Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Spring might actually be here

kathi — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:28:05 +0000

We saw him this evening, just before darkness fell hard. And we heard him and another robin calling to each other. Spring might actually be here!

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 11 of 31)

Spring might actually be here is a post from: Rottweilers Ate My Laptop
Copyright © 2008-2010 K. Wilson except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Out like a lamb (31 of 31/66 of 274)

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Action!

kathi — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:37:15 +0000

Photo by: Chuck Currey, Currey Photo, Reddick, FL

During Axel’s journey to his AKC championship, I collected many, many photos of him stacked nicely, standing pretty with Julia and the judge.

What I didn’t have was action photos, either from conformation or rally obedience. I was very surprised to receive the proof of this photo in the mail. It was taken the last time he was shown in AKC conformation. It was the last show of the second cluster of the Florida Winter Classic held in Brooksville. He went in the ring solely to hold the 3-point major; he had already finished his championship during the first cluster. So glad he did, as there were no action shots that I know of taken at any of his other shows. Axe moves nicely, and this photo really shows it. Yay for surprises, surprises like this one, anyway!

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 10 of 31)

Action! is a post from: Rottweilers Ate My Laptop
Copyright © 2008-2010 K. Wilson except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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Space case

kathi — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:45:54 +0000

It’s a case of no space, as in my back yard is not big enough to lay out a full sized rally obedience course. This will not stop us from practicing the individual exercises, although the sogginess of the yard and the on-and-off rain might move us indoors to an even smaller space.

Although I usually don’t mind living in the city with all of its conveniences, sometimes I truly envy those of you who live in the ’ burbs or beyond. Your jagoff neighbors are separated from you by yards or even miles, not inches. Your basement is big enough to set up a full 40' x 50' AKC rally or obedience ring. Your yard is big enough to set up a full 50' x 80' APDT rally ring, or maybe even a 100' x 120' agility ring or 100m x 80m Schutzhund field. Space and distance, what a life! Or at least I say that until I need an open-24-hours grocery store or veterinarian or whatever within five miles or less. Tradeoffs, always those tradeoffs.

For the rest of the week, Freya and I will be practicing individual Level 2 exercises in whatever time and space we have available to prepare for Saturday’s trial. So the small size of the back yard won’t really matter. Heh, now that I look at our schedule, we have trials every weekend for the rest of the month, so it may not matter until March 29!

What I would like to try at that time, though, is to design some fun practice courses that will fit within a 20' x 20' space. Last summer, most of our back yard practices were done using the diagonal plus a square. I really had no idea what I was doing in terms of layout. Most of those practices took place after our very first trial in July and before our second trial in November, so I had been on only one trial course and a few practice courses. Oh, and learning whatever I could from downloads on the Internet. We did manage to learn and practice all of the novice level exercises for UKC and AKC, so my simple squares weren’t totally ineffective, but they were a little boring.

Now that I have a bit more trial experience, a few more classes, and a lot more reading to draw from, I’m hoping to come up with some better and more enjoyable practice ideas.

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 9 of 31)

Space case is a post from: Rottweilers Ate My Laptop
Copyright © 2008-2010 K. Wilson except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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Is someone watching me at the checkout?

kathi — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 05:28:07 +0000

My husband and I have long suspected a conspiracy theory at our local Jewel supermarket. We think they decide what items to stop carrying by secretly gathering data from our Preferred Card purchases. I am sure that Jewel tracks regional purchasing trends, and maybe store-specific trends, and almost definitely uses the data to target advertising mailings. But if they are not intentionally trying to annoy us, then why is that they have stopped carrying several of my personal favorite Lean Cuisine frozen meals and Dan’s favorite varieties of frozen pizza? These are not weird meals like Squid Super Surprise, or pizza toppings eaten only in California either. So I have no choice but to believe it is intentional. Right HERE, Jewel.

This is obviously pretty minor on the scale of stress-causing life happenings. However, it is not good to see that the effects have spread to a different store and a different item. This one is earth-shattering because it involves… dog treats.

On my last few trips to our local Pet Supplies Plus, which is located in the same mall as the aforementioned Jewel (coincidence? I think not), they didn’t have any Wellness WellBites Chicken & Venison treats. Of the five flavors available, that is the one that Freya and Axe like the best. When I first noticed it about a month ago, I just assumed they were sold out, since stock was also low on the other four varieties. Yesterday I once again ended up buying their second-favorite flavor (if you’re wondering, Chicken & Lamb). I’ll need to check into this. The Wellness website doesn’t indicate anything about discontinuing or recalling the Chicken & Venison treats. I haven’t yet checked at any of the other nearby pet supply stores.

So, is this part of the same conspiracy that the Jewel folks are involved in? Or do all the other dogs in Norwood Park have a preference for the same type of treat, and are their moms and dads hoarding them?

What do you think (other than that I’ve obviously gone off the deep end)?

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 8 of 31)

Is someone watching me at the checkout? is a post from: Rottweilers Ate My Laptop
Copyright © 2008-2010 K. Wilson except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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It’s that post again

kathi — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 05:47:19 +0000

It’s THAT post. You’ve seen it before… the one that serves solely to keep NaBloPoMo going for this month.

I’m hoping it’s the only one for March, but with magazine production tasks happening over the next couple of weeks, plus a full month of trials for Freya, there may be a couple more until that’s all over with.

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 7 of 31)

It’s that post again is a post from: Rottweilers Ate My Laptop
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Freya: preparing for her next trial

kathi — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 05:19:48 +0000

You may recall that my original plan for Freya’s Rally Obedience career was to earn the on-leash novice level titles in all three of the venues we are competing in before moving on to the next level in any of the venues. That plan has changed slightly, since there are a number of UKC trials nearby during March, April and May.

UKC’s Level 2 is done off-leash, but unlike APDT’s Level 2 and AKC’s RA, it does not include the jump that we’ve only just begun to train. The two trial weekends in March are both at clubs where we have trialed before. Next weekend’s trial location has two rings going simultaneously, but they are set up with a barrier in between so the working dogs aren’t distracted by the activity in the other ring. The rings are also set up so there are very limited escape opportunities. So even though I’m still not 100% sure of how we will do with the Freya half of the team off-leash, it’s worth a try.

One good thing about training for all versions of Rally Obedience is that even with the last minute change in plan, I had only two new exercises to train at the last minute. One, the Offset Figure 8, is a Figure 8 around food bowls which contain treats but are also covered with a screen so the food can be smelled but not accessed. The Figure 8 itself is easy, but ignoring food does not come easy for a Rottweiler. Or at least, not for any Rottweiler I’ve ever owned. Training the other exercise, Halt – Leave – Call Dog Front While Running – Finish, went very well, though, especially considering it was completely new to us.

I was a little surprised, but maybe I shouldn’t be. Freya is a good working dog. She is not consistently good because I’m not. In the hands of a more skilled trainer, she would reach her full potential. In my hands… well… I’m happy that we’ve done as well as we have so far.

Since I did have the new exercises to train, I opted to miss a fun match that I probably should have gone to today. After weighing the pros and cons, I decided that training the new exercises in class, where I could get help if needed, made the most sense. Now I just have to try and relax, and keep our training and practice this week very positive.

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 6 of 31)

Freya: preparing for her next trial is a post from: Rottweilers Ate My Laptop
Copyright © 2008-2010 K. Wilson except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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LED burnout

kathi — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 04:04:38 +0000

I guess I’m the one burning out, more so than the LEDs. I generally spend a good amount of time on the computer for hobbies and volunteer tasks, but I am dreading being sucked into that glowing screen this weekend.

The last part of the work week was spent on a rather large and very ergonomically unfriendly project. I’ve often wondered why I don’t have carpal tunnel syndrome or some other type of repetitive strain injury since my entire working life has involved at least half a day at a keyboard. I still don’t have carpal tunnel syndrome, but my right shoulder and wrist really aren’t feeling so wonderful.

I have website updates, magazine editing and page layout, and at least token appearances to make at all of my online places. Let’s see how much of that actually gets done and how much succumbs to that burnt-out feeling.

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 5 of 31)

LED burnout is a post from: Rottweilers Ate My Laptop
Copyright © 2008-2010 K. Wilson except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

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In the mind of a canine

kathi — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:08:02 +0000

We call Axel our “problem solver” because he really does seem to think things through. He’s the one that likes toys with treats inside that are a little bit tricky to remove, and puzzle toys in general. He’s so different in this regard from Freya, whose strategy for getting cookies out of a Kong involves bringing it to you repeatedly until you loosen the cookies for her. Hmmm. Maybe she’s the real problem solver.

Axel did something yesterday night that made me wonder again about how he thinks. We buy large Milk Bones in the bulk sized cardboard box, and put them into plastic containers that snap shut. Dan had opened the box, given a cookie to each dog, and due to some unknown interruption, left the box on the dining room floor and never got around to the next step of putting the rest of the cookies into the plastic containers.

I saw Axel nosing at the box, told him to leave it, and then life’s little interruptions intervened again to keep me from putting the cookies away. After dinner, the dogs were expecting their usual Milk Bone “dessert,” but I was preoccupied with something on the computer and failed to distribute the cookies. A little while later, I heard some noise in the dining room and Axel came into the living room with one cookie. He is a Rottweiler, so I am not sure why he didn’t stay in there and quietly eat all of the cookies. That is why I wonder how his mind works. He knows he gets one cookie after dinner and that I wasn’t getting it for him. So as the problem solver that he is, he got it for himself. Just one, because that’s what he is supposed to get.

I know, it’s kind of a nothing story. But I’m just amazed that he didn’t eat the whole thing!

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 4 of 31)

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Strangely blank

kathi — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:01:00 +0000

This might not be a good NaBloPoMo month for me. I hope the Rottweilers did not eat my muse. Without her, I’m left with a blank page (this is the 21st century, I guess I should say “blinking cursor” instead), a blank mind, and twentysomething days still to go. Even when I’m not spending much time online, I spend a lot of time in front of a computer, so maybe it’s just burnout. Or eyestrain. Or maybe it’s just that I’m still getting over the very last traces of that nasty winter cold.

Earlier, I tried to do some Axel photos. May I say that for a correct and good-looking champion Rottweiler, he is not very photogenic when it comes to candid photos. If he were a human child, he’d be the one in the class picture with eyes closed, or looking to the side, or making a face. He’d be the big dork in party and sports pictures. If I post tonight’s photos, they will surely torpedo any future stud dog opportunities, so I think I’ll just save those for another time.

After a week off from training due to my winter cold, Freya and I both need to get back into the game in time for the UKC trial on March 13. I have a backlog of Freya videos to review, some from just before our unintentional week off, so at least I know where we left off.

Hopefully my muse will be back tomorrow to help with those video posts!

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 3 of 31)

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Some days…

kathi — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 04:55:46 +0000

…you just get the paw flipped at you.

That’s all.

Guest starring the paw of Oliver Kittyweiler

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 2 of 31)

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