Relocated, restarting and hoping for the best
 

Another long hiatus from pets.ca has ended for me!! Hopefully i'm back to stay for a while.

Nolie (now 5 - as big and mischievous a beast as ever) and I have recently packed up all our treats, bones, toys and other worldly possessions and moved! About 12 hours away from our previous home. We are now residents of the Haliburton area (not that anyone really knows where that is either) and feeling a little closer to the rest of the world!

Nolie is handling things well, she gets a bit freaked out every time I pick up a bag of any sort and head for the door, to be expected I guess. My mom is now only a 2.5 hour drive away (instead of the previous 12) so she has even had the opportunity to spend her first ever night away from me with a sleep over at Mom's house. Mom and Nolie both survived!

So, a big "Hello" to everyone, those I know and those i've missed getting to know. Looking forward to sharing life with animals with all of you!

and yes... i'll find some pictures to post :D

Welcome back Otter! [ATTACH]74160[/ATTACH]

Haliburton is a little North of the Kawartha Lakes, correct? :shrug: A lovely part of Ontario. :cloud9:

Looking forward to seeing some updates on Nollie. :thumbs up

OMG OMG Welcome back Otter! Sooo nice to hear from you!! Glad to hear your back to the land of the living! well close to the BIG city! :D

You must be going through culture shock! Did you change jobs too?

Well your not to far from Sylvie and I now so we will have to get together again!

Lots of changes here but there are still a few of the regulars!

When you have a moment I would love to see an updated pic of your gal! 5 already eh! wow!

Cindy

[QUOTE=otter;1011787]We are now residents of the Haliburton area (not that anyone really knows where that is either) and feeling a little closer to the rest of the world!
[/QUOTE]

I'm in the same area so we must be neighbours of sorts. Welcome to Haliburton County! And if you haven't already discovered, it's a tourist area and things might be quiet now but just give it a few more weeks and you'll see that EVERYBODY knows where Haliburton is :eek:

Oh yes, we are feeling very "Urban" (hee, hee) in these parts. Most people call this the backwoods of S. Ontario :cloud9:. Haliburton is the next geographic designation north of the Kawartha Lakes :thumbs up. Just south of Algonquin Park. Someone from pets lives around here (ugh, I can't remember a name), she's the one who has border collie rescues who mush and do goose control, etc. I think she's from Minden area, just about 20 min south of here (gonna have to find out!).

Definitely much more land "of the living" here (well human life anyways). I'm so looking forward to being able to do visiting and all that fun stuff!

Looks like a couple of people are missing around here, there must have been a big blow out or something (I saw that happen before, years ago, hopefully people come back, like they did then)

Yup Winston, new location, new job, it's all new!! (new field of work too - still a desk job but quite a different sort of environment) I love the new environment of my job. Nolie even got to spend an afternoon at work with me on Friday!!! (I had the office all to myself and I needed some company :cloud9:). No more being paranoid about what to do with my girl should she need more care through the day or something (but she is just fine, I always just worry, been through too much with other doggies).

We'll work on some pictures, haven't had the camera out in a while, will have to dig it up :D

[QUOTE=Gail P;1011803]I'm in the same area so we must be neighbours of sorts. Welcome to Haliburton County! And if you haven't already discovered, it's a tourist area and things might be quiet now but just give it a few more weeks and you'll see that EVERYBODY knows where Haliburton is :eek:[/QUOTE]

hee, hee, did you hear me talking about you :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Ya, not looking forward to the invasion :eek: Nolie and I are just getting settled with the calm pace around here, not looking forward to the ensuing chaos.

I'm gonna bug you for some good places to go with doggies :D Nolie is desperate to find some canine play mates :thumbs up

[QUOTE=otter;1011804]Someone from pets lives around here (ugh, I can't remember a name), she's the one who has border collie rescues who mush and do goose control, etc. I think she's from Minden area, just about 20 min south of here (gonna have to find out!). [/QUOTE]

Really? who could that be? ;) :laughing: We must have been posting at the same time

[QUOTE=otter;1011805]hee, hee, did you hear me talking about you :laughing::laughing::laughing:

Ya, not looking forward to the invasion :eek: Nolie and I are just getting settled with the calm pace around here, not looking forward to the ensuing chaos.

I'm gonna bug you for some good places to go with doggies :D Nolie is desperate to find some canine play mates :thumbs up[/QUOTE]

The invasion tonight was mosquitoes :yuck: the warmer humid weather sure brought them out tonight.

Rotary Park in Minden is a great spot to go with dogs. Space to run around, the river winds around the park and there's just the one driveway that comes in off the highway down a hill so there's not really anywhere for dogs to run off. There are nice sandy shallow bays where the dogs can splash around if they don't want to swim or they can go out into the deeper water. It can get busy there in the summer but usually more so on the weekends and during the hot part of the day. If you go in the early morning it's often just people with dogs.

If you like to just go out walking on trails Snowdon Park is really nice. There are a few miles of trails there and it's not a busy spot at all. Also I have friends only about 5 minutes from my house with loads of land and a whole trail system and they welcome anyone to come and use it for low/no impact type uses like hiking, skiing, snowshoeing etc. They even pack/groom it in the winter and friends and I dogsled over there. All they ask is that you respect the land.

I have a couple of spots close to my house too where I like to take my dogs to swim, usually nobody around so I can take all 7 that like to swim and just let them out of the truck. Plus, I have 8 acres at home for them to run and play and also the use of the 4 acre property beside me.

Welcome back otter!! :D Long time no read! :p

I can't believe Nolie is already 5!!! We definitely need some updated pics!

Congrats on the move and I hope you settle in and feel at home quickly!! :grouphug:

Mosquito invasion was right! We went to the Frost Centre (Dorset) yesterday to hike and they were crazy, and HUGE. I almost missed our little (but still vicious) northern black flies - almost :rolleyes:

Thanks so much for the play place suggestions, sounds good! We checked out the Dahl forest last week and saw Snowden park along the way but didn't stop in, i'll be sure to visit there :thumbs up

Gonna keep my eyes open for a truck full of border collies :D

[QUOTE=otter;1011813]Mosquito invasion was right! We went to the Frost Centre (Dorset) yesterday to hike and they were crazy, and HUGE. I almost missed our little (but still vicious) northern black flies - almost :rolleyes:

Thanks so much for the play place suggestions, sounds good! We checked out the Dahl forest last week and saw Snowden park along the way but didn't stop in, i'll be sure to visit there :thumbs up

Gonna keep my eyes open for a truck full of border collies :D[/QUOTE]

You practically drove right by my house then. I'm on a side road between Snowdon Park and the Dahl. Just down past the Wintergreen Maple Syrup and Pancake barn. I'll PM you my number if you want to call sometime about places to visit.

Mosquitoes are just starting, once it's less humid and just plain hot it will be deer flies, horse flies, then more black flies in the fall...always one kind or another...until the snow flies, that's what I'm waiting for already :D

[QUOTE=Gail P;1011815]You practically drove right by my house then. I'm on a side road between Snowdon Park and the Dahl. Just down past the Wintergreen Maple Syrup and Pancake barn. I'll PM you my number if you want to call sometime about places to visit.

Mosquitoes are just starting, once it's less humid and just plain hot it will be deer flies, horse flies, then more black flies in the fall...always one kind or another...until the snow flies, that's what I'm waiting for already :D[/QUOTE]

Yup, BRING ON THE SNOW!!! I can't wait! :highfive:

Thanks, i'd love to chat sometime, I don't know many people around here. The woman I work with must know your friend who has the property, she was telling me about someone who has a big property and would probably be OK with having me use the trails for mushing :thumbs up probably the same person.

[QUOTE=otter;1011817]Yup, BRING ON THE SNOW!!! I can't wait! :highfive:

Thanks, i'd love to chat sometime, I don't know many people around here. The woman I work with must know your friend who has the property, she was telling me about someone who has a big property and would probably be OK with having me use the trails for mushing :thumbs up probably the same person.[/QUOTE]

You're a musher too? :thumbs up Definitely have to meet up then. I have another musher friend with trails on her property too whose place I sometimes go train at, but her trails are pretty tight and twisty. If they don't kill you, you certainly improve your sled handling skills. :laughing: Another friend in the area is a skijorer, she qualified this year for the World Championships and went to Norway to compete back in March. :thumbs up

Last year I helped organize a training weekend for the OFSS at that big property and they're planning another one for this year, the weekend of Oct. 1. Mushers from all over Ontario (and who knows, maybe Quebec too) will be there. A few weeks before that on Sept. 10 there's also the OFSS fall symposium being held up in Kearney. They're getting Bud Streeper as the main guest speaker and also Denis Rozon who put on a great dryland race last fall in Bristol Quebec. He's planning another one for this fall too.

[QUOTE=Gail P;1011819]You're a musher too? :thumbs up Definitely have to meet up then. I have another musher friend with trails on her property too whose place I sometimes go train at, but her trails are pretty tight and twisty. If they don't kill you, you certainly improve your sled handling skills. :laughing: Another friend in the area is a skijorer, she qualified this year for the World Championships and went to Norway to compete back in March. :thumbs up
[/QUOTE]
I don't think I could do justice to the title of being a "musher":laughing: Nolie and I worked with a musher winter before last to try and see if we could get her pulling. Nolie did pretty well when matched up with a lead dog, got me hooked on the idea anyways!. Last winter we didn't get out with a sled at all but I made my own kicksled and we played around with that. I've also tried skijoring but i'm horrible on skis and Nolie didn't pull well enough to keep me from falling over all the time :laughing:. Maybe i'd have to qualify as a "wanna be musher"!

I like to think that there is mushing in my blood... my cousin (who unfortunately i've never met, never even talked to!) has run the iditarod with her purebred Siberian huskies (North Wapiti Kennels) so I like to think I could do it :o

[QUOTE=otter;1011824]I don't think I could do justice to the title of being a "musher":laughing: Nolie and I worked with a musher winter before last to try and see if we could get her pulling. Nolie did pretty well when matched up with a lead dog, got me hooked on the idea anyways!. Last winter we didn't get out with a sled at all but I made my own kicksled and we played around with that. I've also tried skijoring but i'm horrible on skis and Nolie didn't pull well enough to keep me from falling over all the time :laughing:. Maybe i'd have to qualify as a "wanna be musher"!

I like to think that there is mushing in my blood... my cousin (who unfortunately i've never met, never even talked to!) has run the iditarod with her purebred Siberian huskies (North Wapiti Kennels) so I like to think I could do it :o[/QUOTE]

We all start out as wanna be's somewhere along the way. I started with a great dane pulling my daughter on a GT snowracer and it snowballed from there. I've tried skijoring but I'm not good enough on cross country skis, downhill were always more my thing. My daughter skijors though. You ever do any dryland? Bikejoring or scootering? I didn't this spring but once the cool weather comes in the fall I'll get back into that and start putting some miles on the dogs before the snow comes. Hey, have you ever heard of Bonnie Tanguay? (I think that's the spelling) She does mid-distance with a team of goldens. I think she competes in the Can-Am each year, not sure if she runs the 30 or the 60.

I don't know your cousin but I've certainly heard of her :thumbs up

Oh, something else you might find interesting...In late December (between Christmas and New Year's) there's a mushing training camp near Bancroft. Mushers come from all over the place...Ontario, Quebec, the US for a few days or the better part of a week and run trails there. It's very informal, no schedule, no clinics or lessons or anything people just go out whenever, where ever...there are different trails, different distances and it's a great time socializing with other people with similar interests. It doesn't matter if you're a newbie, skijorer, sprinter or into distance. Everyone is welcome and it's so much fun. And the food is great! It's held at a hunt camp, rustic but nice set up. Big kitchen area with a wood cookstove and a propane one too. Hand pump etc. Sitting area with a fire place, bunk room with another fire place and a sauna down the back.

[QUOTE=Gail P;1011827]We all start out as wanna be's somewhere along the way. I started with a great dane pulling my daughter on a GT snowracer and it snowballed from there. I've tried skijoring but I'm not good enough on cross country skis, downhill were always more my thing. My daughter skijors though. You ever do any dryland? Bikejoring or scootering? I didn't this spring but once the cool weather comes in the fall I'll get back into that and start putting some miles on the dogs before the snow comes. Hey, have you ever heard of Bonnie Tanguay? (I think that's the spelling) She does mid-distance with a team of goldens. I think she competes in the Can-Am each year, not sure if she runs the 30 or the 60.[/QUOTE]
I've heard of Bonnie, well, i've heard of her team of goldens:thumbs up I never did convince any of my goldens to pull, though I was working on it with Molly :rip:
I've bikejored with a friends dog but never tried with Nolie. It's been in the works to try it but just hasn't happened. I have friends that bike and skijor all the time, they absolutely LOVE it and so do their dogs!

[QUOTE=Gail P;1011827]I don't know your cousin but I've certainly heard of her :thumbs up[/QUOTE]:laughing:I don't know her either!! I just read about her once in a while. Someday i'd like to go visit them though :cool:

OK, time for everyone to go to bed now!!

welcome back Otter

YAY, you're back!!!!!!!!!!! :grouphug: I am so glad and can't wait to see more pics of that beautiful, but somewhat mischievous Nolie :lovestruck:

Haliburton is such beautiful country, I am sure you're going to love it.

Welcome back Kotter(oops Otter)and Nolie:thumbs up

[QUOTE=otter;1011828]I've heard of Bonnie, well, i've heard of her team of goldens:thumbs up I never did convince any of my goldens to pull, though I was working on it with Molly :rip:
I've bikejored with a friends dog but never tried with Nolie. It's been in the works to try it but just hasn't happened. I have friends that bike and skijor all the time, they absolutely LOVE it and so do their dogs!

:laughing:I don't know her either!! I just read about her once in a while. Someday i'd like to go visit them though :cool:

OK, time for everyone to go to bed now!![/QUOTE]

We'll have to get you out doing some dryland in the fall :thumbs up Sometimes I train alone, sometimes with some other friends and I know of a few nice places for dryland runs. Nolie would probably do great running in the company of other dogs. Lots of times even if they're running solo if they have a team to chase they just dig in and pull like they've been doing it forever.

Welcome back otter :highfive:

welcome back otter! good to see ya! :grouphug::goodvibes:

Hi otter! Good to see you! :D

[QUOTE=otter;1011813]Mosquito invasion was right! We went to the Frost Centre (Dorset) yesterday to hike and they were crazy, and HUGE. I almost missed our little (but still vicious) northern black flies - almost :rolleyes:

Thanks so much for the play place suggestions, sounds good! We checked out the Dahl forest last week and saw Snowden park along the way but didn't stop in, i'll be sure to visit there :thumbs up

Gonna keep my eyes open for a truck full of border collies :D[/QUOTE]



Ummm seeing as u miss the black flies so much I'll send them alllll to you! Took Mindy, shih tzu to the park for a walk today and they little demons were after me! I hate those things!

Welcome Back Otter!!!!! [img]http://www.smileycons.com/img/summer/85.gif[/img]

Really Nolie is 5!!! can't wait to see some pictures of your beautiful girl!!!
and Congrats on the new location and job :thumbs up

Hello Otter and Nolie, so nice to see you again :thumbs up.

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome back:thankyou:

Finally.....

the Nolie girl
[IMG]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-lAT2lbHfiR8/TemUspuQ4nI/AAAAAAAADt4/yYMv7r3XfMU/s512/IMG_6567.JPG[/IMG]


enjoying the wind blowing through her fur :cloud9: as she surveys her new domain
[IMG]https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Rr3s0CzF2ME/TemUtJy2SDI/AAAAAAAADt8/U3W19LgM_WY/s512/IMG_6552.JPG[/IMG]


It's a nice time of year for doggies... not so much fun for humans. I really don't like MOSQUITOES!!! They were crazy that night.... I learned my lesson about visiting marshy areas this time of year!:frustrated:
[IMG]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-dfV4_pCRe2w/TemUsVkG-iI/AAAAAAAADt0/LOKGvDj9XvQ/s512/IMG_6572.JPG[/IMG]

at least Nolie was happy :D

[SIZE="1"](Gail P ..you can guess where we went, it was on the way to your house)[/SIZE]

She's looking [I]very [/I] happy! :D And wet. I can smell wet dog from here! :cloud9: :p

Otter I dont know if you ever saw these pics or not but I have 2 favs from our visit at Chris21711's place a couple of years back.:thumbs up

she's looking very happy and very beautiful Otter :lovestruck::cloud9:


more please :D

Welcome back, Otter.:highfive:

Love the pics of Nolie. She is a gorgeous girl.:lovestruck::cloud9: