Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

A moment of quiet

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It’s so quiet here without Freya. We’ll be leaving on vacation ourselves tomorrow, so this afternoon Freya started her own vacation at Best Friends American Pet Motel. We have been using this “resort” for our dogs for many years, and it’s one of only a few places I recommend without hesitation when someone needs to board their pets.

Freya will be doing a board and train with her pal Allan Ross as she does every November. It gives her something to look forward to every day (she gets a nature walk on the days that training is not done) and it keeps her focused to do some obedience almost every day.

I don’t do board and train unless I’m going to be out of town, because I much prefer to work with my own dog in a group class or private lessons. This is a pretty good situation, because Allan leads our regular group classes, and I’m comfortable with his training methods. Freya also adores him. She may even enjoy her vacation more than we do ours!

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 18 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 263 of 274)

TiVo withdrawal

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This morning our TiVo went belly-up. It wouldn’t move past the grey startup screen no matter how much profanity was directed in its direction, not to mention crying, cajoling, sweet talking and multiple reboots.

We have gotten more than our money’s worth out of the two TiVo units we have owned since almost the very beginning. We paid quite a bit for the first one as is the curse of the early adopter. Its Series 2 replacement was more reasonably priced. We were also able to transfer the lifetime subscription purchased at the original $199 point to the newer unit. That makes me a smart and lucky person, as the lifetime subscription increased in price a few times and then was discontinued entirely.

But enough about my one-time financial and technologic coup.

I’ve forgotten how to watch TV minus TiVo. It’s been nearly 10 years since we got the first one, and I’ve gotten so accustomed to pausing for phone calls or snack breaks, rewinding to listen to missed dialogue, and fast forwarding through commercials that I’m a bit lost. That’s not even mentioning the shows whose regular airtimes do not fit into our schedules that are recorded for later viewing.

I think we’ll be having this unit repaired, as we weren’t planning to get a new one until we switch over to a new HD TV. At that time we’d have to give up the lifetime subscription anyway, but until our current TV malfunctions, we don’t plan to replace it solely to switch to HD. I hope it is still repairable, and before I go into a TiVo withdrawal meltdown. I rarely use the word “withdrawal” for anything, so you know I mean it this time!

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 17 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 262 of 274)

And the shows go on…

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Here we go again! Axel will be back in the show ring starting this Thursday. I got his entry confirmations and judging schedules today. Single point for dogs all four days, two points for bitches on Thursday and Friday, three-point major for bitches on Saturday and Sunday, assuming pretty much everyone shows up.

Axel has six points and still needs both majors. Fingers crossed for a crossover opportunity and at least one major this weekend.

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 16 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 261 of 274)

First Rally-O title for Freya (and me)!

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Back in July, Freya got the first of three legs needed for her UKC Rally Obedience 1 title. Today we earned the remaining two legs at For Your Canine’s trials. The lovely Freya is now:

URO1 Sciroco’s Freya vom Viersen CGC, TT!

Here she is, resting up after the stress of trialing with her clueless handler, and flashing some demon eyes at that clueless handler sticking her Q ribbons in her face.
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We’ll have our official new title photograph to show off soon, and hopefully a few action shots as well.

It was not particularly pretty. Our score in Trial #1 was 87 (out of a possible 100 points) and 80 in Trial #2. Nowhere near good enough for placements, and most of the point deductions are on me, not Freya. But it was good enough to qualify (70 points is a passing score) and today, that is good enough for me.

I’ll go into more detail when I have a bit more energy. Hopefully that will be tomorrow!

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 15 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 260 of 274)

Saturday Freya

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One of the reasons I was so concerned about making sure our rally obedience trial entries were for Sunday, and not Saturday, is because I wanted to do Freya’s regular Saturday morning class. I don’t know yet if this was a good idea or a bad one. It did give us one last pre-trial opportunity to work in a training situation indoors with other dogs. Plus even though this is not a rally obedience-specific class, we do practice a lot of rally moves like the circle turns, finishes in both directions, and about turns of all three styles. This was not one of her best-working sessions, but it wasn’t terrible either.

Tomorrow’s trial is at a facility we’ve trained at in the past, located very close to home. It will probably be pretty small unless they get a ton of day-of-show entries. My van is already set up for a one-dog show trip (as in crate, extra folding crate, crate covers for different weather conditions, towels and blankets) and all I should need in the morning is dog, leashes, water and treats.

Best case: we get a new title with placements. Worst case: we fail, but I am right there to turn in a pre-entry for the trials on December 5-6!

(NaBloPoMo | November ’09: 14 of 30 | 75% Challenge: 259 of 274)