This is our Border Collie, Cali (Contact Point TexaCali Twister). She was born on May 3rd, 2006 from XP Hope of Drummond (Hope) x Contact Point's Anticipation (Quiver). We got her from Karen Moureaux who is the breeder of Contact Point Border Collies.
8/5/07 - Kaylee Comes for a Visit
While Becky was attending the Clean Run Instructors Camp in Connecticut, Kaylee came to stay with us for a few days. She and Cali already loved playing together, so they were both in hog heaven. When Becky got home, she asked me if Kaylee was any problem. Of course not! She and Cali just played non-stop until they were exhausted and then took REALLY long naps!
We all went running and playing on the trail a couple of times a day, and Kaylee had no problem keeping up with the big dogs. Josie and Angel actually tolerated her quite well, although Cali and Kaylee had to learn to watch out and not run into Josie at full speed while they were chasing each other. Amazingly, Angel even tried to get Kaylee to play several times, but since Kaylee wasn't too sure about her, Angel would give up and go back to sleep inside on the couch.
Of course, just like kids, the dogs seem to think it's much more fun to play INSIDE in the air conditioning and on the furniture (why would they call it FUR-niture if it's not for the dogs to use?). Both Cali and Kaylee often look like crazy, wild dogs when they're playing since they love to bite and chew on each other all the time.
Finally - tired, but happy pups. I think Kaylee actually wore Cali out (I didn't think it was possible)!
8/2/07 - Cali Jumping
I realized that I didn't have one single picture of Cali jumping (and I have photos of her doing EVERYTHING else!), so Dan offered to come shoot a few while she was doing her Susan Salo jump grids. She LOVES to jump! Next time, we'll take the photos somewhere other than next to the piles of brush on the other side of the fence (to block the neighbor's dog from staring and barking at Cali and the dogs in class).
5/11/07 - Cali's Second Herding Lesson
Cali did great with herding. She's got LOTS of drive and is a quick learner. This should be fun!
5/3/07 - Cali's Birthday - One Year Old!!!
We took some birthday pictures out on the trail (although Angel and Josie would have been happy to have been left out of the photo shoot). Of course, we had to get one of Cali carrying her favorite fish toy. She's always been very gentle with it and doesn't chew it up like her other toys. It "breathes" in and out when she very gently squishes it in her mouth. She's a funny girl! For her birthday, she gets to go "meet the sheep" tomorrow at Michele McGuire's place. It should be interesting!
2/9 to 2/16/07 - Road trip to Florida!
Cali was signed up for Susan Garrett's "Contact Day" and "Foundation Seminar" in Stuart, Florida so Dan, Cali, and I took a road trip to Florida. We took three days getting there, and Cali was a perfect traveler. She slept almost the whole time she was in the car. Her favorite part of the trip was discoving the ocean waves in Panama City Beach, Florida. We stayed at a very nice little hotel right across from the beach, and since the beach was virtually empty, the hotel owner thought it would be fine to take Cali on the beach. She was in HEAVEN! She had already shown us that she LOVES to chase waves when we were at my parent's house on Lake Whitney over Thanksgiving (she was obsessed). So, I was prepared and kept her on leash intially. I let her chase the waves for a minute and then called her to come touch my hand. She hesitated at first, but then came running, so I rewarded her with her cue "DIG!" (which is one of her highest value reinforcers) and then released her to go back and chase the waves. Pretty soon I had rocketing recalls since she knew she would either get to dig or go chase the waves again (or both!).
1/12/07 - Cali really enoys her new toy, the Pooch Ball (thanks Becky!). It's a rubber tube that has a tennis ball inside of it. She tosses it around the room and occassionally gets the tennis ball out. She also seems to like a stuffed animal toy inside with the tennis ball and it keeps her busy for quite awhile trying to get it out (or just tossing it around the room and chasing it when it bounces erratically). She can entertain herself for quite awhile laying either on top of her crate or in the massage chair, chewing on her toys and then "accidentally" dropping them on the floor (with a look of surprise) and then pouncing on them (over and over again, of course!).
