A Day At The Dog Show...or..."Could I Have A Vaccuum Cleaner To The Infield Please?"

Entered the rugrat (Cavalier King Charles Spaniel) Markee in his very first Rally-O trial today out in Lacey (a suburb of state capitol Olympia).  This is the second year this club has held their show at a baseball facility.  I did not attend last year, but thought I would see what it was like-especially since I want to get Markee's RN and I had a free day to go to a show (and this show site is about 45 minutes from home).
I was not pleased that they expected us to park and schlepp all our stuff allll the way across the park.  Especially when there were empty parking spaces adjacent to the obedience/rally rings.  I was also not pleased that there were generators going all morning from the grooming area which was also adjacent to the obedience/rally rings.
When I sat down with Markee to watch the Excellent and Advanced Rally-O classes, I noticed that the ring was on some form of fake grass or astroturf.....that should be interesting!
Because I had had so much walking to do just to GET there, I didn't feel my knees were up to me walking the course ahead of time.  I could see by reading the map that it was very straightforward and I knew I wouldn't get lost.
OK....our turn.  Start.....Fast....Normal.....1 step 2 step 3 step back (done very well...nice straight fronts, good finish, my footwork was accurate.) 270 right, 360 circle left, about U turn, left turn, halt and sit, moving drop (Markee's trademark "play dead on the down" pose) another 270, another left, down walk around (another "play dead") another 270, serpentine weave once...and the finish. 
One thing I noticed IMMEDIATELY was the sunflower seed casings alllllll over the field.  (Hence my asking for a vaccuum cleaner!) I don't think it was distracting to too many dogs, but it bothered me! :)
Overall Markee did very well.  Minimal sniffing, stayed right with me....I was very pleased and awaited our score.....a 91.  You have GOT to be kidding me!  I expected a 96-97 with our performance!!!!!
After the class was completed (1st place was a 98, then there was a three-way tie for 2nd with a score of 97...and then Markee's 91...) I went over to the steward's table to ask if I could see my scoresheet.  This judge GUARDS the scoresheets and refuses to just let you LOOK at them.  Then, she behaves as if you are ACUSING her of deducting too heavily and talks to you like she's justifying her actions.  That is just so WRONG.  All I want is to see the damned scoresheet.  I will see what stations she marked me down on and if we had tight leads or whathaveyou.
She started off by telling me I needed to WALK FASTER on the 270's because Markee was "anticipating the sit".....well...this is not the case.  He learned to sit and scoot around in a circle on the 270's and the 360's and nothing I do can alter this without worrying him too much.  So we lost points for HER perception of his performance...wrong or right.  Moving on, she claimed I had several instances of tight leads and cautioned me "not to hold the dog in position".  I laughed, and told her, "yeah.....I tend to get nervous and worry that my dog might leave me..." so then she proceeded to LECTURE me on the evils of a too tight leash and how I could actually be NQ'd for it.  Well, thanks.....seriously.....it wasn't the entire time I was in the ring.  I was VERY aware of exactly where the snap on the leash was at all times, and I also am very aware of each time I inadvertantly held him from moving forward so I could give him a command.  No, it wasn't more than 2 times.....do I really deserve a LECTURE?  When we were in the ring getting our ribbons, she lectured the ENTIRE GROUP on how lousy our footwork was on the 1step 2 step.  Now.....I have worked VERY HARD to ensure my steps are correct...so I HAD to ask...did I lose any points?  Because when we were in the ring, you STARED at *ME* the entire time you were commenting on our lousy we were as a group.....I wasn pleased when she looked at my scoresheet and said I had not lost a single point on that station...so there! :P
I dunno.....I am not looking for a confrontation, but when the judge puts herself into that position by not allowing us to just LOOK at the scoresheets without discussing it with her, she is asking for a confrontation, plain and simple!  She has a very long history as an obedience judge.  IMO, she is stuck in the past.....no one would hae DARED question her judging if it was obedience.....but this is Rally-O.....we just want to see our scoresheets.....not question your authority!

A Day At The Fair

Spent a day at Pierce County fiar yesterday judging 4H dog obedience.
For the most part I felt discouraged and disappointed.  I can't help but wonder about the state of 4H as a whole.  Apparently in WA state at least, parents are of the opinion that giving children anything less than a blue ribbon tends to discourage them and then they want to quit.  Even yestersay, as we were handing out white ribbons right and left, one of the area's leaders was COMMENDING the kids for their efforts, and for "just being there" as if it was a RIGHT to expect a blue ribbon regardless of the quality of your dog's performance.
Yes, I was given the "first year" kids-but even a first year kid ought to have a general idea of what is expected of their dog (and the kid) but performance after performance was so poor as to be embarrassing.  I created a short heeling pattern because it felt like every second the kids were in the ring the points were just falling off into the abyss.  Hey...when *I* was in 4H I walked out my very first year with obedience champion in my age level, and I came in third overall in the grand champion run off.  I would have been MORTIFIED if I and my dog performed like the majority of these teams.  It was very evident to me that the majority had not even been taught how to "finish" after the recall.  The kids weren't taught how to hold the leash so the dog would not become entangled in it.  When I cautioned several kids about mistakes they were making, they ARGUED with me-questioning my authority and knowledge of the rules.  Most of the kids TOLD their dogs to "stand" and were forced to repeat the command four and five times because the dogs clearly had no idea what was expected.  I kept reminding the kids that at this level they most certainly could assist the dog to stand and again, they argued with me-clearly giving me the message *I* do not have a place as a judge in their obedience ring.  When dogs made mistakes, many of the kids said "WRONG!" to the dogs...seriously????
The very first dog in the ring had a note written across the top of the socre sheet:  "dog cannot run" so I asked the young handler why this was so.  She gave me a very long synopsis of how her puppy had severe hip displasia that also came with arthritis "down her back leg all the way to her ankles".  I was unfamiliar with exactly where the ankle is on the dog, so I asked her to point it out to me-she showed me the hock.  I informed her that it was called a hock, and she informed ME that her MOTHER called it the ankle, and that was the end of THAT.  She also informed me that her dog was so disabled that she couldn't possibly be expected to sit straight, or quickly.
So I started her heeling pattern.  When we got to the "fast", guess what?  The dog GALLOPED.  Imagine that.  I guess the dog wasn't told about its disability..... so, after we completed the figure 8, and I informed her we were now doing the stand for exam, she told me her dog was shy and it might try to bite.  Ah....thanks for the warning.  I told her she really should have revealed this information when I asked her if there were any questions at the get-go.....but no, her LEADER told her this was the correct way to deal with it.  And yes, the dog DID try to snap at me.  I could tell that this was a very indulged dog who obviously did not WANT a stranger to touch it, and it had been allowed to get away with this behavior.  I did not offer this information because I knew it would be met with an arguement.  After she left the ring, my stewards tried to tell me how WONDERFUL the family was, and what a GREAT dog trainer she was.  I asked them what her parents thought they would gain by forcing her to train and handle what amounted to a handicapped dog with very limited potential.....neither of them "got it".....I give up.....
Although I did see more untrained dogs, I did see a number of trained dogs who were distracted by the noises and commotion.  Sorry to say I couldn't just ignore the NQ and had to give them white ribbons.  Yes, I can tell the difference between an untrained dog and one who just had a bad day, or bad luck.
What I wonder is if we will ever see a day when 4H drops obedience entirely because it expects too much of the children?  Or will we merely hand out participation ribbons and just give them score cards with positive feedback like "nice smile!"  or "you really did try!" or "better luck next time!" and not even give them a score?  When did it become too difficult to expect a child to actually TRAIN the dog?  Shall we offer them a "best two out of three"? and allow "do overs" like we do in Rally-O?
When I started the day, I had a mental image of what I felt a team should look like that was worthy of competing at the state level.  If the team wasn't a team, there was no way I was rewarding them and sending them to state.  Better luck next year? 

On a lighter note, the other judge and I co-judged Team obedience.  She judged, I called the commands.  It was very amusing, but for the most part it was very clear that most of the kids had no idea what they were doing in Team (especially the figure 8!!!) and again, was very disappointing to me.

I am so disillusioned and disappointed that I will think twice about judging in future (not that this county will ever ask me back!) Judging by the speech delivered by that one leader, he was very disappointed in me by handing out so many whites.....

I Love Online Shopping! :)

Way back in October of 2006 when I had my housefire and lost almost all of my possessions, a bunch of friends all across the US sent me money and gift cards to replace my belongings not covered by insurance.
One of those items was a $200 Lane Bryant gift card (thanks Sandy B-J!)
For a variety of reasons the card got set aside, and then it got misplaced.
Well!  I found it yesterday!  How exciting!  I was a little distressed when I saw fine print on the back indicating any unused portion might be subject to a $1 monthly "penalty".  Oh well, any amount was better than none, and I needed a new pair of shoes.
Having attempted to shop the Lane Bryant website previously, and finding it dismally and woefully inadequate, it was with a little trepidation that I signed on yesterday.  What a pleasant surprise!  They have actually combined "forces" with Fashion Bug and a few other merchants to allow you one stop shopping that would still enable me to use my Lane Bryant gift card!
I found suitable shoes (not exactly what I wanted, but they will do) so I decided to continue shopping to see just how much money I had left on the card.
I ended up buying a black with white polka dots sleeveless shirtdress, and short sleeved black jacket to wear over it, and a couple of sports bras.  Order total?  $230 by the time shipping was added, but there was a $20 discount because my purchase was over $200...and surprise surprise, the entire $200 balance was on the card!  So, ultimately I had to pay out $11 from my checking account...not bad, not bad at all!  Wish I could shop like that every day :)

Die.....Tansy Ragwort.....Die.....

Update on the "noxious weed" situation.....I received a "second notice" in the mail this AM dated monday, indicating pretty much I had until TODAY to get rid of the damned weeds.  So I wandered around the front yard and grubbed all the Tansy out by the roots.  Quite simple, and the roots are quite shallow.
I was worried that perhaps the "weed geeks" might have already patrolled my neighborhood this AM so I called the name on my letter and left a voice mail tellling him I was in compliance and not to send me to jail.
He called back a few minutes later, and I had a very nice chat with a very nice man and learned all I ever needed to know about Tansy Ragwort.  I told the guy that ever since I received the notice in the mail all I do when I'm driving places is notice all the Tansy! 
One thing I was NOT aware of is that there are actually several different types of Tansy-some noxious and some not.  He told me of several ways to differentiate.....and not to hesitate if I wanted to "make a report" if I thought I found some that perhaps the county had missed on their "weed patrol".  I told him about one particular area (it looks like railroad right of way.....and there's a LOT) that was when he informed me that the Tansy growing there wasn't of the noxious sort.  Hmmm.....seems to look a lot like the crap growing in my yard, so what gives???  I just hope he doesn't come to my house and point out some OTHER plant and tell me I grubbed out the wrong noxious weed!

Another Trek Into Sun Country...and Parents Are Funny! :)

went back over to Ellensburg yesterday at o-dark-thirty to judge 4H dog agility for Kittitas County.  I had been watching the weather forecast with a bit of trepidation. As the day drew closer, the forecast showed warmer and warmer temps (threats of 90 degrees...) but when I arrived at 8:00 the wind was blowing so hard the chief course builder informed me there was no way we could use the 'chute the way I placed it unless we physically had someone standing there HOLDING it in place!  He wanted me to flip the direction so that essentially the course would be run the reverse of the way I designed it, which really didn't set well with me for a variety of reasons.  I observed the wind during the first class (no 'chute in use at this level) and ultimately decided to swap the 'chute finish for the startline.  In actuality, this created a windsock out of the 'chute, and probably helped a few dogs.  Fine by me.  My goal was to send as many of these kids to state fair next month as possible.  Over all, I was very pleased with the quality of both the handling and the dogs themselves.  I could see definite improvement since judging their qualifier last month.  Overall, I think the wind helped keep the temps down, and it was actually a very pleasant day weather-wise.
My day actually started about a week after the qualifier, when I e-mailed my proposed course maps to the chief course builder.  He never responded to give his opinion on the courses, so I figured we were good to go.  But no.....he waited until wednesday to write to tell me he actually objected to three of the courses.  He felt one was "too hard" for the one lone entrant (who coincidentally happened to be his daughter); one was "too easy" and one was "lacking interest" (I don't know if he had an agenda for either of these).  I wrote back and told him I would tweak the "lacks interest" course, but the "too easy" course was built following 4H criteria and had one aspect I knew would give the kids enough of a challenge (which, when it came right down to it, *DID* create the exact challenge I felt it would), and I didn't feel it necessary to alter it further.  As for the "too hard" course, I also refused to alter that course, telling him I felt his daughter was fully capable of handling the course and since the dog would do what the daughter told her to do, she would be fine.  Nothing in the guidelines disallows me from assisting her during the walk thru.   We discussed ways of dealing with several sequences that involved handling techniques she had never been taught, but she is a quick study and rapidly progressed to a point of confidence before she ran.  I actually designed two excellent courses for her-both standard and jumpers.  She ACED the standard course.  The JWW course was quite tight, and had quite a few trickier sequences than the standard course.  As she was walking it she commented "there aren't very many obstacles on this course, but you managed to make it complex!"  In the end, she had a near-perfect run with one run out.  I somehow managed to miss a wrong course, however, in 4H a wrong course is only a 5-point penalty so she still would have received a very good score of 90 in addition to her grand champion so I don't feel too guilty about missing it.  A person's gotta blink every once in a while.
I had issues with "dad" because 1.  He is  ":type A" and is also a perfectionist.  I can deal with that, but what I can't stand is a perfectionist who also feels everyone around him must also be perfect.  He called me on more than one occasion where he felt I missed a missed contact.  Excuse me, but um.....can I see your resume that shows your experience running a dog in agility?  I'm sorry, but if I have a close call, I will err on the side of the kid.  There was also an occurence at the novice level where everything was going way too fast, and I *thought* ultimately, that the dog completed all six of the weaves in the right order.  He disagreed with me.  I don't feel that he has the right to back seat drive where the judge is concerned.  At one point he actually made a snarky remark to me about "missing SEVERAL other calls today..."  wow.....reality check.....whose side are you on?  I finally got it when he informed me one of my OTHER practices was not a good one, and would skew the "high point" trophy stats.  Ah...I see....and is your DAUGHTER in line for this award?  What I have done in the past, and what I did both theree and at the qualifier is this:  If a dog incurs a run out or refusal on an obstacle, then incurs a wrong course en route to correcting the run out or refusal, I only count the wrong course.  Right or wrong, this is how I do it.  It is not covered in the 4H rules.  I think he needs to get onto the committee if he wants to fix all that's wrong with the current agility 4H scheme.
Another irritation to the day was one parent who stood within earshot of me and spoke loudly enough to other parents complaining about this that and the other thing I was doing to annoy her.  I know full well that this was intentional, and it took all my power to pretend I was unable to hear her when I wanted to go face-to-face with her.  Apparently she had issues with me with regard to the table count.  I chose to follow the AKC rule in effect that says as long as all four paws are on the table (the dog does not need to sit or down) the count goes.  SHE felt that I needed to be consistent with their training and specify a sit or a down.  Well, I was consistent.....it wasn't like I penalized anyone by requiring THEIR dog did a sit or a down.
WhatEVER.....
Later, this same parent wanted to know when lunch break was.  Originally we were going to break between the standard and the jumpers runs.  I pointed out that I didn't have any lunch, and it was pointless of me to take a lunch break if my lunch wasn't here yet.  She wanted to take lunch NOW, regardless of my plans.  I announced to the entire group "go ahead and take your lunch break now, and I will take mine when my lunch arrives."  Seriously.  It wasn't a BIG DEAL.  We build the X JWW course (for one dog) and ran it while my lunch was being ordered.  I ate my lunch while they built the next course, then probably sat around another 10 minutes while THEY tried to organize the kids (all of whom had already eaten THEIR lunch)....but it just annoyed me that this woman seemed to believe that *I8 was singlehandedly slowing down the day because *I* needed to take a lunch break.  Well, hell.....next time I'll just eat my sandwich while I'm judging!  That should be a popular decision amongst the dogs!
Why is it, that SOMEONE always feels it is their duty to be a bitch at any given event?  I just wish I could convey that message to THIS particular bitch!
A high point.....the 4H'r running excellent thanked me and told me I was "very supportive"...yeah, I know...I'm quite the cheerleader...lol...

Next saturday I'm off to our local Pierce County fair to judge 1st-year obedience (my personal favorite)...then sunday I entered Markee in his very first Rally trial.... Stay tuned!

...And This Is Exactly Why My Blog Is Called What It Is....

When I started organizing my obedience/rally show-n-go (it's tomorrow!!!) I knew I needed obedience jumps for three out of the four rings.  I don't have any obedience jumps, but I started inquiring amongst the club members to see if I could borrow a set from anyone.
One member - Cat- (name changed so you can't confront the ridiculous) has jumps.  I asked to borrow them and heard a shopping list of reasons/excuses as to why I probably wouldn't want to borrow them.  One of the reasons was "they need repairing".  I said "that's fine with me.....I'll fix them for free in exchange for letting me use them."  But she still behaved like she just really didn't want to loan them to me, so I dropped the subject.
Several months go by before I see Cat at another 4H function where she asked:  "Do you still need my jumps?"  I said "Yes!!! I still need them!"  She said, "OK.....I'll bring them to our next function." (in two weeks).  When I arrived that morning I asked her "did you bring the jumps?"  She had clearly forgotten them, but said she would call me tuesday of this past week,  I said "that's perfect.....it'll give me a few days to fix whatever needs fixing".
No phone call.  By now, tiring of her wishy-washy attitude I have found other club members with jumps.  Imagine my surprise when I checked my messages yesterday afternoon and hear Cat's voice.
"hey.....I'm not available after tomorrow morning because I'm leaving town for the weekend, and I just don't know how I'm going to manage to get these jumps to you..."  Her whole tone was annoyed and irritated...like it was a major inconvenience or something.  Hello?  What happened to Tuesday?  Like.....when I pick them up (when ?!?!?) I'm going to fix them (when?!?!?!)
How shall we say I did not bother to respond to the voice mail....:P

Hmmmm...I'm Harboring A "Noxious Weed"...Who Knew?

Got an interesting envelope in yesterday's mail from the "Pierce County Department Of Noxious Weeds".  Seriously?  How does one introduce himself (I instinctively know there are no women working in this department) when he arrives at a party?  I'd probably just say "I work for the county..." and change the subject.
Sooooo  the contents of this letter informed me that I may be in violation of some *LAW* because I have "Tansy Ragwort" in my yard.  I've certainly heard of it, and I do know it is toxic to wildlife and livestock (who won't eat it anyway) but I had no idea it was against the law to allow weeds to exist on my unmowed property.  They were nice enough to send me a brochure with a picture so I headed out to the yard to take a look-see.  Well, I counted under a dozen of the evil things.  Gotta put my gloves on and pull those buggers out before I land in jail!

A.K.C....An Update

Someone at AKC figured out Polly doesn't belong at the local Working Group specialty show and sent her a nice e-mail the very next day telling her they were uninviting her.  At the same time they also let her know she COULD go to a local all-breed sanction match that same weekend.....why...now nice for clearing that up for us!  Polly was quite distraught at first, but cheered up immensely when I informed her of the opportunity!

A.K.C. Sheesh.....What Next?

I applaude the American Kennel Club's varied attempts toward creating more revenue for the board member's pension plan.  Recent implementation of additional methods by which we can write more checks to pay more entry fees with the addition of obedience classes, agility classes, the Grand Champion scheme....one new addition I was particularly pleased to see was the 4-6 puppy class that was going to be offered at AKC shows.  While puppies of that age cannot compete for points, I feel it is a good introduction to the "real" world of dog shows-especially since I live in an area that just doesn't offer very many sanction and/or fun matches, and even if you can locate a reasonable handling class, that isn't "real world" enough unless your dog shows are being held where your handling classes are?  No?  I didn't think so.
So today, I received an e-mail from AKC advising me of an opportunity to take my four-month-old puppy to a real dog show!  How exciting!  Well, as I read further, I discovered the club name:  "Mt Rainier Working Dog Association".  Bummer.....I have a sporting dog.
So, while *I* know better than to try to enter my sporting breed at a working breed show, how many people out there (who may not be fully versed in the workings of dog shows) will happily fill out an entry form and mail it in, expecting to show off their little pride and joy?
Good try, AKC.....

SPIDER! EWWWWW!

I don't care for spiders, and don't try to tell me they're supposedly beneficial.  While this may be true, I am not seeing any benefit to them living in MY house with me and the dogs.  Tonight I saw something moving out of the corner of my eye waaaaay over on the other side of the room and saw this GINORMOUS spider up at the top of the wall where it joins the ceiling.  Mind you I have peaked ceilings, so this dude was a good 12' off the floor.  I don't feel particularly SAFE attempting to murder a spider when it's OVER my head.  so I finally realized he wasn't going to just LEAVE, so I got a broom.  Thought I would knock him to the floor and SQUISH him.  But when I came back, he was GONE.  I knew he was on the floor somewhere, but where.....I was afraid one of the puppies would get to him before I did and who knew....it could be venomous.  Thankfully I saw him move before the puppies did (they were watching the broom and wondering what I was going to do with it!) so I did manage to squish him before he killed us in our sleep.  Whoo hoo!  I feel like superwoman! Bravely facing deadly arachnids....story at 11:00.... :D

I Hate Rework :P

I consider myself detail oriented.  But occasionally, technology manages to take the driver's seat and I am lulled into a sense of false security.  For example, MS Excel has long been the bane of my existence.  I'm pretty much "self-taught" meaning "what happens if I do this???" and once upon a time when I tested for a temp agency my Excel scoring was curious to say the least.  Certain aspects are "beginner", "intermediate", and "advanced".  I scored very high in both beginner and advanced, but failed miserably in intermediate.  Go figure.  My last job I was part of a development team that designed and built a Excel-based template to simplify and improve a work process.  While the finished product was a work of art, and it delivered all we had ever hoped, GETTING to that finish line was a major deal to me in terms of teaching me everything I never knew about Excel.   But I digress.....
I receive a report once a month from the AKC for all titles earned by Field Spaniels.  This is a new "job" for me, so I am still attempting to learn what to do.  There is a lot of information contained within this report that I don't need, and I have figured out how to shrink irrelevant columns or cells so I only have to look at the bits and pieces I need:  Name of the dog, the title it earned, the breeder's name, the sire's name, and the dam's name.  Now.....somewhere along the line I should have learned how to merge each month's report so that I can just have one, big excel report.  I should also be able to reorganize the lists so that all of the dogs bred by one breeder will group together.  Or all dogs sired by one stud dog.  Or one brood bitch.
Well now, that might just be too simple.  Or too complicated, I don't know.
I did ask a "techie" friend for help and received a rapid-fire response that went in one ear and out the other.  I don't learn by listening alone.  I need a hands-on lesson, with someone to walk me through  each step.  So, I have had to resort to opening a Word document, and I have started three lists and am maintaining them manually.
For some reason this afternoon I decided to CHECK MY WORK.  Why?  Because I had issues with my Word document when I was cutting/pasting and discovered that I had managed to DELETE nearly 1/3 of my year-to-date completed report!  So I "did the math" and discovered I had 70 titles under the breeder and 70 titles under the brood bitch...but 69 under stud dog.  Well, I may not be Einstein, but I do know it takes both a mother and a father to make a title-winner.
So, I started to search for all my past year's AKC reports.  There have been six.  It took me nearly two hours to finally locate the missing listing, and of COURSE it was in the very last report.
Next month, and all subsequent months I will endeavor to ensure my work is accurate so I don't have a repeat of this!  As I said, I hate rework!  If I was able to fully utilize Excel, I might be better off, but then again, it could totally mess me up and I might make more mistakes, just quicker!  We can't have that, now can we???

So Long! Farewell!

Hate to say it, but I was happy to say good bye to Baxter, Meme and "da bird" Piper this morning.  I'd say good bye to the cat, but she never let it be known she was THERE (other than the disappearing food in the bowl, and the mounds of poop in the bathtub) let's just say I'm glad the cat was at Bonnie's house, and not here.
Baxter is 12 years old.  I have to say he looks fantastic, although he is a little creaky in the joints and his hearing is almost nonexistent.  His plumbing is also suspect, so when he asks to go out every two hours, I comply because I hate cleaning up ANY time, let alone in the middle of the night.  Only problem is that I can't just simply open the door and let him out.  I have to lock the puppies in my room, so they pitch a fit.  This means I actually have to WAKE UP as opposed to just waking up half way, so once Baxter comes back inside and I go back to bed, I can't go back to sleep!
Velvet was absolutely, positively OBSESSED with the bird.  I kept the cage on Baxter's crate (this is a HUGE crate that stands close to 36" high....tall enough to be relatively safe for a bird, right?  Wrong.)  Velvet spent all her waking hours trying to figure how to hurdle over my computer desk, over me, over Meme's crate (with food bins on top) and as I stated previously, she was successful in plucking a tail feather.
So I was most happy to see them all packed up and down the road, thinking "out of sight, out of mind" where Velvet and Piper were concerned.  I just let the dogs out and here comes Velvet, apparently convinced the bird is playing hide and seek with her, or perhaps it has a cloak of invisibility on?  GIVE IT A REST FOR GAWD SAKE!  I've seen stud dogs showing less interest in bitches in heat!!!!
Yes, the crew is returning in August when Bonnie goes on a trip.  I think Piper's cage will be kept on the bar.....I really don't think Velvet can come close to reaching that without a step stool! 

Pollyanna Graduated From Puppy Kindergarten!

We attended our final PetSmart class last night.  We won't be going back due to financial "issues" and will now focus on hanging out at dog shows and the occasional fun match (there are two in august that we will be attending) before Polly can actually enter dog shows in October after she turns 6 months of age....she missed eligibility for the 2011 national specialty by six days, although she will still be a puppy for the 2012 specialty in WI!

Our class was divided into pairs and we played "obedience tic tac toe".  Polly was paired with "Moose" the yellow Labrador Retriever, and although she ACED the competiton by behaving PERFECTLY (sit stay for 10 seconds, watch me for 10 seconds, come when called and sit) to give Moose credit, he drew harder tasks and since he is SO boisterous and exhuberant and the room is just too small to DO much of anything) he did pretty darn well.  Polly has also been working on learning a trick for graduation night and she got to show that off.  Very early on she learned to sit on a step stool.  So I taught her to sit UP on the step stool!  Unfortunately, SHE is growing like a weed, and the step stool is getting too small for her.  But she still managed to do her trick for graduation night,  I was so proud of her. :)
Although I was initially concerned about our trainer's experience (or lack thereof), the size of the class, and the overall nature of the "rowdies" in the class, it was a positive experience for both myself and Polly. I felt like nearly everyone attending was motivated to train their puppies and train they did.  I hope they continue on and wish them all success.

Things That Make You Go "EWWWWWWWW"

Went outside this evening and observed two slugs on my house, about 3' off the ground, and they seemed to be in some form of a race.  I haven't ever seen slugs moving this fast.  When I came back past them a few minutes later they were at 4' and were.....um.....having slug sex.   

I couldn't resist taking pictures of the lovely couple.  The slightly out-of-focus picture is a closeup of their apparent sex organs.  In the other picture you can see how intertwined they were.  
And for those of you that think I need to put pictures on my blog...this one's for you! :O

Pet Sitting!

Bonnie left town for the week for work.  Baxter (13 years and counting), Meme (almost 3-Velvet's sister) and Piper the Sun Conure are staying here, and I am going over to Bonnie's house a couple of times to feed the cat and clean her litterbox.
Meme has bad manners, and carries on in her crate.  However, I believe I have managed  to convince her that she really should be quiet when she is in her crate.  Thank gawd, because that is just one thing I CANNOT stand.  Baxter doesn't do well with puppies, and actually, he simply refuses to be a part of the pack and puts himself back into his crate when the other dogs are out!  Unfortunately Meme also appears not to like puppies, so she will also need to be crated longer than both she and I prefer, because yes-the puppies are spoiled and I can't stand to lock them up just because we have visitors who "don't like kids"!  Just who is spoiled and has bad manners here? :P
My dogs worry me a bit.  Although they are bird dogs, will they leave the bird alone if I tell them?  Let's just say I won't be leaving any dogs loose in the house when I'm not here.  Right now both Token and Velvet are standing on hind legs sniffing the bird who apparently thinks he likes the attention.  Meanwhile the Cavalier Markee paces in the background apparently cheerleading hoping one of the larger dogs will capture this feathered bird brain for him since it is out of his reach.  OK, so now I have a stick, because Velvet is totally OBSESSED, will not leave him alone, and just managed to grab hold of his tail and pulled a feather out.  (I'm hoping it's one he was molting already and no longer needs....)  I have a picture of Piper, but was trying to get one of Token looking at Piper, but can't manage!   Velvet assures me that if I will merely open the cage door, she will give me a really good photo op!  Yeah sure, Velvet!
I was given a very explicit feeding sheet for Piper.  This much pelleted food twice a day, limited snacks.  Awwww, c'mon.....what does this bird have to DO all day if he isn't eating?  I'm afraid he might get fat if he lived here long.  I just had no idea birds had such dietary requirements, but I guess they can't get gym memberships?  I tried a pea pod.  Not interested.  A cherry (pitted, since you aren't allowed to give them pits along with fruit) not interested.  Both items were tossed onto the floor of the cage and will remain there until I change the paper later.
So...as per instructions he got his 1 teaspoon of pelleted food early this AM and it was GONE in a matter of a few minutes.  Aren't you supposed to feed them an amount they will eat in 10 minutes?  Oh wait...that's gold fish.....a while later he got a "nutraberry" that looks like several forms of grain glued together.  He devoured that.  When I ate my sandwich for lunch I gave him a very tiny bit of crust "about the size of his eye" (another item off the instructions) and he loved that too.  Later an almond...uh oh it's larger than his eye.....oh well.....he can start his diet tomorrow....

Every time I leave the room he hangs off the side of the cage and SQUAWKS.  When I return, he's calm and quiet.....I think he likes me because I feed him...dinner soon, Piper....you get another teaspoon of pellets!  Yum-mo!!!    :)

Now, that was a loooong day.

Just got back from a day judging 4H dog agility (prequalifier for state fair) for Kittitas County over in eastern WA.  We were in Ellensburg.  Although the weather forecast threatened 80's today, it was mostly overcast and fairly comfortable almost all day-for dogs, kids *and* me.  I did manage to get a bit of a sunburn but hey-I can get sunburned when there isn't ANY sun so there.  Kathy Kail tells me I need to add photos to my blog, so I took a picture of the excellent standard course (well, part of it) and a group picture of me, the kids, and most of the competing dogs.  Bet you can't tell which one is me, can you? :D

I had a really great time-other than spending over 6 hours driving round trip....blech....but the kids were great, in spite of many of the dogs who had attitudes and knew what to do with them.  I found the standard message of the day I delivered  was "you are too nice to your dog.....you need to use your 'I'm serious' voice."  One dog in particular was horrid in his morning run-he left the course several times, pee'd on the fence....his demeanor was quite embarrassing to his young handler, although she never showed any emotion.  I told her "your next run-you need to sound "mean"...like you are ANGRY with him.  To give her credit, she listened to my advice, and turned in a creditible performance.  By their third run, he was totally in tune with her and they got another great performance!  Another memorable day came with our lone excellent class entry.  I set up two very difficult (AKC-level excellent courses I stole from a recent trial) but in standard I could tell teamwork was lacking, and the duo did not Q.  However, by the afternoon, the team turned in a PERFECT performance in Jumpers.  I was so pleased for them! :)  But hey, Q or not, I was genuinely pleased with all of them.  Good sports, Q or no Q.....everyone cheered for everyone else Q or no Q.....lots of comaraderie and I left with GOOD thoughts about my assignment judging them again during their county fair (or what they settle for as fair....their fair is actually too late to be used for state qualifications, so they actually have their 4H competition the first week of August!  But long drive notwithstanding, I am looking forward to it!

Terrific Bumper Sticker!

It is possible that I am the last person on the block to see this one...but it is worthy of repeating.....

GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS.....ESPECIALLY OUR SNIPERS

STP Bike Race

STP (Seattle To Portland) bike race is today and tomorrow.  I can't remember the exact mileage, but I believe it is around 200 miles.  Some of the riders do it all in one day, others take two days.  Since part of the route runs through Yelm, and I had to drive through Yelm to get to my agility class this AM, I spent quite some time last night attempting to locate information that would assist me in deciding if I needed to find some other way of driving, since I didn't have many options.  I wasn't very successful in locating anything helpful, so I ended up leaving home about 15 minutes earlier than I would normally (I intended to leave 30 minutes early, but couldn't quite manage to get organized enough to do so!)
As I approached Yelm I could see that signs were being erected and although I did see a few bikers along my route, I wasn't impacted by them at all.
I wasn't terribly worried about my drive home, since their route was going south, and I was going north.  As I approached the first stop light in Yelm, I could see a LOT of bikes heading toward me.  Several hundred.  Normally I would drive along highway 507 a few miles north of Yelm to a city called McKenna, make a right, then continue on a number of miles to Hwy 7 and home.  The race route followed 507 south from the "Roy Y" and had come down Hwy 7 prior to that, several miles north of my turn off of Hwy 7.  So, I decided to stay on 507 from Yelm all the way north to the "Y", a distance of around 15 miles, cutting across JBLM land.  I was amazed at the number of riders I had seen so far, and wanted to see some more!
McKenna has a school sitting right on the highway, and STP riders had a "pit stop" there.  I couldn't believe the number of riders taking a break.  HUNDREDS of them.  I continued northward to Roy (a distance of maybe 4-5 miles?) where there was another pit stop, with yet hundreds more riders resting!  All along the 15 mile route I drove past THOUSANDS of riders.....what an amazing sight.  I know they limit the entrants to 10,000 riders, and I must have seen around 1/2 half of those on my ride home...whew.....simply amazing.
What a perfectly grand day for a bike ride.....sunny and cool.....maybe a bit breezy...hopefully they had the wind at their backs, and not having it facing them the entire route!
I believe I read on their website that this was the 24th year?  And there are two guys who have ridden in all of them....

Oh Wait.....I Forgot I Have Another Diss!

This morning on the radio I heard several Rosetta Stone advertisements.  Basically, these people want the entire world to learn a second language in hopes we will all just learn to get along better and "understand everyone".
Ah.....well, here's a BRILLIANT suggestion!  Let's start by teaching all of those people who call the US *HOME* yet don't understand one single, flipping word of English.  Does this make me a bigot?  Prejudiced?  Realistic? A Redneck?  Well, I am truly sorry, but I can safely say I would NEVER, EVER move to a foreign country expecting to be waited on hand and foot, take advantage of "the system" and not learn the prevailing language.  When Rosetta Stone wants to pay me to learn to speak fluent (fill in language of choice here) I'll do it gladly!

Let's Start With Dissing Yelm Starbucks

Lots to talk about today, so decided to post in manageable "bytes" get it?  bwwwwaaaaahhhhh....
Off to agility class with Dodger early this AM (for reasons discussed in another post shortly!) stopped at Yelm Starbucks drive through.
Starbucks: "good morning!  What can we get started for you today?"
Me:  "I'd like a grande iced mocha in a venti cup with extra ice, please."
Starbucks:  "that was a iced mocha with what again?"
Me:  "grande iced mocha in a venti cup with extra ice."
Starbucks:  "grande iced mocha in a venti cup, right?  Did you want extra whip or what?"
Me: "no....just a GRANDE iced mocha in a VENTI cup then add extra ice to fill it."  (seriously, I do this ALL THE TIME.....)
Starbucks:  "ohhhhhh....Grande mocha ICED, in a venti cup with extra ice....I'll have the total at the window."
At this point I am sitting in a line of four cars in front of me, and NO ONE is moving.  I look at the clock.  It is 10 full minutes before I arrive at the window.
As I start to hand her my card, the very nice person turns to me, starts to take my card, and says "your total comes to $12.94.  I keep my hold on my card and say "ummm....I don't think so..." she looks very surprised and starts rattling off some order that is CLEARLY not mine.
(Oh goody!  I get to repeat my order yet again!)
Me:  "I ordered a GRANDE iced mocha...."
She turns away from me and starts to relay my order to the barrista, so she doesn't get my entire order.  Then she turns to me and says "is that all?"  I said
"well, I wanted it in a VENTI cup..."
Again, she turns away from me to relay my order to the barrista.
Then she turns to me and says "did you want whip on that?"  (had she NOT interrupted me by attempting to relay my incomplete order TWICE she would have received an affirmative response.....but I just smiled and nodded.
Then she very sweetly apologized and said she was trying to multi-task.  I said "yeah....kinda busy today....I had to wait a while!"  She said "no, actually the wait isn't that bad...."
Oh dear.....customer service skills bells and whistles going off in my brain!  I just smiled back at her and said "no...really.....I've never had to wait this long for an order....it's now been over 10 minutes."
She turned to her cash register and CORRECTED me by telling me, oh no, it shows your order time right here....."
I looked at her and said "yes.....that is the order YOU placed when I appeared at your window and found my initial order had not been placed!"
Although she did not say anything to me, I could see the "oh duh..." look in her eyes.
And then I waited.....and then the barrista started to hand me a cold drink that was CLEARLY NOT WHAT I ORDERED!  I didn't even take it from her....I just said "ummm....that looks wrong."  She said "why?  What's wrong with it?"
I said "I ordered.....a grande iced mocha in a venti cup...with extra ice."
O.............................M...................................G...............................................
After about a WEEK I did get my correct order....I just hope no one spit in it!  I think I need to find a new starbucks, or better yet, a privately owned place WHO CARES ABOUT CUSTOMER SERVICE.

End of vent... :)

Tell Me Why......

I have been feeding my dogs "Zuke's" treats for several years now.  Located in Durango, CO I like their ingredient list and it appears they have our pet's best interests in mind.  When I initially found Zuke's, I went looking for an online store, but did not find it.
This morning on Facebook they announced a 1/2 price sale on their "mininaturals" one of the items I use for training treats.  So I signed on to their new-to-me website and started a shopping cart.  Since I was there, and I was low on several of the treats I use for training and dog shows, I figured I would stock up.  Right away I realized the prices were outrageous.  Ridiculously outrageous.  On par with boutique pet stores outrageous.
Backing up a bit, let me give a plug for an on-line company from where I exclusively purchase my Zuke's products (as well as other necessary stuff!) http://www.petguys.com  they have amazing prices, excellent customer service, low shipping costs and a fairly comprehensive selection of canine edibles.
So, I checked the PetGuys prices against the Zuke's prices and discovered I was accurate in stating that the prices shown on the Zuke's website ARE IN FACT OUTRAGEOUS.  Even the so-called "50% off" mininaturals price was SEVERAL DOLLARS higher than the price I see on PetGuys!  One item I buy frequently is called "Hip Action" and Zuke's was charging TWICE the price of PetGuys.
So...my rhetorical question du jour is this:  How can "the source" (in this case Zuke's) charge so much more for products they obviously sell to OTHER vendors who sell it for bargain-basement prices?  I cannot believe that PetGuys can afford to give away their products,  I have encountered this phenomenon before, and it always makes me scratch my head.  I suppose I need to ask Zuke's, but wanna bet I get a song and dance in addition to a deer-in-the-headlights "I don't understand your question, ma'am..." response.  So, I will have to be content with not having an understanding of all things retail, and Zuke's will never know that I am spending my dollars elsewhere :)

Surviving The 4th Of July (that's independence day to those of us in the US!)

I used to live in a county that strictly prohibited fireworks prior to and after the actual DAY OF July 4th.  That's right...you could only use fireworks *ON* the 4th.  I liked that rule! Apparently the county I have now resided in for slightly longer than four years has no such law or regulation.  I live very close to the "Joint Base McChord/Lewis" so I am no stranger to the sounds of artillery fire and bombing.  Thankfully noise was at a minumum until the evening of the 3rd, when M80s and other such obnoxiously annoying so-called "fireworks" were set off until the wee hours.  Then they started up again at dusk on the 4th and kept it up AGAIN until; the wee hours.  Obviously, one of my neighbors was putting in craters in his yard.  My house SHOOK every time one went off....windows rattled, so did the dogs and I!  At one point last night there was literally a fog of sulfur-scented smoke wafting through the neighborhood.  Ah....the true meaning of Independence Day.....

Utterly Random (and no doubt useless) Tuesday Musings

Not sure where I heard this...either TV or radio...that once a woman reaches a certain age she has to work out at a gym for an hour a day *just* to maintain status quo!  Dieting alone won't make one iota difference.....we MUST endure a one hour workout at the gym....how depressing!
(Oh wait...perhaps it was an ad for a local gym?  yeah...that's probably true!!!)
Just saw an ad on TV for bottled water.  They claim that substituting one bottle of water for one 16 oz serving of soda pop will save me over 50,000...yes, fifty THOUSAND calories in a year.  Well, hell.....I pretty much quit drinking sodas (and I used to drink Diet Coke by the gallon until I read the fake sweetener research that told me it was doing inestimable damage to my liver) so where can I apply for my calorie savings?

Perfect Polly Goes To School

Never thought I'd see the day I would attend a PetSmart training class.  After all, I have been training dogs since the late '60's!  However, training classes are not readily available in my area, and my Rally classes are on summer hiatus, which ordinarily do just fine for my socialization needs as well as training my puppies for rally titles!  I still felt the need to enroll my newest puppy in some form of a puppy class to ensure that her upbeat and outgoing personality would stay that way!
When I enrolled in the class, I asked how many dogs there would be and was told "we limit our classes to 4-6" so I was alarmed when I entered the 8' X 12' classroom the first night and learned there were 9 puppies (and a 10th puppy was added on week two...) I was even more alarmed when I assessed the classmates and saw two Labs, a Shiloh Shepherd, and a Dobe....all roughly the same age as my puppy (3 months) and all of whom were borderline ADHD and attached to frazzled military moms with toddlers at home.  Then the instructor informed us she had only been teaching a year and had no prior training experience.  To me, those four puppies on their own would make a full-time class for any experienced trainer.  I also figured that the rest of us with quieter, mild-mannered puppies would pretty much be left to our own devices and would be ignored.  Lovely.....but since I really only wanted socialization for Polly and had no other goals than for her to be happy to interact with the world, I gritted my teeth and tried to remain calm in a group of lunging and barking puppies.  Polly laid on her tummy on her blankie at my feet and watched them behaving badly and wagged her tail.
We just completed week four of our six week series, and I am very pleased to report that for the most part, this class has actually been reasonably successful.  The four "unrulies" are still wild and crazy but you can see that progress is being made.  Most of the time we receive accurate information (although when I commented last week that Polly was entering a 'fear phase' and had been nearly run over by a shopping cart that scared her, the instructor said "well, when she grows out of her fear phase, she won't be afraid of shopping carts because of that experience."  uh.....OK.....
One moment of humor from last night's class.....the instructor held Polly on a long line and I went to the end of an aisle and called her to me.  She came at a dead run each time (considering how difficult it is with her huge paws and long floppy ears!) I told her:  "look at you, running lickety split!"  When we gathered back in the training room after the exercise, the instructor stressed to us how important it was to establish a distinctly different recall command that wouldn't encourage the entire off-leash dog park to come running when you call your dog.  Then she told everyone how my command was "lickety split"...I had to laugh...can you just see standing out there callling "lickety split" to your dog? :)

Saturday 4H, then Sunday At The Park

Judged a Pierce County 4H "qualifier" saturday.  What is a qualifier?  Well, it gives the kids another opportunity to qualify for state fair this fall.  There is so much stress at the fair for both kids and dogs, that although extremely disappointing, not qualifying is to be expected.  But if no one qualifies for state, and there is no display for the public, what good is this?  Having more than one opportunity to compete before the county fair in August really helps, and takes some of the pressure off for the actual fair.  Wish we had qualifiers when *I* was in 4H oh-so-many years ago!  Although I don't believe our county ever failed to fill its quota, so the point is moot. 

On this day, I was assigned the higher-level classes as well as the novice Y "B" classes (kids with new dogs who have already put one dog through novice Y previously).  Lots of promise seen in all of the classes , but unfortunately a lot of NQ's too.  I was so impressed with the sportsmanship and excellent attitude displayed by these teens, regardless of the outcome.  Very refreshing when all we ever hear about is the bad kids.
I judged some of the other 4H kids at the previous qualifier a couple weeks back, and was recently asked to judge at the Pierce County Fair in August, so stay tuned!  I am also judging an agility pre-qualfier and the actual fair agility competition for Kittitas County over in Ellensburg, and am really looking forward to those assignments.

Two local kennel clubs held sanction matches sunday.  In addition, the local Toy Group club held a "Toys Only" match.
Although the venue is a 10-minute drive from home, I haven't attended these annual match shows since Haileigh won Best Adult there in 2003 since usually I'm at agility trials this particular weekend.
Spanaway Park is magnificent.  Two sides are devoted to an 18-hole golf course, and one side is a decent sized lake.  Throughout the park are spectacular douglas fir trees that look to me to be second-growth.  Lots of grassy areas, plenty of parking, shade galore, "something for everybody", and on this lovely June afternoon, EVERYbody seemed to be there, and we had a lot of casual observers mingling amongst those of us there to show our dogs.  While sitting ring-side, I wondered to myself why none of the local kennel clubs consider this location for their summer shows?
Had a lovely visit with AKC judge Bill Russell, and he introduced me to a very nice older lady who had recently finished a championship on her Weimaraner.  She spent a lot of time socializing with puppies Smarty and Polly.  I entered Polly in the match along with Markee the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  Ivy came along for the ride and the opportunity to get used to hanging out in strange locations with the eventual goal that she learns to generalize and realizes she CAN be happy and she CAN work out in the scary big world.  Also attending the match were Janelle with Hudson (big brother to Polly and Smarty) and Janelle's friend Kelsey who showed her Brittany.
Polly was absolutely adorable, and showed very well.  We should have won, but we had to be content with two second place in puppy group.  I might be a little biased...lol...  Markee earned a 2nd and a 3rd in group, and did not place at the Toy match, although I thought he looked great and he showed well for Janelle.  Janelle and Markee won Best Junior at the Toy match.
The BIG WINNERS of the day were Janelle and Hudson.  They not only earned two BEST JUNIOR awards, but also won BOTH "Best Adult" in match!  Janelle had such a huge haul of rosettes and prizes I finally found a box to cram it all in for her to take home :)
I was exhausted just sitting ringside entertaining the puppies.  I kept hoping they would crash so I could relax but they just never wore down.  I was very happy to have a 10 minute drive at the end of the day believe me!