Some fun things

Today's high was 29.  It is sad when 29 seems "nice" by comparison to the -15 windchill.  This is the time of year where the entire garage counts as a spare fridge, and anything outside or in the shop counts as auxiliary freezer space.


Petsmart toys and treats are 50% off now until the 24th!  Beds were 20% off, and will be until the 24th. I bought 4 toys and a new dog bed for $44.54.  Duncan did NOT go in, I saw a big, poorly bred Lab hauling his human inside on the end of a 6 foot leash.  Duncan was bummed I made him stay in the car.


All the toys I've gotten have had a holiday theme, so they're doing double duty as decorations on the mantle right now.  Picture spam of toys and Duncan spilling over the edge of a medium dog bed below (he has a large flat cushy bed 12 inches from the high sided one, no idea why he has to cram himself in.  I got the Setter (medium) size, thinking about the old dogs.  Nope, Duncan's first man in, though he did overheat and bail out to his flat bed pretty quick.  Star's claimed it since, so it's a hit.














From our vacation in August, videos of Duncan and Marlo, my friend's GSD (mix?).  Liver and tan dogs, got along well.

11 seconds

(same video, linked)
Duncan and Marlo on a dock, Duncan dives for the Air Kong

45 seconds
link to above: www.youtube.com/watch
Duncan evades Marlo in the water, I grab for and miss the bumper going by, Liz snags it, and then Duncan kind of... falls over the edge.  Wasn't entirely sure of the "jumping in" idea.

Marlo on his own
link www.youtube.com/watch  Marlo gets to have a turn with the bumper.

One of Duncan's better jumps:

17 seconds of dork and bumper

SPGD Pretty Boy Floyd, CD, RL1, CGC

Duncan is officially titled as a Companion Dog by the AKC. Halloween weekend we picked up the third leg of his CD title with a 179, our highest score in the ring yet. (172 and 174.5 for the other legs, and 159 on the day I couldn't keep my mouth shut) and picked up two legs on his Rally Novice title. I opted out of the third day of the trial, but we scored a 93 on the first RN leg, with a lot of problems with our work, and then a 90 on the second- my fault, I entered the serpentine the wrong way and cost us 10 points. Duncan did it perfectly that day, and we would have won the class if I had been able to figure out what the hell I was doing. We picked up three 2nds on those legs. (SPGD= Strategically Placed Garbage Disposal, and we'd completed a Rally Level one with APDT, and earned his CGC last year.)

I think that I'll stop showing Duncan. It stresses us both out, and while I love running him through the obedience exercises at home or in class, I have too many worries about him being perfect in the ring. My stress bothers him, and then we're both distracted and messing up. Which makes it un-fun. Maybe the next dog won't be so in tune with my emotional state, and I can get over my ring nerves. Plus, I'll start the other dog in the show ring a lot younger.

I do enjoy the atmosphere, but I need to get into it with a dog trained for the ring work. Duncan was trained to stand when I stop, not sit, and he works as a service dog daily, while the obedience stuff is more a "several times a week" game for us both. We're always fighting service dog training versus obedience ring rules. I can keep it together for obedience stuff for a bit, but I need the SD work daily.