Drama

Yeah, I thought I was over it but I'm not...not really.

There are some people involved with dogs that think they are all it. They can do whatever they want and nobody can criticize them or question them. I seem to always be the lucky one to end up involved with these people. And I am SICK of it. The Pyre community, the BC community, the 4H community, the conformation community, etc etc etc. Everywhere I turn, there is always SOMETHING. Yes, I understand that "this is a part of life." But why does it have to be a part of MY life?

Pyres are a rare breed. The people that are well suited to own one are also rare. Why are breeders planning so many litters a year? Some breeders have trouble placing that many puppies and still have leftovers but still keep breeding. Others seem to find homes for their puppies left and right. If all these puppies are getting snatched up so quick, I'd be very interested to learn where in the world each one is going. Let say you produce 5 litters a year. Let's say each litter had about 4 puppies. That's 20 pups a year. Now let's say we went at that rate for 5 years. That is 100 puppies. Are you going to sit down and check up on every single one of those puppies? Yes, you will be keep getting updates from the ones that went to great agility or show homes. But the rest will be old news to you because there is absolutely no way you will ever be able to talk to the owner of each pup and get regular updates on them.

After I got Li, I stopped going to dog shows with Mary and just focused on him. The summer after, I brought him to 4H and he was very nervous around new people even though we socialized him with everything imaginable. He never showed any fear until his adolescence, and he is now starting to grow out of it and become more confident. Of course, Mary would bend down quickly and say "HHHHHHIIIIIIII LLLLIIIIII" right in his fasce and scare him. He would bark. She would stand up and and be like "fearful dog you got there." Like duh, you freaked him out, he is going to bark at you Sorry I didn't get one of your fearless terriers that you can crate during socializtion period and still pull out a well adjusted dog. Pyres are different and you don't understand that. Anyway, I helped her out one last time at a local show in September of 2009 [a week before I got Flick] and by this time she had a new assistant from the 4H program. Her new assistant couldn't make it that weekend. I have nothing against the new assistant, I actually really like her, she is nice. This isn't about her, this is about Mary, lol. Anyway, I never went to another show with Mary after that then she started talking behind my back about me and said something to my friend and they told me. I emailed her about it since we never see each other and she got all butthurt about how I "never appreciate anything that she does for me." Her new assistant apparently gets her gift cards and stuff and now she is wondering why I never sent her cards and stuff. Umm let's see....oh yeah, my parents could barely afford to send food and gas money, much less buy you gifts.

And the 4H program...just ugh. The agility part is so screwed up but guess who runs the dog program? Yep, not only Mary, but the mother of Mary's new assistant. Oh the irony. It's hilarious. I just CAN'T stop laughing. -____-
Yeah so anything I say is going to be shot down by all the adults who "know better". Who cares if I've researched agility and training methods more than them? She put an advanced obedience title and did some agility with her dogs in the 90s she she knows all, right? They don't care about clickers or treats...they care about getting the dog to do what they want it to. She treats every dog like one of her terriers. "They aren't scared, they are just stubborn." Uhhh....no. Not every dog is fearless like your wonderful little terrier breeds. There is this thing called a relationship...you know, like with your dog. Oooooh yeah, I forgot, all these hunters around here who's children bring their huge Lab to class just use a shock collar to gt obedience. Because fear works faster and is more effective than love right? Yep, dragging a dog by it's collar onto the teeter is definitely the way to go. Until you get to the off leash level of course then it's like "Hmm, why does this dog run past the teeter?" Because it's scared of it because it wasn't introduced properly. Haha, those trainers might have been able to get away with those techniques with Shadow and Libby. But I would love to see them try with Flick, who will scream if any stranger touches her collar. It would be a little embarrassing being caught holding onto a dog that just screamed loud enough to silence the entire building. [trust me, flick's voice carries] hahahaha. Buuut, it's not like I'd ever let those trainers within 10 feet of my beloved Flicker. I'm not worried about Li, he's a good judge of character. All of my friends are greeted warmly by him at the first meeting. Most of the people I don't like get a very loud "don't-you-even-think-about-taking-one-step-closer" warning from him. But just being in the same room as Mary stresses him out. I'm guessing he can sense the negative energy and tension so I'm not even taking him to 4H class at all this summer because I don't want to subject my poor little boy to that. haha
Zap loves everybody, the poor thing. He doesn't understand the concept of enemies and it's definitely nice to have one dog that doesn't have dog or people issues. I'm not saying Flick has issues, but she also isn't going to run up to everyone and greet them enthusiastically.

Anyway, my mom asked me why I can't just compete at the fair in agility. I don't think they let you compete unless you go to class. So then she asked why I don't just go to class but ask to do the training on my terms. The reasons why are because I don't train my dogs with even the same set up as a class and also, it would be special treatment to allow me to do my own thing while everyone else has to follow directions. I have my own agility course at home because I don't like my dogs having to stand around on the course at each station and wait for their turn to do the sequence. Also, they train for an hour which is way too long to be standing around. Yes, the actual time a dog gets to spend doing agility is about 15 minutes. That's a good training time in my opinion. But I think that standing around for 3 minutes, then doing a 10 second sequence just isn't doing anything for my dog. Especially since their program is one size fits all so it's designed to help the people that really suck but holds back the people who actually can do a course without their dog running off. How do I work on my lefts and rights, my weaves, my crosses, when their training program has none of that stuff in it? My mom says that maybe the more advanced kids could get together after the main session and work on what they want to work on [with adult supervision, blah blah blah, etc] and that might be a possibility. But I'm just trying to decide if 4H is actually worth all that trouble. I'm doing showmanship with Flick and Obedience with Zap. Like I said, I'm not subjecting poor Li to the presence of his nemesis. If I do agility, I'll take Flick. [and pwn all, lol]

Ugh, I just hate dog drama. Why can't everyone just get along?

Spring! Maybe....hopefully?

The snow is melting....and we have mud and slush now.
Flick's running contacts are going better now. Li is a maniac and just goofs off.
Took all 3 herding dogs for a walk on Thursday on the road for 90 minutes. =]
Turns out that I can't go to the Anthony Clarke seminar in April but I should still try to get my homework done by then so I can spend all spring and summer with the dogs!

I personally always hated reading people's looooong blog entries. Very rarely are long entries exciting at all....I'm not sure about other people's opinions though. I just use the blog to give basic updates mainly and even when I rant or give my opinion, I try to keep it short. Hmmm?

-Ria

New puppy!

Yess! Long story short, I now have a 12 week old BC pup. We went yesterday and it was a 3 hour drive to the airport. His flight was supposed to come in at 2:30 so we would have him by 3:30. Buuut the people in Salt Lake City put my boy on the wrong flight. He didn't land until 4:30 and we didn't get him until after 6....ugh not even kidding. When we got him it was totally worth it though! The people behind the counter were like "Take him out of his crate!" and when I did everyone just gushed over him. They knew he was a BC even though he has funky colouring. I said I was going to do agility with him and they said "Border Collies are really good at that! I saw them on the animal channel!" haha. One guy said "you should name him 'delayed'...oh wait, if he is going to be an agility dog maybe that isn't so good..." rofl.
I will be putting updates in his blog and will probably update everyday for the first few weeks since we work so much. His name is Zap. haha
http://highvoltagebc.blogspot.com/

Suppose I should Update

Well, considering that the snow is over a foot deep outside, I have not sequenced with the dogs since November, haha.
Working on 2x2 weaves with the herding dogs inside every day lately. I should really start with Libby. Some tricks but ehh...nothing else really. Maybe dad will snow blow out the dog run so we can work on contacts.

As is characteristic of me, I have many things to rant about. However, I will spare you today as the guests for our party are basically coming through the door. Don't think you are safe later. I'm sure there will be more things that I need to state an opinion on soon. haha

Rant on Dogs 101

This time about Dogs 101. Seriously, how can people just sum up an entire breed under a rigid list of pros and cons. For example, for the Dachshund one they tell you that they are "stubborn" but then they show clips through the entire video of a dog doing a bunch of fun tricks like waving, rolling over, and heeling. People are going to look at that and think, "Wow, look at that dog! I want a Dachsund so it can do tricks like that. Guess what people! My Siberian Husky can do all those tricks and more and even the general public knows that they aren't "easy to train" for pet people. The people that trained that Dachshund are "sport" people who understand what motivates a dog. Also, they put them down as easy keepers including the wire! If any wire breeder tells you that the coat is easy to care for, then they are just so used to it that it doesn't bother them at all. You either have to clip it or more preferably pull it down ever 3-6 months. It is a lot of work or a lot of money. Also, they are labeled as being good with household animals but not children....what the heck?! They must be basing this study on puppy mill dogs or something because every single dachshund I've met was great with kids but hated cats even if they were raised with them.

Anyway....I won't comment on the others because I honestly don't feel like watching them.

Teeter and the Rush

We are going to have a competition sized metal teeter soon! :D

It has been cold and snowy so we haven't done a whole lot of training.

I am just wondering what the point of doing agility with puppies is. Why the hurry? Just because you are allowed to start competing with pups around 18 months of age doesn't mean you have to. I personally don't like seeing people put their 10 month old puppy on a full sized teeter. The same goes for people who are running 12 week old puppies across a board. If you do all the foundation needed, then you shouldn't have to start obstacles early. Lay your foundation correctly and the obstacles will come very quickly once your dog is ready for them. Also, why work weaves [even entries!] before the dog is a year? The 2x2 method usually takes under a month to train so if you start at 15 months you will have decent weaves at the age of 16 months...isn't that good enough? Sometimes I wonder why people originally got their puppy...to do agility or because they wanted a dog to bond with and love. Because not letting puppies be puppies and have fun is seriously contradicting of people who claim the latter.

Li is old enough to compete in February and Flick is already old enough. But I will wait for Summer for Li and at least March for Flick. For many of the people [especially novice/intermediate people] who want to trial as soon as possible, it makes it seem like they are excited for themselves, not for the dogs. I also don't really understand planning goals like "Go to nationals" or "make the world team" before you compete with your dog. Some people even set these goals before they get a dog! I am not talking about specific people. I have just run into some people with this thought process and have slapped my little sister on the side of the head for saying such things, haha.

Goals for December/January/February

Flick
-Stand stay
-Left and Right
-Cik/Cap/Out
-Running contacts at 2 feet high
-6 weaves with entries
-Default down on the table
-Away and Swing
-Solid recall

Li
-Left and Right
-Better Cik/Cap/Out
-Contacts at 3 feet high
-6 weaves with entries
-Default down on table
-Solid Recall
-Away and Swing
-Better behaviour around people and animals

Libby
-Left and Right
-Cik/Cap/Out
-Contacts at table height
-4 weaves
-Default down on table
-Away and swing
-Solid recall: Big one for us!

Shadow
-4oTF contacts on Dog Walk and A-Frame
-6 weaves
-Cik/Cap/Out
-Default down on table
-Solid recall
-Away and Swing