I have 2 posts, from 2 different weekends, that each deserve separate billing. Here is the first. Mother's Day weekend, May 7th and 8th, saw us close to home in Warmen SK for the annual River Runner's flyball tournament. This year was a little extra special as it also marked our 1 year anniversary with Furry Flash. All our teams ran very well all weekend but there were a few special highlight moments that certainly stand out. Tov came back from a month break (due to a spay surgery) to run full time as the sole height dog on her team. She was solid all weekend and earned enough points to achiever her FDCh-S title. Kiwi ran part time with KAOS, a team from Regina, and never posted a time over 5 seconds. Her box turn seems to be coming along better and I am hopeful she will be ready to run in a more regular position soon. Sadie was great running full time once again and she even helped one of the younger handler in our club earn her Junior Handler pin for running her an entire race. Cali was once again my star of the weekend as she posted a new personal best of 4.65s on Sunday morning and then went on the achieve her FMX (10, 000 pts) title that afternoon. Considering she has only been running flyball for not quite a year and a half I am beyond proud of her. I will very much miss running her this summer once she has been bred as her enthusiasm and love of the game is infectious and always brings a smile to my face.

Spring has SPRUNG

2011-04-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

With winter slowing releasing it's grasp on Saskatchewan and the snow receding for another year we can finally take the dogs outside to play a little. While the tans and browns of spring do not set the ideal backdrop for photography I was never the less anxious to get some action shots of my new addiction, disc. We have been fiddling around with a frisbee here and there in the upstairs training room this winter but I need a larger area to really test out the dogs, so I was on hiatus until my yard was once again usable. A little damp still, and sacrificing some lawn to do it (I will certainly have to reseed this spring) I got the opportunity I have been waiting for all winter, to really throw some discs for the dogs. They were all outstanding in their first practice and it soon became clear that it will be my throwing skills that hold us back not their catching! I look forward to having the opportunity to improve my skills and theirs this summer, and who knows maybe we will even make it to Alberta for a competition or two...

The best gifts come in small white packages

2011-04-17T14:02:00.000-07:00

Through the generosity of my friend Diane of Pinnacle Terriers I am proud to welcome Dig It Obsession (aka "Robert") to Inseguire for the summer of 2011. As a rule I don't normally keep JRT males here at Inseguire since we are a small kennel and I prefer to move forward exclusively through my female line and not limit my stud choices in any way. On occasion though we are pleased to be able to welcome a "visitor" for a few months, especially when that visitor is a sweet and kind as Robert!

Robert is by one of my very favorite terriers, Shelmar Double Dose, and out of a JRTCA National winning bitch Little Eden Sassafras. He is a lovely individual and has many characteristics that remind me of his father, one of which is his super sweet personality. His littermates and siblings have been doing amazing things in the show ring the last couple of years and we are looking forward to having Robert out with us this summer.

So far he is fitting in well to our kennel and has already figured out where all the best lounging spots are around the house. He gets along very well with all our dogs, terriers and otherwise, and is becoming more comfortable initiating play with them. We look forward to getting to know this boy a little better over the summer and look forward to having some fun with him in the show ring and hunt field!

Flyball Season Opener

2011-02-27T20:17:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was our first flyball tournament of the season and the very first tournament ever for Overdrive Dog sports. We drove to Edmonton AB with Sadie, Cali, Riley, and Kiwi listed on a team with Utah and Sarge from Wild. It was a bit of a hail marry team as it was Kiwi's first tournament, Cali was being handled by my friend Tiffany (she has never been handled by anyone but me), and Riley has never been asked to run full time but we figured whatever happened we would have a great time. The girls from Wild have always been very fun to run with and we were meeting our friends from Good 2 Go there as well so it had the makings of a very good weekend yet I was nervous and excited at the same time. The debut of my new dogs combined with the debut of my flyball team was a lot of excitement.

As Saturday got underway and the dogs were running near flawlessly I was able to relax a little more and just enjoy the game we all love. Kiwi debuted like she had been doing this her whole life. Her turn needs a little work still but she LOVES the game and that enthusiasm is infectious. Cali ran super for Tiffany and Riley never missed a beat. Even Sadie, a year to the day from her accident, was pumped about the racing. Utah from Wild earned his ONYX on Saturday and Sarge debuted and earned his FD and FDX like a pro. The whole teamed gelled amazingly well and the full time dogs earned over 500 points apiece. What more could a girl ask for? The only down side of Saturday was a friend's dog got injured, thankfully only a minor injury, but it would preclude her from racing for the rest of the weekend. They had traveled a very long way to attend this tournament and had not brought any extra dogs which meant they were going to be a dog down for Sunday. After talking it over with the rest of the team we decided to lend them Tov. It would be her first tournament run but they had another very green dog she could share the spot with in case one of them had trouble.

A little power shopping at West Edmonton Mall with Tiffany Saturday night and a good night sleep, facilitated by now tired dogs, had us up early and recharged for Sunday. Once again I was thrilled with my crew, they ran their hearts out and had very few unclean runs. Tov was the real star though. She had very little time to warm up on Sunday before being asked to run her first race but she never missed a beat. She earned her FD and FDX handily and put up some pretty good times. As I sat on the floor, eating my lunch that day, surrounded by my dogs and friends I couldn't help but think I am truly blessed to be able to do this. What a fantastic weekend, I cant wait for the rest of the season!

Playing in the snow

2011-01-19T11:25:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since I have had the time to really sit down and write an update. Things around here are pretty normal for Saskatchewan in the winter time. We hide indoors when it is cold and venture out bundled in our jackets when it is above -20. One new change this year is a dog swimming pool has opened up in the city and despite the hefty membership cost we are thoroughly enjoying spending a few nights a week there. It keeps the dogs working even when it is too cold to venture out and they LOVE swimming so it is a real treat for them. Flyball season will be starting again soon and we have both Tovy and Kiwi to look forward to debuting. In the interim Cali and Tovy have started agility training to challenge them a little more and it is something I have always wanted to do. They are doing incredibly well and both are mastering the basics with ease. Once Kiwi is a little farther along in her flyball training I may enroll her in a class as well. Other than that thins are pretty normal, trying to stay warm and keep the dogs from going stir crazy!

JRTCA Nationals

2010-11-03T21:42:00.000-07:00

Kiwi and Cactus

Grandmother Cairnbrae Image and Granddaughter Inseguire Keepsake

Although this post is slightly delayed in coming I can assure you that the excitement of the 2010 JRTCA Nationals has far from dulled at this house. At the end of October Kiwi and I flew to Ottawa to meet up with Sandra and the Brockwood Terriers for the drive down to Gettysburg Pennsylvania. Our trip was a relaxed one and I enjoyed Sandra's company immensely as I normally make these long trips alone. Kiwi travelled very well and, as usual, settled in to the hotel quickly.

Traveling with just one terrier was also a unique experience for me and while it was much less hectic I will definitely bring a few more to the 2011 Nationals. The decision to leave everyone else at home was not one I made lightly but the logistics of sending 2-3 more terriers by plane cargo when it is winter here was just not feasible.

The National Trial is 3 day event with racing on Friday, Working and Puppy Conformation on Saturday and Open Conformation on Sunday. This was the first yer the trial was to be held in Gettysburg PA and picturesque setting could not have been found. Gettysburg is a beautiful city rich with history and the trail site was no exception. set in the rolling hills surrounding the city a backdrop of fall colors surrounded us as we kicked off the 2010 JRTCA Nationals.

Friday morning saw Kiwi and I up bright and early for racing. With so many terriers in attendance racing has a whole day devoted exclusively to it. This was the first time Kiwi and I had ever experienced multiple heats and multiple runoffs before the divisional finals and while I knew she was pretty fit there was defiantly going to be a LOT of racing for her that day. Kiwi has never been officially "trained" to race, I honestly just popped her in the box in Nebraska so she would settle down little for the conformation ring later that day, but she loved it so much we continued to enter. she has steadily improved over the course of the year learning to wait patiently in the starting box, so as to have a cl en start , and that the whole goal is getting to the other side of the finish hole first. Kiwi loves to run though, loves it, and the Nationals would put to the test everything she had learnt throughout the year. The flat races went well and Kiwi earned herself spot in that final. An unlucky draw saw us in box 1, meaning the longest wait until they are sprung, and her start suffered little for it. she managed to come in a respectable third but that is not enough to make the final championship runoff - only 1st place finishers get the chance to compete for that.

After a short lunch break, and a little shopping on my part, we were back over at the lanes for the hurdles/steeplechase portion of racing. True to the versatile nature of these terriers they are required to be exceptional on the flat as well as over jumps to qualify for the championship. This has always been Kiwi's event, she seems to excel over the jumps and always moves up a few placings from her flat races. My heart was in my throat as I watched her win her heat, then have to re-run as two of the dos in the race got sidetracked with each other. she repeated her success in her heat and we were in the final, in a must-win situation to earn a spot in the championship race. I loaded her into the box and crossed my fingers as they sprung them. she got a clean start and maintained her position at the top of the pack the whole race. Over the last hurdle, and just before the hole, Kiwi showed her determination to win by accelerating even faster and ducking in a length the better! Our first National blue ribbon!!

I spent the next few hours waiting for the championship run off alternating between excited and nervous. Kiwi is n exceptional athlete but these are the best of the best and it is just a honor to be in their company. Finally the time came and we loaded the three competing terriers into the box, the flat winner from the 9-12 mo overs, the flat and hurdle winner from the 6-9 mo overs won by the same do, and Kiwi. This final was to be run the first half on the flat and the last half over hurdles so as to give everyone an equal chance. Before I knew it they were off, packed together as they raced down the lane. They hit the first hurdle in tight bunch, Kiwi in third, and took the next two about the same way. When they hit the final hurdle and Kiwi saw the lure disappear into the hole she kicked into another ear and sprinted away to claim the 2010 title by 3 full lengths! I had tears in my eyes when I picked her up from the catchers, I was so proud of my little girl.

The euphoria lasted the rest of the trip. Saturday morning came way too early, as the second day of any trial seems to, but I was not nearly a nervous I have been walking Kiwi into the conformation ring. she showed beautifully and even with a hue class of puppies remained focused until the very end. I was thrilled when she was picked out in the top 6 and even more elated when she received a third behind two very nice terrier as she had even more exceptional terriers behind her. Beauty, brains, and athletic ability - what more could I ever ask for?

With all our main events over and just some fun ones left I spent the rest of the trip cheering on my friends and oohing and aahing over all the beautiful white dogs surrounding me. I had the opportunity to meet Sadie's mother Image for the very first time and spent most of my Sunday with her tucked under my arm. My other big thrill of the weekend was to watch Kiwi and Glenlidi Cactus Flash be expertly handled by Penny Jukes to a win in the matched pairs class. Cactus is a stunning dog who went on to take Reserve best Open do on Sunday and is Kiwi's identical twin in many ways despite the fact that they are only distantly related. What a wonderful trip it was to see all my friends from both sides of the country, not to mention Canada, and make some new ones. The memories will hopefully last me the long, cold, Saskatchewan winter until I can get down to Nebraska again in the spring and start my 2011 season!

The True Cost of a Dream:

20 Thousand Miles

10 Oil Changes

16 Nights in a Hotel

2 Rental Cars

4 Plane Tickets

6 Dogs (give or take)

3 Months off Work

_______________

Winning a National Championship - PRICELESS

Duck, Duck, Goose!

2010-10-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

As fall, and with it winter, fast approaches I have been sorting through all my summer shots. Some of the best times we have had this summer have been down in the pond at the facility where I board my horses. Sadie has LOVED the water as long as I can remember and will use any excuse to go for a swim. More than once when she was out while I was working with a horse she would take off, full speed, down to the pond for an unauthorized dip. Both Cali and Riley, having been exposed to water before, were excited to fetch things out of the pond and all this eventually led us to invest in some lovely neon-colored plastic fetch toys. Of course we would own 3 by years end, one for Cali, one for Sadie, and a bigger one for Riley.

Having such convenient access to the pond also allowed us to introduce the puppies to the water. Kiwi was hesitant at first but once she discovered that the water was simply part of the greater game of fetch she would dive right in. Tovy, always the surprise, did not even hesitate for a moment the fist time I brought her out and jumped in after the lure like she has been doing it her whole life! Unfortunately Patton was still too young by season's end to have the confidence to leap in after the older dogs but he did wade right up to his chin in his attempts to recover lures just off shore.

All in all this pond was the sight of many summer memories for the Inseguire gang and we will look forward to spring and the chance to play in it again!

JRTCC Nationals 2010

2010-09-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

The JRTCC Nationals Trial was held this weekend in Paris Ontario, only 45 short minutes from where we have been staying. This is the premier show in Canada for Jack Russell Terriers and the competition is always fierce. Top kennels from Canada and America come to compete for the coveted titles of JRTCC Champion and Reserve. Unlike the typical JRT trial which is two - one day trials, this is one two-day trial with only one shot to win, and one judge to impress. The girls, as always, did not disappoint.

Saturday was Racing for Kiwi and Veteran Conformation for Sadie. Eight thirty am saw Kiwi bright eyed and bushy tailed anxiously awaiting the start of racing, and me desperately wanting a second cup of coffee! All of that exhaustion from a 5am start to the day would soon be forgotten through as Kiwi put in an impressive performance to win Over Puppy Racing Champion! As he day went on it got cooler and cooler and wetter and wetter. Miserable weather for a dog show but the girls kept warm and dry in the comfort of the heated car and it was only I who had to suffer the elements trying to make sure we would be in the right place at the right time. I was shivering by the time Sadie's class was due in the ring and wrapped in a blanket we waited outside the ring to be called in. Sadie is as close to a push-button show dog as they come, you simply put her on a lead and walk off knowing she will be strutting her stuff beside you. In the ring she simply stacks herself and shines and I have been spoiled all these years having her at my side. Even with the inclement weather she never missed a beat and earned herself the honor of Best Veteran bitch and the Reserve Veteran Terrier Championship!

By Sunday morning all evidence of the previous day's miserable weather had disappeared save a few dew drops that would burn off shortly in the crisp fall sun. Today was Open Conformation for Sadie, her curtain call in this division as Kiwi will take her spot next year, and Canadian Bred Puppy Conformation for Kiwi. Sadie was once again simply lovely and even though she was the oldest terrier in the toughest class she still managed a top-3 placing at this National event! A true testament to how wonderful dog she really is! A short while later and I was back in the ring with her daughter Kiwi, who is to say the least little more difficult to show. Kiwi has an incredible mount of exuberance and a 3 second attention span. This is not to say she is not incredibly showy, she is just a terror to handle. The goal in the show ring is to show your dogs best attributes at all times one can imagine how difficult it is to get a 9 month old Jack Russell puppy who has other ides to stand pretty for any length of time! Despite all this Kiwi showed enough flashes of brilliance to capture the Canadian Bred Puppy Championship! I am always proud of my girls but I was particularly thrilled by this weekends affirmation that our terriers can compete with some of the best!

Another Year Comes to a Close

2010-09-12T20:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend marked the end of the fiscal flyball year for 2010. It was a year of ups and downs but on the whole I have to say a pretty good one. Cali debuted in Souris, MB in October of 2009 when Sadie came into heat a little early. Despite having absolutely no practice passing, or running with dogs in the other lane, she was wonderful and earned her first two titles, FD and FDX. The next tournament was in February and after a winter of working on her box turn Cali came out and ran in the sub 5s right off the bat. She has been solid ever since. This tournament was also Sadie's first back after having her puppies and she ran well until a border collie from her team went AWOL and went after her. This was the beginning of a grueling 5 months recovery process that, while frustrating at times, taught me a lot about bringing a dog back from being attacked and rebuilding confidence. Topher (Inseguire Christopher C) also debuted for the Lloydminster Hotdoggers this weekend and earned his FD and FDX title. By years end he and his handler Donna would earn 3700 points and set a PB of 5.2!

Shortly after that tournament came the decision to switch flyball clubs. This has always been about the dogs for us, and while we do it for them we need to consider our enjoyment as well. Flyball is our hobby,we do it to kick back, relax, and enjoy some time with our dogs and teammates a few weekends a year. We are highly competitive when we line our dogs up to race but once we walk them off the mats we leave all that behind. Finding a club that shared our outlook was not too hard and we will be forever grateful to Furry Flash for allowing us to join in their fun!

This last year with them has been awesome. Cali has held a full-time height dog position all year and earned a whopping 6200 points and a PB of 4.7. Sadie recovered to enough to run a few races and earn her FM (5000pts), and while she is not yet back up to full speed I am confident that in time she will get there. Riley even made his debut after 3 years and has been solid as a start dog posting times in the 4.2-4.5 range. None of this though could have been done with out the guidance nd support of Ken, Christine, and the entire Furry Flash club. It is going to be hard to top this year but with both Kiwi and Tovy to look forward to running in the future we just might!

Northgate 2010

2010-09-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

Spending a little time in the East definitely has it's advantages, one of them being much more access to JRTCA trials. Since we are out here anyway we decided to make the quick hop to New Jersey for the weekend and attend the Northgate trial for the very first time. Held at Doug and Susan Tack's place it has to be one of the most beautiful venues for a trail I have ever seen. Their farm is cut into the side of a mountain and sprawled across woodlands with trees so old I could not even begin to guess their age. It was breathtaking to say the least and set up wonderfully for terrier trials, with the racetrack a permanent fixture and ever thing easily accessible. Friday night was a lovely BBQ and social at the house and I had a wonderful time socializing with old friends and meeting new ones.

The competition in the East very stiff and such a nice venue and a well run trial attracts the best of the best in the terrier world. Saturday morning racing came early but was a lot of fun! Kiwi was second in both flats and hurdles to the very fast Farmcliff Sarah so she did not make the finals but the exercise paid off and she was somewhat behaved in the conformation ring. I have to admit that I always feel a little nauseous before I walk Kiwi into the ring, the combination of knowing she is pretty nice terrier and her being a terror to show makes my stomach do back flips. She has so much energy and enthusiasm that she does not always show herself as well as she could and that is where my lack of handling experience (comparatively to these kennels that have been in this business for 15+ years) are not always the best combination. Thankfully Martyn Hulms is a forgiving soul and saw through all her antics awarding Best Bitch Puppy and a few minutes later Overall Puppy Champion! I could not have been more elated! She beat some very nice dogs and to have her be puppy I bred and raised just made it that much sweeter! Sadie carried on the winnings taking Best Veteran Bitch, and held her own with the much younger dogs in the open conformation classes.

Sunday morning saw us back at the racetrack bright and early with young terrier who had now spent the bulk of two days in her crate and was more than a little anxious to get running! Once again in the flats she was second to Farmcliff Sarah but not by much. A rematch in the hurdles gave a few tense moments but Kiwi prevailed a length the better and earned herself spot in the over puppy finals. She seems to really excel over the hurdles and as luck would have it that is how the finals in terrier racing are run. This particular trial chose to remove the last two hurdles making the race a half and half and meaning it would be a much tighter finish as Sarah tends to be better on the flat and Kiwi better over the hurdles. A post draw to the outside and a good break put Kiwi in a great position and she battled it out with Sarah every step of the way. She really put her heart into the race and managed to hold off the rest of the competition and win Over Puppy Racing Champion! Although she did not fare as well in the show ring that day the versatility she showed me this weekend taking Championships in both venues once again speaks volumes to the abilities of this little girl!

With that success we are now on our way to Canadian Nationals and hope to repeat at least some of it the last weekend in September!

Go East Young Ladies...

2010-08-20T19:31:00.000-07:00

Kiwi is still learning how to break fast but boy does she come on strong at the end!

She may not be ahead yet just give her another few feet!

It has been a long time since Inseguire attended a trial in the East, not since Sadie was a very young dog in fact, and it was time to come "home" to where my love of terriers began. Although I acquired my very first "Jack Russell" in Alberta more than decade ago it was not until I moved out east that I started tending JRTCA trials. It did not take long for the terrier bug to hit me and when my first special girl was taken from me all too soon I knew that my life would never be complete without a terrier in it. I loved my little short legged "puddin" Russell but I knew that I wanted my next one to be of show quality and suitable for breeding. After searching around I purchased Sadie from a breeder in Pennsylvania, although she carries an Ontario kennel name as her mother was purchased on what is known as a "breeders contract" which in short means the first litter whelped from the female belongs to the original breeder. It is much more complex than that but that can be the topic of it's own blog post one day. Back on track, a women from New York state, Michelle Ward of Little Eden JRTs, offered to bring 9 week old Sadie from Pennsylvania to her place in NY and shorten my drive to pick her up substantially. This was my first encounter with Michelle and I will never forget being in awe of just how much he knew about these little white dogs. She spent a good two hours with me educating me on what was in store for me now that I had joined the ranks of JRT breeders and armed with this new knowledge and a wonderful new puppy I drove the 3.5 hrs home ready to set the world on fire.

Sadie and I travelled up and down the East coast together, showing when we had time, but mostly she kept me company as I moved around for work. She always did well in the show ring and was my constant companion. My work schedule kept me from breeding her though until I moved back out West and that is when "Inseguire" was really born. The two litters she has produced to date have really put us on the map and it was time to come back to where it all began and show everyone just how far we have really come.

Many of the faces were new to me but there were some familiar old ones, including Michelle who had not seen Sadie since she was a baby. It was so great to see everyone again and have the opportunity to show of my pride and joy, Kiwi. That little puppy is really everything I could ever hope for and more and she did me proud winning Best Overall Puppy again on Sunday and much to my surprise, Over Puppy Racing Champion as well! I is not too often that you see a conformation dog cross over into racing, which surprises me because correct structure should be an asset, and Kiwi did it with style. The dogs that come to this trial to run are some of the fastest in the country and after working out the kinks on Saturday (this was only her 3rd time racing after all!) she had things down pat and easily put away the competition on Sunday. She loves racing, the way Cali loves flyball, so I my just enter her for Nationals in both arenas if things work out. Sadie was, as always, solid in the show ring never placing worst than 3rd against some of the top dogs/kennels. She also won ribbons in barn hunt and lure coursing- her 2 favorite JRT sports!

Even though we had none of our regular gear, and had to borrow n ex-pen to house Kiwi, we made do and had a great time! The hospitality was fantastic, the weather cooperated nicely and the chairs, shade, and cold drinks provided by new friends made the whole experience all that much more enjoyable. I look forward to coming out this way again, hopefully sometime soon.

Taking the Plunge - Dock Dogs 2010!

2010-08-04T00:18:00.000-07:00

Inseguire attended the Dock Dogs competition in Prince Albert, SK. Dock Dogs is a competition where a dog runs off a 40 foot dock placed 2 feet above the water and are judged on the length of their jump. Basically it is a long jump competition for dogs. Sounds simple? Well getting your dog to actually jump off the end of the dock proves to be a real challenge. All our dogs love to swim and spend 3 days a week or more retrieving things out of a pond. They will splash and dive in without hesitation all day long, but asking them to jump 2 feet down off the dock is a completely different story.

My biggest motivation to drive down to give this a try was Sadie. She adores swimming and you never see her more excited than when she is retrieving things out of the water. She did not disappoint me as it only took a time or two and she was leaping off the end with very little hesitation. The rest of the crew, however, was a little more reluctant. I was hoping Cali's drive would overcome her hesitation to leap but with no luck. She would happily jump in off the ramp on the side of the dock but wanted nothing to do with leaping off the end of the dock it's self. After trying, unsuccessfully, to get her to jump I asked the Dock Dogs crew if I could get in the pool and try to coax her in that way. They looked at me in my nice shorts and t-shirt and laughed, saying if I wanted to hop in the cold, cold, water I was more than welcome. I had no swim wear but luckily I had an extra pair of pants in the car so into the water I went. I stayed in for both Riley and Cali and was eventually able to get them to jump in, although Cali needed to jump onto my shoulder first and then into the water. We even got the puppies, Tov and Kiwi, to jump in off the ramp and fetch up the toy.

When it came time for the competition Sadie jumped off just like she had in practice, run to the end of the dock, stop, think, leap in. With time, and some more practice, I am hoping she will learn to make a nice smooth run off the end. She was very excited each time it was her turn and really enjoyed herself. Cali was excited to chase her ball but just could not muster up the confidence to jump off the high dock solo so after her 90 seconds was up I let her get it from the ramp. It was much more important to me that she enjoy herself and have a good time then force her to jump off the dock it's self. Riley was much the same way as Cali and having had some good practice jumps with me in the water I am satisfied that with time he will learn to enjoy this sport.

Much to my surprise as we were packing up and saying good-bye I was told Sadie won her Novice division (even against the big dogs!). This was just icing on the cake as she loved every second of the time we spent in, and near, the water. All in all it was a great day, despite being overcast and raining, the dogs came home tired and happy and I came home with a lot of fun memories and maybe a new game to play with my dogs.

MAWTA Trial 2010

2010-07-01T18:51:00.000-07:00

Once again Inseguire made the trip to Nebraska for the 2010 edition of the Mid-America Working Terrier Association Trial. We always have so much fun at this trial in and out of the ring. The people are warm and welcoming and many of our friends attend, without fail though we always manage to make a few new ones of the course of the weekend and this trip was no exception. Much of Nebraska had flooded in the week prior to the trial which meant we were not able to use the usual venue, carp were swimming where the conformation ring normally is! Not to be thwarted by mother nature Patti, the trial organizer, found a fair grounds not to far out of town and moved everything there. It was a lovely site and while we all missed the shade the big trees at the old site provided ez-ups helped shelter us from the 90+ heat.

Day one was hot and humid by 8am but I was determined to race the puppies that had been cooped up in the car for the last 2 days and were no longer interested in sleeping at night. Patton ended up being much more interested in playing with the other young pups in his heat than running so once the lure disappeared from view he and two other youngsters stoped for a little play session in the middle of the track. This of course lead to three puppy owners hoping the barrier to encourage the little dogs to keep running. lol. None of our dogs have ever raced before so I was not expecting much from them other them to get them out to run around a little. I loaded Kiwi into the starting box with the though that she would likely spend more time trying to remove the muzzle they are forced to wear when racing than actually running. She did just that for the first second or so after they opened the gates but then noticed everyone was getting away and picked up the chase, passing quite a few of them on the way to the finish hole. The next class for her was hurdles and while she still did not break well she had a much better idea of what she was supposed to be doing and came in second. These two placings allowed her a spot in the final to run for the championship and lo-and-behold she came in second there too netting her Reserve Puppy Racing Champion behind a dog almost 5 months her senior!

There is always a rather long wait while racing finishes up and conformation starts so I had the opportunity to catch up with some old friend and meet some wonderful ladies from the south. I ended up spending much of the trial with this gang and socializing and talking terriers and as it turns out they had dogs that carried similar bloodlines to my own. I also had the opportunity to purchase some gorgeous leashes from Terrier Essentials before my classes started. I have been needing another show leash and a larger martingale for Sadie and Kiwi for a while now and found a couple of stunning braided kangaroo leather leashes, as well as some leather martingale tie out leashes, not to mention the martingales I have been needing.

Conformation started off with a bang with Kiwi winning her class and then going on the win Best Bitch Pup and Overall Puppy Champion. I was so proud of my little hooligan! Cali showed very well in her first class as an adult and made the ribbons in a very large, tough, class despite the heat knocking her out a little. Sadie is a veteran in the ring and always makes me look good as she pretty much shows herself and took 3rd in another large, deep, class. A few games of find the rat later and I brought the, all back in for the family class where Sadie won best Brood Bitch and Produce! When it was his turn Patton, being as adorable as ever, took Colored Terrier Champion. A pretty successful day all around.

I was definitely tired by the time the alarm went off on Sunday morning but with how much Kiwi enjoyed the first day of racing I could not miss the second. Thankfully it was a little cooler and Patton ran a little better but was still irritated that he had to wear a muzzle. Kiwi on the other hand had the game thoroughly figured out and won both her regular heats to land her a spot int he championship race again. After a rough break, due mostly in part to not paying attention, she made up a lot of ground on the same older dog who beat her the day before and was once again the Reserve Puppy Racing Champion.

Conformation went incredibly well again with Kiwi winning her class, Best Bitch Puppy, and Overall Puppy Champion again. Cali and Sadie both pinning in their classes. Sadie won Best Brood Bitch and Produce again and went on to win Reserve Best Family, and Patton took Reserve Colored Terrier this time. The last class of the day was a Matched Pairs Class which is very popular in Britain and on the advice of john Broadhurst who judged day 1 we entered Kiwi and the dog who took Best Open Terrier both days, Glenledi Cactus Flash. Both of these terriers share a paternal grandsire, Conquest Scorch, and have a very similar look about them which was reaffirmed when they won Reserve Champion Matched Pair.

A great weekend all in all of shopping, socializing, coolers, and dogs, what more could a girl ask for really.

Home Games

2010-06-28T21:56:00.000-07:00

We had two major accomplishments at our "home" tournament in Moose Jaw SK June 12th and 13th. Sadie earned her FM and Riley finally earned his FD! Sadie, while running with PDQ, earned her 5000 point title and the right to call herself a veteran of flyball. Riley though stole the show. After 3 years of unsuccessful training we finally had the opportunity to take over the reins on his training and with the help of Furry Flash he made his debut that weekend! He was a wonderful boy and when he ran he did everything right in the lanes. We are still keeping him in a very part-time spot so as not to overwhelm him but he was a star all weekend and made no mistakes. A HUGE thank you to Furry Flash for helping us get him over the final hump and giving him the chance to prove himself! Hopefully this is the start of many more wonderful thing to come for this sweet gentle boy!

Spring is finally here

2010-06-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

After much rain and miserable weather this last week it may finally be safe to say that spring has come here at Inseguire. Although they live as house pets our terriers enjoy spending much time outside during nice weather sunning themselves and playing. I have managed to grab a few candid shot over the last couple of weeks during the nice days. It is difficult though as I often have a few terriers of one variety or another mauling me to throw something, and if not a terrier it is a lab/weim mix who just wants to PLAY! The puppies are starting to look almost like adults now, and while I adore their puppy cuteness I am very much done with everything else that come with raising 3 puppies at once! (FYI to anyone even considering this for themselves - DON'T! lol). I do love them though and am excited to see what they turn into as they head rapidly towards adulthood.

Winds of Change

2010-05-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

Donna and Topher

Since the last post Inseguire has attended two flyball tournaments, the first one in Warmen SK and most recently in Coaldale AB. In the interim of posts we have moved all our dogs over to Furry Flash from Moose Jaw, the team Cali was on loan to. Flyball is something we do for our dogs, not the other way around, and the politics of a big club can sometimes be overwhelming. That being said we were overdue for a change and Furry Flash was gracious enough to "adopt" all of us.

Warmen marked our first tournament with our new team and proved to be a lot of fun. The lower keyed environment allowed both dogs and people to relax and just enjoy the fun of racing. Sadie finally ran cleanly, and while she is no where near her former self she has given me hope that she will one day get there again. The whole reason we got into flyball was to give Sadie something to do after the move from Ontario and to have her sidelined due to fear was just heartbreaking for me. There is still a lot we need to work on, like her current defensiveness when running, but with perseverance I think we will get there. Cali, as always, was rock solid and eked out some pretty impressive races as the anchor dog. She is a competitive little dog and never ceases to amaze me how hard she will push to stick her nose in front at the wire.

The real star of the weekend though was "Topher" (Inseguire Christopher C) who earned a whopping 1552 points in a single weekend! He was listed full time with his home club, the Lloydminister Hotdoggers, and as a back up/relief dog for an open team but when the open team pulled their other height dog early on Saturday he ended up running double time. This is a lot for any dog, but especially for the little guys. Thankfully on Sunday the open team found a dog to split the height dog position with him and despite all the extra work he held up both teams to a first place finish in thier respective divisions. All the racing barely seemed to phase him and he ran a new PB of 5.477 late Sunday afternoon. We are so proud Topher and his handler Donna has done an amazing job training and conditioning this little man - way to go Donna and Topher!!

Two weeks later saw us in Coaldale AB for the Redline tournament. Only Cali was running in this one as we thought it best not to overwhelm Sadie now that we were finally on the road to recovery. We did however get to take the puppies into the lanes after racing on Saturday and play recall games. Kiwi was impressive, having only ever seen the jumps once before she did full recalls over all four of them completely ignoring the dogs playing in the other lane. Her focus is outstanding and I am excited for her to grow up so we can teach her more of the game. Tov was the big surprise though. She is amazingly driven and has a fierce tug drive which enabled her to do her very first recalls like a champ. Patton was a hit with everyone, and while he still does recalls for food he charmed the heck out of everyone he met and was a little Casanova all weekend.

The racing itself was great. "Bug", the world's most adorable border collie, made her debut and performed like she had been running her whole life. Bug, Tripp, Dusty, and Cali set a new Furry Flash club record of 18.9, with room to improve and shave time off that the next tournament. Most importantly we had a lot of fun and Cali earned her FDCh-G on the weekend - catching back up to her brother Topher after his amazing weekend in Warmen.

Parting is such sweet sorrow...

2010-04-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

We said a bittersweet good-bye to Inseguire Memento last week. She left for her new home in the Yukon, via Vancouver, and while we will miss her terribly she is going to a wonderful family. Her new people got in touch with me a few weeks ago and went through our screening process with flying colors. They had previously owned a JRT and their idea of a vacation was a week long canoe trip with evening hikes. I am not sure you can find two people more suited for a JRT but to top it all off they were willing to fly to Vancouver and spend a weekend there just so she wouldn't have to endure a long plane ride alone.

Sunday morning arrived and we packed her up with a blanket and tug and kissed her goodbye. A few tears later, of mixed joy and sorrow, and she was on her way to Vancouver to meet the people she would be spending the rest of her life with. The flight from Saskatoon was a fairly short one but of course I was still not able to relax entirely until I heard from her new family that she was safe in their arms. Thankfully the plane was on time and there were no complications with picking her up and I received a phone call right on time to say she made it and they loved her! They reported she handled the trip well and was already handing out kisses as if she had known them her whole life.

Sending our little ones so far away is always difficult but seeing them in their new homes, so content, so loved, makes all the heart ache of saying goodbye worth it. A picture speaks a thousand words and seeing Mika, who is now Ripley, snuggled up with her new "mommy" on the couch without a care in the world lets me know we made the right decision for her. This is why we breed. Seeing the pure joy in our dogs and their new owners when they are together makes it all worth while.

Reasons to Celebrate

2010-04-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

Despite some minor setbacks this week there is reason to celebrate here at Inseguire. Mazel Tov, our little Atresia Ani puppy, had her appointment with the surgeons at the WCVM. As always I was a little nervous, there are so many unknowns with her that it is hard for me to have any expectations as to what may be found. Tov on the other hand loves going to the college. She has a great time as everyone fusses over her and feeds her treats. We have spent enough time there in her short life that all the residents know her by name and all the girls at the front desk spoil her. It never ceases to amaze the staff how big she is or how well she appears to be doing.

After her initial exam she went for another set of radiographs. A few of the surgeons met and discussed the similarities and difference between the sets taken a month ago and her initial ones taken as a newborn puppy. Eventually we were called back and presented with a number of options and a difficult decision. As she is today Tov is considered an "acceptable" pet. She is continent, happy, and relatively healthy. Doing anything may jeopardise this and while there is a chance that constructing an anus for her may improve her quality of life there is also the risk that it may diminish her current quality of life substantially if she does not have any sphincter muscles or she gets an infection. The surgeons discussed in depth what our spectrum of options are but in the end we all concluded that minimal interference until we absolutely had to was the best way to proceed. Tov is really such a medical marvel that we are all a little hesitant to interfere with what appears to be a pretty good thing.

With this diagnosis we can now move forward with placing her in a permanent home. She is welcome to stay here at Inseguire indefinitely but she may very well be happiest in a home that is all her own. She loves to be spoiled and cuddled and we will be hard pressed to find the perfect place for her but if and when it does come along we will now be able to provide some insight into her future. We have invested countless hours into her care, but days like today make all the sleepless nights and long days worth it. Having her kiss my nose every morning when I wake up is all the thanks I will ever need.

Does anyone have a pug I can borrow??

2010-04-20T21:55:00.000-07:00

We spent this last weekend in Brandon MB running in the CARS flyball tournament. Sadie, Cali, Kiwi, and I headed down to Regina on Friday and then carpooled the remainder of the way with the ladies of Good 2 Go. It was a long day but we made it to Brandon in one piece and after a few minor adjustments with the hotel room we were able to settle in and go to sleep. Saturday morning, as always, came way too early but we all managed to get up in time to make the captains meeting. Rhianna and I were running with the girls from Wild for the weekend and I would have to say that their name describes them well. These girls are an absolute hoot and have a great sense of humor, by the end of the weekend we had more laughs then I can ever remember having at a flyball tournament. Cali was absolutely solid, taking the ball even when it was loaded on the wrong side of the box and fumbling it once but recovering and completing all her jumps properly. I could not have been prouder of her, but it was the pugs and the bully mix who stole the show in the end. New and green, Billo had his job down pat - bring mom the ball - which he did over, and over, and over again, in rapid succession, and to the exclusion of his other teammates. We thought we has this problem solved by running him last until low and behold someone had to rerun. This required his handler to make a mad dash after him and a mid air tackle which was gracefully landed - one foot over the start line. The judge was laughing so hard that she almost forgot to raise her flag and disqualify us. The pugs on the other hand were our lucky charm and every time it was their turn to sit things would fall apart. At one point, in a must win situation, we resorted to asking the other team we were racing (who are friends of ours) if they had a pug we could borrow - after a moment of confusion they replied they were fresh out. The subsequent laughter by both teams delayed the race start by almost a minute. Sadie even had a chance to run on Sunday and after a shaky start ended the day making some very good catches and runs.

Kiwi, as always, stole the show. Everyone she met loved her and asked where she came from. She is a great ambassador for our kennel. She spent a good part of both days playing tug and introducing herself to the puppies of "Wild". She had her most fun though back at the hotel room with Rhianna's dogs Burst, Taboo, and Relay. They played like mad things for HOURS, Kiwi would hide under the bed and pop out like a little blanket monster an they would chase and paw and dig at her - she had the time of her life. All in all this was a great time, which was only made even better by getting to run Good 2 Go's start dog 'Limit' who is so consistent we were able to push our start to near perfection and win some very tight races. Such a great weekend, we are looking forward to repeating the fun in Warmen in early May.

From White to Black

2010-04-12T17:40:00.000-07:00

As Jack Russell enthusiasts started to acquire some different "colored" terriers the JRTCA and JRTCC began offering unsanctioned colored terrier classes at trials. This was my first introduction to the world of working terriers beyond the Jack Russell and I have always been fascinated by the variety of temperaments and working styles of these dogs. I make a point to watch as many classes as I can and one breed in particular has always stood out to me, the Patterdale Terrier. These are a very unusual breed in North America and not well known but they are a lovely little dog that is similar in appearance to a Jack Russell, except in black or chocolate, and their temperament is one of a high drive that without being hyperactive or over the top. After watching a dog that belonged to a good friend of mine from Colorado - who never failed to catch my eye in the show ring and has the most wonderful, biddable, temperament - I finally asked Mike to let me know when he had another litter.

Well, almost a year later Mike contacted me to say he had a surprise, but much wanted, litter of Patterdale puppies and ask if I was still interested. Although I had a litter of my own at the time I knew this was an opportunity not to be missed so I told him to pick me out a puppy that would suit our home. Mike recommended I consider a boy as we already had so many girls and, well, they call them *female dogs* for a reason. Male dogs have many wonderful qualities that are hard to fully appreciate until you live with a house full of females, so while this was going to be a bit of an adjustment for everyone here I agreed to take one of the two tan and white boys.

Just over 4 weeks later, a 12 hour plane ride, and a 7 hour drive, Patton arrived at my doorstep. He is everything I could have hoped for and more. Bold, confident, and outgoing, his long adventure form Colorado to Saskatoon did not seem to have taken anything out of him. He played with every dog he met at my friend's house and then came home to meet his new "family" and was equally as agreeable here. I just adore his easy going nature, but he is not by any means complacent. He has mastered the routes onto the couch that should be well out of his reach and will climb on, or burrow into, anything he thinks could be of interest. He has fit right into the Inseguire pack and managed to convince me that he needed to sleep in the bed his first night too. I look forward to many more years and many more adventures with this new terrier but for now he will just be my snuggle buddy and curl up in my arms when he is not off exploring.

Flyball - KAOS Style

2010-03-28T23:38:00.000-07:00

Cali and I traveled to Regina this weekend to attend the KAOS flyball tournament. This was my first time at this tournament and I have to say that despite the fact that their building was a little smaller than your typical flyball tournament it made for a great venue. The smaller size made for a more "intimate" atmosphere as so often we just stick to our own teams at tournaments and don't interact with the other groups as much as we could. With a venue like this one it is virtually impossible not to make some new friends as everyone is shoulder to shoulder, and with most of the dogs crated outside or in other rooms we could actually hear each other speak. It was a great place to spend more time with people I have not seen since last racing season and get to know Cali's new teammates a little better.

Cali will be running with Furry Flash Dogsports from Moose Jaw SK this year. We got to know this team a little better during the 2009 racing season and I watched them struggle to run the 10 or so big dogs that belong to their club with only one height dog.

For anyone who is not familiar with flyball the height of the jumps on the way to and from the box are set by the smallest dog on the team, also known as the height dog. Without a small dog on the team members must jump 14 inches (typical teams jump 7-9) which can slow each dog down by as much as a full second and is very physically taxing.

After watching this club try to coordinate running all their big dogs equally in only 5 available spots I spoke to their captain Ken about using one of my girls for the 2010 racing season. Our own club seems to have a large amount of height dogs this year, to the extent that 2 or even 3 will be running on a team at the same time. After discussing the logistics of the move with the club owner and president we transferred Cali over to Furry Flash.

This was our first tournament running with Furry Flash and all my worries about how Cali would handle the new box, new dogs, and new routine, was put to rest after the first race where she handled everything like a seasoned veteran. Cali lives for flyball and her enthusiasm is infectious on the line and some good, not to mention tight, racing added to that excitement and made for a fun day. I knew form watching furry Flash last season that they were a club that thoroughly enjoyed racing their dogs but I never expected to feel so welcome and comfortable in our very first outing with them. I want to thank everyone we ran with on Saturday for making us feel so at home and also say a special thank you to Ignited who allowed me the privilege of running their start dog Moxie in one race and giving me the opportunity to do something I almost never get to do, race the lights to the line. Cali and I had a great time overall and we are really looking forward to what the rest of the racing season will bring.

Edmonton Flyball

2010-02-23T10:14:00.000-08:00

Donna and Topher

Inseguire Christopher C "Topher"

Well the first flyball tournament of the year is over and done with and as always there were a few kinks to be worked out but on the whole I have to say it was a success. Donna brought Topher (Christopher C) up on Saturday to do some warm ups with her team, the Lloydminster Hotdoggers. I always love getting the chance to see "my" puppies all grown up and how happy they are in their new homes and Topher was no exception. It is quite obvious he loves his family as he watched Donna intently from the sidelines even though I was snuggling him. He was such a good boy and did so well in warmups that he ran the last few races of the day earning his FD and FDX! Congratulations Donna, you have done such a good job with "our" little man!

Sadie had a good start to Saturday but an incident during a pass later in the day left her a little shaky. Fatigue was setting on top of everything else and she was just not a happy camper so I pulled her from the last race and let her relax. Thankfully we had a backup as this was her first tournament back since having the puppies and I knew she was not going to be fit enough to run full time anyway. Sunday morning started off with a fresher dog but she was still obviously hesitant from the incident on Saturday. After some work and some line-up modification we got her running almost like her old self by the end of Sunday and I am hopeful that a few good practices will have her back to form.

Cali was the real star of the weekend, improving vastly on her performance in Souris. Her box turn is almost solidified now and that helped her improve her personal best time to 4.903 even with a 3ft pass! She impresses me more and more each time I put her in the lanes and she may one day be just as fast (or faster) than her mother. She is a solid little dog who even when she makes a mistake will go back and correct it and with a little more experience will be quite a reliable little height dog.

To add to the fun (or chaos if you prefer) I brought along the puppies for some much needed socialization. They, as always, stole the show both days showing everyone how they fetch a ball and trade it for the tuggie at only 11 wks old. I adore the stage that they are in now where they just love everyone and everything and I am hopeful that with enough proper socialization they will be able to keep it up into adulthood. I have to give them a lot of credit they were amazing travelers for the whole 6 hour journey, only stopping once to potty and sleeping most of the way there. They were even good about sleeping in their crate, despite much chaos during the first night, and did not complain about much during the entire adventure. Did I mention I want to keep them all?

Glamour Shoot

2010-02-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

Well the time has come to take pictures and evaluate puppies. This is always the hardest part when you have to put personal feelings aside and look critically at each dogs strengths and weaknessess. I am blessed to have the help of two wonderful women, Sadie's breeder Shirley Buist and Gaye Redpath of Conquest Terriers, to help me out. Even though we have two puppies destined for pet homes I like to evaluate the whole litter to see what my bitch is producing and what the cross provides. Inseguire Keepsake and Inseguire Memento (pics one and two respectively) are both outstanding individuals and after great debate I have decided to run on with both of them, at least for a little while. Inseguire Tricuit is an absolute sweetheart and fairly well put together, in another litter she may well be a keeper, but her personality makes her ideally suited to a loving pet home Inseguire Mazel Tov is cute, and feisty, and even though she has some flaws caused by being the runt she has some very nice qualities as well. On a whole I am thrilled with this litter, exactly what I was hoping for in Sadie's curtain call as a brood bitch. I will be excited to watch them mature, and even more excite to put them into the show ring!

Jack Russells, Border Collies, and Wine, Oh my!

2010-01-24T22:24:00.000-08:00

Now that the puppies are 6 weeks old and have their first set of shots they can go visiting select friends of ours and their dogs. Naturally they went to meet their BC teammates Jake and Ben first off. Cali came with us to chaparone and get some more socialization herself and she and Ben spent almost 3 hours playing together. They have not seen eachother since our trip to Souris MB so they had a lot of catching up to do. Kiwi, in typical JRT fashion, strutted out of the crate took one look at Jake, barked, and went strait to playing. Jake is fascinated by the puppies, wanting to spend every second he could with them. He and Kiwi played very well together and Mika joined in after a little while loving all the fur on Jake's neck and tail. Tryst was more interested in meeting and snuggling with Megan than playing with the other dogs but once she got her people time in she was more than happy to meet and play with Jake and Ben. Suprisingly enough amidst all this chaos Megan and I had a good chance to catch up. It has been a while since our schedules have allowed us down time and I have missed her.

The Great Outdoors

2010-01-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

The weather in Saskatoon has finally warmed up a little so I decided to take advantage of it and take the almost 6 weeks old puppies for their first outdoor adventure. In typical JRT style they rushed out the open door, scrambled down the stairs, and started tearing around the back yard. They have discovered coordination in the last week and no longer toddle about, their movements are deliberate and fairly precise for such small puppies and they have discovered they can jump and leap at things they want above their heads (i.e. Riley's face). They explored every inch of the back yard, climbing into my lap when they needed to warm themselves and then off again once feet were thawed. We all spent a good 20 minutes in the yard and I am sure they would have stayed out longer if I was not so worried about them getting chilled.

You learn to be the voice of reason early on when keeping JRTs as they will often dive head first into all their endeavours and rarely consider what outcome their actions might lead to.

Puppies for Christmas

2009-12-26T23:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas time is always busy around here. With all our dogs, the new puppies, and still our foster dog Tasha things can get a little hectic. That being said I love Christmas and I figured I would take the opportunity to photograph our newest additions under the Christmas tree. They were not so thrilled at first about being in a strange new place but soon nestled into the presents and went to sleep. Cali on the other hand has spend the last 14 days since we put the tree up hiding all of her "prizes" in various places underneath it. She is such a little livewire and I have to admit I am more than a little nervous about what we are going to find under there when we take it down. As always the JRTs are a constant source or amusement, frustration, and joy. An interesting combination you may think but once you own one you understand.

10 Days Young

2009-12-20T15:00:00.000-08:00

The puppies are growing well. One little girl was born with Atresia Ani and a fistula but with the help of many vets she is so far doing alright. Our regular vet, Theresa Chu, has been amazing through this whole process quite literally holding my hand the night I found the problem (at 3 days old) and I rushed over to the college after hours right up to today coming in on her day off to look at an eye infection. The vets at the WCVM have been equally as amazing and will hopefully be able to correct both issues with a couple of surgeries. We have to wait until she is a little older and stronger to do much for her but she has such a will to live it would be impossible for me not to try. She is just the sweetest little girl and even though she is just half the size of her littermates she is tough and rarely gets pushed off a nipple. I am giving her a little beef liver broth a few times a day and that really seems to help her keep her strength up, especially those first few days. We have named her Mazel Tov, which is "Good Luck" in Hebrew as I think she is going to need it.

The other three are doing very well, just stunning puppies really, with outstanding bone and heads like I have never seen on 10 day old puppies. They are already weighing in around 1.5lbs and round little balls of fur. This is always the stage where I try and justify to myself keeping all of them but I know that the homes we have lined up are going to adore them as much as I do so that makes it a little easier. Sadie herself is doing fantastic, eating like a small horse and taking breaks from the little ones to come and hang out with me every now and then. She would prefer I spend all my time in the office, where her whelping box is, and will stand at the top of the stairs barking at me until she eventually comes down and sits on my lap for a bit. I don't think I will ever get bored of Jack Russell antics, they have so much personality!

Sadie x Jock Puppies

2009-12-10T00:26:00.000-08:00

We have been waiting for Sadie to whelp this litter all week and they were definitely worth the wait. I am wanting to keep a female from this litter so as luck would have it I now have four to choose from! My good friend Karen braved the cold and drove 25 min into town to help me whelp this litter and for that I am eternally grateful! I only have one good hand at the moment (broke the other one in a horse related incident) and as anyone who has ever tried to whelp puppies knows it is a two handed job. Karen was also here during the birth of our previous litter lending her veterinary expertise and guiding me through the sometimes scary process.

I had commented to Karen earlier that this might be a very colourful litter so when the first puppy was born with a half-mask and an ear spot she remarked that she was still waiting for her "holstein". Well she wouldn't have to wait long as the next two puppies were covered in body spots! The Tan and white girl came second, then the Tri girl, and thank goodness the last puppy was a little more tame as I think we were both still reeling from all that color. All in all this is a nice looking litter and I am looking forward to watching them grow, although I don't know how i am ever going to pick just one to keep they are all so cute!

They are not JRTs but they sure are cute

2009-11-04T17:59:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when we don't have a JRT litter in our house we foster dogs for New Hope dog rescue. I firmly believe that we as breeders need to recognize that no matter how responsible our own breeding programs are we still contribute to the pet overpopulation problem. No matter the reason, or noble the goal, we a producing puppies in a market that is saturated with displaced and homeless dogs. Although our programs are necessary to preserve and improve our respective breeds, and we place puppies with great care, I believe we should acknowledge some accountability for the countless dogs out there that came from less responsible breeders.

When a message arrived in my inbox one night about a new mother and her 2 day old puppies freezing in the damp, cold, Saskatchewan fall weather I couldn't help but volunteer to bring her to our house. Even though we have a JRT litter on the way we are completely set up to handle whelping, early litter care, and young puppies and she had no where to go. After confirming that she had no communicable diseases, so as not to put any of our dogs at risk, she came to Inseguire with her 6 four day old puppies. Well what an experience it has been! We named the momma Tasha and she has gone from a completely feral dog to one that wags her tail whenever we look at her and gingerly comes over to where you are and sits waiting for a pat. This type of transformation is not entirely new to us, we have fostered may homeless and unwanted dogs, what has been the real new experience has been the 6, medium sized, extraordinarily busy collie x puppies. These little guys at 5 weeks are half the size of my 12" JRT and twice as busy. They love being with people and will cry in protest until you bring them out of thier pen. They can already crawl into the toy box and pull out every, and I mean every, toy in there. But despite all the mayhem they cause they are extraordinary sweet and look for hands, feet, laps, anything that smells like people, when it is time to sleep.

They have been fantastic playmates for Cali and with 6 of them the odds are pretty even. Cali will run around chasing one, another will pursue ad grab her tail or leg and when she turns wound to see the original puppy pounces. She thinks this is just about the greatest game ever and will roll onto he back or even crawl across the floor to entice them to play. All of this is much to my relief as she had never experienced young puppies before and I was hoping she would enjoy the JRT puppies we are expecting. All in all these little guys have been a wonderful experience and even though they bring the number of dogs into our house to 10 we are enjoying every one of these precious few moments of puppyhood we have with them.

Catching Up

2009-10-15T23:18:00.000-07:00

As things get more and more interesting around here I thought a blog would be a great place to keep everyone apprised of the more personal and in depth happenings at Inseguire than our website does. 2009 has been a pretty exciting year for us, we attended our fist JRTCA shows in 5 years and did quite well. In a very limited number of outings Sadie was Best Open Bitch 1x, Reserve Best Open Terrier 1x, Best Brood Bitch and Produce 3x, and Reserve Family Champion 2x. King did not disappoint winning his puppy class every time in the ring and was Dog Puppy Champion 1x, and Reserve Dog Puppy Champion 1x. Cali was the big hit of the summer though, Reserve Bitch Puppy Champion 3x, Reserve Puppy Champion 1x, and always in the top 3 bitch puppies every time in the ring.

This year also saw both Sadie and Cali make thier flyball debuts. Sadie earned her FDCh-G in only four tournaments, and by the end of the season was running 4.8s. She was pulled from the lanes early in October though as she came into heat and was sent to see Gaye Redpath and Conquest Jock in Ontario. These things usually happen at the most inopportune times and this was no different. We had entered a team of 4, the bear minimum you can run in flyball, including Sadie and were now coming up short to a tournament. After much debate we decided to put Cali in her mother's spot even though she was not quite ready to run. Never having passed before, and no box turn to speak of, this young lady was rock solid and earned both her FD and FDX and running 5.3s. Hopefully a winter of work on that all important box turn will have her shaving a fair bit of time off this posting.

Although our conformation and performance seasons have come to an end 2009 is far from over for us. As I mention before Sadie is expected to be whelping a litter, some time around the 6th of December, and JRT puppies are always a lot of fun at every stage. We will keep everyone apprised of the happenings and keep you fingers crossed that they ultrasound booked for November 7th shows a nice litter of healthy puppies!

Summer Celebration I & II

2009-10-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

08.18.2009 - Inseguire had a strong showing at Summer Celebration I & II in Harding Illinois. It was a long drive down but we decided to make the trip partially to get one more show in for the puppies before they turn a year and partially to see Shirley Buist of Cairnbrae Terriers, who provided me with Sadie, my first 'show', terrier 6 years ago. I haven't seen Shirley in a long time and was excited to hear that she was judging the second day of this trail.

Jeremy came with me and we made a good and proper road trip out of the over 21 hours of driving. This trip provided to be well worth all the extra effort in getting there. The Mid-West JRT Club put on a great trial with everything from the typical JRT events to trailing and locating, agility, and lure coursing just to name a few. All these events attracted a lot of dogs (over 200) and some of the top kennels in Canada and the US. I have to admit I was a little nervous when I saw some of the kennel names set up around the conformation ring. Class sizes were large and deep but my nervousness proved unfounded as all our terriers showed well and still brought home plenty of ribbons.

On day one, under Joan Crouse, King won his class (9-12 mo Smooth Dog Puppies) and Cali came in second to the eventual Puppy Champion in the 9-12 mo Rough/Broken Bitch Puppies. She was also one of the last 3 dogs in the ring for Bitch Puppy Champion but finally ended up placing behind two very nice dogs. Sadie too did not disappoint and placed 2nd in her class (12.5-15 Rough/Broken Open Bitches) against some very tough competition. She was also awarded Best Brood Bitch and Produce. With all the performance events being offered and the dogs not the least bit tired we took in some activities other than the usual go-to-ground. The Barn hunt was a big success with King placing 2nd and Cali 3rd. Sadie was also 3rd of the adults, but where she really shone was at trailing and locating. She worked in a fast enough time to earn her 5th (of 40 or so dogs) but what set her apart was the way she worked, in constant communication with her handler , and the judge commented on this. Not to be outdone by her mother Cali also worked very well (all off lead) and won the puppy class along with the admiration of the judge who commented that "she has all the making of a really great hunting partner, take good care of that one".

Day two was just as successful as day one and even though we got rained out of many events,and had to move conformation inside the dogs did great in everything they participated in. Barn Hunt and Brush Hunt saw high placing on all three dogs and the ball toss was a cinch for the girls, Cali winning puppy and Sadie taking second in Adult. The highlight of the day was conformation though. Sadie had to watch from the sidelines as Shirley Buist, her breeder, was judging but she has the best seat in the house to watch her son King win his class and her daughter Cali win Reserve Bitch Puppy Champion! A great trial all in all, new friends made, old friends reconnected with, and 3 tired dogs on the trip home. This is how we judge success.

Mid America Working Terrier Trial

2009-10-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

06.30.2009 - Inseguire attended our first trial in almost 5 years, the MAWTA trial in Norfolk NE. We had an amazing time, met some new friends, and brought home plenty of 'loot'. Our Terriers showed very well with Cairnbrae Inspiration taking home Open Bitch Champion, Reserve Open Terrier Champion, Best Brood Bitch and Produce, and Reserve Family Champion on the first day. She was also awarded Best Brood Bitch and Produce and Reserve Family Champion on the second day. Littermates Inseguire Calliope and Inseguire King's Ransom were equally impressive. 'King' was awarded Puppy Dog Champion on the first day and Reserve Puppy Dog Champion on the second day. 'Cali' won Reserve Puppy Bitch Champion and Reserve Puppy Champion on the first day and Reserve Puppy Bitch Champion on the second day.

We also had the opportunity to go hunting with Stephanie Poppe and Candy Butterfield, two amazing women with a great sense of humor. Although we never did find anything other than skunk we had a blast looking. Sadie checked every hole and even Cali entered and looked around. It never ceases to amaze me the instincts of these little dogs, see hole = stick head in. It was a great outing all in all, well worth the 16 hour drive down. Also a big thank you to Patti Podliska of Hidden Acres Jack Russells for organizing the hunting trips, introducing me to some new friends, and generally welcoming us, dogs included, with open arms. Thank you Patti you are the reason this trip was so much fun.