These are the chronicles of two Shetland Sheepdogs and their adventures in rally-o, obedience, flyball, agility, tracking and therapy dog work. Also including information on raw feeding, canine epilepsy, positive training, and lots and lots of Sheltie hair!
Back in June, SAA held an AAC agility trial and I had Romeo entered in a couple of runs. That weekend he earned a Starters Standard Q and a Starters Snooker Q. A friend video taped Romeo's Standard run, and this weekend gave me a DVD with the video!
For the little bit of agility that we do, I'm very proud of my boy for how well he does! He had a bit of a bobble at the weaves (was his VERY first time EVER seeing 12 weaves in a row), and he still isn't super strong on the tunnels, so some of my handling is a bit awkward to ensure that he takes the tunnel.
I've received some requests via my Sheltie Hair Facebook page for videos explaining how I do my training.
One request asked for a demonstration on how I train a "back up". So here it is!
And, while I was at it, I made a video showing how I train a backward heel. There are more techniques to clean up the backward heel once the dog has the basic idea, but this video shows the very beginning steps with a STRONG focus on heel position.
At the CARO Rally-O trial held at Paws n Train in mid-May, we were fortunate to have Sophie Brunet available to take some video of the performances! I always enjoy seeing my boys working, and videos like these show me a completely different perspective to their performances. I get to see what they are doing well, and what I miss when we are actually working.
So HUGE thanks to Sophie for putting these videos together for me!
Gio
Gio was entered in one Excellent round and two Novice Team rounds.
Here is his Excellent run, qualifying with a score of 197/200 AND completing his RXMCL title!
Here are Gio's 2 Novice Team rounds. This was our first attempt at Team events, and they are a lot of fun! How they work is that a normal course is split into two roughly equal halves. Two dogs/handlers are paired up, with each dog/handler taking one of the two halves. The first dog completes the first half of the course, and then the second dog completes the second half. They are scored as if they were one dog, with a qualifying score being the usual 170/200. In CARO, there are Team events at the Novice, Advanced, Excellent and Versatility levels, but both dogs need to have earned the appropriate level title before attempting that level in Team. The Team category is quite new, and this was the first time that it was offered in Saskatchewan. So everyone was starting out at the Novice level!
Gio was paired up with Buddy, a poodle-y type mix. Buddy is a super fun little worker, so they were a great team!
Novice Team round 1
Novice Team round 2
Romeo
Romeo was entered in 2 Novice Team rounds, 1 Excellent C round, and 2 Versatility rounds. Since he qualified his first Versatility round of the weekend, he was able to complete his RV title and the second Versatility round counted towards his C Stream Gold title.
Here are Romeo's Novice Team runs. Romeo was paired up with Bent the Border Collie. I have to say that Bent is probably my favorite Border Collie. Ever. Ever ever. Super sweet little dog and really fun to watch working! Romeo and Bent were a great team, taking a perfect 200/200 score on day 1 and a still respectable score of 190/200 on day two.
Novice Team round 1
Novice Team round 2
Here is Romeo's Excellent C run. The qualifier goes towards his CARO C Stream Gold title.
And finally, some Versatility runs! Versatility is the 4th standard level of competition in CARO. It consists of all of the Novice level signs, plus weave poles and tunnel, in addition to 7 new stations that direct you to switch heel position from left to right. So the dog must be able to perform all stations on the left and the right, while switching back and forth between left and right at least 4 times.
The first video only shows part of Romeo's run. And, while the title of the video says "Novice Team", it is in fact Versatility. Mistakes happen, deal with it! Anyways, this run wasn't beautiful ... Romeo was having a drama queen moment. But it was good enough to qualify and earned his Rally Versatility title! HOORAY!
This second video is a much nicer Versatility run! The qualifier goes towards his C Stream Gold title.
First things first, sending a BIG shout-out to the people that approached me this past weekend having recognized Gio and/or Romeo from the blog! It's very humbling to realize that real people actually read this blog! It was awesome meeting you all. Sorry I couldn't chat much, but I was working hard on literally running my feet off.
With well over 300 Shelties entered, it was quite the sight! The Specialty offered conformation, obedience, Rally-O, and agility. I had both dogs entered in Brace Obedience and Rally-O, and Romeo entered in conformation.
Despite the really long days, we had an awesome time! It was so amazing to see all of the Shelties there doing what they do best ... looking cute and working hard!
Since the Specialty was offered in conjunction with the Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club show, I was also signed up for obedience and Rally-O stewarding the whole weekend. I think this played a significant part in the less than stellar performances that the boys showed on Friday, but even so, they did really well!
We were fortunate to have Michel Calhoun judge the obedience and Rally-O trials. He is an awesome judge and so much fun to show under! Definitely added to the experience, even if he did tease me mercilessly the entire weekend (good-naturedly, I hope!).
This was our first attempt at Brace Obedience, and while it wasn't perfect, it looks decent on the video and was enough to earn us a score of 190.5/200 and 3rd Place!
Rally-O went along the same vein, with both dogs entered in Advanced B and Excellent B. They finished off their CKC Rally Excellent titles last year and, since I wanted to enter in the Specialty, I decided to try for a leg of their RAE titles (even though I have no real intentions of pursuing it very far). Romeo had two scores of 99/100, one earning him a 3rd Place spot in Advanced B. Gio had scores of 95/100 and 97/100. To give an idea of what the competition was like, I will state that there were 11 Shelties entered in Advanced B and 15 Shelties entered in Excellent B. Of the bunch, I believe there was only 1 non-qualifying score, 2 scores below a 90/100, and the VAST majority of the scores above 95/100. In fact, in Excellent B there were 2 dogs tied for 1st place with perfect scores of 100/100 and a 6-way tie for 3rd place with 6 dogs earning 99/100! It all came down to who could make it through the course the fastest. That is the most intense Rally-O trial I have seen, with a lot of fabulous working Shelties from across Canada!
Romeo and Gio earned 3rd in Class in Brace Obedience, and Romeo took 3rd in Class in Rally-O Advanced B, under judge Michel Calhoun.
Rounding off the weekend was Romeo's first adventure in the conformation ring. He was neutered long ago, but probably could have finished his Championship had he been allowed to keep his boy bits. I entered him in the Altered Class and his breeder, Brenda Newlove of CanyonView Shelties trotted him around the ring for me, where he took Reserve Winners Dog! I always knew Romeo was a good looking dog, so I guess his success didn't come as too much of a surprise. But that doesn't dilute how proud I am of his accomplishments! Huge "Thanks" to Brenda for primping and preening my little man and putting in the leg work to show him off for me.
Romeo took Reserve Winners Dog in Altered Class under judge Judith Kelsey.
Now, on to the fun stuff!
Our obedience/Rally-O judge, Michel Calhoun, asked a favor of some of the Rally-O dogs after the trial on Friday night. I missed most of the story as I was running to my crating area to get my camera, but it is something along the lines of promising to do a favor for a class of children at a local school. He is carrying Flat Stanley (a colorful paper doll of sorts) around with him and documenting Flat Stanley's travels in photographs. So, to prove that he was at a dog show this weekend, he wanted a picture of Flat Stanley with a Shaggle of Shelties*. So here are just some of the dogs entered in the Sheltie-only Rally-O trial, with Flat Stanley front and center. (Sorry I couldn't get a better angle, but it was difficult to elbow my way through the throng of handlers urging their dogs to "stay" ... you try keeping that many Shelties sitting so close together without them spontaneously breaking out into zoomies and play bows!)
Just a moment of serious stuff, now. I have to share a pet peeve of mine with you all. Well, maybe this is a little more than a mere pet peeve. It is bordering on downright disgust! There were a lot of dogs in the trials this weekend, Sheltie-only as well as All Breed. And, with pressure running high and crazy competition, nerves flare up for both handlers and dogs. In cases like this ... shit happens. Literally. There were a fair number of dogs having accidents in or around the rings this weekend. Some newbies and some seasoned vets. And, while really stinky and not pleasant for your friendly neighborhood ring stewards to have to clean up, it happens. We all understand it. What I CANNOT stand is a handler chastising or blaming their dog for soiling the ring! It is NOT their fault! If you want to scold someone, smack yourself upside the head because it is your own darned fault! I do NOT want to see you leaving the ring yelling at your dog and yanking the hell out of their collar all because they had to do a number 2. It is YOUR job to make sure your dogs are pottied before they enter the ring. It is YOUR job to monitor their diet and their nerves before and during a trial weekend. And if, after all your efforts, they still end up soiling the ring, the proper procedure is to quickly apologize to the judge (and stewards for good measure, as it is them picking up your dog's droppings) and rush your dog outside to finish its business without causing a scene. Scolding your dog for doing what it has to do, especially when it is clearly attempting to PREVENT soiling in the ring as you dawdle around trying to finish your performance while blatantly ignoring the dog's distress, is the very LAST thing you want to do. Both for your dog's sake and the sake of your own reputation. I know I'm not the only person tasting bile after witnessing you jerking your dog around after their accident. Smarten up people!
There. That feels better.
Following the "Sandwich Protocol", begin and end with something positive while sticking the nasty bit in the middle, this weekend was absolutely awesome! Lots of great successes from the Sheltie side of things as well as the All Breed side. HUGE congratulations to everyone on their accomplishments! When my feet stop throbbing and I catch up on some sleep, I will post more pictures of the boys with their prize haul. And I have heard rumor that there are some ring-side pictures of Romeo's conformation debut floating around. When I get my hands on those, I will certainly be sharing them here!
* For the definition of a Shaggle of Shelties, check out this previous blog post.
I've said it many many times. And I don't think people really "get" how weird he is. Yes, he is an incredibly smart dog, flamboyant, eager, and animated. But he's just really REALLY weird, too. He does things that are just strange. Things that, I'm sure, other dogs do. But while other dogs may do a couple of strange things, he seems to do them all!
From snorkeling in water dishes to bathtub jumping to taking his frustrations out on his rage pillow.
Since people just don't seem to believe me when I say that I have the weirdest dog ever, I've decided to make my way through his list of oddities and put each one to cue. I'll make a video of each training attempt, and can then take his weirdness on the road to prove to the masses how strange he is!
So here we go, Parts I and II of "How to Train Your Dog to be Weird".
It's nearly here. 2010. The New Year. Where the heck did 2009 go?! It's been a crazy one, that is for sure.
I'm not really big on setting resolutions. I always end up breaking them. Instead, I like to have a general idea of the BIG picture goals for the next year.
Last year I set some goals, so let's start off by revisiting those and see how we did, shall we?
For 2009, our goals were ...
Gio - finish his CARO Rally-O Excellent title - begin working on his CARO C Stream Bronze title - finish his CKC Novice Obedience title - begin (and finish) his CKC Advanced Rally title - continue on with therapy dog work
Gio did not complete his CARO Rally-O Excellent or C Stream Bronze titles ... there were only 3 CARO trials in the province last year, and we had to miss one because Gio ended up having a bad bout of seizures right at that time. He did complete his CKC Novice Obedience title, though. He also finished his CKC Advanced Rally title, as well as his CKC Excellent Rally title, again with a handful of High in Class ribbons along the way. He continued his therapy dog work, as planned, with a total of 38 visitation hours in 2009. In the midst of this, Gio had a horrible battle with pancreatitis induced by his epilepsy medication. I nearly lost him in March, the vets were not giving him a good chance of ever coming home again. Recovery took months, so there was quite a long down-time in there where we were only focusing on improving his health. My boy is such a trooper!
Romeo - finish his CARO Rally-O Excellent title - begin working on his CARO C Stream Bronze title - CGN test (if there is one offered locally this year, there weren't any last year) - begin (and finish) his CKC Advanced Rally-O title - continue to train towards competition in agility (master those contacts!) - continue to train towards CKC Open Obedience title - continue visiting as a SJA therapy dog
Romeo completed his CARO Rally-O Excellent title with Magna Cum Laude. He also completed his CARO C Stream Bronze title and earned 4 legs towards his C Stream Silver title (one more leg to go). There was no CGN test in the province again this year, though I hear rumor that there is one planned for spring of 2010. He completed his CKC Advanced Rally-O title as well as his CKC Excellent Rally-O title, with a handful of High in Class ribbons along the way. We continued to train for AAC agility, and he has some really beautiful contacts now! He competed in his first trials at the end of the summer of 2009 and earned 1 qualifying score in Jumpers with a 1st place in his class. Open Obedience got put on the back burner when Romeo advanced so far through CARO Rally-O. Our focus was switched to the next level there, Versatility. He also continued volunteering as a therapy dog with a total of 67 visiting hours in 2009.
In total this year, the boys collected 7 new titles in obedience and Rally-O and amassed 105 total volunteer hours for St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program!
Goals for 2010:
Gio - keep plugging away at that CARO Rally-O Excellent title - continue therapy dog visitations - get out tracking more and aim towards competing for a tracking title - keep the seizures down to the low frequency that we have achieved at the end of 2009
Romeo - finish up the CARO C Stream Silver title - begin actively competing in CARO Rally-O Versatility level - continue training in agility, improve the weave poles, and try for a couple more qualifying legs - continue therapy dog visitations
Normally, I don't like to make specific goals, as in "I want to get a perfect score at the Rally-O trial in June". Rather, I make goals I strive to complete by the end of the year. ... This year, it is a little different, though. There is the Canadian Shetland Sheepdog Association 2010 National being held in conjunction with the Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club (the dog club for which I am a trainer) being held here in Saskatoon in April/May. They are having Sheltie-only trials in obedience, Rally-O, agility, and conformation, in addition to the all-breed competitions that go along with the normal show. I REALLY REALLY REALLY want to take a High in Class with at least one of the boys in the Rally-O trials at the Sheltie National! I'm still contemplating whether I want to go for the Most Versatile Sheltie award with Romeo by competing in obedience, agility, and Rally-O. I think we might pass on that one, though, and just aim for Rally-O. Both dogs routinely get perfect scores in CKC Rally-O, so it is just a matter of being the fastest dogs to do so. So our training regime is all about SPEED in addition to precision.
Now that we've tied up loose ends in terms of goals, let's take another glance back at 2009. This time with pictures and music. (All together now ... "oooooooohh!" ... nicely done.)
And finally, our wishes to you!
Thank you for traveling with us through 2009. We sincerely hope that you will stop by for a visit again in 2010. Wishing you a year full of happiness, good health, wet noses, and warm toes! Oh, and don't forget, lots and lots of Sheltie hair!
The weather has been NASTY here lately. Well, I guess I really shouldn't complain. It is "normal" weather for this time of year, but we were very spoiled by an unseasonably warm November. Now that December has hit us full force so suddenly, it's a little uncomfortable.
-30C to -40C windchills mean that we aren't getting outside very much lately. Potty breaks are conducted in record time, then back at the door ready to come in and warm up.
But, no fear, we have been keeping busy!
I've been working on holiday cards for a couple of card exchanges that I participate in. Notably the Dogs With Blogs card exchange, but also a Sheltie card exchange and a Dogster card exchange. And a Doggy Secret Santa exchange that I do each year with a group of online raw-feeding friends!
For the raw-fed dog Secret Santa, I thought it only fitting that I package the gifts in a raw food box! Sorry, fuzzy giftee(s), there is no raw meat in that box. But some other goodies that you will hopefully enjoy! All items have been Sheltie-Approved.
Gio offered to donate his football/rope toy. But, as you can see, it is well loved. So I convinced him that he would be sad if we gave it away.
Romeo, the eager pooch that he is, helped hold the stiff cardboard wrapping paper in place for me to tape.
The boys were very proud of their wrapping job ...
Until I informed Romeo that we were actually giving the goodies away. He didn't take that piece of information very well ...
We have also been playing a lot of indoor games to keep the boys entertained and me sane. Here is one of our favorites.
This evening I set to work building Beatrice a larger cage. In all of the reading I've been doing the past week, I have learned that most pet store type cages are much too small for guinea pigs to be truly happy. GuineaPigCages.com is a great website full of really useful information, so I decided I would follow their advice and build what is called a "C&C cage" ... or "Cubes and Coroplast". The cubes portion are those grid squares that you make utility shelves out of ... you know, you've seen them in utility rooms, laundry rooms, or bathrooms. And coroplast is that corrugated plastic used to make signs. I had a stack of the metal grids donated by the doting "grandparents" and found a great deal on coroplast. Little plug here, for anyone in Saskatoon wanting to get plain coroplast for building one of these babies, check out 77 Signs. They were super helpful and I was able to get what I needed same day for less than $30!
GuineaPigCages.com has really great instructions on how to build a C&C cage, so check them out. I'm writing this only because my methods may have deviated slightly from theirs. Take you pick!
Step 1: Gather materials
Stack of grids and handful of connectors ... I didn't count, so sue me.
Hammer to "gently persuade" the connectors onto the grids
Pen
Exacto knife
Zip ties - of particular importance!
Tape
Beer
2 helpful Shelties
Step 2a: Take a couple of minutes to figure out how the heck the connectors hook onto the grid squares. Once you figure that out, connect the grids to form the perimeter of the cage based on the size guidelines outlined on GuineaPigCages.com.
Step 2b: Smash the connectors with the hammer, sending them flying across the room and scaring the dogs.
Step 2c: Drink beer and repeat step 2b.
Step 2d: Swear profusely, open the window 'cause it's getting really freakin' hot in here! Return to step 2b and continue.
Step 3a: Place the perimeter frame on the coroplast, in doing so watch as half the connectors and grids fall off.
Step 3b: Curse the damned guinea pig, swearing that she better like this cage or she is becoming dog food and the grids are going in the trash.
Step 3c: Get another beer.
Step 4: Remove all the damned connectors and tie the damned thing together with zip ties.
Step 5: Place back on the coroplast and trace the inside of the frame with a pen.
Step 6: Refer to GuineaPigCages.com for instructions on fancy scoring, cutting, folding ... most of which I just winged anyways.
Step 7: Pray to the god of small furries that the frame fits around the coroplast tray.
Step 8: YAY! Celebrate with beer.
Step 9: Realize that the coroplast tray is wedged so tight into the frame that it holds its rectangular nature and you don't even need a bottom to hold things together. Yeah, I planned that all along. Celebrate with beer.
Step 10: Build cubes with one open side ... is that technically still a cube? About 3 should do it. Use them for building a platform to raise the cage off the ground, thus preventing Sheltie-Guinea Pig Cuddling and/or Reindeer Games. Also serve as storage places for guinea pig food, hay, bedding, etc.
Step 11: Line with towels and fleece (YAY for Dollarama!), stock with food, water, hidey thing, and paper tube that is supposedly a good toy for guinea pigs. Sure.
Step 12: Add guinea pig and watch the frivolity!
Turns out Beatrice really does enjoy her new cage. It is MUCH larger than her original cage, and she spent forever exploring her new digs. I think I even witnessed her first popcorning (which is apparently how a guinea pig expressed their happiness ... sorta like Sheltie zoomies?)
Since the last THREE blog posts have been all about Romeo, I am dedicating this whole post to Gio. Only Gio. I won't even mention that Romeo nailed ALL his contacts at agility practice today, including the teeter! Nope, not going to mention that at all, just talk about Gio.
First, an little epilepsy update. This past week we saw a recurrence of the S-monster. Gio had another seizure on Tuesday evening, nearly 2 months to the day since his last seizure. It was a grand mal, but short in duration and he recovered fairly quickly. Even though the seizures have lately been coming in clusters, this was a singleton with no more since then. So maybe my new routine of double dosing him on phenobarb after the first seizure is paying off! He went to the vet on Friday for his routine bloodwork consisting of a chemistry panel, CBC and phenobarbital level check. I don't anticipate anything to be wrong, just a regular check that we do every 4 months or so. We'll get the results back early next week.
Anyways, on to happier news! Down but never out, Gio and I went tracking this afternoon. He is doing really REALLY well on his corners. He was having trouble with them for a while, lacking confidence in deciding which way to go, and then getting frustrated and giving up. We got some tips a couple of months back at a tracking seminar we attended here in town, and they have really been paying off! By rubbing a little bit of food on the sole of my shoes at each corner and then dropping a couple of treats about 5 steps after the corner, it is enough motivation for him to keep trying. I could really see the difference in how he was working today. He would cast out at each corner to figure out which way to turn, and his confidence when he found the correct direction was tangible! I really like that he is willing to cast around when he is less than 100% certain, but quickly runs back to the correct track once he has made up his mind. He's a very thorough worker, that is for sure!
Here are the two tracks we worked today.
I have a horrible sense of distance, so I have no clue how long each track was. Each track had 3 corners and the straight portions were between 30 and 50 steps, "steps" being normal brisk walking steps of a 5'5" person. We aren't really working on aging the tracks yet, just getting his confidence up and increasing the distance. So the tracks were only about 5 minutes old. Gio clearly wants to keep going at the end of the track, often continuing to follow my return path after the final food drop, so I will increase the distance substantially next time. Then work on aging.
Again, these tracks were both laid in a busy park, between two baseball diamonds that are shared play fields for two near by elementary schools. I really like using public fields like this, one because the grass is kept at a really nice length, and two because there is so much "background" scent that it really helps Gio learn to pick out one scent and follow it while ignoring the rest. I'm hoping this will come in handy down the line if we ever get around to trialing. The TD test is done in rural areas without much background contamination (other than wildlife tracks), but the urban tests are all done in public areas like this. I haven't yet laid a track over any other ground covering but grass, but I think next time we go out I will try crossing over the paths in the park to see how he handles brief bits of concrete or gravel.
Here is a video of Gio's second track. Sorry for the "Blair Witch" style, but it's a little hard to keep the camera steady while trotting after a dog on a mission, slapping mosquitos, and trying to pick up all those darned stakes!
Okay ... maybe there aren't so many cats around. But dogs, wet dogs, we've got!
Tonight was our regular canine strength and conditioning class and it was raining. Not over cold and not a torrential downpour, so we worked through it. A good idea to get the dogs used to working in the rain anyways, and something Mr. "I'm made of sugar and can't get wet" really needs to practice! He is getting better, and will work in the rain, I just have to pull out the good treats and pile on the encouragement.
Big success of the night (aside from me not falling down or collapsing from lack of oxygen to the brain), Romeo pulled his bag of rocks ... err, I mean highly sophisticated and accurately calibrated doggy weight system ... across the whole field without me having to "help". When I got Romeo, he was overly aware of his leash, to the point that he couldn't even function if, Dog forbid, the leash draped on the wrong side of his body. And don't even THINK about trying to drag the leash behind you! NO WAY! I worked quite hard on desensitizing him to the leash and he is stellar with it now. But we took a couple steps backwards when I then hooked that leash to his harness and added 2lbs of rocks to the end. Back to square one with the training. But he's been doing pretty good, to the point where I just have to "pretend" to hold the leash and he will pull the full weight. Tonight I started him off jogging beside him while holding the leash, and then eased it down so that he was pulling the full weight of the bag, and he kept happily running beside me. YAY! Of course, he only did it one time out of four attempts, but we'll take the small successes!
Afterward, in addition to being tired, we were both also very VERY wet. I would like to think that Romeo looks somewhat more pathetic than I do while doing the drowned rat impression, but I think I might just be flattering myself there. Either way, I'm the one with the thumbs, so I get to stand behind the camera. So here is a very wet and unhappy Romeo.
I had to run out quickly this evening to scope out the facility that we are visiting on Tuesday for a therapy dog demo event. I threw the dogs in the back of the car for the ride, and while we were on our way home (after driving aimlessly for quite a while, only to discover that we had passed the facility a number of times, it just didn't have a sign out front) we passed Dairy Queen, and the boys BEGGED and PLEADED for some ice cream. Well, they are such good boys, they deserved a treat, so through the drive-thru we went. I ordered a Blizzard for myself (mmm Skor), and a small dish of plain ice cream for the boys. The lady at the window ooh-ed and aah-ed over the "cute puppies" with their faces pressed eagerly against the back window (yeah, they know that goodness comes from the magical lady in the wall), and she asked if they wanted a cookie. I admitted that the bowl of ice cream was for them, so they didn't need a cookie. But when she handed me their little dish of ice cream, lo and behold, she had stuck two dog cookies on top! Too cute!
At home, I divied up the ice cream and cookies and the boys went to town!
After yesterday's blog post, I received a couple of questions on how to use the FURminator, specifically with Sheltie-type coats.
Using the FURminator does take some practice. I have made Gio's butt nearly bald when I first used it. It was a situation where I was so amazed at how much hair I was getting out, that I just kept going ... and going ... and going. Poor Gio. But it grew back in, no problems. I go off of feel a lot when FURminatoring (new verb!). If the tool glides through easily, then keep going. As soon as it starts to feel choppy or rough, stop. You've got all the undercoat you are going to get.
I line brush when I use the FURminator. Meaning that I part the hair down to the skin, and work at the very base of the hair with the FURminator. Short strokes just to loosen the hair, then use a slicker brush to pull the hair out. I find that if I try to pull the FURminator right from the base of the hair to the tip that it ends up breaking some of the guard coat. By line brushing and just working the base of the hair, the guard hairs remain undamaged and you only remove the undercoat.
Another thing to keep in mind, is to not work on one area for too long. I only do about 5-7 strokes per "piece of skin", and not pressing down overly hard. The teeth of the FURminator are quite sharp (comparatively), and can damage the skin if you work one area too much.
When introducing the FURminator to your dog, I find it easiest to just do a small patch at a time. When I started, I did 1/4 of a dog per session, one session per day. As I got used to using the FURminator and the dogs began to accept it well, I would increase the area I would groom. Now I can do a whole dog in one session, usually with a break half way through to stretch my back and let the dog wander around for a minute.
I can completely strip the undercoat of both of my dogs in about an hour and a half. I try to do this about once a month in the summer time, slightly less often in the winter. In the summer, I try to get as much undercoat out as I can. In the winter, I use the FURminator sparingly, only thinning out areas, not removing the undercoat completely.
Here is a brief video of how I use the FURminator. Keep in mind that the boys were just stripped yesterday, so there isn't much undercoat for me to remove as a demo. I jumped around a lot trying to find a good place with some undercoat left. Normally I would move very systematically from the hindend of the dog to the shoulder.
And no, the FURminator people are not paying me. Though, if any FURminator people are reading this, I would be happy to accept "thank you" presents! Have your people call my people.
About a month ago I participated in a tracking seminar held locally. There was a bit of discussion about "urban tracking", and I found out that that is what Gio has been doing all along! I was under the impression that urban tracking was all about tracking on concrete in busy city centers. Apparently, the CKC version of urban tracking only involves 1/3 of the track on "non-vegetative" cover. The idea is that the track is laid in a busy public area. I have been training Gio a lot in school yards or sports feilds since the beginning, and that is the situation he would be in in the urban tracking test.
We went out this morning to the school ground behind my house to do a couple more tracks. Three tracks in total, two shorter ones with one 90 degree turn each, and one longer track with 2 90 degree turns.
I also tried to video tape Gio's third track. Damn camera quit taping around the second corner, though, and I didn't realize it until we were on the home stretch. Gio got a little lost at the second corner and it took some encouragement and prompting to get him to keep working it. He got it eventually, though.
Today was day 2 of the Paws n Train CARO Rally-O trial here in Saskatoon.
Again, the boys did wonderfully!
Gio was entered in two rounds today, one Advanced and one Excellent. The Advanced was FEO, so just for funsies. He qualified the Advanced with a score of 189/200, a great performance. The Excellent was a great run, but those darned weave poles tripped us up. If it weren't for them, he would have had a fabulous round and qualified with 182/200. It's my own fault, really. I haven't officially taught Gio the weave poles. He has never done agility because of his health issues, so we've just been getting by with close weaves where I essentially point where he needs to go. Works great if he isn't overly excited ... but he is always excited to do rally-o, so doesn't work so well in trials. He will make it to pole 4 and then pop out, and when I try to put him back in (as you can in rally-o, as opposed to agility) he just gets riled up and circles one pole a couple of times.
So for Gio, he was entered in 4 rounds this weekend, 2 Advanced and 2 Excellent. He gave his all for each round, but got hung up in little places that resulted in NQ's. He came away from the weekend with one Advanced FEO qualifier, but is a very happy (and very tired) boy. He loves this game so much, that I can't even find myself bothered if he doesn't qualify. He has no idea that he failed, all he knows is that he had a great time. And that is all that matters to me in the end!
Gio's Advanced Level FEO run ...
Gio's Excellent Level run ...
Romeo had a stellar weekend, and qualified every one of his rounds. He was entered in 4 rounds, 2 Advanced and 2 Excellent. Today he was in one of each, both of them in C Stream to count towards CARO's new title options. He qualified the Advanced C round with a 194/200 and the Excellent C round with a 191/200.
Overall this weekend Romeo finished off his Excellent title with Magna Cum Laude, and earned three legs towards his CARO Rally Bronze (CRB) title. He only needs two more Excellent C legs and he will have his CRB!
Romeo's Advanced C run ...
Romeo's Excellent C run ...
Me and Romeo with our judge, Sarah Jane Petti, after Romeo finished his RXMCL!
Last night I finally got around to offering the boys some of the sheep that we chopped up on Monday.
Thank the Raw-Gods, they LOVED it!
Pure enjoyment ...
And THIS is how dogs brush their teeth. Tell me that chemical laden, artificial chicken flavored doggy toothpaste on a rubber knubbly thimble is better than THIS!!
What follows includes pictures of graphic carcass dismembering. No animals were hurt maliciously, just your run of the mill culling and subsequent dismantling into dog-meal-sized pieces. But if you are squeamish or hold a belief that animals should not be food (even for other carnivorous animals), then stop reading here.
Really ... You have been warned. If you keep reading and then make a mess on your keyboard and have nightmares for 2 weeks, it's not my fault.
Right then.
WE HAVE SHEEP!
The campus farm was culling 6 nutrition trial sheep, and since they were fistulated they couldn't be sent for slaughter. So to prevent them from going to waste, a friend of mine took all 6. It was a case of where if you bring a truck and take them away, they are yours for free. So she jumped at the chance, then started making phone calls trying to get rid of the extra ones that she couldn't store in her freezer. She called me, and I made a couple of calls, and in the end all sheep were spoken for. I claimed one and another couple of friends took three between the two of them. For a mere $40/sheep for the gutting and skinning, my freezer is now full! The catch, I had to dismantle my sheep after it was skinned and gutted.
This was my first "dismantling", so the friends that took the other 3 sheep agreed to show me the ropes. It was a lot more work than I imagined! Who needs sculpt class when you just need to tear at a frozen sheep carcass?! Honestly, I was feeling it this morning!
Now, for the gorey carnage shots ...
The sheep before the saws came out.
A sheep next to it's yummy organ bits.
The dismantling begins!
My artsy ribcage shot.
This is the horrible hack-job I made trying to get the front leg off. Yeah, it probably would have been neater if I had used my teeth to tear it off. Luckily, the boys don't care about how their meat looks.
This is what three dismantled sheep look like. The fourth sheep remains intact ... we were just too tired.
And this is all the meat that Gio and Romeo get to share! Plus a large garbage bag full of organ bits.
When I got home, Romeo was enthralled with all the gooey wonderfulness on my shoes. And he so kindly offered to help me clean them up.
Thank you to everyone for the crossed fingers and positive thoughts! It sure paid off, Gio did wonderfully today!
I had him entered in two obedience rounds at the SKOC trial. He qualified both with scores of 191.5 and 189.5. Not his finest work, a little sloppy in some portions of the heel and forgot a few sits, but other than that it was really nice looking! And he nailed BOTH long sits! The mats weren't all that slippery this time around, and I was able to position him on a seam where two mats met for extra traction. That earns him his CKC Novice (CD) title, with an extra round as "gravy".
Here is a video of the 191.5/200 round. Thanks to Jae for filming for me.
As a whole, our club (Hub City Kennel and Obedience Club) made a great showing at the trials! We had five dogs entered and all earned legs today, with two (Gio and Lily) earning their CD titles. Here is the happy bunch ...
From left to right: Liz with Cairn Terrier Lily, Elaine with German Shepherd Dog Harley, Gisele with Miniature Poodle Katie, Dayna with Shetland Sheepdog Gio, and Jeannette with Cairn Terrier Piper.
Elaine and Liz are entered in more rounds tomorrow, so here's hoping they do just as well tomorrow as they did today! Good job, everyone!
And a neat little tidbit, the two Cairn Terriers, Lily and Piper, are related. Piper is Lily's dad. So the whole family was in on the winning today!
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Gio CD RE (CKC) RXMCL (CARO) FM CGN SJATD HIC
Gio is a 8 year old over-sized sable Sheltie. He is my over-achiever, taking all expectations of him and stretching them to the extreme. He is retired from flyball due to poor health, but still enjoys competing in CARO Rally-O. He is a certified therapy dog with St. John Ambulance and loves visiting "his ladies" at various nursing homes in Saskatoon and area. He recently received his PEN from the CKC began competing in CKC obedience and Rally-O in fall of 2008. In his spare time, Gio enjoys tracking with his sniffer buddies, playing fetch or tug, and engaging Romeo in "Sheltie Wars".
CRS CanyonView Forever Romantic CD RE (CKC) RVMCL (CARO) FDX SJATD HIC
Romeo is a 3 year old tri-colored Sheltie. He's my little piggy, always diving in head first and fur flying. He currently competes in NAFA flyball, CARO Rally-O, CKC Rally-O, AAC agility, and CKC obedience, and is a certified therapy dog with St. John Ambulance. Romeo is always up for a game of fetch, wrestle, chase, "kitty", and, of course, "Sheltie Wars" with Gio. Everything this boy does has flare, and there is always a spring in his step. Romeo comes from CanyonView Shelties.
