Tamakae Australian Shepherds

After our enjoyable time at the 2007 Aussie Club of VIC Specialty (which Josh was still too young to enter),
Donna and I had decided we'd book our 2008 accommodation pretty much straight away. Adding to our
enthusiasm was the fact that breed specialist Sheila Polk (USA) would be judging the 2008 specialty. Donna found
a lovely house called 'The Bower', the deposit was paid and we were set! The next twelve months were a volley of
e-mails back and forth sorting out the other details. In one of these e-mails Donna referred to the trip as our
'Victorian Adventure' so I figured that would be a good title. (To 'meet' Donna and Doc please visit the 'Friends' page)

As usual, I was still packing at midnight the night before leaving. ('Organisation' NOT my middle name!) The plan
was to have the car packed and ready to go, we'd simply bounce out of bed at 5AM, throw the dog in the back
and be on our way. Well, of course it all sounded good in theory...

Since I didn't get to bed until around 1.30, I was less than keen to get up when my alarm went off at 5. After a
few hits of the snooze button, Chris and I finally dragged ourselves out of bed, had a shower, packed the esky
(were we really only feeding three people? Looked like enough food for ten!), finished packing the car and finally
left just after 6.30. After we'd travelled a couple of k's, I determined we would not survive any longer without
coffee and duly we pulled in at the next service station. Then, bugger me if my friend Danni didn't turn up at the
SAME service station, except instead of heading to VIC she was off to Whyalla for the trials up there. After a quick
catch up on all the current goss, Chris and I were back in the car and finally on our way at 7AM. (Note: 'C' coffee
actually pretty good.)

I lasted a whole half hour before cracking out the junk food, and enjoying a bag of Red Rock chips (new garlic
flavour - yum!) After a few hours had passed, we had moved outside the range of any decent radio stations and
the boredom began to set in. To keep us amused, I suggested a fun game of 'Eye-Spy'. Chris was less than
enthusiastic, and the game was rather short-lived after it ended in controversy (Chris telling me that NO-ONE
refers to those things as 'telegraph poles' so how the hell was he supposed to get that?)

We stopped at Horsham for lunch, and I have to say I can highly recommend the Dimboola Road take-away shop
(it's the one advertising the 'best fried chicken' out the front). I had butterfish and chips, and let me tell you
straight away they have the largest serve of minimum chips I have ever seen, great chicken salt and the batter on
the fish was to die for - golden and crispy. It's the best fish I've had for quite some time actually. Chris tells me
the hot dog he had was also very good, so it's a place worth keeping an eye out for if you're travelling that way.

Josh himself was much more interested in something he had seen in the next clearing over - after he had been
staring intently at one spot for several minutes, I finally cottoned on to the fact that there actually was something
there. Josh had found an Echidna! This was very exciting - I'd never seen a live one in the wild, and this one was
reasonably close. Enchanted, we watched it forage it's way around the tall grass, and I tried to get closer without
scaring it away. Of course, it knew I was there almost right away and proceeded to dive head first into a pile of
leaves, obviously operating under the assumption that if it's head was hidden the rest of it would be too!

By 6PM, we were beginning to wonder if Donna had gotten lost, so it was a relief when she and Doc turned up
safe and sound. Josh clearly thought all his Christmases had come at once with an Aussie playmate appearing
seemingly from nowhere, and proceeded to bounce all over Doc. Within a few minutes, Doc was just as enthused
and the two of them quickly became besotted with one another, to the point that if we had one inside in the crate,
the other would be hovering around the crate, hoping to find a way in! Doc became adept at keeping just ahead of
Josh as they did circuit after circuit of the garden, Josh whining on a constant high pitch of excitement. Since he's
usually such a quiet dog, he obviously thought Doc was a very special playmate!

The rest of the evening was spent catching up and relaxing over a few glasses of wine. The inside of the house is
just as nice as the outside, wood fire already laid and electric blankets on our beds in case we got too cold, basket
of food, chocolate and wine on arrival and the dogs were even allowed to stay inside.

During my last minute packing, I had thrown everything in together on the safe assumption that there would be
an iron at our home-away-from-home... if there was, I certainly couldn't find it! After panicking only slightly, I
grabbed Josh's grooming spray bottle of water and spritzed my shirt and pants like a mad woman, and managed
to rub out the worst of the creases. Disaster averted!

Since The Bower is about an hour from KCC Park we determined to rise early on Saturday so we could arrive in
plenty of time to prepare ourselves and the dogs. What is it they say about the best laid plans...?

Although we left on time, our trusty GPS reverted to true form and took us on a windy route through the middle
of the city, past roadworks, police blockades and what seemed like a zillion red traffic lights, so we ended up
running behind. Not surprisingly, for the remainder of our trips we decided to follow Donna's original
pre-planned route using the much quicker and easier freeways.

As it turned out, the show was starting later than we'd thought it was anyway and so we actually had plenty of
time to get everything set up, say our good mornings to friends and make the dogs look 'beautiful'. Josh was
entered in Best Headed as his only property class and didn't win anything there so we then had time to relax and
watch the others before getting ready for the show itself.

Donna had given me some pointers on my handling which were very helpful, and Josh and I had done a few
practice runs so I was feeling quite calm by the time we entered the ring. Josh always goes better the second
time around, so I was glad I'd entered at least one Property class as it had helped him settle in. I must say, I was
thrilled with how well he went - he did exactly as I asked him to, stood firmly as the judge checked all his teeth
and went right over him and then settled easily into his gait and paid barely any attention to the other dogs in
the ring with us. Since it is often just us in our class in SA, I was really happy that he was able to go round
without looking over his shoulder at the other dogs or trying to chase them. Josh came 3rd out of 3, but I was
still over the moon as we left the ring because I felt he'd gone so well. With nothing for Josh to come back for, he
went back to his crate to relax and enjoy a big handful of treats :)

By this time it was after 6 and all that was left was for Doc to
complete the Conformation portion of the MVA competition (Most
Versatile Aussie). With that done, I don't think we've ever packed
up so quickly! Much as we would have loved to stay and watch the
presentation, with an hour's drive ahead of us and another early
start the following day, we decided to head home. Since we were
much later than expected, we decided that take away was the best
option for tea, and stopped off at the great Pizza and Ribs place
that Chris and I had found during our stay in August for the
Agility Nationals. Delicious BBQ ribs, tasty garlic bread and the
best meatlovers pizza ever, with BBQ sauce and extra cheese. It
was just as good as we'd remembered. Lucky I wasn't driving
though, because I could barely keep my eyes open for the trip home.
What a relief it was to stumble out of the car and into bed!

Afternoon and we packed the car up to move over to the obedience
and agility rings. Now it was getting *really* hot, and Chris and I
both had hayfever in full swing - sneezing, runny nose, puffed up
itchy eyes. Despite all this, it was wonderful seeing so many Aussies in
action, all of them happy and enthusiastic about strutting their stuff.

Donna had asked me to run Doc in JD - since Doc had never done an
actual course (or a tunnel or tyre!) before I knew it would be a
challenge. We did manage to get in some quick practice on a spare
tunnel, and Doc proved that he is a quick study, easily working out
the concept of running through the tunnel as fast as possible!

All was well as we approached the start line. Doc waited where I told
him to, but when I called him to come over the first bar he ran past
it, searching the horizon for his 'mum'. After a couple more tries I got
him over the first bar, but it was clear he wasn't going to do a whole
course so I decided to finish on a good note, called him to me,
thanked the judge and left the ring. Considering he barely knows me
and hasn't done any training with me before, I was more than happy
with the simple fact that he came back to me when I called him!
Maybe next time we'll get in a bit more practice beforehand :)

Doc's final run of the day was in CCD, this time back with Donna -
he did some very nice work but unfortunately paused for a scratch
halfway back on the recall and figured he'd just settle down there
right where he was. He did however come back and pass the group
stays no problem.

With the competition nearing it's end, and the day doing likewise, the weather finally began to cool down. A
fresh breeze and a light shower were more than welcome. Likewise the cakes that were brought out for
afternoon tea as we waited for presentation - YUM! Chocolate cake with cream was EXACTLY what I'd felt like
and I could easily have scoffed the lot :)

After cheering for the MVA winners, we were once again back in the car and on the road, slightly earlier than
the day before. With two such long and tiring days behind us, Donna and I made the executive decision to take
the following day off, sleep in, watch some of the many doggy DVDs the two of us had brought along, and
generally relax.

Day 3 started off slowly... wake up, toilet dog,
back to bed... several hours later, wake up again,
laze in bed for a while, have a leisurely shower and
relax with a cup of coffee while Josh amuses
himself in the front garden.

Chris was headed off to drop off and pick up some
stuff for friends (and no doubt to gain relief from
the non-stop dog talk for a while) so Donna and I
piled out our dog books, magazines and DVDs and
settled in for the day. We looked at a lot of Aussie
stuff, a DVD on teaching running contacts for
agility and did some free-stack practice with Josh.

In between times, we took the dogs outside for playtime which they loved. Unfortunately, Josh got a bit
overenthusiastic, took a flying leap and sliced one of his pads open. Though it was obviously sore, I'm sure he would
have kept running if we'd let him! So it was clean up and quiet time in the crate for Josh after that. The cut
stopped bleeding very quickly and it seemed there was no permanent damage, but our showing for the following day
looked doubtful. Still, I couldn't be too upset about that - these things do happen, and I was glad he and Doc had
had the chance to unwind a little. It had been a long few days for them as well.

The original plan had been to have a BBQ for tea, but as the day got progressively colder we became rather
reluctant to venture outside. It was so lovely and warm inside, especially once we'd got the wood fire going. The
stovetop seemed the way to go, so we had an 'inside BBQ' instead. With all the meat we could eat, roast potatoes
and a good glass of white wine, not to mention our endlessly stimulating conversations, it was a fitting end to a
great day.

Day 4 was an early rise again, sure enough Josh was still limpy but we decided to head on down to the show and
watch the Aussies anyway. Donna, in the midst of moving house, had decided to head off home - it was
wonderful to have spent some time with her after our only brief meeting the previous year (though we had had
what I'm sure was several thousand e-mails!!) It won't be too long before we catch up again though, as we are off
to the Greg and Laura Derrett agility workshops in NSW in January 09, something we're both looking forward to.

I hung around to video the Aussie judging, always keen to have more footage so I can learn more about structure
and movement, and then Chris, Josh and I headed back to The Bower to spend another lazy day before heading
home. Since we had a WHOLE DAY this time, we actually managed to get the car packed before the morning of,
and spent the rest of our time watching 'The Siege', 'Enemy Of The State', and whatever trashy TV was on in
between whilst consuming delicious cups of coffee and warming ourselves by the wood fire. Josh, after checking
Donna's room a few times to make sure Doc really had gone, settled down and spent most of the day sleeping.

Day 5, with no need to rush off home, we allowed ourselves to have a bit of a lie in before throwing the last few
things in the car and heading for home. As we hit the highways the temperature was climbing steadily, and by
midday it was really quite warm in our non-airconditioned vehicle (mental note: fix airconditioning in wagon).
I amused myself by exchanging e-mails with Nancy and Donna throughout the day (I *LOVE* having e-mail on
my phone!!!) and attempting to shoo a particularly persistent blowfly out the window (with little success I might
add). Of course we had the obligatory stops for coffee, caffeinated beverages that weren't coffee, products
containing insane amounts of sugar and oh yes, more coffee. (Did I mention we like coffee on our interstate
trips?)

Despite these minor pauses, we did make reasonably good time and made it home to Adelaide by around 6PM.
On arrival, I discovered (much to my delight) that our fridge had packed it in, so my welcome home present
was removing several squashy, stinky packages whilst trying to stem my gag reflex. Josh's homecoming was
considerably more happy, as he rounded up his favourite toys in the backyward with obvious delight.

Thoroughly buggered by this point, I eventually collapsed into bed. It had been a whirlwind trip, tiring but very
enjoyable and over too quickly. Ah well, there's always 2009 to look forward to!