Our Pets

We have 3 great dogs and a wonderful parrot. They keep us laughing and smiling. Life is never lonely or dull with a dog or parrot around.

Posing for a photo at Presquile

Grace, the African Grey Congo, is very talkative and loves to whistle. She loves camping – both the food and being outside. She always gets a share of what we are eating, and since we tend to eat better, more interesting food when we are camping she benefits!  She’s not noisy and never screams, but she does love to whistle. We often hear other campers whistling with her. 

All 3 dogs are great dogs. Bella is the oldest, then Kabira with Spike being the baby. He was born in 2008. They all get along famously, its not unusual to find them all crashed out on the same mat. Spike especially likes to cuddle with them, (but they don’t always like it as he gets cranky if they move too much!).

Crashed out after a day at the dog show


The dogs are great campers, keeping their barking to a minimum. They love the long walks and especially like the admirers they attract.


Bella – Standard Poodle
Kabira – Rhodesian Ridgeback
Spike – Miniature Poodle


Pets posing for a photograph.



Portrait photo of the 3 dogs. I was lucky to get the shot of Spike and Kabira. They were asleep in the sun and stayed there long enough for me to get my camera and get a few shots. Luckily the way the light was shining created a dark background. Don’t they look sweet.  I got the shot of Bella by standing her in pretty strong sunlight. There is some sun on her face so some of her features are visible, but its hard getting a photo of a black dog!



Grace enjoys her time outside. She’s a great camper, loving every minute. Here she is with the early rising moon in the background. She just had her wings clipped but usually she’s safely on my hand or in her cage. She has a nice, big, outside cage for camping.



What a bunch of crazy, snow covered dogs! They had been running and leaping through the snow before this photo. Now they are cold and ready to go inside, especially Kabira. She’s often cold so I made her these pyjamas.  She loves them and comes running when I get them out. She's the only dog I've ever known that likes to wear clothes.



Spike seems to have no trouble keeping warm – he either cuddles on his sheepskin or takes over my lap



Spike is a great ham and loves to show off his tricks. He loves a crowd and has no trouble performing for a roomful.  This photo was taken when we were practicing for a visit to the office. Spike walked around from office to office with his bag filled with candycanes for the children. He was a big hit!



He does lots of other tricks, all trained using clicker training. This is a great way to train both everyday behaviours and more complicated ones as well. Its all positive with tons of treats. They love their training sessions! This summer I taught Spike to bring me a bottle of water. It took about 5 minutes as he already knew the concept of “bring”. This trick is a big crowd pleaser – and useful to boot!