Starting Over

"Starting Over" is an appropriate post title today.  I spent a great deal of time this evening writing my latest blog post... only to decide that it was not going to be my latest blog post.  The content was too emotional for me to put out in public just quite yet.  In going back to the drawing board,  I found this note that I wrote on Facebook on July 7, 2010.  I have added an update at the end.
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Magic

STARTING OVER

Someone posted on the obedience list about the tragic loss of a not-quite-3-year-old dog. This was her Novice A dog, and they were near the proofing stage of utility training. The dog's breeder had a 6-month-old pup who needed rehomed, and this lady took him. She was questioning her ability to start over with this new dog. As I read her post and the responses and considered how I might reply, I came to a startling realization about myself, and here is what I posted in reply: 

Cindy, first let me tell you how very sorry I am for your loss. So tragic! I know from personal experience that to not feel guilty is easier said than done, but please, please, don't blame yourself because YOU did nothing wrong!

I also want to thank you for posting, because your e-mail and some of the responses have opened my eyes........ I joined this list a while back in hopes that I would soon have a dog ready to compete in obedience again, but after all this time, I have rarely posted because I have not even started with another dog. Not since Magic..........

Magic, my very first Belgian (Terv), came to me in 1996. I had a small training/pet sitting business at the time, and Magic became my demo dog. Because she had some fear issues, I never dreamed that we would be able to compete in trials, but when she was about 6 yo, I took her to a basic obedience class at a training club. She could easily have tested out of the class, as I had started her on those exercises when she was 8 weeks old ;-) But I didn't want her to have to learn new obedience skills. I wanted her to be able to use those things she was an "old hand" at to help her overcome her insecurities. The only thing she had to learn in this class was that people were really not that scary ;-) And she did! Right about the same time that we finished this class, I got my second Belgian (Sheepdog), 5 yo Dickens. He loves everybody and has zero fear issues, so between the class and Dickens' good influence, Magic became a new dog, and we began to compete.

Magic and Dickens were my first ever competition dogs. They were soooo different <lol>. Dickens just didn't see the logic of heeling patterns. "Mom, it's much faster if I cut across and meet you over at the corner." Oh yeah, we lost lots of points on off-lead heeling <sigh>. However, he wouldn't even think about breaking a stay. The only time I remember him breaking a stay was at an outdoor trial; he jumped up so suddenly that I think something may have bitten him :-0 [Dickens is my most obedient dog, but he's not much of an "obedience dog" <lol>] He did get his CD reasonably quickly (but I won't even tell you what our last score was <blush>), and then I retired him from competition. Magic, on the other hand, was beautiful in everything she did EXCEPT stays. I received many, many compliments on her heeling and our teamwork, but in all the times I showed her, she only held one complete sit-stay. She would look down the row of dogs one direction, then look the other direction, then get up and come straight to me.

I was disappointed, yes, but also so happy that she had overcome so much to even be able to compete. The most frustrating weekend was a 3-day-show where we *would have* had a second place, a third place, and been in a run-off for first place with a 196.5--IF she had held her stays. Oh well.

Magic injured her back a week before her 10th birthday, so we never were able to obtain that elusive CD, but I'll never forget what a great obedience partner she was. She's been gone two years (as of July 15). That means it has been four years since I did any "serious" obedience with any of my dogs, though I keep saying that I'm gonna...

Your post, Cindy, and some of the replies have opened my eyes to the fact that I am afraid--yes, afraid--to start working with another dog. You said, "So, I would like to train him for obedience, but it is so hard to even think about it. I needed so much help with Loki, since it was all new. And will I enjoy it with another dog? Will I be able to do it again?" Those words made me realize that I'm afraid of so many things: Will I compare my next competition dog to Magic? What if they don't measure up to Magic? Or worse, what if they're better than Magic--will I feel disloyal to her memory? My answer to anyone who asked me these questions would be that it's okay to move on; it doesn't mean you love the other dog any less. Yet, I didn't see this barrier in myself until now.

So I thank all of you who have posted on this thread, for helping me realize my fears. Magic overcame her fears. For her memory's sake, I can do no less.

Get ready, Justice, we've got some training to do....

__________

At the end of July 2010, I still had not started obedience training with Justice.  However, on a particularly disappointing day of conformation showing, I decided that I was done with the show ring, and that I would return to obedience.  

We started training around the first part of August, and I entered Justice in her first Novice Obedience trial at the end of September.  She earned her title in three straight trials.

I learned that my fears were unfounded.  Never once did I compare her to Magic -- nor did I become frustrated with her because she was not the natural obedience dog that Magic was.   

Magic was Magic, and Justice is Justice.  Now I am working with Justice's son, Aslan, from whom I expect great things.  And Aslan is Aslan.

I am very glad that I was able to finally start over.  

Justice (above left) and Aslan (above right) competing in Rally (DickClarkPhoto.com)

Each of your dogs is an individual; cherish your relationships with them, individually.

MDW

The journey concludes

Dear Diary,

Another whirlwind couple of weeks!  My obedience-competition and National-Specialty journey with Spirit has come to a conclusion.


Bittersweet, but I will have wonderful memories of this time I have spent with her.

Last Sunday -- was it really only one week ago? -- we were entered in two obedience trials in one day.  I knew it was going to be a long, tiring day for Spirit.

The start of our National Specialty run

The first trial went surprisingly well, and Spirit qualified with a fourth-place score of 193-1/2. Wow!  

As the afternoon dragged on, Spirit was becoming tired and stiff.  We walked around outside for a while to stretch our legs and enjoy the beautiful, sunny spring day.  

Before our turn in the second trial, I witnessed something that made me quite upset (see last week's blog post for details).  Between my emotions and Spirit's fatigue, I wasn't sure how well our run was going to go, but she did it!  Our score, though not great, was good enough to qualify, earning the second leg toward her Beginner Novice title. 

 On to the National!

Wednesday morning's alarm clock blared much too early for this night owl, but I dragged myself out of bed, excited and nervous for the day ahead.  Arriving at the Specialty venue, my stomach and chest were full of butterflies.  Giddy is probably the best word to describe how I felt.

Finally it was our turn.  Knowing she was already tired, I was a little worried as we entered the ring.  Her heeling was atrocious, with abundant lagging and many tight-leash points lost.  

She caught sight of the camera during the figure-8.

On the figure-8 exercise, she went over to sniff one of the stewards -- something she has never done before.  Combined with the lack of sits at halt and a delayed response on her very slow recall, I had doubts about our performance.  

However, Spirit still deserved praise, and I was hugging her when the judge said, "You <unintelligible> qualify," I was unable to hear whether he had said "did" or "didn't" and had to ask him to repeat, "You did qualify."  YES!!!!  I thanked him, gave Spirit another hug, and told her, "You can retire now." 

There was no placement ribbon on this day, as her score was barely qualifying, but I was still over-the-moon excited.  I'm sure the judge thought it was strange that I asked for a photo, but I didn't care.  Spirit, at nearly 13 years old, had earned two legs on Sunday and the final leg on Wednesday to complete her Beginner Novice title, and I was immensely happy. 

  

Waiting for the recall

While we waited for the judge to have a chance to break for the photo, I took Spirit outside to walk around.  I had to fight hard to keep the tears at bay.  I am so very proud of this dog for giving me her all over the last few months of this journey.


I am also incredibly blessed to have a supportive breeder and friend who placed this wonderful dog with me.  

I love you, Spirit, and even though this part of our journey is completed, I hope you are able to remain my companion for a long time to come.   

Cherish your dogs.

MDW

We interrupt this journey for a very important message...

Cherish your dog(s).  

Please.

This weekend, Spirit and I were at an Obedience & Rally Trial.  I will post about our continuing journey in next week's blog.  What I want to talk about in this post is something I saw that made me so incredibly sad that I had to fight back tears.

I will not state what class it was, only that it was an "A" division handler, and I will not state the gender of the handler or the breed or gender of the dog.  I will refer to the handler as "they" and to the dog as "it."  

Someone finished their obedience run, which had not gone well.  They left the ring, and the handler yanked on the dog's leash multiple times.  Basically they were giving a correction, even though the dog was doing nothing wrong at the moment.  They then pushed the dog hard into its crate and left it there while they gathered up their belongings.  As they left the building, the dog tried to walk beside them, and they repeatedly pushed it away, not allowing the dog to get too close to them.

I was heartbroken for this poor dog, who only wanted to be close to its human and had no earthly idea why they were being so cruel.

Their run was not the worst I've ever seen -- not by a long shot!  It appeared to me to be a run by a green dog and handler, who both just need some more practice and ring time.  Unfortunately, this dog will probably grow to dislike obedience or even be fearful of it should this type of treatment continue.

Choking down my emotions, I headed to the ring for our judge's briefing.  One of the points he made was that this should be FUN, and the dog should always enjoy what we're doing in the ring.  I got choked up again wondering if that handler had ever received the same advice.

We were first up following the briefing, and I tried to push the sad images out of my mind as I raced to get my dog and headed back to the ring.  Dogs are sensitive creatures, and Spirit needed me to be happy and focused on her when we walked in to compete.  

After the awards were presented, I told the judge that I was almost in tears when he was giving his briefing and explained why.  He was sad about it also.  And he made a point that I had been thinking about as well, "Someday, that dog will be on the table in the vet's office, and..."  Tears in his eyes, his voice cracked, and he could not finish.

Most of us know that no ribbon, title, or award is as important as the love in our dogs' eyes.  I sincerely hope that this handler learns that, too.  I pray it happens before they completely lose the trust of their beloved companion.

Cherish your dog(s).

That is all.
MDW

The journey continues...

Aslan and Spirit

Since my last post, "Signs," it's been a busy couple of weeks to record in this online diary.

The Sunday following the puppy match, Spirit, Aslan, and I went to an obedience match, an event which provided additional confirmation that conformation needs to be put on the back burner for now.  I had a fabulous time!

Spirit's recent training has taken place at home and at my local obedience training club.  I needed to know how she would do in a new location -- and after spending more time in the car than she was used to.  I also needed to see how Aslan's obedience would hold up in a trial setting.  The obedience match was our testing opportunity.

Beautiful weather made the trip enjoyable.  However, in the morning, there was just the slightest chill in the outside air, and the temperature inside the building was downright cold.  The longer-than-usual car ride and the climate seemed to negatively affect Spirit, as she was stiff and slow during our practice runs.

An experienced competitor suggested that on trial day I should get Spirit out and warm her up for a long time before we go in the ring.  On one hand I agreed, but on the other hand I knew this would present a problem.  Due to her age, Spirit needs to warm up -- but not too much, or else she gets tired.

Another trial-day problem would be the driving distance.  Our first trial was about 2-1/2 hours from home.  I decided that my best course of action would be frequent, short warm-up sessions for Spirit.  Aslan, on the other hand, requires a fairly long warm up before going in the ring; otherwise, he's too wired up to concentrate and perform well.  He's quiet, calm, and well behaved in his crate, but when I get him out, he's like, "Mom, mom, mom, MOM, MOOOO-OOOOM!  Oh boy, oh boy, it's MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!"

On the day of the match, I had quite a long wait before our first turn, so I hadn't yet warmed up Aslan, when the organizers decided to practice the group stays.  I quickly grabbed Aslan and took him for a fast potty break, and then we hurried inside to join the group.  Given the circumstances, I wasn't sure how well he would stay but figured it would be a really good practice opportunity.  He surprised me by staying, despite other dogs breaking, handlers moving in and out of the ring, and doing a five-minute sit stay while the other dogs were doing down stays, and a three-minute down stay while the other dogs were doing sit stays.  (Most of the other people were practicing for Open B class, in which the stay order can be reversed from the usual sit-first-then-down routine.  Because Aslan has had problems lying down during a sit stay, I opted to keep him doing the usual order.)

Spirit and Aslan each had two runs.  Spirit's heeling was "laggy" (instead of staying right by my side, she was lagging behind me a lot) because, as previously noted, she was stiff and tired.  Aslan's heeling was fantastic except for one particular corner of the ring when he was unsure if he should remain in heel position or go jump the agility tire jump that was in that area.  (I think that if it had not been set up against the wall, he might have given it a go :-)  I must admit to a feeling of pride when I heard some experienced handlers comment on his nice heeling.

The highlight of my day, though, was when Spirit held her sit stay for BOTH of our runs!  In Beginner Novice, the sit stay exercise is done with the dog sitting in the middle of the ring while the handler walks around the inside perimeter of the ring.  We have struggled so much with that exercise, and I was incredibly happy that she succeeded TWICE!

A couple days later, in class, Spirit again held the sit stay multiple times.  I was elated and had high hopes for our upcoming trial.

. . .

As I mentioned in my blog post, "The Dog's Out of the Bag," I had arranged to leave work early at least once a week so that I could get in some private training time before evening classes at the club.  However, I work at a church, and the weeks leading up to Easter are very busy in the office.  Holy Week is a "blackout" week, meaning that no one is supposed to take any time off.  Therefore, I knew we would be unable to get in a last Thursday-afternoon practice before Saturday's obedience trial.

For the first Friday evening in a while, both my calendar and the club calendar were free, and I considered taking the dogs over for a quick "run-thru," but then decided against it.  I was afraid Spirit would be too tired if we went out Friday night and then were also gone all day Saturday.

So after surviving Holy Week at work, I got up early on Saturday morning and hit the road with my furry traveling companions.  Our first stop was to meet up with my best friend, who was going to ride up and spend the day with us.  Even though we live only a four-hour round trip apart, we see each other much too rarely.  This was a wonderful treat for me to have her go along!

I had two dogs entered in three classes in two rings under two judges, all scheduled for "after noon."  It was great to not have to get up at o'dark thirty for an 8:00 a.m. ring time.  The only drawback was not having any kind of estimated start time.  "After noon" could mean 12:05 p.m. or 4:00 p.m., depending on whether or not the morning classes were running on schedule.

Not knowing exactly when our classes would start, but knowing that I needed plenty of time for Aslan to soak up the environment and chill out and that I would need to warm up Spirit early and often, we arrived and got set up before noon.  

I watched the judging and checked the schedule, and I figured that the timing would work out just fine and that I would have no conflict showing between the two rings.  However, as the afternoon went on, the time I had estimated between the two rings was growing smaller and smaller.  I should have asked to move Spirit to the beginning of her class, but I figured I would have time and that I was just being nervous for nothing.  And then, as Spirit and I were waiting for her turn to go in, I saw that the other ring, the one Aslan would be in shortly, was moving along quite quickly, and we were going to be lucky to make it!

I made myself focus.  SPIRIT was the real reason I was here.  If Aslan didn't get to compete in one class today, it was not the end of the world.  And Spirit's number was called to the ring.

We entered the ring, and I was filled with confidence that she could qualify and get the first leg of her title.  Her heeling was laggy and even worse on the figure eight, but I believed we probably still had enough points to qualify.  She did the sit-for-exam exercise perfectly.  Deep breath.  Here comes the sit-stay/walk-around-the-ring exercise.  Whew!  She did it!  Recall is the only thing left.  "Spirit, come!"  Okay, it's Beginner Novice, so we can still qualify if she comes on the second command.  "Spirit, come!"  Well, we've NQ'd now.  "Spirit come."  Sigh.  I clapped my hands and opened my arms wide for encouragement, "Spirit, come!"  Finally!  (Yep, should have gone to the club Friday night for that one last run-thru.  Sigh.)

The judge was encouraging, and I told her that Spirit was nearly 13 years old.  She said, "I could tell she was an older dog.  Good for you for getting her out and working with her!"  

Connie, who had been video recording our run, came to the gate to meet us, reached out to take Spirit's leash from me, and said, "I'll take her.  You go get Aslan.  You're next."  Bless her!  I thanked her and sped off.

Aslan had the shortest potty break and warm up that he has ever had, and then we rushed back into the building.  We had just a few moments before it was our turn.  I was concerned because he tends to be overly playful without a good warm up.  On-lead heeling and figure eight were better than I had expected, though.  

On the stand-for-exam exercise, I discovered something we had not proofed for.  The majority of Novice competitions I have observed and been part of, the judge pats the dog on the head, the back, and the rear; and that is how we had practiced.  However, this judge placed her hand on the dog's head and ran her hand downward along the back to the rear, keeping her hand in constant contact with the dog's body.  Aslan turned to look at her like, "Huh?  What's that about?" and moved his feet as he turned.  I assumed we had NQ'd at that point.  

We finished the class with the off-lead heeling and recall exercises, which seemed to go well.  We then left the ring, but only for a moment, as we were the last team in the class, and the group stay exercises were next.  Aslan was still pretty wired up, and again, I was concerned about his enthusiasm level as we re-entered the ring.  Additionally, Aslan was at the end of the line, directly next to the open ring gate.  Even with the ring steward standing there, it was a tempting distraction.  One-minute sit stay.  Whew, he did it.  Next, the three-minute down stay.  Yes, success.  

Aslan with his placement ribbons
from yesterday's obedience trial.

As the handlers picked up their armbands and leashes, the judge prepared to call the numbers of the dogs who had qualified.  I was sure our number would not be on the list, so I was incredibly surprised to hear her say that ALL of the dogs in the class had qualified.  When the placement awards were presented, my surprise exponentially increased when she called our number for the 3rd place rosette!

At the conclusion of the Novice class, the Preferred Novice class began.  There were only two dogs competing in this class, so Aslan had only a few minutes before we went back into the ring.  This time he held the stand stay perfectly, but his off-lead heeling was horrendous.  The other dog heeled beautifully, so not surprisingly, Aslan ended up with second place. 

The scores are posted at the end of each class, and I was not surprised to see how many points we lost  for both on-lead and off-lead heeling exercises.  His final score in Preferred Novice was a 182 (out of 200).  

However, I was excited to see that he had earned a 192 (out of 200) in Novice.  The stand for exam, which I thought had NQ'd us, was only a two-point deduction.  Most shocking to me, he lost only one point on off-lead heeling.  Way to go, Aslan!

Another high point of the day:  I was able to spend a few minutes talking to the owner of Aslan's late sire.  I am happy that she was there to see Aslan's obedience debut.  She was very complimentary of his performance and his attitude and encouraged me to continue his training into the next levels of obedience.  Thanks, Fran!  

When I checked to see what Spirit's score would have been, I discovered that she had lost only 8-1/2 points on the heel-on-lead and figure-eight exercises.  Had she properly done her recall, her score would probably have been in the 190s!!

Spirit

Despite her NQ, I am exceptionally proud of my girl.  She may be old, but she walked into that building like she owned it.  She was comfortable among all the controlled chaos of an obedience trial and greeted all the people she encountered as though they were old friends.  And she was willing to walk into that ring with me and give this a valiant effort.  

I'm not sure what happened on the recall, though I wonder if it was the brief deluge hitting the roof that might have distracted her somewhat.  In any case, I believe it was merely a fluke thing, and I'm sure she'll get it next time.  In order to finish her title at the National Specialty, she will need to earn two legs before then, and she is entered in two more trials before then.  The show is some distance from home, but not as far as yesterday's, so I'm hopeful that the trip won't be quite as tiring for her.  Additionally, we will be able to get in our regular practice time this week, which should be helpful as well.  

No matter what happens, whether she earns all or none of the legs for the title, I will always remember this journey with her in her senior years.

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With trials next weekend followed by National Specialty week, I probably will not be posting again until the end of April or the first of May.  Wish us luck, and, as always,

Hug your dogs!
MDW

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PS -- Some of you may be new to the terminology of obedience training and trialing.  Please don't hesitate to post any questions you have in the comments section.  I will be happy to explain! :-)

Signs

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign.

I Saw the Sign.

Aslan - January 2017 Rally Trial
Dick Clark Photography

Last week, I wrote about the signs pointing me to go for an obedience title on Spirit.  

Today, the signs indicated to me that I should not show Aslan in conformation -- at least not any time soon.  

Aslan and I have been training hard for Rally and Obedience lately and have not spent much time practicing for the Conformation ring.  There are some upcoming shows in which I had considered entering Aslan, and I wanted to gauge how he would do, so this morning I took him to a B-Match.  (These events are often called Puppy Matches because, even though there are classes for adult dogs, the majority of the entries are puppies.)  

Actually, today, the signs suggested that I should have stayed home in bed!  The first sign was that I overslept.  Then, one thing after another wasn't going right.  Okay, well, because sometimes that's normal around here in the morning, I ignored those signs.  I finally got out the door, much later than I wanted, but still within the realm of making it to my destination on time.

Minutes after I got onto the highway, traffic stopped.  After a few minutes, I wondered if this was a sign that I should have stayed home.  Traffic began to crawl again, and I considered getting off at the next exit and going home, but I decided to go a little further and see.  I was relieved when traffic started moving again, but the relief was short lived, and again I considered going home.  Then, finally, we were back to normal speed.  Whew, we could still make it...

Justice - January 2016 Agility Trial
CSPN Photography

The next sign that I should have stayed home was actually one that I *didn't* see -- the sign for the exit to the next route I needed to take. I never saw any signs that it was coming up, and I never saw it when we passed it.  It seemed like I had driven on this road far longer than I thought I would, and when I glanced at my directions, I was correct.  At that point, I had no idea exactly how far past it I was and no idea whether it would be better to turn around and try to find the exit or to continue on up to I-71.  And, lo and behold, there was a sign for I-71 ahead.  

Since I hadn't planned on taking I-71, I wasn't sure which way the venue was from my present location, so I guessed.  Of course, I guessed incorrectly.  By the time I took the next exit and headed back the other way, I realized that I had less than 10 minutes before registration closed.  That meant less than 10 minutes to go about 20 miles, park the car, grab my paperwork (which I had, thankfully, had the foresight to fill out in advance), and get inside.  No way that was going to happen unless I was transported there by Star Trek's Scotty.  

When I reached the exit for the venue, I considered just driving on past and heading home.  Registration was supposed to close at 10:30, and it was already 10:40.  But my nerves were on edge, and I had to use the restroom.  I figured I would slip in and ask, and when they told me it was too late, I would use the ladies' room and then leave.

Aslan - January 2017 Rally Trial
Dick Clark Photography

I was quite surprised to discover that the registration table was still fully staffed.  "I suppose it's too late to register?" I asked the woman at the herding group table, my voice tinged with embarrassment.  "Of course not!" she replied with a smile.  Honestly, when I arrived, I was almost in tears from frustration, and then I was almost in tears of relief from their friendliness.  

Armband number in hand, I went back to the van to finish grooming Aslan.  Once he was ready, we walked inside, and I saw some other people registering.  I was quite glad to see that I wasn't the last one :-)  Spotting some other folks with Belgians, I walked over and hung out with them until almost time to go to our ring.

I've often heard that it's better to set your expectations high, but I disagree.  I think it's better to expect nothing, and then, if something good happens I am happily surprised.  This has been true in many instances in my life and was true again today.  Even being able to register falls into that category.  Having had no preconceived expectation that I would be able to register, I was happily surprised that I could.

However, I've often heard that it helps to go in the ring expecting to win -- and I did!  I was sure that my dog looked fabulous, and I fully expected to go in, show well, and win.  Not today.

Justice - January 2013 Rally Trial
Dick Clark Photography

Conformation showing has never really been "my thing."  I've never been a good conformation handler, but I've had some good teachers, and I thought I was improving.  Apparently not.

All that obedience training and lack of recent conformation training resulted in a lot of sits, no ears, and a general all around poor performance.  Someone posted photos on Facebook that she took at the match.  The shot of Aslan in the ring was not flattering, and it demonstrated how poorly I handled him.  I'm glad she posted it because I needed to see.  To top it off, the judge had a conversation with nearly all of the other Tervuren entrants, but me he just dumped.  

It's okay, though.  Truly, I'm not whining or complaining, merely musing on the events of the day.  It's not sour grapes or hard feelings or anything like that.  As they say, "it just is what it is."  I went to this match to find out if I should enter Aslan in any upcoming conformation shows, and now I have my answer.  

Sometimes a reality check is painful, but life's journey is not without disappointments.  Looking on the bright side, that's less money that I have to worry about spending on show entries -- or show clothes, for that matter!  LOL!  

At first I thought the signs were pointing that I should not have shown at the match today, but now I realize that this experience directed me back to where my focus needs to be:  obedience, rally, and agility.  

For the moment I am content not to think about conformation.  We can try again some other day after we've had more time to practice.  For now, the signs are guiding me along another path, one that I believe will be rewarding and fulfilling.

Today, instead of posting my own photos, I am including shots taken by professional photographers at agility and rally trials.  When I look at these pictures, I see the strong bond that we have built through training, and it makes me incredibly happy.  

Seeing the love in their eyes is always a good sign. 💕💕💕💕

Aslan - January 2017 Rally Trial
Dick Clark Photography

The Dog's Out of the Bag! (The journey begins)

Spirit (photo taken Mar. 25, 2017)

Well, the cat -- or in this case, the dog -- is out of the bag.  Spirit is going to try to earn an AKC Obedience Title.  

This effort was going to be a surprise for Spirit's breeder, to be sprung at the breed's National Specialty at the end of April.  Normally this would not be a big deal, and certainly not a surprise-worthy event.  But Spirit is 12 years old.

Circumstances came together to ascertain that there would be no surprise, and that turned out to be a good thing.  This post could also be titled, "Sometimes, Things Happen for a Reason," "Timing Is Everything," "I Wish I Could Turn Back Time," or "Slight Change of Plans" -- that last one should be the title of my memoir!  :-/


_____


About 15 years ago, I met with a breeder named Sherri regarding possibly becoming the new owner of her retired show dog.  At that meeting, I fell head-over-heels in love with his half-sister, Bacardi. (Dickens did come to live with me, and I loved him with all my heart and soul, and nearly seven years after his passing, I still miss him terribly and sometimes still cry over him even after all that time.)  As a result of that meeting, Sherri and I became good friends.

When Bacardi had her first litter, I became the lucky owner of one of those pups!  I had big plans for my puppy, who I named Spirit (yes, the same Spirit from last week's blog post).  Unfortunately, life is what happens while you're making other plans, and I never accomplished any of the dreams I had for Spirit.

For many years, I have felt horrible that I never did any of the things I had wanted to do with this wonderful dog.  A few years ago, Sherri asked me if I would put either a novice obedience title (CD) or a novice-level tracking title (TD) on Spirit, which would give Bacardi points toward her Registry of Merit (ROM) award from the national breed club.  I said that I would, but again, I failed.  I have felt ashamed that I let down Spirit's breeder, who allowed this special dog to come live with me.  Spirit is a senior now, and I wish I could go back in time for a "re-do."

Lately, though, 12-year-old Spirit has been feeling extremely spry, and I began to wonder if it was possible to earn those points for Bacardi's ROM.  Then, right about that same time, I learned that the breed's National Specialty was going to be held less than an hour's drive away.  And, the day of the Obedience Trial happens to be Sherri's birthday.  Surely this must be meant to be!

I resolved to keep our efforts a secret from Sherri.  First, I did not want her to be disappointed if I didn't succeed.  Second, if Spirit and I did manage to pull this off, I wanted to surprise her with the title, at the Specialty, on her birthday.

Spirit (photo taken Mar. 25, 2017)

I started training Spirit for the first time in several (five? seven?? more???) years.  We have precious little time to meet the goal because the Specialty is at the end of April.  I figured out which shows we could enter so that she could hopefully finish her title at the National.  I even arranged to take off one or two afternoons per week from work so that we could get in some private training time at the dog club.

During those training sessions, though, I realized that this might be an exercise in futility.  Spirit is willing... but she IS a senior dog who hasn't been actively training for a long time.

I had hoped that we could earn points with a Preferred Novice (PCD) title, or even better, a Beginner Novice (BN) title, which should be somewhat easier for an older dog.  After verifying with the ROM committee that the other titles do not count, we continued to practice the CD exercises, which are on-lead heeling & figure-eight, stand for exam, off-leash heeling, recall, a one-minute group sit-stay, and a three-minute group down-stay.  

Off-lead heeling has been a challenge as Spirit's attention wanders some.  Sit-stays have been a challenge because she sometimes forgets the "stay" part and comes to me.  However, despite her canine senior moments, the fact that my 12-year-old dog is healthy and sound enough to even attempt this goal is fabulous!  If she did not enjoy the effort, we would cease immediately, but she is having a delightful time, and that, I feel, is most important.  

After one of our training sessions, we were getting ready to leave as another club-member friend arrived.  I asked her if she would help us practice the stand for exam.  In this exercise, the dog is placed in a stand-stay, the owner walks six feet away, and then the judge comes up and touches the dog on the head, back, and rear, before instructing the handler to return to heel position.  Spirit had never before met Darlene, but I don't think I have yet mentioned that Spirit loves people...  I placed her in the stand-stay, walked away, and Spirit's body language said, "Darleeeeeene!  My new best friend!!" as she trotted to greet her.  Sigh.

Interestingly, last week the following showed up in my Facebook memories from seven years ago:  

Love my funny Spirit. Working on recalls at obedience class tonight, she decided she wanted to stay with the instructor and try to schmooze pets :-0 I can just see it now...she's gonna be one of those dogs that does a perfect recall front--right to the judge! <sigh, but laughing>

Yep, Spirit loves people.  I decided then that it would be a good idea to enroll Spirit in a class to help her learn to work around distractions.  I chose a class based on the exercises practiced and the instructor.  This class happens to be on the same night as the class Sherri teaches, but I still thought we could pull off the surprise because our class was in a different part of the building.  I would have to be careful and sneaky when arriving and leaving, but it could be done . . . and then the Director of Training announced that a third class in that time slot had received an abundance of registrations, and they had decided to split the class . . . and, you guessed it, our class was moved into the ring right next to Sherri's class.

By last Tuesday night, I was prepared for the cat (dog) to be out of the bag.  Sherri briefly saw me standing with Spirit before our classes started, but we had no chance to chat then.  At the end of our class, Spirit was a little tired, but she perked right up when Sherri greeted her!  Sherri asked if we were going for her CD, and I said that we were going to try.  She suggested that we go for our BN instead, and I replied, "but there are no ROM points for a BN," and that was when I learned that Bacardi has already earned enough points and will be receiving her ROM at the Specialty this year.

While I am positively thrilled that Bacardi is going to receive her much-deserved award, and I am relieved that my failure to date did not impede her accomplishment, to be honest, I am also selfishly disappointed that we were unable to contribute to it.  

But the good news for me is that the pressure is off :-)  With Sherri's encouragement, we are instead going to try for the BN.   Maybe, if Spirit is still willing, we'll try for a CD later.

But, sometimes things happen for a reason.  As we talked, Sherri told me that they had had to help Bacardi over the Rainbow Bridge three days earlier.  We shared many tears and a hug before we went our separate ways, and I believe that Sherri was meant to see Bacardi's daughter that evening.


_____

Spirit (photo taken Mar. 25, 2017)

Wish us luck as we continue to train for these upcoming obedience trials.  In future posts, I will provide updates with Spirit's progress.  

Spirit says that she is having a blast! :-)


As always,
Hug Your Dogs!

Sincerely,
MDW

Lost Dogs (sort of)

Quest

Spirit

This story took place over ten years ago -- Spirit is now 12, Quest 11 -- but some recent Facebook posts and e-mail messages regarding "what do do when your dog is lost" brought back the memory of this day.
  
 
The sad preface to the story is that in January 2006, just one week after her first birthday, HiJinks (aka Jinksy) got out of her owner's yard and, tragically, was never found. Jinksy was from the first litter I ever whelped and raised.  Mere months later, when this event occurred, Jinksy was still very much on my mind...
  
I came home from a trip to the store and let all the dogs out. After the groceries were put away, I opened the door to let the dogs back in the house. The two young ones (almost-2-year-old Spirit, and 7-month-old Quest) didn't come in. Assuming that they were busy playing and didn't want to come in yet, I went out to get them. ????? Where were they???? How did they get out of the yard??? There was one spot between my garage and my neighbor's garage, but it wasn't big enough for them to get through--or was it??? 

After running back in the house to grab a couple of leashes, I ran out to search for them.  These were two dogs that I never really had to teach to come when called, because they just did--always. So I really thought that they would come running as soon as I went out the gate and called them, but they didn't. 

I walked around and didn't see or hear any sign of them. After asking someone if she had seen my missing dogs (she hadn't), and trying to describe a Belgian Sheepdog and a Belgian Tervuren, I realized I should have brought a picture with me. Screaming their names, walking blindly down the street crying, I went home for a photo and then headed back out in the other direction.  I reached the end of the street and came back around the other side of the block. There was no sign of them. No one had seen them. I was heartsick. 

Everything I knew to do when you have a lost dog seemed to have fallen out of my brain. Only three thoughts repeated in my mind: (1) Jinksy got out and had been missing for five long months; (2) worry that they had been hit by a car; (3) these two are so friendly that they'd probably go with anybody who stopped the car and opened the door. 

As I walked back down the street, uncertain of what to do next, I decided to call their breeders. Quest's breeder was out of town for the weekend, so I called Spirit's breeder. I got as far as "Hi, it's me," before I broke down, sobbing that Spirit and Quest were missing. God Bless her, she got me calmed down and suggested that I call someone to help me search. 

It seemed that everybody I knew that could/would come help was out of town that night. Finally I was able to reach my friend, Bonnie, who said she and her sister would be right over. Thinking that it might be a good idea to take one of the other dogs out on the search, and also thinking that Bonnie and her sister should have leashes in case they spotted Spirit and Quest, I went back home.  

For some reason all the spare leashes lived in the van, so I went down to the garage... 

...AND.... 

...Spirit and Quest came bounding out of the garage!!!!! I didn't know whether to hug them or strangle them!! All that calling their names, and they never barked or scratched at the door to give me any indication they were home all the time! 

I called Spirit's breeder back to let her know, and we had a good laugh.  She told me to go take a few deep breaths.  I said that I was going to go take a few deep drinks of something strongly alcoholic! 

Thankfully, this story had a happy ending.  But you never know...  Hug your puppers often!

Quest on his first day in his new home with me.
(Not a good-quality photo, but one of my favorites anyway because of the cuteness factor :-)

Why did I start this blog?

Hi!  I'm the Mad Dog Woman.  The beauty on the left is Justice, a 10-year-old Belgian Tervuren.  She is my heart and soul.  

I post a lot about my dogs on Facebook -- did I mention "a lot"?  Many times I have been told that I should compile a book of all my dog stories. The idea bounced around in my mind for a while, and I wondered, "Why not?"

But even better, I thought, would be a pictorial book featuring my photography along with the dog stories.  So, that's the plan.

However,"Diary of a Mad Dog Woman" is going to take some time for me to compile, write, edit, and somehow get published (self publish?).

In the meantime, I have started this blog.  The topics will mostly be about dogs, but there will be times that I will discuss other subjects.  My plan is to update the blog at least once per week. ​

Am I mad? ("Mad" defined)

A quick search on Google yielded the following:
(Skip to the bottom if you don't want to read all the definitions ;-)
mad
​adjective
adjective: mad; comparative adjective: madder; superlative adjective: maddest

1. 1.  informal
   very angry.
   "they were mad at each other"
   synonyms:  angry, furious, infuriated, irate, raging, enraged, fuming, incensed, seeing red, beside oneself; More
   antonyms: unruffled, calm
2. 2.  BRITISH
   mentally ill; insane.
   "he felt as if he were going mad"
   synonyms: insane, mentally ill, certifiable, deranged, demented, of unsound mind, out of one's mind, not in one's right mind, sick in the head, crazed, lunatic, non compos mentis, unhinged, disturbed, raving, psychotic, psychopathic, mad as a hatter, mad as a March hare; More
   antonyms: sane
   1. * BRITISH
      (of a person, conduct, or an idea) extremely foolish or ill-advised.
      "they were all mad to go believing such a cock-and-bull story"
      synonyms: foolish, insane, stupid, lunatic, foolhardy, idiotic, senseless, absurd, impractical,
      silly, inane, asinine, wild, unwise, imprudent;  More
      antonyms: sensible
   2. * in a frenzied mental or physical state.
      "she pictured loved ones mad with anxiety about her"
   3. * (of a dog) rabid.
3. 3. informal
   very enthusiastic about someone or something.
   "I wasn't mad about mountain bikes"
   synonyms:enthusiastic about, passionate about; More
   antonyms: indifferent
• * BRITISH
  very exciting.
  synonyms: frenzied, frantic, frenetic, feverish, wild, hectic, manic
  "it was a mad dash to get ready"​

Am I mad?  

Yep.  Youbetcha.  I am simply mad about my dogs!
See Definition 3.

I am Definition-1 mad about some things, too, and I'm sure that those issues will reveal themselves in future posts.

As for Definition 2...  well.... no comment ;-)
You can all figure that one out for yourselves in time.

I hope that you will enjoy seeing my photos and reading about my Mad-Mad-Mad world!

Sincerely,
Mad Dog Woman (MDW)