Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

Nothing much to say tonight (11 of 31/46 of 274)

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I dropped Axel off this morning for what I hope is his last road trip for a while. He is traveling with his “grandma” Denise and at the show will be in the care of his handler Julia. He is in the best of hands. I heard from Denise earlier this evening, and all is well.

It has been so quiet here, though! Freya has been moping around, looking for her little brother. She gets so annoyed with him when he is here, but she hates it when he is gone. I guess that’s a pretty typical sibling relationship.

I really have nothing else of interest to report, at least nothing that I will be able to stay awake long enough to write about. Not that the topics are boring enough to put me… or you… to sleep. I’m just that tired. See you tomorrow!

On the road again (10 of 31/45 of 274)

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Not me, just Axel. And really, he will be home after the weekend. Really!

Huh? You thought he was home for a while after last weekend, and so did I. Imagine my surprise to see a judging program and entry confirmation for the Kentuckiana shows coming up this weekend. Axel wasn’t supposed to be entered, but he was. Honest mistake, no problem.

Oh, wait. After looking at the entry counts… big problem. There are enough male Rottweilers entered each day to make these shows 3-point majors. On three of the four days of the cluster, there are exactly enough male Rottweilers for the 3-point major. If even one dog is absent, the major breaks.

If you are not a psycho dog person, this probably means nothing to you. The short version is that for a dog to earn an AKC championship, he or she must earn points from at least two shows that are major points (3, 4 or 5 points) among the 15 total points required. Especially in this troubled economy, finding a show with enough dogs entered for major points is tough enough. It is a disappointment to go to a show and find that dogs are absent and the points are less than expected. It is even worse to find that a show that was supposed to be a major isn’t, because dogs are absent.

After a lot of phone calls between me, handler, breeder, and assorted friends and colleagues, things are all set for Axel to go on this road trip. He may not win anything (although he might, stranger things have happened) but at least our team won’t be responsible for breaking the major.

After all this, it’s possible that someone else may break the major. That’s ok. Well, no, not really. I’ll want to hurt the one who breaks it after we went through all this ermmm… fun… today to make things happen for us. But it is ok that it won’t have been us that broke it.

Where does the time go (9 of 31/44 of 274)

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I spent the first 18 years of my life in a place that does not observe daylight saving time, and I have never really become accustomed to the time change, especially the “spring forward” loss of an hour.

You wouldn’t think an hour’s difference in one’s routine would make so much difference, but I am always pretty useless on the Monday and Tuesday after the time change day, especially in the morning, since I am not a morning person at all. But it extends throughout the whole day and into the evening on Monday.

So that explains this very brief and uninspired post, just for NaBloPoMo really!

Back home again (8 of 31/43 of 274)

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Axel and I are both home now. I didn’t get to witness a big win for him at today’s show, but it was very exciting for me anyway to be able to watch him strutting his stuff in the AKC ring. He has very good ring presence and Julia has really helped him to realize his potential. He really seems to enjoy showing, and that makes me happy.

I wish I had pictures or video to show you, but I don’t. In order to make sure I wasn’t a distraction, I was hidden behind a post slightly away from the ring. I could see fine, but there was no way to take photos or videos from that distance.

As I mentioned in a previous post, he needs a few months to grow up and out, so he is back home for a while to do just that. The plan for now is for him to possibly go back out in September or October, and possibly enter an occasional show between now and then.

Right now, we’re both tired from a long day so it’s time to get some rest!

Road trip (7 of 31/42 of 274)

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I’m taking full advantage of the free high-speed wireless internet at the motel here in Columbia, MO to bring you yet another NaBloPoMo post (and keep March NaBloPoMo alive and well for me).

I opted not to visit Axel tonight, even though I do so want to see him, to give him a better chance of doing well tomorrow. There’s a possibility he will be less than attentive to his “career” if he knows I’m around. It is actually not uncommon for a dog to show poorly when his or her owner or other loved one is nearby, because that person is a major distraction for the dog. If he knows I’m here, he might be looking for me instead of concentrating on being his handsomest self.

Plus, I need all the sleep I can get tonight. Not only it is daylight saving time “spring forward” weekend, I have apparently turned into a major driving wuss because the 6-hour drive really sucked the life out of me. It would have been far worse if I did not have a brand-new vehicle for the trip. My old minivan might not have even completed the trip, and if it had, the brief but torrential rainstorms along the way would have surely leaked into the damaged passenger-side sliding door.

The ride from Chicago to Columbia does not have the most exciting scenery in the country either. There was a lot of this:

and some of this:

and even more similar to the first photo.

Going to watch the news and then get some sleep. Wish us luck tomorrow: Axel for the show and me for the loonnnng drive home!