Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

X-treme sports or AKC championship?

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In addition to being an aspiring AKC champion (and getting ready to leave on Oct. 25 to go back out on the show circuit), you know that Axel also found a new interest in x-treme sports this summer. Well. At least he learned how to catch a frisbee and play inventive games with Jolly Balls of different sizes.

This afternoon, he demonstrated his potential for beach volleyball.

Dan is excellent at putting a ball or frisbee exactly where it’s supposed to go. I attribute the catching skills of our past and present dogs to this, because during the teaching phase, the ball goes exactly where the dog is able to catch it more often than not. So what happened today was not the result of a wild throw.

It is, however, what happens when a dog grows up with a cat. Axe uses his front paws in play more like a cat than a dog sometimes. You’ll notice the 6-foot wooden fence in the linked photos. Dan threw the large Jolly Ball well short of the fence, to a spot where Axe could catch it (yes, he often tries to catch that large ball) or just retrieve it on the first bounce. Instead, Axe whacked the ball with both front paws, sending it flying over the fence and clear to the other side of the neighbor’s yard. These lots are 30 feet wide, so we were quite impressed with his skills. Hopefully the ball will get thrown back at some point.

Just wish I had a photo of that impressive slam!

EDIT: The ball did come back, but not by the most direct route. Jagoffs.

(NaBloPoMo | October ’09: 9 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 231 of 274)

Pet blessings

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The feast day of the patron saint of animals, St. Francis of Assisi, is today, October 4. Though several churches in our immediate area, and this year also one of our usual dog training schools as well, do a Pet Blessing ceremony every year, we’ve never taken any of our pets to one. I’ve often enjoyed seeing the news video clips or photos following the ceremonies, although I do wonder if it is absolutely necessary to sprinkle the cats with holy water (many of them don’t act very blessed about that). If that seems like a stupid observation, please remember that I wasn’t brought up Christian!

I know Rottweilers are not inherently evil, but after The Omen I cannot easily picture my crew standing inside any of the churches in our neighborhood. Plus it would set back the cause of anti-breed specific legislation a good dozen years when the holy water hits them and the smoke starts rising off their fur. Okay, just kidding. I think. Anyway, it is we humans that are truly blessed by sharing our lives with our dogs, cats and other animal and avian companions.

Random observations to round out the day:

  • We went to see the property that Dan’s sister Linda and her husband Casey are in the process of purchasing. The house needs some work, but not an overwhelming amount; it’s basically in good shape. It’s on five acres of land. Five acres is a LOT of land, and looks like even more if you have lived in the city all of your life and are used to postage-stamp sized lots where you are thisClose to people you would often not even want on the same planet with you, let alone thisClose to you.
  • If you are planning to buy a Suncast 7.5′ x 5.5′ Garden Shed, it will not fit in your Dodge Grand Caravan unless you have a roof rack for a couple of the panels. Even if you take it out of the really giant packing boxes. Just saying.
  • Linda will be at the Border Collie National Specialty this coming week; made me start thinking and you know, I have never been to my own breed’s national specialty? And I’m not even sure when the last time our specialty was in the Midwest. I have been to Medallion Rottweiler Club’s specialty (the one most local to us) many times and I will be there this year, but mostly just to drop off Axel for his hopeful championship road trip. I actually have until Wednesday morning to decide if I’m going to do one or more of the specialty’s rally trials with Freya, but right now I think we’re going to pass. She’s not really at her best at Rottweiler-only events, plus we’ve been concentrating on UKC rules rather than AKC rules.

(NaBloPoMo | October ’09: 4 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 226 of 274)

Friday… I mean, Saturday… Freya

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When Freya was a puppy, we used to do a “Friday Freya” which was a photo of her with Dan and sometimes Oscar, too. I have sometimes wanted to find a Friday obedience class for her so I could have a weekly Friday Freya update post. But that would be a lot of inconvenience to play upon the fact that Friday is the day named for the Norse goddess Freya, if not the Rottweiler Freya, and of course the alliteration.

But I digress seriously from my real topic. So, anyway!

Saturday is group obedience class day. Since we’ve had a few big (read well-paying) projects at work that required working the weekend, we missed a couple of classes. Plus we had a week off due to Rosh Hashanah. So Freya and I were both eager to get back to class. Freya seems to work especially well after missing a class or two, and I’m not really sure why. If I could somehow use that fact for trials, I’d love it. But I would be very nervous about missing the extra practice close to a trial day, especially the practice in ignoring the distraction of other dogs in close quarters.

We also got the good news that our current instructor will be offering a class specifically for rally obedience soon. He incorporates quite a few rally exercises, such as the 360° and 270° circles, into the regular group obedience classes already to help improve heeling position and body awareness. Plus we learn and practice both left and right finishes. That actually helped us a lot for our first rally trial in July.

It probably won’t start in time to help us for Freya’s next trial (either later this month or in mid-November, or perhaps both of those dates) but definitely in time to help where we will need it most: for Rally Advanced and RO2 which are done off-leash.

(NaBloPoMo | October ’09: 3 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 225 of 274)

Axel embraces the joy of the self-pedicure

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Last month I wrote about our experiences with Shirley Chong’s doggie nail file. Freya still doesn’t see any reason to do her own nails, but Axel is still enjoying it way more than you’d think a dog, especially a boy dog, ever could.

For anyone who came here hoping to get some tips on how to teach a dog to use the nail file, sorry. I haven’t pursued the issue with the uninterested Freya, and Axel almost didn’t need instruction or encouragement. The best suggestion I can give you is to read the original article on Shirley Chong’s site. Basically, you are shaping the behavior by rewarding the dog for pawing or scratching at the board.

Here’s the video proof of Axel’s joy of pedicure:

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 23 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 211 of 274)

Back to class for Freya

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Freya is headed back to group obedience classes tomorrow. We took a break and skipped one eight-week session, but I think our lives are all better when Freya has the structure of a class setting at least once a week. I’m also thinking of taking her to a Tuesday night class as well, but I haven’t made a final decision on that. The extra cost factor would be minimal (it is an obedience club class with a reduced price for members) but the distance is a little farther than I’d like. I definitely want her to be ready for the next UKC Rally Obedience trials coming up in the fall, though, so I’m leaning more towards doing the class.

Freya also has a vet appointment immediately following class, so it will be a busy morning for us. She has a small lump which I originally thought was a scab from overly rough play with Axel. It doesn’t seem to cause her any discomfort, but it isn’t going away, though, so it’s time to check it out and make sure it’s not something invasive or dangerous.

UPDATE 8/22/09: Thanks for all of your Freya love! It was a cyst from an ingrown hair and nothing more serious.

(NaBloPoMo | August ’09: 21 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 209 of 274)