Wow. . 2014 may be the year of dreams. ..
We haven't been doing as much racing, but that's because we've been soo busy doing other things!
Mr Duckie has been on a roll this fall. He came back out after almsot 3 months off to go SBOS at Potomac Valley Borzoi Club's Specialty under Karen Dumke for yet another 5 point major, then the following day went BOB for a 4 point major. He now has all his majors, more champions defeated then you can shake a stick at and is sitting at 21 points towards his GCH. He also has picked up his first coursing point and is a 1/3 of the way towards his SGRC.
Sisters Nikki & Teela have been put up to mature bodily, but both have finished their GRCs with multiple meet wins and are also 1/3 of the way towards their SGRC. With Traveler finishing his GRC in August, means the entire litter has a performance title already.
Ziva came back out and ran with Duckie in open up in NJ, and ran the best I've seen her run in years since she was repeatedly attacked. No, she didn't beat him, but it gives me hope she can get those last 4 singles and 22 points towards her coursing titles(AKC & ASFA respectively). She is also looking absolutely positively lovely, hope to get her in the ring next year.
Jenny has continued her winning ways. After jamming a toe at a coursing event, I put her up for the fall, and instead, we're working on other titles.
She finished her Rally Novice in September, to become FC Mielikki Dir Shepard at Silkenswift SC, CGC, FCH, SGRCIV, BN, RN.
If she'd done her darn downs, we'd've been tied for 2nd out of 19 entries, but she gave me the infamous Jenny snooty look, so when we got back home, she went into Borzoi Down Boot camp, EVERYBODY in the house made her do downs. I was not having her pull that again. She downed at every doorway, to get in the car, etc. This little problem was really getting under my skin.
She went to a few more shows unfortunately being the only bitch, but did pick up an additional single, and then... I saw there was an OB trial in town . .said ok, I have a racemeet that weekend, I'll just go Saturday and we'll go to the trial on Sunday. Sent my entries in then woke up in the middle of the night going OMG!!! That's MY racemeet.
Too late, check cashed. . entries closed. .could just hope for the best. A small racemeet combined with a great group of people got us done in record time and we headed over to the event, and still had to wait 4 hrs.
After the weekend of running the racemeet , I was too exhausted to get nervous or worried when just before our turn, the GSD did his recall that ended in a playbow, a bark, and then a 5 min game of you cant' catch me, Made sure Jenny was not watching as the dog ran around and around and around, a great game of zoomies. . they finally got him caught, and then it was our turn.
All I wanted was to prove to myself we COULD do this. . all I asked for was a 170. . .unlike the nationals where _I_ gave up after I lost her on the about turn, I refused to allow myself to think "Oh well, we failed." Each exercise was it's own. . yes, I lost her on the about turn, YES she leaned against one of the stewards on the figure 8, BUT she did do a perfect happy heel on leash, she DID do an almost perfect sit for exam, she DID do a perfect recall, and although she decided to be a little butthead on the down, she DID down and kept her down, even when we came back to heel position. She was good enough, we didn't get a 170, we actually got a 181 1/2 and our very first ever, MY very first ever, CD Leg.
I walked out of that ring crying for joy, hugging the silly little black bitch.
Fall's winding down, but we do have one possibly two more weekends of racing, one weekend of dog shows, and a rally show. I'm already looking at future OB shows to look for that next leg :) She is an overachiever and I'm having a blast with her.
Showing posts with label Agility/Obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Agility/Obedience. Show all posts
Monday, November 17, 2014
Sunday, August 17, 2014
Wow, what a year
It's been so long since I've sat down and written a blog.
What a year it's been. . .Duckie was put up after the wonderful weekend in Ohio for a few months. PVBC's specialty brought him out again. Alas, his other mother and handler Kari was down in TX for the Samoyed national, so I had to hope I could do him justice. . Didn't expect much, he was barely 12 months old and yep,.he acted like a dork in sweeps, left me scratching my head as to why he hadn't done better, but by regular class time, he had his dancing shoes on.
Now, I had my knee wrapped tightly, I hadn't shown in oh, 15 months, and was making all sorts of prayers to whichever gods may be listening that I could do this. . .that boy did me proud, didn't step a food down wrong, won his competitive 12-18 month class. Took a deep breath outside the ring as we waited for Bred by and Open to go in, then back in for Winners dog. Boy can Duckie move out, and he moved away with the 5 point major with me at the end of the leash. Talk about exhilerating.
The bitches went in, my knee was feeling good, so crossed my fingers, time for Best of Breed, and darnit, I wanted Best of Winners.
Bonnie D. commented she had never seen me move a dog out so much, and boy did we, I refused to lose. Judge moved us and moved us, and the last go around, my knee gave out... when she pointed to us for BOW, I had tears of pain and joy on my face. We did it!!!! To add to the joy, Kari went Best of Breed at the Samoyed national :) Not my dog, but she is part of this ride with Duckie!
Granted, the rest of the day was miserable as my knee gave me all sorts of whatsfor for doing this! But I was so pleased with my gawky boy!
A few more single point shows for him where he was a goofy gawky dork, but he ended the year with 8 points one major.
OTOH, Bounce finished the year as a brand spanking new champion! A wonderful xmas present! The only Borzoi to finish her ring title (12 points) and be #1 LGRA Borzoi in the same year! Also the first Borzoi Champion bitch to be #1.
Duckie and Jenny went to NY in January, my boy picking up two BOBs, two singles and playing in the groups, Jenny adding yet another point. We've played too much on the coursing/racing field, and it was high time for her to actually enter the ring at almost 5 and we were preparing her for April, where Kari packed the two up and headed to the 2014 BCOA Nationals in NM with a van full of dogs, and I flew out, as I can't drive that far, and went to Las Vegas to visit family afterwards.
But just before we left, I entered Jenny in a rally show. .we'd been working, but I haven't done Rally since losing Gossip, I needed to prove I could do it again, without my best girl at my side. Also to prepare myself for the Nationals LOl Jenny was being a pill over her downs at that time, but we still walked away with a qualifying leg, if she'd done her down, we'd''ve tied for 3rd out of a huge class. She finished her SGRCIV that weekend! Only the third borzoi to do so!
Jenny was post season, so didn't have high hopes for her, but she tickled me pink with a 3rd out of a nice entry of Borzoi in LGRA, even better, Duckie tied with her :) He has never ran hand slipped, so was confused the first race, came in 2nd, but the next two he won with style. It was only his second race meet, so it pleased me immensely, and he came home with his first two LGRA points.
I had screwed up her coursing entry, so we took the next two days easy, then on to obedience/rally. . .sad to walk out of the OB ring and be told if she'd recalled, we'd've gone high in trial LOL but that's exactly what the judge told us. Oh well, it was a pleasure to do it, to prove I could do it. .alas in rally, Mom's ineptitude, caused us 20 points, but we did pick up our 2nd rally leg.
Duckie then went on to place in his nice Futurity class, as did his cousin Coal from the Dark litter. But the highlight came regular class days. Duckie had to go in open as he was 18 months 5 days old, and even as the youngest dog in his rather decent sized class, he made it down to the last 6, which is more than I expected the judge to do with him, didnt' think he was curvy enough amongst other things, but the judge found something he liked. Jenny, OTOH, in one of the biggest classes of the week, AND IMHO, the most competitive class in bitches, despite being Ambred, pulled out a 2nd place. Shocked me, and Kari turned to me and said we REALLY need to show this bitch.
I had a wonderful vacation with family I haven't seen in 6.5 yrs, wasn't long enough, but it was great. And then home and back to work. The week went fast and it was pack the car up and go to oval, where Duckie & Teela showed promising practices. I certed the two, or tried to: when her brother jumped over her to get to the inside, Teela decided to duck under the tape, so back to go with her, he on the other hand had a beautiful cert run. He nor his brother Traveler can compete with sisters Bounce & Shimmer for speed due to a 30-35 lb weight different, but they ran true and hard. Bounce won Sunday for 2 points, and finished her JOR. . fingers crossed she continues to run well to be my next ORC since Jenny nor Ziva seem to want to stay on the track :SIGH:
And then(yes, it was a very busy spring LOL) we headed to the show circuit in NJ where Kent Delaney gave Duckie his second major, a 4 pointer, leaving him one point to finish. The next day, he finished in style at BCDV's specialty, WD/BOW for another 4 pointer! I believe he's my youngest champion at 19 months, with quite limited showing.
We spent the rest of May, June & July running, with Duckie finishing his GRC quite quickly considering the entries in our area anymore, with a meet win over Shimmer & Jenny! He also got his QC and his first SC leg, he has to learn to maneuver that 93 lb body around the field, but I as very happy with the boy. Teela also got her cert, and will start running this fall.
But to top it off, Bounce finished her FC to become my first personal DC, finishing in four trials, with 3 5 point wins, AND then the next day a 5 point BIF win!
Jenny then went to camp, and acted like a twit, heeling for Kari in the ring due to our Obedience training, despite herself she picked up a 3 point major.
August brought cooler weathers and a desire to take a vacation again. Kari looked at the show schedule and we both decided let's go to WI!! Three breeder judges, including one that had specifically hunted me down at the Nationals last year to compliment me on 7 month old Duckie, and it was her last big judging assignment, so I wanted to show her what he had matured to!
Friday was way too early.Kari's Samoyed special was on at like 8:30, borzoi at 9, so it was a whirlwind day. Eli the Sammy won bred, then it as hurry up and groom the zoi, and head ring side. Glancing at the bitches, I turned to the owner of one particularly nice open bitch and told her breeder/owner "If I have to lose today, it better be your girl". She informed me she was pretty sure she was going o lose to Jenny. That alone made my day, as this is a breeder I have always respected in the breed. I was right, but Jenny did go RWB, so I was happy as I'd had no idea what to expect of this breeder judge. I hadn't shown to her in over a decade!
Kari handed me my girl and took Duckie in. At 22 months old, he was younger by a margin than every other special in the ring, so I didn't expect much, and when the judge pulled a rather nice specials bitch out and sent her to the front of the line, I was ok with it. All I'd hoped for for the weekend was an AOM at the specialty. The shock came when the judge came back to Kari and told her to go in front. OMG!! Yes, YES YES!! Duckie went BOB over a nice entry of specials for a 5 point major win! OMG!!
The day wasn't done. In a ring full of heavy hitters, Duckie put on his cleated dance shoes and moved out like a pro, to come away with a Group 3 under the first judge's husband!! Who the next day, in a special entry of 12 males, gave Duckie Select dog for his second 5 point major AFTER rewarding Jenny who was moving like a dream, her second major ALSO a 5 point major! WAHOOO!!!
Duckie ended the 2nd day with an AOM at the specialty. The lovely judge was so pleased to hear this was the puppy she'd fallen in love with at our Nationals, and thanked me for bringing him to her. I got a lot of compliments on both my kids that weekend, and it made the long trip and resulting week long illness for both Kari & I worth it. We're both still recovering from what we're referring to as Wisconsin cheesehead, but three majors, 15 points, and an AOM made it all worth it ;)
Jenny now needs 5 singles to be my next DC, Duckie has 10 points and 2 majors towards his Grandchampion, couldn't ask for a much better weekend!
What a year it's been. . .Duckie was put up after the wonderful weekend in Ohio for a few months. PVBC's specialty brought him out again. Alas, his other mother and handler Kari was down in TX for the Samoyed national, so I had to hope I could do him justice. . Didn't expect much, he was barely 12 months old and yep,.he acted like a dork in sweeps, left me scratching my head as to why he hadn't done better, but by regular class time, he had his dancing shoes on.
Now, I had my knee wrapped tightly, I hadn't shown in oh, 15 months, and was making all sorts of prayers to whichever gods may be listening that I could do this. . .that boy did me proud, didn't step a food down wrong, won his competitive 12-18 month class. Took a deep breath outside the ring as we waited for Bred by and Open to go in, then back in for Winners dog. Boy can Duckie move out, and he moved away with the 5 point major with me at the end of the leash. Talk about exhilerating.
The bitches went in, my knee was feeling good, so crossed my fingers, time for Best of Breed, and darnit, I wanted Best of Winners.
Bonnie D. commented she had never seen me move a dog out so much, and boy did we, I refused to lose. Judge moved us and moved us, and the last go around, my knee gave out... when she pointed to us for BOW, I had tears of pain and joy on my face. We did it!!!! To add to the joy, Kari went Best of Breed at the Samoyed national :) Not my dog, but she is part of this ride with Duckie!
Granted, the rest of the day was miserable as my knee gave me all sorts of whatsfor for doing this! But I was so pleased with my gawky boy!
A few more single point shows for him where he was a goofy gawky dork, but he ended the year with 8 points one major.
OTOH, Bounce finished the year as a brand spanking new champion! A wonderful xmas present! The only Borzoi to finish her ring title (12 points) and be #1 LGRA Borzoi in the same year! Also the first Borzoi Champion bitch to be #1.
Duckie and Jenny went to NY in January, my boy picking up two BOBs, two singles and playing in the groups, Jenny adding yet another point. We've played too much on the coursing/racing field, and it was high time for her to actually enter the ring at almost 5 and we were preparing her for April, where Kari packed the two up and headed to the 2014 BCOA Nationals in NM with a van full of dogs, and I flew out, as I can't drive that far, and went to Las Vegas to visit family afterwards.
But just before we left, I entered Jenny in a rally show. .we'd been working, but I haven't done Rally since losing Gossip, I needed to prove I could do it again, without my best girl at my side. Also to prepare myself for the Nationals LOl Jenny was being a pill over her downs at that time, but we still walked away with a qualifying leg, if she'd done her down, we'd''ve tied for 3rd out of a huge class. She finished her SGRCIV that weekend! Only the third borzoi to do so!
Jenny was post season, so didn't have high hopes for her, but she tickled me pink with a 3rd out of a nice entry of Borzoi in LGRA, even better, Duckie tied with her :) He has never ran hand slipped, so was confused the first race, came in 2nd, but the next two he won with style. It was only his second race meet, so it pleased me immensely, and he came home with his first two LGRA points.
I had screwed up her coursing entry, so we took the next two days easy, then on to obedience/rally. . .sad to walk out of the OB ring and be told if she'd recalled, we'd've gone high in trial LOL but that's exactly what the judge told us. Oh well, it was a pleasure to do it, to prove I could do it. .alas in rally, Mom's ineptitude, caused us 20 points, but we did pick up our 2nd rally leg.
Duckie then went on to place in his nice Futurity class, as did his cousin Coal from the Dark litter. But the highlight came regular class days. Duckie had to go in open as he was 18 months 5 days old, and even as the youngest dog in his rather decent sized class, he made it down to the last 6, which is more than I expected the judge to do with him, didnt' think he was curvy enough amongst other things, but the judge found something he liked. Jenny, OTOH, in one of the biggest classes of the week, AND IMHO, the most competitive class in bitches, despite being Ambred, pulled out a 2nd place. Shocked me, and Kari turned to me and said we REALLY need to show this bitch.
I had a wonderful vacation with family I haven't seen in 6.5 yrs, wasn't long enough, but it was great. And then home and back to work. The week went fast and it was pack the car up and go to oval, where Duckie & Teela showed promising practices. I certed the two, or tried to: when her brother jumped over her to get to the inside, Teela decided to duck under the tape, so back to go with her, he on the other hand had a beautiful cert run. He nor his brother Traveler can compete with sisters Bounce & Shimmer for speed due to a 30-35 lb weight different, but they ran true and hard. Bounce won Sunday for 2 points, and finished her JOR. . fingers crossed she continues to run well to be my next ORC since Jenny nor Ziva seem to want to stay on the track :SIGH:
And then(yes, it was a very busy spring LOL) we headed to the show circuit in NJ where Kent Delaney gave Duckie his second major, a 4 pointer, leaving him one point to finish. The next day, he finished in style at BCDV's specialty, WD/BOW for another 4 pointer! I believe he's my youngest champion at 19 months, with quite limited showing.
We spent the rest of May, June & July running, with Duckie finishing his GRC quite quickly considering the entries in our area anymore, with a meet win over Shimmer & Jenny! He also got his QC and his first SC leg, he has to learn to maneuver that 93 lb body around the field, but I as very happy with the boy. Teela also got her cert, and will start running this fall.
But to top it off, Bounce finished her FC to become my first personal DC, finishing in four trials, with 3 5 point wins, AND then the next day a 5 point BIF win!
Jenny then went to camp, and acted like a twit, heeling for Kari in the ring due to our Obedience training, despite herself she picked up a 3 point major.
August brought cooler weathers and a desire to take a vacation again. Kari looked at the show schedule and we both decided let's go to WI!! Three breeder judges, including one that had specifically hunted me down at the Nationals last year to compliment me on 7 month old Duckie, and it was her last big judging assignment, so I wanted to show her what he had matured to!
Friday was way too early.Kari's Samoyed special was on at like 8:30, borzoi at 9, so it was a whirlwind day. Eli the Sammy won bred, then it as hurry up and groom the zoi, and head ring side. Glancing at the bitches, I turned to the owner of one particularly nice open bitch and told her breeder/owner "If I have to lose today, it better be your girl". She informed me she was pretty sure she was going o lose to Jenny. That alone made my day, as this is a breeder I have always respected in the breed. I was right, but Jenny did go RWB, so I was happy as I'd had no idea what to expect of this breeder judge. I hadn't shown to her in over a decade!
Kari handed me my girl and took Duckie in. At 22 months old, he was younger by a margin than every other special in the ring, so I didn't expect much, and when the judge pulled a rather nice specials bitch out and sent her to the front of the line, I was ok with it. All I'd hoped for for the weekend was an AOM at the specialty. The shock came when the judge came back to Kari and told her to go in front. OMG!! Yes, YES YES!! Duckie went BOB over a nice entry of specials for a 5 point major win! OMG!!
The day wasn't done. In a ring full of heavy hitters, Duckie put on his cleated dance shoes and moved out like a pro, to come away with a Group 3 under the first judge's husband!! Who the next day, in a special entry of 12 males, gave Duckie Select dog for his second 5 point major AFTER rewarding Jenny who was moving like a dream, her second major ALSO a 5 point major! WAHOOO!!!
Duckie ended the 2nd day with an AOM at the specialty. The lovely judge was so pleased to hear this was the puppy she'd fallen in love with at our Nationals, and thanked me for bringing him to her. I got a lot of compliments on both my kids that weekend, and it made the long trip and resulting week long illness for both Kari & I worth it. We're both still recovering from what we're referring to as Wisconsin cheesehead, but three majors, 15 points, and an AOM made it all worth it ;)
Jenny now needs 5 singles to be my next DC, Duckie has 10 points and 2 majors towards his Grandchampion, couldn't ask for a much better weekend!
Ch Mielikki HiNote Secret Agent Man GRC at 22 months old, photo by Veni Harlan
Monday, April 16, 2012
Working the dogs
So, last week was the first week in a while wehre I actually got off at a normal time and when I had extra energy, I worked a bunch of the youngsters.
I used to love working Gossip, but when I lost her, I lost interest, it just isn't fun for me unless the dog wants to work with you. I liked having a happy heeling dog. My instructor told me more than once she'd never seen a Borzoi so happy to work. . I've tried working dogs who weren't as eager to work, and they're just not as much fun. . .dogs who like to learn are just better for me LOL
I am going to LOVE Working with Frankie, who is so happy to work, and in fact, heels like a BC, looking up at me, wagging his tail the entire time. We worked on simple heeling position and sits, with a few swings thrown in. This boy reminds me of his Great Uncle Obie with how much he wants to do whatever I ask.
Grabbed Jenny, and she wagged her tail the entire time, heeling almost as nicely as Frankie, she's not as quick to catch on as Frankie, but I can tell she's goign to be a blast to work with also.
Grabbed Gibbs next and had to do a lot of leash work, as he's a lot like his father, he wants to please, but you have to catch his attention and keep it, he's very ADHD LOL Him we simply worked on walking nicely and sitting at heel.
Ziva. . .Ziva shows be careful what you name your dog, instead of paying attention to me, she paid attention to everything else. .an Israili Mussaud officer never keeps her eyes off the surrounding scenary in case an assassin is waiting to take you out. The cows across the street, the trees looking for bunnies and tree rats, anything but me. . .will have to find some sort of food that is more interesting than anything else going on LOL
Bounce. . I had to debounce bounce first, up and down the Aframe, which she's already doing after only two session and doing it right, hitting her contacts every time. Only after I did was she calm enough to work with LOL . .
Felt good to get working with them again. . .need to get back into Rally class. Rules have changed since I worked Gossip. . .but i think I'm going to have fun with these 5. . maybe I'll have a triathlon dog ready for next year's nationals!
I used to love working Gossip, but when I lost her, I lost interest, it just isn't fun for me unless the dog wants to work with you. I liked having a happy heeling dog. My instructor told me more than once she'd never seen a Borzoi so happy to work. . I've tried working dogs who weren't as eager to work, and they're just not as much fun. . .dogs who like to learn are just better for me LOL
I am going to LOVE Working with Frankie, who is so happy to work, and in fact, heels like a BC, looking up at me, wagging his tail the entire time. We worked on simple heeling position and sits, with a few swings thrown in. This boy reminds me of his Great Uncle Obie with how much he wants to do whatever I ask.
Grabbed Jenny, and she wagged her tail the entire time, heeling almost as nicely as Frankie, she's not as quick to catch on as Frankie, but I can tell she's goign to be a blast to work with also.
Grabbed Gibbs next and had to do a lot of leash work, as he's a lot like his father, he wants to please, but you have to catch his attention and keep it, he's very ADHD LOL Him we simply worked on walking nicely and sitting at heel.
Ziva. . .Ziva shows be careful what you name your dog, instead of paying attention to me, she paid attention to everything else. .an Israili Mussaud officer never keeps her eyes off the surrounding scenary in case an assassin is waiting to take you out. The cows across the street, the trees looking for bunnies and tree rats, anything but me. . .will have to find some sort of food that is more interesting than anything else going on LOL
Bounce. . I had to debounce bounce first, up and down the Aframe, which she's already doing after only two session and doing it right, hitting her contacts every time. Only after I did was she calm enough to work with LOL . .
Felt good to get working with them again. . .need to get back into Rally class. Rules have changed since I worked Gossip. . .but i think I'm going to have fun with these 5. . maybe I'll have a triathlon dog ready for next year's nationals!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
A new face
was given a wonderful gift recently. . a new puppy.
Yeah, I know, i need a new puppy like I need a hole in my head :) but this puppy will fill a hole in my life right now.
I have 6 dogs. . .none of them have any inkling of wanting to be an Obedience/rally/agility dog. .Touchet is too old at 12.5, Dei I will only allow low level agility equipment, but no jumps, because she's 10.5, Grins has a nano second brain and has never learned how to do jumps, he barrels thru them, Secret. .Secret is a princess, she gives orders, she doesn't take them LOL. Ziva is currently a spaz and Bella is a Princess in training. . .I've tried all the younger dogs on the agility equipment, and none of them seemed keen on it, so I was holding out in hopes that a Secret puppy would have the 'zest' and desire to work for me, especially agility.
My friend commented they kept finding one of her puppies on top of a dog house, an adult Borzoi sized dog house, since she was 3 months old. .told her if she was interested in the bunny, I wanted her. I took the lure toy out and put food down, and the pups all mobbed the food bowls, started shaking the bunny, and bam, here comes Ms Goat herself(with her lovely brindle brother on her heels). Yep, she was keen, she wanted the bunny more than she wanted her dinner!
Took her out of the yard, and put her on the dog walk, bounce bounce bounce, happily trotting across the dog walk at 5.5 months old. . yep, I was really thinking of takign this puppy
Bounce working the real dog walk
Took her out with me this weekend to a racemeet, and to my surprise, there was agility equipment set up.. now Dei always got stressed and wouldn't work out for me in strange places, so before we ran I took her over, boing boing boing, over the dog walk, not once, not twice, but three times by the end of the day.
Walk on the way up the teeter
Took her to the teeter. . this she wasn't as sure of, but by the end of the day, I got her to do it, with me holding her harness, twice! I was so pleased. I then took her over to stand at the box, and although she jumped when it opened, she wanted to take off with the salukis, not much bothered by the LVCC's box at all. And everyone loved her. . .a few wanted to steal her :) So, introducing my agility hopeful: Bounce!Have no clue how to start a puppy, but we're goign to have fun!
Tired bounce after the end of a long day
So, introducing my agility hopeful: Bounce!Have no clue how to start a puppy, but we're goign to have fun!
I
Friday, April 30, 2010
training techniques
It is amazing to see the difference in littermates sometimes.
Gibbs is a social butterfly, much like his father, wagging tail, happy to see anyone, not bothered by much. He thought the show last weekend was JUST FOR HIM!! And made sure everyone knew just how happy he was that they had all gathered to see him. He handled the blow dryer fine, handled beign put ont he table well. I just have to bring him DOWN some.
Jenny, OTOH, is much more like their mother, who is very soft, not as confident. Put her on the table, she melts, turn on anysort of machinery, she cringes. .. so I've been working hard to get her over this, to help her emerge from this 'fear period' as the confident young dog she was a few months ago.
After Gibbs made such an ass out of me at our supported entry last week, I entered them both in handling class last night. Jenny has her first show next week. It's a Borzoi specialty, but I will be keeping a tight hand on who she meets, as I've seen some nastiness, usually by males, but sometimes bitches too. Stress, or bad temperament, who knows, I don't want it to ruin a good day for my puppy girl .. well, Bonnie's & my puppy girl.
So, we headed out to class, I arranged to get there early to let Jenny relax a bit. New place, new noises. Taking her out of the car, I put the racing muzzle on Gibbs.
This is a dual purpose action. The more they wear the muzzle, the less likely they are to fight the muzzle when it comes time to start running. He's been very sane about the muzzle, not bothered by it at all. It also keeps them from EATING my car, which their father did. they have plenty of toys,b ut I'd rather be safe than sorry, so thus the muzzle.
Our classes are held basically in a warehouse. It's in a big pole building type building, which can echo, and Jenny wasn't at all sure at first, a bit freaked out, but after making her come in, and getting her thru the strange dogs(why people think it's ok to allow their dogs to lunge towards a strange dog,I have no clue), we went in to visit the Berners and their mom.
I stood conversing with the Owner as Jenny stood next to me, eyes a bit wide at first at being happily greeted by 9 month old Mufasa who knows no strangers, his buddy Montana, and their two mixed breed buddies. . Jenny began relaxing, moving away from my knee, and I kept ignoring her. I know this is just a stage, as she quickly began moving up to the owner and her daughter for scritches, still not happy with the big strange dogs getting too close, but not freaking out, no hysterics, just backing off when they got close, but if they moved away, she moved up to sniff them. Her little body started to relax the longer we were there and I knew she had mentally relaxed when she started stealing toys off the display board LOL. I may end up usign getting new toys(as if my dogs need more toys) as a way to reward her for being a good girl. . as she definitely seems to love her toys.
We then went into class, and she again reverted to a little more nervous, but no stress panting, just this very worried look on her face as our large class congregated waiting for the instructor to get ready. I will say, after seeing some nasty darn dogs in the OB classes I've attended, it was soooo nice to see an entire class of well behaved dogs, ranging from a long haired dachshund puppy, to a Chessie, a Schnauzer, an Aussie, a Golden, Mufasa and Jenny, and a little bit in between. A lot of new faces for Jenny to get used to. We situated ourself towards the beginning of the line, as I wanted her to get used to both following, and being followed by another dog, but didn't want to have to worry about tripping over the littler dogs, so we sandwiched ourselves between the Golden & Mufasa.
And class began. First few steps Jenny was a bit confused, but she settled in quickly, I was soooooo very pleased with how she settled in. No silly antics like her brother either, moved out nicely, no bumping, no looking at me, not freaked out by the golden behind us, tail down, movement nice. . we stopped and I stacked her, and she kept lookign back over her shoulder at me, but otherwise, kept her stack perfect as can be, no other movement, no fidgeting. . .unlike her gawky brother, she is very well put together right now. She didn't give us trouble with checking her bite, and didn't react to being gone over. Our down and back was perfect also. . I was very very shocked. We went around to the end and she began going up to people on either side of us, lookign for treats and scritches, still a bit worried when a strange dog approached her, but as the night went, and I was given a toy by the lovely Golden's owner, she began to really relax enough to pounce on the toy when I tossed it and wag her tail, not a little wag, but a nice wag :) Ending it on a good note, I took her back to the car, switched the muzzle over, and took Gibbs in.
Gibbs is the devil child, just like his father was at this age, and I mean JUST LIKE HIS FATHER. Bounce bounce bounce, head up and looking at me, tail up in the air. Instructor gave me some hints that helped settle him down, some of which I'd started at working at home even before class, and that's walking him until he debounces, then break into a slow trot. .. but I also have to learn how to handle him differently than I've handled dogs for 15 yrs, he is much better if he CAN'T see my hand, vs the other dogs I've always shown with my hand down and in front of their nose if I can keep it there. Just a matter of remembering where to put my hand for each dog.
It's one reason I tend to train my own dogs, this difference in how you handle some dogs. I remember one of my first OB instructors wanted me to give Obie a harsh correction, I stood up to her. . .I knew if I'd done it to Obie, he'd've melted, Gibbs (And his Father, and in some manner Gossip) can handle a harder correction, while Dei, Kani, & Jenny can't, they will melt. Granted, that same instructor almost failed us because Obie didn't recall like a border collie. While another instructor in the same place understood and gave me other ideas to get Obie to do what I wished. .
You have to handle each dog differently, and the best way for their personality! And make it FUN!
Gibbs is a social butterfly, much like his father, wagging tail, happy to see anyone, not bothered by much. He thought the show last weekend was JUST FOR HIM!! And made sure everyone knew just how happy he was that they had all gathered to see him. He handled the blow dryer fine, handled beign put ont he table well. I just have to bring him DOWN some.
Jenny, OTOH, is much more like their mother, who is very soft, not as confident. Put her on the table, she melts, turn on anysort of machinery, she cringes. .. so I've been working hard to get her over this, to help her emerge from this 'fear period' as the confident young dog she was a few months ago.
After Gibbs made such an ass out of me at our supported entry last week, I entered them both in handling class last night. Jenny has her first show next week. It's a Borzoi specialty, but I will be keeping a tight hand on who she meets, as I've seen some nastiness, usually by males, but sometimes bitches too. Stress, or bad temperament, who knows, I don't want it to ruin a good day for my puppy girl .. well, Bonnie's & my puppy girl.
So, we headed out to class, I arranged to get there early to let Jenny relax a bit. New place, new noises. Taking her out of the car, I put the racing muzzle on Gibbs.
This is a dual purpose action. The more they wear the muzzle, the less likely they are to fight the muzzle when it comes time to start running. He's been very sane about the muzzle, not bothered by it at all. It also keeps them from EATING my car, which their father did. they have plenty of toys,b ut I'd rather be safe than sorry, so thus the muzzle.
Our classes are held basically in a warehouse. It's in a big pole building type building, which can echo, and Jenny wasn't at all sure at first, a bit freaked out, but after making her come in, and getting her thru the strange dogs(why people think it's ok to allow their dogs to lunge towards a strange dog,I have no clue), we went in to visit the Berners and their mom.
I stood conversing with the Owner as Jenny stood next to me, eyes a bit wide at first at being happily greeted by 9 month old Mufasa who knows no strangers, his buddy Montana, and their two mixed breed buddies. . Jenny began relaxing, moving away from my knee, and I kept ignoring her. I know this is just a stage, as she quickly began moving up to the owner and her daughter for scritches, still not happy with the big strange dogs getting too close, but not freaking out, no hysterics, just backing off when they got close, but if they moved away, she moved up to sniff them. Her little body started to relax the longer we were there and I knew she had mentally relaxed when she started stealing toys off the display board LOL. I may end up usign getting new toys(as if my dogs need more toys) as a way to reward her for being a good girl. . as she definitely seems to love her toys.
We then went into class, and she again reverted to a little more nervous, but no stress panting, just this very worried look on her face as our large class congregated waiting for the instructor to get ready. I will say, after seeing some nasty darn dogs in the OB classes I've attended, it was soooo nice to see an entire class of well behaved dogs, ranging from a long haired dachshund puppy, to a Chessie, a Schnauzer, an Aussie, a Golden, Mufasa and Jenny, and a little bit in between. A lot of new faces for Jenny to get used to. We situated ourself towards the beginning of the line, as I wanted her to get used to both following, and being followed by another dog, but didn't want to have to worry about tripping over the littler dogs, so we sandwiched ourselves between the Golden & Mufasa.
And class began. First few steps Jenny was a bit confused, but she settled in quickly, I was soooooo very pleased with how she settled in. No silly antics like her brother either, moved out nicely, no bumping, no looking at me, not freaked out by the golden behind us, tail down, movement nice. . we stopped and I stacked her, and she kept lookign back over her shoulder at me, but otherwise, kept her stack perfect as can be, no other movement, no fidgeting. . .unlike her gawky brother, she is very well put together right now. She didn't give us trouble with checking her bite, and didn't react to being gone over. Our down and back was perfect also. . I was very very shocked. We went around to the end and she began going up to people on either side of us, lookign for treats and scritches, still a bit worried when a strange dog approached her, but as the night went, and I was given a toy by the lovely Golden's owner, she began to really relax enough to pounce on the toy when I tossed it and wag her tail, not a little wag, but a nice wag :) Ending it on a good note, I took her back to the car, switched the muzzle over, and took Gibbs in.
Gibbs is the devil child, just like his father was at this age, and I mean JUST LIKE HIS FATHER. Bounce bounce bounce, head up and looking at me, tail up in the air. Instructor gave me some hints that helped settle him down, some of which I'd started at working at home even before class, and that's walking him until he debounces, then break into a slow trot. .. but I also have to learn how to handle him differently than I've handled dogs for 15 yrs, he is much better if he CAN'T see my hand, vs the other dogs I've always shown with my hand down and in front of their nose if I can keep it there. Just a matter of remembering where to put my hand for each dog.
It's one reason I tend to train my own dogs, this difference in how you handle some dogs. I remember one of my first OB instructors wanted me to give Obie a harsh correction, I stood up to her. . .I knew if I'd done it to Obie, he'd've melted, Gibbs (And his Father, and in some manner Gossip) can handle a harder correction, while Dei, Kani, & Jenny can't, they will melt. Granted, that same instructor almost failed us because Obie didn't recall like a border collie. While another instructor in the same place understood and gave me other ideas to get Obie to do what I wished. .
You have to handle each dog differently, and the best way for their personality! And make it FUN!
Monday, April 26, 2010
Bitches In Season & Rally Shows
Soo, while at the show Sunday, I went to the club bench and told them I wanted to voice my displeasure about one of their policies. When they asked hwat I meant, I pointed out the policy about no refunds for bitches in season.
And got told it was an AKC policy
WTH are people who don't know policies holding AKC events? went thru my head. And I politely(I'm very proud of myself how polite I was) informed them that it was not, that it was a club policy, and that a large number of other clubs give refunds for bitches in season. The nice lady behind the table got a confused look on her face and turned to her companion, "He's a judge, he'll know."He politely corrected her and told her he was a ring judge, not an OB/Rally judge, and that it was different than the show ring, in that we were not ALLOWED to show, it wasn't a choice like it was in the ring. . .
She still looked confused and I basically said look, I enjoy showing here, you're 10 mins from home, but I won't be entering your shows again unless you change this policy. You're punishing me for trying to do performance evnets with an unaltered dogs, and since I have two up and coming dogs, those are all entries you will be missing out on. I also informed them I would be encouraging PVBC to pull our supported entry from this weekend as well as having told all my Rally friends not to support them.
She asked for my contact information and stated it wasn't something they'd thought of, that she'd bring it up at the next meeting and get back with me.
Not sure if anything'll get done about it, but I encouraged other exhibitors to voice their opinions of this policy. At $30 an entry, I can't afford to dump money into a show I can't go to not cuz of any good reason, but cuz Mother Nature is sitting up there laughing her butt off at playing me for a fool again. She's good at that!
And got told it was an AKC policy
WTH are people who don't know policies holding AKC events? went thru my head. And I politely(I'm very proud of myself how polite I was) informed them that it was not, that it was a club policy, and that a large number of other clubs give refunds for bitches in season. The nice lady behind the table got a confused look on her face and turned to her companion, "He's a judge, he'll know."He politely corrected her and told her he was a ring judge, not an OB/Rally judge, and that it was different than the show ring, in that we were not ALLOWED to show, it wasn't a choice like it was in the ring. . .
She still looked confused and I basically said look, I enjoy showing here, you're 10 mins from home, but I won't be entering your shows again unless you change this policy. You're punishing me for trying to do performance evnets with an unaltered dogs, and since I have two up and coming dogs, those are all entries you will be missing out on. I also informed them I would be encouraging PVBC to pull our supported entry from this weekend as well as having told all my Rally friends not to support them.
She asked for my contact information and stated it wasn't something they'd thought of, that she'd bring it up at the next meeting and get back with me.
Not sure if anything'll get done about it, but I encouraged other exhibitors to voice their opinions of this policy. At $30 an entry, I can't afford to dump money into a show I can't go to not cuz of any good reason, but cuz Mother Nature is sitting up there laughing her butt off at playing me for a fool again. She's good at that!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
The brave new world & celebration
The weather was beautiful this weekend, the sn*w melted, quite a bit of it YEAH!!! Since it was so nice(heat wave of 40!) I put up my expen from hell(8X8 pen, it's the one from hell cuz it's a pita to move around, doesn't fit in my car, but was a $50 steal) out on the driveway (only dry place to do so right now), topped it to keep any birdies out and give them shade(they range from 8-almost 11 lbs now) and plopped their little butts in there. . new world to view, different sounds(barking and howling adult dogs, cars coming ni and out of the driveway, sounds of birds), and they romped and had a blast. . .finally collapsing into the two crate halves I put out there for them. . .stayed out all afternoon Saturday and all morning Sunday, and will be doing mroe of this at night as long as weather's nice, unfortunately tonite we're expecting freezing rain ::SIGH:: They need this.
I expected them to come in and collapse, NOPE! Zoomed around like they'd slept all day LOL
They also started their leash breaking. . some of them took to the harness the 2nd day with proud trots to their xpen, some of them channeled a mule LOL I use an Ezwalk harness, helps you walk them along without them choking themselves on a collar. Bella, Aurora & Nacht all pretty much trotted with me. . Drummer, Joy & Silver all said NOPE!! LOL
Thanks to an idea given to me by another blogger, that morphed into antoher idea, I tossed a new toy into the puppy pen this morning. A water bottle filled with a handfull of kibble. Crunchy and loud, and when I left, they were having a blast playing keep away. Will have to keep water bottles to replace this one, as it was a huge success. I also gave them one without a cap with kibble in it to play with.
And thanks to a fellow Obedience person, I was able to change my training tactics with Gossip to work on the three steps back for Rally :) RA here we come!!!!
I expected them to come in and collapse, NOPE! Zoomed around like they'd slept all day LOL
They also started their leash breaking. . some of them took to the harness the 2nd day with proud trots to their xpen, some of them channeled a mule LOL I use an Ezwalk harness, helps you walk them along without them choking themselves on a collar. Bella, Aurora & Nacht all pretty much trotted with me. . Drummer, Joy & Silver all said NOPE!! LOL
Thanks to an idea given to me by another blogger, that morphed into antoher idea, I tossed a new toy into the puppy pen this morning. A water bottle filled with a handfull of kibble. Crunchy and loud, and when I left, they were having a blast playing keep away. Will have to keep water bottles to replace this one, as it was a huge success. I also gave them one without a cap with kibble in it to play with.
And thanks to a fellow Obedience person, I was able to change my training tactics with Gossip to work on the three steps back for Rally :) RA here we come!!!!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Starting at the beginning
Soo, last week, I put a harness on Gibbs, my pick 11 month old boy from Dei's litter, and headed to Rally with Gossip. We haven't been since Umbra died, I just couldn't get the energy to care, the weather went nasty and my car was housebound for almost a week, blah, but finally started feeling better, and headed over.
Gossip needs some work with step back three steps, tho she's getting better and better at fronting without help. I was using a dowel at her breastbone and it worked, but suddenly she decided I beat dogs with that dowel. Evil evil stick. Need to get back into the groove of things, as I hope to get her RA this spring and work towards that CD. . .
The thing that tickled me pink was I pulled out the weeves, and after a reminder run, she did it, yes, with the sticks at a V, but she did it! Was supposed to go to an agility class tomorrow, but ended up having a borzoi club meeting. Think i'm going to see about going over once a week to play with the agility equipment on our own. . need to start doing the monthly rental.
Gibbs. . Gibbs was a typical clueless male puppy who doesn't know where his butt was, otoh, he had fun. He got to meet everythign from a psychotic GSD who hid under his owner's chair and growled at all the other dogs, to a sheltie, to a Berner, to a long haired dachshund. This is the youngest I've started a dog with rally, and he's got the puppy brain thing going, unlike his uncle obie who was pretty put together already at this age. . .i'm hoping to train him to be my triathalon dog(Coursing, obedience, show dog). I got lots of compliments on my boy. He'll keep going with us and possibly start agility training when we start going.
Weather's warming up, was a balmy 40+ today LOL. .. sn*w's melting, that's all that's imoprtant to me
Gossip needs some work with step back three steps, tho she's getting better and better at fronting without help. I was using a dowel at her breastbone and it worked, but suddenly she decided I beat dogs with that dowel. Evil evil stick. Need to get back into the groove of things, as I hope to get her RA this spring and work towards that CD. . .
The thing that tickled me pink was I pulled out the weeves, and after a reminder run, she did it, yes, with the sticks at a V, but she did it! Was supposed to go to an agility class tomorrow, but ended up having a borzoi club meeting. Think i'm going to see about going over once a week to play with the agility equipment on our own. . need to start doing the monthly rental.
Gibbs. . Gibbs was a typical clueless male puppy who doesn't know where his butt was, otoh, he had fun. He got to meet everythign from a psychotic GSD who hid under his owner's chair and growled at all the other dogs, to a sheltie, to a Berner, to a long haired dachshund. This is the youngest I've started a dog with rally, and he's got the puppy brain thing going, unlike his uncle obie who was pretty put together already at this age. . .i'm hoping to train him to be my triathalon dog(Coursing, obedience, show dog). I got lots of compliments on my boy. He'll keep going with us and possibly start agility training when we start going.
Weather's warming up, was a balmy 40+ today LOL. .. sn*w's melting, that's all that's imoprtant to me
Sunday, December 13, 2009
cat training
So, this is the first litter i've had that the cats didn't have access to the puppies from a young age. I took Pippens, the resident dog/cat down to see them, but he was out of his element and was not happy, so didn't do it again. But last week, when I went to pick up Umbra's Rimadyl, I took the "Tank" AKA Ziva to the vet's, as well as Gossip, to get weights. Gossip weighed in at 67 lbs, Ziva, at nto quite 9 months, was 63. She's not tall, she's got body to her, I love it. . .she's always been my israeli tank LOL
Anyway, while we were there, she took a nibble at the vet office kitty, not a lunge, but a nibble. I gave her a correction, and that nite, we started real
cat training.
Years ago, when I was doing Greyhound rescue, I came up with a way to cat train them . .. as well as cat test them . .it's up on my website(www.mielikkishunt.com/wwwcattraining.htm if I'm not mistaken), and that's the method we are using. She is currently in her harness, on leash, tied to the bed, as it's sturdy enough if she lunges, it's not moving, with a racing muzzle on. After an hour of standing, just watching hte kitties, not intently, but with a very very confused look on her face, she relaxed enough to lay down next to Gossip and her bed. Gossip has this look of absolute disgust on her face, how dare I bring this whipper snapper into her domain. . .Treasure doens't trust her, he hasn't come down from his perch, Pippens keeps going up and sniffing her, making her even more confused.
This is important training if she's ever to have bedrights, as the cats rule here. . .she was a bit overwhelmed, stress panting, but it's good for her. Reba's racing muzzle barely fits her, but it's working.
I love the fact my three boys aren't too bothered by her. They did hiss at her when she entered, but then, she's a strange dog, i'm glad they did. Hopefully she'll end up meeting the pointy end of one of the kitties and will decide it's not worth it.
It's times like this I miss my Schatzi. Eighteen pounds of German mongrel kitty, he was my self imposed puppy trainer. He would wait until he deemed them ready, ignoring them unless they got in his face, but when he deemed they were ready, he would walk right up to them and wack the crap out of them. He only had to do i ta few times before the dogs all respected him. I remember my 2nd Greyhound. . Athena wasn't the bravest of dogs, she really was a weenie, and one day when she was a yearling, I heard her whining and whining and couldn't figure out where she was. Walked into the hallway, she was stuck, there was a cat in each doorway, all but Schatzi weighing 1/6 of what she did, but she refused to move over them. I had to bodily pick one up, at which point she shot thru that doorway like her tail was on fire.
He had the greyhounds and my first Borzoi trained to the point that a cat could push them off their bones or food and they wouldn't do a thing about it. Kyra would not allow another dog to approach her food bowl, but the cats were fine.
Pippens has a great chance of becoming another dog trainer. He has no fear, he will bite them or wack them unlike his two big brothers who will just hide if they get too unruly, tho I have caught them both headbutting and loving on Gossip, who is a very calm house dog. Panda's too small to risk with an unknown, she only weighs about 6 lbs now. But Pippens, Pips reminds me of Schatzi
Pip has the same balls Schatzi did, and has taken raw marrow bones from all my adult girls, and they just give me a look that clearly says MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM. .I don't encourage it, but he does it behind my back. Only time I've had one of the girls look at him cross eyed was when he tried to push his way into a bowl with steak leftovers in it. I reprimanded the girl, but picked his fuzzy little butt up and took him away. No reason to risk an injury.
By the next morning, Ziva had relaxed enough to fall asleep. I kept an ear out for any noises, didn't sleep well that night, but she was a good girl, no sudden lunges, nothing. And the kitties relaxed enough I had the three boys in bed with me.
We'll continue this training, but I think she'll be ok, like the rest of my girls, Gossip loves her kitties, Dei puts up with them, and Kani is terrified of them LOL Touchet is a good girl, and pretty much ignores them. . the two boys, nope, dont' trust 'em further than I can throw 'me.
c
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Training puppies
The last two weekends have been good ones. Weekend before last we had a practice in the front field, I was able to 'cert' a number of dogs, now knowing they will run clean, they can come with me. These included Crivens(Brother of Wizard), Bagheera(Touchet's nephew out of her half sister), and I was also able to run three of the four pups still here. The boys had blazing runs, completed an entire 400 yd course on full trusters, will running like babies, but lookd good. Ziva ran, not as nicely, but did come in for the kill and took off with the bunny LOL Seeing the two boys run, if John decides not to take Gibbs AKA Wizard Junior, he may stay here, he's a nice boy, and very keen, or I may keep Tony. . LOL that's all I need is another boy, but with Umbra dying, there's a spot to fill.
Then last weekend it was Jenny's turn. Soo, this is the first litter that has had the benefits of being near boxes. Anyone who races can probably tell you about that one(in my case two) dog they owned that was a sonovabitch, to get into a starting box. I SWEAR Races grew an extra set of paws, and his brother has managed to turn his big heavy ass around in the box numerous times. . their half nephew Carrot is JUST as bad, so this weekend, when I had extra room in the dog mobile for lil Ms Jenny to ride along. So off we went.
First thing in the morning, we walked around the box, with me rapping the metal door and top with my knuckles, if Jenny reacted, it was ignored, if she came up despite the noise, she was praised.
After everyone ran, with Tipperary putting in a nice FTE entry, she finished 5th I believe, but since she is very submissive and lacks confidence, the fact that she passed Grins in the last race made my day. She'll get it, and will be goign back out with me this weekend. Grins showed the youngens how to do it, and barely losing to a nice fast male (Lemans put on the speed last 2 lengths and passed Grins). He's still a PITA to get off the bunny, but as long as the boy wants to run, eh can run. Well, after that was all done, I went over to the box with my jackalure. Opened the back door, tossed the bunny in
Jenny looked at the stall, then up at me, stepped one step in, then two, grabbed the bunny and backed out. Now, normally you don't want them learning to back out, but since I was trying to get her to have confidence going in the box, I kept doing that. We went thru this a bunch of times, until she wasn't pausing to get the squawker.
THen it was hand her off to a stranger, open the front of the box, and head down the track. David Milne pointed her thru the stall and the Lure Operator(LO) bopped the bunny. Jenny wennt thru the box, looked around, a bit confused, until the LO bopped the bunny, then she took off like a bat out of hell. Even tho she overshot the bunny, she came back and attacked it. She then retrieved it all the way to the box so a friend's IW puppy could chase the bunny. I was so very very pleased with her! There was an adult Borzoi there who didn't handle his first run thru the box as nicely as she did!! I am so glad Bonnie co owns her, she's going to be a lot of fun, in the ring and on the field!
And to end a good day, she was a great puppy in the car, no chewing on anything, a littel grumbling cuz she's not used to sharing space yet, but otherwise, a very good traveling puppy. She won't get to go with me often, but they all will get exposure to BOnnie's box next month at PVBC. . .if it makes my life easier once they hit running age, why not?
Then last weekend it was Jenny's turn. Soo, this is the first litter that has had the benefits of being near boxes. Anyone who races can probably tell you about that one(in my case two) dog they owned that was a sonovabitch, to get into a starting box. I SWEAR Races grew an extra set of paws, and his brother has managed to turn his big heavy ass around in the box numerous times. . their half nephew Carrot is JUST as bad, so this weekend, when I had extra room in the dog mobile for lil Ms Jenny to ride along. So off we went.
First thing in the morning, we walked around the box, with me rapping the metal door and top with my knuckles, if Jenny reacted, it was ignored, if she came up despite the noise, she was praised.
After everyone ran, with Tipperary putting in a nice FTE entry, she finished 5th I believe, but since she is very submissive and lacks confidence, the fact that she passed Grins in the last race made my day. She'll get it, and will be goign back out with me this weekend. Grins showed the youngens how to do it, and barely losing to a nice fast male (Lemans put on the speed last 2 lengths and passed Grins). He's still a PITA to get off the bunny, but as long as the boy wants to run, eh can run. Well, after that was all done, I went over to the box with my jackalure. Opened the back door, tossed the bunny in
Jenny looked at the stall, then up at me, stepped one step in, then two, grabbed the bunny and backed out. Now, normally you don't want them learning to back out, but since I was trying to get her to have confidence going in the box, I kept doing that. We went thru this a bunch of times, until she wasn't pausing to get the squawker.
THen it was hand her off to a stranger, open the front of the box, and head down the track. David Milne pointed her thru the stall and the Lure Operator(LO) bopped the bunny. Jenny wennt thru the box, looked around, a bit confused, until the LO bopped the bunny, then she took off like a bat out of hell. Even tho she overshot the bunny, she came back and attacked it. She then retrieved it all the way to the box so a friend's IW puppy could chase the bunny. I was so very very pleased with her! There was an adult Borzoi there who didn't handle his first run thru the box as nicely as she did!! I am so glad Bonnie co owns her, she's going to be a lot of fun, in the ring and on the field!
And to end a good day, she was a great puppy in the car, no chewing on anything, a littel grumbling cuz she's not used to sharing space yet, but otherwise, a very good traveling puppy. She won't get to go with me often, but they all will get exposure to BOnnie's box next month at PVBC. . .if it makes my life easier once they hit running age, why not?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Gossip
realised with all the crap that's gone on in the last few weeks and fighting this damn cold(a fight I am losing as is obvious by the fact I came home early from work and went straight to bed), that I didn't post this.
I convince PVBC to sponsor a high scoring Borzoi in OB/Rally this year and felt I had to support the club by entering. So I did. . .and Gossip left her brain at home LOL Sit? What's that? When she refused her jump twice, I knew she just wasn't 'in it'. .. something I've never dealt wtih with her. .. and I wondered if it was hormones? She is just now 9 wks post season. IT was also unusually warm after a long week of cool weather, and the wind was high(outdoor show).
Sunday, I almost left her at home, same judge, why mortify ourselves again?But the weather was noticably cooler, no rain, but cooler, and she was more upbeat, so I said what the heck. Entry was already paid for, and as Bonnie said maybe she'd give me extra points for being masochistic enough to come back LOL
Gossip didn't do everything as she normally did, but she DID work, unlike the previous day. I didn't care if we didn't qualify at this point, I wanted to get all the way thru it to prove to myself we could do it. When we left the ring, the judge mentioend she was MUCH happier to work that day then the previous day, and handed us our first RA leg!!!! :)
We're taking time away from the rally ring this fall, with Umbra being sick, car problems and racing, not enough money to go around, but we will be practicing some more in hopes of adding an RA to her name :)
Sunday's a dog show, hoping she behaves as nicely as she did last time. I respect this judge, he's willing to do what HE wants and screw politics, so here's hoping :)
I convince PVBC to sponsor a high scoring Borzoi in OB/Rally this year and felt I had to support the club by entering. So I did. . .and Gossip left her brain at home LOL Sit? What's that? When she refused her jump twice, I knew she just wasn't 'in it'. .. something I've never dealt wtih with her. .. and I wondered if it was hormones? She is just now 9 wks post season. IT was also unusually warm after a long week of cool weather, and the wind was high(outdoor show).
Sunday, I almost left her at home, same judge, why mortify ourselves again?But the weather was noticably cooler, no rain, but cooler, and she was more upbeat, so I said what the heck. Entry was already paid for, and as Bonnie said maybe she'd give me extra points for being masochistic enough to come back LOL
Gossip didn't do everything as she normally did, but she DID work, unlike the previous day. I didn't care if we didn't qualify at this point, I wanted to get all the way thru it to prove to myself we could do it. When we left the ring, the judge mentioend she was MUCH happier to work that day then the previous day, and handed us our first RA leg!!!! :)
We're taking time away from the rally ring this fall, with Umbra being sick, car problems and racing, not enough money to go around, but we will be practicing some more in hopes of adding an RA to her name :)
Sunday's a dog show, hoping she behaves as nicely as she did last time. I respect this judge, he's willing to do what HE wants and screw politics, so here's hoping :)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
this N that
Well, Gossip finally came into season. Took the very well educated from experience advice of a greyhound peer and decided to keep her off the racing field til next month anyway, but the surgery screwed with her cycle and threw her off. Trying to figure out how to keep her in shape while she's in season ::SIGH:: LGRA Nationals are in 6 1/2 wks, frustrating little bitch LOL
Went to dinner at a friend's house last month and had a lot of fun working her Aussie. He was bouncing off of walls so I put him thru his paces, worked with teaching him stand and drop(down from a stand) vs down(down from a sit) and other rally commands. Her other company was amazed at how much more well behaved he was after i worked him for about 10 mins. He joined us for Rally class last weekend and I have faith he'll be ready for the ring next month. She's paying me to do this, and it's a lot of fun. Will definitely be a big difference when I take Dei with us next class, as she's nto as happy and upbeat as Ms Gossip. She does it to make me happy, Gossip does it cuz it's FUN!!!
Even better, our agility/OB place was bought by another woman and we now have agility equipment back WEHEEE!!!!!!! I am so tickled about that. Soon as Gossip's out of heat, we'll be back into the agility training :)
Poor Eros, he doesn't know what hit him.
After seeing what was finishing in the ring around here, took a long hard look at Mr Eros, who isn't my cup of tea personally, but others do like him. I asked a handler friend of mine to come look at him and had a breeder/friend who put a DC on his daughter, has shown BIS/SBIS Borzoi to look hard at him, and they both agree that it wouldn't be a waste of time to show him. He's in gorgeous coat, now that his face is grayed out, his head doesn't look so clunky, nice low set and carried tail.
So, I've been confusing this poor boy by bathing him once a week(he's a pig, loves to dig holes and dirty himself LOL) and brushing him out, completely, totally and utterly. Few weekends ago, he went to his first show and picked up his first point. He was confused, but was a good boy, by BOB he was a bit overwhelmed and mentally tired, but he was a good boy.
Soo, with my handler/friend help, I've entered him in two more shows and we're talking other shows. He didn't do anything at GNY, but he was a good boy and behaved himself. Was going to run him some more this fall, but have decided to hold off while he shows. LOL At least he's a happy, go lucky easily food bribed boy LOL And he's such an easy going boy too.
This is the first time i've used a handler, I hate it, but with working two jobs, it's hard to travel on Saturdays, especially with lack of good kennel help. So, off he goes, thankfully he doesn't go long, over the weekend if I don't do ring side drop off. She owns his nephew AM :)
P.S. Of course, we mention shows, and he starts blowing coat big time LOL
Went to dinner at a friend's house last month and had a lot of fun working her Aussie. He was bouncing off of walls so I put him thru his paces, worked with teaching him stand and drop(down from a stand) vs down(down from a sit) and other rally commands. Her other company was amazed at how much more well behaved he was after i worked him for about 10 mins. He joined us for Rally class last weekend and I have faith he'll be ready for the ring next month. She's paying me to do this, and it's a lot of fun. Will definitely be a big difference when I take Dei with us next class, as she's nto as happy and upbeat as Ms Gossip. She does it to make me happy, Gossip does it cuz it's FUN!!!
Even better, our agility/OB place was bought by another woman and we now have agility equipment back WEHEEE!!!!!!! I am so tickled about that. Soon as Gossip's out of heat, we'll be back into the agility training :)
Poor Eros, he doesn't know what hit him.
After seeing what was finishing in the ring around here, took a long hard look at Mr Eros, who isn't my cup of tea personally, but others do like him. I asked a handler friend of mine to come look at him and had a breeder/friend who put a DC on his daughter, has shown BIS/SBIS Borzoi to look hard at him, and they both agree that it wouldn't be a waste of time to show him. He's in gorgeous coat, now that his face is grayed out, his head doesn't look so clunky, nice low set and carried tail.
So, I've been confusing this poor boy by bathing him once a week(he's a pig, loves to dig holes and dirty himself LOL) and brushing him out, completely, totally and utterly. Few weekends ago, he went to his first show and picked up his first point. He was confused, but was a good boy, by BOB he was a bit overwhelmed and mentally tired, but he was a good boy.
Soo, with my handler/friend help, I've entered him in two more shows and we're talking other shows. He didn't do anything at GNY, but he was a good boy and behaved himself. Was going to run him some more this fall, but have decided to hold off while he shows. LOL At least he's a happy, go lucky easily food bribed boy LOL And he's such an easy going boy too.
This is the first time i've used a handler, I hate it, but with working two jobs, it's hard to travel on Saturdays, especially with lack of good kennel help. So, off he goes, thankfully he doesn't go long, over the weekend if I don't do ring side drop off. She owns his nephew AM :)
P.S. Of course, we mention shows, and he starts blowing coat big time LOL
Thursday, May 14, 2009
To Torment a dog
When you do OB, you proof. . .proof against loud noises, wind, distractions.
With Rally, they PURPOSEFULLY give you a distraction in the manner of the figure 8. .imagine a four leaf clover. . you're walking the figure 8, on the other leaves you are nto using, there are two bowls, they can have toys or treats in them. . .
Gossip failed this exercise earlier this week, racing for the tennis ball(WTH? This dog has never been toy oriented LOL She's getting worse as she gets older), so I decided that I needed to work this exercise.
Sooo, last night, we went outside with a squeakie toy, and her Squawker. . she LIVES for her squawker, it's waht she chases when we go racing, and I have seen her on the hood of the Neon trying to get it, she's THAT keen.
Soooo, I dropped the toy on one leaf, and the squawker on the other, and we began to work.
First time around, she lunges, I grab her collar, give her a firm correction "LEAVE IT!"
Second time around, she steps towards it, I growl "leave it", she moved back to my side
Third time around, she stares at it, but keeps at heel LOL
We may not get a perfect 100. . .but a passing score is all I'm asking for. . this is our first time in the RA ring, she's my test subject for Rally, we're learning together LOL But most of all, we're having fun
And yes, she got that darn lure toy as a reward when we were done LOL
We're also working on her darn front sits. . .she does 'em reasonably fine when coming from a sit. . but when it's from the heel position, she has a hard time, but is slowly getting it.
She worked really well off lead last night, which was a big step for me, because there's so many things that could go wrong LOL Deer could pop into view, or a bunny, or a ground squirrel.
Still getting stuff together, gotta do laundry, gotta put her Aunt Terri's number in the phone as well as our instructors :) Gotta remember my 1st aid kit. . .ack, renting a vehicle sucks. .. all this crap could've been slowly making its way into the car if I was taking the Dinosaur.
With Rally, they PURPOSEFULLY give you a distraction in the manner of the figure 8. .imagine a four leaf clover. . you're walking the figure 8, on the other leaves you are nto using, there are two bowls, they can have toys or treats in them. . .
Gossip failed this exercise earlier this week, racing for the tennis ball(WTH? This dog has never been toy oriented LOL She's getting worse as she gets older), so I decided that I needed to work this exercise.
Sooo, last night, we went outside with a squeakie toy, and her Squawker. . she LIVES for her squawker, it's waht she chases when we go racing, and I have seen her on the hood of the Neon trying to get it, she's THAT keen.
Soooo, I dropped the toy on one leaf, and the squawker on the other, and we began to work.
First time around, she lunges, I grab her collar, give her a firm correction "LEAVE IT!"
Second time around, she steps towards it, I growl "leave it", she moved back to my side
Third time around, she stares at it, but keeps at heel LOL
We may not get a perfect 100. . .but a passing score is all I'm asking for. . this is our first time in the RA ring, she's my test subject for Rally, we're learning together LOL But most of all, we're having fun
And yes, she got that darn lure toy as a reward when we were done LOL
We're also working on her darn front sits. . .she does 'em reasonably fine when coming from a sit. . but when it's from the heel position, she has a hard time, but is slowly getting it.
She worked really well off lead last night, which was a big step for me, because there's so many things that could go wrong LOL Deer could pop into view, or a bunny, or a ground squirrel.
Still getting stuff together, gotta do laundry, gotta put her Aunt Terri's number in the phone as well as our instructors :) Gotta remember my 1st aid kit. . .ack, renting a vehicle sucks. .. all this crap could've been slowly making its way into the car if I was taking the Dinosaur.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Countdown to roadtrip
Saturday I'll be hitting the road to Frankenmuth MI for the BCOA Nationals, I can't wait.
Got my van rented, got Pandora's camp reserved, moved Gossip from Novice to Advance. . .it may be a mistake, but ya know, we won't know what we can do unless we try LOL. . I've already paid the entry, why waste it on a nonleg in NOvice?
Wizard'll be showing up later this week to go with us, will be Wiz, Grins, Gossip & Umbra. . Got the address in the Garmin, but not ready for a 10+ hr drive, not at all. Am looking forward to some dogs I'll be seeing. . .including Secrets intended. . .should be some damn nice coursing/racing, fun in the OB ring, and then hand the reins off to Pat for Sweeps LOL By then, i'll be exhausted lOL
So much to do before I leave, cuz I get home and have to run PVBC's 1st Lgra, getting a bit nervous, but it'll be all OK. . just sooooo much to do in the next two weeks for all of it lOL I'm really happy with the little piranhas overall. . .All but one shows good prey drive, and that one has a lovely pet home with a 5 yr old waiting for her. Since this little girl just wants to cuddle, it works out great :)
I'm sure when I get back, they'll have doubled in size lOL
Puppies have graduated to the small puppy yard, and are loving it. Spent quite a bit of time out there just watching them play. I now understand how a photographer can take so many damn pics and have so little turn out LOL
Timothy, getting the bunny
Tony and one of the black girls
Tony getting the bunny!
Little Abbie
Tony & one of the black girls
Not sure if this is Kate & Jenny, or one of them and Gibbs LOL
THe keener of the two black girls
Gibbs
Keener of the two black girls, haven't decided her name yet
Three girls & their bunny LOL
Got my van rented, got Pandora's camp reserved, moved Gossip from Novice to Advance. . .it may be a mistake, but ya know, we won't know what we can do unless we try LOL. . I've already paid the entry, why waste it on a nonleg in NOvice?
Wizard'll be showing up later this week to go with us, will be Wiz, Grins, Gossip & Umbra. . Got the address in the Garmin, but not ready for a 10+ hr drive, not at all. Am looking forward to some dogs I'll be seeing. . .including Secrets intended. . .should be some damn nice coursing/racing, fun in the OB ring, and then hand the reins off to Pat for Sweeps LOL By then, i'll be exhausted lOL
So much to do before I leave, cuz I get home and have to run PVBC's 1st Lgra, getting a bit nervous, but it'll be all OK. . just sooooo much to do in the next two weeks for all of it lOL I'm really happy with the little piranhas overall. . .All but one shows good prey drive, and that one has a lovely pet home with a 5 yr old waiting for her. Since this little girl just wants to cuddle, it works out great :)
I'm sure when I get back, they'll have doubled in size lOL
Puppies have graduated to the small puppy yard, and are loving it. Spent quite a bit of time out there just watching them play. I now understand how a photographer can take so many damn pics and have so little turn out LOL
Timothy, getting the bunny
Tony and one of the black girls
Tony getting the bunny!
Little Abbie
Tony & one of the black girls
Not sure if this is Kate & Jenny, or one of them and Gibbs LOL
THe keener of the two black girls
Gibbs
Keener of the two black girls, haven't decided her name yet
Three girls & their bunny LOLSunday, May 3, 2009
So very very proud
It wasn't pretty (it was actually rather disgustingly muddy)
It wasn't nice (it was pouring cats & dogs)
but despite telling me in every way a Borzoi can that she did NOT appreciate doing anything but racing out in the rain, she did it. . in the pouring rain!. . I am BEYOND tickled to announce that my darling Gossip can now be known as Mielikki-Windhaven's Petty Gossip JC, SGRCII, RN!!! Took us exactly three tries. . . and is the first OB related title I've put on one of my own dogs.(or any dog). She got a double cheeseburger, half a quarter pounder and she picked out a giant knuckle bone :)
I swear, if our outdoor rally class at our Nationals is in the pouring rain, I will REFUSE to enter another outdoor show. She was beyond disgusted with the weather, but then, so was I!!! LOL Her first leg was at MIddleburg in mud puddles, her last leg was in Trenton in mud puddles!
It wasn't nice (it was pouring cats & dogs)
but despite telling me in every way a Borzoi can that she did NOT appreciate doing anything but racing out in the rain, she did it. . in the pouring rain!. . I am BEYOND tickled to announce that my darling Gossip can now be known as Mielikki-Windhaven's Petty Gossip JC, SGRCII, RN!!! Took us exactly three tries. . . and is the first OB related title I've put on one of my own dogs.(or any dog). She got a double cheeseburger, half a quarter pounder and she picked out a giant knuckle bone :)
I swear, if our outdoor rally class at our Nationals is in the pouring rain, I will REFUSE to enter another outdoor show. She was beyond disgusted with the weather, but then, so was I!!! LOL Her first leg was at MIddleburg in mud puddles, her last leg was in Trenton in mud puddles!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Obedience and family
Been taking it easy, trying to beat this damn cold.
Those of you who have no desire to work with your dog or don't understand, move on I am SOOO STOKED!! We went back to rally class last week. With expecting puppies, they're allowing us to take four weeks of rally and four weeks of beginner Obedience for the price of one full session of rally. I love these people. . their only condition was I bring photos of the babies later, and I can do that lOL
So, glad I'd taken Gossip with me, I worked her. There's only one place we're having problems with and that's the front, she will sit crooked and if we're doign the backwards bit, she will anticipate(Wrongly) return to heel and flip return. Little snot. . .but otherwise, made me really happy with her workout. . then I took the next big step, put a harness on her(for easy grabbing) and worked her off lead. . a big step in confidence on my part, i've never worked her off lead except at agility off lead. . .
She made me so damn proud. We didn't do the entire advance course because at this time she was warm and getting bored, but she did everything I asked her :) Got the comment when she did her flip return with panache that she's not a poodle, she shouldn't do that, and I told the other lady that she LIKES to, we just have to finess it some. . as she doesn't always hit the right spot right away LOL. I left class with a HUGE DAMN grin on my face. . .we may very well be ready for Advanced Rally in May :)
I am so proud of my speckled wild child. Was going to take Grins to regular class, but he managed to hurt himself. Darnit, he was my next project until Dei is done with puppies. Yes, done with puppies! For those of you who've been waiting, she is most definitely in a motherly way :)
I love it when she does this, makes me think of Snoopy LOL
Where'd my tuckup go mom?
Those of you who have no desire to work with your dog or don't understand, move on I am SOOO STOKED!! We went back to rally class last week. With expecting puppies, they're allowing us to take four weeks of rally and four weeks of beginner Obedience for the price of one full session of rally. I love these people. . their only condition was I bring photos of the babies later, and I can do that lOL
So, glad I'd taken Gossip with me, I worked her. There's only one place we're having problems with and that's the front, she will sit crooked and if we're doign the backwards bit, she will anticipate(Wrongly) return to heel and flip return. Little snot. . .but otherwise, made me really happy with her workout. . then I took the next big step, put a harness on her(for easy grabbing) and worked her off lead. . a big step in confidence on my part, i've never worked her off lead except at agility off lead. . .
She made me so damn proud. We didn't do the entire advance course because at this time she was warm and getting bored, but she did everything I asked her :) Got the comment when she did her flip return with panache that she's not a poodle, she shouldn't do that, and I told the other lady that she LIKES to, we just have to finess it some. . as she doesn't always hit the right spot right away LOL. I left class with a HUGE DAMN grin on my face. . .we may very well be ready for Advanced Rally in May :)
I am so proud of my speckled wild child. Was going to take Grins to regular class, but he managed to hurt himself. Darnit, he was my next project until Dei is done with puppies. Yes, done with puppies! For those of you who've been waiting, she is most definitely in a motherly way :)
I love it when she does this, makes me think of Snoopy LOL
Where'd my tuckup go mom?
Saturday, January 17, 2009
1st client!
A friend of mine got an Aussie who's a typical Aussie, her previous aussies had been happy to not have a job, but not Quincy. He's a busy boy who NEEDS a job. . .so I offered to take him and work him Rally and then on to 'real' OB with him for his owner, and she's tickled pink. So starting Monday we'll be back in class, I can rotate him & Gossip out so she doesn't get bored. He's a sweet boy, just needs some work. I'll also be taking him over for agility workouts :) Working with him gives me more confidence :)
Also pays for my renting of the room, so basically get to work Gossip for free. Working either dog for an hour is too much for their wee brains. . . :)
More video's of us playing
Friday, January 16, 2009
Gossip
Enjoy, one of the few photos you'll ever see of me. I hated pictures taken of me when i was skinny, hate 'em more now. Unlike our first leg, this was an indoor show, so I got a photo taken. :) Doesn't she look proud of herselfSo, as we're freezing our you know what's off (it is currently 8 degrees here in Baltimore), I've been trying to work with Gossip inside. One of the next things we have to learn in Rally is how to back up, WITHOUT sitting. It's proving to be harder than you'd think, and I'm trying to remember anytime she backs up to PRAISE her, in hopes that she'll suddenly get it like she's gotten so many of her 'tricks'. I'm also attempting to teach her to bow, problem is, she's so used to dropping that butt in a down, I have to try and catch it before it gets there LOL. . .She has learned to circle me continously :) yeah, the stupid silly things we do with our dogs
really need to get back into the swing of things for Agility training. That's Gossip up above doing jumps, really pleased with the way she's coming around.
Can't remeber what this is LOL Not as great as Never say Never Greyhounds videos, but considering I'm EXTREMELY new at this, I think she looks good. this is with my old camera which was on the blitz, we'll see what the new one looks like. Think I'll reserve an hour next week and go out and play
Sucks that it's too damn cold here to do it, and I don't trust her off leash here, it's not fenced in. Wish I could rent the above facility by the 1/2 hr, as with Dei being bred, Gossip's the only one I have that I can work, tho I could start training Grins. Gossip just shuts down after an hour of training. Tho I guess I could do a bit of agility with her, and start working Grins or Umbra on rally.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
what a weekend
What a wonderful, albeit busy weekend.
Saturday we got up early and headed to Vanessa's to see the River X Nina babies, such cute little fuzzballs. . there's one little boy if I had my way, I'd be taking home, he is absolutely positively SCRUMPTIOUS!! Oh my. Even Bonnie had a problem not taking a puppy home. . especially Wesley who decided Bonnie was the cat's meow and kept following her around LOL Such cute little buggers. . but i don't need no more stinking boys, two is enough! But boy was it tempting for Bonnie & I. . .maybe John's dad would be interested in one of them, they are lovely puppies, and my favorite is a dominant black boy, lots of chrome, and it's funny, because the blacks are NOT my favorite colour at all, but he's one nice darn little guy.
Was so nice to see Pat & Robin, sucks Pat is so far away now, but she's looking good. . .and had a nice visit with Vanessa. So nice for Grins' daughter to end up #1 AKC Borzoi, she's ranked in LGRA, and in the top 5 in ASFA. . so a nice year for Novel.
Then headed home, played with a certain speckled white dog, then loaded her up the car and headed into town. . this part of the day sucked. . ringtime was 4. .we are in Rally-A, so we are the last class in the ring, there were 70 total entries, and we didnt' enter the ring til close to 7. . blech. Gossip was definitely BORED by then, and didn't do her normal flip return to heel, had to give her three commands, still did rather nicely, better score than last time, and placing 4th in our class. Judge complimented her, said you don't see many Borzoi in the ring, and it's true. Was nice to see the only two sighthounds place in the class(IW won the class, tied the Dobie, but won on virtue of faster time). Fell in love with a little herding dog while I was there, and now researching this cute small breed. Since there's no AKC small sighthoudn I really like(whippets are too terrier like, Basenjis not my cup of tea temperament wise, and Iggies i'm afraid Pippens would eat LOL), if I want a small breed, I'll have to go out of group, oh well, not bad, when there's a few cute littler breeds. Want something that's bed snuggle size, but is a big dog too, if that makes sense LOL
I am so tickled with Gossip, she keeps getting better and better. We'll start another OB class next month in hopes of being able to try for our RA next summer. Already got the OK to split the class between two of the Zoi, as they do not have the attention span for an hour of training. .so might as well rotate them. So nice to have an instructor who understands that.
Got an early Xmas present:A Garmin! Weehee!! Now to learn how to use it :)
Saturday we got up early and headed to Vanessa's to see the River X Nina babies, such cute little fuzzballs. . there's one little boy if I had my way, I'd be taking home, he is absolutely positively SCRUMPTIOUS!! Oh my. Even Bonnie had a problem not taking a puppy home. . especially Wesley who decided Bonnie was the cat's meow and kept following her around LOL Such cute little buggers. . but i don't need no more stinking boys, two is enough! But boy was it tempting for Bonnie & I. . .maybe John's dad would be interested in one of them, they are lovely puppies, and my favorite is a dominant black boy, lots of chrome, and it's funny, because the blacks are NOT my favorite colour at all, but he's one nice darn little guy.
Was so nice to see Pat & Robin, sucks Pat is so far away now, but she's looking good. . .and had a nice visit with Vanessa. So nice for Grins' daughter to end up #1 AKC Borzoi, she's ranked in LGRA, and in the top 5 in ASFA. . so a nice year for Novel.
Then headed home, played with a certain speckled white dog, then loaded her up the car and headed into town. . this part of the day sucked. . ringtime was 4. .we are in Rally-A, so we are the last class in the ring, there were 70 total entries, and we didnt' enter the ring til close to 7. . blech. Gossip was definitely BORED by then, and didn't do her normal flip return to heel, had to give her three commands, still did rather nicely, better score than last time, and placing 4th in our class. Judge complimented her, said you don't see many Borzoi in the ring, and it's true. Was nice to see the only two sighthounds place in the class(IW won the class, tied the Dobie, but won on virtue of faster time). Fell in love with a little herding dog while I was there, and now researching this cute small breed. Since there's no AKC small sighthoudn I really like(whippets are too terrier like, Basenjis not my cup of tea temperament wise, and Iggies i'm afraid Pippens would eat LOL), if I want a small breed, I'll have to go out of group, oh well, not bad, when there's a few cute littler breeds. Want something that's bed snuggle size, but is a big dog too, if that makes sense LOL
I am so tickled with Gossip, she keeps getting better and better. We'll start another OB class next month in hopes of being able to try for our RA next summer. Already got the OK to split the class between two of the Zoi, as they do not have the attention span for an hour of training. .so might as well rotate them. So nice to have an instructor who understands that.
Got an early Xmas present:A Garmin! Weehee!! Now to learn how to use it :)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
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