Monday, December 14, 2009

Ice Ball

NOTE:  Due to one nasty person out there  - I feel the need to put in a quick note.  Please look at the picture below.  See that this 'pond' is not part of the river.  It was frozen solid and only 6- 18 inches deep.  There was no chance of the dogs falling through or being lost under the ice.  Also, the ice was covered by a thin layer of sand that offered quite a bit of traction.  Additionally if you look carefully at the pictures you can see that we were GENTLY tossing the ball - which did not cause them to run break neck after it - we also stuck to the end where there were small round rocks sticking up - giving them more traction.  After reading some of the kind emails from people nicely sharing with me thoughts on the dangers this may impose - looking back on it I wish I had not taken the risk with my dogs ligaments, tendons etc - I truly did not think they could be hurt.  The pictures are fun - but this is not something I would do again in the future.   


The temperatures have been bitterly cold.  When this happens the river level drops as the snow melt in the mountains decrease.  Large pools of water on the river are cut off from the flow and freeze beautifully.  Slick, smooth and solid.  Perfect for skating and hockey (once you get away from the rocks on the edge).



When we first found this frozen section - the dogs ran out then started slipping and sliding around.  They did not avoid  it and seemed to enjoy playing on it.  Safety First:  We checked the entire 'pool' determining it was a safe enough thickness for a adult to walk on.

Then Grace threw the first ball....thus, the creation of

ICE BALL!



Ice, Ice ball baby



Ooomph...



Aghhhhhhhhh.....




Weeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....




Whoops...where did it go?



Can't stop...




Yo camera lady...watch out....INCOMING!



Lets try this again...

 

Uh oh...competition

 

BACK OFF, IT'S MINE!
(click picture for larger view of Ranger Rage)




 Bonnie asks herself  "Is that what I look like when I am angry?"

 


 Dumb girls are cramping my style.



A dog needs to fetch his ball in peace.

 

ITS MINE - I SAID BACK OFF!



What do we have here?



Is that Bonnie....FETCHING A BALL?



GO Bonnie, GO Bonnie



Did you see me Mom, I GOT THE BALL!




We love ICE BALL!



WATCH OUT!  LAND SHARK!
(click on image for larger view)

 

 Lets get a closer look at Bonnie Jaws. Doesn't it  look like the blast of air from Bonnie's mouth is flattening the side of Brynn's face.



*SIGH* Bonnie...KNOCK IT OFF!

 

Beth is such a good girl - see her in the back ground - staying out of it?



I am a good girl, but my feets don't stay where I puts them



I got my legs wrapped in stuff, because I keep skidding in the rocks and ripping the backs of my legs up.



We are all doing much better playing nice (except for Ranger Rage and Bonnie Jaws)



The girls are starting to relax around each other again. 



It helps that mom keeps us too tired to care about fighting



Mom is the most impressed with me.  She says that I have made the biggest change of all.

She is proud of me.



Mom is even proud of Mr. Spit Head



Enjoy more pictures of the dogs playing Ice Ball. View the slide show on Flickr

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, thanks for the heads-up! The pics are great! Didja get any of that on video? Maybe next time?

Diana said...

Very entertaining , thanks, Diana

MurphyDog said...

Those pictures are GREAT! I love all the action shots...the doggies sure look like they are having fun!

Sure wish we had some of that frozen stuff here in Sandy Eggo (Mom doesn't agree with me).

wags, wiggles & slobbers
Murphydog

Unknown said...

Great pictures of your "babies" playing ball hockey. They are beautiful.

D.K. Wall said...

Ice Ball looks like a blast. We may get to slip and slide some, but the ponds are rarely ever frozen enough here to trust human weight on them.

Raising Addie said...

Excellent pictures!

In all the pictures that you have posted of that area in the different seasons they are all beautiful!

Thank you for sharing them!

Lots of Luv & Kisses
Addie, Lucie and Hailey

the magic sleigh said...

Wooos! That looks like fun even though I have no idea what ice is besides the little cubes which come out of the freezer, nice to see everyone having such fun!
-Kira The BeaWootiful

Emma Rose said...

Fantastic pictures! We had a blast looking at them. The "Ranger rage" picture showed Brynn has a bit of her own rage going on. LOL. Great fun! Thanks for sharing.

Kisses,
Emma Rose

Paws on the Run said...

Those are AWESOME pictures! I'm loving your new camera. :) I've gotta find a place to play ice ball.

Tink said...

Carolynn dear you made my day! You should publish a book, honest, a Border Collie photo book, your smart ass comments are too funny, and you always manage to put a smile on my face! I read you blog before I go to sleep and falling asleep with a happy smile on my face is the bestmedicine there is!;-)

Sure looks cold out there, I bet you were wearing those thermal knickers ;-0

Unknown said...

How cruel. What a great way to cripple them or lose them under the ice. My BC's are valued as family, definitely not dispensable as these apparently all are. Bet you let them ride in the back of the truck and chew on rawhide too. Some people should not have furkids.
My sympathies to the tortured black and whites.

BCxFour said...

Mule Head,

I am choosing to NOT delete your comment, because I believe you have a right to your opinion.

Obviously you didnt read my comment on another post about how slippery the ice really was. It was covered by a thin layer of sand - and wasnt as slippery as it appeared. As for falling through the ice - if you would look carefully at the pictures you will see the water is only 6-12 inches deep and FROZEN SOLID. Losing them through the ice is not a worry. This was a POND - not part of the river.

As for crippling my dogs. I have to admit this is not something that I considered when I let them play on the ice - MY BAD. Truthfully I wouldnt do it again given the potential of what could happen. Thankfully nothing did and we only did this for a few minutes.

Ya know...you can accomplish much more by being nice than you can by being sarcastic, rude and mean.

BCxFour said...

BTW it wasnt hard to figure out who you are - technology is nice that way. Any more comments from you will be deleted.

Emma Rose said...

Hi Carolynn,

I am just getting caught up on things. Have you ever noticed that the people that leave nasty comments are the ones that hide their profile? I have noticed this on other blogs too. I think if you have something nasty to say you should at least have the guts to STAND behind your words not HIDE behind them.

The rest of us know that you would NEVER intentionally do anything to harm your dogs in any way shape or form. PERIOD.

Dyan

Anonymous said...

One thing that always bothers me is when people talk about positive reinforcement with their dogs and cannot seem to apply the same to their relationships with people.
If they cannot treat people as well as they treat their dogs then they should just follow the old adage, If you cannot say something good, Say nothing.

PoochesForPeace said...

Ohh, well I'm just getting caught up on my blog reading. You are a wonderful dog owner.

Tristan and Braun said...

Hiya

I just caught on the drift of things (or at least the new developments!)

Agree totally with Dyan. right. Those people who leave nasty comments often does not have enough of guts to face up to it (Pun intended) Also, we who follows your blog knows that you would never ever intentionally hurt any of your dogs.