Muffit Hiking

Anyway so I brought my Mailbox back with me from Germany. I just had to have one… I got it back in 2002 and I don’t know if I even have a picture of it. I really should. Maybe I do somewhere.

I have it attached to the outside of the house. It’s a wall mount mailbox that kinda looks like the link just there. I love having fancy mailboxes on the house… Though, of course, what I’m really looking for is a dog type mail boxes. With a custom design of my dogs… of course. But I don’t think I can afford that anytime soon!

So anyway back to Muffit… he is so happy when he gets to go on hikes with the Dad. He even found a porcupine just the other day, managed to get away with only two quills, so that’s good. Goof. I’m glad he didn’t get hurt!

Jet on the Beach

Well, we’ve been back from Denmark for a full week already. Wow time just flies. I haven’t been doing much, but I want to get Jet started on 2×2 weaves. I got out a set of 2x2s and started him a little bit, but I’ve misplaced my 2×2 weaves DVD and so now I’m not sure what to do and I don’t want to do anything wrong!

I went on a hike with the husband, Jet, Tatum and Muffit yesterday. I need to get the pictures off my camera and load them up, too. The dogs had a great time and I did too. Though I’m still getting over this darn cold I got in Denmark and today I am resting. I just need to find the best eye cream for dark circles so my eyes don’t look like I just woke up!

Isn’t this a nice picture of Jet? My friend Mark took it in Denmark on the beach. I love the lighting.

Windmills

No POS systems here… just manual construction and workings. I’m going to put a DVD together of the pictures, and some video too. Not sure I’ll post it all on YouTube but maybe I’ll put a smaller version up!

The trip was awesome. I want to go back already. Though my body is starting to adjust to this time. I went to the dog park this morning… got up at 5:30 am. LOL. That is way early for me for a holiday day. So I took Jet, Levi and Tatum to the park at 7. Then I went to some agility training at 10 with Chase and Jet. Chase loved it, he hasn’t been out of the house for two weeks! He was bored.

Now everyone is happily sleeping. Jet is on my lap, making it hard to type.

Sad It's Over

I really had fun spending the days with Jet, and exploring Denmark. I love this picture of Jet and the lion, and he stood up there without any clamps, he is like a little monkey.

The people we stayed with were so generous and so helpful. Both my distant relatives in Denmark, and Jet’s breeder in Sweden! I do tend to feel like a burden when I’m staying with someone… though. I think what would be really fun would be to rent an RV and drive around Scandinavia and Europe. I’m going to have to think about that and look into it for the World Dog Show in Austria in 2012. I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford it, but I’m going to do some budgeting and see what I can come up with.

Anyway, I’m taking it easy today and tomorrow, adjusting to the time change, and watching some TV. Home is nice, I have to admit that.

We have been having fun in Denmark.  We’ve been touring around a lot thanks to a friend who has spent a lot of time with us! And some distant relatives too.  I are so lucky to have such great friends and relatives!

I’m going to make this short because I’m tired again… but if you want to see all the pictures you’ll have to visit Facebook. You should be able to see them even if you don’t have a Facebook account.  I’ve made them viewable by everyone.

Facebook Album June 22, 2010

Facebook Album June 23, 2010

Facebook Album June 24 – World Dog Show

Facebook Album June 24, 2010

Silly Jet

We did sight-seeing today, and we also went to the World Dog Show. Very neat, that show!  Huge! I’ve never been to a show that big before. And the obedience was really neat, I want to understand how it works. The agility seemed about the same as here.

Anyway… it’s almost 8:30pm here so it’s time to settle down and get ready for bed. Jet and I have a show in Frederecia, Denmark, tomorrow. The Danish Swedish Farmdog club of Denmark.  I hope we do well! I really want to bring home a ribbon from a Danish show! Even if it’s last place! LOL

I’ve been looking at Google Maps to check out the places we are going to go… and look at how gorgeous this looks. This is Frederecia, Denmark. This is where the Dansk/svensk Gårdhundeklub will be having their show before the World Dog Show. Yes Jet is entered in this too.

View Larger Map

It might be too cold to swim, it’s supposed to be in the mid 60s… but that’s okay, it’ll be gorgeous! Now I’m all worried about what to wear. I had something planned, now I don’t think it’s good enough and I might have to go shopping Saturday. But I don’t have any money… dang, I might have to use the credit card. Ugh!

I’m a bit excited and nervous today! Can’t stop talking! I hope my electronics all work.. I’m bringing my phone and I have GPS software for it. But I also hope that I don’t get charged for lots of data. I have my roaming turned off… so we can hope… and my sister will be checking our usage for me.

Silly Jet

So I want to go jogging with Jet. I know he’s still young, and a lot of repetitive running isn’t good for him yet, but I’m want to do it eventually and I want him to jog nicely on a loose leash by my side. Loose Leash Walking is one of the hardest things to teach a dog, and one of the most important too. Because who wants to go for a walk with a dog who is darting to the end of the leash, pulling like crazy, barking and yapping? No no that is not fun. And dogs like that don’t get to go out on walks, either. And when I start taking him jogging on a regular basis, I really want him to be by my side. He’ll have lots of opportunities to go on sniffy goofy walks too.

So today I took him out with a clicker and treats, on his collar and leash, and we went a lot further than I thought we would. He did really well. When he’d pull on the leash, we would stop. When it went loose, I would click and treat. It’ll take some work but he’s really getting it nicely. I even did a little bit of jogging and he stayed with me. I was thrilled. Dang Jet is a smart boy! I knew the Danish Swedish Farmdog was for me… but every day he seems to surprise me even more with how amazing he is.

I have to get back into shape. I was on my feet the last couple of days and I was beat when I got home. Maybe an acne light would warm me up, but I don’t know about that. I think the older I get, the more important exercising is going to be. Bleh. I wish I liked it more.

Oh, and no Q for Chase on Saturday either. He did great, but he laid down on his long sit, which is an NQ. So we’ll be trying again in June for that last leg!

Jet on a Treadmill

So last weekend I went to a stretching seminar and had a good time. I learned how to safely stretch a dog’s muscles. Stretching is great for their physical health and to ensure that they are limber and loose for lots of different dog sports.

Though I like to lay on a mattress all day Jet loves to run. So I wanted to understand more about stretching. I really enjoyed the seminar and I got some good notes so I can try it out on all my dogs.

On Saturday morning it was the time to bring a dog. So I brought Jet… but he was so squiqly and didn’t want to settle down. He just didn’t understand why he had to lay on his mat and let his Mum touch him all over when there were lots of dogs he could have played with, and lots of people to meet!  But that’s okay, he was a good goofy boy and it was a good experience for him.

He also got to go on the doggie treadmill! It was so neat! I really want one now… for those cold summer days so I can be a slug and he can get some exercise.  He did great. He jumped right on and trotted up to 3mph.  So I might have to save up some money to get one. They even have small ones for his size dog. This one he was on was a big one.    I hope I can afford one this winter!

Kip

Yeah… it still hurts. I put off this post all day because… well, I wasn’t sure why, but now I know. My heart still hurts when I think of Kip being gone.

I read in a book once someone said “Death lasts so much longer than life” and I really didn’t understand that until I loved a dog who only lived 14 very short years. Kip was with me when I was young, in my 20s, so time went by slower then. But still, I wish he could have lived much longer. Kip was my best friend in the world through some hard times.

Kip was a Shepherd Mix… and you can read more about him here.  I love Kip with all my heart, I miss him still. He died on his own in the back yard on a Saturday morning. I didn’t know how to handle it… I think I’d be better now. Kip, I hope you are free somewhere experiencing wondering things I cannot even imagine. Thank you for spending 14 years with me.

Tatum In The Sun

So as for the title of this post. I’ve been to lots of various dog shows and trials in my years in dog sports, and I’m starting to really appreciate the value that the AKC has. I used to bad mouth them and say how they are just a business that wants to make money… and well, maybe that is true. But at the same time they have some really good things about them.

First of all, their shows are run immaculately. They are organized and well planned. Their website has great information that is easily accessible, and you can look up your dog information for free. You can even find information on other dogs. When you get titles, they title certificates are sent out to you quickly. And I’m not all about titles, but titles to me represent all the fun things I’ve done with my dogs, and so yes, I like the certificates. I also LOVE to be at calm well run shows. The obedience is very well done. They have trouble passing rule changes, true… and I think that novice obedience needs something different to make it fun other than a bunch of heeling. And I’d love to see the open out of sight stays done away with. And sometimes rules are slow to change, but at least there is a committee that makes these changes and evaluates what needs to be done. Instead of like some venues (NADAC to be specific) that is run by one woman who makes all the rules and they change so much and are so stupid that it’s just frustrating to even trial with them anymore.

The AKC doesn’t have Lipofuze… and they don’t police puppy mills and back yard breeders. And in this country where spay and neuter legislation is so fought against (I won’t state my opinion about that in this post) maybe they are just supporting the freedom of the breeders. I dunno. I wish there were more ethical breeding, i wish there wasn’t an endless supply of rescue dogs, I wish the AKC could do more about that, but I haven’t read up on it much so I really am not informed enough to offer an opinion.

Some AKC breeds do split into conformation types vs. performance types, but that happens all over the world and the AKC doesn’t have any control over that. I prefer a dog that can work, do it’s job, what it was bred to do, and still be built in a good way. I do wish there were more health regulations in conformation, not just what the dog looks like. Maybe that will come in time.

The AKC is recognized world wide. They are not an FCI member club, but they have an agreement with the FCI and their pedigrees are accepted world wide.

So I dunno, there’s bad about the AKC, but there’s also good about the AKC. So I’m not really as down on them as I used to be.

That’s my 2cents worth about the AKC for today!