Bearded Collies Toby and Brego

Zeewolde Camperweekend

2009-03-29T20:18:00.004+01:00

This weekend we visited a camping site in Zeewolde for a Camper event for dog-owners. The camping site is very dog-friendly and we camped at a group field where the dogs could walk around all day.

At the start they needed to get familiar with the other dogs, and dogs do this by sniffing each others bottoms.

From the field that we were camping at, we could walk immediately to the beach.

Where the dogs can run freely as well.

And give our boys water and they have fun.

The next movie first shows Brego with some other dogs and then shows Toby busy in the water.

Back at the camping site, the motor homes in line.

More fun on the camping field.

Even some agility attributes were present (actually they were ours).

And again more fun for the doggies and their owners.

While being in this part of the country we also visited some caches that you can read about here and here

Geocaching Camper Event

2009-03-01T20:19:00.004+01:00

This weekend we visited our first caching event. It was organized in our home town and was meant for cachers with a motor home. Since we comply with this description we went .

The location was a motor-cross circuit.

About the caching part of the weekend you can read here.

Loon op Zand

2009-01-31T20:08:00.003+01:00

Today we went caching in Loon op Zand. About the caching details you can read here
First we walked from the car to the nature area.

We passed by some farms.

And the walk brought us to an area called "Loonse en Drunense Duinen", that consists of marshes and sand dunes.

The weather being a little bit windy but with the sun in the sky lovely to be outside.

The dogs weren't allowed to run freely everywhere.

But where they could they enjoyed that a lot.

Happy Birthday Toby

2009-01-26T19:27:00.007+01:00

Today Toby had his birthday. He became 4 years old. We had a little celebration and of course a cake.

Toby and Brego awaiting the cake.

Toby the birthday boy enjoying his half of the cake.

And Brego eating his half.

A little movie that shows the dogs eating their part of the cake very peacefully.

Toby laid himself down to enjoy the last part of the cake, well he's an old boy now, just kidding of course.

Snow in the Netherlands

2009-01-11T21:12:00.006+01:00

When we awoke on Monday we opened the curtains and saw that it had snowed in the Netherlands. The whole week the temperature stayed below zero and therefore the snow stayed around. Toby loves laying in the back garden with his belly on the snow.

And Brego enjoys playing with a soccer ball even when snow is laying around and the ball is almost frozen.

In the weekend our niece and nephew came to sleep over and they wanted to go caching with us. Here you can see Tommy walking around with the GPS receiver.

The dogs are having fun in the snow. And what a nice weather it was with the sun out there.

Here is Mila posing in the forest.

And here you can see us all walking around on a frozen stream.

And Brego has a strange habit when he is on the ice. The next movie tells it all.

Bearded Collie Walk, Leende

2009-01-04T01:53:00.003+01:00

While on holiday a friend of us suggested to organize a bearded collie walk close to our home. It is a forest where dogs are allowed to walk freely. We thought that was a good idea en together we agreed to let it happen on the Sunday after our holiday.
And so it happened about 20 Bearded Collies were present with their bosses.
When the dogs are released they are always very happy and they start running with each other.

We walk about 7 KM in the area, that is a mixture of forest.

A couple of open meadows inside the forest, where the dogs start running every time we arrive at one.

And there are also two sand hills.

White sand which for a bearded collie owner is good news, since they don't get to dirty with this kind of sand.

But the most part is forest area.

Christmas Holiday, Germany

2009-01-02T19:00:00.005+01:00

The last destination of our Christmas holiday was in Kalkar Germany, just across the border in Germany.
Although a holiday park is located there, we didn't visit that, because we came here to enjoy peace and silence. We were hoping for a quiet new-year arrival without a lot of fireworks.
We walked to the historical town of Kalkar, that was just about a small KM away from the camping site.

The dogs could run free for the first part.

But of course when we arrived at the town itself they had to be on the leash.

We did a tour around the town, and one of the points to visit was this Jewish church, where we actually were invited to enter the church (with the dogs, since they were Gods creatures as well). We politely refused, since there is always a chance that Brego could mark one of the benches with his urine.

We visited different areas in town, and a what we noticed was a lot of nice buildings.

And last but not least we visited the Dutch Windmill that is present in the town.

On the last day of the year we walked towards an area nearby with dunes, not exactly like dunes at the sea, but dunes created by the river Rhine a long time ago.

At this old tree remains we needed to make a picture with the dogs and our GPS. But the dogs almost couldn't sit still because the liked the hoar-frost that was on the tree.

On the next picture it is visible that the area was frosted all over.

On the first day of the year 2009 we took the bikes again to drive towards a castle in the neighbourhood. Since we were the only visitors on this part of the camping site the dogs could run free once in a while.

The castle Moyland that we visited on the background.

And on the way back we came across this little chapel.

Christmas Holiday, Lauwersoog

2008-12-29T19:00:00.003+01:00

After our stay at the island of Texel we wanted to drive to Germany and stay there until the new-year. On the way over to Germany we stopped at a camping site in Lauwersoog.
We arrived there when it was almost dark so we enjoyed a peaceful first night there and the next day we went for a walk in the neighbourhood.

The walk lead us through beautiful surrounding. Although it was a very cold day, but since the sun was shining it was overall a very pleasant day.

At one point there was a look-out tower, and when the boys see stairs they want to climb them so here a picture of them upstairs.

With this cold weather the dogs are very thirsty and here they are looking for water underneath the ice.

Here you can see us relaxing on a bench before we continued with the walk.

Christmas Holiday, Texel

2008-12-27T23:01:00.006+01:00

On Monday we took our motor-home to enjoy a holiday, we first went to Texel, one of the islands in the North of the Netherlands, where we've been before and that we like a lot.
When we arrived the dogs needed to investigate the environment.

We immediately went to the beach that is very close-by the site that we were staying at. It was already starting to get dark when we arrived at the beach.

We stayed a mid-week on Texel. We took the bikes for a tour around the island three times. The first time we took the doggy-rides with us and we drove to the North part of the island.

On the way we stopped a couple of times to find a cache. One of the caches was hidden on a small airport.

Another was hidden near the station of the rescue people.

And the target of that day was a cache near a beautiful lighthouse.

We had a week with a lot of sun, but overall it was very cold, but that doesn't seem to harm the boys.

On Christmas day we took the bikes without the doggy-rides to ride to two earth caches not to far from where we were staying. The dogs walked beside the bicycles the whole part.
The areas were very beautiful. Here we are standing at a look-out point of one of the earth caches.

We walked along the dunes towards another earth cache located on the highest dune of the island.

On the way back we walked along the beach, which is always a lot of fun. Toby ran towards the sea and looks back where we are staying.

Both doggies running towards the sea.

A movie that shows the fun we had at the beach.

On Boxing day we took the bikes again to go for an almost 30 KM ride to the South of the island. Again a beautiful sunny day.

I created a trip where we had a stop every 3 or 4 Km. The boys walked all by them selves.

A lovely piece of nature where our favorite cattle walk loose and we had to pass by them on very short distances. Rather impressive, sunny, but cold, what a blessed people we are.

Another stop at a nice church.

And after a day full of activity what's better than to relax in the motor home.

Christmas Holiday, first weekend

2008-12-20T22:45:00.000+01:00

Friday December 19th was the last working day of the year 2008. We had a two week holiday. The first weekend we stayed at home but we did go out for a couple of geocaches.
On Saturday we went for a couple of the chapel caches that are of a series of 7.
The second of the series in Steensel.

It let us to a short walk in a peaceful environment.

The third of the series in Knegsel.
Again starting at a chapel, let us through a forest, and we finished this one when it was starting to get dark.

On Sunday we went to Belgium for a nice walk in a forest.

Always good to be able to run for free in a forest.

We could find the cache as you can see on the next picture.

Staying over

2008-12-14T22:27:00.005+01:00

Saturday we had a party at Safaripark Beekse Bergen organized by my employer. It was including a stay-over in a safari bungalow. For this reason the doggies went to stay at a friends Bearded Collie hotel.
When we were awake this morning we went for a cache that is located beside the Safari Park.

The first time without the dogs. It felt a little strange walking in a forest without them.
We passed by the gate of the safari park, but didn't spot a lot of the animals inside.

At one point a couple of reindeer came to take a look at us. We named the one closest to the gate Rudolph.

When we picked up the boys, we decided to go to a nearby earth cache and make a little stroll in the beautiful town Valkenburg, a town complete in Christmas atmosphere.

Our friend got a present that we really liked, a Christmas stocking with a bearded collie on it, that looks a lot like Toby.

Happy Birthday Brego

2008-12-08T20:46:00.004+01:00

Today Brego became 2 years old. Hip Hip Hooray. To celebrate this happy occasion I made a cake that the boys could eat. Here's the cake.

Here Toby and Brego are waiting for the cutting of the cake.

Here a movie of them both enjoying the cake.

Brego eating his piece.

Toby eating his piece.

So probably tomorrow they won't eat anything after this happy meal.

Reli Caching Weekend - Sunday

2008-12-07T21:15:00.002+01:00

And today we continued with our religious caching weekend with a twist.
We visited a small village called Riethoven, just a couple of Km's away from home.
We did three caches, one 1 KM walk in the BraamBosch.

Here a pose after the cache has been found before going to the next one.

The second cache one near a little chapel, that contained a walk of about 1 KM through a little forest.

And then finally a 8 Km walk that led us through forest and meadows, the area is called "Huisven".

The dogs enjoyed this long walk and we as well.

More geocaching details can be found here.

Reli Caching Weekend - Saturday

2008-12-06T20:37:00.001+01:00

This weekend we did a couple of caches with a religious theme. Nothing to serious but with a little twist.
On Saturday we did the pilgrimage cache, it is one of the most popular and appreciated caches in the Netherlands. The cache started at a little chapel.

While on our way to the parking spot, we passed by a shepherd that was herding sheep with two border collies. Toby and I trained with sheep when he was a youngster, so we always enjoy watching the pros.

It was a 7 KM walk in a beautiful area called "De Pan"

We parked our car and we let the dogs run free, on this picture Toby is checking out what dog went before us.

Brego is looking where we are staying.

While Rob is picking up the box with leaflets that contained the tasks we had to fulfill.

Brego is chewing on a stick, waiting for us to continue.

The rest of the trip brought us to very nice spots.

Forest and marshes....

A very strange tree, fallen against another one.

More creeks....

And moor, to bad the shepherd moved the herd to another location.

We were busy for four hours with this adventure, but we found what we were looking for so in the evening a well deserved rest to recover from this adventure.
More specific geocaching details you can find here.

Finish Short Walk Series

2008-11-30T18:35:00.006+01:00

Today we continued with the Short Walk Series we started yesterday. It rained this morning so everything was very wet, but we were prepared so no problem there.
We did two short walks, the first alongside the Run riverbanks,

Half way to the other side of the river.

The boys were there before us.

Like always Toby wanted to go in, but because the banks were a little steep he didn't dare to.

Brego was very interested in the sheep on the other side of the small river.

We were joking because when he was tested in France 2 months ago he wasn't interested at all. Funny thing is that Toby has got strong herding skills but ignores sheep that we walk by in real life.
We logged the cache and after that Brego still was staring at the sheep and the sheep were staring back.

So with two sheep dog and sheep available we needed to make a nice picture of course.

On the way back to our car I made a small movie of all the boys having fun running around in sand, water and mud.

The second and last walk we did lead us through a forest area, we had to follow the signposts of the "Sprankel" walk.

On some of the signposts screws were attached with a number on it, so we had to investigate all of the signposts.

Click here to read more details about the cache adventures of today.

Cache Walks

2008-11-29T19:10:00.007+01:00

Today we went for three short walks not to far from our hometown.
The first walks was about 3Km's long and took us through farm-area.

The dogs enjoyed the area a lot where they could walk of the leash for the most part.

They sniffed and sniffed, you can imagine the interesting smells out there of dogs, cows, and horses.

And drank water side by side.

The second walk we did was in a wet area besides a small river called Dommel.
This is a reserve so the dogs needed to stay on the leash, no problem at all. So Brego is the first to be caught and put on the leash.

Then it's Toby's turn.

Walk side by side by the river.

And then posing for a picture, which is hard with dogs that love to enter water even when they are on a leash.

But we managed to take a picture after all.

The third and last walk of today was a 1,5 Km walk around a little marsh.
If you want to know more geocaching details read here.
At the end of the day the boys needed a rest, and that's what they did.

Visit puppies Maastricht

2008-11-23T18:59:00.000+01:00

Today we went to the breeder of Brego in Maastricht, she has some new puppies which share the same father with Brego. On the next picture you can see all five puppies in the colors Black, Brown and Fawn.

Toby is always hoping that we don't bring another of those puppies home, just kidding of course.

After we left the breeder we decided to go for a nice walk in the neighbourhood of Maastricht, it was a nice walk in a area with hills which is very rare in the Netherlands. You can read the details here.
On the way back a lot of snow fell down from the sky and when we returned home I made the next picture in the back garden.

The first Snowfall of the Season

2008-11-22T19:01:00.015+01:00

This morning it snowed a little bit, Toby loves this a lot and what he likes to do the most is lay down with his belly in the snow while some more snow falls on him.

Brego sort of ignores the snow, he just keeps on harassing the rabbits, like he always does with or without snow.

And then later on Toby is still lays on the same spot.

We went for a cache today that was a 9 km walk in a nice area not to far from our home. Because of the snowfall it was extra beautiful.

The dogs were sniffing and sniffing, this always happens when snow has fallen, I'm wondering why. Perhaps they have to work harder to spot senses?

We found a hiding place for when it would snow a lot, but we didn't need it today.

The sun was shining and we really enjoyed the walk and the nice environment.

We walked through wood land...

And through moor land, where especially Brego and Toby went a little bit crazy as the next movie shows.

When we arrived at the last way point we ran into some Scottish Highlanders that were blocking the footpath.

First we had to pass the cattle grid and there was no place for the dogs to pass, so we had to carry them over the grid.

It is advised to keep at least 25 meters distance between the herd and not to walk through a herd, we decided to go back to the big path.

But once we were on the big path we saw that they were close by that path as well.

We decide to pass by them anyhow, since they didn't try to scare us away yet.

On of the young cows was really interested in us, you can see him behind me, but we decided not to wait upon his arrival and continue with our walk towards the cache.

We found the cache at 15:00.

And the guys where guarding the area while I logged our visit.

After this walk we went to Belgium to pick up some caches, you can read all about this on our geocaching weblog here.

Braambosch, Riethoven

2008-11-16T21:48:00.003+01:00

Today we combined two caches in a forest about 5 Kms from our home. We never visited this forest before, so geocaching brings us in areas we wouldn't visit otherwise and that's very nice indeed.

We walked around that forest for about 3 hours or so and were able to discover two caches. Read here for more details about these caches.

The area was a combination of woodlands and acres as is visible on the next picture.

And here you can see me discovering one of the pieces we needed to find for one of the caches.

When we discovered the second cache the sun was set and it was almost dark when we returned to our car.

Achel caching continued

2008-11-15T21:37:00.000+01:00

After Mila and Tommy were picked up by their parents we decided to continue our quest in Achel Belgium.
We again enjoyed beautiful walking trails

The dogs where happy because a little stream was flowing here from which they could drink a little bit of fresh water.

We discovered 5 caches in Achel, for details go to our geocaching weblog here.
We really enjoyed the nice surroundings, here a bridge over a small river.

And we discovered another wood carving in one of the trees.

Caching with Mila

2008-11-15T21:18:00.003+01:00

Mila and Tommy came to sleepover last night. Saturday morning Tommy had to play soccer and Rob went with him. Mila and I went caching with the doggies.

The cache was hidden in a little forest that is located in a industrial area.

In the area also a small lake is present. On this side the dogs didn't enter when we walked on the opposite side Toby did.

Mila was taking care of the GPS-receiver to guide the way.

We had to visit 10 way points at which we had to answer questions.

We managed to find the cache. Here Toby and Brego beside the cache box.

And here Mila is holding the cache box. She said geo-caching is fun to do and for sure she will join us on another cache adventure in the future.

Diploma Ceremony

2008-11-11T21:00:00.005+01:00

This evening the Diploma Ceremony took place at our dog-school. Brego and Rob passed the exam almost half a year ago to be more specific on May 24!
But better late than sorry it was finally happening.
Waiting for the ceremony.

The handover of the Diploma.

The group photo.

And this is how the Diploma looks.

Weekend Arcen - Sunday

2008-11-09T21:31:00.006+01:00

The rain came Saturday night so we heard raindrops on top of the roof when we were sleeping in bed, but we didn't get wet at all because when we woke up on Sunday it was dry again.
We went for a cache in the border area, and as you can see on the next picture sometimes we visit paths that aren't walked on in a long time.

We walked near a lake in a very nice piece of nature.

And there was one part where the boys could enter the water.

And as always when they can enter water they enjoy this very much.

Here you see the lake as a whole with the boys entering the lake.

Brego did manage to find a stick, which he is proudly holding on to.

And back to continue the walk.

Read here for more details about the caching.

Weekend Arcen - Saturday

2008-11-08T21:14:00.002+01:00

This weekend we drove away with our motor-home to enjoy a nice weekend in Arcen, Limburg. The weather forecast as promising and indeed we had some fine sunny weather.

On Saturday we took our bikes and made a tour around the small village Arcen.
We passed by the brewery "Hertog Jan"

We had one of the doggy-rides with us because Toby nails cause troubles again, and they are hurting, so he could relax inside the doggy-trailer, whilst Brego walked the whole ride.

We did stop a lot of times to drink a cop of coffee with cake called "Limburgse vlaai".

Or to figure out where to go next for the caches we were trying to find.

We even went to Germany and went back to the Netherlands again to go to the camping site.

And we found 3 caches today of which one in a very beautiful environment indeed.

Read here for more details about the caching.

Caching in Achel Belgium

2008-11-02T20:59:00.005+01:00

Today we decided to go geocaching in Achel, just across the border in Belgium to continue with the bunch of caches that is hidden out there.
It is an area with more than 10 caches (that we know of) and as we discovered last week is also a very nice environment to walk around.

In the beginning the boys where rather clean.

You can read the details of the caches we discovered here for part 1 and here for part 2.
We visited a castle:

The boys are looking while I look inside the cache-box.

At the third cache location:

On our way to the fourth cache:

Art works that we discovered as well:

The lady in red:

Nice environment:

Almost at the end, with dirty legs.

Caching in the Rain

2008-11-01T17:31:00.003+01:00

Today it was raining a lot, but we still got out and combined walking the dogs with walking two geocaches.

One just outside our hometown and the other just inside our hometown. The 3rd out of a series of four, once we gathered all four of them we can find a bonus-cache.

Read here for the details of both these cache-hunts.

Finishing the First Night Cache

2008-10-28T21:18:00.000+01:00

Today we succeeded with the Night cache we started on Saturday, but where we got lost a little bit then.

You can read here and here for both adventures.

Caching in Belgium

2008-10-26T21:12:00.002+01:00

Today we continued with the cache in the Sahara. Read here for the details.

After that we drove towards Achel to do some caching there.
Read here for details.

Caching at the Lommelse Sahara

2008-10-25T21:09:00.002+01:00

We visited the Sahara again, this time to gather some cache.

Read here for the details.

Another Cachehunt

2008-10-21T21:05:00.001+01:00

And because it is so much fun the next cache, read here.

Another Day of Geocaching

2008-10-19T20:47:00.002+01:00

Today we went geocaching again. We discovered different caches.
First continuing the cache of yesterday. Read here.

Then our first traditional cache. Read here

And because the weather was very beautiful and we are gettting really addicted. Our Fourth cache, read here

Second Cache Hunt

2008-10-18T20:45:00.002+01:00

Today it was geocaching time again. Read here for the details.

Van SchocoBears G(e)o Caching

First Cache Discovered

2008-10-17T20:41:00.002+01:00

Today we went geocaching again look here for the details

Geocaching

2008-10-15T20:32:00.002+01:00

We have a new hobby that we can enjoy together with the dogs, it is called geocaching. A modern treasure hunt like game where a GPS retriever is the guide.
You can read all about our geocache adventures on our weblog http://SchocoBears.blogspot.com
Our first cachehunt was today.
If you want to read the specifics here

Italy, Lago Di Garda

2008-09-24T12:58:00.020+01:00

The last stop in Italy was at Torbole at Lago Di Garda. Although we were warned that there would be a lot of tourists here, we couldn't resist visiting the lake. We searched for a camping site that was in the North of the Lake, which was told to us was less touristic than the rest of the lake.
Toby inspects the view from the camper-van.

The river Sarca that flows into the Lago.

Although it was very touristic the atmosphere was nice and the camping site was very relaxing.
The area was very beautiful and the weather was excellent.

And what's something we cannot resist. Yessss an Italian ice-cream and as you can see Toby and Brego enjoy Italian Gelato as well!!!

In the evening when the outside temperature is low we enjoy our camper-van from the inside. Here a little overview of what goes on inside.
Brego is cuddling with Rob and Toby lies flat on the floor to enjoy a good sleep.

Waking up the next day it seemed a really sunny day at Lago Di Garda and we again enjoyed the nice environment of the place we were staying.

Toby of course entering the lake.

The swans that swim around in the river and the lake.

And a picture made on the bridge over the river Sarca.

Italy, Montese

2008-09-22T12:49:00.015+01:00

After the crowds in Pisa, it was time for some relaxation for the boys, we found a camping site in the mountains with few campers, and beautiful surrounding landscape to walk in.

We walked around in the area of the camping site. On top of the mountain with some spectacular views of the area. And nobody there so the dogs could enjoy running around without their leash.

There was a meadow behind our camper-van that we were allowed to use to exercise the dogs, we played with some Frisbees.

Both the dogs were enjoying this and they even could play together in the morning.

Italy, Pisa

2008-09-20T12:26:00.004+01:00

The next stop in Italy was Pisa, we wanted to see the famous tower.
We drove through some nice landscape again, passed the Italian Riviera.

Once we left the coastal road and arrived in the mountain area we stopped to walk around in some beautiful forest.

Arriving at the camping site is seemed a very large one that we normally don't like a lot, so we decided to see the tower straight away and leaving again for the next stop the next day.
When we came to the tower site we seemed to be some sort of tourist attraction ourselves as well. Our dogs must be famous now all over the world, because a lot of pictures where taken of the boys, one nice Italian guy even asked to hold Toby and be on a picture with him alone.

And what do you do in Italy, exactly eat an ice-cream.

Rob eating an ice-cream at the Pisa tower is on the background of many pictures taken by other tourists.

Italy, Genova

2008-09-19T11:26:00.009+01:00

The next stop was in Bogliasco, a small village next to Genova. We camped on a camping site in the mountains.

From the camping site it was only a 500 meters walk to the Italian Riviera, this seemed to be a 500 meters straight downwards walk that was challenging to do. We discovered that walking on 4 legs is easier than walking with just 2 legs, because the boys weren't having any troubles taking the stairs upwards and downwards at all.

Downstairs the sea was there and that of course was a big treat as usual.

In this picture you can see where the camping site is located, somewhere above all the houses in the woods.

Italy, Lago Maggiore

2008-09-17T11:01:00.005+01:00

After our fantastic beardie weekend in Checy, France we continued our journey towards Italy. We decided to have a one-night stop-over in Switzerland, on the borders of lac de Genève. We had a tough drive through the mountains and relaxed a little bit.

So not much news on this, the only thing that our camping-site wasn't as quit as expected being next to a road with a lot of traffic. The next morning we drove onwards to Italy. We had some nice views that I tried to capture on film.

We arrived in Italy passing the Simplonpass (at 2006 m). We stopped here to stretch our legs before continuing with the journey.

You can see how high we actually are when you look at the snow that was on the mountain tops.
It was actually very sunny weather but it was nice and cool high up in the mountains.

The boys back in the van wondering where I'm staying.

The first Italian destination was Lago Maggiore, one of the greatest lakes of Italy. We drove around the lake for about 80 Kilometers to arrive at our camping site, that was directly located at the border of the lake.

The border was scattered with wood. Later we discovered that the day before we arrived there a big storm had taken place that caused all that wood to be there.

Toby of course couldn't resist the water and rushed inside the lake, Brego needed to be encouraged somewhat by throwing a stick or two in the water, of which there where enough laying around.

We had some beautiful days here, and where ready to continue the trip.

Checy, Show

2008-09-14T20:31:00.000+01:00

We didn't participate in the show, but nevertheless the boys needed to be groomed. It was lovely to experience grooming the dogs on a camping-site without the whole camping watching wondering what I'm doing. Here everybody groomed their beardies, so I was no exception this time.

Furthermore we watched parts of the show.

And what did our dogs do, when other beardies where "enjoying" their show appearance. Yesss swimming in the river.

As always they enjoyed this very much.

Checy, Fun with beardies and their bosses

2008-09-13T20:18:00.001+01:00

Besides the sheep trial there was also a agility match, a Cani-cross, and a coup d'Fonzy award, where bosses dress up and walk a mini-agility course. This was very funny to watch, here some of the picture we made of the "crazy" Frenchmen and woman and us having fun watching this all.

Checy, Working Sheep Trial

2008-09-13T19:37:00.022+01:00

On the working day in Checy we participated the Sheep trial. First I didn't want to participate because of the language problem, I realized that I didn't know the language good enough to understand what the judge was saying. But with the help of Hanneke's translation I could participate after all. Brego sniffing around the cage where the sheep are in.

Toby and me watching the trials from other dogs:

First Brego got into the arena with the sheep, he wasn't interested in the sheep whatsoever, only in their droppings, so he failed the test.

Second Toby got into the arena, this was a completely different story, the judge was very enthusiastic about his working skills and Toby succeeded the test. The judge wrote an end conclusion: Showing excellent working skills and attitude while working with sheep.

Checy, Bearded Collie Event

2008-09-12T19:45:00.004+01:00

This weekend we visited a regional Bearded Collie event in Checy (near Orleans, France). This is a yearly event that takes place during a weekend, on Saturday the working ability of the Beardie is the central theme and on Sunday the beauty-show takes place. We visited just for fun although I described both Toby and Brego for a sheep working test (CANT).
The weekend was visited by about 200 bearded collies. It was very funny to see such a lot of beardies altogether.
We camped on a camping-site where the even was held. A lot of beardies camped there as well.

Toby and Brego loved to watch all the beardies walk by our home.

Checy is located next to the river Loire, during the evening walk on the shore of the river I made a couple of scenic pictures.

And the boys couldn't resist the water, so they both entered the river.

Brego's daddy Sprokkel

2008-08-30T16:23:00.004+01:00

Today we went to a dog-agility match at our dog-school. We ran into the boss of Sprokkel, the daddy of Brego. I had to make some pictures of Brego and his dad, but we only had Rob's phone with us so the quality is bad, still here some of the pictures.

On the pictures you see the boss of Sprokkel trying to hold the two boys. But they wanted to play with each other so it was a tough job for him to keep them separated.

We tried to get them to sit together but we didn't succeed.

Walk in moorland

2008-08-24T14:01:00.005+01:00

Today we enjoyed a walk in beautiful moorland which is part of the Molenheide walk nearby Leende.
I really like moor because it grows a lot in the highlands of Scotland, the originating country of the bearded collie breed.

The moor is nicely purple this time of year which gives a lovely combination especially with the fawn colour of Brego. And Brego enjoyed running around in the moor as you can see on the next pictures.

Weekend on Texel

2008-08-17T18:37:00.014+01:00

Thursday after work we immediately drove to enjoy a long weekend stay on one of the Wadden Islands called Texel. It it the biggest island and is located in the Wadden Sea area which is the largest and one of the most important nature reserves in Western Europe.
Here we are on the ferry to Texel. Toby looks through the railing to discover the height above the sea.

The boys posing for a nice picture.

This next picture is made below deck where the motor home was parked.

What do you do on a long weekend. Well we sure did relax and the boys as well.
Brego lays on one of the new stretchers.

Toby is hiding under the motor home.

And Brego in the bushes.

On Friday morning we went for a biking trip. Because sunny weather was expected we took the doggy-rides with us for the boys to sit in.
All ready to go.

After a short trip where Toby and Brego walked besides the bike we stopped for a little rest in a forest we passed by.

We did a short walk to see whether we could reach the beach from up here, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. We continued our trip with both dogs inside the doggy-ride.

They didn't mind having to sit in the trailers.

After we got back we first visited the forest near the camping side to let the boys run a little bit before going back.

The dogs had lots of energy left, because they where in the doggy-rides for a long time, as you can see the sun was shining perfectly and then it is no walking besides the bike anymore.

Running to the boss.

In the beginning of the evening we went for the beach. Here I am posing with the dogs, who already smell the sea and want to get there as soon as possible.

Together with the boss running towards the sea. In this area of the beach the dogs aren't allowed to run freely, therefore the dogs had to stay on the leash.

Yes there's the sea.

Three boys enjoying the fresh water.

Hey what's happening over there?

Brego looking at Toby enjoying the water.

On our way back to the forest.

On Saturday we went for a walk that starts not too far from the camping site. It was a 10 KM walk, that was halfway on the beach and halfway in the dunes. The dunes area is open only from 16 August until somewhere in March, and because it was the 16 of August we could go through this beautiful part of the dunes.
The first part of the walk the boys had to stay on the leash.
Toby wanted to get into the sea immediately, but since we had to walk a little bit further than that we couldn't get our shoes wet, so he had to do with whatever water we ran into.

Brego walks into the water but he stays a little bit on the side.

In this next picture you can see this difference in behavior very good.

Then we arrived at a part of the beach that was very empty, we let the dogs run free.

And immediately Toby went into the water again.

I threw some rocks and shells into the water for the boys to run and catch (which they never do but anyhow they enjoy this very much)

More shell throwing and jumping around by the boys.

Then it was back on the leashes again for we would go into the dune area.

Here posing in this beautiful area.

It was the first day that it was allowed to walk this are.

We didn't meet any other people walking this area.

Here we are resting on a bench near a pool full of gooses.If you look closely you can see the water in the back

A close-up. When we left this bench to continue the walk, we entered an area that was very rough, it was a real survival trip. When we arrived at the end of the walk, we red a sign that told that the part we walked was closed do to work in progress. Hmmm at the other side of the walk there was no sign that told us that. But that for sure explained the rough terrain we had to walk.

This next pictures are taken on Sunday at the ferry station where we were waiting for the ferry to arrive to take us back to the mainland after a very nice trip to Texel.

Walk after Grooming

2008-08-09T15:46:00.009+01:00

And after being groomed we always go for a walk. Today we went for the Molenheide area.

This is a walk in forest.

Because this is an area where dogs are allowed to walk of the leash, a lot of dogs are being walked here, and a lot of scenses to sniff out there.

And there are a couple of white sandy hills where the dogs love to run and play with sticks. The next pictures show this action where Rob throws a stick and the boys hurry to be the first to get the stick and return it to the boss and then the stick gets thrown again.

And then back to the path to continue our walk.

Toby Freshly Groomed

2008-08-09T15:36:00.004+01:00

A couple of week ago I published pictures of Brego just groomed. Today I have a couple of pictures of Toby, freshly groomed.

Here a nice picture sideways. (Look Brego sits underneath the grooming table)

Toby wonders why he can't get of the table and go for a walk.

Lommelse Sahara

2008-08-03T15:34:00.016+01:00

Sunday afternoon we got in our car and drove to a place called "Lommelse Sahara". Is is 15 KM from our home so it is very close by. It is an area with woodland, heathland and ponds. We never visited the area before and we didn't bring a map, so it was up to our navigational skills to see where we ended up (and of course we did ask a little bit, because the language the Belgium's speak in that area is Dutch). The boys always start running immediately as if they exactly know where we are.

Behind the dogs, the first pond in which Toby already entered, as you might see on this picture, because he has wet feet.

Here a movie a Toby inside the first pond.

Toby discovered the second pond.

Here a nice place at the second pond where the dogs could enter easily.

We threw some sticks in the water. The standard way of working is that Toby swims to fetch the stick.

And on his way back he drops the stick, Brego picks it up and brings the stick out of the water.

Here's a movie that shows this same routine.

Brego is searching for the stick that Toby dropped.

Toby is definitely the better swimmer.

Brego turns were he can still feel the bottom of the pond.

Toby hurry's into the water......

Starts swimming like crazy.....

Brego follows a little bit after that.....

Brego turns around back to the shore.....

And look who carries the stick out of the water.....

And Toby is ready again for the stick to be thrown into the water.

When we continued our way, we got back to the place where Toby already entered the water before. Look at his face, looking very enthusiastic as if he just discovered the water for the first time.

Even Brego entered this pool.

And now Toby didn't let go of the stick so they carried it out of the water by the two of them

Then we discovered why the area is called Sahara, a lot of white sand and again a beautiful pond, in which the dogs didn't swim, there were a lot of people around here and we were not sure whether dogs were allowed inside the pond.

I tried to get them to sit side by side but the only thing they were interested in was the water, which we wouldn't enter.

Here on our way back, the white sandy bottom in the forest.

And immediately the temperature was higher, as in the real Sahara.

We will definitely return to this nice area.

Wash and Dry

2008-08-02T17:27:00.009+01:00

The dogs were ready for a bath due to all the swimming they have done the last weeks. We have a dog bath so I washed them both after another.

When the bath was put outside both dogs hide themselves. Brego is the real blond one he hided under the grooming table, Toby fled into the garden to hide under a tree.

Brego was the lucky number one, after all he was the easiest one to catch.

But Toby didn't escape his bath.

As you can see both dogs love being washed, ahum ahum..

And then afterwards we have two clean and fresh smelling beardie boys. A quick snapshot because we will go out for a walk and they could get dirty again.

Dog Beach

2008-08-01T17:25:00.006+01:00

On Friday evening we met with several bearded collie owner at the Beach in Noordwijk. This is a part of the beach where dogs are allowed to walk of the leash.
We arrived earlier, so we could enjoy a nice meal and some drinks in the beach club.
If Toby is at the sea he becomes very energetic and he has to run around for a long period before he returns to us, so before the meal both dogs stayed on the leash, which they didn't like at all.

After dinner they were released and they entered the sea immediately.

Toby is looking around to see whether there's something interesting to chase somewhere. He likes to run with dogs that chase after balls, sticks ...

The beardies weren't the only ones entering the sea. Rob couldn't resist the water and had to enter the sea as well.

With the sun at the back this gives some spectaculair images.

Here a picture where the dunes can be seen.

Brego posing for a picture and my shadow ruining it.

A picture with Brego on profile, with the sun in the back.

Beardies running after a stick.

My three boys at the beach in Noordwijk.

Afterwards we went to the beach club again to enjoy some drinks together. Dogs are allowed in this fantastic place.
Because they all drank salty sea water they were queuing at the water bowls that are present at the beach end club.

And the bosses enjoyed some drinks as well.

After the sun set down we drove home again after a very fun evening at the beach.

Swimming at the Wolders Marsh

2008-07-31T17:21:00.008+01:00

We discovered another marsh in the forest nearby our dog school. We already went there a couple of times but didn't bring our camera yet.
Thursday evening we visited the marsh again and we were the only ones present there. What a luxury a marsh of our own.
We're almost there, the dogs sniffed a lot, probably a lot of dogs visit here, so new scents allover.

Toby went upfront and was already in the water when we arrived there.

Brego was collecting sticks with Rob.

Toby got inpatient and went to look where the sticks and Brego stayed.

Finally Brego arrived in the water as well.

Retrieving sticks together is fun..

Here a movie of the dogs swimming and retrieving sticks.

And this is how a beardie looks after swimming for a while.

Brego Freshly Groomed

2008-07-27T15:28:00.001+01:00

Normally when I groom the dogs, we go for a walk immediately when I'm done. So I forget to make pictures before the walk and when we're back, the dogs are dirty again. Not today, I at least made some pictures of Brego. You can see his beautiful light green eyes.

Two more close-ups.

Aren't those eyes to mellt away.

Waking up the guests

2008-07-26T11:09:00.004+01:00

Saturday morning the dogs wanted to wake up the sleep overs, but Mila and Tommy didn't wake up. Brego was the first to try to wake them up, but then we didn't have the camera present. When I returned with the camera it was Toby's turn. First try to wake-up Mila. No result.

Next Tommy's turn, again no result

Then they tried it together.

Okay still no result, then they both layed down at the end of the beds.

Swimming Pool

2008-07-25T10:48:00.005+01:00

On Friday we get two sleep overs, Tommy and Mila our nephew and niece. The weather expectations where very warm and sunny, that's why Rob pulled out the swimming pool from the attic.

What's this? A very big drinking bowl in the garden?

Or is this yet another dog bath for washing us?
Phew, it's for those two-legged creatures that come over once in a while. They are laughing and playing inside the water. It seems that they like it very much.

It is interesting to watch those 2-legged play but we do not dare to enter the water ourselves.

At the end of the day Brego got into the water and here's a funny movie of all of us having a lot of fun together in and out the swimming pool.

New Stretchers

2008-07-24T10:31:00.002+01:00

I bought new stretchers for the dogs. We can take them with us when we go camping so they will have a nice place to lay on when for instance the grass in wet.
Brego immediately tested the first one.

Toby lifted his head and got back to sleep.

Later he used one of the stretchers to clean his beard after eating.

And Brego tested both of the stretchers again.

Belgium Ardennes

2008-07-14T21:33:00.008+01:00

This weekend we went for a short trip to the Belgium Ardennes. Just a 2 hour drive from our hometown.
The weather forecast was rain, rain and more rain, but the weather we got wasn't to bad actually. When we arrived it was dry and we relaxed a little bit, sitting outside on our new chairs.

Our camping site was next to the river Ourthe and we had to let the dogs walk inside the Ourthe. Because we were still at the camping site the dogs were on the leash. On the other side of the river cows were grazing.

On Saturday we rented two kayaks en enjoyed a couple of hours on the water. It was to bad that I couldn't take a picture from within the kayak, because it was a very enjoy full site to see Brego barking and waving his tail the whole trip. Halfway we stopped to enjoy a little rest and the boys could run and swim.

Brego likes our new chairs as well.

And in the early evening go for a walk nearby. Running in a meadow.

Walking in the river.

Go back to the camping site.

Malpie

2008-07-06T21:20:00.006+01:00

This Sunday afternoon we went for a swim in the small river "Dommel".

Grote Meer

2008-06-29T21:06:00.003+01:00

On a nice Sunday afternoon we went for a walk at the "Grote Meer" (Great Lake) in our hometown.

Both dogs freshly groomed and what's better than to enjoy a nice swim in one of the lakes and get dirty all over.

And then try to retrieve a stick out of the water with the two of them.

Playing in the garden

2008-06-23T20:01:00.005+01:00

Toby and Brego where playing together in the garden. Normally they stop playing when I walk outside to film them. Now they hesitated for a moment and looked at me but then they continued to play for a little while. So here is the result

Sleeping over

2008-06-22T20:36:00.015+01:00

We had a beach party organized by the company I'm working at. Sadly for the boys they weren't invited so they had to stay a night at a friends place. Viv en Jean took good care of the boys. The boys enjoyed the beautiful area together with the beardie ladies Djara and Dewi.

Yesterday when we dropped them of Bonnie a half-sister of Brego was staying there as well. Here she is with Toby.

Today we picked them up again, actually we would go for a bearded collie walk in the neighbourhood but that got canceled due to the warm weather. Therefore we drove home again after a short walk in the beautiful area.

At home we put a little pool in the garden for the boys to enjoy but they didn't want to go in. They just used it as a big bowl of water. I had to tease them with some treats.

Afterwards they enjoyed chewing a bone.

The doggies own Bath

2008-06-07T14:51:00.006+01:00

We bought a Booster Bath to wash the dogs in. Before they where washed in our bath tub but because that bath is low you have to sit on your knees or else your back gets killed. It takes a respectable amount of time to wash them so if I had to wash both dogs it happened that I had a sore back for a couple of days.
So when I washed them before going on holiday to Scotland I decided that the time was ripe for a Booster Bath.
I ordered it via the Internet at a company in Belgium, because I couldn't find one in the Netherlands. This week it was delivered.

I put it together and I let the dogs in. Because they didn't know that it was a bath, both entered the bath voluntary. Probably when they have been washed in it their enthusiasm to enter it will be somewhat less.

Yesterday I washed Toby, and today I washed Brego.

I must confess that it is has proven to be a good investment. I'm very happy with the bath.

Visit new Babies

2008-06-01T20:38:00.005+01:00

Bregos mother Maxime gave birth to two new beardie babies. A Fawn girl and a Black boy. We visited the breeder to meet Brego's half brother and sister.
Here the two puppies in between other beardies.

Here I am holding the black boy Ozzie and Franky the breeder is holding the fawn girl Bonnie.

Here Brego and Ozzie together.

The journey home

2008-05-16T18:02:00.005+01:00

We decided to stay in Milarrochy Bay for one night so we had an extra day for the journey home. We were somewhat anxious for we needed to pass by London during the weekend and were expecting a lot of traffic. So we decided to make an extra stop in England. The first stop was Halt Whistle, near Hadrian's Wall. We visited the wall before we arrived at the camping site.

At Haltwhistle we could walk directly from the camp site at the shore of the river Tyne. Nearby was the South Tyne trail which is part of the National Cycle Network, we could walk there also.

The next night we stayed at a camping site in Teversal North of Nottingham. The Silverhill Wood Country Park is opposite the site and has eight miles of walks, perfect for a stop over with dogs. We walked a couple of walks and one of them took us on the top of a hill with some astonishing views of the area. We must remember this place for future holidays. The only bad thing was the weather because it started raining. And this is how our vacation pictures could have looked if it had rained during the whole vacation.

And last but not least before entering the Channel train we stopped at the beach of Folkestone to walk the dogs and to eat some dinner.

Then we entered the train and traveled to France again to continue the drive via Belgium to the Netherlands where we live. End of a very nice holiday.

Milarrochy Bay

2008-05-14T17:54:00.000+01:00

The last stop in Scotland was in Milarrochy Bay on the East shore of Loch Lomond the biggest lake of the UK. Again beautiful weather and we had a lovely spot on the shore of the lake.

The West Highland Way passes the site. This is a 153 km long walk from Milngavie to Fort William. We only walked a couple of kilometers and back to the camping site.

We came across a couple of Highland cow and made some picture with our highland boys.

On the camping site we got unexpected visitors (swan and ducks).

Glencoe

2008-05-13T17:53:00.011+01:00

After spending three nights on Skye we went Southwards again, the first camping site on the Scottish mainland would be at Glencoe.
We passed Eilean Donan Castle, a castle used for the James Bond movie, the world is not enough. It is said to be the most photographed castle, so to keep this record we took some pictures also.

Later there we stopped at a loch we drove by, Rob took both dogs downstairs to the loch, I didn't follow because I was afraid that we could not get back and indeed on the way back, Rob and me together needed to help the dogs to climb up the steep rocks.

We continued our trip and stopped in Fort William to do some shopping before we went on for our final goal Glencoe.
We passed the Ben Nevis, the biggest mountain of the UK.

Arriving at Glencoe it seemed to be a fantastic environment.

There were many beautiful walks nearby the camping site.

Near the camping site a small waterfall was located that the dogs used to swim in.

Rob tried to go in as well but experienced the water being extremely cold, so he was out of the water very quick.
And again beautiful weather. Time to relax as well of course because the vacation will be over soon.

Isle of Skye

2008-05-09T17:53:00.012+01:00

At the 9th of May we arrived at Skye. Here is a view of the bridge that connects the island with the mainland.

The first camping site on Skye was in the Trotternish mountains. It was a cloudy day on Skye.

There was a beautiful walk to the beach which we walked after drinking some coffee. We didn't see any sheep so we let the dogs run free. But when we passed over a hill we spotted some sheep and lambs so we hooked up the boys and continued to walk further down to the beach.

On the beach the boys had some fun with some frisbees.

The next morning the famous mist was coming from the sea, after all Skye is called the island of the mist.

Driving on a small but sceneric road toward Dunvegan. It was a single track road so we had to stop a lot to let others pass. We passed a crofters village and did see a lot of sheep.

We arrived in Dunvegan and we found the camping site there next to Loch Dunvegan. The site manager had a border collie himself and he knew the bearded collie. He told that the beardie is the best dog for the rough hill work. He loved the light eyes of Brego and when he spotted their long hair he asked why they weren't shaved after all shepherds using beardies shaved the dogs at the same time that the sheep got shaved. We laughed and said that we use a brush instead of a shaver.

We visited Dunvegan Castle, the last time we were here we took a boat trip towards the seals that live nearby the castle but with the dogs that is not possible.

The next day we walked the 2-church walk and this was lovely with on top of the hill a fantastic view on Dunvegan Castle and the bay it is located at.

West Highlands

2008-05-08T17:48:00.013+01:00

Wednesday 7th May we set out to drive to the West Highlands, but first we wanted to visit Loch Ness to see whether we could spot Nessie the monster.
We thought that Urquhart Castle would be a good place to visit but when we got there it seemed that only guide dogs where allowed in. We considered faking blindness but immediately came to our senses that our dogs do not understand what that takes ans they guided Rob the wrong way.

So we only took some pictures from behind the fences and left for the West Highlands.

At lunch time we stopped near a river and ofcourse the boys needed to go in, all three of them.

And some pictures I took while driving in this fantastic landscape.

We planned on camping in Poolewe but the camping site was full. So we continued to Gairloch and found a beautiful camping site there with view over the Gair Loch.

The dogs rested a little bit besides the campervan and we than walked at the beach. A small river flowed into the sea so the dogs could drink some of the water there and wash of the salty water from their paws.

The next day we went for a walk to the flowerfalls. It was a very sunny and warm day, we had to walk to the starting point first. This was a walk of its own, so when we arrived at the starting point we first drank some coffee at the Old Inn.

Then we started to climb to the Flower Falls. A beautiful landscape and very beautiful weather what's more to ask for.

The water was very nice and the dogs needed it very much as you can see at their tongues.

On the way back to the camping site we walked along the cliffs to the beach another beautiful spot.

Black Isle (Rosemarkie)

2008-05-06T17:09:00.014+01:00

On Monday we left Scone again. We crossed the river Tay.

If you wonder how our dogs travel in the campervan. Here's a picture of that.

We headed for Rosemarkie on the Black Isle near Inverness. We stayed at a campsite next to the beach to the Morray Firth, where seals and dolphins are located. We spotted a couple of seals but the dolphins didn't show up when we were there.

What is the first thing to do after the boss has some coffee, yeah head for the sea and afterwards the boss can drink his second cup of coffee.

The next morning we walked toward the lighthouse that was on the peak of the isle which is not really an island because it is connected to the land. It was cloudy that morning so we didn't spot the dolphins that show up here sometimes.

Later that day the weather got better and we even could relax out in the sun.

At the beginning of the evening we went along side the beach again and even shot some pictures with Rosemarkie buildings on the background.

Cairngorms

2008-05-05T16:44:00.002+01:00

On our way to the North East we stopped at Loch Insh in the Cairngorms to walk the dogs. There were sheep walking loose and we didn't know whether Brego would hunt them down so we kept him on the leash until we arrived at the Loch itself.

Toby smelled the water and went on before we arrived there without looking at the sheep there. The water was more appealing to him. In the winter the Cairngorms is a ski area. On some of the mountain peaks there was still some snow visible. With the sun out on the sky this gave some very nice pictures indeed.

On the island in the middle of the loch a couple of Osprey were breeding there we spotted one of the parents flying around.

The border of the loch is very rocky which gives a spectacular view to us Dutch people that are only used to sandy bottoms.

Scone

2008-05-04T16:28:00.008+01:00

On Sunday we drove to Scone. We had only booked one night here on our way up north.

The camping site was on the grounds of Scone palace that we didn't go to see, shame on us. But we have visited it already on our visit to Scotland 10 years ago. Dogs aren't allowed inside anyhow.
So we just walked beside the horse racing track neighbouring the camping site to walk towards the river Tay.

Rob spotted a salmon jumping upstream, we waited for more to show up and perhaps take a picture of that but we didn't see any fish jumping anymore so you have to believe his word for it.
Toby couldn't resist the water. Because of the wild flow we kept them on the leash. On the other side of the river a dog was in the river and wanted to swim our way. His boss needed to convince him not to do this and he stayed on the other side.

South East Scotland (Carfraemill)

2008-05-02T15:17:00.015+01:00

The first camping place in Scotland was in Lauder (Carfraemill) a town south of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. We could only stay here for one night because this weekend was a UK bank holiday weekend so all camping sites where fully booked. Our next planned stop was Scone and that was fully booked as well. We decided to stay the night and determine the next day where to go to next. After all we have a motorhome so we are not totally depended on camping sites.

What do you think the dogs do after a long drive. Yes indeed sleep.

And after their beauty nap look around to see what's going on around them.

The next morning the sun was shining again and we heard from the site manager that there was a cancelation and we could stay longer.

Because the dogs needed to be groomed and we had a long drive the days before we booked another two nights and reserved the spot on the site in Scone for Sunday.

The first morning I groomed Brego and after that we went for a walk into the area. We are in border country so we encountered a lot of sheep that weren't all to relaxed when we walked by with the dogs.

On the camping site a small river flows and it was lovely to let the dogs cool down and wash there paws to remove the clay.

The second morning I groomed Toby and afterwards we went to Edinburgh with the bus that stopped nearby the camping site. It was somewhat less that a 1 hour drive.

In Edinburgh we seemed to be some sort of tourist attraction because of the dogs. We got a lot of compliments with our beautiful dogs. And people asked if they could stroke the dogs and could take pictures of them. We didn't see to much of Edinburgh because the city is not really a good place to walk dogs. The parks are off area for them so we sat on a bench on Princess Street to drink some coffee and I shopped at Mark and Spencers for the evening meal.

The road to Scotland

2008-05-01T15:12:00.007+01:00

Folkestone is in the South East of England. To arrive in Scotland it takes a drive of about 800 kilometers. We chose to travel in two days and on the first day we stopped in Boroughbridge a small town above York.
It was still raining from time to time, but that is to be expected when you go to the UK ofcourse.

The next morning we continued our trip towards Scotland. Once we arrived in Scotland we looked for a nice place to stop to have lunch and exercise the dogs.

Brego looked outside and spotted the sheep. Afterward he looked at me somewhat surprised at least I thought so.

Toby has a I've been there and done that look on his face. We herded sheep together when he was 2 years younger.

We continued the trip and later on we stopped again for a short walk to exercise the dogs again. And yessss, the sun appeared on the sky.

We discovered a small river there and Toby couldn't hesitate the water and went in.

And later on the first sheep beside the road, here a picture made from within the campervan.

Holiday Scotland

2008-04-29T15:06:00.001+01:00

Tuesday 29 April we went for a 2 1/2 weeks holiday to Scotland. The dogs would travel together with us so we decided to take the Channel Tunnel Train again. We can ride the motorhome on the train in Calais France and than stay in the motorhome for the 25 minutes that it takes to arrive on the UK (Folkestone) side of the Channel.
To bad it is not allowed to take pictures on board of the train.
We spent the night in Folkestone on a parking nearby and it was raining cats and dogs.

Two Bear(die)s playing

2008-04-15T17:11:00.003+01:00

In the park, Brego and one of his Beardie friends Floyd played together. He is a brown beardie boy of 2 years old. At one moment they looked like two bears playing. Excuses for the poor image quality, but the movie is made with a phone.

Hageven Plateaux

2008-04-12T14:59:00.003+01:00

On the border of our village with Belgium there's a nature reserve called the "Hageven Plateaux". Because the dogs are not allowed to walk there without leash we didn't walk there before but we decided that we at least have to walk there once.

We did the walk and I can tell you that we will revisit again because we did enjoy the scenery.

Blankenheim Germany

2008-03-09T18:30:00.006+01:00

On Saturday we took the camper a little bit further to the South (1 hour drive) to a place called Blankenheim. The camper site was located next to a forest, actually a very lovely place.
Before we arrived in Blankenheim we stopped to enjoy a nice walk.
First the boys needed to run with each other in an open field.

In the forest a lot of snow was still present. We and for sure the boys enjoyed this very much.

Here we are walking on a little stream of melted snow.

Me and the boys on a little wooden bridge that we found in the woods to get back to the camper.

Here a picture of the camper in Blankenheim.

Monschau Germany

2008-03-07T18:24:00.001+01:00

To test the camper again and to experience how it behaves in the mountains we drove to Germany to a place called Monschau. It is only a 1,5 hours drive from where we live.
We were a little bit surprised about the amount of snow that was laying there. Here a picture of me and the boys at the side of the camping area.

Here a picture of the camper (this time we didn't forget to take pictures of it).

And here some nice picture of us in Monschau.

Here on the walk back to the camping area.

Brego sleeps in chair

2008-03-01T18:16:00.003+01:00

Brego was sleeping in one of the chairs. He opened his eyes when I got the camera.

But he immediately closed them again to continue his beauty sleep.

Brugven

2008-02-24T18:04:00.004+01:00

Again on Sunday it was a very sunny day and we went for a walk to a lake that is not to far from our home and which is called "Brugven". The boys got into the water and liked every bit of it.

Here a nice overview of the "Brugven"

And here an action picture of the boys waiting for me to throw a stick into the water.

and last but not least a movie of Toby and Brego in the water.

Weekend Arcen

2008-02-17T17:43:00.003+01:00

To test our new motorhome, we went to Arcen for the weekend. We actually forgot to take pictures of the motorhome itself.
Here a picture with all three boys (Toby, Brego and Rob) outside the camper.

Here pictures that we made whilest we were walking through the nearby forest.

The next morning Brego and Toby were playing outside the camper again, this time the picture is shot from the inside of the motorhome.

Here's a movie of this as well.

And here two shots of Toby and Brego while they were inside the camper, here you can see a little bit of the interior of the camper.

Birthday Walk Ayla and Sofar

2008-02-10T17:16:00.001+01:00

We drove to a place in the south of the Netherlands to walk with a bunch of beardies. This walk was organized to celebrate the birthday of two bearded collies (Ayla and Sofar).
It was a lovely day, ccold and sunny.
First we are waiting for everybody to arrive.

Yesssss. Lets go...

When there is water, or even better mud, beardies enjoy this.

Some more walking around with all of the beardies.

And then a little lake where it is always nice to swim in.

This is how Brego looked at the end of the walk:

Afterwards we went for a drink and the presents were unpacked.

It was a very nice day and we all enjoyed ourselves.

A Little bit of snow

2008-02-02T11:03:00.000+01:00

Last night it snowed a little. Here some pictures of the boys in the backyard.

New Motorhome

2008-01-26T11:00:00.001+01:00

Last week we bought a new bigger motorhome, our previous one was a little bit to crowdy when the dogs where both inside. Today we went for a testdrive in combination with a walk with the dogs.
Here some pictures of the dogs in the motorhome.

Toby on one of the sofa's and Brego on the floor next to him.

The boys inside looking out for the boss.

Here seen from the front.

Toby's 3rd birthday

2008-01-26T10:55:00.000+01:00

Toby became 3 years old.
We made a cake for the boys to eat.

And the birthday boy was allowed to eat the first.

Here the boys are enjoying the cake together.

And here they each are eating their own piece.

Puzzle time

2008-01-13T10:41:00.001+01:00

The dogs played with the dog puzzles again.
I still find it amazing that they both differ so much.

We have two type of puzzles. One where the dog needs to use his paws and another one that he needs to pick up pieces with his mouth.
Brego likes to inspect with his paws whilest Toby does it more with his mouth.
Perhaps it has to do with Toby's nail-illness. But still it is fun to watch the differences.
Brego doing the shuffle puzzle:

Toby doing the same with some help of me:

Brego doing the pick-up puzzle:

Toby doing the same puzzle:

Bicycle Lesson

2008-01-06T19:55:00.000+01:00

Brego is now more than 1 year old. This is the time that we start to learn the dogs to walk beside the bicycle. Sunday we did a first trial.

Here is a movie of this as well.
Brego barked almost all the time, as he does when he is inside the doggyride for the first couple of minutes.

As you can see our neighbours came home. The girl next door and her girlfriend wanted to cuddle Brego. And that was the end of the first lesson

Rest rest rest....

2007-12-30T21:07:00.000+01:00

And what do beardies do after a holiday. Yes indeed, relax....

....lay down in one of the chairs....

and sleep together on the couch

Leende

2007-12-29T21:04:00.000+01:00

And still blessed with beautiful sunny weather we went for a walk in Leende.

The boys always like the sand hill that can be found overthere.

Malpie

2007-12-28T21:00:00.000+01:00

We got back from the Chrismas holidays and back home we immediately went for a walk on the Malpie because it was still very nice weather.

Brego discovered a stick well more a tree actually and he wanted that to take it with him.

When he didn't manage to take carry it much more he lay down beside it and looked like he wouldn't come with us without the stick.

Toby joined him and together they managed to carry the stick somewhat further.

Boxing day

2007-12-26T20:40:00.000+01:00

On boxing day the sun was shining. We went for a walk again to enjoy the beautiful beach and surrounding area.

There was a meadow with sheep, and I wanted to take some pictures. Toby didn't look my way, he was more interested in the sheep I guess. Perhaps due to his herding school that we took when he was younger.

Christmas day

2007-12-25T20:11:00.000+01:00

On the first day of Chrismas the dogs were waiting for Santa Claus to arrive just kidding of course, but the boss went outside and the boys were waiting for him to come back.

Later we went to the beach again. And played with the dogs.

On the way back we walked over the dike, that is between the beach and a nature reserve.

Christmas holiday

2007-12-24T19:10:00.000+01:00

For the Christmas days we went to the beach on a campingsite we visited a couple of times already. There is a private beach where the dogs can run and swim of the leash.

The boys went swimming Brrrrrrrr..

We took our snowman with us to make a Christmas scenery.

And here you can see that a bearded collie fits in a chair easily.