Chris and Susan's Big Adventure

You can see Susan's new blog here

Christmas Eve on the beach.

This is the view approaching the beach that I love so much.













This is from the car park.



















Three beach dogs.










Tui, who has no fear when it comes to jumping. Yes, it's going to be fun teaching her contacts for agility.











Howie as the sun sets.













Howie and Tui up enjoying each other's company on the beach.















Getting 3 dogs to pose is difficult.

I always get asked if Tui is named after the beer or the bird (really, it's the bird). Tui beer has an interesting ad campaign.

The bird has a very beautiful call. There's one in the tree across the street that likes to wake me up at 5am.

Tui and I went to an agility trail to hang out with the big dogs. Here's Switch and Robyn who have nice contacts.












Notice the lack of SUV's in the parking lot (I mean the car park - and no that's not where cars to to play).











Tui riding in style with Diesel in Robyn's Ute. It's nice to have a dog who travels well in the car.
















Tui's running with the big dogs.









Then she had a nap. I've never had a dog who naps at trials. She was also really good at entertaining herself when left alone under the truck.








They have these beautiful red border collies here.

















Tui's sister Speedy was also at the trial. The whole litter went to agility homes, so the competition is going to be tough in 2008.















They had a nice play. Can you tell who's more dominant?



















Tui and Speedy chasing each other.

Tui is 5 months old now. She can be a handful, but she's cute and actually she's a good girl most of the time.







Her ears haven't quite decided what to do yet. Sometimes they stand up.












Sometimes they flop.













She loves to play fetch and always drops the ball (unlike a certain Lab)












Tui is trying to convince Howie to drop the ball.















Buddy the Golden cross will hanging out with Howie and Tui for the next month. The first time Tui met him she started screaming and ran under the porch and wouldn't come out for an hour. Now they're best buds. Howie likes Buddy too, but mostly he's hoping that Tui will stop bugging him and start bugging Buddy.

Believe it or not they are actually playing.


















And yes, this is Howie initiating play.


















No of course the puppy's not allowed in the bed.











Kong Time!

We took Tui to the beach for the first time today. During daylight savings, dogs are only allowed on the beach before 9am and after 7pm.










Tui's still trying to get Howie to play














Strolling on the beach.













About to pounce on Howie as he returns with the stick.














Tui accidentally following Howie in a little deep.