Another Pet Food Recall

If you are feeding Optima pet food, this dog food is currently being recalled, after being linked to several dogs' illnesses. Stop feeding it immediately, and return it to the store to exchange it for another brand.

Is your pet a Super Hero?

Finally, someone has created them -
Super Hero Capes & Masks for Man's Best Friend. Cats too. ;)

They're even customizable. I want one for each of my fearsome crime-fighting team. Is that silly?

I made a new dog agility t-shirt so absolutely adorable that I wanted to reach into my monitor and give it a big ol' SQUEEZE. It's available on apparel for both kids and adults. AND, best yet - I put it on three differently colored clocks (pink, blue, and yellow) for your little dog-handler-in-training's bedroom! Cute baby dog agility gifts and other merchandise.

Popper is DOTD!

Popper is Dog of the Day on Dogster. Stop by and leave him a bone!

Popper's Dogster Page

Popper's Sister?

I was minding my own business (I swear!) and my SO sent me this link:
http://tinyurl.com/9kc5u4
I am absolutely convinced this is Popper's sister. Not only did we get him in Cincinnati, and not only was there only ONE other red puppy (a female) in the litter, she is the spitting image of Popper. I had to do a double take when I saw the picture.

I e-mailed the shelter and offered to come get her if she's due to be euthanized. No way would I let that happen. No way.

Last night I cut Roofus's eye holes and trimmed his paws up. It's always funny after I make him eye holes, he gets really excited that he can see again. hehehe! His bangs were actually fine until I gave him a bath a few days ago... his hair resettled somehow so that he couldn't see. Don't let folks fool you into thinking Old English Sheepdogs can see through their hair - they don't have super powers. It needs tied up or cut regularly.

Great News and Update

Great news - Popper IS entered in the upcoming trial! SQUEEE! So now he'll have TWO full days of agility and a training class, all in a 7 day span. :) I haz a happee!

Merlin starts dog agility class tonight. Well, it's a "preview." It's silly to do previews because all the dogs are accepted into class anyway. And Merlin does some agility with me in the backyard. I would have skipped level 1 entirely, but I do not have access to an a-frame or a dog walk, and he needs to get experience on those first. You can read more about Merlin's life experience at his blog over at my corgi store. Merlin's Blog.

I am adding some cool new "I Love my Dog Breed" designs. I want to get a good portion up before I release them to the public, so stay tuned for more info!

CPE Games Workshop at BRAG

Saw this post earlier this morning, and my registration is already in the mail! (Hopefully it gets there this time!)

REPOST:

BRAG will be hosting a workshop on Saturday February 7th about the CPE
games. You will learn how to play each game, walk the course, then
run the course with your dog. The courses will be level 1 courses, so
it will be appropriate for beginner dogs. We will be using the
electronic timers, and we will be scribing and judging each person's
run. There will be lots of chances for questions, and we'll be there
to help you every step of the way.

It will begin at 9 am, and costs $30 for members, $40 for non
members. A second dog with the same handler is $20 for members, $25
for non members.

Preregistration is required. You can find more information and the
registration form at:
http://www.bragagility.com/html/Events/CPEGamesWorkshop.html


We hope to see you there - it should be a fun and informative day!

A New Year

And it's already lining up to be another depressing series of events after another.

I entered Popper in the upcoming agility trial at the club - at least, I thought I did.

I was waiting on his CPE registration number, which has to be submitted before the trial closes. I e-mailed them, and found out they had just received my entry *today*. I sent it December 8th, which, unfortunately, was the same date I sent my agility trial registration. The agility trial info was due no later than the 15th, and it only needed to travel roughly 10 miles or so.

I have a strong suspicion it never arrived. Or maybe it arrived today. Who knows. I e-mailed the trial secretary and am awaiting her response. I wondered why I never received any kind of confirmation or communication. I thought maybe I'd get it closer to the trial date.

I had gone and bought Popper some trial stuff - a spiffy new portable crate, bed for it, and was looking into a customized crate tag. Well, now I needn't bother as it'll just go into storage until April, which is when the next trial was.

All that excitement and build-up for nothing. It's like waiting for a few months to go to the circus, only to find out the circus was canceled. Life keeps squeezing out lemons onto my paper-cutted arms.

I am not optimistic about what the trial secretary will say. I'm so depressed.

After Christmas Stuff

What did I get for Christmas?

The flu.

Thanks a lot Santa!

And it's no joke trying to run your dog through an agility course when you'd much rather be sleeping underneath the electric blanket in your snug, warm bed, oblivious to everything and heavily medicated.

But Santa Paws brought Popper and Merlin a new 18' agility tunnel, so of course I HAVE to try it out. I put together a mini course that goes tire jump, two side by side bar jumps (for working on handling), then the tunnel in a half circle, then back over one of the bar jumps and back through the tire. I have the weave poles set up too, but I'm rather unconcerned about them at this point because Popper won't encounter them in the upcoming trial. He was being a bit antsy about tunnels, but he has shown absolutely no anxiety over his new one. Zooms right in, around, and out, no problem.

Of course, they say how they run at home and at class can often be quite different from how they run at a trial.

I'm pretty amazed at how well Popper listens to me. I've gotten a lot better at handling, and if he's paying attention (which is hard, one of my instructors told me he has the attention span of a gnat) he's unstoppable. I'm a bit worried he's going to be mightily ticked off at me for sticking him in a crate all day at the trial, though, and when he's sulky, well, let's just say he may plop his butt down and ignore me instead of running through the course.

Dogs Listen More than We Give Credit

Two stories-
Yesterday I was watching "Single Santa Seeking Mrs Claus" and there was a part where Quark goes, but she doesn't believe in Santa! I looked at the tv and said, "That's probably because there IS NO SANTA!"

And at that instant, three dog heads popped up and gave me a look. A scathing look of disbelief and hatred. I spent the next several minutes apologizing to my boys (the girls are hard of hearing) and telling them there really is a Santa Paws. When my SO got home, he told the boys that people like me don't get presents from Santa. :p

Second -
Today Blossom was doing her normal whining and squeaking because she couldn't get past the other dogs into my room to lay down while I work. I managed to make a path for her and got her settled onto her doggie bed (with her quilt snuggled up just right.) I said, "Okay, NOW are you happy?" And she promptly rolled over onto her back for a belly rub.

I think I'm going slightly bonkers with no one around all day but the dogs...

Happy Birthday Merlin!

Merlin, our Pembroke Welsh Corgi, turns four years old today! How time flies. I still remember when he was five weeks old and a little ball of fur that looked like my brother's golden hamster he had as a child. Which is, of course, how Merlin got his name.

Have a great one today, Merlin!

Power out

At least once a month we have a power outtage that lasts for more than a few minutes. I live in an area where people are stupid and like to hit power lines. Normally we get a quick off-on once a week, a couple times a month we get a few minutes, and then there's that one that lasts longer.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday, yet another idiot hit the power lines and we lost electricity for nearly two hours. It was a cold, cold night so I had to set to protecting my saltwater tanks immediately (fresh water being much more tolerant). I have one of my tanks hooked up to a battery backup, so it continued to function and heat the water just fine. One major concern with my SW tanks is that they are both nanos, so they lose heat REALLY fast! The other tank I wrapped in thick towels and began manually circulating the water.

My un-backuped nano lost 2 degrees but corals and fish were just fine. Little Nemo gave me a bit of a scare the next morning when I fed Lorelei, and he did not appear. I fed her again and he shot up to the surface for his share. Guess he was just sleeping. :) The smaller nano did not lose much heat at all, and the battery backup died about 45 minutes before the power came back on.

Note to self: Buy two really big battery backups...

Sadistic Mini Macaw

This morning I got Havoc out for a shower. I have a perch in the shower so we can both shower at the same time.

First, she refused to spread open her wings or do anything but stand there until she had a thorough tickling - around her face, under her wings, and on her tummy. Then, while I was getting ready to exit the bathroom with her, with parrot in one hand and bathrobe in the other, she reaches out and grabs my bathrobe. I said, "NO Havoc, this is MINE." She looked at me for a split second, before reaching down and biting my finger. And then she laughed maniacally.

I think I've just been snarked by a bird.

Rally and Fun Games

Anyone in Central Ohio interested in doing some casual classes with fido should check out www.anythinggoesfordogs.com. I signed Roofus, my big sheepdog, up for a "games day" class and a Rally workshop. It's nice because they offer weekend workshops and things on Saturdays fairly cheap, and you don't have to commit to a weekly class. It's about an hour's drive for me, so I don't particularly want to drive out there every week for a class. The prices are extremely reasonable, however, if you would want to. I'm doing the rally workshop to see if Roo enjoys it, and if it's something that we'll be able to do. There's another training facility much closer at Wild Weavers (www.wildweavers.net) that I may sign up for in March if all goes well.

I'll post about how the games day goes... it's on the 20th, and $10 if anyone else is interested. We're going to do egg races and musical sit... should be interested to do egg races with a big clumsy oaf. :D hehe

Popper's going to trial

It seems like lately all my posts have been about dog agility - and I suppose that's true. But it's become a big part of my life, so I have a lot to say on the subject!

I just sent off the form for Popper's FIRST EVER agility trial. It's not until February 1st, and I've already got a lot of knots and butterflies in my stomach. See, I really hate performing, and I don't like pressure. When I was deciding whether to be a music major or a biology major, I choose biology simply because I couldn't even stand to THINK about performing in front of people. I get so nervous my hands shake and I want to pass out, vomit, or a delightful combination of the two.

I am doing dog agility for FUN - and I want it to stay fun. You would think that would make a difference, but I played music for fun too, and it still terrified me. I have no idea what I'm scared about - if Popper messes up, that's okay. It's his first one. Sure I'd love for him to zoom out and get a Q (unlikely), but I anticipate he'll go off sniffing or begging for treats from the judge. I guess I might be more worried about ME screwing up - sending him to the wrong obstacle, running into an obstacle... it's pretty likely. I'd be mad at myself for ruining the run, but I don't think I'd ever be mad at da pop pop.

I've entered him in a CPE trial, level 1 Standard and Colors. I wanted to do Wildcard instead of Standard, but it was on a different day. I want to sort of slide into the sport with as little trouble as possible, and keeping him crated for two straight days would probably piss him off. He's the kind of dog that would smile about it and give you kisses, and then the first time you left him alone, he'd trot off and destroy your most treasured posession in retaliation. So we'll try standard, which unfortunately is before colors (unfortunate because it's a longer course), but at least maybe he'll "click on" and do colors really well. :) Assuming I don't mess up...

We decorated our Christmas tree last week... it's right next to Havoc's cage. Everytime my SO would bend in to string the lights or to put up an ornament, she'd stretch her beak out and try to bite him. At the end of the day, his shirt looked like confetti.

Fantastic agility class last night!

Last night was our next-to-last class.. and boy, Popper could do no wrong! We learned rear crosses - he did it perfectly the first time. He did his "away" command flawlessly. The next station was weave poles - he did twelve in a row on both sides, and you only need to do 6 straight poles to pass the class! At the teeter station, doing ground to ground wasn't such a big deal, he's done that for months... but last night she set up a mini obstacle course so he had to do teeter, teeter, teeter, teeter in a big circle. We got creative and threw in rear crosses, front crosses and the dog walk too.

Now I'm seriously considering entering him in the trial in February. Agility is so effortless for him!

Poor Blossom!

Poor b dog. :( She's gone through a little "rough patch," so to speak. First, she started scooting around. She really only does that when she's allergic to dog food. So I start thinking about what food I'll switch her to - when she gets a urinary tract infection. All over my brand spanking new carpet. Sigh. Well, thank goodness for pet stain and odor remover! I get her over the UTI, and she's still scooting. I switch her food. She gets WORSE. I'm at a loss - I went to California Natural, which has about three ingredients. I really, REALLY doubt she's allergic to lamb, but I suppose it could be rice... I contemplate the situation, decide to leave her on it longer to see if I'm just being impatient, and look at her anal glands to see if they need emptied. Now Blossom has a sore butt and we're not any closer to the answer - because they were empty. So I figure, maybe she has worms! I deworm her with safeguard. Butt scooting gets better. Hmmmm. She finishes her bag of California Natural and I put her back on what everyone else was eating. Butt scooting continues to improve, until yesterday, when she scooted no more.

I still don't know why she was scooting. I'm going to have to assume she did actually have worms, somehow. There aren't many reasons a dog would scoot across the floor (I did eliminate fleas from the equation early on), and I addressed them all. I didn't feel it warranted a vet visit because nearly all of the possible issues can be resolved at home (depending how comfortable you are expressing anal glands, what worms they are, etc). So she's back to her normal whining self now. Oh joy!

New Dog Agility Store!

I am very pleased to announce the grand opening of Popper's Agility T-Shirts, located at www.PoppersAgilityTshirts.com. The focus is on agility, but you can find other dog sports merchandise there as well, like flyball, disc dog, herding, and more. In addition, I have a lot of breed specific designs, so if you want a tshirt or coffee mug with your border collie running flyball, or your corgi catching a flying disc (aka frisbee), I've got those too. I rounded up the best designs available and put them all in one location, easy to find. :) I hope you enjoy it!

My experiences so far in dog agility...

When I first started agility in June, it was with the knowledge that I was entering a fiercely competitive dog sport divided down the center - on one side are the folks that are doing it to have fun with their dogs, on the other are the folks doing it to win.

Now, it may not sound like a huge difference, but it is. The attitude difference is astounding. Generally, the fun people are helpful, friendly, and they don't get upset if their dog doesn't get a Q or whatever the heck else. They might be a bit sad, but the important thing was they had a great time with their dog. The folks doing it to win are another story. They are a little helpful, but generally in a degrading manner as if agility were so complicated only the most intelligent and athletic dogs should compete, as well as handlers who have years of experience. They get upset when their dog doesn't perform, and turns an otherwise enjoyable sport into fierce competition. They tend to be a bit arrogant, as if ordinary dogs can't possible compete in agility.

I've recently had to deal with the latter through online forums. I don't want to go into too much detail, but if you have ANY agility questions - always ask your local dog agility club or trainer. Don't ask online. Because they're never going to see you, they can treat you like crap. If you're already in a class, their methods of doing things might be different from your instructor's. There are many, many ways to train agility. Keep it simple by just asking your trainer.

Fall - time for hot spots!

It's that time of year again, when Roofus starts ripping out his hair and getting scabs in a large patch on his back from hot spots. When I'm talking about hot spots, I mean the itchy itchy spots where dogs chew and chew and chew for no apparent rhyme or reason, not to be confused with any kind of skin parasite, fungus, or food allergies (which are usually accompanied by licking the front paws).

If you've never had a hot spot before and you suspect that's what it is, you should go see the vet. Yes, gripe about the cost for a minute, then suck it up and go. You want to rule out other stuff before you attempt a hot spot treatment. Also, the vet can prescribe things like prednisone if it is seasonal allergies that are out of control.

How I cope:
Again, always consult your vet before trying ANYTHING.

1) Humidifier. It can't hurt, after all. Your home's humidity should be 30-50%, and if you had a humidistat you'd find out that yours likely is well below this line. Cold air does not hold humidity very well, and running your heat further makes the air dry. It's also healthier for YOU to have a humidifier. But too humid isn't good either, so keep a firm eye on your home's level.

2) Apple Cider Vinegar. This stuff is great for people too! I put it in my dogs' water bowl everyday with fresh water, roughly 1 tsp per gallon. It's definitely homeopathic, but I think it helps so I use it during this period. I've heard it's also a good wormer. Don't use too much, that's really bad!

3) Grape Seed Extract. I used to give this to my sheepdog for his very sensitive tummy. Later I found out it helps with allergies too! It can be found in pill form in the human vitamin area. You might have to try several stores - Grapefruit extract and grape seed extract are NOT the same thing.

4) Get a really good, high-quality allergen air filter for your furnace and replace it monthly. Yep, you get what you pay for. Buy the good one - you'll feel better too.

5) Benadryl. ALWAYS CONSULT A VET BEFORE USING ANY MEDICATION. I HATE giving my dogs drugs, but with Roofus, it's a necessity if I don't want him to be miserable and rip all his hair out.

6) Allercain. This stuff is great. It's a spray on antiseptic, anti inflammatory with pain reliever. It has some nasty taste in it which isn't TERRIBLY effective if the dog is really bent on chewing on that spot, but it seems to be safe. I've used hydrocortisone with better results, but you definitely don't want the dog licking it off.

7) Bathe once a week. Yup, you heard me. Nice oatmeal and/or tea tree oil baths once a week actually cuts down on dry skin. You can also use hydrocortisone shampoo, but only use on the affected areas!

Agility Class last night

Last night was the first night of Session 2.5, Weaves and Teeters. My SO built me a teeter, and during the break between classes, I taught Popper the teeter by gradually raising it (3", then 6", 12", 18", 24") one level after he was extremely comfortable on it. Took roughly one week of practicing 3-5 times each day. I set it on my wooden deck first at the lowest height, so it would make far more noise than normal, and sometimes I'd just walk by and bang the crap out of it and give him bits of hot dog to desensitize to the noise. ALWAYS use a high value treat for these "scary" obstacles!

Popper did awesome last night, he was the only dog already doing ground to ground on the teeter. There was another dog that did it but was iffy, so they went back to using the tables. I was really proud of da Pop Pop! Weaves, well, they use the channel method. I've been trying to get Popper's speed up and to get him working independently, but it's not happening. I'm probably going to buy a set of channel weaves (which are expensive!!) and retrain them that way. Everybody was really impressed he's already got the teeter and weaves. It's a class people commonly have to repeat - and I really, REALLY don't want to! I don't like doing things twice, that's why I have my own teeter and weaves and other equipment.

Well, we'll see how it goes. Now I'm off to eBay to see if there are any used or less expensive channel weaves for me to buy.......