Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.

Rottweilers.
Computers. Cameras.
World Domination.
Not necessarily in that order.

Freya: class notes 2/6/10

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Although there was some progress made toward fixing crooked sits and sloppy turns, this was not one of our better pre-trial review sessions. This was the last run-through of the day, and you can see that Freya is beginning to shut down a bit.

Strangely enough, this less-than-stellar practice session was followed the next day by one of our best trial performances: a score of 208 and 1st place in the Level 1 “A” division. The next trial run later on Sunday resulted in a NQ, though, so I’m not quite sure what the moral of the story might be.

Maybe it’s just that I need to figure out the best way to do the last-minute practices and to handle the downtime between trials. Are the day-before last minute practices more helpful or stressful? So far, they seem to be more helpful, but maybe I should lessen the number of run-throughs. Should I do more or less warm-up between trials, and how soon before showtime for the second trial? That one isn’t quite so obvious.

As always, you can see more videos of Freya, her classmates, and other dogs-in-training on Allan’s YouTube channel.

(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 14 of 28)

Deja vu all over again

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Because once again, you know I have to do this. And no, you don’t have to check the calendar. Groundhog Day was last week.

Yes! AKC has verified Axel’s Rally Novice title, giving him titles on both ends. See?

Now before someone calls me on it, I do agree with many others that the phrase “titles on both ends” would preferably mean a Champion with an advanced working title. I am using it anyway, because it still sort of amazes me that my wild child left home as an untitled dog after Christmas break and came back a little less than a month later as a Champion with a Rally Novice title and a Canine Good Citizen certificate.

Yes again! APDT has recorded all of Freya’s scores and her Level 1 title to their online database. They do not show the Award of Excellence in the online database, but the paper certificates do.

Now awaiting the paper certificates, and now you may officially leave Groundhog Day deja vu… for this time!

(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 12 of 28)

Done for the moment, I hope

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I told you that wasn’t it, didn’t I? It was not that bad, or at least it would not have been that bad, had the snowblower not given up the ghost yesterday afternoon.

Compare these to yesterday’s shots!

Although most days it’s really less than a joy living on a main road, there are some good things about living on a snow route, like usually having it cleared quite quickly after a snowfall.

Rottweilers can’t run through it too fast when it’s this deep.

Freya compares today’s snow depth to yesterday’s.

This corner isn’t affected much by blowing and drifting, so the amount accumulated on top of the a/c is probably pretty close to the actual amount that fell between yesterday’s photos and today’s.

The snow is supposedly done for now. At this depth and at the forecasted colder temperatures, the backyard piles and drifts will be around for a while for the Rottweiler wrecking crew to enjoy.

So, on a totally unrelated note, then… you know I had to do this, don’t you? As always, I have been keeping a close watch for online and offline proof of the dogs’ latest accomplishments. Freya’s first set of APDT Rally Obedience scores have just been posted online. See?

We’re still watching for online confirmation and physical certificate for Axel’s Rally Novice title, physical certificate for Axel’s Canine Good Citizen, online confirmation and physical certificate for Freya’s APDT Rally Level 1 title, and photos from Freya’s APDT trial at For Your Canine. So you’ll have to share a few more of these moments with me still!

(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 10 of 28)

If this was it…

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Today’s commutes, both morning and evening, were not bad at all. Too bad it didn’t stop with this, though.

Our street is a snow route, meaning that our street should be cleared early on in the process, and that we can’t park on the street when snow is 2″ or deeper.

Here is the back yard before Rottweilers run through it.

Here is a Rottweiler (Axel) running through it.

Here is a Rottweiler (Freya) running past it.

Here is the back yard after Rottweilers run through it.

It’s been steadily snowing for most of the night, so I’m almost afraid to see what we end up with in the morning, although it won’t be as much as the East Coast was socked with. This storm is heading that way and I’m sure they are none too pleased about that.

(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 9 of 28)

New title for Freya!

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As most of you know, Freya earned the first two legs towards her APDT Rally Obedience Level 1 title on January 24. I am very proud to announce that we completed the title at today’s first trial at Flying Paws Dog Training Club… with a score of 208 points (out of 210 possible points, 200 plus a 10-point optional bonus exercise) and first place in Level 1A! Since all three of our Level 1A scores were 190 points or better, we will also receive an Award of Excellence.

So Freya is now URO1 Sciroco’s Freya vom Viersen RL1 (AOE), CGC, TT!

Although we brought our “A” game to Trial 1, we did not fare so well at Trial 2 and NQ’d when Freya got up from a Down on the Halt-Sit-Down-Walk Around. Even though she was very distracted during this run, she is usually very solid on the stays for the Walk Around exercises so it was not only a disappointment, but an unwelcome surprise. The run was not great, but it would have otherwise given us a qualifying score. So, sadly, we do not yet have any of the 10 legs needed for the RL1X title.

The next APDT trial within easy driving distance won’t be until the beginning of May. There are some UKC trials coming up in March and April, so we need to learn the rest of the Level 2 exercises and get more practice working off leash. The other option would be to work on the AKC Rally Novice title. But since AKC trials are plentiful as compared to APDT and UKC trials, it seems to make more sense to work on the RN during the months that no APDT and UKC trials are available. Decisions, decisions!

(NaBloPoMo | February ’10: 7 of 28)