Cobalt: The End of the Evening

The party ran until just past sunset, with people drifting off as the pups got tired and the sky got dark.

Sunset


A couple of dogs went back in for a quick dip before heading out.


Jazz didn't stay in the water very long, though.


People eventually moved up the beach.


Photon stayed longer in the water,
and Cobalt stayed the longest of all.


By now, Splash was almost entirely over her barking.


She showed off a few tricks, like her ability to distinguish left from right...


...and High Five.


Everyone hung around for treats before leaving.


Photon looks like a cartoon dog when she's wet.


Heading Home

Read more!

Cobalt: Aussies On The Beach

Since the dogs wanted into the water and the shore near the labyrinth was covered with huge boulders, we moved down to the beach area at the west end of the off-leash park.

Photon was the first to get wet


She could direct shipping with those semaphore ears!


Jazz had a good swim, but didn't go back in much


Lots of excitement over Cobalt's fetch toy


The waves caught Bean by surprise


Three sisters in the water. Photon wanted at Cobalt's toy!


Oh yeah, she definitely wants that toy.


She tried and tried, but Cobalt's become
quite protective of her toys, and kept hold


Charli was a pretty quiet pup, but
even she got into the fetch game


I think this is Jazz, but it might be Bean


This fluffy fellow joined in the fun,
and was eventually named an honourary Aussie.
He's quite young, but bigger by far than
any of the Aussies.


One of Charli's people ended up throwing a stick
pretty far out. Charli made a valiant attmept, but
just could not find it.

That takes us to the end of the photos I've uploaded at this point. Tonight, I'll be putting the rest up, and I'll have one more post. Read more!

Cobalt: Aussies In The Park

Here are some highlights from the first part Mini Aussie Party.

We started at the stone labyrinth that people have built in the middle of the off-leash area.

Other dogs joined us from time to time
(Splash and guest)


Some of the Aussies played fetch
(Photon)


Some got to know each other
(Jazz, Bean, and Cobalt)


Some got to know the other owners
(Bean giving Splash's owner kisses)


Some went exploring
(Photon, Cobalt, and Jazz)


Some did tricks
(Jazz)


The "the camera twisted as I shot the photo" version
of the above picture. I kind of like the effect


Photon's a real ham for the camera sometimes



Cobalt and Photon started hinting
that they wanted to go down to the water


Unfortunately, the beach was a little... rocky... right there

We gathered everyone up and headed to the west end of the off-leash area, where there was a proper beach right down to the water. That's in the next post! Read more!

Cobalt: A Gaggle Of Aussies

This past Tuesday we had our first gathering of Stoverly Aussies from Toronto. We got people together at the Kew Gardens off-leash park, which is on the beach just south of Kew Gardens in The Beaches.

We had six Stoverly mini Aussies show, and one non-Stoverly non-mini Aussie. In order of appearance:

Splash
Splash was originally an HHC Aussie,
but had to be rescued from an abusive adopter,
and became a breeding female for Stoverly.
She distrusts all men because of the abuse,
but she mellowed a lot over the course of the evening.


Bean
Splash's daughter from her first litter


Cobalt


Photon
Cobalt's sister from the same litter
(Here's Photon's folks post on the party)


Jazz
Jazz is Splash's daughter, from a different
litter than Bean. She's almost indistinguishable
from her sister. I tell them apart by the shape of
the blazes on their foreheads, and the big black spot
on Bean's right foreleg.


Raven
Cobalt & Photon's sister from a different litter


Charli
The non-Stoverly Aussie, who lives with Raven.
This is the first Aussie I've ever seen with a tail!

The pups had a great time in the park. Jazz's owner was disappointed that Jazz and Bean weren't particularly interested in Splash or each other. On the other hand, Cobalt, Photon, and Raven ended up playing together a lot in the water.

Continued in Part 2 Read more!

Cobalt: Soggy Doggy Day 2

Sunday morning, we went back out to Cherry Beach. We wondered if Cobalt would still be keen on the water, or if we'd need to coax her out again, to jump-start her.

We hadn't needed to worry.

In fact, within ten minutes, we had her swimming for the first time since her koi pond mishap.

She couldn't get enough of the water. She must have brought that toy back dozens of times.

She was extremely pleased with herself.

Eventually she started to tire out, and we took her for a lap of the beach and back to the car.

At this point, we decided I needed some waterproof shoes. I have "convertible" pants (the legs zip off above the knees to make them into shorts), but no sandals or anything. So we ran a short shopping expedition so I could go into the water next time, and let L take the photos.

That evening, we were back at Cherry Beach, and she was back in the water. This time, I was the one in with her, and L was on shore with the telephoto lens.

And, occasionally, out of the water.

We took her deeper into the lake than she'd been before, but she did very well. She sometimes had trouble spotting the toy in the waves (which were much larger than they'd been that morning or the evening before), but she usually found it.

Sometimes it was a long swim back.

But she really enjoyed the water.

And, as before, she was extremely pleased with herself.

So we'll be back, during the week and on the weekends. Read more!