When I grow up....................(Agility Photos)

I'm going to be an Agility star just like my dad!

My mum went to watch the first agility trial for 2008 the other night (the CAWA Agility Committee Fundraiser) and my dad (my dog dad, not my human dad!) was there competing against the other clever dogs.

I didn't get to go (this was the first time mum had been to see one and of course she had to take the camera). The photos sure look like all the dogs were having fun, and I can't wait to start back with my agility classess in a week or two, although mum says its going to be a long while before I can compete because I'm still too young.

Anyhowl, here are some photos of my dad .

Mum says he's very handsome, and thats why I am handsome too.
Hmmppfff. Handsome Shmansome, that stuff is for sissy's!

Mum says she kind of hopes that my coat dosn't get quite as thick as his because
I look big enough already, plus I already get very hot this summer!

My dad's name is Cypher, although on my Birth Certificate his name is
Nahrof Quick Change ADM2 JDM3 ADO4 JDO5 SPDX GD SD ET
(all those letters are the titles he has won, told you he's a superstar!).

He sure looks like he is having fun!

This next dog going through the tunnel (aka the"Canine Projector Shute")
is not a relative of mine, but he was very fast!

First jump of the triple

Second jump of the triple

Woo Hoo! Last jump of the triple, and dosn't he look pleased with himself!



This Border Collie is not a relative either.

Neither is this dog (a relative OR a Border Collie for that matter).




These are pretty big jumps that these clever dogs are going over!



Here's a German Shepherd Dog going through the tyre jump.
(When I grow up, Dad will make me one of these for the back yard).

And this one is just plain funny!

Now you know my mum, these wern't the only photos she took at the agility competition. In fact, she evn got sidetracked and took photos of some horses before she even got to the agility trial! I tell ya, give the woman a camera and she's off in LaLa land!

Ok, I'll let her post one horse photo here on my blog, but will have to have a look in her Flickr Gallery to see the other agility and horse photos (which she still hasn't finished uploading!).


Hrrrmmmpfff! I believe that this is now two blog posts that don't have a photo of me in them. Mum better sort that out pretty quick or I might have to go chew up one of her shoes!

Woofs and butt sniffs!

Turbo Taj

The Shock! The Horror! They had fun without me!

Well, all I can say is that I am not amused!

The other day, my family went out to some wonderful place that obviously had oodles of interesting animals to chase, things to see and new and exciting smells to smell (they thought I wouldn't know, but I could tell from their clothes when they got home, plus heres the photographic evidence) and they left me at home!

Now mum wants to show you all some photos of their big adventure without me, how rude is she?

I like cats! I'm good with cats!
I would have played with this one gently so I didn't hurt it!

And just look at these African Painted Dogs - they had a big area to run around in and I would have loved to play chasey and bitey face with them!

These little creatures are so cute, they're called Meerkats - like I said I like cats...
maybe MeeRkat stands for Me chase afteR cat?

That would have been fun;)



Ok, I'm an honest kind of guy, so I'll admit this thing looks a bit freaky -
I mean where is its FUR? I don't think I would have played with him.



Now, these two baboons on the otherhand,
well I'm always ready for a game of bitey-face!



Not so sure about this fella either (I think its the no-fur thing),
but I don't think he would have minded me having a swim in his pool!

I could have caught some of those fish - I like fish for dinner!

I know all about kangaroos, we get them in our backyard. I even chased two down the hill and through the bush the other day. Come to think about it, mum and dad wern't to happy about that. They were happy that I came back though (after five minutes or so when I lost sight of 'roos). Maybe that's why the family didn't take me on this big adventure?

Now this creature is a little Numbat (which apparently is very rare and endangered Australian native species), and I am sure that I could have bought it home to live happily in my toy box with my lambies. I love soft toys and I am very gentle with them.

Well, except for the ones that have sticky-out bits. I don't like sticky-out bits on my soft toys. That would be why my big eyed fish and lobster are now blind. And why Shrek is now deaf. Oh, and both my lambies don't have horns anymore. But I was very gentle and only removed the sticky-out bits that I didn't like (I'm a Border Collie - I'm very precise about these things). Although one of Shreks ears and one of lambies horns tasted pretty good so I did eat them, and no mum wasn't happy about that.

I think if I was allowed to have this Numbat toy, I would have to very gentley remove those ears - they stick out too much! Maybe thats why they didn't take me on this great adventure!

I don't think I have ever seen something that looks quite like this.
But I reckon it probably tastes like chicken.
I love chicken.

Mum would like to show you some more of her photos, but I'm saying that this is *MY* blog and enough is enough. Its bad enough they left me at home and went and had this great adventure at the Zoo without me!

But, if you really want to see more of mum's photos, you can see them in her Flickr.com Gallery and she will be adding more photos soon. You can even see more photos of me over there as well!

Now I think its about time Mum got off the computer and took me for a swim!

Woofs and wags and make sure your family takes you out for some FUN!

Turbo Taj

Border Collie Heaven (aka the river)

Howdy blogdogs!

Well, I know we havn't posted for a little while, you can blame my mum for that, she has been too busy taking photo's with her new dslr camera, but at least she hasn't been to busy to take me to my favourite place - Border Collie Heaven - where I get to run around, chase heaps of dragonflies and swim as much as I want to!

I wish all my dog blog friends could come and have a puppy picnic, look how much fun it is! And I know my mum would LOVE to take all your photos:)

Blue Water Baby

Where'd It Go? (or why are dragonflies so sneaky?)


Oops! That was a bit deeper than I expected!


Jump For Joy!

(Can you tell my daddy is a Jumping Champion?)


Border Collie Tennis Ball Tolling Retriever.


Butterfly ears


I can jump puddles


Blue Reflections



Sigh. Mum won't let me wonder off to far,
she keeps calling my back every time I go adventuring up river.


High Velocity Shake.

The only way to get water out of a long coat.
The trick to this trick is to first go stand next to the person
who does *not* want to get wet,
then shake it up baby!


And these are the fast flying creatures that are so much fun to chase!

What a great day we had! And because it was so hot, I got to go for another swim in the pool when we got hom:)

That's all for now,

Woofs and buttsniffs, and don't forget to have fun with your humans!

Turbo Taj

Dad bought Mum an DSLR!

Howdy friends!

I have to tell you all that my mum is just the happiest camper, because Dad bought her a Nikon D40x dSLR camera (too take lots and lots of photos of me of course!!!). She hasn't even read the manual yet (and reallys needs to so she can work out how to use it properly), but here are some of the first photos that she has taken with the new black beastie;)

Every morning I go outside and patrol the yard to see what new smells I can sniff out.





And this one is of one of the cats that I share my house with. This one is Gandalf. Sometimes we call him Sir Gandalf Foozlebum because, well he's a cat and he's a bit of a snob!



These are some photos of my cousin Smudge, he came over for a visit and a swim in my pool today. Smudge likes to play with the squeaky balls too.


I think Mum had as much fun today as I did!

Woofs and tailwags!

Turbo Taj

Max and Me

I got to play with my friend Max the other day. Max is a Malinois Belgian Shepherd, she is about 6 weeks older than me and belongs to my nanna and pop.

We went for a swim, which I loved and Max hated (she's weird - I can't imagine *any* dog not liking swimming). I had to teach her a lesson or two because she is bigger than me and was being a bit rough, but then we played for ages and had a great time.

Mum says she apologizes for the quality of the pictures, but the sun was in the wrong position to get good ones.

After we had a swim, we hopped into the kids iceburg and played bitey-face.

Max bit my toes so I bit her elbow.

Max bit my face so I bit her foot.

Every now and again I caught mum taking photos of us through the fence.

There she goes with that camera again!

Just call me "Taj Crazy Teeth".

Its hard work playing bitey face on a hot day!

This seemed like as good a spot as any to have a rest and cool down,
- its a good life being a puppy and having fun!

Woofs,

Taj

Operation Bring Beau Home

In 2008, Dogs with Blogs worldwide are uniting to help bring Beau home.


Beau was stolen from his home in Guanaba, Queensland, Australia on 1 July 2003. Beau's Mum has not stopped looking for him since.

Beau is a registered English Setter, a fairly rare breed of dog in Australia. If you know of anyone who has purchased, found or obtained an adult male English Setter since July 2003, please visit Beau's website and look at all his photos.

Beau is an Orange Belton in colour - this means that he has orange/tan markings through his coat and tail and spots on his face an legs. The rest of his coat is white (not cream or red). His fur is short on his body and face with longer 'feathering' fur on his ears, legs, tail and tummy (although this longer hair might be clipped off).

Beau has a very distinctive face: he has a lot of orange/tan colouring and freckle like spots on his face , hazel eyes, a small pink mark in the bottom corner of one eye where the pigment is missing, and most disitinctive is his HEART SHAPED NOSE.

English Setters are medium sized dogs - about the same size as a Golden Retriever or Labrador.

Beau was micro-chipped and unsterilized when he was stolen (he may have been sterilized since then).

Beau's mum has searched Australia wide and has borrowed thousands and thousands of dollars for newspaper and magazine advertisements, flyers, leaflets, brouchures and mass mailings to vets, dog businesses, dog rescue groups, pounds, shelters, dog groomers, dog friendly accomodation and many other places Australia wide.

Beau's mum is offering a$10,000 REWARD for the safe return of Beau, no questions asked. Beau's mum just wants him back.

To read more about Beau and his Mum's desperate attempts to find him, please visit his website Finding Beau

You can even download and print this Finding Beau Flyer to put up on your local noticeboard.

These youtube.com are about Beau and his mum's efforts to find him.





Beau's brother Hammer has a blog where you can be kept up to date on what is happening inthe search for Beau.

Trooper Taj, reporting for duty. Operation Bring Beau Home.

Please help spread the word and return Beau to his mum in 2008!

How to Hypnotize a Border Collie

In order to hypnotize a Border Collie, you need two things. The Border Collie (of course) and the all important magical, alluring hypnotizing tug-toy!

First of all, you start waving the tug toy to get his attention....
(this step usually takes less than .0897 seconds to execute).

Then you move tug-toy left and right like this....

Then you pull it up and down like this....

....so your Border Collie looks like this.....

Then you spin the tug-toy around like this...

It won't be long before the Border Collie starts to do this....

And when he starts to look like this, you know you have...

...a tug-toy hypnotized Border Collie!

Disclaimer: No Border Collies or magical, alluring hypntotizing tug-toys were injured in the making of this blog post, however, the photographer is still feeling dizzy.

Tia - The Dog Fairy and a tricky video

I know everyone likes to see photos of Tia as well as me, so I thought we would do a post just for Tia, although Mum says Tia's a lot harder to photograph than I am (Ed: photographers nightmare - tiny eyes, black fur, wrinkles and camera shy!).

Here's a video of Tia doing tricks - "high five", "gimme ten", "drop" "shake hands". I was only a baby then and you can see me sticking my head in the way:)

This is Tia being the Dog Fairy

I don't think she was very impressed.

Here she is doing the 'Hippo Face'

Mum says this is one of the nicest photos she has taken of Tia.

And another one.

Wing nut ears!

Isn't she pretty, wrinkles and all?

Whhheeeee!!! I can Walk on Water!

I had the best-est, most fun-est day yesterday! It was so hot, so Mum took me and the kids to a little river we have close to home, and I know I'm pretty clever (being a Border Collie and all), but look at me, I can actually WALK ON WATER!!!

Turbo Taj - Super Star!
(Ed: other than minor cropping of the background, this photo is straight out of the camera)

This is what this great place looks like, Mum says its even prettier in winter and you can see what it looks like if you have a look at the pictures of Solar the Siberian in her "Dogs" set in her Flickr.com album.

I tried to catch some little fish, but they were pretty quick!


I got to swim and swim and swim some more!


(Ed: Cue theme song from Jaws)


I'm not sure what happened to the rest of me, but its attached to my tail somewhere!



Mum thought I was noble looking, but I was really just eyeing off the ducks.



Border Collies are much better than Retrieving Water Spaniels!


The Face Plant was, of course, intentional.



I had to keep an eye on my kids though, just for a second at a time. I had the major zoomies and couldn't stop running and jumping and swimming. Mum said I got a bit silly and she had to put the retractable lead on me to spoil all my fun.



Nobody told me that there were holes in the water, but they all laughed when I fell in.



I even got to chase dragonflies!


I barked and barked...


and chased them some more...


I got so excited chasing the dragonflies that I fell in the water.



Mum said the only time my feet were still was when I did this....


...and this.



The one good thing about being on the retractable lead was that mum could reel me in,
those underwater rocks sure were slippery!

Mum said that she would have had another 500 or so photos to share with you all, but she was laughing so hard, most of them turned out blurry.

Its great to see all my friends adding their funny photos to our competition, my mum and dad sure are laughing lots!

Woofs,

Taj

Happy New Year - And Its competition time!

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

I hope everypup and every human had a safe night - and nobody got scared by the fireworks!

To celebrate the New Year, my mum and dad are holding two new competitions that are free to enter for Dog Lovers everywhere!

The first competition starting today is for a prize of a $100 (AUD) Amazon shopping Gift Card for the Dogsites member that makes the most forum posts from 1st January 2008 to 30th March 2008. How cool is that! Join in the discussion forum, learn some new doggy things, share your doggy experiences, meet new doggy friends, have some fun AND you get the chance to win this great prize!!!

The second competition is a photography competition and the theme is "Funny Photo". The funniest Dog photos will be chosen by Dogsites visitors using a rating vote system, so make sure you tell all your friends to come along and vote for your photos! The prizes are awesome and include an original 9"x12" Pet Portrait of your dog created by my Mum (who's a multi award winning animal and wildlife artist), a years subscription to the excellent dog magazine, National Dog, and a $50.00 gift voucher for Amazon.com.

Now what dog lover couldn't resist these competitions?

To find out more about these great competitions, please visit

PS: You can see my Dog Page while your there!

Woofs and Tailwags

Turbo Taj