Farrah figures out swimming....

Last week, while working at one of our research lakes, Farrah figured out that she can swim! Up until now, she has been content wandering into the water, but only up to her belly and only if the shoreline was a sandy beach. Even if you tossed a stick, which is her ultimate playtoy, into the lake, she would previously only go in up to her comfort level and let the stick drift away.

I was working on a raft on a small lake, and there wasn't room in the small boat for Farrah, so she waited on shore, as she has always done at this particular lake. I suppose I was there too long for her liking and she got fed up waiting on the dock. To my surprise, when I looked up she had swam out to us! The look on her face was, "Look Dad! I'm Swimming!!!" It seemed like half of her body was out of the water and she doggy-paddled furiously. We had just finished out work on the raft so headed back to shore, and Farrah followed suit heading back to where she had started.

Now she can't stop swimming. Especially if you toss in a stick for her to retrieve.

Farrah meets Fred Eaglesmith

This week Farrah attended her first outdoor concert. Canadian legend Fred Eaglesmith was the special guest at a celebration party for co-worker. The private concert was held at an outdoor stage in Northwestern Ontario, next to a beautiful Canadian Shield lake, with loons calling in the distance. Being a performer herself, Farrah hung out with Fred post-show.

We're Canine Good Neighbour certified!

Tonight. just 3 days after Farrah's 1 year birthday, we passed the Canine Good Neighbour Examination! (The CGN is the Canadian version of the Canine Good Citizen test performed in the US...click here to see test description ).

There are 12 discrete tests, and Farrah aced them all. I wish I could say it was all the 'handler', but in reality it was her that made us look good. The only comment from the chief evaluator was that Farrah 'whined a bit during the 3 minute supervised isolation test', but she stayed calm and in position the entire time. We had a great time and everyone was so impressed with Farrah's calm temperament in an arena full of dogs and dog smells (the test was occurring at the same time as a 4 day CKC dog show). For the heeling portion of the test, she pranced beautifully about just like the performer that she is! She's such a natural!

Me, Farrah and the CGN chief evaluator
(Farrah looks so small in the photo! I think it's just the camera angle (I'm 6'1")