Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
As the calendar fills....
I'm just starting a calendar-full of stuff. All good. And having a ball. Training classes, obedience seminars, trials, fun matches, visits to vets (not good, but necessary), dinner parties, vacation planning, the list goes on. And it's January! In Chicago! What happened to hibernation?
Monday, January 28, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Below-Zero Agility
Last night the actual temperature dropped to -4 degrees. Thank goodness, it's supposed to warm up this weekend!
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Call him "Mr. Spud"
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Mighty hunter girl
Friday, January 18, 2008
Back to School!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Dax has a boyfriend!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Baby Destructo strikes again!
Monday, January 14, 2008
The best movie ever!
Friday, January 11, 2008
Last week of freedom!
So, we've had a couple of months of sluggishness. Actually, Ceilidh is the furthest thing from a slug - she needs her exercise every day! But now we're going back to school next week. Last evening seemed very indulgent. We ordered fried rice from our usual Chinese take-out place and ate the whole order! And watched a whole evening of mindless TV!
Next week it's back to work. Let's see how much Ceilidh and I remember!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Not your everyday obedience group
- Miniature Poodle
- Black Lab
- Shiba Inu
- Yellow Lab
- Sheltie
- French Bulldog (Dax!)
- Scottish Terrier
- Doberman Pinscher
- Papillon
- Sheltie
- Cocker Spaniel
- Dachshund
- Australian Shepherd
- Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier
- Saluki
Not exactly the group you'd think of when you're thinking "obedience," is it? I guess that's why I enjoy it so thoroughly. My dog may not be the fastest to learn the exercises, but we're having fun. I particularly love Dax's "Recall." That's when I leave her in a sit, go to the other end of the room, and call her to me. When I leave her, it looks like she's not paying much attention to me; looking around, staring off into space. Then, when I call, she zooms as fast as she can down the length of the room and sits perfectly in front of me. A friend of ours does a running commentary of Dax's Recall: "Clear the runway. Flaps (ears) down. Take off!"
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
The joys of customer service
And there's a question from a man in Canada who says (paraphrased) "I have this harness that you carry, but I can't read the size, this is what it measures. I need the next size up and do you ship to Canada."
So I spend a while measuring harnesses in the store, figuring out what he's got and what he needs. And I write back saying this is what you have, this is what you want and we happily ship to Canada.
And he writes back and says thanks anyway, I found it in a store here.
I understand shopping locally. I really do. But, if you've made me do the grunt work, please don't tell me about it.
Thank you very much.
Monday, January 07, 2008
A Dax-filled weekend
Her greatest weakness is her friendliness - the Stand for Exam is just agony for her. She moved a foot on the first try, but we redid the exercise and she was perfect.
She also stood up as soon as I left her on the "Long Down." I'm not sure why, but I think she may have gotten distracted and missed my command. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt because she was perfect after I went back and had her lie down - even when the German Shorthair Pointer next to her in line almost rolled over on her! She stuck it!
Of course it wasn't exactly a perfect day - outside the ring before "sits and downs" Dax mistook my finger for a piece of cheese and took a chunk out of my right index finger, right by the cuticle. Ouch! (Thank you Betsy for dashing around to find me a bandage!) But, like everything else in obedience, it's my fault, not Dax's.
Speaking of fault - I also have to confess to being the world's worst dog-mom this weekend. I took the dogs out after lunch on Sunday and then settled in to watch some TV. Deep Space Nine on videotape, actually. An episode featuring Jadzia Dax. Which is why it's absolutely incomprehensible and unforgivable that I left my beautiful baby Dax outside for almost an hour. I just didn't count noses when I came in. The only thing that's saving me from punishing self-castigation is that fact that it was in the 60s yesterday.
Of course, if she'd come in when I called...
Friday, January 04, 2008
Top 10 dog names
- Max
- Bailey
- Buddy
- Molly
- Maggie
- Lucy
- Daisy
- Bella
- Jake
- Rocky
Hmmmmm. First time in my life I've almost made the top 10 in anything. I think Roc should count as a 10!