Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

One lonely point

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Remember our one, count ’em, just one, lonely point earned towards our APDT ARCH last month? Well, here it is!

When we started doing rally obedience, my only goal for Freya was to earn a novice level title, and maybe, just maybe, an advanced title. I’m really not sure we’ll be able to get the consistently high scores needed, especially in the off-leash levels, to earn the ARCH, UROC or any combined-level titles other than RAE, which requires qualifying scores but not high scores.

I’ll give it a try, even if just to make sure that one lonely point isn’t so lonely after our next trial!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 11 of 30)

Saturday Freya: scraping off the rust

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This was Freya’s first class in quite a while. Weekend trials and a minor injury in March kept her away from her usual Saturday classes, and weather and work kept her away from any weeknight classes or lessons. April is supposed to be a serious training month to prepare for trials in May and June.

Today wasn’t a great start, but it wasn’t horrible either. Our practice course today was an APDT Level 2 course designed by one of the judges some of us will be trialing under the weekend of May 1-2. This course used Send Over Jumps – Handler Runs By, so we got some much-needed jump practice. Freya’s jump height is 16″ but today’s jumps were done at 8″ and 12″ to keep it easier and more fun, for her, anyway.

For APDT, the handler must pass by 6 feet to the right of the jump. For UKC, the distance is 2-3 feet and for AKC, it is not explicitly specified (not that I could find in the rules). When I was farther away from the jump, it seemed that Freya was more likely to try to go around it. My plan right now is to get to where she will take a lower jump every time with me passing by 2-3 feet away, and then work on moving up to her full jump height. Then we will work on adding distance between me and the jump. In APDT, if the dog refuses the jump by going around, it is an automatic NQ with no retry allowed; there is a 3-point deduction if the handler passes by less than 6 feet away from the jump. So it’s obviously way more important to make sure she never refuses the jump.

I’m also finding myself at a point where I have to really do a better job of remembering the differences in rules and performance of certain exercises between UKC, APDT and AKC. Even though there are way more similarities than differences, there are enough important differences that could mean the difference between qualifying and failing at any specific trial.

We have a lot to do this month!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 10 of 30)

Follow-up: Pet Botanics Healthy Omega Treats

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You might remember that Freya and Axel got the opportunity to taste-test Pet Botanics Healthy Omega Treats last month, courtesy of Cardinal Laboratories. The Duck flavor treats were very well-received.

Unfortunately, the two pet-supply stores that I usually shop at do not carry these treats, and I haven’t yet taken the time to speak to a manager to request them. Yesterday’s errands took me to a store that is right next to a PetSmart, so I stopped in to pick up a few items. This PetSmart carries two flavors of the Healthy Omega Treats: Salmon and Chicken.

The Chicken flavor was as well-received as the Duck flavor in our original taste test. But the Salmon flavor was an even bigger hit. Who knew Rottweilers would like fish so much?

Freya and Axe are hoping for more taste-testing opportunities in the future, so if you have a favorite dog treat for them to review, please do tell!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 9 of 30)

Laptops everywhere!

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So on Saturday, I mentioned how nice it would be if a large-screen MacBook Pro fell out of the sky to replace my aging iBook G4.

Well, that didn’t happen, nor did $2,500 fall out of the sky so I could go and buy one myself. But I did get an email earlier this week advertising an instant rebate on the 13-inch MacBook, putting the price well into a range where the money could fall out of my own wallet without too much stress. I took that as a sign that it was indeed time to replace the aforementioned aging iBook G4.

So before picking up my newly repaired pretty red VAIO laptop from the SonyStyle store, I made a stop at Micro Center to buy the MacBook. Yes, I know, the buzz says that an updated version of the MacBook Pro is imminent. I suppose I could have waited for that, but that would just circle back around to needing more money than I wanted to spend. The MacBook brings me up to speed and into the Intel zone, and I don’t feel I’m sacrificing too much for the lower price.

If you don’t visit here often, you may also be asking why one person needs two laptops. Technically, you should be asking why one person needs four laptops, since I haven’t actually gotten rid of the iBook or a totally aged Compaq laptop running Windows 98 yet. But I digress. A long time ago, I told myself that when I was able to comfortably afford to have both a PC and a Mac, I would. That happy day arrived, and I don’t ever intend to be without one of each again, unless things really go to hell in a handbasket.

Now that I have a Mac (and a PC, for that matter) that will be able to handle it, that brings me back to my whole inner debate about Adobe Creative Suite 5. If the business can justify upgrading CS2 to CS5 for my use, I’m guessing it will be a $600 upgrade. That will happen only if our major clients also do the upgrade.

If there is no business reason to upgrade, it will be on my dime. Then I’ll have to decide whether I want to upgrade at all (cost $0), upgrade my Windows version of CS4 (I upgraded from CS2 to CS4 a year ago, so guessing at a cost of about $600), or purchase a full new Mac version of CS5 (guessing at a cost of about $1,800). Yikes.

I’ll be watching the CS5 announcement on Monday, April 12, with great interest. But the actual product release date hasn’t been given yet, so there is some time to continue this inner debate. I’m personally guessing summer 2010 for release. Let’s see what happens!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 8 of 30)

Good updates!

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I got two good updates today!

First one is dog-related, of course. As you read last week, one of Freya’s scores for her UKC URO2 title was recorded incorrectly as a non-qualifying score. I heard from Beth at UKC this morning, and everything has been straightened out! She heard back from the judge, whose records agreed with mine and showed a qualifying score for Freya, and corrected the official results. Freya’s URO2 title is now official and the paper certificate will be sent out tomorrow.

Second one is that my pretty red laptop is ready for pickup a few days sooner than I expected. I was told it would take about a week, but I got the call that it was ready just a little while ago. So I will have it back at home tomorrow evening, minus the irritating noise from the defective cooling fan.

All good news!

(NaBloPoMo | April ’10: 7 of 30)