Category: Animal Training

Ruby, the huntress

Yesterday, Ruby and I participated in our second Scent Work trial, held by NosyDogz and Meriadoc, and judged by Sheri Luzzi.

I’m very proud to say she achieved her Advanced title, with First, (Exterior vehicles) Second (Interior) and Third (Containers) placements.

The day offered fierce winds and rain, interspersed with brief sun bathing opportunities. It kept us on our toes, thinking about how and where the scent might be moving.

I appreciated the warmth provided, not only by Lee, in the form of a heated tent, but also from the camaraderie and positive outlooks of the participants, volunteers and organizers.

Sheri’s overview of the trial’s challenges and her observations of our work was excellent, and I learned a lot from this experience.

Thank you to Sheri, the organizers and a hard working volunteer team, for a wonderful trial experience.

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It’s Samson’s Birthday!

Me: It’s Sami’s 18 months old birthday! A whole year and a half! It’s his day to sniff and play and enjoy whatever he likes!

Husband: So many birthdays… didn’t we just celebrate 17 months a month ago?

Me: They don’t live as long as us.

Husband: Then at least seven birthdays a year are required.

Me: Thank you dear. 😉

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The unthinkable

I rose at 5 AM, excited, bathed my dog, tossed my toothbrush into my over-packed car, and headed to the ferry, bound for the dog show.  A weekend of fun lay ahead, testing our skills in the ring, playing games and maybe if all the planets lined up just right and I didn’t kick over a Rally sign, getting a scrap of ribbon for our efforts.

I was not thinking that this would be the day my beautiful and kind Schipperke will be attacked by a big muscular dog, on our way to the ring.

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But it happened. The unthinkable.

Your guts might have tightened up when you read that.  Perhaps you quickly thought, thank goodness it’s never happened to me. I’m always super careful. And a dog show is not a common place for dog attacks. 

The unthinkable can happen to anyone, wherever there are dogs and people. 

Is there anything we can do to make it less likely to happen?

I wonder.

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Repurposing stuff

Today, I dismantled a single bed box spring with a pair of scissors and some needle nose pliers. It’s a fairly old box spring with Ruby chew marks at all corners.

Its next stop would be the landfill, so before that happened, I considered how I might repurpose it.

Box springs look quite luxurious in the store and they are pricey. It’s interesting to take one apart in about 15 minutes, revealing its less luxurious staples, cardboard, plastic, foam and polyester.

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After stripping off the foam backed fabric, pulling out the staples, removing the large rectangle of cardboard, I was left with a fairly solid frame; screwed together, not stapled.

My plan is to bisect it and put wooden tops of each half to make two dog training platforms. I may decide to put some feet or wheels to elevate it from the ground and make them easier to move around outside.

image1Repurposing makes me feel happy.

Today, I am grateful for my husband who helps make my creative ideas a reality.

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Samson’s first week at home

Our focus has been on just settling Samson into his new home; meeting Ruby and Kaylah, getting use to routines and IYC in every permutation you can imagine.

My husband has already dubbed him “The Boy King”

Say no more.

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Travel readiness…

Ruby and I will be flying to Edmonton to attend our first Canadian National Schipperke Specialty in June. She’ll ride in the airplane cabin in this little bag, squeezed under the seat in front of mine.
I have played lots of crate games with her already to build value for staying in the small space.
Today, I took her to the airport for a little rehearsal. 🙂
After that, we headed to the beach for a little fun run.

 

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