Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Looks like I was doing this exact same thing one year ago, too! Same beautiful dog, same wonderful handler, same situation with me scrambling to put together an ad for The Total Rottweiler Magazine right on deadline.

As most of you know, Axe finished his championship and earned his RN and CGC about six months ago, but I didn’t get his ad done until just now. So please indulge me once again, and behold the beauty that is Axe:

click image for full-sized PDF version

This ad will be running in Issue 2 / 2010 of The Total Rottweiler Magazine. Please check out the magazine if you love Rottweilers! I am on staff as a volunteer (unpaid) proofreader and copyeditor, so I definitely have a connection and an interest in the magazine’s continued success.

Sorry I haven’t been around as much as I should be. I seem to have lost my way this month, with a NaBloPoMo fail and a definite shortfall of Mingling and Blog Hopping. I’ll play catch-up as best as I can, but I think I’ll forego any more attempts at NaBloPoMo until fall!

As you may already know, Freya’s training and trialing has not been a source of joy and wonder lately. A vet visit didn’t turn up any physical causes for our training and performance issues, but I didn’t have any lab work done at that time. I’ve been debating with myself about having a thyroid panel done. Her last one came back normal not quite two years ago. But she will be seven years old in November, so is now edging up to senior status (noooooooooo, she’s still my puppy girl), so at this point, maybe it is money well spent rather than a long shot. Hypothyroidism is also one of the only non-fatal things I can think of that could cause mood swings, hyper-reactivity, and weight gain (in her case a more subtle inability to get back to her ideal weight… hmmm… a problem for me, as well). Anything else I can think of is either much scarier, or else points back to me sucking big time as a dog trainer (this is actually the most likely possibility).

Speaking of health tests, I still need to get Axel in for his OFA cardiac clearance. I have been holding off in hopes of a cardiac clinic being offered at a nearby show, as the cost savings would be very significant (try at least 50%), especially if the clinic is also doing Dopplers. Since there have been no known heart issues with his parents or siblings, and I don’t have any immediate breeding plans for him, I guess it won’t hurt to hold off just a bit longer.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m going to mention it again anyway since it’s one of the things that has been eating up my time this month. Please think about subscribing to The Total Rottweiler Magazine. I am currently a volunteer (unpaid) proofreader and copyeditor for TTRM so I do admit some bias as I tell you it’s well worth checking into if you have any interest in Rottweilers and dog sports.

So that’s the short version of what’s been going on. I have a backlog of Freya training videos to analyze and comment on, as well as a couple of hopefully more informative short rally obedience-related videos that I’m editing in iMovie as time permits. I hope to also have some Axel frisbee video soon. On the technology side, I have some MacBook and Sony Reader thoughts to post. Oh, and I did manage to fit in the upgrade to WordPress 3.0 as well.

I know it isn’t supposed to be a main focus for this blog, but I still have some TV breaks that I never posted. Lucky for you all, some are no longer timely so you won’t have to read them, but at some point I still plan to tell you why Glee is the devil. I’m sure I’ll have at least a few new TV breaks once Rescue Me and Mad Men start up again on June 29 and July 25, respectively.

My original plan for advertising in the first 2010 issue of The Total Rottweiler Magazine was to celebrate the titles that Axel finished in January, particularly his AKC Championship.

Well.

Since my new AKC Champion is like one of those children who, while nice-looking in person, always has a goofy expression, closed eyes, head turned to the side, or what have you when it comes to photographs, I did not have the variety of shots, nor a decent head shot, for a nice elegant new champion ad.

So here is what is running instead. Behold the beauty… and the goofiness… that is Freya and Axel.

click image for full-sized PDF version

We also took the opportunity to promote Axel’s niece, Chassis (Precious Gems European Cut). I predict a successful career ahead for this young lady!

click image for full-sized PDF version

(NaBloPoMo | March ’10: 20 of 31)

Slightly self-promotional, because while these links are not all about me, or at least not in the same way as my blog or website would be, I do have something to do with each one of them:

the henderson company: This is where I have worked for… ummm… a really long time. Site was designed by one of my business partners and HTML’d and JavaScript’d and Flash’d by me. Yeah, I know my part needs work, but remember my… our… background is in print, not online!

Precious Gem Rottweilers and French Bulldogs: Axel’s breeder’s website. The beautiful Rottweilers and Frenchies from excellent bloodlines… all hers. Site design and upkeep… that’s me.

The Total Rottweiler Magazine: I joined the staff as proofreader and copyeditor beginning with Issue 1 2009. If you have any interest at all in Rottweilers and dog sports, this is a great resource.

(NaBloPoMo | May ‘09: 23 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 119 of 274)