3 Dog Days

Another Silly Video

2012-01-26T22:23:00.001-08:00

This was taken at the place I give lessons on Wednesdays. The tube is used to form concrete. I think it is about a foot wide. Not easy for Dottie to fit in, but she does! I want to try Pie in it, but I don't think she will physically fit in.

Speaking of my Wednesday classes, we had a good turn out for this week. 5 dogs, who each brought a handler who listened nicely.

Tomorrow starts the big Southwest Regional IPO weekend! Practice on Friday (8 minutes for obedience and only 5 for protection), obedience and protection on Saturday, then tracking on Sunday. I decided to stay with club member B at her hotel for the social aspects. Youngest brother has been hired to film our routines. Good, bad, or ugly, I'll post the results here. Stay tuned!

Experiment

2012-01-25T22:42:00.000-08:00

Dottie has been staying behind a baby gate instead of crated when I go out. She has the small bathroom and a small hallway to stay in. Nothing has ever been destroyed. The shower curtain is not torn down, the bath rugs are not chewed or even nibbled, and there are no claw marks on the walls.

Therefore, when I went to church on Sunday I left her loose in the house for the entire hour! Very daring! Nothing was chewed, destroyed, broken, gotten into, or in any way distrubed.

So, I took an even bigger chance. On Tuesday, I lever her loose in the house for the entire day. Yes, the whole day. The results were the same as on Sunday. Is my puppy growing up?

Friends have suggested it is a fluke, she is just luring me into a false sense of security, she'll regress when she hits 8 years old (why is 8 the magic age) and/ or that now I should get a new puppy. I prefer to think she is growing up and maturing. The dogs hardly ever stay home these days- too much training to to do to waste even 1 lunch hour. But next time they do, I'll leave her loose again and report the results.

Here is a short (true) story for your enjoyment.

Tracking with Dottie- I fell in a hole, onto my hands and knees, dropped the line, and she kept going. Not even a glance back. Shouldn't be surprised about that, but the funny part was me chasing after her tying to grab the line and it kept slipping just out of my reach. I got it eventually. Luckily there was an article coming up so if I was unable to catch the line, that hopefully would have stopped her. But as I chased after her, futilely snatching at the line, wI must have made a pretty amusing picture.

Shouldn't the Rain Make Them Frisky?

2012-01-23T20:26:00.001-08:00

Malinois (n) \mal-in-bad dog\ 1: the breed of short coated, medium sized brown (with black overlay and black mask) dogs, originating in Belgium, slightly resembling a German Shepherd and well known for their keen mind and h̶i̶g̶h̶ ̶e̶n̶e̶r̶g̶y̶ apparent willingness to sleep on the couch all day, dead to the world, not even keeping busy chewing on a bone.

Seriously, is there some kind of carbon monoxide poisoning going on in here that only affects dogs??

Dog Torture?

2012-01-21T19:47:00.000-08:00

Yes or no? *No dogs were harmed in the making of this picture.

I suppose the real question is if I should show this photo to the owner of the chi, who I am dog sitting....

Regional Practice

2012-01-21T18:52:00.000-08:00

Today, the other competitor from my club, B, and her dog Hanky, headed out to the park in Acton to get in some obedience practice on the regional field. We took her car, figuring it would be easier to put a small Dottie sized crate in her car, than a huge Hanky sized crate in my car.

We were lucky that the rain was done for the day, so we didn't get wet. The address of the park is not listed on the website, but Acton is small enough that it only has one public park and we found it.

When we got to the park there was a group of young men playing soccer near the backdrop. The website told us the field would use the backdrop as part of the fencing. So we knew which part of the park to practice in. We played with the dogs a bit, then worked them some, then the players came over and used the back drop as their goal (encroaching on the "field"). Then another group came and set all their equipment down right were we think the go out end was going to be. The park had other places to practice, it was just our bad luck they wanted to play/ practice on the area of the park that will be used for the trial next week. Eventually the second group moved off to the side, leaving a bag and soccer ball at the go out end. Of course that won't be there trial day, so it was making it easier than it will be. I sent Dottie anyway and she zoomed in on the ball, but downed when I told her. Dottie wanted to down on the sit in motion, and wouldn't sit up out of the down for pickups. Well, I don't expect my ob score to be that great anyway- lots to continue to work on. The routine seems so simple, but when you break it down and train each tiny piece, it is not simple at all. Then we just hung out a bit, walked around the entire park and when we were done with the little walk everyone had left so I sent Dottie for one more go, letting her get the toy. B decided to do one more with Hank, and just as he was running back, that is when the cop showed up. I have the worst luck with being allowed to train dogs off leash without getting in trouble! I always get caught, kicked out, or told to leash up. Darn! The only times the dogs were off leash was for the go outs. But off leash is off leash...

There was another dog group, who seemed to be training dogs for movie work. At one point they wanted the dog to stand behind a chain link fence and bark. He didn't seem to grasp the concept. Fancy could have done it better. One of their dogs looked like a Border Collie, pit bull mix. Their dog was off leash, but they were gone by the time the cop showed up. She (the cop) could tell we were not bothering anyone, but said in the past they've had lots of complaints, so she had to enforce it for everyone. She was very nice and even apologetic and we didn't get a ticket, so that is good. Luckily for our training, we really were done.

B and I were both surprised there were no other trial people practicing. Maybe they couldn't find the park due to lack of an address on the website! Or maybe they will show up for practiceon Sunday.

On the Friday before the trail we will get 8 minutes to practice obedience and 5 minutes to practice protection. Due to those tight time limits, it was nice to get on the field a head of time and let Dottie associate rewards with the location. I just hope we guessed the go out direction correctly!

Gophers, the How To Guide

2012-01-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

My dad recently published this post. Here Man Vs. Gopher. As you may remember, I had good luck killing the gopher I had in my yard. Since that conquest, I haven't had another one, although I've been keeping a lookout. When taking the trash out the other day, I noticed the area on the other side of the driveway had some new mounds. I'd let them live in piece if I had any kind of guarantee they would stay on that weed infested side of the driveway. But, it would only be a matter of time until they tunneled under the driveway to munch on my tender grass roots. So I set about to ~~murder~~ trap them.

Success! The very next day, I had caught him. And this time, the trap killed him, so I didn't even have to finish him off. I will share my gopher trapping technique, in case anyone is interested.

I use the Macabee Ol' Reliable gopher trap. You will need at least two. I think they were around five dollars each at the hardware store. I had to do some serious critical thinking in order to figure out how to set them because they are not like a rat snap trap where the pin keeps the trap open. The backside of the pin actually keeps the trap open.

Click here if you are wondering how that works.

I know you need to anchor your traps or the gophers make off with them. I have no idea what they do with them once they disappear. I wasn't prepared and didn't have any twine, but I had a chewed leash. I ended up using this, and now think the extra thickness might be a good idea to dissuade the vermin from chewing the tether and still making off with the trap. Along with the tether, you also need an anchor. The very first time, I tied the leash to a long pvc pole (a jump bar, actually) but after that I switched to a base from a stick in the ground pole. That had the added benefit of doubling as a hole finder.

Rounding out your list of supplies should be a shovel, a hold finder (screwdriver) if your anchor won't do, and some gloves.

In order to trap one of the animals, you have to find an active hole. Look for one with moist dirt on the mound, with a pebbly texture. If the mound is smooth, it has been there a while and won't do. Dig up the mound. Take your hole finder and poke around on the inside of your hole until you find the 2 tunnels leaving the mound/ hole. This is the part I have the most trouble with. Sometimes I can't find the tunnels, and I have to fill the hole back in and try a different mound. I don't know if I am just defective, or if the gophers have already abandoned this section and back filled the tunnels. If you have 2 fresh mounds, you can also try digging a hole between the 2, and using the direction of the mounds to find the holes.

Once you have found the tunnels, use the hold finder to clean them out some more. Then (with your gloves on!) reach into the holes as far as you can, getting a lay of the land. I think I have an advantage here since my hands are small. I can go in pretty far and figure out where the tunnels curve.

Tie on your tether and set your traps. Carefully put them into the holes as far as you can reach. I think this is critical. Probably the closer the gopher gets to the disturbance you've created, the more cautious he will be. Since you've felt out the tunnel, you can be prepared for curves and can set it at a correct angle in the curve. Since you have 2 traps, you put one in each tunnel so you catch the gopher no mater which way he comes. Of course be sure to attach your tether to the anchor.

I then carefully back fill the hole. I feel that if you leave the entire hole open to the elements the gopher may wall off the tunnel before reaching the trap, fearing something tried to dig him out and it isn't safe anymore. I say carefully fill in the hole so the falling dirt won't set off the trap. They should be far enough down the tunnel that it isn't a problem. Then, I leave an air hole or sun hole or something of the sort to lure the gopher to his waiting doom. Who knows how many miles of tunnels they have under there. By leaving the hole exposed a bit, I think that it encourages the gopher to come investigate. He smells the fresh air or sees the light and wants to come see about fixing the problem. If you filled it in completely, it could be more than a day before he comes back to the area with the traps, then you don't know if you should move the traps because he's moved on, or if he just hasn't been back that way yet.

Traps should be checked daily and continue to monitor the area after you catch him since gophers will move into vacant tunnels.

If you were not successful and have an empty trap, reset the trap at least one more day in the same location. If you still did not catch anything, and especially if there are new mounds, move onto one of the new mounds. Be careful with your traps, because sometimes even pulling them out does not trip them. You do not want those pinchers going into your body (especially if they have left over gopher guts on them- yuck.) I recommend tripping the trap with the shovel.

Notice I didn't mention poison at all. I am afraid of poison due to the dogs. A sick, poisoned gopher could be disoriented and wander out of his tunnel and die and then get eaten by a dog, which would then poison the dog. Or, a dog could get into the stored poison. It is just not something I want to risk, so I use traps only.

As described above is the method I have perfected over the month or so and two dead gophers that resulted. Yes, not a long time of accumulated experience, and not a very high kill list, but so far my kill rate is 100%, so I must be doing something right.

Tracking Dog Certification

2012-01-17T22:07:00.000-08:00

On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Dottie and I passed our AKC Tracking Dog (TD) certification. This is really a big accomplishment for me since I have never done an AKC tracking event before, and even though I trained all three of my current dogs for tracking at the same time, Dottie is the first dog who has been successful enough to certify.

The purpose of the TD certification is to be allowed to enter an actual tracking test. In most parts of the US, tracking tests are few and far between due to lack of suitable land. Then, when there are tests, there are usually openings for only 3 dogs. So the thinking is they don't want totally unprepared dogs entering, taking up a spot, then failing badly.

The certification is the exact same as an actual test. It has all the same elements. Once you pass, the AKC tracking judge who laid the track gives you 3 certificates that are good for a year and that you send in with each entry. If you enter a test and don't get in (each test has a random draw, so hopefully my lucky streak comes into play) the secretary sends you the certificate back. The only time you won't get a certificate back is if you enter the test then fail. That way if you fail three tests in 1 year you will have to re-certify.

Dottie's certification track was held in an empty industrial lot in town, next to the freeway. The cover was dead and very short and not uniform- mostly thin, but also some bare patches. Lots of pokers, and huge ground squirrel and gopher mounds. However, there was basically no wind, which is always nice. The track was aged for 40 minuets. The judge puts 1 article at the start for the dog to take up the scent, and one article at the end that the dog must find or you won't pass. The track is a quarter of a mile long. Which, for a SchH trained dog, is very, very long to go without an article.

I had a lot of confidence in Dottie since not only does she have a good nose and doesn't quit, but I can also read her very well. She is very clear when she is on the scent, vs. when she is searching for it and when she thinks she is on it, but isn't 100% committed.

I have NEVER done a blind track before, where I have no idea where the track is and have to trust her. Yes, it was hard, but since she is so clear in her signals, it wasn't as hard as it would have been if it had been Pie or Fancy who pretend they are tracking, but are really just guessing. The other thing I haven't done before the certification is tracked her on a harness. But I kind of liked it because it kept the line from getting wrapped around her leg so much if she gets into search mode.

Dottie circled a bit at some corners (we had 5) and in the middle of 1 leg had quite a bit of searching. The judge thought she was sniffing the animals ("crittering") but Dottie doesn't do that when tracking. It is possible all the animal scent confused her, and he also mentioned a man and his dog crossed the track, so that also might have confused her. The part that confused me was our last corner. It was an obtuse angle, instead of the 90 degree angles I am used to. I didn't realize an obtuse angle was allowed, so when Dottie took off at a direction not perpendicular to the way we were going, I wasn't sure what she was up to. However, everything about her posture told me she was on the scent, so I followed along. That was our last leg, and my agony of confusion was short lived since she found the wallet. Most people use a glove, so the judge thought he was being funny when, after I indicated my dog found the article, he told me that wasn't his. But, Dottie has never incorrectly indicated an article, so I didn't believe him.

I have three entries ready to send off tomorrow. 2 in San Diego (3 hrs away) and 1 in Sacramento (8 hrs away). Those are the closest tracking locations. All 3 are in February. I hope I get into one! If not, there are a few more coming up in March.

Next I have to work on aging the track more because for the Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX) the track will be aged from 3-5 hours!

New IPO Rules Seminar

2012-01-17T21:47:00.000-08:00

The second weekend in January was the weekend I had to work, but I took it off. I get to miss one a fiscal year and I decided this was a good one to miss. Not only was there a 2 day seminar I wanted to attend, but the closer we get to our inspectionat work, the less likely I will be to receive approval for time off.

The seminar I wanted to attend was put on by our SchH club and was regarding the new rules that go along with the name change from SchH to IPO. (I may be boycotting the term IPO. Now that I know what it translates to, it is just so dumb. Like callingagility, “NR” National Regulations. That is what you call the rules governing your sport, not the actual sport.) In the morning there was a slide show, followed by Q/A, then lunch, then some demos on the field, then the field was opened up for practice.

The slide show was informative, the Q/A not so much because people just need to pay better attention. Lunch was good. I got put in charge of the hot dogs on the open flame grill and I got smoked out and then my fire went out (just add more wood nexttime.) The demos were helpful and Dottie gave a demo of how not to approach the start flag on a track. The dog should be walking calmly, not dragging you. I can’t help it if she gets excited to track. I heard afterwards some people were impressed that shetook up the scent and followed the track on the training field where everyone had been walking all day. She really likes to track. Then we got in some protection work on a helper she’s never worked with before. I had him yell really loud at her on the longbite in prep for the regional. She did well. Except for the back transport. We just don’t know how to do that yet.

Then the next day most people went home and the seminar was a new helper classification and current helper re-certification. I am not interested in being a helper (I don’t need a big dog crashing into my knees and popping them out, I handle that justfine on my own) but by watching and listening, I learned a lot about how to spot a good helper vs. one who needs more work. This was only addressing trial helper work, which is very different than a training helper. Then all of the helpers had to work dogsthought out the day, and also do a full SchH 3 routine with a dog they didn’t know. Dottie helped out here, and again it was great for her to get on different helpers. During the practice, it was evident some of the helpers were more skilled than others. The brand new guy almost ran me over on the back transport (another reason I can’t be a helper, I don’t think fast enough- I almost neglected to get out of the way!) and another guy tripped over a dog, who then came off the sleeve, and it was good on the dog’spart to re-grip on the sleeve, and not on the body part that was closest to his mouth (the man’s rear end. Ouch.)

During Dottie’s routine, she was very good, again except on the back transport. And she was a bit dirty with getting in little bites on the outs. But not too bad for a little girl. It gave me confidence to see her work with a helper she didn’t know. I’m told the helper at the regional pressures the dogs a lot, so I wanted to be sure she was ready for that.

It was a great weekend, very educational, fun, and any weekend I’m not at work is an even better than great weekend.

Also, one more note- the "judge" in the video was our normal helper, so Dottie gave him a second look during the side transport when we report into him. Wondering, "What are you doing here without the sleeve?"

Southwest Region IPO Trial

2012-01-16T21:43:00.000-08:00

IPO= Schutzhund. Due to political reasons, Germany no longer calls protection sport Schutzhund and since it originated in Germany, our United States club followed their lead and calls it IPO now as well. What does IPO stand for? Good question. I had to look it up: Internationale Prüfungs-Ordnung. Then I used Google Translate to see what that means. It says: International auditing rules. Ummm....? or International Exam Rules, which makes a tiny bit more sense but what type of exam?

That is actually a topic for a different post. This post is about the fact that I entered Dottie in the Southwest Region trial. We are listed here (click). It is in 2 weeks and we are trialing for our IPO 2. We can't expect to win the trial. Right now we are being a bit sloppy in obedience and protection. But I hope to put in a good effort with my tiny little female. Most of the other dogs entered, if not all, are males. That is because males have the testosterone needed to be aggressive and brave. Dottie just has heart. And lots of it.

We will be on a strange field, with a helper she has never worked with before, under more difficult grading conditions. (In this sport, at Regional and National level competitions, they score you differently than at local trials.)

Next weekend, we are heading down to practice on the obedience field. The Southwest region is very large, but we are lucky that the trial is about 1.5 hrs away. Last year it was in AZ. One other lady from my club entered, so we are offering each other lots of support. For both of us this is our first Regional level competition and our second competition ever. Lots to be nervous about, but we are tying to keep it under control.

2nd Hike

2012-01-16T21:23:00.000-08:00

On or around New Year's Day (yes, I'm that far behind) Dad and I took a short hike up in the local hills. A dirt access/ fire road that usually has a closed gate had an open date, so we drove up in the jeep. Once there, we started off, only to run into several bikes coming up the hill. After running into a second, separate group of bikes, we peeled off onto a smaller trail. It turns out this trail was quite a find! It went into a canyon that had more varied terrain and pretty vegetation and generally interesting things to see than if we had stayed on the main roads.

However, the same bikes who we were encountering on the main road, also knew about this great trail. We ran into a lot of bikes. Which is a problem since the dogs are off leash. The dogs don't bother the bikes, but the polite thing to do is gather the dogs up, step off the trail, and allow the bikes to pass. There were so many bikes that this was becoming tiresome. And another problem is Pie ranges so far out it takes her a while to get back to me when I call her.

Once nice rider we spoke to had a cow bell on his bike so he didn't sneak up on hikers or other unsuspecting people. We saw him coming and I called Pie but she didn't show up. He stoped to chat and let me know that before I called her, she was down over the side, came up in front of him, trotted along the path a few feet, then ran up the other side of the hill. Didn't even glance at him. I think Pie wants to be a feral dog.

We also ran into a lady leading her horse (he is older and just carries the water) and 2 dogs. A lab and German Shepherd. They didn't come when she called and I eventually had to lead the lab back to her. This was after I bashed him with my walking stick because he barreled into our sitting pack of dogs without slowing down or offering any body language indicating what he was up to. He didn't mind the bashing. I'm glad I didn't upset him, but I'm also glad he wasn't aggressive, since the bashing didn't have any effect on him. Pie totally ignored the horse, which is good since in the past she has given me mixed signals regarding horses.

It was a nice hike, except for the inconvenience of the bikes. A bit windy up on the main roads but really nice down in the canyon.


Starting off.

This is the way we are headed.

Dad inspects.

Fancy waits for us.

Molly stays close.

A really neat trail that went into a canyon with lots of shade, green vegetation and small ups and downs.

Dottie also stays pretty close.

Heading out of the canyon.

An "artifact" we had the dogs pose with.

I pose with the artifact and Pie wonders why Fancy's head what accidentally left out of the photo.

Done with the interesting trail and back on a fire road.

I like our shadows in this picture. Pie ran the most in the beginning, and she is still running out ahead.

Obligatory Dottie stick picture. It bends the opposite way from her tail.

Heading back out.

Dottie likes the jeep.

So do Fancy and Pie. Notice my parent's good dogs are not constantly poking over the seats.

One Day Agility Trial

2012-01-16T20:48:00.000-08:00

Even with multiple issues, the ribbons say we had good results. Fancy: MXP title and QQ number 8. Pie: QQ Number 9. I liked our jumpers run, it went well.

Dottie, double nq. Lots and lots of problems and I made a bad choice to carry her off in our second run when I couldn't take it anymore. I think that demoralized her. Sorry Dottie.

Forging?

2012-01-13T23:40:00.000-08:00

No, I haven't heard of it, why do you bring it up?

Luckily my dogs only occasionally heal like this... Yikes.

Sillines

2012-01-13T23:23:00.000-08:00

Smooth Fancy.

Poofy Fancy.

Sometimes Dottie thinks she was better off in the shelter.

Taken at the New Year's Trial. I went Thursday and Friday only. Dottie was entered 2 days and Fancy and Pie one day each. Pie got a QQ and the other 2 got 1 Q each. FFluffy was here so that made it extra fun.

Christmas Day Hike

2012-01-13T22:48:00.000-08:00

I had a nice post about the new Blogger format and how it was easier to use, but I accidentally went back a page using a keyboard shortcut (I suppose, since I didn't use the mouse to hit back) and my draft was not autosaved like it usually is and I lost it all. Then, I couldn't get the new format to load pictures anymore. I struggled with it much longer than I should have. Finally, I gave up and went back to the old format. Really frustrating. Back to loading images 5 at a time that then show up in a totally random order, but at least they are loading. Since these are just hiking pictures, I won't fix the order either. I've already spent too long on this post.

This was before dinner on Christmas. Just the dogs and I went to the abandoned road and hung out, climbed stuff, swam, and took pictures. We didn't cover very many miles, but had fun anyway.

Pie runs. Or hovers.

Pie run take 2.

Still running.

Now Fancy runs.

More again.

An artistic photo. Or just my camera being broken and not getting the exposure right.

Running on a hill.

Dottie runs on the flat.

Fancy poses nicely.

I'm outta here.

Fancy is lord of her domain.

I think her expression is extra cute.

Dottie ran up and down this hill because it was fun.

Do you see what I see? (A star, a star, shinning in the night?) I'm guessing that is not what she sees.

Do you see Fancy?

Fancy practices hovering also.

Fancy and Pie, can you hear me down there?

Whoa. Attack of the Dottie.

She should be a Cover Girl.

Fluffy Fancy says it is more fun to run with your eyes closed.

Pretty Pie.

Really, Dottie? Can't you find a normal stick?

Sharing. How nice.

Tugging.

Playing with the long but skinny stick.

A large piece of the dam. The road is not abandoned due to the dam, FYI. The dam broke a long time ago. The 30's perhaps? The road is abandoned due to more recent flooding and it washed away in several sections so they built a new road.

Dottie takes a sobriety test. She passed. The allergies on the back of her legs come and go. They are here in the picture but are gone in the present time.

Using the timer function. Dottie does not like climbing on large rocks. Weirdo.

We climbed up this steep, slippery embankment.

Posing on a piece of the dam from the San Fransquito Dam disaster.

After the hike was more visiting and then dinner!

Dinner was 100% good. I wish I was eating that oh so moist turkey and all the fixings again right now!

After the hike, brother and ladyfriend arrived for dinner and more presents.

Brother and ladyfriend with his new grill to go with his new house (the house was not a Christmas gift, but was bought recently.)

And finally...

Molly (parent's dog) with a piece of a toy one of my bad dogs chewed off of her toy. However, all is not terrible since the smaller the scrap of fabric is, the more she seems to like it.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-13T21:21:00.000-08:00

Me and my favorite niece!

I know, finally! One of the reasons I'm behind on blogging is my Christmas gift I mentioned in a previous post. The Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Since I can check email, blogs, Facebook, the AKC website etc, my laptop sat in it's case for the past few weeks. I never unpacked it after Christmas and therefore never got around to blogging. But finally here we are.

First, before Christmas we went to view some really nice Christmas lights.

A house with a luau theme.

A house with a Nightmare Before Christmas Theme.

The most festive street. It won first prize in the contest put on by the local paper.

The most festive street even had the street painted!

The most festive street from above.

So sweet!

I believe the lights were the day before Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve itself we went to Christmas Eve mass at 4 pm. Usually we go at midnight so it was nice to go earlier.

Heading to Christmas Eve Mass at a private school. It was perfect. Not crowded, a pretty church and no traffic. Plus, a good sermon as well.

Keeping the niece entertained before Mass.

Older of the younger bros posing with niece.

Uncle Youngest Bro and Little Niece. Using the new Blogger interface and can't figure out how to rotate photos.

Bro and Ladyfriend.

The girls.

The boys.

The niece. :)

Everyone up front of the church after Christmas Eve mass.

The traditional Christmas Eve dinner at Pizza Hut.

Ladyfriend brought cookies so we had an appetizer before the food came.

Next it was Christmas Morning!

Niece and her dress that matches her American Girl.

Small children opening gifts is the best!

I got her a funny hat.

Another great wrap job. What could it be?

A barn star!

Pie got a pig. It is no more, sadly.

Niece trying on my really long Santa hat.

More opening.

Dad gets a gift. Don't worry, he got more than just "a" gift. This is just a picture of 1 of them.

Mom opening a present.

I'm opening a present! The shirt was a gift to myself and Mal Rescue since they get the proceeds.

Penned up to stay out of trouble. They had a jailbreak shortly after.

Perry the Platypus! From a TV show.

Yep, it was a super Christmas. Of course I wish the whole family could have been there and that my favorite niece could have stayed longer.

New Grass Day?

2012-01-03T16:44:00.000-08:00

I am writing this using voice recognition feature on my samsung galaxy tab. Sometimes it has no idea what I am saying and just make things up. Then I have to go back and fix it, which sometimes takes longer than typing would. However, typing on this virtual keypad takes me a long time so fixingj things is probably quicker. Sometimes, it is an honest mistake. Such as w o u l d versus w o o d. Other times the things it comes up with are completely random and sometimes silly. It bleeps out some swear words but not others. Not that I am swearing, sometimes it's just thinks I am.

But back to the real reason for this post. The grass is coming in nicely. I let the dogs out to hang out on it and they even played a little bit. That was bad because it tore up some grass.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T22:01:00.002-08:00

I still don't have the time to give Christmas the time it deserves, so this post will be re-visted again later. As my mom said, this was one of the Best Christmases Ever! (We are so lucky that we get these a lot!)

One of my friends had a dog Christmas Miracle. She has a 10 year old flat-coat, which is sadly, due to their affinity for cancer, almost a miracle itself. Kirby still competes in agility as well as also still being alive. She missed her last 2 classes due to a mass being found on her spleen. She had her spleen removed and since she has a family history of hermagiosarcoma, her owner was certain cancer had caught her at last. Her hope was it was less aggressive and more treatable. Well, the biopsy results came back, and the mass was benign! A 10 year old flat-coat with a mass, and it isn't cancer! Merry Christmas Kirby!

We can only hope the news is as good for her elderly ex-racing greyhound who is also having some health issues.

Happy New Year to everyone. Stay safe out there.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-24T23:50:00.000-08:00

I have pictures to post of church with Laura, and out to eat afterwards, but those will have to wait until later, as it is now almost midnight.

So, Merry Christmas to all and to all a GOOD NIGHT!

I will leave you with these pictures of the dogs wearing my new Santa Hat.

Dottie went first. I liked the look of the pictures better with no flash. But the light was dim so the shutter stayed open for a few seconds. I was not sure she would sit still so long, but she did.

So cute!

Fancy always looks like a professional model.

The hat fell off as the shutter was open and gave it a kind of cool effect.

Pie was very proud of her hat. She was the only one who enjoyed it.

With the flash. Has a harsher look and the eye shine also.

2nd Dottie CDX Attempt

2011-12-24T22:31:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we headed down to Long Beach for our second CDX attempt. The obedience was in a separate building, the Long Beach Arena. Cool venue. Pie was also entered for a UDX attempt.

The first day she did her down signal! Finally! I had been throwing the down signal throughout the day in the house each day, so maybe that helped. However, she was still very barky, did not sit in front with the glove, and wiggled a lot on the stand. We got NQed on the stand, and the judge said we might have pointed out on the rest. She qualified in open, did the groups perfect, and got an open q. Which is nice, but doesn't do much for us. She was fairly barky and had a 176.

As I was walking into the utility ring, the steward came up to me and told me it was Dottie's turn. The utility steward verbally chastized me for holding up the utility ring as I stopped to point out to the open steward I was in the other ring. Apparently they held the open ring for me, and didn't just have someone else go. As soon as I came out with Pie, the open steward pounced on me and told me I had to take Dottie in. So, the only warm up she got was as we ran to the ring. Not surprisingly, she was horrible. Her heeling was very inattentive and she sniffed the baby gates. She did do all of the exercises, except the drop on recall. I realized later I used my high pitched "come" voice when I said "down." Usually I use a low pitched voice for the down. Sure, she should do it anyway, but I know Dottie especially listens a lot to tone. The groups were perfect. Besides not getting a warm up, I also failed to walk Dottie around the rings and let her look at the surroundings. I was concerned with Pie, since she went in first.

After our not so grand attempts, we went shopping at the vendors and got some supplements. The show went very late, I was there until about 3.

After the show, we went out to dinner for older younger brother's birthday. He is 28.

The next day Pie was much more quiet in utility. This weekend I jumped Pie at 22 since she is 23 inches tall according to her agility jump height card. Usually I jump her 24 since that is her agility jump height, but we were right in the middle of a group of 22 inch dogs so I put her at 22 inches. Today, the utility judge measured everyone. Weird! When it was Pie's turn, he put the wicket up next to her (which she actually found to be somewhat odd) then used a pen across her shoulders and eyeballed the location. He didn't look at it at eye level, and the since it just a pen, it wasn't locked into a flat position. After measuring her, he said "Leash Please!" and sent me out of the ring. I thought maybe I was getting excused! But he put the jumps up to 24 inches then called me back in. Of course Pie can jump 24 inches, but I was embarrassed, as if I was caught trying to cheat! I was just going off her agility height card, which is measured by 2 different, trained judges, and is on a table at eye level, with a wicket that is fixed in a horizontal line. So I feel as if he measured incorrectly. But oh well. Other than the embarrassment, it wasn't a problem.

Pie did her down signal again and was much more quiet than yesterday. She seemed happy. On the stand for exam, she stayed a little better, but then walked out of it and into heel position!!!! Darn, darn, darn! So, so close.

Dottie was next and this time I walked her around the ring before Pie's turn. We also didn't have a conflict today. I had a really good warm up with her. I don't use toys or treats before we go in so she doesn't miss them as soon as we go in. We played lots with just me poking and letting her jump and mouth my arm. We practiced heeling with chasing and jumping. I do let her tug on the dumbbell because that is with us in the ring!

We went into the ring in sync. Her heeling was attentive and fairly precise. Great individual exercises. On the retrieve over high, it bounded off to the side, but we've proofed for that and she did a great job. The most amazing thing is she had a perfect score on both the retrieve over the high AND the broad jump!! I've never had a perfect broad jump before. Possibly the same for high jump. Again the groups were perfect. We got first place with at 196.5. I am so happy with that score!

I think with good warm ups, baring unseen circumstances, we should pass in the future. CDX, here we come! (Now I've jinxed us for sure!)

Pie's turn in open also went well. Pie had the best heeling she's had probably ever, and we got a 189.5. Also our best score in a while. Her warm up is to play with a toy a lot. I was happy she did her groups so nicely both days.

As a bonus we got out of there much earlier.

While walking around between times in the ring, I found this random hole in the wall. My dogs know the command, "What's in there?"

Fancy's head goes in the furthest.

I think Dottie might have gotten in further, but there was an end to the hole, and I think her nose hit the end!

Pie only goes up to her eyebrows.

Cookies!

2011-12-24T22:12:00.000-08:00

I've spent the better part of the month making Christmas cookies. Or at least it feels like that. A double batch for the family, a batch for older sister, mailed off with her present, and a batch for K.

First order of business was to keep the dogs entertained.

Pie and her wubba snowman. First the legs got gnawed off. Then the nose went, and finally the hat.

Dottie was given a small toy. But it kept her amused for a little while.

My only work surface. The downside of a small kitchen.

The washing machine was the work area for making the icing.

Figures Dottie got flour on her face.

Cookies cut out.

Very messy, but a close look at the cookies show they were worth it!

The dogs help with the clean up.

So far the cookies have been a hit, so the toil has been worth it. I have one more batch to make in case ffluffy and I want Christmas cookies at the trial before New Years.

Best Wrap Job Ever

2011-12-21T18:59:00.000-08:00

If I may be so bold as to declare this about something I wrapped! I already gave this gift so it is ok if I give away what it is. But first, can you guess?? Dottie was too sleepy to even wake up when I posed the gift next to her.

I'll give you a hint- it is what it looks like. Nothing fancy here!

Grass Day 32 (If I Did My Math Right)

2011-12-21T18:43:00.001-08:00

It actually looks better in person. I guess when it looks good in the pictures, I will know it is ready to use.

Close up of the fullest section.

Blurry pic of the side that isn't growing as fast.

All Moved In

2011-12-20T17:55:00.000-08:00

Here is what the new place looks like with furniture in it.

Pie Being Pie Again

2011-12-19T20:46:00.001-08:00

Nothing really to say here. Pie is so Pieable. As I tell her often.

Pieable= adjective. pronounced Pie-a-bul Silly but puts on airs of a desire to be dignified. Cute but regal and noble. Prone to take odd physical positions. Usually applied to a canine of the Malinois persuasion, esp those with the name of Pie.

Dottie's Frist CDX Attempt

2011-12-19T20:21:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago we attended the Valley Hills obedience and agility show. Dottie was entered in agility and open obedience and Pie was entered in agility and open B and utility B for an attempted UDX leg. It was not our weekend.

Pie QQed the first day in agility, but that was it. No one else Qed in anything for the rest of the weekend.

Dottie has been going under the table in agility (easy for a 22 inch dog and a 24 inch table) so I pulled her off in standard when she tried it again. I have been working it in practice. No problems there. It has been too long so I can't remember what happened in jumpers both days.

I had crazy conflicts all weekend, which is not surprising considering what I entered. Actually, it was a lot better than usual since they ran FAST first and I didn't enter that. I wisely did not enter Fancy, and since both Mals jump the same height, I only had to walk one course at a time.

Pie refused the down signal in utility both days. It is related to stress. She was fine in open the first day but I pulled from groups because she seemed to be uncomfortable sitting and the second day the judge NQed us on the drop on recall because she scooted forward too much when I walked away. Also related to the sit problem, I think.

Dottie did all of the individual exercises fine her first time in the ring. During the groups she scooted about 3 feet on both positions for an NQ. I addressed that for Sunday and no scooting. (Too bad all problems aren't fixed as quickly!) As we were returning on the long down on Sunday after passing everything up to then, but before I could see her, Dottie sat up! Darn! But both days she worked nicely with good attention so there were some definite positives.

I decorated my EZ Up to be festive. Our club held a small Christmas party where we brought gifts and the dogs picked their own gift. Dottie picked one I brought! Silly girl.

I see you are speechless with amazement at my superior decorating skills. I made Dottie wear the jingle collar again.

Pie picked the big wubba. Perfect! You can see the green Lufa already met Dottie. Dottie was the best present opener. She pounced and immediately began ripping. Can't wait for her to get to open presents on Christmas!

K's BSD was in agility and he earned his NAJ. His first agility title! And K's also!! He needs one more leg for his NA. I took a few pictures using my small camera, but these are the only 2 worth sharing.

D exiting the weaves.

Just blasted out of the chute and heading for the last jump.

I recycled my decorations onto my house. And made the dogs pose with the gifts they picked. Fancy was pouting.

Dottie abandons her small toy and investigates Pie's big one.

Pie holds her sit but also guards her toy. Dottie goes back to her original loot and Fancy asks, "Is that a bug, or am I so bored I'm making things up?"

Pie Gets it Wrong

2011-12-19T20:19:00.000-08:00

Big bed, but not big enough, perhaps.

Grass on 12/11/11

2011-12-19T19:43:00.000-08:00

I am way behind in blogging due to the preparations for Christmas. More on that later.

Here is the grass progress on Dec 11th.

Random Cuteness

2011-12-12T15:39:00.000-08:00

My favorite stuffed animal.

Pie gets the upper "head." This time.

Two sleepy peas in a pod. Bonus points if you know who is Pie and who is Dottie.

More cuteness.

It was so cold that Dottie's ears got frostbite and had to be amputated!

Christmas Shopping

2011-12-08T23:02:00.000-08:00

No cute dog pictures to post today. Just the report that I've been doing most of my Christmas shopping online. It is easy and I can find what I want. When I go into stores, they either don't have what is on my list, or maybe it is there but I can't find it and I can't get someone to help me. So online shopping is the way to go. Plus, I can be shopping at 11 pm (when I really should be sleeping.) But since I'm working during the day (as most people are) then when I get off work I need to train dogs or walk them before it gets dark, when else am I supposed to shop? Maybe on the weekends. This weekend I have a combo agility/ obedience trial AND it is our dog club Christmas party after the trial... That shopping I actually did in the Pet Smart store- at 8:45 after agility in the evening and I was the last customer in the store. As soon as I left they locked the doors behind me!

At the party the dogs will pick their own gifts out of a pile. I wanted all 3 of my girls to get to pick a gift so of course I had to buy 3 gifts. I already wrapped them and to make it more exciting I warped each one differently and put one in a wine bottle sack, one in a gift bag, and just wrapped one normal. That way people won't know their dog is picking something that is identical to my other gifts. Yes, I probably put too much thought and effort into it.

While online shopping, I was also cooking chocolate chip cookies for the dog party. To make them more festive I put candy snowflakes and blue sprinkles on some, candy holly berries and leafs on others, and m and ms on the rest. And I backed some extra to take to my parent's this weekend as a bribe. A bribe for things to come- always good to stock up on future bribes.

There was some talk of my work making me come in this weekend to supervise some contractors. Don't they know 1) It is Dottie's first CDX try? 2) It is a combo agility/ obedience trial and Pie is all excited about agility so she tends to do really well in obedience and these type of trials hardly ever happen so I have to take advantage when they do? 3) It is the club party and I'm excited about the doggie presents? (and human food?) 4) I entered 2 dogs in 2 runs each day in agility and 1 dog in 2 runs each day in obedience (UDX) and 1 dog in 1 run a day for obedience and that is a lot of money in entry fees? No, they don't know any of that, but you can be assured if they ask me to work, they will know!

One thing I bought online just now is for me! (and one for ffluffy- hope she doesn't read this blog much!) Mal Shirt
It is a t-shirt supporting Malinois Rescue, so the proceeds go to help homeless Malinois. I recommend it because it is the gift that gives twice! Once to the person who gets the shirt and the second time is the benefit to rescue. I also bought some Mal Rescue Calendars again this year, although both Pie and Dottie got picked for month pictures but then got the boot due to (alleged) picture quality issues. Yes, Dottie's had a problem but I do not believe Pie's did. Oh well- maybe next year.

Fun!

2011-12-07T20:03:00.000-08:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Photos Published in Canda

2011-12-06T16:07:00.000-08:00

I had some photos I took of K's BSD published in Canine Review, a Canadian dog show magazine. It is like "Dogs in Review" here in the States. This is the electronic version. http://www.caninereview-digital.com/caninereview/201111#pg35

My photos are the ones of agility on this page. Does this mean I'm an Internationally published photographer now??

Practice (Obedience) Photos

2011-12-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

From sometime during the past week practicing groups on my lunch break. Fancy was excused because 1) she doesn't show any more and 2) I didn't come prepared and didn't have treats for a job well done. Fancy usually participates, but due to the lack of treats I excused her.

On Wednesday during my student's private lesson my dogs always get treats from their "Auntie" which makes the beginning and end of the practice group difficult because my dogs maul her. Apparently when their Auntie is around all training goes out the window. Kind of like if cash was raining from the sky and my boss told me to stay at my desk to answer the phone. (He probably would, too. And I would probably do as I was told since the alternate would be to get fired. My dogs don't get fired for mauling their Auntie and ignoring me. They just get more treats.)

This is the inside area where I teach my class. Except no one showed up this week. I didn't mind, I took my dogs for a walk instead. This photo makes the area look big. The wood part is actually a wood wall. The blue floor is the only floor space.

Not an obedience practice photo...

Last one for the day. Pie looking rather uncomfortable. But her head falls off the beds frequently so perhaps she prefers it that way.

New Grass Day 11

2011-12-02T17:27:00.000-08:00

Green!

There was some cheating because some grass had started to grow after we got rain but before I planted any. Perhaps it is annual rye grass and will die in the summer. But then my grass will be established so it won't matter. The greenest section is where the 2 sprinklers overlap, proving it takes lots of water to grow grass. Some of the green is clover, probably the bur kind that Fancy gets stuck in her coat. But it is green and not too pokey, so it is better than the goat's heads.

Close up of the shoots in the barest section.

Also, I caught my first gopher today. I took this picture before I knew if I had one or not. This is the second time I set the traps. I think the first time I set them I put them in a section the gophers have moved on from. I set 2 more traps but I don't know how many animals I'm dealing with.

Yes, I am anchoring the traps with a stick in the ground weave pole base and an old chewed leash. Use what you have.

New Random Video!

2011-12-01T21:55:00.000-08:00

I do not think it is quite on par with "Hero Dogs" or "Conserving Energy" but it isn't the worst video to ever take up space on Youtube. With the other 2 I had a plan first, then filmed. This one I just filmed the dogs then made a story to go along with the video clips I had. I use the word "story" loosely.

I had quite a bit of trouble putting this together because I forgot that the program that came with my laptop does not to the black and white old film look. So I had to use my desktop computer which is all hooked up, not not in a very accessible place. So I had to rearrange the table, then move the files using my camera card. Next, when I went to add the music, the speakers won't work! I did everything I could think of, but no luck. However, I am very familiar with the music so I cut it as I wanted it, then transferred the whole thing back to the laptop to test it with speakers. I had forgotten the music is actually a recording using my camera off the computer speakers with me giving an intro voice over first. That did not work. So I had to cut it approximately which lead to all kinds of other problems, and I didn't do one clip right the first time, but finally it all worked.

Why did I put so much work into such a cheesy video? I could have been training dogs (if it wasn't dark, cold, windy and I had a spot to do it.)

First Christmas Picture

2011-11-30T21:09:00.001-08:00

Because nothing says "Merry Christmas" like forcing your dogs to wear absurd head gear.

Open Practice

2011-11-28T22:37:00.001-08:00

Dottie's first CDX show is in 2 weeks. I've been doing little things here and there but today decided to get serious.

Today I actually used jumps and set them up as in a ring. Dottie did the retrieve over the jump and on the flat fine. She didn't try to take the jump on the flat. But on the drop on recall she kept taking the jump. I could get to to come straight to me by teasing her with the toy first, but as soon as I didn't do that, she'd take the jump again. I hope to fix it before the 2 weeks is up.

Pie was fine despite not doing any obedience for who knows how long. I ran out of time and didn't practice groups. Pie really needs to practice that though.

Since the grass is still growing in my yard (actually it hasn't progressed to much- disappointing) I had to lug the jumps to the park. I didn't get kicked out for having the dogs off leash so that is a plus. But the park is on a hill and there is no parking near the flattest section, so I had to carry the equipment a little ways. No one should be surprised that the jumps started to fall apart on the way back to the car and I left a little trail of forlorn objects. I made Pie pick up and carry one jump standard, but she was being bad and kept putting it down. It probably would have been easier for me to just go back for it, but by that time it was a battle of wills.

Besides practicing obedience I did a lot of unpacking and putting things away and organizing the garage and putting items in the attic storage in the garage. I hope if there is an earthquake my car is not in the garage or there will be a travel touch board trainer, various wire and vari kennels, fans, a raised dog bed and a folding crate on my hood.

Fancy Abuse

2011-11-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

Fancy abuse. Just arrest me now. The back was full of jumps, smaller storage containers and crates. I should have put her in the empty crate before loading the car up. Luckily Fancy is like a little weasel and fits in absurdly tiny places. Poor Fancy.

Whoa! So This is What Sucess Feels Like?

2011-11-27T19:54:00.000-08:00

We had a good weekend! After taking Friday off from our club's show, we showed (and worked) Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday ALL THREE DOGS Double Qed! I've never had that before! (Mainly because it was Dottie's first ever QQ!!!) Fancy's QQ got her qualified for the 2012 Nationals and Pie's was number 6 to Mach 3. That same day our club had a huge raffle and I won 2 baskets! I'm pretty sure it doesn't get ANY better than that.

Day 1!

Between the 2 raffle baskets, there were three toys. Perfect!

Fancy has a soft red heart.

Pie goes after the tag on Max the Dog.

He's yummy!

Oh no, Max!

Dottie starts off with the Gingerbread Man.

Then she moves onto the Heart.

Pie tries out GBM and chews the tip of his festive hat off.

Fancy takes over Max. Pie went back to him later and all that was left was his silly antler.

Dottie decimates the heart. It had brown stuffing.

I love the raffle!

This awesome Christmas bell collar was also in 1 basket.

I hate raffles.

Today I crossed my fingers to repeat our success but it was not to be. Pie had a bar down in jumpers and Dottie pretended something under the table was more exciting than getting on the table. Actually, she probably wasn't pretending- I agree the table is pretty boring too. I guess since she did the same thing the previous day she thought she'd get away with it again today. Nope. I picked her up and carried her all the way off the course and back to her x-pen. She got really heavy at the end!

Fancy came through and QQed again today. Surprisingly, this was enough to get us the High Scoring Club Member for Excellent, even though we didn't show on Friday. No one had more than 4 Qs for the weekend and as a tie breaker they went to points, and Fancy came out a head. What a good, dependable girl.

Fancy's ribbons.

Such good girls!

3 Dog Night (ie- 3 Sleeping Dogs)

2011-11-25T18:07:00.000-08:00

Pie helped herself to the couch. Again. And this time she used the arm rest as a pillow for her poor tired head.

Dottie claimed the dog beds and curled up. Comment from youngest brother when I showed him the photo- I didn't know that dog slept.

Poor Fancy was left to sleep in the hallway. No bed, no couch, no love. :(

Dottie gets a close up because she is extra cute and small.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-25T17:13:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a tasty and thankful Thanksgiving! I know I did! I'm thankful for too much to list here, but I'll list the big 3: My family, friends, and dogs!

Good food and good family!

A bit of the preparation. Pie got the neck and she was thankful.

Nice Hike

2011-11-25T16:34:00.000-08:00

Today I took a hike with my Dad and Dottie. I thought less dogs would be more enjoyable for him and since Pie has had her staples and stitches removed yesterday I wanted to give her one more day of restricted activity. Dottie obsesses over Fancy so I decided to leave her home also. It was like Dottie was an only dog.

The hike started on a closed section of road, went through some typical California scrub, then into a narrow, cool canyon, with lots of green growth and some flowing water. The floor of the canyon was cemented in some places for when cars used to drive through to get the the now closed and abandoned campground. If it was not cemented it would have been too eroded to pass through. It was a very nice and scenic hike for the day after Thanksgiving. Not very taxing either.

Starting off on the first part. A closed road.

Obligatory dog on rock picture.

Dad blazes the trail.

Dottie also blazes the trail.

Does this even look like CA?

The concreted in section.

The concrete was wearing away.

Dottie did not mind being an only dog on this hike.

This is what I look like with one dog. Do you even recognize me?

Posing.

A very scenic and pretty waterfall.

Too bad it was so small.

Neat rock formation that the water flows around.

Dottie found this bottle and carried it into the stream then abandoned it. Everyone knows (except her) that once you interact with trash you are responsible for it. So I made her get it out of the stream and put it off to the side to pick up on the way back. She remembered the location and ran ahead to get it on the way back.

I make a successful jump.

Dottie gets a pet.

One of the many sticks Dottie found and carried.

Palm tree in an odd spot.

Interesting exposed rock face.

Pie did not get to come. She helped herself to the couch afterwards.

Score!

2011-11-22T18:39:00.000-08:00

UHaul has a $50 reservation guarantee. My truck was not ready as per my reservation. I had ridden my bike to the UHaul store so had no way to get to the other store where they had a truck. So the UHaul guy drove me to the other store in the supposedly broken truck. But he took me to the wrong store so then he had to drive me to a different store. I had to have the guy who put my sprinklers in drive me home after the move. BUT, the score is I got the $50 back which almost covered the cost of the truck and mileage. I'd say I earned it with that fiasco.

When Things Work, When Things Don't Work, and When I Fix Things That Don't Work

2011-11-21T23:08:00.000-08:00

When Things Work:

I turned the sprinklers to Auto/ Run. I headed outside after 10 pm because I remember my co-worker saying that was 1 of the times he had set it for. Sure enough, the ground was wet! And to prove it was the sprinklers and not dew, there was a bit of over spray on the driveway (due to the shape of the yard.)

When Things Work II:

I used the washer and dryer today. Sure, I've used them before, but never when they are located in the kitchen and I wasn't sure how annoying, loud, or possibly hot it would be. It really wasn't bad. Except for the buzzer at the end of the drying cycle. That was loud!

When Things Don't Work:

My feet got all wet at SchH and I was looking forward to coming home and turning the heat on. But the pilot light was out! It was on earlier. Brrr.

When I Fix Things That Don't Work:

I turned to Google to tell me how to relight it. I had to search a few different pages. It turned out to be easy since I have an ignition switch. No matches necessary. However, it didn't work the first few times I tired. I could see the ignition sparking but it wouldn't light. I just kept at it and it eventually worked. Now my feet are nice and toasty and I will actually have to turn it down before I go to sleep or I will be too hot.

The washing machine is a tiny bit off balance and I can't get the foot to come down. I shoved and old magazine under there and it is better. Not sure if that counts as something I fixed or not.

I suppose I can count the yard as something I fixed, but I should wait for the grass to grow. Or else I will curse myself with "pride before a fall" and it won't grow.

Day 1- Grass

2011-11-21T22:57:00.001-08:00

Remember last time I grew grass and the near daily updates? Well, get ready for that again. The landlady was going to put sod down, then said no. Then she was going to put sprinklers in then said her husband doesn't have time. She said she'd just throw some seed down and we'd water it with the hose. I said no. Well, not really. I said bring me the seed and I'd do it. I care about the outcome so I'd be sure to do it right. She withheld the seed until I bugged her enough about it. I got my co-worker to put in the sprinkler system at my own expense. I called me up to find out why I was putting in sprinklers without consulting her. I assured her it was completely removable and I wanted to point out I was improving the property at my own expense but did not.

I bought lawn topping soil and fertilizer. Put it all together today, then turned the sprinklers to automatic.

First I raked lightly. I had already raked the dead stuff, sprayed the weeds, then the owners put in some more top soil. Next I used the seed spreader and put the seed down. Then the top soil by hand. I was short by about 1 bag so in that section I raked lightly again to try to cover the seeds. I think I might buy another bag or 2 tomorrow because there is still a lot of seed exposed. Don't want the birds to eat the seeds and the seeds need soil to soil contact. The last step was the fertilizer. I had extra so I was going around again when I remembered that if you use to much you can burn the area. I hope I didn't do that!

It was getting dark as I was starting, so I brought out my agility light. The neighbor showed up and commented that the owner tried this about 2 months ago but all they grew was weeds. Thank you, Mr. Positive. But really, if all they did was put seed on top of the soil and hand water, I'm not surprised. I'll show them what happens when someone with an interest in the outcome does the growing.

Once the grass is grown I wonder who will cut it? I don't have a mower...

I also bought 2 plain gopher snap traps. I'll see if I have time to set them tomorrow. The area behind the house is one huge gopher warren. Stay away from my grass! In the store I saw a device where you hook your hose up to your car tail pipe and put it down a gopher hole and kill them with the CO2. Tempting... but it just doesn't seem safe.

Grow grass grow!

The Never Ending Move

2011-11-21T22:35:00.000-08:00

I'd classify my first move as the easy move. Not only did I only have a bed, a desk and a tiny book case (and I was also sent away with a computer desk and a couch) but I think I was at drill that weekend so my dad and brother loaded up the truck without me. Then when the truck arrived at the apartment, I had people at drill with me help unload it.

I don't remember the move into my next apartment. Must have been uneventful.

The move to the guest house my dad helped again (thanks Dad!) For the last time, I believe. Probably the need to remove the door from the hinges to get the fridge in had something to do with it. I think older younger brother came also, but I don't recall. A friend brought her large SUV and took lots of the boxes. That move wasn't horrible.

Next, when I moved into the duplex for the first time my move was not bad. But a friend (at the time, apparently we are not friends any more) was moving into the other side the same day so we helped her move also and shared a truck. The problem was she had not packed! She was wrapping up glasses and putting things in boxes before we could carry it out. Both brothers left after moving me because they couldn't take it. I don't blame them one bit.

When we both moved out and into another duplex we shared the truck again. This time she was packed, but we decided to hire moving help. I had moved all my little stuff a head of time but she had not. So the movers spent all day moving all her stuff, including tiny items we could have moved, then they went home at 5 pm, leaving my stuff unmoved!

When I moved out later, I hired a guy I work with and his brother. They were hard workers, but had no clue about using space in the truck. This move took a while due to this being the first time I had a full set of agility equipment to move. As with the previous 3 times, I also hired someone to clean my house afterwards.

And now we are to the Never Ending Move. This move I hired two high school guys related to one my co-workers. The move itself took maybe 4 hrs. The first load was quick, but again, moving all the outside stuff took so long! And that didn't even include the large agility equipment. K came for that later, and we are storing it at her house.

I can't imagine how long it would have taken had I not moved all the boxes first. While we were moving, my co-worker was at the new house putting in a mini-sprinkler system. I picked up the parts on Friday. It is really neat. I have a mini-controller that hooks up to the spigot on the side of the house, then he ran pvc along the house and to my little yard. He buried the line in the front of the house to make it look better and to keep it out of the sun. Then there are 2 sprinkler heads up against the house. Basically it is just like running a hose out there, but it looks better and it is automatic!

Not only is the move Never Ending because I moved stuff for 2 weeks a head of time, then it took longer than I hoped on the move day, but the day afterwards, I STILL had stuff left. I don't know why I didn't move everything on moving day. I think I was trying to hustle the guys out.

Then, the next day, I still had to clean the house. I didn't finish cleaning it until today. I had to borrow an impact wrench to get the earthquake straps out of the wall. I think I did a really good job cleaning up. It is cleaner than when I moved it, so I hope to get my full deposit back.

Tomorrow I will pick up the rest of the items.

And yet, the move still will not be done because I have tons of stuff to still unpack at this house. How is that possible? There is so much stuff in the garage shoved in random places, but that will wait until I get the house organized. The "bedroom" and "living room" and bathroom are all good. It is the kitchen that is unorganized with boxes everywhere. And to make things move slower, I also started getting anxiety that my correspondence course with the AF is going to be due sooner than I think, so I need to get on that. Studying will take president over unpacking. I even had my recurring dream that I am in college at it is the last month of the semester and I have a huge project/ capstone due and I haven't even started it and there is no way to get it done with all the reading and source documentation. That is my deadline anxiety dream. My other dream involves my jaw being stuck closed and when I force it open all my teeth fall out. Gross and it hurts. Haven't been able to decipher that one yet.

It has been a very busy month due to the move and it isn't over yet...

Injured Pie and Moving Burn Out

2011-11-16T21:14:00.000-08:00

Pie got hurt badly enough to need surgery to repair a hole in her abdomen. That was Monday. Today she says she wants to run around and be normal, but the vet says not even any leash walking until the stitches come out. The more she moves the longer healing will take. I'm thankful she wasn't hurt more because it was my fault. Her drain was going to come out today but since it is still draining the vet decided to leave it in until Friday. Pie is wearing a giant cone of shame. She is tolerating it well but right now for some reason she is pacing around and dragging it up against everything

Moving day is this Saturday and I still have some small things that need to go. But I am tired of so much moving. I have stuff in the car right now that I loaded up before I went off to train my obedience people and I was not motivated enough to take it over when I got back. I might unload it at lunch tomorrow when I take a guy I work with to the house so he can give me a quote on putting in sprinklers since the lady lady decided she is not going to do that after all. Pretty hard to get grass to grow with no sprinklers. I know you can't trust people and have to get everything in writing, for for some reason I did trust her. Wouldn't have done much good to demand it in writing since I haven't actually signed a lease yet.

I am trying to decide if I should do sod or seed. No decision yet.

Agility Close to Home

2011-11-13T21:10:00.000-08:00

I love agility at this park. It takes me about 5 minutes to drive there. Maybe 7 if I get all red lights. I was worried we might get rained out this weekend but the rain was not enough Friday night to flood the grounds. So we got to play!

K was sick so she was not able to make it.

Dottie ran in excellent all weekend and had no Qs. She had some bars down, popped weaves, and an off course caused by poor handling. Also a teeter flyoff and a rear cross gone bad but both of those happened after we had already NQed. After we have blown it, I tend to try handling options I would not do in a clean run, and they usually don't work. But it doesn't matter and the upside is it shows me what she does and doesn't know.

I know I keep saying I expect to start Qing consistently any day, but soon it will change to, "I expect to Q any day." Forget about being consistent! But Dottie is still young and 1/2 the time it is my fault anyway. Today the bar down and the popped weaves were her fault.

Pie Qed in both of her Open P classes and got her Open Standard P title.

Fancy had a great, fast jumpers run until I pulled her off a jump. She was clean with a first place in Standard. No QQ for us. She was not entered yesterday.

After the trial one of my friends invited me to walk in a location I can only walk when she invites me. The access to the river bottom is through some family property. However, today the gate was locked and she didn't want to go home for the key, so we ended up sneaking in like any other hooligans who don't own the property. The dogs got to run, and run and run, and we never even made it to the river. Pie pulled her disappearing act twice. I have to keep a bell in the car for her. She comes back. Eventually. I don't know if she starts coming when I call and it just takes her a long time to show up since she is far away, or if she waits to see if really mean it. She is panting hard when she re-appears, so sometimes I think she comes right away, it just takes a while. Fancy and Dottie were very good and Fancy even managed to not get too dirty. The dogs needed that run. I took the Mals for a bike ride yesterday since they have been so hyper, but even that couldn't compare to this great run. It was just what they needed! And I had fun too.

Horse Back Riding!

2011-11-11T18:02:00.001-08:00

I give it an exclamation mark because I was very happy to get to go. My horse riding tendencies, which have been with me since my earliest days, are always simmering under the surface. Around 2002 I couldn't ignore them anymore and bought a horse, Ranger, who didn't work out. I seemed to be spending more time getting thrown off than riding. Plus, I was in school full time and working full time. So he got sold.

Since then I went riding at least one time in Big Bear, but I don't think I've been on a horse other than that. A few dog people are also horse people, and I've been plotting how to worm my way into their horse riding circle.

Well, a chance presented itself and I eased gracefully into the conversation. "I'd love to go trail riding." I said. Simple, direct, and it worked!

Today I went for a couple hour trail ride. The trails were very close to the stable, but we trailer-ed to the trail head rather than ride to save time. The lady I was riding with actually owns the stable and the other lady is a dog and horse friend. My mount was owned by neither of them but is frequently used when someone needs to borrow a horse because his owner has 2 horses and needs someone to ride him. Hmmm.... sounds promising- now I need to quit my job to find time for riding.

The other 2 horses out with us was a paint colored Missouri Fox trotter and an Arab who was the mom of several other horses on the ranch. It is an Arabian ranch. My horse was a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Mustang! So cool. He was a wild horse until he was captured at 2 years old. They told me he was so easy to break to riding that they joke he wasn't really a wild horse, he was a tame horse who someone abandoned and he joined up with the wild horses. They also said he loves captive life because he was on an overnight ride near where he used to roam free and he got loose at night, but instead of heading for the hills of his youth, he spend the rest of the night pilfering the feed bags and was still hanging around in the morning.

I illegally stole this photo of him from a website. Shhh... His owner (and a lot of the people at this ranch) do endurance riding and he has done the 100 miles in one day ride. Crazy. He was very kind to me and didn't throw me off or try to run away with me. Which happens to me with horses more than I like to think about.

We almost didn't get to go because heavy rains was predicted but that did not come to pass. I can't describe the ride too much because nothing really noteworthy happened. We went up some hills and down some other hills. We had some trotting. We went through a little creek. We saw a few other riders but not very many. The strangest part of the ride was all the tennis balls abandoned along the trial. There must have been at least 10. All brand new looking.

It was a great time but it only encouraged me to want to ride more. I really, really wish we still got to work 4 10 hr days because then I would have time. In winter it gets dark so early that even if I rushed over from work I don't think there would be enough time to get a ride in.

I hope to get to go again before too long. The owner of the horse is always looking for new "victims," so it could happen. But when?

Moving= Ugh.

2011-11-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

Today I filled the Buick up for my most massive trip so far. Actually, the trusty Buick was not full, and could have accepted even more stuff, but I had packed and lugged enough for 1 day.

Fitting in the boxes just so to maximize space.

When you are not using a moving truck, not everything needs to be in a box.

All loaded up for tonight.

Side view.

And now, some pictures of the new place.

From the kitchen/ laundry room looking towards the bedroom/ living room. Yep, it is a studio.

View looking the other way.

Bathroom is not too tiny.

View from the front door.

My very first garage. I share it with a Jeep Forward Control.

The storage closets in the garage where a lot of the stuff is going.

All unpacked and bringing the boxes back to the old/ current house for recycle/ reuse.

Quick shot of the yard. Fence is going up as promised. I plan to weed spray the yard on Wednesday. This is pretty much the whole yard, although it does wrap around the back of the house as well. About 1/2 of that will be the potty spot.

My next load will likely be the contents of the shed that fit in my car. Most of that stuff will be stored in the garage above the rafters. The final load will be fans, lights, chairs, etc. Then there will be a few more trips on the Friday before I move to take things like my computer, DVD player, drawers to dressers, microwave. That will leave only the big items that don't fit in the Buick (but not for lack of trying, I'm sure.)

Now I need to take some Tylenol and go to bed.

IFCS Agility World Team Member

2011-11-07T20:59:00.000-08:00

I know a celebrity! It is my agility instructor and her dog- they made the IFCS Agility World Team. The initials are for non-English words, but it is something about the International Federation of Dog Sports. This is the organization that lets everyone play. So if Dottie and I suddenly became amazing, we could participate on the IFCS World Team, unlike the FCI World Team, which is the team the AKC sends people and dogs to, and you need a 6 generation pedigree. Your dog needs the pedigree- who knows, maybe the handlers do also.

Anyway, our instructor is obviously really good and she made the team and did super at the USDAA Nationals this year and we had a party (a few weeks ago) to celebrate. I had the cake made. It is a picture cake, but I accidentally got a full sheet cake. It was way too much but everyone took some home, I took it to SchH that week, and took the rest to work and it was gone before the weekend. The picture makes the cake look smaller than it was. But the good news is now I know how to correctly order a cake.

Training for AKC Style Tracking

2011-11-07T17:43:00.000-08:00

SchH tracking is very precise and you are graded. AKC style is pass/ fail. Low level SchH tracks are easier than the lowest level ACK track. They are shorter lenght and aged for less time. Plus, in the first SchH level, the handler lays their own track, so we always know where it is. The TD, lowest AKC level track is 1/4 of a mile long, and aged 30 min- 2 hrs. The TR 1, lowest SchH level track, is 300 paces (which can be pretty short depending on how small your pace is) and aged only 20 minutes.

So I'm getting the dogs used to large paces, longer tracks, and longer aging. I'm actually taking huge steps in case my track layer is a tall man with a long stride, and also so I can measure how far I've gone.

I've been working up to longer tracks. And upping the aging a bit as well, but since I'm doing this on my lunch break, there is only so much aging that can happen.

Today went well. It was the longest tracks we've done, and for Pie, the longest aged.

However, the girls are working harder than they need to, I think. Dottie's track was actually close to 440 yards (1/4 mile!) according to my gps, although it was only supposed to be about 300 yards. Pie's was about 320 yards per the gps but was also supposed to be 300. Guess I need to use the gps while laying the track. I'm not going to do such a long track for a while with anyone, but for Fancy it was too long. And we got lost. Bad me. But I picked it up and we finished. The good part about Fancy was she kept working, even with a really loud gunshot (to scare the birds away from the runway.) She startled, tucked her tail, and came back to me, but I told her sook again and off she went. I kept the line short for everyone so I could make sure they stayed on track. One thing I did do that I usually don't do, is on one corner instead of blocking when they wanted to over shoot, I let them go. My reason was so they could work it out. Which was neat to watch. They overshot, then turned the correct way and picked it right back up, but in a arc. I wanted to watch everyone work it out once. When Pie is right on top of the track, her tail wags. When she is off of it, it stops. A really easy indicator! Fancy's tail stays up even if she is just taking me for a walk. She's fooling me. I need to pay more attention and see if Dottie's tail tells me anything. She was foaming at the mouth today. Not because she was rabid, but because so much sniffing dries your mouth out so she was trying to fix that.

Pie and Dottie had 3 articles and they are so relieved when the find them. Having only an end article for the TD is going to be hard. The tracks were aged from 25 min to around 45 min (Pie got that one) and it was windy too. They move forward, but keep checking off the track. Maybe looking for a better scent, not being used to such a weak one? But after checking they come back to the correct path and keep going. But the checking is very frantic. That is why it seems like they are working harder than they should. I think after getting more used to longer aged tracks they should settle down.

I thought the Mals did great. Fancy needs less aging and it won't hurt to have more articles, but the best part was even though we did get lost, she did not quit.

I really want to get their AKC tracking titles, but it won't be easy. Before you can even enter you have to be certified. Which means a judge lays a track just like they would in a trial and you have to pass it. Sort of like a pre-test. The problem is finding the judge, finding a location, a time, etc. I just found out a club is holding a certification day in Sacramento, but it is on my drill weekend in January. Should that be the one drill I miss this year?

Rampage 2011

2011-11-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

My youngest brother is a Senior this year! As mentioned before he is in the marching band and Rampage is the name of their most important competition. It isn't the Championship, or even the biggest one, but it is the only one they attend in their own valley, and it is hosted by their rival school. So it is a point of pride that the school historically does well there.

This year was no different. They got first place in their division and fifth place overall with about 30 bands in competition! That is an extra big deal because they are a small band and it is usually the biggest band who place highest. They still have a few competitions left, including one in my area I will attend next weekend after the agility trial. I think they also attend a Championship. When I was in the band we didn't go to anything like that.

I had drill this weekend, but I rushed over afterwards and made it just in time. I only took a few pictures because I don't know which trombone he was and also because I wanted to enjoy the show.

Some of the cheering section.

Thier theme this year was Sound of Music so they had some great songs. The props are mountains. The color guard twirled brown paper packages (all wrapped up in string) at a certain point. PS- We never had props. I must be getting old if I say "Back in MY day...")

Go trombones!

A very traditional formation.

The "Edelweiss" song was probably my favorite. However, it made me think of (to use a clique- which I always hate to do, but at least I'm aware I'm doing it) the horrors of war, against the beauty of the area, and innocence lost (there I go again) and all kinds of other sad things. Guess that means that it is a very good song. Especially because it was written for the play, and is not a real Austrian folk song. That's good writing.

Here is youngest brother leaving the field. That is him closest to the camera.

I was in the same band from 1996- 2000. We were pretty good too. :) Here is our 1997 show- the only one I could find online. I played the flute. I think 1997 was our second best year. I liked the marching. I like that you can tell when we are crooked and when we get it right.

1996 had the best music.

More Moving Updates

2011-11-04T21:52:00.000-07:00

I took a second load over today. These loads are not huge. Just two medium sized boxes each trip, plus some non-boxed stuff. I have 2 more boxes ready to go, plus all my books. I haven't decided when to take the books because I don't want them in the way while moving stuff in.

I finished raking the yard but decided against any more weeding. Except when I spotted a goats head plant, also ominously called puncture vine. Yuck. I'm going to spray weed killer on Monday and I've been told it works better when it is sprayed on a weed. Meaning it doesn't penetrate the soil to kill the roots I'm probably leaving behind. I actually weeded more of the yard than I thought. Which turns out to be a bad thing. I can only hope I got enough of the root to kill the weeds.

The landlady said she is going to put the sod in. She actually hopes to get it in before I move in. We also talked about the fence and she didn't like the kennel panel idea so she is going to pay for the whole thing. Turns out the money she wanted me to pay would be refunded when I moved out. Which is fair. But why put a fence up if I have something that will work? I also offered to try the panels and if they didn't like the way they looked then I would kick in the money they were asking for. But she wants the fence put up now, so decided go to ahead with out my contribution. The negative part is she is only putting in one gate which means to use the yard we'll go out through the garage, then in the gate and into the yard. Not a huge problem, but not as convenient as just throwing open the back door.

As I was raking the renter of the main house on the property wandered around the corner a few times while on her cell phone and eyeballed me. Then the husband watched me as I backed out. Maybe he was nervous I was going to hit one of his three cars clogging up the driveway. I waved. That is my plan anytime they eyeball or watch me. I'd rather not be eyeballed so the waving will show I'm friendly and they can come talk to me rather than keeping their distance and watching. I'll talk to the landlady about the difficulty of getting out of the garage with three cars in the driveway. She did mention they were having car trouble so perhaps one is a loaner or one will be towed away shortly.

Even though I'm mentioning the eyeballing/ watching and clogged driveway in a negative manner, I still think I'll be happy living here. As long as the yard is usable I'll be satisfied. If the goats heads mean every time we go in the yard the dogs get lame, then I will be sad. I am placing all my hopes on the sod choking out the goats head and the thickness of the sod cushioning the current pokers. Time will tell.

More updates as they come and pictures eventually.

Moved the First of My Stuff Today

2011-11-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

2 boxes of kitchen stuff which I then unpacked. 3 advantages to this- 1) I won't be unpacking for days 2) There will be room to bring in the furniture and 3) I can use the box again! I also brought over the contents of most of one of my closets. Almost all my books are in boxes but I can't bring those over yet since the bookcases don't fit in my car and I don't want to clutter up room in the house with the boxes. I'll probably end up bringing them soon and just stacking them in front of the door (on the inside.) The main entry is through the garage so I'll put them in front of the front door.

The Fight for the Front Yard has begun. I raked about 1/2 of the yard, and weeded maybe an 1/8th. Or maybe only a 16th. Maybe a 32nd. The yard is pretty much plastered with the goats heads, but there are also other weeds scattered in. The goats head is a very low plant, and right now they are kind of soil colored so hard to spot as well. The plan is to hand weed the hard, then spray. I am leaning towards putting sod down. Planting grass would take a long time and by that time the goat heads would probably be back. Google says goat heads do not compete well so if you plant anything else they will stay away. While weeding I disturbed 2 large spiders. There were also ants. In the 9 years I've lived on my own I've never had an ant (or any kind) of bug problem. The landlady said she was having an ant problem at her house. I better not have one at mine! One of the ladies at work is having problems too. She is having someone come spray. If I spray once on my own (assuming I get ants in the house) and they come back, I'll use a pest company.

The landlady asked me to pay for 1/2 of the tiny bit of fence she needs to put up to fully fence the yard. The amount she was quoted was way too high. Seriously, it has to be less than 20 feet of fence total. I told her I'll just use my kennel panels and the money she was going to spend on the fence she can give to me for the yard. No response yet.

I'm perfectly happy using my kennel panels. No problem there. In fact, if it gets me money towards the 25x50 section I plan on sodding, so much the better!

Drill this weekend and I'm also planning on running out to see youngest brother at a big marching band competition after drill. ffluffy is also going to be in town for a seminar so then I'll run back here to have dinner with her. No packing or moving this weekend, it seems.

Moving, Again

2011-11-02T20:34:00.000-07:00

Crazy, right? I love the house I live in now. Actually, I love the yard and the location. The house itself is not laid out well, but it has good points too. One bad point is even though it is cheaper than the last place I moved out of, it is still expensive. The place I am moving to is a studio, so it is cheaper, but it is only 2 streets over (and just around the corner from the house I was moving out of when I started this blog.) Therefore, the location is fine.

For the record, after moving out of my parent's house in December of 2002, I've lived in 6 places. This will be the 7th. Actually, I should say I've moved 7 times because as my long time readers know, I lived in the same house twice- the one I'm in now.

My first apartment was a 1 bedroom on a busy street with rude children and no dogs allowed. Second cheapest rent. (Studio is cheapest.)

Second apartment was 2 bedroom (for the price of 1 bedroom, at first) in quiet location that allowed dogs (which is why I moved.) Then the rent started getting too high, so I moved to...

Third dwelling was guest house where I couldn't get my bed upstairs so it was like a studio. Had a yard but was shared with the landlady's million dogs. Yard was woodchips so no agility practice. Landlady was super, super nice. Moved so I could have a grass yard, dishwasher, and more space inside.

Forth place is same place I am now. Yard was worth the move, but since I'm now moving it another small place, shouldn't have cited inside space as a reason for moving out of the guest house. Plus, the dishwasn't doesn't work because the water is too hard.

Fifth place was were I taught agility and obedience group lessons at the house. Rent was way too high, too much inside space- three bedroom house- and water and propane bill was too high, plus, it was the farthest from work I've ever been and I couldn't walk due to lack of sidewalks.

Sixth is back to the duplex with the great yard- where I am sitting as I type this. The one and only reason I am moving is to save money. If I ever want to have a dream job I need to make sacrifices because there is no way any dream job will pay as much as I am making now. My beautiful yard is sacrificed. But I still have a yard at the new place- just not nearly as big. And right now it is just "Potential." Read- weeds, gopher holes and no grass.

Seventh is the studio. Only time will tell how it works out. I think it will be good for us. I hope so.

Unlike most studios, it has a washer and dryer, full kitchen and a YARD! Also a garage which I have never had before and which is also important for storage. What it does not have is a closet. In the garage one wall is all closets and cabinets that close with a magnet catch and seem to be very clean and secure (from rodents.) It also has 3 portable closets in the garage for hanging clothes but only one has a floor, so the other 2 will not be sealed against dirt.

I had some concern (such as are there outlets in the garage) that I forgot to address but I just got the keys today and answered all my own questions. (Yes.)

I paced off the inside today and I think all my stuff will fit great. As I said, the layout of my current place is not good, so I think my stuff might fit even better in the new place.

I paid the rest of the deposit on the studio and got the keys. I think it is going to be big enough with enough storage. I'll find out when I move in! I have the layout planned. I want to get a room divider to make a bedroom. The folding screens they sell are tiny and over priced. I started finding modular room dividers but they are also expensive. I realized the reason they are expensive are because they are designed to be flexible. I don't need that. Then I work I saw we have a welding screen made out of metal tubing. If I wanted to be really cheep I could make it out of PVC, but I'd rather do tubing. I hope to find some that slips together with fittings and doesn't need welding. Then for the material I figured I could make a sleeve like a sleeping bag and just slip that over the whole thing. Now I just have to measure, probably make the frame first, then find decent fabric. The sewing will be the most difficult for me. I go crooked. I'll bribe my mom to do it. (I know you read this mom!)

The garage does have outlets for my outside light and my chest freezer. I'll store their washer, dryer and fridge in the garage, but that will take up a lot of space. I wonder if I can store the dryer on top of the washer?

Of course everyone will be subjected to pictures once I'm all moved in.

I paced the yard and it is right around 50 feet wide and longer than 50 the other way. So enough room to practice obedience and small agility sequences. The bad news is it is full of goat's heads. They are talking about putting grass in but there are gophers. Hmmm... I need to buy some stairs to get into the yard the back way. Any suggestions?

I am taking my jumps and tunnel for practice and play, but my contact equipment is going to K's house. I can use it there. If she does not plan on using it, I can also take it apart and store it at my house. I don't want it cluttering up her area unless she is going to get use out of it.

One more update- we had 2 new dogs in class today! I thought it was a good class because the new dogs are not trained but I seemed to be helping them. A fat schnauzer and a little shizu type. Plus, the cotton de whatever was actually making some progress! The trained, shy sheltie is still trained and shy, so nothing new there.

We had horrendous Santa Anna winds today so I skipped my run and also any dog training at lunch. I didn't even want to be outside. The winds came because I washed my car yesterday, about a once a year event. The amount of flying dirt I drove though this morning blowing off the farm fields coated my car with more dirt than it had yesterday after not being washed for a year!

Good Day For Pictures

2011-10-30T20:12:00.000-07:00

Another day of agility and today I didn't get any of my runs filmed. Which is too bad because I had some nice ones! Fancy had another QQ and Pie had a first in Standard and would have had a QQ and first in jumpers, but I did a front cross between 2 jumps in a line and the second was off set and she just ran right by it. Darn! Dottie ran amazing in both runs, but popped out of the weaves in standard (better do some weave training) and sucked into an off-course tunnel in the opening of jumpers. I tried the same front cross with her since I had nothing to loose and I must have been in a better position but this time I also indicated the jump. Both helped, no doubt. Except for the popping of the weave poles (since she did that yesterday also) I am so pleased with Dottie's speed, effort and excitement. I think any day now we will start Qing more consistently. Especially if I do some weave training.

At the trial someone set up an elaborate Halloween prop and allowed us to take pictures with our dogs. Except for that, I didn't get into Halloween at all this year.

The Mals are not scared.

Fancy is....

I hope that nasty rat does not bite Pie's leg. And the terribly huge spider better not eat Dottie. Or me!

After the trial when we were cleaning up, I spotted some people I know practicing a straight lure course. We meandered over and were allowed to join in! Fancy has tried lure coursing in the past, and although she chases real critters every time she sees them, she disdains chasing trash. (The lure is a plastic bag.)

Pie coursed once before and started off strong but got distracted by a bird's nest on the ground along the way. This time didn't go much better. I showed her the bag with a hand signal "mark." It seems she thought I was showing her a squirrel in the line of trees next to the lure because when I released her she peeled away from the lure and ran to investigate the trees like she was convinced there was something up there.

Luckily Dottie saved the day by taking 2 turns and running beautifully. She doesn't care if it is real or trash, she just wants to run!

I think her ears are creating drag. We may need to tape them down next time.

4 off the floor.

Dottie's Missing Canine Update

2011-10-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Still no conclusion as to what happened, but the current theory is perhaps as her big teeth were growing in, the baby tooth had not fallen out yet. That can kill the root but of course I wouldn't have been aware of a problem. If this is what happened the root was dead or dying and perhaps the tooth was getting looser and looser over time with all the chewing and tugging.

This theory is supported through the fact that her grip has improved. For a while she was being very chompy and having a weak grip. K agreed at training on Thursday her grip was much stronger. Wonder if this means she'll be able to hold onto a long bite now. Now that the tooth is out, if it was loose it was probably causing some pain which is now gone, allowing her to bite better.

I know as a baby I had her put under an a lower tooth near her lower canine pulled because it wouldn't come out. I think I waited too long because the tooth that came in under it is all nasty and brown. So if it happened to one of her teeth, guess it could have happened to the other as well.

Still, it sure was surprising to open her mouth and find a canine gone.

Videos from This Saturday

2011-10-29T18:40:00.000-07:00

Fancy Saturday Standard.

Double Q!

Fancy Jumpers.

I am wearing sandals because this was my first run of the day and I actually missed her run and when I realized that I didn't have time to put my shoes on. She was moving pretty slow so I couldn't leave her in the weaves like I wanted to.

Dottie Jumpers.

Sort of a disaster. I wanted to run her like an experienced dog and see if we could do it the "right" way instead of the "chicken" way. Not so much! I can get lateral distance no problem in class- but it seems not in shows. She didn't go "out" really at all. That surprised me. Two things to work on! If I had run it the easy way, I wouldn't have learned about these weaknesses. I think she knocked the bar on the closing because it was a very fast line that allowed her to get up to her full huge stride, and one she is in full stride, the jumps are too close. It should have been a two stride jump, but I think for her it was only a stride and a half.

Pie's jumpers run did not get filmed but I ran her the exact same way and since she is more experienced it worked and we got a Q and first place. Pie did a really nice job.

Pie Standard

Nice run- just one jump away from a QQ. Jumping at 24 again- I thought I had entered her 20. I don't want to do 24 twice in a row. That jump came down hard. I think she tried to adjust her stride but it just didn't work. I walked the opening with 2 fronts but the tire was not obvious and I was afraid lateral distance would pull her off. Plus the second rear helped indicate the turn away from the double draw of the A frame and tunnel.

Dottie Standard.

Just naughty on the weaves. Remember how she used to do that a lot? She just ran by- didn't even try for the entry. Odd about the a frame. Yes I was far behind her, but she should go into 2 on 2 off and stay there. Instead she turned around to see what was taking me so long and then put her feet back on the frame. That gave us an off course. Guess I need to be faster. And train for that.

I'm watching the Rhodesian puppy again. She came to the show and visited lots of dogs and people. She and Dottie have been playing pretty much non-stop since we got home. However, now she is past out as only small children and puppies can be after a big day.

I ventured out into the world for a non-dog even last night and saw a play at the community college. The Drowsy Chaperone. A comedy/ musical written in modern day but set in the 20's. Done in the style of a 20's musical but it is introduced by a modern guy listening to the record of the old musical in his apartment. He narrates his favorite parts and gives us little insights into the old actors playing the parts. Creative and funny.

Videos from Last Weekend

2011-10-29T18:33:00.000-07:00

I'm behind again!

Fancy Standard.

K is filming and holding Pie because she was running in a few dogs in the next ring. That is her whining and making the camera jump around. And it is Dottie barking from her x-pen in the back ground.

I do have Pie's jumpers run filmed which started off great until I took us off course, complete with a look of stupification when I realized I was lost. After than I ran Pie off course to save wear and tear on her back. No need to post such a lame attempt on my part.

I think I have some more but I'll have to find them.

Dottie- 1 Down, 3 to Go

2011-10-23T21:52:00.000-07:00

And I hope they never go because we are talking about her canines.

I do not know where or when this upper canine went missing. K's husband had his 6 month old GSD out at the trial and we were talking about how big is teeth are. Dottie had tiny teeth- they are the same size as Fancy's. When I was relaxing at home, I decided to torture myself by looking at her tiny teeth. Imagine my surprise when one was missing!

There is no redness, or swelling, and I never saw her bleeding. The hole is already closed. I know for a fact she had all her teeth right before the SchH trial because when she was having trouble with the retrieve I checked her teeth to see if they were broken or causing her pain. Since then I would have hoped I would notice if she was missing any.

On Friday I was helping K do some agility training and we heard a dog screaming in pain in my car. By the time I ran over the dog had stopped and no one was in obvious distress. Had Dottie somehow managed to catch it on something then? I checked her crate to see if I could find a tooth but I did not find anything.

K says Dottie can continue bite work.

Any information leading to the discovery of when or why this happened will be offered a reward.

Agility Trial (Dottie AX!)

2011-10-23T21:40:00.000-07:00

Gotta make this quick- I'm tired!

Saturday-

Fancy- Jumpers Q- 4th Place.

Pie- Standard Q- Second Place. Had trouble making it over the 24 inch triple after doing 20 inches a few weeks in a row, so NQ in jumpers.

Dottie- Jumpers Q- First Place, off course in Standard.

K's BSD- First ever show- Standard Q (clean run too!) and First Place.

Sunday-

Fancy- Double QQ. Jumpers- 4th, Standard 2nd. I think this was her MXJ P title, but not sure.

Pie- Standard Q- 1st Place, totally forgot the course in jumpers after running Fancy in standard 2 second earlier so no jumper's Q. Ran really great in both runs- fast, happy and jumping well at 24. But she'll still mostly do 2o P.

Dottie- Standard Q- 1st Place in A (Pie was first in B, Dottie had a faster time!) and her Excellent standard title- AX! Jumper- Beautiful Run, 1 bar down.

K's BSD- Jumpers Q- 1st Place! And standard almost Q. Would have had it but she thought she NQed already so didn't fix it when he went around the last jump. Bummer! Now she is beating herself up for giving away a Q.

I have a few videos of my dogs that I'll hopefully post later. But for now, here is a picture of everyone zonked out after a long trial.

Happy 18th Birthday Youngest Brother!

2011-10-23T21:33:00.001-07:00

Hard to believe 18 years ago I was in 6th grade and my babiest brother was born. Now he is all grown up. Well, as grown up as the baby of the family (and a boy to boot) can be at 18.

We went out to dinner to celebrate, then home for yummy ice cream cake!

Birthday 18 Year Old. (I don't want to call him Birthday Boy on his 18th birthday, even if it is accurate. No way can I call him Birthday Man. Sorry. Maybe Birthday Young Man.)

Complimentary ice cream birthday sundea. The whipped cream and sprinkles were yummy. I had to do my sisterly duty and dispatch that for him since he does not care for whipped cream.

Cake!

Traditional family photo complete with ghost. Of course Mom was there, she was just taking the pictures.

Good News

2011-10-19T19:51:00.000-07:00

The Canon camera is not broken. All the batteries were dead.

I had my second beginner obedience class today. The same 2 dogs. No new dogs but I'm happy the other 2 people liked the class enough to come back!

I'm getting excited for K and her BSD D's first agility trial this weekend! He is such a talented dog. I know it is hard for K since she hasn't been doing agility very long- a month or so? and now she is trying to figure out full courses. I have full confidence for her though.

Resting Dogs

2011-10-19T09:26:00.000-07:00

Can't call them sleeping since their eyes are open. All the picture taking woke them up.

Pie helped herself to my bed AND my pillow!

Dottie resting after chewing on her favorite ball.

Fancy keeps her eyes on me while I take pictures of Dottie.

Dottie kind of looks bored with life.

I had to improvise a tri-pod to get these pictures. I didn't want the flash and the only way I could find to turn it off was to select night land scape. That kept the shutter open for a few seconds and the camera had to be still or the shot was blurry.

My Cannon point and shoot with great video capabilities may be dead. Last pictures I took were some of my tire so K could make her own. Went to use it today and it won't turn on. Tried three different sets of batteries but I need to find some non-rechargeable fresh out of the box batteries and see if those work. It wasn't dropped or exposed to water between the tire pictures and today so I think it should be working.

6 Videos From Last Weekend

2011-10-16T22:53:00.000-07:00

Dottie Ex A Standard- NQ. Still need to train the table. I allowed the teeter flyoff by not saying touch.

Dottie Ex B JWW- NQ. Distracted at the end.

Dottie Ex A Standard- Finally a Q! Leg Number 2.

Dottie Ex B JWW- NQ. That tunnel got a lot of teams. I should have stopped moving.

Fancy Ex B P Standard. Good girl!

Fancy Ex B P JWW. So cute!

Voting Time

2011-10-16T22:51:00.000-07:00

2012 Malinois Rescue Calendar-

http://www.belgian-shepherds.com/copper ... .php?cat=2

Voting time for the ABMC Rescue Calendar! (Hint- I submitted pics to all 4 seasons.) You can vote for as many pictures as you like, but only 3 from each season will be chosen. You have to rate the photos and I think they will pick on number of ratings, not highest rated. So therefore I don't think it is helpful to rate photos you don't like a 1. Besides, that is mean.

I really like the one I used in my Christmas Card with the bows, but due to lack of snow I don't have high hopes for it. I also like Dottie in the purple flowers, pumpkin Pie and Pie in the grass. But so far Dottie and Pie in the grass were both rated 2! Hmp!

I hope you vote for my dogs at least once!

Club Obedience and Agility Practice

2011-10-16T22:07:00.000-07:00

Our dog training club had an obedience practice in conjunction with our monthly meeting today. I invited K, then realized it would be good for her dog to get in at least one practice in a show type setting before his first agility trial next weekend, so we added agility also.

I pulled all the crates out of my car, loaded up 5 agility jumps and the folding weave poles. That meant the dog's x-pen and the obedience equipment (broad jump, high jump, bar jump, ring ropes, stakes and baby gates for the go out side) went on the cargo carrier on the back. That thing sure is handy! Sure, all the stuff would have fit in the car, but then Pie would have had to stay home and that really wasn't an option. Fancy rode in the front on the floor, Dottie on the passenger seat (she rides really well- guess she is actually growing up) and Pie had a little bit of floor space in the back.

I left myself 1/2 hr for loading, but with taking all the crates out, it look 45 minutes! I'm happy to let the club use my equipment, but I think next time I'm going to need to get some club members to help me load (and unload.)

K brought my teeter and 6 of her own jumps and a broad jump. Another club member brought a full sized tunnel and tunnel sand bags. We had a great course! A different club member brought her rally equipment. Our little club training day turned into a three ring extravaganza!

We set up at a park at the Channel Islands Harbor. The weather was great and the yachts and boats made a very pretty back drop. A Farmer's Market was going on in the next parking lot over, so at times we had quite a crowd watching us. I took pictures and ran my dogs in agility. Usually I do a lot of "judging" in obedience, but today I managed to skip that. Here are a few of the pictures from today. K took the pictures of my dogs.

Look how this Pap's tail is wrapped around the weave.

Pie was sooooo excited to run! I did her at 16 inches to keep wear and tear off her back. She doesn't care- she was just ecstatic to be playing.

Fancy really is just the cutest thing on 4 legs.

Rottie heeling.

Basenji portrait. So much easier than action shots!

D lookin' really good! Wish the picture was more in focus.

Can't have an obedience practice without a golden. We actually had 2 I think. No wait- we had 3!

Fancy still being cute.

Basenji in rally.

Lab liftoff.

Big ol' rottie.

Cutest pointer ever.

Berner.

A Harrier in agility?? (He does a really nice job!)

Aussie practicing for her CDX.

Lab doing a good job.

This is kind of a "blooper" photo of Fancy but I just love it. I love it so much I made it my Facebook profile picture. Who can resist her fluffy tail hiding behind the tunnel? (Not me...)

Lab practicing rally.

Young papillon doing a good job.

D again.

And Fancy again. :)

Love those weaves!

Go OUT Dottie!

One of our other goldens practicing for his UD.

The rest of the pictures are HERE.

Lombardi's Ranch and K9s in the Park Event

2011-10-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

Today was the Saugus Band's Annual performance at Lombardi's Ranch. I performed here 4 years when I was in the marching band and this was younger, younger brother's fourth year. Their marching show is Sound of Music this year. Neat. I watched one performance, walked the scarecrow exhibition with my dad, bought 2 small pumpkins and a gourd, then left.

Getting ready to play.

Doin' a good job on the trombone.

The band and color guard.

Marching out after the performance.

Me and youngest brother. I made him hold one of my pumpkins for the picture and he reported, "Dad made me hold a pumpkin also." Guess great minds think a like. Or at least related minds.

I headed down to the LA area for K9s in the Park, an event to benefit one of the cities K9 unit. There were K9s demos, various booths (I bought a tee-shirt) and you could make a donation and get your dogs speed checked with the police radar. The area was a little small and it took a while for the radar to give a reading, so by that time the dogs were already slowing down. For Fancy it was a basic recall because I didn't have a ball or anything to tempt her to go faster. Even so, she ran 17 mph. Pie was next. The crowd was standing really close and I didn't want her to plow into anyone, so as she came in I made her do a down. I think they rader-ed her as she was going into a down! She was only 18 mph. Later I saw a dobe running slow and he was also 18 and I could tell Pie was much faster than him so I let Pie have another go. This time she was 20mph, which I think is closer to her real speed. Since I did not down her this time my worries almost came true as I tried to slow her down with the toy but she still ended up glancing off the barrier and almost taking down one of the volunteers. I'm glad to say no one was injured. Dottie went next and she was 23 mph. The fastest time of the day! They took our phone number so if she holds onto the fastest time I wonder if we get a prize?

Pie watches the duckie races.

Pie pretends to be a police dog.

Dottie also tries to pretend but she does not pull it off like Pie does.

The K9s demoing some obedience. This is a few cities putting on the demo.

A tactical down.

Shooting stance. Notice the female handler on the end. Her dog is also a female. Someone in the know says both the handler and the dog are the best of the bunch! It is unusual to have a female K9. Most people say the extra testosterone of the male dogs give them an advantage.

Heeling in a group.

Modeling the ballistic vest. Looks good!

Bite demo.

This was demoing what happens if one handler needs help from a second team.

One of the retired K9s got to come out for the demo and get a bite. He was happy to do his job again!

The 9 month old Mal puppy in training.

He was very eager!

Why?

2011-10-15T18:24:00.000-07:00

Do I have such a silly little Malinois? At SchH last night Dottie ran in to search a blind, and when I called her, she ran to me UNDER the blind. Just like a little weasel. Wish I had it on video! We've been working on 3 blinds. She'll have to do 4 for her SchH 2. Like many dogs, she'd rather skip the blinds and go straight to the helper, so we've been having a little bit of a struggle. I know she'll get it soon.

The Chiropractor, a "Hike," Training A Friend in Agility and My First Class for the Pet Store

2011-10-15T16:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, a lot to catch up on.

I took Pie to the chiropractor. The first time he hardly felt her spine at all, just got right to work with a tool that seemed to operate on a spring. He pressed into each side of her spine and it would release and then he would reset it with a click and move to the next location. No idea what the tool is called. Pie did not appreciate it. I think it was painful for her. Then he was done and told us to come back next week. I expected more examination, and perhaps more hands on, and also examining the neck and ribs or sternum. The next week he at least felt her spine first, then used the same tool which she hated even more this time. Then he used a different tool that straddled her spine and seemed to be soothing. We were instructed to come back in 2 weeks. I think I will have our next appointment be our last, unless I feel like she needs to go back. I don't want to be taking her every 2 weeks for the rest of her life.

After the chiropractor I stopped at a local park that has a fenced dog park. It also allows dogs off leash in the rest of the park during weekday hours. Last time I went here I think I was working weaves with Bloom and wanted to do it legally. However, as expected, the other loose dogs foiled us. This time I thought I'd just look around and see if the park is as odd as I remembered.

It was. I say it is odd becasuse it is set up for group gatherings. It has several BBQ areas with covered seating. It has 2 play areas. It has 1 small grass area. Why is this a dog park? Where are the dogs supposed to hang out? Strange. I saw one person with a small dog in the grass area and I know my big dogs can be overwhelming so I wanted to leave the small dog alone. There was a picnic table in a dirt area in the middle of a valley. A small valley, of course. Just 2 hills with a parking lot at the top on one side and the grass area on the top of the other side. I sat at the picnic table and the dogs ran up and down the hills and put their noses in squirrel holes and sniffed the oak trees.

Then I thought it was time to go so we headed back to the car. The dogs saw a squirrel and chased it. I saw a sign and hoped it didn't say "No dogs" since the dogs had passed it. I investigated closer and saw it said "Trail" with an arrow. We found a trail! It was maybe 1/2 a mile but was fairly steep but and down the hills and had a couple different loops so we could make it longer. Neat! The dogs got a decent work out running around.

I haden't brought my hat since I was just going to investigate a sign, so I didn't want to stay out too long. Plus, I had to get home since K and her BSD were coming over to work agility again. I'm so glad I can offer her something in return for all the tracking help she gave me. Her dog is doing great. Her first show is next weekend and I think he is ready. It is true he might go run and jump in the jumpsetter's lap, or run around and take lots of extra stuff, but that is his personality and even if we trained for a year, his first time at a show might be "exciting." She's been working him on her own, at my house just a few times, and we rented a field with equipment once so far. A naturally talented dog, and a handler who can train a dog... a great combination! It is a little depressing that he is faster than Dottie.

My first obedience class for the local pet store was Wednesday. I had a class at 4:30 at 5:30. We had lots of people signed up, but the pet store owner had not collected any money. Therefore, people had signed up, but they were not 100% committed. Can you see where this is going? When I was in the Miata club there was an apparently inside joke that went, "What happens if you throw a party and no one shows up?" I'm not sure why people said that every time we had a get together, but that was the thought going through my mind when no one showed up for the 4:30 class! Bummer. I spent the hour working Dottie on directed jumping and go outs past the jumps. As with all my dogs trained in agility and obedience, she wanted to take the jumps instead of going between them, but we continued to work on it.

At the 5:30 class, I had 2 students. A sheltie who was too stressed to take any cookies and a Cotton de whatever who got full about 1/2 way through the class and stopped eating. Kind of hard to train dogs who don't want to eat. We'll see who shows up for the classes next week. I think I'll suggest we only have the 5:30 class next week.

Sunday Agility Trial

2011-10-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

I took a few more photos today. Mostly open and novice because I plan on sending the link to the FB alblum to the competitors at the trial and I know it is the people running dogs for the very first time who appreciate photos the most. I didn't want to disappoint them.

I ended up loading all of the good pictures from yesterday. I was only going to do my favorites- the really good ones but again, I didn't want anyone to be left out. Of course, some people/ dogs are. The dogs running close to my dogs in the run order to not have photos and I do feel bad about that, but there is nothing I can do about it.

Today was a successful trial day. Fancy ran super fast and had a first and second. The BCs who she couldn't beat at 20 inches have followed us to P and now she can't beat them in 16 inches. Darn. But the courses were tricky today so she Qed and they did not.

Dottie ran clean in Standard for her second Ex A Q. Only 1 to go! She almost went in the wrong side of the tunnel which was the last obstacle but I called her and wonders of wonders- she came!

In jumpers she ran fast despite the heat and we almost had a Q except this time she did not come when I called and went in the wrong side of the tunnel. A very tricky discrimination. As she disappeared into the wrong side, I looked down and my feet were still moving forward. If your dog is going off course, you need to stop moving!

I bought all of Dottie's runs and Fancy's runs from today. When I get the links I'll post the videos.

Spent the rest of the day editing the photos, which is pretty silly since I'm not selling them. Kind of a waste of time, yet good practice and also showed me how much work goes into taking and selling photos. I think if I wanted to make money doing it, I'd need to take better photos so I don't have to crop so much, and also get a program where I can compress all the photos at once for ease of uploading. Open, crop, compress, possible color correction, save and do the next one. That is a lot of time.

Here is the second album. I also added photos to the first one since yesterday:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.303677972980604.98376.100000152104007&type=3&l=f2f65b78b2

Agility Trial

2011-10-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Today was our first agility trial in about a month. Pie tweaked her back playing with the toy (I suppose that is what happened. Don't know for sure. One day she was doing great, the next day she couldn't stand up. We got meds from the vet and saw the chiropractor. She seems better now but I didn't want to take a chance, so I pulled her from today.)

Fancy is now trying to get qualified for Nationals but today didn't help us. I tried to call her up the teeter from a front cross but it didn't work. No Double Q. Great, fast, happy run in both standard and jumpers.

Dottie did everything great in standard but hopped off the table. Darn. Then we were having a clean jumpers run but after the weaves about 3 from the end she ran around a jump. Double darn!

I had my camera out and took lots of pictures to practice. They can all be seen here:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.303174936364241.98240.100000152104007&l=f922211a2f&type=1

Here are some of my favorites.

Starting New Part Time Job

2011-10-08T21:17:00.000-07:00

I'll be training 2 Basic Obedience classes every Wednesday for a local pet store. I could probably have more classes each week, but I don't have any more time. Gotta ditch the "real" job first.

I will give a report on how the first week goes.

A Few More Photos

2011-10-03T19:50:00.000-07:00

With the new camera:

Please excuse the drool. We should have taken the pictures BEFORE working him in agility.

He's going to enter his first trial soon! For those who don't know- this is a Belgian Sheepdog. In every country except the US, they are the same breed as the Malinois, just the long coated, black variety.

My favorite female GSD. She usually has a bit more coat but is naked right now.

Most of the pictures I took today turned out fine- not blurry, etc. I think the key is to have the sun in the correct position.

Bunny is Adopted- For Now

2011-10-02T19:24:00.000-07:00

Bunny has been testing out a new home for the past week or so. She has not been dumped unceremoniously back at my doorstep so for now it is going ok. I only say ok since she has had some accidents in the house, bullied the resident dog, and ran around in circles. Yes, she always runs in circles, but her new owner was concerned it was related to stress and called it "restlessness." I assured her it is just how she expends her energy and thought that maybe a home who sees it as part of her charm would be better suited for her. But as long as the new home puts up with her, I'm happy to have her keep Bunny.

It is a good home for Bunny so I hope she can hold onto it! Upon further reflection, I realized I might have "ruined" Bunny by allowing her to play with the large Malinois. Because she was so small, anything she did to them was ok. Now that she is living with a dog closer to her size (she is only a few pounds smaller than her new poodle mix friend) when she does the same behaviors it can terrorize the other dog. Hope they can work it out with help from the owner.

Good luck Bunny!

Our First Schutzhund Trial!

2011-09-30T19:11:00.001-07:00

The long awaited "blow by blow (by blow") account! (Yes, it is that long.)

I got up at 5:30 on the day of our first SchH trial. Actually, I had been awake since 4. Fancy had woken me up with a particularly violent case of reverse sneezing (explosively sucking air in through the nose) and usually I can make it go away by holding her mouth and nose closed. But that didn’t work so I let it run its course and eventually she stopped. But I was too nervous to fall back asleep. I stayed in bed, hoping for sleep until my alarm went off. We had to meet for tracking at 6:30. I let the dogs out to potty and wondered why the sprinklers had gone crazy and gotten the patio all wet. When I went out the front to load the car up I realized it was not sprinklers, it was rain. I’ve trained protection and obedience in the rain, and I’ve tracked after the rain, but never had the opportunity to practice tracking while it was raining. Would the rain wash the scent away?

We got out the door by 6:15 for the short drive to the McDonald’s were we were meeting to caravan to the tracking location. It was still raining and there was some concern that the access road to the tracking field was dirt and would be inaccessible. The SchH 3 competitor was missing, the freeway was shut down, and no one could get a hold of her. After some people had breakfast (and I made the mistake of trying someone’s tasty looking iced coffee- gross!) the trial secretary decided we had to leave without her since the judge had to be done in time to catch her plane ride home.

We caravaned to the field. I spotted the sign for the road but everyone else kept driving so I followed them as to not be left behind in case they knew something I did not. However, when the leader made a U Turn, it became obvious we had just accidentally passed it. The car in front of me was too busy following the car in front of her and was not paying attention to traffic. She almost pulled out in front of an oncoming car and that car had to swerve to avoid her. Yikes!

When we reached the fields without further ado, it transpired that the access road to the field was dirt, but the main road was paved. However, it was not raining hard enough to make the dirt road muddy and everyone was able to park on the dirt road without fear of getting stuck. The SchH 3 competitor was waiting for us there. The rain had cleared to a mist which I knew would make the tracking even easier. I say even easier because the field was beautiful. Rich, dark, moist, scent holding, flat dirt, that showed every footstep. There were occasional furrows, but my dogs have been exposed to those. Since I train mostly on grass, this dirt was going to be easier that what we are used to.

First up was the tattoo/ microchip check to make sure you are not substituting dogs and the impartiality test to make sure your dog is neutral towards neutral people. Pie stuck her nose through the round microchip reader and Fancy pretended to be afraid of it. Other than that, not much to report. My dogs got tracks number 2, 4 and 6. The tracks were laid in groups of 3 so Fancy went first, then Pie, then Dottie.

The field was a bit confusing because the furrows went one way, but the judge wanted us to lay our tracks not parallel to them. Instead we went sort of at an angle. It was hard to keep track if you were going in a straight line when the visual lines you had did not line up with where you were going. The person who drew track number 1 did not follow directions, and her last leg ended up ending a short distance down Fancy’s first leg. I didn’t think much of it, but Fancy did. When it was her turn (her track aged 20 minutes- piece of cake) she started off correctly then got very confused. The judge helped us a bit by telling me it was ok to call her back to me then tell her to search again (apparently this is up to each judge) and with that help we moved on and completed the track with just a tiny bit of searching at the corners. Other than that she was very correct and did a great job. During the critique the judge told me Fancy was probably confused by the scent of the other dog’s last article since it was so close to her track. Interesting. I believe that since once we got past it, she had no trouble.

Fancy shows off her deep nose.

Fancy coming across her second leg.

Fancy's last article!

We were both pleased.

Back at the peanut gallery, my friend and mentor and the one who helped us so much with tracking, K, was apparently going into cardiac arrest thinking Fancy was not going to pass. But she did, and with a respectable score too- 88!

Next I laid the track for Pie, another competitor laid the track for his dog, and then I laid Dottie’s track. Pie was amazing. A little searching at each corner and fidgeting on the article, but such a good girl. As we came down the last leg and I knew nothing short of a direct impact by a falling satellite or possibly an earthquake would throw us off the track, I got a tiny bit emotional. Pie’s tail wagging, nose deep in the dirt- this is what all those hours and hours lead up to. I told myself I refused to fail tracking and at that moment I knew my goal was achieved. She downed on the last article and we got a cheer from the gallery. A 94 for Pie!

Pie walks (er drags) me out to her start.

Pie starting off.

Pie starting up again after her first article.

Pie's last article- we did it!

And finally, Dottie. By this time, the tracks were pretty far from the main road. Dottie gets very excited for tracking and I had to put up with being drug all the way out to the start pad. She was on her fur saver in the dead ring, but even so by the time we approached the start she was gasping a tiny bit. Turns out this actually settled her down (guess chocking will do that to you.) I was sure Dottie would be almost uncontrollable tracking on a fur saver, when she is usually tracked on a prong collar to help slow her down. And even then sometimes she needs several strong corrections to settle down and do it right, rather than rushing here and there and sniffing everywhere. But the long walk settled her brain and she actually started off slower than Pie. One thing I was concerned (just a tiny bit) with her was the field had many berries laying on top of the dirt, and tilled under. We never did determine what type they were, but would Dottie spend the whole time eating them? She’ll eat anything so I thought for sure she would, but nope- she was a Malinois on a mission! She also had some searching at the first corner, but her second corner was perfect. Also a little fidgeting on the articles but actually not as bad as I expected. Dottie finished her track with a score of 96! We missed High Tracking by 2 points to a German Shepherd. Not very surprising. They are bred to track in the methodical style rewarded by SchH. It is a sport designed for GSD, after all.

Dottie's deep nose.

Dottie shows off her tracking chops.

I get a hug from K and Dottie gets excited.

I am so proud of all of our tracking scores. We worked long and hard for those scores. We overcame the Mals natural desire to go fast and sloppy, and Fancy’s natural desire to quit when it gets tough. I must say I earned those scores though hard work, not luck.

After everyone finished (Dottie and Pie had 2nd and 3rd place tracking scores and Fancy was not the lowest!) we all caravanned back to the club. I stopped to pick up some donuts and ffluffy stopped to get a coffee. I ended up not eating any of the donuts because even though I was hungry, I was suddenly still too nervous to eat.

Pie and I went first in obedience and I got to pick if I wanted to do my moving exercises first, or the long down. I picked moving. Pie’s heeling was not her best and she got distracted by a gopher mound. The field owners put a lot of work into maintaining the field, so there are usually no distractions like that. Just too bad for us the gophers got busy. Her sit and down in motion were fine and so were her retrieves, but she did hit the 1 meter hurdle on the way out for some point deductions. Her go out was good and her long down was fine, although I heard her whining quite a bit. She got a score of 91 in obedience.

Nice attention from Pie.

More nice heeling.

Returning after the sit in motion.

Pie gives me a bump in front.

Pie's finish boing was not quite as high as Dottie's.

Nice pick up on the dumbbell for Pie.

Pie shows us how it should be done.

Pie over the hurdle.

It looks like Pie is struggling to get over the wall, but she was not. (I can - gasp- make it!)

The send away- she went!

The down at the end of the go out. She looks happy with herself.

Next was Dottie’s turn in obedience. Dottie is a bad little dog who takes advantage of the lack of corrections to get away with stuff. Or at least that is my interpretation of her behavior. Still trying to figure her out. Her heeling was distracted and I don’t think her ears came up at all. She downed on the sit in motion but did the down in motion correctly. Her recall was blazing fast but she forgot to stop and almost knocked me down in the front position! During the critique the judge called it a "slight bump." More like a "slight tackle!" She did her retrieves with a bark before each one which caused us points but showed she was excited to do them. Phew- good thing we had over a week to fix our retrieves when she stopped doing them. Dottie got a score of 80 in obedience. Oh- she also inched a bit on the long down. That dog...! I am a bit disappointed in her obedience. I very much want to figure out how to get the same good results in shows as in practice. I sort of get the feeling Dottie just doesn't care. Pie gets distracted but remembers her job and gets back to it. Dottie gets distracted then when she does not get corrected it is as if she becomes lazy because she doesn't care do to it just because, and there is nothing forcing her (a correction) to do it because I said so. At some points between exercises she drifted over 3 feet away from me and I had to tell her heel again to keep her from going away completely to do her own thing. I don't want to detract from our success, but Dottie is a frustrating dog in many ways.

The slow with Dottie.

Dottie in the group.

The "slight bump." Hmmm...

Dottie on the wall. Lucy for her the dumbbell did not drag her down!

But onto better things. The last phase- Protection! In order to pass protection you must get 80 points, not the minimum of 70 needed in tracking and obedience. Once again Pie went first. We heeled on to the field and Pie was riveted to the far side of the field. Eyes starting, ears and tail up. Her crittering pose. She seemed to be convinced there was something worth chasing up in the orchard. I pointed her at the first blind but she wouldn't look at it! I had to mark it several times and she finally glanced at it. I took that opportunity to tell her "Search!" and she took off. At first I thought she was going to veer in the wrong direction and run into the orchard but she went around the blind. She even gave an excited little pounce as she came around. The Pie Pounce. She came towards me correctly when I called her and I sent her to the blind with the helper. She started barking as she came around, then I had to wait out in the middle of the field until the judge called me over. Pie correctly kept barking the entire time, and did not stop barking as I came around. The judge signaled me to call her and she came to heel very nicely. I had the helper step out and we set up for the escape. She did the escape bite but slipped off the first bite which is unusual. However, she re-gripped very quickly, outed, started barking, took her drive (whined and moaning about it) then outed and barked again. All good. I walked it, and picked her up to heel her down the field for the long bite.

I kept waiting for the judge to tell me to stop walking but she didn't. I actually wasn't sure where I was supposed to stop! So I stopped 1/2 way down the field but she told me to keep going. Yikes- it was going to be a full length field long bite on Pie's questionable back. Pie did not want to leave the helper and the further we got away, the more heel commands I had to give. Pie was eager for the long bite and on the judge's signal, I let her go. The judge actually delayed her signal until the helper had come about 1/2 way up the field so it was not as long as I thought it would be. Pie went very fast, slipped off the sleeve, re-bit then outed.

I walked up for the transport and she kept her barking up the entire time. We transported to the judge. Usually I say "transport!" but I could tell Pie needed a firmer command so I decided to use heel. At the end of the transport, Pie had ended up on the incorrect side of the helper. Ah well! During the critique it was of course noted she came off the sleeve which is bad, but she re-gripped nicely. She mostly had good, full grips and was fast. She outed correctly and guarded well. We passed protection with enough points- 80! And my Pie became my first SchH titled dog. It couldn't happen to a nicer dog. What a good, good girl.

Pie running the blinds.

Escape grip.

Right before the out for the escape.

Pie drive.

Eager Pie gets ready for the long bite.

Pie gets him.

Pie starting off the transport.

Um, Pie? What are you doing over there?

I got a break and watched Hank run his routine. He is a real SchH dog and very serious with good grips. He got high protection!

Next it was Dottie. Unlike Pie, she was ready to run the blinds and I actually couldn't get her to face away from it to wave our readiness to the judge. I sent her around and she was off like a shot. She also correctly came to me when I called and then went to the hot blind. Her barking was also good, just not very scary. When it was time to call her out, I took a deep breath, and said in my most loud, commanding voice, "COME HEEL!" It worked. In fact, it was probably our best call out ever!

The helper stepped out of the blind and Dottie tried to excuse herself for an unauthorized bite. I had read the rules (always a good idea) and knew the only thing you can say is Come Heel. So I said it and she came back. We heeled over for the Escape Bite and I stopped and Dottie kept doing to try for ANOTHER unauthorized bite. I confess instead of telling her what to do, I giggled quietly. Because she wasn't jumping right in there- Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead- she was inching quietly, stalking almost. The judge probably saved our protection passing score by telling me to call her back, which I did. The escape was fine but her grip was not full. She outed, did the drive, then outed again. When I came in for the pick up she was very dirty, taking extra bites. She needed tons of extra commands to heel down the field for the long bite. Dottie did not think it was a good idea to turn her back on the guy who was just whacking her with a stick- PLUS she never got to make off with the sleeve- what gives?

This time I knew to go all the way to the end of the field. Dottie was eager to be let go and was noisy while waiting. She also came off the sleeve on the long bite (I'm not sure she'll ever figure that out- too much speed combined with a genetic poor grip no matter how much our helper works it) but re-bit and outed when I told her, even though I was 1/2 a field a way. I walked in quickly while Dottie barked and took some dirty bites. The closer I got the worse it got. Naughty Dottie! We set up for the transport and she... well... I don't think I'll even discuss the transport. It was that bad. We reported out and I leashed her up for the critique. Even though the helper left the field, Dottie would not stop staring at him! Dottie was critiqued that her grip is not very full and she needs better obedience, but even so she scored an 81 with an pronounced rating. Not bad for a 40 pound weakling. Until you see this dog in person I think it is hard to appreciate how small and delicate looking she is. There is really nothing to her except maybe some ears and legs. And a bent tail. Her teeth are the same size as Fancy's! So a pronounced rating for courage is pretty sweet. When we were given our score Dottie became my second SchH dog!

Dottie runs the blinds. Very fast.

Dottie's escape grip.

Guard after the out.

Reattack on the dog (Dottie.)

Another Dottie grip.

Coming in from the long bite.

Dottie starting off the transport.

Dottie starting to get out of position.

Reporting out. Quick- leash her up before we loose even more points!

Dottie during the critique eyeballing the bad guy.

So that is our account of our first SchH trial. We also had a yummy lunch which I couldn't finish because I became too nervous. We had lunch before protection so the titles were not secured yet. After the trial during clean up I had some more.

The GSD who got high tracking got High in Trial and the SchH 3 dog ended up being disqualified due to being out of control during protection. He had passed but his owner didn't leash him up in time after reporting out and he re-attacked the helper and wouldn't out the sleeve. So close yet so far. Hank had high HOT- Handled, Owned and Trained. The High in Trial GSD was being trialed by a pro-trainer.

So happy with our results and proud of my girls!

Pie- SchH1
Dottie- SchH1
Fancy- TR1

Some really nice memories of my first SchH trial- passing scores, family and friends present, and new titles!

I don't know why I have to be so short.

Dottie did not want to be picked up. Poor older younger brother. She got his nice black shirt and dark jeans all dirty.

Proof my family was there.

Birthday Pictures

2011-09-30T18:57:00.000-07:00

The cake was particularly yummy!

Pie was licking my ear, which is why everyone is so amused. Also note Fancy's tail. She's never far from me. Dottie was locked in the crate so she didn't run off with the cake or some other badness.

Almost matching shirts on Dad and youngest younger brother.

First Schutzhund Trial!!

2011-09-25T17:05:00.000-07:00

A "blow by blow" account will no doubt follow, but for now, the photo below sums up my feelings!

Fancy got an 88 for her Tracking 1 (TR1) title. The photo is after her track and she had a nice deep nose and the dirt made her beard all muddy.

Pie got 94 in tracking, 91 in obedience, and 80 in protection for a total of 265 and her SchH1 title!

Dottie got 96 (!) in tracking, 80 in obedience and 81 in protection with a pronounced rating for a total of 257 and her SchH1 title!

My very first tracking titles and very first SchH titles. Phew- that is a lot of work!

My Mom, Dad AND elder younger brother all came out to support us. That means a lot to me. Hope it wasn't too boring for them.

What good dogs and great family I have. I am so lucky.

Big Day Tomorrow!

2011-09-24T21:20:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the Big Day! Pie and Dottie try for SchH I and Fancy tries for TR1. We are as ready as we will ever be. My parents are coming to watch which is exciting because they are not able to make it out hardly ever. My mom came to Fancy's first Invitational back in 2006 and that was the last event. Now they will be off the hook for another 5 years!

Today was the BHs and everybody passed except one. His dog was just very distracted. Can happen to anyone at anytime so let's hope it doesn't happen to us!

We will be tracking at 6:30, then do obedience, then protection. Crossing our fingers and toes all goes well!

Eye See You

2011-09-23T21:27:00.001-07:00

Some eyeball lights to add to my eyeball collection. Not to worry, none of the eyeballs in the collection are real. I have a candle, a hand sanitizer bottle, and a ball. I think at one time I also had a stress ball eyeball but not anymore.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2011-09-23T21:15:00.000-07:00

It was the big Three Oh for me!

Yummy sundae and we didn't even get the singing!

As you can see from the pictures it was a wild time celebrating. My 2 brothers, mom and dad and family friend all came to TGI Fridays. I had a great time, wish more friends and family could have been there.

Who is the mom and who is the daughter?

Crazy boys.

Hand of Doom. Or something. Good times!

More Practice Photos

2011-09-20T13:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the suggestions and comments on how to take better pictures. I've read them but have not looked at the camera's manual yet to figure out HOW to change the aperture and f-stop and such. But that didn't stop me from practicing more. I promise I will read up and start practicing for real by fiddling around and changing settings to see what gives me the best results. But until then here are more practice shots.

Yes, I took some into the sun instead of the sun at my back, but the background was prettier the wrong way. However, I can see the ones taken the correct way turned out better!

Taken with the sun at my back. Turned out better than the others.

Also with the sun at my back.

The rest are taken into the sun.

I like this one.

I took these pictures for a discussion on Belgian structure. I've learned some and after looking at Pie's picture, thought she might have a good "front." Someone suggested her upper arm might be short but it is always hard to tell without actually touching the dog. I think she has a nice chest.

Dottie, as anyone who knows a tiny bit can tell, is a structural mess. But she has grown up a tiny bit and now she can at least stand square, without putting her leg in odd looking positions.

The Big and the Small

2011-09-18T21:25:00.000-07:00

Hank is the biggest dog in the club. Dottie is the smallest. I got a photo of both of them in the blind and superimposed them on top of each other. As you can see, the man only shows up once, and that is because I made sure he was the same size in both photos. Therefore, the size on both these dogs are correct. I think our helper prefers to work Dottie because her small size doesn't leave him feeling sore and tired!

Almost There!

2011-09-18T19:46:00.000-07:00

Next Sunday, one week from today, is our first SchH trial. I'm excited. We had a good practice today. Tracked in the morning. I couldn't use the dirt field I planned on using, but by good luck found another one. However, it wasn't as ideal as I first thought. I couldn't see my track, but the dogs found it. Pie also found an article that fell out of my pocket accidentally! Then she tracked over top of and did not indicate her first real article. Dottie also ignored her first article. What? Fancy tracks slower than slow, but got to her first article, then couldn't find the last turn.

Both Mals did fine in obedience. I had my camera out and a club member used it to take some pictures. Dottie's retrieves were not amazing but she mostly did them.

Protection was great! Pie's grips were full and stayed full. She did moan quite a bit on the drives. Dottie stayed under control without me relying on leash corrections. She also did a good long bite and did not fly off the sleeve, and a nice transport as well. If all this goodness continues and happens next Sunday, we should pass!

Love this heeling!!!!

More good heeling- the slow.

This is what I've been training her for, looks like it is coming together.

Nice quick pick up.

Pie is such an attractive dog.

Pie on the wall.

Pie presents the dumbbell nicely.

A reward for Pie.

Dottie in the group.

Not forging too badly. At some points my hand was being brushed by her tail. Yikes.

Dottie heels a bit more.

Come.

Sit out of motion. I like her expression.

Dottie on the wall.

Clearing the 1 meter hurdle. Her grip on the dumbell is not ideal. She has been having conflicts with the retrieve and you can see it in her grip.

Presenting the dumbbell.

Nice.

On the send away/ go out.

Long down while the other dog works. This picture must have been taken several minutes after she'd been laying there because at the beginning she was so hot from her obedience routine her tongue was curling.

Searching the blinds for the bad guy.

I love this picture! She is very small, but puts so much force into the game.

Heeling away to do it again.

Escape.

Dottie preventing the escape.

Good grip Dottie!

After a bite, an out and a guard.

Coming in for the long bite. This is the one when you send them from far away. Also called the courage test because they bite while the bad guy is coming at them rather than running away.

Pie found the bad guy.

Escape bite.

To chomp.

Pie doing a short long bite/ courage test. We never practice this due to the possible stress on her back, but we did it today (short version) just to give her a clue what will happen next week.

"Taking a drive." This is when the bad guy pushes into the dog and hits them with the stick to see if they will give up and run off. No such luck for our bad guy!

Another drive.

New Camera!

2011-09-16T10:08:00.000-07:00

My new to me used camera arrived yesterday. This is the one I bid on (and won) on ebay. Or is it Ebay? eBay? Whatever it is, I won and the camera arrived and is as advertised. The battery was even charged so I opened everything up, slapped it together (carefully) and took some pictures.

It is a Nikon D80. I used it in full auto mode. For these first pictures I used the lens that came with it, a 18-135mm.

At first I didn't like the sun blurring Pie's outline. Then I realized it gave her an angelic look and decided to pretend I did it on purpose.

Fancy in the cone of shame due to a hot spot caused by eating kibble with lamb in it. I know she is allergic to lamb but it was far down on the ingredient list so I thought I'd give it a try since I had the food already. 2 days on the kibble and we got a nasty hot spot.

Dottie's picture didn't turn out amazing, so I switched to the zoom lens I bought and tried Dottie again. The loom lens is great for portraits because the background gets very blurred.

Nice blurred background. Too bad you can see her thin patches. Most likely caused by a food allergy but I haven't pinned it down yet. A blood test might be in our future.

Dottie had something to say about sitting still. A tiny bit blurry.

Today I read the manual a bit and learned a tiny bit about f-stops and aperture. I will have to read that again because it didn't really sink in. But I think I understand Dottie's barking is blurry because the aperture was large which blurs the background. But a large aperture (opening letting light in) means a slower shutter speed which leads to the blurring of the subject. So- can you blur the background and also have a moving subject in focus? Lots to figure out. I think something else I realized is people do more editing with a nice editing program (such as Photoshop) to make photos really great. For example Pie's head shot that I like so much, I'm wondering if the photographer changed the contrast some. The colors look so vivid, even better than real life. Dottie's head shot I took looks very clear, but it doesn't have that "wow" factor. My next investment might be a photo editing software. Right now all I use is the free programs that come with Microsoft.

Here are a few additional pictures I took. Reading the manual I might have to lock the aperture ring into the lowest setting and also make sure the focus rings are in focus. I didn't do either of those things. After Pie's picture with the sun, the sun went away and the rest were taken with a fog over the sun.

A bit blurry. Maybe?

Original shot.

Used Auto Brightness and changed the contrast a tiny bit.

I messed with the contrast on this one also.

Bunny is getting a bath and a hair cut today.

September 11, 2001

2011-09-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

I wrote a post about my experience on September 11, 2001 while I was in basic training and how, due to lack of access to the news and other media, my experience was different than many people. But then I decided not to post it because it was too much about me, me, me and that terrible day was actually in no way about me. I didn't want to remember the 10th anniversary by focusing on myself, so for now I am not posting it.

I think the memorials in the footprints of the Towers are very beautiful.

I hope security has improved so nothing like this happens again. Yet I sadly acknowledge that as long as there is hatred and extremism in the world, people will try.

New Camera

2011-09-08T15:40:00.001-07:00

I used ebay for the first time to bid on a camera, and I got it! It is a used Nikon D80 10.2 Digital SLR with a 18-135 mm Nikon AF lens. I also bought another zoom lens separately. I used a similar camera belonging to a friend to take some shots at an agility trial and I was really impressed. Sadly, I don't (yet) know about F/Stops and aperture settings, but when I used her camera I used it all manual and the pictures still came out great. For now I will use this one the same way. Maybe I'll learn something.

The Canon PowerShot will still be my primary hiking and every day camera. This one will be for portraits and action shots at agility and SchH trials.

I think using ebay allowed me to get a good deal. I got it for about $100 less than the cheapest one selling used on Amazon and I could "buy with confidence" seeing the seller's 100% positive feedback rating. I got it under the "buy it now" price and it is way, way, way cheaper than a new model.

I don't expect to start going crazy using ebay because I actually didn't like the bidding. I wanted a good deal, but I would have been happier using the "buy it now" feature. Someone tried to outbid me in the last 20 seconds. Crazy. But I was ready for them. And I emerged triumphant (evil laughing.)

So I'm happy with my purchase. Can't wait for it to get here so I can start taking some pictures!