We received 1/3 of our annual rainfall in a few days and we’re all feeling a bit of cabin fever. Today was beautifully clear but cold - at least by our standards! Nevertheless, the dogs enjoyed a good romp in the mud. Bob and I treated my gorgeous platinum Koi with biobandage. Not much fun for us or the Koi.
We were away long enough from agility this past summer that we lost our spot in our favorite class. There’s a waiting list to get in! Fortunately, we were able to start back up in November and where we left off. Good thing Java and I are not on any time constraint! Truthfully, I don’t see us competing so classes and training games at home work for us.
Our focus is the weave poles. That is what keeps us back from moving up to the next level. I’m having better success than I had been by using the channel method. That is when you have 6 poles and offset every-other pole several inches so there is a channel, or corridor, of space for the dog to run down. The channel is decreased slowly until all the poles are in a straight line. I think I’ll pull out the video camera to show the progression …
Bob and I decided it was time to change the sheets this morning but before we got started I pointed an accusing finger at the location of the sheets and blankets. Bob tells me often enough that I steal the sheets away from him but here I had proof it was not true! They were all on his half of the bed. It didn’t take long for Bob to explain to me that all the bedding was on his half of the bed because that’s where I drift during the night. He informed me that he often sleeps with one leg hanging off the edge of the bed. So how is it that two full grown adults wind up sleeping in the a space of a twin bed in a king-sized bed? The answer is a 12 pound dog.
Java starts the night in her less-than-one-foot space next to me. But during the night she gradually turns sideways shoving my unconscious sleeping body toward my husband. We call her the Zen dog because she is capable of being as heavy as a 10 ton boulder and staying firmly the space where she decides to sleep. And she isn’t quite comfortable until she owns one half of our king bed.
We’ve been home for nearly 2 weeks with a very busy schedule catching up on neglected duties. With time to breathe, I’m looking at days to practice agility again. I’m sure Java is very ready. Then there are the Koi. I look at them - so gorgeous - and wonder about a setup to teach them Koi agility. Ha! How fun. I wonder how long it would take to teach a Koi to weave? : )
I’m so engrossed in my trip to New Hampshire - and with dial-up internet service - that I’ve neglected my blog. So now I lie in bed at a hotel in Quebec City with high speed internet and time to spend on the computer.
Quebec City is wonderful and one of the nice things about it is there are dogs everywhere! Much like France, people have their dogs at their side in public. I must say I have not seen a dog in a restaurant yet, but just about everywhere else. I have left Hanna with our local house sitter and Java is with my parents - I did not bring them along. Hanna, of course, would not do well but the girlee would be great company. I miss her!
Today’s UKC trial was quite an event for me.
My first run ever went as I expected - not clean but fun. We’ve had a few bad experiences in class with the chute being very wet so early in the morning and sticking - which, for a small dog, is very hard. They can’t easily separate the cloth because there is so much resistance - sort of glued together with water. Our first run started with the chute! Isn’t that sorta hard for the very beginner class? Java wouldn’t go all the way through it and turned around. Then a couple other bugs but overall we had a good time.
The second run we were disqualified before we even started!!! I couldn’t decide whether to cry, faint or scream. Here’s the long background: at this trial, beginners, like myself, were allowed to go out on the field with their dogs and practice before the run. The other thing that was sooo different from any other trial I have visited was that people where allowed 3 tries on every piece of equipment; then people who “struck out” would go around the whole course anyway with their dog onleash; the judge held open the chute for dogs who would not go through. This is the big one. People applauded her for being so dog friendly and doing this for them.
So, for the second run I asked one of the workers if it would be OK for me to have someone hold the chute open for me during our dry run (and this was the only dry run that I did today and the only piece of equipment). She said sure, it was fine - and she held the chute open for me. Well, the judge walked over to me and DQ’d me for “training”. Keep in mind that this was my first agility trial - and given what I saw I had NO idea that what I was doing was wrong. And neither did the worker who helped me or 2 other worker volunteers who looked on. There was so much leeway given to people today that it was ridiculous. Everyone around me seemed shocked that I was DQ’d (the woman who helped me tried to take the blame but the judge wouldn’t hear of it).
I begged the judge not to DQ me. Java was literally the last dog of the day. We waited all day long for this, I told her. I was shocked. How could she do this to me? In the end, she said “OK” but that she had to dock me points. Hell, I didn’t even know there were points to be had! By this time I was furious at having to beg. At the inconsistency and randomness with which she came down on me. There was training going on all over the place on the field. Bob was there and couldn’t believe it either. I almost left but, in the end, ran the most crappy run imaginable. Java sensed my stress, I’m sure. It was awful.
I told the judge that this was my first - and last - trial.
Today I saw a guy kick his doberman in the ribs, so much screaming at dogs I wanted to cry and take them home with me. [name withheld] was so abusive to one of her dogs I truly AM ready to take that dog somehow. Her many dogs run soooo slowly and I know why. They hate it. One literally ran off the field and back to his kennel. She left the field grabbed him, dragged him back on the field, tried to make him finish, he ran off again. She was furious and he paid the price. What about a DQ for THAT!! And there were other examples of dogs running out of the ring and the handlers leaving the ring to make them come back and try to finish. Is this allowed in other venues? Seems like if the dog leaves she/he is telling someone something - like THIS SUCKS.
Maybe I will trial again someday but, boy, I sure wish I’d done that mountain bike ride today instead!
Dennis, my second cousin, sent a set of old family pictures. The one that I liked the best was this 1948 photo that included the family dog. The setting is their home in North Beverly, MA.
Calvin, Mame, Alice and their Dog, Trixie - 1948
Mom, Dennis, Auntie Cilla holding Trixie’s Pups
Anyone looking at the dates of my blog can see I’m not a regular blogger. In the time since my last entry I’ve fostered 2 sets of 2 puppies (one was very temporary as the organization I was fostering for does not spay or neuter before adoption - something that I do not agree with - so pups had to be returned to them). The other 2 pups were fun as puppies always are. Oh, with plenty of work to go along with the fun.
I’m trying twitter now instead. I like the fact that the entries are short and trivial. Trivial is OK. Maybe encouraged? Maybe that approach will rub off and I will post here more regularly. Could these posts be less profound?
My sweet kitty is back with me. I adopted Louise from the South County shelter 12 years ago to keep my 7 year old cat, Melba, company. The two got along great. Bob came along after and, even though he is desperately allergic to cats, we got married and moved in together. I built my kitties a huge outdoor condo and renovated a guest bedroom to house them at night and in bad weather. It was crushing enough when Melba died but to think of my Louise all by herself now made it worse. I was really fortunate to have my parents offer to take Louise for me - they were there when I adopted her. She lived 6 wonderful years with my parents before they asked me to take her back. Louise is back home with me again and we’re still in problem solving mode to find ways to minimize her alone time.
Pictures to come!