Monday, January 31, 2011
Done!
My website has at long last been updated! Thanks to Cherie Corrigan of Dream in Design web services! I hope now with Cherie's help to be able to update my website on a little more frequent basis. One day I'd also like to learn how to develop and look after my site myself. Thats one of those "roundtuit" projects tho, and it might be a while!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Stay Tuned
Well I've found someone to overhaul my website!! Cherie Corrigan of Dream in Design has agreed to do maintenance on my site, on an on going basis, Yay!!
It will still "look" the same, because I really do like the format and color pallet, but the information is sadly outdated. SO, we are just in the process of updating pictures and text and adding a page for Shay.....stay tuned..............
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Ellie's Birthday
WTCH Westwind's Gale Force RD RTDs DNA-VP
"Ellie"
Ellie was born January 24, 1997, tomorrow will be her 14th birthday. She was an amazing dog to work, and my introduction to good working Aussies. Happy Birthday old girl :o)
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Time Passes
Chili working some heifers at home
Below are pictures of Shay and one with her 1/2 sister Chili
I can't believe how time gets away from me! It looks like its been about 2 months since I blogged last, and so I'm really going to try to be more consistent this year! Also my website is sadly outdated, and that is the next thing on the adgenda to get updated.
Below are pictures of Shay and one with her 1/2 sister Chili
I can't believe how time gets away from me! It looks like its been about 2 months since I blogged last, and so I'm really going to try to be more consistent this year! Also my website is sadly outdated, and that is the next thing on the adgenda to get updated.
Early in December we had a nice visit from Noelle Hoorneman. Noelle is from the Netherlands and had been in Canada for a couple of months on a working holiday....mostly working, but she did manage to get in a bit of touring and visiting. We had a really nice weekend visit with Noelle, and also managed to get up to my friend Lill Roth-Lee's place to work some dogs and visit there. Noelle brought a rather nice camera with her, and was kind enough to take some pictures of our dogs working. Sure wish Noelle had been here a little earlier when I needed some pictures of Chili for the ASCA year end Merit Awards pics for the Aussie Times!!
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Cowboy'n
Part of what I really really love about living on this little piece of the planet here, is the awesome neighbors we have. We each have our own cow herds....ours is tiny at 40 head, compared to our neighbors 500+ , but no matter the size every animal is important to us all, and without each others help, it would be much more difficult to manage them. All the fall chores are nearly done, our neighbors herd has all been preg checked, and the last chore on the list for them was to move the heifers back north and join them with their main cow herd. We did that this morning, it was nippy out (about -15c) very thankful for insulated Carhartts! The sun came out tho making a rather pleasant ride.
Monday, the 22nd is weaning day for us, and with our neighbors help we'll wean, apply RFID tags, and load the steer calves and take them to town to the Auction Mart for tuesday's sale. We'll keep the heifer calves for a while, to decide on replacements, and then the balance of them will be sold.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
So much to do, so little time!
Wow, its seems like its been forever since I posted anything here! Life's been busy. I got my new lambs, and they are growing really well. Hopefully they will be the neucleus of my new registered flock of Katahdins. We finally got all our hay brought in from the fields and put into the stack yard. Things have been tidied up and put away ready for winter, although with the spectacular weather we've had for almost all of October, and the first few days of November, its hard to believe that winter will soon be upon us. Now that the mosquitoes have been killed off and the sun has come out, I have started working Shay on my really dog broke "puppy" sheep. She's coming along really well.....here's a short video of her on day 4 of training.
Chili has become the go-to dog at home and helps with the cattle, and she also brings in the sheep and sorts the puppy sheep out for Shay :o)
The top picture is of Chili and the new lambs the first time they had been worked by a dog.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
MCSS Letter Published in CVMA Newsletter
ermission has been granted to cross post.
Well worth reading! Joan
I've not seen it yet myself, but today we learned that our letter to theCVMA and other vet councils in Canada was published in the CVMA newsletter. You can read it here:http://www.mscc.ca/news_events.html We received a reply from a veterinarian in Manitoba, who stated that theletter made her "angry". Apparently, she was offended that she might bearsome of the blame for the consequences that rigid selection for new traitson our already limited gene pool. I wrote the following back in response.
**** Speaking for myself and no one else: In 2011, for the first time in 30 years, there will be no puppies born here. One of the little understood facts of show dog breeding is that it'sdecidedly unprofitable. The sale of puppies sometimes offsets the costs of bringing that litter into the world, but most of the time, we breed dogs at a loss and support our hobby through outside income. We breed show dogs for the love of sport, and the love of our breeds. This is also the reason that we support veterinary research programs through financial contributions and direct participation. Many of the treatments youuse today were developed in whole or in part, by funding from dog showbreeders and the organizations they support.
You feel passionately about what you do, that is clear, and I have no desire to force you to perform any procedure with which you disagree. But it is deeply disrespectful to me, as a breeder, and as "your" client,that you cannot extend the same generosity to my passionate beliefs, or to those veterinarians who do not agree with your views.
In 2004 I helped co-author this paper with Dr. Bruce Grahn at the Universityof Saskatchewan. The research was based upon my dogs, my records, and thebreeding colony I maintained. Research into identifying the gene responsiblehas been ongoing since then.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15091321 I have already notified the Dean and Dr.Grahn in writing that myparticipation in this research ends the day that the SVMA decides theirjurisdiction extends to my breed standard. I have no desire to walk away from important research. For Dr. Grahn and histeam, it will amount to a tragic waste of professional resources andresearch grant dollars.
For me, it will have been a waste of time and finances, but most painfully, a waste of the puppies who were bred, and then euthanized to have their retinal tissues harvested. But as the veterinary associations seem poised for a full frontal assault on show breeders and our breed standards, my participation in veterinary research has become moot. If I can't show my dogs at the highest levels, I don't need veterinary opthalmologists, much less dna testing.
Back to my decision not to breed next year. While I have a wonderful relationship with my veterinarians, I am truly conflicted as to whether I want to place puppies in homes where they may be brought to be treated by people like you - veterinarians who are actively working to end my lifelong enjoyment of competition in the show ring. So, should the day come that you or one of your colleagues learns that the clinic can no longer sustain its operating costs, I sincerely hope that the first person you think of is me, and the puppies I will not sell next year.
When a profession that I have supported for upwards of three decades decides to "put me out of business", know just this one thing: I - and others likeme - will make every effort possible to return the favour.
-- Kate McMillan http://www.katwerk.com
Well worth reading! Joan
I've not seen it yet myself, but today we learned that our letter to theCVMA and other vet councils in Canada was published in the CVMA newsletter. You can read it here:http://www.mscc.ca/news_events.html We received a reply from a veterinarian in Manitoba, who stated that theletter made her "angry". Apparently, she was offended that she might bearsome of the blame for the consequences that rigid selection for new traitson our already limited gene pool. I wrote the following back in response.
**** Speaking for myself and no one else: In 2011, for the first time in 30 years, there will be no puppies born here. One of the little understood facts of show dog breeding is that it'sdecidedly unprofitable. The sale of puppies sometimes offsets the costs of bringing that litter into the world, but most of the time, we breed dogs at a loss and support our hobby through outside income. We breed show dogs for the love of sport, and the love of our breeds. This is also the reason that we support veterinary research programs through financial contributions and direct participation. Many of the treatments youuse today were developed in whole or in part, by funding from dog showbreeders and the organizations they support.
You feel passionately about what you do, that is clear, and I have no desire to force you to perform any procedure with which you disagree. But it is deeply disrespectful to me, as a breeder, and as "your" client,that you cannot extend the same generosity to my passionate beliefs, or to those veterinarians who do not agree with your views.
In 2004 I helped co-author this paper with Dr. Bruce Grahn at the Universityof Saskatchewan. The research was based upon my dogs, my records, and thebreeding colony I maintained. Research into identifying the gene responsiblehas been ongoing since then.http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15091321 I have already notified the Dean and Dr.Grahn in writing that myparticipation in this research ends the day that the SVMA decides theirjurisdiction extends to my breed standard. I have no desire to walk away from important research. For Dr. Grahn and histeam, it will amount to a tragic waste of professional resources andresearch grant dollars.
For me, it will have been a waste of time and finances, but most painfully, a waste of the puppies who were bred, and then euthanized to have their retinal tissues harvested. But as the veterinary associations seem poised for a full frontal assault on show breeders and our breed standards, my participation in veterinary research has become moot. If I can't show my dogs at the highest levels, I don't need veterinary opthalmologists, much less dna testing.
Back to my decision not to breed next year. While I have a wonderful relationship with my veterinarians, I am truly conflicted as to whether I want to place puppies in homes where they may be brought to be treated by people like you - veterinarians who are actively working to end my lifelong enjoyment of competition in the show ring. So, should the day come that you or one of your colleagues learns that the clinic can no longer sustain its operating costs, I sincerely hope that the first person you think of is me, and the puppies I will not sell next year.
When a profession that I have supported for upwards of three decades decides to "put me out of business", know just this one thing: I - and others likeme - will make every effort possible to return the favour.
-- Kate McMillan http://www.katwerk.com
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