Happy Gotcha Day, Sadie!

It has been two years since Sadie came to live with me, her family victims of a fire and a job loss that left them unable to care for her. I offered to foster her for Okanagon Collie Rescue, but within 48 hours applied to adopt her instead. She was about nine when she came to me, so she is about eleven years old now - the youngest of my crew.

Here she is a couple of months after her arrival, when she weighed in at a very large 89 pounds (Photo by Big Air Photography):

And here she is today, a reasonably svelte 57 pounds:




She spent her gotcha day at her favourite offleash park - Osborne Bay Park - 65 acres of field, forest and beach.

It was a fabulous day today, with spring in full swing - flowers and trees in bloom everywhere, sunshine bright in the blue, blue sky, and water sparkling and clear.

Our day started, as usual, with Belle sounding the alarm at 5:00 AM. I let her out for a pee then tried to go back to bed, but by 5:30 I could hear Oliver bumping around in his crate, also needing out. Oliver was full of energy, so once all the critters' needs were taken care of, he and I headed for the seawalk and the beach so he could indulge in what has become a morning ritual - his polar bear dip.

Sunlight hits the Seawalk

Oliver struts along, heading for the beach

Splish Splash! In he goes!

(I can't get pictures of him actually swimming as I am too busy holding tight to his leash and trying not to be dragged in for a polar bear swim myself!)

I was puzzled by a strange shape on a post out in the water, and then realized it was a cormorant sunning his wings - he was a bit out of reach of the zoom for a good shot, but he held this pose for a full five minutes!:

A cormorant spreads his wings

In the early afternoon, while Oliver napped, I took Charley and Sadie to the park. We hit the beach at low tide and Sadie dined on a gotcha-day smorgasbord of crabslegs, oysters, clams, mussels and barnacles - grazing the beach is her favourite pasttime. She was one happy puppy!

Sadie investigates a hollow log

Charley tests the waters

Two dogs on a beach

Sadie cruisin' for shellfish

Yum, yum! Sadie's Gotcha Day feast!

Returning home, I took Belle outside for a little walk and some sunshine, and she graciously agreed to pose beside the flowers in our garden:

The Princess and the Daffodils

Her Highness and the Hyacinth

A good day for all.....and now Sir Oliver says it time for one last walk before bed.