Archives for November 2008

Happy Birthday, Freya! (21 of 30)

November 21, 2008 by kathi

May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young

Happy fifth birthday to the lovely Freya (Sciroco’s Freya vom Viersen CGC).

Freya came to us shortly after our dear Heidi left us unexpectedly on Christmas Eve 2003. I don’t think anything ever shook my faith more than having my heart dog pass away on what is supposed to be a joyous and holy night.

It was a big task for a little puppy to heal our badly broken hearts, but Freya did and still does fill our hearts.

Thank you forever to Joe Hedl and Donna Hedl for the love that is Freya.

Will Axe be my star? (20 of 30)

November 20, 2008 by kathi

Two-thirds of NaBloPoMo 2008 is now history. Just ten more posts to go!

So, today I’d like you to meet Axel: Axe for short (well, he is a firefighter’s dog) and on paper, Precious Gems Axel vom Viersen. Here he is with his “grandpa” Gary and the judge at a large German-style Rottweiler show this spring.

As you can see, he’s quite the handsome lad. This was his first show and he placed second in his class (12-18 month youth males).

All my dogs are, above all, beloved family members. They live in the house and are with us for life.

Part of me (and some will surely think it is a very shallow part) would love to have at least one dog that is great on paper as well as a treasured and loved family member: a breed quality show champion who also has working titles. I’m wondering if Axe might be that dog.

So I’m wrestling with a number of questions right now. Axe will be 2 years old on the 29th of this month and thus old enough to have his health tests done. If he fails any of the tests I’m planning for him shortly after his birthday, he definitely won’t be bred. There is no shortage of Rottweilers and there is absolutely no need to breed a dog with genetic health issues. I have no reason to think he won’t pass. But of course, it’s just one of the many things to worry about.

Once he passes his health tests (thinking positive here), then comes the question of his championship, which will mean sending him out with a professional handler. This is going to be a very tough decision for me. I definitely don’t want him gone a second longer than he has to be, but it’s also hard to predict how long it will take him to finish a championship. I am not one of those people who could live with having their dog gone half or more of the year, and Axe is not the kind of dog that I could easily hand over at ringside.

Axe is probably the best-looking Rottweiler I’ve ever owned. He’s also been one of my biggest learning experiences. He’s extremely intelligent, somewhat dominant and outweighs me. I’m probably the worst dog trainer on earth and I’ve had some issues establishing leadership with him. His love for me is not in question. Respect though… well, he’s getting there. Or is that me getting there?

The more I learn and the more he learns, the better it gets but it is still far from easy for me. Thus the next dilemma: who is going to do his working titles. I could send him to a professional trainer but I would really love to be able to do it myself. I have the nagging thought in the back of my head that he just might be too much dog for me though.

At least it’s easier than worrying about how to pay for an Ivy League college for a human kid? Right?

What I watch (19 of 30)

November 19, 2008 by kathi

The television provides a constant background noise here, but I don’t truly keep up with that many shows. Right now there are just three. Mad Men ended its second season at the end of October, and Rescue Me won’t start its fifth season until next March, so the only one I’m currently keeping up with is Sons of Anarchy and its first season finale is next week. Probably a good thing because I’m finding myself a little bit too involved. If you, too, have been watching, I am pretty sure you are just as devastated (well, as devastated as a person should get over a fictional character) as I am by a somewhat unexpected and tragic death in tonight’s episode. And those of you who have known me for a while, or know me in real life even a little, are probably not surprised in the least that I want to be Gemma (some of you are muttering that I already think I am her). I also want her Cadillac XLR. Working on that!

Everyone likes to see shows that are about their own life, I think. If the show is done well, you can relate to it. If it’s done poorly, you still get the fun of picking it apart. Until the three shows I mentioned, the only shows I really felt that way about were the ones that were filmed in my current or former hometowns. Since those towns are Honolulu and Chicago, I’ve probably watched too much television in general and some pretty bad television at that (hello, One West Waikiki and Baywatch Hawaii).

The Honolulu neighborhood I lived in for most of my childhood, including my house, appears for a brief moment in a 1975 Hawaii 5-0 episode, “Termination with Extreme Prejudice.” The Chicago neighborhood I’ve worked in since 1987 has been frequently used for television: Early Edition, Cupid and ER. A 2003 ER episode “When Night Meets Day” features a scene with Pratt, Abby and Susan looking for a missing baby in the alley behind our office. All of our building’s dumpsters played important roles in that scene.

Anyway, back to Mad Men, Rescue Me and Sons of Anarchy. Advertising, firefighters and motorcycle gangs. I was two years old at the time Mad Men begins in 1960. But most of my adult life has been spent in typography and prepress production, much of it for advertising agencies. Sterling Cooper and the agency folks seem somehow so familiar. My husband is a firefighter and we both enjoy Rescue Me. He gets the added fun of picking apart the technical aspects. I’ll take his word on that part. He says a lot of the stuff on the show could and would happen, but no way all at the same firehouse. He is also an officer of an independent (non-criminal) motorcycle club (see why I think I am Gemma?) and we both enjoy watching and sometimes picking apart Sons of Anarchy. Before any of you who watch SOA asks: we were married before he joined the club. I am not nor was I ever passed around, thank you very much. I hear that younger California bikers really do dress like Jax, but here in the vast midwestern wasteland, even the HOG members will point and laugh at guys who would actually ride their Harleys in pristine white sneakers like that.

Wow. That’s a lot of words on a rather trivial topic, isn’t it?

The pitter-patter of Rottweiler paws (18 of 30)

November 18, 2008 by kathi

It’s terribly quiet here without the dogs.

We planned to have them stay at the kennel an extra day so that the cats would have a full day and a half of dog-free time and space to forgive us for daring to go on vacation without their express approval and blessing.

As it turns out, although Annie definitely appreciated the dog-free day, Oliver misses “his” dogs and is actively hunting for them and calling out to them. He has a weird sound that he makes that sounds more like a bark than a meow. That is how I know he is talking to the Rottweilers.

We’ll be picking them up tomorrow afternoon and all will be back to normal. Or at least as normal as it ever gets around here.

Back home from back home (17 of 30)

November 17, 2008 by kathi

Back in Chicago! Sad to not be in Hawaii, but glad I’ll be sleeping in my own bed tonight.

I have to say, though, that I don’t remember the last time I’ve encountered such a large number of ignorant people on my flights. The last time they were so prevalent was back when the airfares were super low and the clueless took to the sky in droves. I admit to being both somewhat claustrophobic and more than a little antisocial so maybe it’s me and not them. Well, no. It’s them, too.

With all of the airlines charging to check bags now, the trend of oversized carry-on luggage has reached critical mass as well. I fly with carry-on luggage only myself on short trips, but mine does not outweigh me.

Enough complaining from me! See you after a good night’s sleep!