Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

We don’t wear no stinkin’ costumes…

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As I mentioned yesterday, the current Rottweilers are not clothes-wearing dogs. Actually, neither were most of the past Rottweilers. Oscar would let you put a hat on him. He would sit there, usually even long enough so you could focus a camera. And then he’d shake his head and send the hat flying before you could snap a picture. His timing was impeccable. It is truly ironic that my favorite photo of him, and the image I have tattooed on my shoulder, shows him wearing a bandana.

That kind of limits the possibility of cute dog outfits for Halloween. I thought about teaching them some cute trick, but you know I haven’t had much success with that either. Remember our “stop, drop, and roll” that I was supposed to have ready for this month, Fire Prevention Month? Well, we are still stuck at “stop, drop, and wiggle around on your back like a giant upside-down worm without actually rolling over.” That does not make for a very impressive video. “Stop” and “drop” are real solid, though. Guess we didn’t totally waste our time with obedience and rally training!

Dan got Axel to “jump to the left” and “step to the right” tonight, although the step looked more like a jump out of the way. So maybe we can teach him to do the “Time Warp” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not sure I want to go there with the “pelvic thrust that will drive you insaaaaaane” though!

(NaBloPoMo | October ’10: 17 of 31)

First test shots!

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Who let her bring that thing in here while I am trying to nap?

For some reason, I never wrote about it here, but back in the spring of 2009 I started asking around for advice and comments to help me pick a good digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR). I would be a first-time buyer for this type of camera. I’ve owned film and digital point-and-shoot cameras as well as entry-level film SLRs, but I would still consider myself very much an inexperienced photographer.

It took me a while, and my decision was based mostly on value and price rather than this year’s coolest technology. The camera I chose was Canon’s Rebel EOS XS.
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Is this a gender thing or an individual learning styles thing?

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I mentioned before that Freya and Axel have different learning styles. Since we’re still working through Susan Garrett’s “The Five Minute Formula to a Brilliant Recall,” I am doing the same set of games and lessons with both dogs, which makes the differences a little more obvious.

One of the key points throughout the recall course is building value: making it valuable for the dog to come to me by reinforcing his/her decision to do so with high-value rewards. After a few weeks of this, it seems that I am way more valuable to Axel than to Freya. Looking back on our lives together, this is not a new development. I think I’ve always been more valuable to Axel than to Freya. I wonder if this is a gender thing, or an individual learning styles thing?
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Two weeks till showtime!

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In just over two weeks, Axel will be headed out on a short road trip with his breeder. That’s right, it’s showtime again! This time, he’s going to a sieger (German-style conformation) show: American Rottweiler Verein’s 2010 Nationals.

Once upon a time, we could count on at least three or four sieger shows a year within easy driving distance. This hasn’t been the case in the last few years. Axel’s last sieger show appearance was when he was about 18 months old; he’ll be four this November. It was his very first show outing and he did very well, placing second in a fairly large 12-18 month old class.
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