Just to prove me wrong, my puppies were absolutely AWFUL tonight! I think Kai spent more time on "time out" this evening than he spent out of it. And I don't know WHAT was wrong with Lance. He was hanging over me all evening, but didn't seem to want anything in particular other than to annoy. I finally had to ask him to move away when his hot breathe on me started to make me nauseous. All this after they'd broken out of their confinement in the kitchen, almost gotten into a fight when Lance got into Kai's food, and just generally been pushing my buttons all afternoon.
I've never been so happy to see animals go to bed.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Dog Show
Back from a super-exhausting weekend at the outdoor dog show in Woodstock, Ontario. It was only our second show ever, and our first outdoor show, and was it ever an eye opener.
First and foremost--both of our puppies did well, after a fashion. :) Kai won for his first time! (Go Kai!) Poor Lance was the only one at this event in his class (Senior Puppy -- puppies 9 to 12 months old), so while he won all of his events, it didn't really count. Still, he and his handler, my DH, gained lots of experience in the ring. (10 trips to the ring over two days), and he got some very pretty ribbons. Don handled Kai, too, but that was a nightmare due to having to switch too quickly between the two dogs. Look like I'll have to grit my teeth, endure my aversion to being in the public eye, and handle Kai.
Moving on to more unpleasant topics, I unfortunately witnessed the first dog fight I'd ever seen. A Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog who had escaped from his owner attacked a Shiloh Shepherd who was waiting to enter the ring. It was very upsetting to witness, even from a few hundred feet feet away. The site was incredibly violent, and the sound, which was clearly audible across the field, was unbelievable so. The Catahoula, which was apparently overstressed, went on to attack another dog and bite a human before being restrained. An ambulance was called, as well as an emergency veterinarian, as the dog collapsed after its spree. (The two dogs it attacked suffered minor injuries, as did the young woman whom it bit.)
That incident, and a few much more minor ones, illustrated to me that a great number of show dog people know nothing whatsoever about properly training a dog, other than for showing. Now don't get me wrong--I also met a fair amount of people who seemed to know a lot about training their dog to be a dog. But the majority I met owned dogs who were badly behaved and badly socialized outside of the ring. And even in the ring--I heard of one dog being seriously injured at another show when he was attacked from behind while showing, and at this competition I saw one handler who had to forcibly restrain her dog from attacking the one next to her, right in front of the judge. I witnessed dogs wearing choke collars and muzzles, dogs who were fearful or aggressive when they got too close to another dog, dogs who were anxious in crowds, etc, etc, etc.
The main problem, I believe, is that owners avoid contact with other dogs for fear of injury to their own prize dog, thus totally hampering the socialization of their animal, which could prevent "incidents" in the first place. I even heard from one of the more knowledgeable owners that it's not uncommon for people to isolate their dog from all contact with others. I couldn't believe it!
Goddess knows our dogs aren't perfect, and they are not the best trained in regards to showing, but at least Lance is friendly and relaxed around dogs of any size and knows how to meet, play, and interact with them, and Kai is getting there.
First and foremost--both of our puppies did well, after a fashion. :) Kai won for his first time! (Go Kai!) Poor Lance was the only one at this event in his class (Senior Puppy -- puppies 9 to 12 months old), so while he won all of his events, it didn't really count. Still, he and his handler, my DH, gained lots of experience in the ring. (10 trips to the ring over two days), and he got some very pretty ribbons. Don handled Kai, too, but that was a nightmare due to having to switch too quickly between the two dogs. Look like I'll have to grit my teeth, endure my aversion to being in the public eye, and handle Kai.
Moving on to more unpleasant topics, I unfortunately witnessed the first dog fight I'd ever seen. A Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog who had escaped from his owner attacked a Shiloh Shepherd who was waiting to enter the ring. It was very upsetting to witness, even from a few hundred feet feet away. The site was incredibly violent, and the sound, which was clearly audible across the field, was unbelievable so. The Catahoula, which was apparently overstressed, went on to attack another dog and bite a human before being restrained. An ambulance was called, as well as an emergency veterinarian, as the dog collapsed after its spree. (The two dogs it attacked suffered minor injuries, as did the young woman whom it bit.)
That incident, and a few much more minor ones, illustrated to me that a great number of show dog people know nothing whatsoever about properly training a dog, other than for showing. Now don't get me wrong--I also met a fair amount of people who seemed to know a lot about training their dog to be a dog. But the majority I met owned dogs who were badly behaved and badly socialized outside of the ring. And even in the ring--I heard of one dog being seriously injured at another show when he was attacked from behind while showing, and at this competition I saw one handler who had to forcibly restrain her dog from attacking the one next to her, right in front of the judge. I witnessed dogs wearing choke collars and muzzles, dogs who were fearful or aggressive when they got too close to another dog, dogs who were anxious in crowds, etc, etc, etc.
The main problem, I believe, is that owners avoid contact with other dogs for fear of injury to their own prize dog, thus totally hampering the socialization of their animal, which could prevent "incidents" in the first place. I even heard from one of the more knowledgeable owners that it's not uncommon for people to isolate their dog from all contact with others. I couldn't believe it!
Goddess knows our dogs aren't perfect, and they are not the best trained in regards to showing, but at least Lance is friendly and relaxed around dogs of any size and knows how to meet, play, and interact with them, and Kai is getting there.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Back!
Sorry I haven't posted anything lately. Been super-busy with new puppy, long weekend, and upcoming dog show.
We now have Kai in Early Puppyhood Education, and Lance on Rocking Horse Walk (a group walk for puppies that have gotten too big for Puppy Walk, but are too young for Adult Walk). As well, both are furthering their crate-training, as they each have to stay in their crates while their 'brother' is participating in his own class.
Lance is also taking handling classes, so hopefully he will show better at this competition than at the last one! We're very excited today, 'cause he actually let us position him for "stacking" without sitting down on us! We're really hoping that by Sunday he will stack (stand correctly for his breed) on command.
We had a VERY frustrating long weekend. Don got Thursday the 1st (Canada Day) off, of course, and he took Friday also, desperately trying to keep from total burnout at his all-consuming job. Of course, Wednesday night we got a call from the people who were scheduled to seal our driveway, saying they had to come on Thursday. "On CANADA DAY???" we inquired. They assured us they were working on the National Holiday. Okay. We spent the morning clearing plants, grills, and so on off the driveway, and making sure the dogs could get to the side garage door so they wouldn't have to cross the driveway to get out to the yard. Then we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
We couldn't get anyone on the phone, so we eventually gave up and went to puppy class, which was also being held on Canada Day. Sigh. When we got back at around 8 pm, the team was there, taping the driveway. "You're not going to do this at this hour???"
"Yes, we have plenty of time before dark," they assured us.
And they did. Until their machine broke down. And the other machine didn't come until after dark. And their boss decided they had to quit.
That's fine, we thought. They said they'd finish the next day. No problem.
We spent most of Friday on the phone threatening law suits and complaints to the Better Business Bureau if they didn't actually get out there and do it. They finally, finally allowed as to how they could get out to us Saturday at noon. Okay, we growled.
We called again Saturday at 1 pm. This time, they were delayed by problems at ANOTHER job. We were assured they'd be there at 5 pm. We decided if they weren't, we were done with them. They showed up at 4:58 pm.
At which point we were informed that it would take 48 hours to dry, not the 24 they had originally told us it would take.
We didn't strangle anyone.
We now have Kai in Early Puppyhood Education, and Lance on Rocking Horse Walk (a group walk for puppies that have gotten too big for Puppy Walk, but are too young for Adult Walk). As well, both are furthering their crate-training, as they each have to stay in their crates while their 'brother' is participating in his own class.
Lance is also taking handling classes, so hopefully he will show better at this competition than at the last one! We're very excited today, 'cause he actually let us position him for "stacking" without sitting down on us! We're really hoping that by Sunday he will stack (stand correctly for his breed) on command.
We had a VERY frustrating long weekend. Don got Thursday the 1st (Canada Day) off, of course, and he took Friday also, desperately trying to keep from total burnout at his all-consuming job. Of course, Wednesday night we got a call from the people who were scheduled to seal our driveway, saying they had to come on Thursday. "On CANADA DAY???" we inquired. They assured us they were working on the National Holiday. Okay. We spent the morning clearing plants, grills, and so on off the driveway, and making sure the dogs could get to the side garage door so they wouldn't have to cross the driveway to get out to the yard. Then we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
We couldn't get anyone on the phone, so we eventually gave up and went to puppy class, which was also being held on Canada Day. Sigh. When we got back at around 8 pm, the team was there, taping the driveway. "You're not going to do this at this hour???"
"Yes, we have plenty of time before dark," they assured us.
And they did. Until their machine broke down. And the other machine didn't come until after dark. And their boss decided they had to quit.
That's fine, we thought. They said they'd finish the next day. No problem.
We spent most of Friday on the phone threatening law suits and complaints to the Better Business Bureau if they didn't actually get out there and do it. They finally, finally allowed as to how they could get out to us Saturday at noon. Okay, we growled.
We called again Saturday at 1 pm. This time, they were delayed by problems at ANOTHER job. We were assured they'd be there at 5 pm. We decided if they weren't, we were done with them. They showed up at 4:58 pm.
At which point we were informed that it would take 48 hours to dry, not the 24 they had originally told us it would take.
We didn't strangle anyone.
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