Yesterday our obedience club held a Dog Expo. Using our club's dogs, we had obedience, rally, agility, freestyle & carting demos. We also had a Meet The Breeds area & did two big breed parades over the day. Seminars on nail trimming, grooming, pet therapy, pet massage and pet rehab were offered multiple times over the day. A wide variety of vendors participated, plus rescue groups, my 4-H club, etc. A club member's Greyhounds were in the movie Charlie Wilson's War, so we even had a movie star area! Kate & I got to do a very successful book signing. Our 4-H club has some giant stuffed (actually kinda cute) parasites & the kids answered questions plus had handouts on parasite control.
There were many handouts, class info & lots of club members to answer questions. All of this was free to the public. We did stress no spectator dogs which was a good idea.
The weather was less than ideal - temps in the single digits & some blowing snow but we have a nice building we rent so everyone was warm & comfortable inside. This was a HUGE hit with the public & better timing for our area than the traditional September Responsible Dog Owner's Day.
Kate's Corgi Flash was a huge hit with her little cart & my Terv Dani provided much amusement showing some utility exercises - carefully demonstrating how NOT to do things first, then doing them correctly. Both the girls plus young male Terv Hokey had fun in the breed parade. Great fun for all - I am still exhausted & so are the dogs!
Deb E
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Is popular good?
The new AKC popularity stats are out. My friends with Labs are not happy to still be the popular dog on the block & it may get worse with Marley & Me fans.
Breed popularity is sort of a double edged sword. You want enough dogs in your breed so that you have some genetic diversity, can breed around health concerns & have choices in any breedings. But you don't want the breed that consumers are infatuated with - leading to impulse purchases, puppy mill breedings & more dogs into rescue.
Is your breed in the Top Ten? And if so, are you thrilled or worried?
Deb E, happy with her Belgian Tervurens who tend to be around 100 on the list
Breed popularity is sort of a double edged sword. You want enough dogs in your breed so that you have some genetic diversity, can breed around health concerns & have choices in any breedings. But you don't want the breed that consumers are infatuated with - leading to impulse purchases, puppy mill breedings & more dogs into rescue.
Is your breed in the Top Ten? And if so, are you thrilled or worried?
Deb E, happy with her Belgian Tervurens who tend to be around 100 on the list
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Fun in the Winter
Normally my dogs & I love to cross country ski in the winter. Right now, however, we have temps below zero, with wind chills WAY below zero & as much ice as snow. Not nice for man or beast outside.
This has left us coming up with way to amuse the dogs inside. Some fun games are appearing on the internet. One is a youtube video on teaching your dog to blow bubbles - I haven't tried that yet. I have visions of flooding in my kitchen!
One we have tried is to put treats in the cups of a muffin tin. Then put tennis balls over the treats. We have tried this with all 6 of the dogs & the differences are quite funny. My young Terv Hokey was so thrilled that he got a ball, that he quick ran, put it in the back of his crate, then ran back to eat the treat. He repeated that sequence with all 6 balls. My daughter's Aussie Tia took a ball, played with it for a minute or so, then went back to eat the treat. My son's Aussie Baloo used his paws to remove the balls. Flash the Corgi used paws, nose & feet. Dani the Terv tried to get me to remove the balls by looking at me, then the tray. Then she gave up & removed them herself! Queezle the Terv simply grabbed balls with her mouth.
Other friends have reported dogs simply flipping the whole tin, throwing behaviors at their owner to try to "earn" the treats, etc.
One year we were teaching the dogs the alphabet - touching letters by name with their paw or their nose. Got that idea from Liz Palika. Baloo the Aussie decided he would only do letter B!
What ideas do you have to keep your dog busy indoors? And don't any of you southerners rub it in that we are cold. You train indoors in the summer :))
Deb E
This has left us coming up with way to amuse the dogs inside. Some fun games are appearing on the internet. One is a youtube video on teaching your dog to blow bubbles - I haven't tried that yet. I have visions of flooding in my kitchen!
One we have tried is to put treats in the cups of a muffin tin. Then put tennis balls over the treats. We have tried this with all 6 of the dogs & the differences are quite funny. My young Terv Hokey was so thrilled that he got a ball, that he quick ran, put it in the back of his crate, then ran back to eat the treat. He repeated that sequence with all 6 balls. My daughter's Aussie Tia took a ball, played with it for a minute or so, then went back to eat the treat. My son's Aussie Baloo used his paws to remove the balls. Flash the Corgi used paws, nose & feet. Dani the Terv tried to get me to remove the balls by looking at me, then the tray. Then she gave up & removed them herself! Queezle the Terv simply grabbed balls with her mouth.
Other friends have reported dogs simply flipping the whole tin, throwing behaviors at their owner to try to "earn" the treats, etc.
One year we were teaching the dogs the alphabet - touching letters by name with their paw or their nose. Got that idea from Liz Palika. Baloo the Aussie decided he would only do letter B!
What ideas do you have to keep your dog busy indoors? And don't any of you southerners rub it in that we are cold. You train indoors in the summer :))
Deb E
Thursday, January 8, 2009
More about the importance of books
Deb wrote recently about the value of books; that she and her kids are voracious readers. Good for them!
I grew up that way also. My parents encouraged us kids to read and always had a variety of books at hand. I was a huge reader of the Reader's Digest magazine and the Reader's Diegest condensed books - remember those? Even when times were tough and money tight, they arrived at the house once a month, I think and I couldn't wait until my parents finished reading them so I could get my hands on them. I can remembers evenings when the whole family was gathered in the living room, everyone with their own books or books, the TV off, and fire burning in the fireplace. I so thank my parents for developing a joy of reading.
My maternal grandparents also loved to read and had a huge library - one room dedicated to books! - and I would get lost in there. No restrictions were put on what I could or could not read and I would sit on the floor with a stack of books. I read mysteries, biographies, histories, humor, animal stories and so much more. Ah! Wonderful memories.
My Dad recently passed away and when my Mom asked me what momentos I wanted, I asked first for his shirt that he had printed, "Father of the Author" for my first book signing. But then I asked for some of his books. So this past weekend, days before his funeral, I spent a day sitting on the floor in his home office, surrounded by his books. My Dad was a retired US Coast Guard warrant officer so I read through the "History of the Coast Guard" and found photos of several of the ships he had served on during his career. I also read about expeditions to Antarctica, including Operation Deepfreeze, that my Dad was involved in. He spent six months aboard ship in Anarctica. Brrr!!!! I also read an old book called, "Men, Ships, and the Sea" which I found fascinating.
I ended up bringing home a couple armfuls of books. It will be fun to go through them, knowing that my Dad had read them before me and had hung on to them rather than donate them to the local library. It will also be sad, knowing they were my Dad's books. I'm sure a few tears will be shed.
I also hope some day that some of my books will mean as much to someone as these books mean to me.
Liz
Liz Palika LLC
I grew up that way also. My parents encouraged us kids to read and always had a variety of books at hand. I was a huge reader of the Reader's Digest magazine and the Reader's Diegest condensed books - remember those? Even when times were tough and money tight, they arrived at the house once a month, I think and I couldn't wait until my parents finished reading them so I could get my hands on them. I can remembers evenings when the whole family was gathered in the living room, everyone with their own books or books, the TV off, and fire burning in the fireplace. I so thank my parents for developing a joy of reading.
My maternal grandparents also loved to read and had a huge library - one room dedicated to books! - and I would get lost in there. No restrictions were put on what I could or could not read and I would sit on the floor with a stack of books. I read mysteries, biographies, histories, humor, animal stories and so much more. Ah! Wonderful memories.
My Dad recently passed away and when my Mom asked me what momentos I wanted, I asked first for his shirt that he had printed, "Father of the Author" for my first book signing. But then I asked for some of his books. So this past weekend, days before his funeral, I spent a day sitting on the floor in his home office, surrounded by his books. My Dad was a retired US Coast Guard warrant officer so I read through the "History of the Coast Guard" and found photos of several of the ships he had served on during his career. I also read about expeditions to Antarctica, including Operation Deepfreeze, that my Dad was involved in. He spent six months aboard ship in Anarctica. Brrr!!!! I also read an old book called, "Men, Ships, and the Sea" which I found fascinating.
I ended up bringing home a couple armfuls of books. It will be fun to go through them, knowing that my Dad had read them before me and had hung on to them rather than donate them to the local library. It will also be sad, knowing they were my Dad's books. I'm sure a few tears will be shed.
I also hope some day that some of my books will mean as much to someone as these books mean to me.
Liz
Liz Palika LLC
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Slippery slopes
Whew! I am in upstate NY & currently we are "iced". I love snow, love grass, hate mud, but really, really hate ice!!! With ice, I worry about the animals (or me!) slipping & possibly injuring themselves. I hesitate to cross country ski for fear of injuries, especially if the dogs come with me - though realistically *I* am the one with the worst injury record.
It struck me today that our society is often "on ice". We walk a fine line between being a free society & being a safe society. We want information available but we are concerned about that information getting into the "wrong hands" or liability issues. We don't want limits on our own dogs but we also don't support true puppy mills - and sometimes the line is a finer distinction than you expect. So we tread carefully most of the time.
So, if we have to err, do we err on the side of providing more information & being more open or do we err to the side of secrecy? Which is the slipperier (is that a real word?!) slope?
Let me know what YOU think!
Deb E
It struck me today that our society is often "on ice". We walk a fine line between being a free society & being a safe society. We want information available but we are concerned about that information getting into the "wrong hands" or liability issues. We don't want limits on our own dogs but we also don't support true puppy mills - and sometimes the line is a finer distinction than you expect. So we tread carefully most of the time.
So, if we have to err, do we err on the side of providing more information & being more open or do we err to the side of secrecy? Which is the slipperier (is that a real word?!) slope?
Let me know what YOU think!
Deb E
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Rules & Roberts & more, oh my!
If nothing else this election has made me somewhat of a minor expert on Roberts' Rules, Parliamentarians, etc. Always good to expand your horizons I guess!
It has also been a boon to my local Barnes & Nobles as I used my gift cards liberally. I keep hearing that books are "on their way out". I find that hard to believe as books can go anywhere, be read anywhere, no batteries or electrical outlets needed, etc. The Saturday before Xmas, it took my kids & I two HOURS to get out of the parking lot of our local B & N due to all the traffic.
We don't watch TV (seriously - just videos) so our whole family reads voraciously. I could probably stock a decent bookstore just with the books in our household.
Wishing you many "good reads" in 2009!
Deb E
It has also been a boon to my local Barnes & Nobles as I used my gift cards liberally. I keep hearing that books are "on their way out". I find that hard to believe as books can go anywhere, be read anywhere, no batteries or electrical outlets needed, etc. The Saturday before Xmas, it took my kids & I two HOURS to get out of the parking lot of our local B & N due to all the traffic.
We don't watch TV (seriously - just videos) so our whole family reads voraciously. I could probably stock a decent bookstore just with the books in our household.
Wishing you many "good reads" in 2009!
Deb E
Thursday, January 1, 2009
The Year of the Ox
I understand it is the Year of the Ox. I have decided that means that people who are patient & determined, plug on despite setbacks & are persistent (as most oxen I know are) will do well. I figure that bodes well for the slate I am on for DWAA :))
Voting is over with. I believe the Secretary now picks up the locked box or maybe she waits until closer to Feb 8, but then she brings it to the mtg. At the mtg, envelopes will be checked against the updated roster which she has & then votes counted by 3 "tellers". So we all have to simply wait it out now!
On this first day of the New Year it is very cold here - wind chill of -12 but the sun is out & we have some lovely snow. So I plan to do a quick cross country trip around the hayfield with the Tervs. There is not enough crust for the Corgi & the foot deep snow is too much for her though she often sensibly follows in our trail. I suspect at least one Aussie will want to come too!
I hope you are all warm, dry & safe & making lots of wonderful resolutions.
Deb E & gang at Coyote-Run
PS Read 2 neat books lately - The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton & Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien. Both are about wild animals being raised as pets or pseudo pets (not the ideal situation) but both provide many insights into behavior.
Voting is over with. I believe the Secretary now picks up the locked box or maybe she waits until closer to Feb 8, but then she brings it to the mtg. At the mtg, envelopes will be checked against the updated roster which she has & then votes counted by 3 "tellers". So we all have to simply wait it out now!
On this first day of the New Year it is very cold here - wind chill of -12 but the sun is out & we have some lovely snow. So I plan to do a quick cross country trip around the hayfield with the Tervs. There is not enough crust for the Corgi & the foot deep snow is too much for her though she often sensibly follows in our trail. I suspect at least one Aussie will want to come too!
I hope you are all warm, dry & safe & making lots of wonderful resolutions.
Deb E & gang at Coyote-Run
PS Read 2 neat books lately - The Daily Coyote by Shreve Stockton & Wesley the Owl by Stacey O'Brien. Both are about wild animals being raised as pets or pseudo pets (not the ideal situation) but both provide many insights into behavior.
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