Farrah the forest dog

We just came back from our 2nd canoe trip with Farrah and she's turning out to be quite the nature dog. She's great in the canoe, likes to keep watch of the camp and loves all the cool stuff to do in the forest. She hasn't taken to swimming much yet, and is content just getting her legs wet. But she will lay down in the water, just not swimming laps at the moment. She met her first lake trout in the canoe, but in a strange turn of events didn't get to eat it! A snapping turtle came and stole it off the shore before we could do anything with it! She also hasn't quite figured out how to eat the blueberries off the bushes, and prefers taking them out of the pail that you are putting your picked bounty into. Farrah is almost 1 year old now, and is starting to get some new markings around her face. There is a very prominent dark line above and below her eyes, which has been getting darker over the past few weeks. I've tried to include some extra photos that highlight her new markings.

chilling out in the cool moss

Farrah and her favourite toy, "Flea"

Soaking wet!

Almost 11 months old...

So our sweet little girl is just about 11 months old now (she'll be 11 months old in 2 days). We've had a busy past few weeks, with a lot of traveling for work and a lot of rain! Farrah is getting rather used to be wet on a regular basis. We were hoping to take the Canine Good Neighbour text on Friday at a town about an hour away, but looks like we'll be taking here in Winnipeg in early August instead. Currently we're taking an intro to Rally course, and Farrah loves it. She's much better at it than us humans who are trying to read the signs and mixing up our about lefts and our about rights. Her and Sebastien (our cat) are incredible together, and are always cuddling or frolicing in the yard together.

Farrah and Sebastein napping in her kennel (a regular occurrence)

Protecting her domain. Always on the watch

Farrah and her good friend Tartan.

canoeing with Farrah...

For the May Long Weekend, Farrah and I, along with a couple friends and Tartan the dog went on a 4 day canoe trip. Although Farrah has been in a boat a number of times, this was her first time in a canoe. Normally we take a lightweight kevlar canoe on trips, but since this was her first time I wasn't sure how well she'd handle being in a tippy canoe for 4 days....so we decided to take The Caddy, a low-rocker, extremely stable (but heavy) aluminum canoe.

The very first time Farrah jumped in the canoe, she immediately jumped right out the other side and into the lake! I thought, oh oh..... but then I explained to her to stay in! and that we were going somewhere, she jumped back in and layed down for the rest of the trip! She was excellent!

We ran into some very wet weather, so not a lot of opportunities to pull out the camera. Farrah experienced her first lightning and thunderstorm, and was not phased at all by it. She navigated the portages like a pro and loved sleeping in a tent. She's not too big on swimming yet, but she goes in the lake up to her elbows. We never ran into any big wildlife (moose, bears etc) but I got the feeling she was routinely monitoring our camp for intruders. All in all and excellent weekend despite the rain, and I look forward to our next canoeing adventure!

9 months....

Sweet little Farrah turned 9 months old this week, and is now currently midway through her first heat. I think she's over the ripe and ready period, but we're keeping her well away from all them boys just to be safe. She's had a busy past few weeks: meeting 9 week old husky puppies, swimming in 10oC lakes, and spending a lot of time with me working in Northwestern Ontario. She's great in the boat, and if the weather cooperates we'll try canoeing tomorrow.

Also just caught wind that Farrah's Mom and Dad are expecting another litter, due early June! So if you were thinking about a Farrah of your own, best to contact Epic Shilohs sooner than later.

Hey Dad! Look what I found! Puppies!!

More puppies!!

Farrah and Lucas, the president of the Farrah Fan Club: youth chapter

Where's that stick you threw in here?

Found it!!!

on her 9-month birthday

Spring is in the air!

All the snow has melted, the rivers are ice-free, the birds are churping and all the people (and their dogs) are out and about. It's Farrah's first spring and she's loving all the newly exposed scents and joys of the changing of the seasons.

Her fan club is growing each day, as is the list of comments from pedestrians. This week's top comment was, "Farrah...who does your hair?" A close second was, "wow! you're teeth are whiter than the new pair of dentures I just got!"

She encountered a gigantic Newfoundlander yesterday, and was curious as to why he wouldn't run around and play with her, like all the other dogs. She's not used to see dogs bigger than her, especially one as fluffy and slow moving as this old timer newfie.