Somehow I managed to completely miss talking about Axel’s sieger show in September. We had a few bad technology moments right around the show date, so there wasn’t much blogging in early September in general. I also wanted to post a photo from the show, as well as talk about his critique. But I still haven’t seen any show photos, and I really wanted to post the photo along with the critique so everything makes more sense.
So what does Axel’s show have to do with the pumpkin shortage? If you have a dog like Axel that is prone to occasional dietary indiscretions, or one like Freya with a mild case of IBS, the pumpkin shortage was a bad thing indeed. Canned pumpkin is one of the best remedies for either diarrhea or constipation in dogs. I know that sounds strange, but it has to do with the fiber in pumpkin helping to regulate things in either direction. And it should go without saying that if you are unsure of the cause, a visit or at least a call to the vet is still the best course of action. If, like us, you can attribute any unpleasant output to overindulgence or a known condition, canned pumpkin is your dog’s good friend.
Even though it was apparently well-covered in the media, I somehow missed the fact that there was a canned pumpkin shortage. So a few days before Axel was to leave for his show, he was suffering from a minor digestive upset, and I went to buy some pumpkin. I went to three different stores and at the last one there was a sign mentioning the shortage and that they expected to have pumpkin back in stock in about a month. Whoa. That would be an eternity when your dog is exploding. Fortunately it was a very mild upset, and one skipped meal and one bland meal got things back on track in time for trouble-free traveling.
So when canned pumpkin returned to the stores last month, I got a couple of big cans. And by most accounts, the shortage is now over. Then I saw yet another source, where CNN was reporting as late as October 24 that the pumpkin shortage was not in fact over.
I don’t really care about pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving or any other time. But I do want to make sure my dogs’ butts are covered. Today, it was Freya’s turn to need some pumpkin love, so there goes some of our stock! What’s the real story… shortage or not… anyone know?
I was sorting through some dog-related mail and email, and buried somewhere in there was the news that premiums for the 2011 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show had been mailed out earlier this month. This is the first time I’ve ever owned a dog that is eligible to enter. As an AKC Champion of Record who is eligible for Best of Breed competition, Axel could go and run with the big dogs.
“Eligible” and “competitive” are two very different things, of course. And I don’t think the money and time for a trip like this is going to fall out of the sky by the closing date. But it makes a nice daydream. I think the ultimate dream for many of us psycho dog people is winning Best in Show at Westminster handling a dog of our own breeding. My modified version for the moment would be my handler placing in the Working Group at Westminster with the first champion that I’ve owned (no Rottweiler has ever won at Westminster, and only one has ever won the Working Group, so that is the realist modifying the dream).
We won’t enter, of course. But it’s still a nice dream.
As I mentioned yesterday, the current Rottweilers are not clothes-wearing dogs. Actually, neither were most of the past Rottweilers. Oscar would let you put a hat on him. He would sit there, usually even long enough so you could focus a camera. And then he’d shake his head and send the hat flying before you could snap a picture. His timing was impeccable. It is truly ironic that my favorite photo of him, and the image I have tattooed on my shoulder, shows him wearing a bandana.
That kind of limits the possibility of cute dog outfits for Halloween. I thought about teaching them some cute trick, but you know I haven’t had much success with that either. Remember our “stop, drop, and roll” that I was supposed to have ready for this month, Fire Prevention Month? Well, we are still stuck at “stop, drop, and wiggle around on your back like a giant upside-down worm without actually rolling over.” That does not make for a very impressive video. “Stop” and “drop” are real solid, though. Guess we didn’t totally waste our time with obedience and rally training!
Dan got Axel to “jump to the left” and “step to the right” tonight, although the step looked more like a jump out of the way. So maybe we can teach him to do the “Time Warp” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not sure I want to go there with the “pelvic thrust that will drive you insaaaaaane” though!
Who let her bring that thing in here while I am trying to nap?
For some reason, I never wrote about it here, but back in the spring of 2009 I started asking around for advice and comments to help me pick a good digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR). I would be a first-time buyer for this type of camera. I’ve owned film and digital point-and-shoot cameras as well as entry-level film SLRs, but I would still consider myself very much an inexperienced photographer.
It took me a while, and my decision was based mostly on value and price rather than this year’s coolest technology. The camera I chose was Canon’s Rebel EOS XS. Continue reading
I mentioned before that Freya and Axel have different learning styles. Since we’re still working through Susan Garrett’s “The Five Minute Formula to a Brilliant Recall,” I am doing the same set of games and lessons with both dogs, which makes the differences a little more obvious.
One of the key points throughout the recall course is building value: making it valuable for the dog to come to me by reinforcing his/her decision to do so with high-value rewards. After a few weeks of this, it seems that I am way more valuable to Axel than to Freya. Looking back on our lives together, this is not a new development. I think I’ve always been more valuable to Axel than to Freya. I wonder if this is a gender thing, or an individual learning styles thing? Continue reading
