Rich Helms ca

Printer Friendly

This is the video from the 2009 Festival. You can see Margaret at about 1:50

http://www.maplesyrupfestival.ca/

Printer Friendly

Proud Mother

Margaret Helms successfully defended her title, and for the second year in a row, captured the win in the large breed category of the “Doggy Fashion Show” at the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival. The English Bulldog, who belongs to Dorothea and Rich Helms of Sunderland, was dressed in her Easter finery – pink feather boa and pink hat. Many thanks to Barb Thompson of Pawsitive Style Pet Food Accessories and Grooming in Sunderland, who once again generously sponsored this contest and provided great dog goodies to the participants and winners. Margaret is home now, and exhausted from the pressure of competing and posing for the paparazzi who hounded her for photos and quotes. Her take on the day: “Woof!”

Which way is the Easter parade?

Printer Friendly

Margaret in her Halloween costume.

We went to our daughter’s place last night to give out Halloween candy. Living in the country we get few if any kids coming to our door. In keeping with the spirit we dressed Margaret up. You can see how excited she was over the whole affair. She loved greeting the kids.

Printer Friendly

Skate and Eat

Printer Friendly

I worked with Margaret for several days teaching her to get on the board when it was on the living room rug. This video shows some of her attempts to get on the board while it was sitting on a hard surface where it can easily move.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Printer Friendly

Today we passed another small step in teaching Margaret, my bulldog, to skateboard. Steps to date:

Step 1: Get over fear of the board

Now I am not talking about standing all four paws on the board, just two. Margaret was afraid of the skateboard so first I sat on a step with the skateboard beside me. The board was leaning on my leg. All I wanted her to was put her front paws on the board while eating. By letting her confront the board sideways while stabilized to me, her desire for food overcame her fear.

Step 2: Standing on the board

For this I sat on a step with the board between my legs and my feet stabilizing the the board.

Step 3: Basic gliding

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Step 4: Pulling the board

Now she has to stabilizer herself while the board moves.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Now for the new step:
Step 5: Getting on the board without me holding it

I break getting on a skateboard into two smaller tasks. Tonight Margaret got on the board resting on a rug. The rug is pretty flat so it will move but not as easily. It also helped that it was her supper and she was hungry. I will repeat this a few times then move to a hard surface.

Printer Friendly

The next step is getting Margaret used to being pulled. One interesting thing is that she finds it easier to sit rather than stand. Sitting does not require as much balance. She still needs the board stabilized to get on. Also, I am trying to figure out how to teach her to propel herself.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

On Saturday, we took Margaret to the Uxbridge Skateboard park. She had never seen anyone skateboard before that afternoon. One of the boys skated for her. While at first intimidated, Margaret enjoyed running with Steven and seemed to think it was a fun game.

Printer Friendly

This morning was another milestone. Last night we were not prepared for Margaret to climb on the board so willingly. This morning Dorothea videoed the feeding. I cut out the minute of eating, highlighting the mount and then giving her a ride.

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

She still needed the board held as she has not grasped the concept of getting on the board carefully. Also on the last push, you can see I pushed her too hard so she did not maintain her balance.