Springtimes Past

Sadie as a tiny pup a little over 2 years ago.Elliott in his first few days with us, lounging between legs.

Diva's Titles

In spite of being the consummate Diva, Sadie has earned two new obedience titles so far this year. Here is her picture to commemorate earning her RN (Rally Novice) and CD (Companion Dog) titles.

She performed wonderfully in Rally, earning her title in her first 3 Rally trials.

She also earned her CD in one weekend at the age of 2 years and 9 days old, with one placement. In this respect she is way ahead of Elliott - he got his CD in grand style with placements, but we had many nq's before we had success. She had already been entered in a second weekend of Rally and Novice trials as we worked on her titles, because I didn't know how well she would do. So what happened was that she got to do another weekend of Novice as a bonus, if you will. She again qualified 3 for 3 in the Novice class and that weekend managed to get 3 High in Class placements. She also placed in 4 of her Rally Novice trials, hence the lovely bling on the left of the picture. She is now the proud possessor of 5 obedience titles at just a little over 2 years of age. I am really proud of her accomplishments, and I know she will go very far, especially if we can adjust her attitude!

Sadie has earned one leg of the 3 needed towards her Rally Advanced (RA) title in the one trial she has been in so far. With any kind of luck, she will have her RA title by this time next week. Fingers crossed!!! The trials are outdoors so it should be.....interesting.

Diva's Dinnertime

Sadie is a Diva. Divas have attitude. Sadie has attitude. This affects my success with her so far in the obedience ring. Cheryl, my training mentor, recently suggested some strategies to help me bond more closely with Sadie, to have her view me more strongly as a leader; in short, to try to DE-Divafy the DIVA. One of Cheryl's suggestions is to hand-feed the Diva. I have been doing this for about a week now. Apparently it will help her view me as the Boss with the food who is worth listening to in a general way, not just when she feels like it. In the mornings particularly, the dogs are fed a variety of things that end up resembling soup (or gruel) in the bowl. This gets messy when hand-feeding. The first morning Sadie ended up with green veggie glop all down her chest as the food dribbled out through her flews. So I tried using her snood (this is the pink boa visible below which is attached to the rest of her snood) in combination with some paper towels clipped around her neck. The paper towels didn't stand up so that's when the tea towel entered the scene. Behold the dreadful result. Fortunately, because she is a Diva, she thinks that all this effort befits her status.

Fuzzy Feet

The English Springer Spaniel is a dog with needs. Grooming needs. Do not get a springer if you don't want to spend 15 minutes a day brushing out the coat, especially those tricky armpit areas, or cleaning out the canals of the long, pendulous ears on a very regular basis. Springers have "furnishings", long, luxurious feathering that grows on their ears, their underside, and especially their feet. These furnishings are magnets for dirt, mud, burrs, grass, leaves, little sticks, and lots of other crap! I always know it's time for a groom when the feet start to get messy. Here is the harbinger of need, the fuzzy foot:

Now, as fuzzy feet go, this is not too bad. And I have to say that I am, as groomers go, an amateur. My dogs will never look as good as those dogs going into the conformation ring. For one thing, I cheat and use clippers on their backs. Which is cheating. Real groomers strip the coat on their backs. But I don't have time to strip them. So I cheat.

He is always thrilled about the prospect of having his grooming done. (Actually he doesn't mind at all, and is usually waiting with his front feet up on the table for me to pick him up and put him up there)

After about an hour of attention with comb, brush, scissors, electric clippers, rake, etc., here are some prettier feet.

There are wonderful instructions for doing your own grooming of an English Springer Spaniel at Jan Martin's Ariel ESS site.

Of Cars and Memory

So, am I the only person who is losing my mind, losing my memory? I can almost feel those brain cells withering away, shriveling up and dying some days. Over and over again, I drive somewhere, park the car, walk away and then think, "Did I lock the car?" So I go back to the car, feeling around in my purse on the way, trying to find the remote, which in only 20 seconds has dug its way to the very bottom of my purse. I get as close to my car as I need to, to engage the remote - my car first flashes its lights at me to tell me it is locked with the first click, then beeps with the second click to tell me the alarm is engaged. I play this game over and over again. What does this have to do with Sadie & Elliott? Well, I am their chauffeur and they spend a fair bit of time in that car some days! Here's an entertaining site to visit that connects dogs and cars - it's titled, appropriately enough, Dogs in Cars.

Rally On

One of the dog sports that we enjoy most is Rally Obedience. Rally combines traditional obedience exercises with a fast-paced, enthusiastic environment. Judges create a course that is unique each time. That keeps it very interesting for the handler as you don't just go in and do the same old, same old each time - you have to think! The goal is for the teams to run the course briskly and happily - no harsh corrections are allowed. It's like a little obedience party that you and your dog have been invited to. The link above is to the Canadian Association of Rally Obedience. They are one organization in Canada that offers Rally competition. The Canadian Kennel Club also offers Rally-O, but they didn't start until 2007. Sadie and Elliott both have Rally Novice titles from CARO and Elliott is going to start working on his Advanced CARO title later this month.

Meet Elliott

Meet Elliott, also known as Society's Lone Gunman, PCD, CD, CDI, CDX, CGN, RNMCL, RN, RA, RE. That's quite the mouthful, but all it really means is that he and I have been enjoying a fun and productive obedience career. Elliott was born in October 2004. He came to live with us in March of 2005, and I started training him immediately. We took many classes and made progress, to the point of obtaining our Pre-Novice (PCD) title in July of 2006. It was late in 2006 when a friend recommended me to a new school, Elite Dog Training. We started training there and Cheryl, the owner, spent a great deal of time helping me get Elliott ready for more work in the obedience ring. Elliott and I have become a great team since then and have had a lot of success in the ring. In 2007 Elliott earned 6 obedience titles, and so far in 2008 he earned his Rally Excellent title in one weekend and his CDX in 4 trials over his first 2 weekends in Open. He is the first English Springer Spaniel in Canada to earn the RE title. What a great boy he is. All those brains and handsome too. The picture above marks his CDX and RE titles. The picture below shows how tough life is at home.

The Many Faces of Sadie

Meet Sadie. Sadie is also known as Darkover Come Dance With Me, and she is a pistol! Among Sadie's favourite activities are: tearing up the house at top speed, preferably with Elliott following along behind, bringing toys up and down the stairs all day and sleeping curled up preferably on top of her people. If no people are available, a comfortable couch or chair can substitute. It may seem astonishing, given her Diva status, to know that Sadie, who is just a little over 2 years old, already has 5 obedience titles, including her CD, which she earned in her very first weekend of competition. She is a Diva, but she is also very smart!



Here is Sadie having just earned her Rally Novice title - she finished her weekend with 2 second placements and a fourth. Not bad for a diva!