Ellie has Company...

Ellie has company for a week. Orla is a Nova-Scotian Duck Tolling Retriever that we are home-boarding for a week, while her owners are on holiday.

She's a great dog to have around. Like Ellie, she is trained to KCGC Silver standard (they both attend the same training school), and thus she really presents no problems either around the house, or out on our walks.

While they may not yet be best of friends, there's no falling out between them. I think they are both happy to just give each other some space and see what develops. :) They are both of a similar age and quite similar in their temperaments and attitudes.

Isn't that vibrant red coat gorgeous though?

And the verdict is......

If you have read our previous blog entry, you will already know that Ellie was to be tested for her Kennel Club Good Citizen Silver exam today.

Sadly, it's not the best of news. She passed, which means we now have to work even harder, in readiness for the gold. :) Got you going there for a second, didn't I? :)

She sailed through the exam, with no repeats required for any of the required tests. That's what I call a success. Go Ellie!

In theory, if my memory serves me well, we can get her tested for Gold in September. Whether she'll be ready by then or not is another matter though. We shall see...

Ellie Does Farndon

We tool Ellie to Farndon yesterday. Farndon is a small village on the Fosse Way or A46 Roman road, 2.5 miles (4 km) south-west of Newark-on-Trent, on the banks of the River Trent. The name Farndon means "Fern Hill". It is thought to be the site of the Roman fort Ad Pontem or "the place by the bridges.

What was of interest to us, of course, was that there is a harbour and the river Trent there. And you know what that means, don't you? Yes, more photo opportunities! :)

She's a brilliant dog to take out and about. We never have to give a second thought to her running off, or how she might react to other dogs. She's just a constant and never gives us cause for concern.

We met other dogs and, as usual, she showed little to no interest in them. She was even very good by the swans, which, to the best of my knowledge, she's never really encountered before. They were hissing at her, but she remained in a stay position, off leash, despite their protests towards her, while I took this close-up. What more could we really ask for?

Which leads me to my next big news of the day...

Ellie will be taking her Kennel Club Good Citizen (Silver) exams at 14:00 today. Yes, after only a few weeks of passing her bronze, we're going for Silver. We're optimistic that she'll pass, but dogs are dogs, and as we all know, anything can happen on the day.

I, for one, shall be delighted if she passes as, in my 'schedule', I'd pencilled passing Silver by the time she reaches twenty-four months (two years). She is now fifteen months, so she will be ahead of what I'd aimed for. I will, of course, post the results on the blog once I learn of them.

And finally, some pictures of Madam taken recently....

Enjoy and wish us luck!