Dog training

Hi everyone, as you can probably tell, This post is going to be about Dog training. Dog training is my William Pike Hobby, and so far I have been thoroughly enjoying it.I have a short haired border collie called Fern, she is a smart dog and wants to be everyone's friend, but she has lots of energy, and she tends to get really excited around other people or dogs. Every Monday I take Fern to dog training at the Rangiora show grounds.We are currently doing a four week course, and at the end of it we will decide if we want to join the club and get put into a group depending on Ferns skill ability. At the moment we are going over the basics, like stay, lie down, come, etc.

 I will be updating this post soon, so please leave a comment or a question and I will do my best to answer.

Hi everyone.

Since last time I updated this post Fern has learnt a lot. She can now do things like weave, roll over spin and much more. At the moment we are working on the "BANG" trick, and she is picking it up really well. My dog training group had a competition last week for who could do the best trick, and Fern and I won! I was so proud of her.


Greetings
I haven't been on this page for a while, and a lot has happened. Since I updated this post, Fern and I have been put into another level of training. We are now doing what's called a certificate class. A certificate class is where you have a series of challenges and activities that you have to complete to work towards a certificate. Once you achieve this, you then work towards another level of certificate. So far we have been going great, we only have about three things to complete before we finish the class. We have both enjoyed the experience so much, and Fern has learnt a lot.

Lions Fun Run Walk

On the 13 of march, I participated in the Lions Fun Run Walk. As part of my WPCA, I have to compete in a 10km organised Fun Run. The Lions Fun Run was 12km. Why do I always do the harder stuff, why oh why. 

Anyway, the Lions Fun Run sounded interesting so I decided to give it a go.

Before we started, a lady took us all through some basic stretches, and then the man in the high vis vest gave the command, and we were off. 12km doesn’t sound like a long way, but trust me, when you’re out there doing it, it feels like 12 miles.

For the first few km, I was feeling pretty good, but after a while I began to feel the sweat beading on my forehead, and I noticed that I was getting slower, but I kept on going, telling myself things like “nearly there” or “just put one foot in front of the other” and before I knew it, the finishing line was in sight. I forced my aching muscles to go even faster and propelled myself across the finishing line.

I then staggered across to a table to get my certificate and my free ice block. When I looked down at my certificate I noticed that they had included my time. 1hr 19mins. Wow, pretty impressive for 12km.

Hawdon Hut

As the big day approached, most of my time was spent frantically checking over the gear list making sure I had everything, then packing and re packing my gear. Finally, Thursday rolled around and I was rearing to go.

 When I arrived at school, about 2 minutes was spent divvying up our rations to each other, then everyone stood around in little groups whispering and giggling among ourselves until the teachers announced it was time to hop into the mini vans.

Now I must say the drive up towards Hawdon Hut was one of the most eventful ones I'd ever had. Everyone was filled with a nervous energy, and after a few minutes we were singing our heads off and cracking up over each others jokes, although the whole thing sounded more like an imitation of a bunch of rowdy chickens, and I felt sorry for William pike, as well as the teachers and parents.

After about an hour we arrived at the Hawden Hut shelter. we all piled out of the mini vans and after we got given our packs our principal talked to us for a few minutes, then we set off.

It was a hot day, and everyone was enjoying the walk until about half way through when everyone ran out of water, and we couldn't find a stream. That was annoying at first, but when we did stumble across one, everyone jumped in and we all swam for a bit until it got a bit cold.

The highlight for me though would have to be arriving at the hut, and the feeling you got when you took your pack off for the first time was amazing.

 We all got about half an hour just to settle in, then everyone went down to the stream and had a chilly dip. For tea we had freeze dry potatoes, chicken and lamb, which was surprisingly tasty, and then we popped out for a bit of bolder hopping.

After that everyone was given a milo and we all sat around a candle and listened to William share the inspirational story of how he lost his leg with us, then it was time for bed. In the morning we said one last goodbye to the hut, then we began the long walk back. When we arrived back at the shelter, everyone had lunch, then we hopped back into the mini vans and drove to cave stream, which was the highlight of the day for me.

I loved every moment of our exciting adventure, and I cant wait for the next William pike challenge

Independent writing

Story starter
It happened in the dead of night. The garden light illuminated the person, casting a mysterious shadow.

As silent as a whisper in the night, the figure stealthily crept towards the green, wooden doors. Click…The key slipped into the metal lock, the cold mechanisms inside responding to the familiar shape of the object that had been slipped inside. Seeing the padlock pop open as expected, the figure slipped the slender bolt across into its resting position. The doors groaned agonizingly, the figure turning to survey the surrounding area, alarmed at the loudness of the sound its actions had made.

The coast seemed clear. Resuming its mission, the shadow slipped inside the room.   There it was. This was the sight and moment they had been waiting for…

Slowly and softly the shadow glided across the bare wooden floorboards towards a large object in the center of the room.

The figure could barely contain its excitement at the thought of uncovering this precious item after all this time and was so preoccupied with the task at hand that it didn't notice a faint ticking.

Just as it was reaching out to grab the tatty cloth covering the object, it paused, unsure, then all the lights blinked out, and the figure was thrown into the wall with a sickening crunch.

For just a second, all was still, then a faint groan came from the crumpled heap.

Nursing its shoulder the figure rose shakily to its feet, cursing and then directed its gaze at something in the distance. Glancing around one last time, the shadow whisked out the door and was swallowed up into the inky night, but not before muttering “Just wait , the time will come, the time will come.”

Chapter 1

I'm crouched behind a huge gorse bush, waiting. I try to shift my body a bit more to the right so the prickles don't dig into my side so much, but my legs groan in protest, so I stay where I am. Besides, if I shift much more, I'd be in clear sight of the footpath, and that would defeat the purpose of being here in the first place. I hear familiar footsteps approaching and glance at my watch. 3:50pm. Perfect. I crouch low and count down the seconds.

5,4,3,2,1…..”raaaaah” I scream as I leap from my hiding place, brambles scratching my face and getting stuck in my hair, and come down hard on a tall slender figure, who buckles under my sudden weight. We go sprawling onto the concrete, tussling with each other, until my opponent gets me on my stomach and pins my arms behind my back.

I struggle aimlessly for a few more seconds before finally admitting defeat. “OK, you got me” I groan as the hold on my hands loosen. “But I'm going to get you next time.” “In your dreams” a silky voice reply's carelessly, and I jump to my feet and spin around to reveal a tall slim figure beaming down at me.

My sister. My instructor. My best friend. She laughs at my tatty, gorse strewn hair and links arms with me. “I must admit though, you’re getting better, you caught me off guard” she says as we stroll down the sidewalk. I smile at such high praise, and as we wander along in silence, I take the opportunity to have a good long look at her.

Maddie is only a year older than me, and, apart from the age difference, we could be identical twins. Same golden blond hair, same light blue eyes, and same freckled face. Because we're only 9 months apart, we are inseparable. Ever since we could walk we did everything together, and it's been that way ever since.

When Maddie turned 10, she started taking Kung fu. It was all she could think about, and after a while, she started getting really good, so good in fact, that a year later she was offered a 10 month scholarship to one of the top fighting camps in the world. It was too great an opportunity to pass up, so she decided to go. That was the worst 10 months of my life. 

Without Maddie around to protect me, I was bullied a lot, and I had no one to talk to. The worst thing, however, was that I was worried that camp would of changed her. What would I do without her? However, all my worrying was for nothing as it turned out, because when she returned she was just the same old bubbly Maddie.

After that everything went back to the way it was before. And now, five years later, the worst thing has happened. When Maddie turns 17, she will be applying for the same camp, and I can't go through that experience again. Kung Fu was the only thing that Maddie did that I had no interest in, but if she's leaving for camp, then I'm coming with her, and that means learning Kung Fu.

I'm awakened from my daydreaming by a loud screeching of tires as a black minivan goes whizzing around the corner, closely followed by a blue Land Rover. We stare in silence at the cars fading into the distance, then Maddie glanced at me and indicates her head slightly towards a building. I nod, and we cross the road and turn into a dark alleyway. Just up ahead is an old, abandoned warehouse towering above all the other apartments. I discovered this hideaway a few years ago, when I was hiding from my classmates after a very brutal game of tag, and it's been our secret ever since.

TO BE CONTINUED.....

The short and incredibly happy life of Riley.

The first thing I noticed as I looked at this book was the title, “The short and incredibly happy life of Riley.” Then I looked at the picture, and I noticed a great big pink mouse cuddling a small man. Then I started wondering, who is Riely?

 At first I thought that it was the man, but then I had another look, and I saw that the mouse actually looked like it was comforting the man, so that lead me to believe that Riley was the mouse.

Once we started reading, it became clear that the pink mouse was, in fact, Riley, and Riley was very happy. All he ever wanted was some slugs, or a nice pointy stick to scratch his back with.

Humans however, wanted more than that. They want, and I quote, double-fudge-chocolate caviar-sausage-gourmet-jumbo-size-baby-cow-sheep-chicken-with-extra-thick-whipped-cream-and-msg-sauce-burger.

Riley the mouse only lives for a short time, but throughout his life he makes the most of everything and enjoyed every minute of it. People, however, live for much longer, but they are never content.

At the end of the day, I think that the moral of the story is we need to stop trying to have everything we want and just be happy with a lot less. Just embrace your inner Riley!

Norman and Brenda book review

Book review

For reading this term a group of us are reading senior picture books and writing a review. Here is mine.

The first time I glanced at the book all I could see was two grubby, odd looking people dressed in old dull cloths. Then my gaze was drawn to a little piece of writing at the top of the page that said " the anti-heroes, anti-heroes." That got me thinking. I didn't quite understand what the meaning of those words were, but I assumed they mention that the characters on the front page were heroes assistants or something along those lines.

Once we opened the book, we noticed that near the front of the book, there is a picture of Norman and Brenda standing together and Norman is wearing a wedding veil. That made us think that they were going to meet and get married

 Anyway, once we started reading, it was clear that the book was about how depressing both the characters lives were. Brenda just washed dishes at party's, and Norman didn't even get invited to any. After a while they both became desperate and tried putting up advertisements, going on blind dates, even falling in love with their pets, who did not return the affection. All that we knew was that they were lonely and looking for love, or at least a friend. 

We read the book a bit more, untill we reached a page where Brenda tried to see if the world looked better from above, and then she fell for Norman. Literally! She crushed him and broke nearly all of his bones, but they fell in love and got married, just as we predicted. 

After we finished the story, we had a look at the back of the book, and it basically summed up what we'd read, but we still didn't know what they meant by the " the anti-heroes, anti-heroes." I guess it's just how you interpreted it.

All in all, it was a very clever book, and it just shows, no matter how bad your life seems, sometimes you're just in the right place in the right time.

Mass Explain Everything

For the past few weeks in maths we have been making Explain Everything's. For this, the teachers gave us three main topics which are Mass, Length and Capacity. We had to put ourselves into pairs and we were given one of the three topics to become experts in. We then had to learn about our given Topic and create an Explain Everything about it. Derrin and I decided to pair up, and we were given Mass. Below is our Explain Everything. Please have a look and become an Expert yourselves. Enjoy.