Bruce Trevarthen

Guy Fawkes Trail 2011

Bruce — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 02:49:07 +0000

The Guy Fawkes Trail at Robs, 2011. Great evening, loads of people, food, drinks, fireworks and fun.

Leonberger Club Water Trials

Bruce — Sun, 22 May 2011 09:07:37 +0000

A day of firsts really. Our first Leonberger Club event, our first water trial, Echo’s first big swim, Echo’s first water retrieve, my first time to Anzac Bay in Bowentown. Superb all round!! Loved it.
Echo came third overall which is supremely impressive given it was her first time, 80/100 for a first trial is very good I’m told. A bit of training and she will be awesome. Colenso and Mark came too, Colenso can’t get enough of swimming, even in May (cold).

The girls are growing up

Bruce — Sun, 06 Feb 2011 04:20:34 +0000

The longest leg competition is going well, Echo is certainly “all limbs” at the moment, she could do with eating a bit more but I can’t blame her – it has been far too hot to be hungry lately. Colenso started School last week and is doing very well, she continues to amaze me with what she knows and I’m hopeful I’m not getting dumber each year, yet.

Echo weighed in at 28.2kg this week, just gone 4 months old! I’m not sure how much Colenso weighed in at, since she is 5 going on 18 it’s “none of my business”, ha ha ha. I’m sure those times will be fun. School has certainly been full on, Colenso is exhausted come 6pm most nights.

I’m not sure if you can tell in the photos but Echo is getting her adult coat quite quickly, starting along her back and down the tail, it’s much thicker hair and slightly curvy. And huge, I knew she would always be a huge dog but seeing her grow up has been amazing. I can’t pick her up for a cuddle anymore, that stopped weeks ago actually, and when she comes running I find myself shouting “freight train” to warn those in the path.

Echo and Colenso having cuddles in the kitchen

Super big cuddles with the cuddly bear

Hands

The competition is heating up, I think Echo will be in front soon

I wish they would keep still for the photo, looks cool though.

Colenso turns five

Bruce — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 08:21:54 +0000

Big birthday fun for the big five year old! Colenso and her friends had fun at the pony place and then back home for fun on the water slide bouncy castle thing, then cake and a pinata. Too many lollies!!

Colenso staring down a 30 year old donkey on her 5th birthday

Colenso riding the big horse on her 5th birthday

Colenso going over a jump at the pony club on her birthday

Colenso blowing out her candles on her 5th birthday

Lazy Sunday – Echo Style

Bruce — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 07:40:13 +0000

Echo chillin in the hammock. She certainly takes ‘laid back’ to a new level, my kinda dog!
She had her vet visit the other day, 10 weeks old, 14.5KG and doing well. So she has put on 3KG in two weeks and I thought she was not eating much!! She does tend to favor fresh meat, especially chicken.

Ahhh the life of a dog

Chillin, again, this time on a hamock

Echo sitting and waiting for the photo, good girl.

Egel ate my porridge

Bruce — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 19:55:17 +0000

When I put Echo to bed last night I saw something (it was dark) in her food bowl that was not food. I went to grab it and suddenly realised it was a Hedgehog (Egel in dutch). So I grabbed my camera and captured the moment(s).

I'm so full - got any more? Hahaha

Just one, more, crunchie, biscut

Do I run, do I stay, why is it so bright?

I'm outta here, too bright and no food.

Favorite Places

Bruce — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 18:33:49 +0000

Echo has a few favorite places, most involve a cold surface but others are just things that have become hers, such as the sun lounger and of course the big dog pillow which was always hers. Here are a few photos of her in her favorite places.

Tomorrow Echo will be ten weeks old and she is currently 14.4KG and 41cm in height at the shoulder.

Too Much Effort

Bruce — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 00:55:42 +0000

One thing I’ve noticed about Echo is her reluctance to put in any effort when the ambient temperature gets above, say, 15 degrees. This is a classic shot of her having lunch, by no means an uncommon sight. Once I caught her with her head laying flat in the bowl chewing on the nearest food, she has lazy down to a fine art. That said, the night time is a different story, it’s all go, bounding around and full of beans. She is going to love winter I think.

Echo taking the relaxed approach to lunch.

On the Dog Walk

Bruce — Sat, 27 Nov 2010 00:00:13 +0000

It turns out Echo likes to have her photo taken, which is a good thing because I like taking photos and I like to post photos on my site. But last weekend a friend of ours Mark Hamilton came over to visit (he loves giant breed dogs too) and he happened to bring his shiny new Canon 1D Mark5 with the lens I want to steal, his F1.2 50mm L USM Prime. So anyway Mark took a few photos of Echo (thanks Mark) and here is a selection…

Echo on the kitchen floor with a dried pig ear

Echo and Bruce in the kitchen, in step, cute.

Chillin, litterally on the kitchen floor

Echo at 8 weeks with Colenso

New Passenger Seems Happy

Bruce — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 03:42:12 +0000

On the 24th of September at Skyewood Leos in Tauranga Whisper and Quinn had 11 puppies, one of them was “purple girl”, named so because each of the puppies gets a different colour wool collar so you can tell them apart. Well the wait is over, she turned 8 weeks old and yesterday we picked her up and brought her home! Purple girl now has a name, “Echo” and she will have a pedigree name in the coming days that will incorporate “echo” somewhere I suspect.

Echo is a Leonberger so she will grow to around 65-70KG possibly bigger since she has a very large frame for a female, the males can grow up to 85KG! Leonberger dogs have what known as a double-coat, so she gets pretty hot in the current weather and is spending most of her time on the cold tiles in the kitchen floor.

Here is a photo of her in the car on the way back from visiting someone today.

Echo enjoying being in the front seat with the air conditioning blowing on her nice and cold.