Improvement!

Yesterday we were in trials in Ancaster. I love going to dog shows. There are so many lovely dogs to watch, in the ring and outside of it. Also the people who go to the shows are at least as hopelessly addicted to dogs and obedience as I am. That means people to talk to who understand when you spend 20 minutes explaining the various ways you are trying to fix sit-stay. In the real world when you try that, regular people are usually rendered unconscious within a few moments of you saying, "....so then I put food behind the armband..."

Here are a couple of nice pups, just hanging out helping their person to work the registration desk. Their heads pop out of their crates for cookies!

This is River. In between trials, he likes to carry his toy around.

And then there is this handsome fellow, who started the day off badly by not doing the "drop" portion of the drop on recall and also laying down in the sit stay AGAIN!!!!!! in the first trial but who redeemed himself by dropping nicely and proudly holding a very nice solid sit in the second trial, ending up with a very respectable 194.5. Hopefully the start of a turnaround.

Time for some Lubbin

Valentine's Day - the international day of lub, is coming up very soon. In this fast-paced world, everything is available express. Here's a business that is obviously looking to capitalize on both
things. Get your lub - express. Get three lubs if you want.

SIGH.....

Great scores we have blown. Most recently, yesterday, Mr. Boo was entered in the Open class at the Golden Retriever Club of Greater Toronto obedience trials. He worked beautifully in both trials. Heeling was gorgeous, we got 38.5 out of 40 in both trials. He worked beautifully until we got to our sit-stay exercise. Then he decided to lay down. In each trial we *could* have come away with a lovely score of 196.5. Sigh. If there are any obedience gurus reading this who have ideas for more proofing of the stays, I would love to hear from you. Otherwise I work stays until I'm blue in the face. One tip I got yesterday was to work a 4 minute stay just before meals. I am also working stays and rewarding back to the armband so that his focus is not out in front. I worked with another handler yesterday to set him up so I could get in a correction and then jackpotted when he held. THIS IS DRIVING ME CRAZY. Ok, I feel a bit better now.

I am Furniture

It's nice to be useful.

Life on the Inside

Tonight on our investigative report - a chilling expose on real life
behind the crate bars for a cat. How is it possible to run with the
big dogs when at heart you're just a cool cat? Where can you hide
catnip when the screws are shaking down your crib? How can you remain
true to your nocturnal instincts when lights out is at 10 pm? This
and more as our investigation looks at "Life on the Inside".

Toe-tally comfy

OH........

......my headrest has a first name, it's S...A...D...I...E....

Dollars for Dogs - This is important, folks.

UPDATE: January 15 - over $23,000.00 has been raised - keep the momentum going - DONATE HERE

Some days I am not so proud to be a resident of the province of Ontario, which has unfortunately led the way in implementing short-sighted, draconian law which bans the ownership of certain dogs based on what they look like. Even worse, as a resident of the City of Kitchener, we have the double-whammy of having a city by-law banning "pit bull dogs" - nevermind that there is no such breed, or that the identification of such a dog can be made on the basis of certain physical characteristics that many dogs may have; and that such identification may be made by a person or persons who have no specific knowledge of dog breeds in general or in particular.

The danger of laws such as these is that they pave the way for infinite replication across all of dogdom and they do not address the root problem, which is irresponsible ownership and cruelty. First the ban affects "pit bull dogs". Next might be the beautiful but often misunderstood Rottweiler, followed by German Shepherds, then perhaps Dobermans, and who knows what will come next? In Italy, over 96 breeds were identified as potentially dangerous, including Shelties and Corgis. Who is to say that your breed won't be next? Do you want the government to decide what breed of dog you can own, or whether you can even have a dog?

One group, The Dog Legislation Council of Canada, hopes to reverse breed-specific laws. In their ongoing legal fight, raising funds is always a challenge. Currently they hope to take the fight to the Supreme Court, but need to address a shortfall of $67,000.00 by the end of January. If all reasonable folks who own and love dogs would be willing to donate one dollar for each dog, this money could be raised in an instant.

I have made my donation, and I challenge everyone who loves dogs to do the same. A groundswell has been growing among several email groups that I belong to, with the wonderful result of raising over $11,000 in the past 48 hours alone. I implore you, if you can find only one dollar for each dog you own, to please contribute to this very worthwhile cause. I am not an individual who generally believes in soliciting others to causes. But this one is too important to omit. The future of our beloved breeds is at stake, and it is too great a gamble to sit back and hope that our rights will not be further eroded if we do nothing.

Pleeeeeze?

Pretty please may I have a cookie?

Cats as Footrests

The cat as footrest has many varied uses. Here we see the "sandwich" position where the cat is used both as warming device and footrest while maintaining correct spinal ergonomics for the user.