Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

Changed my mind… writing on!

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I changed my mind about waiting until fall to try another month of NaBloPoMo daily posting. This was largely influenced by the fact that we just finished uploading and approving all pages for the summer issue of The Total Rottweiler Magazine.

Since this is a late-breaking decision, I don’t have a good topic, or for that matter, any topic in mind. I’d use NaBloPoMo’s writing prompt, but since the prompt is “What’s your favorite movie?” I think I will have to pass. If you knew me way back when, you know how long it took me to pick five movies for a desert island. I don’t think I can narrow it down to one before the day turns over.

So for now, enjoy a very, very brief preview of Axel’s upcoming frisbee video:

(NaBloPoMo | July ’10: 1 of 31)

Shameless self-promotion, or dog promotion anyway

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Looks like I was doing this exact same thing one year ago, too! Same beautiful dog, same wonderful handler, same situation with me scrambling to put together an ad for The Total Rottweiler Magazine right on deadline.

As most of you know, Axe finished his championship and earned his RN and CGC about six months ago, but I didn’t get his ad done until just now. So please indulge me once again, and behold the beauty that is Axe:

click image for full-sized PDF version

This ad will be running in Issue 2 / 2010 of The Total Rottweiler Magazine. Please check out the magazine if you love Rottweilers! I am on staff as a volunteer (unpaid) proofreader and copyeditor, so I definitely have a connection and an interest in the magazine’s continued success.

Turn on the lights, brush away the cobwebs…

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Sorry I haven’t been around as much as I should be. I seem to have lost my way this month, with a NaBloPoMo fail and a definite shortfall of Mingling and Blog Hopping. I’ll play catch-up as best as I can, but I think I’ll forego any more attempts at NaBloPoMo until fall!

As you may already know, Freya’s training and trialing has not been a source of joy and wonder lately. A vet visit didn’t turn up any physical causes for our training and performance issues, but I didn’t have any lab work done at that time. I’ve been debating with myself about having a thyroid panel done. Her last one came back normal not quite two years ago. But she will be seven years old in November, so is now edging up to senior status (noooooooooo, she’s still my puppy girl), so at this point, maybe it is money well spent rather than a long shot. Hypothyroidism is also one of the only non-fatal things I can think of that could cause mood swings, hyper-reactivity, and weight gain (in her case a more subtle inability to get back to her ideal weight… hmmm… a problem for me, as well). Anything else I can think of is either much scarier, or else points back to me sucking big time as a dog trainer (this is actually the most likely possibility).

Speaking of health tests, I still need to get Axel in for his OFA cardiac clearance. I have been holding off in hopes of a cardiac clinic being offered at a nearby show, as the cost savings would be very significant (try at least 50%), especially if the clinic is also doing Dopplers. Since there have been no known heart issues with his parents or siblings, and I don’t have any immediate breeding plans for him, I guess it won’t hurt to hold off just a bit longer.

I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I’m going to mention it again anyway since it’s one of the things that has been eating up my time this month. Please think about subscribing to The Total Rottweiler Magazine. I am currently a volunteer (unpaid) proofreader and copyeditor for TTRM so I do admit some bias as I tell you it’s well worth checking into if you have any interest in Rottweilers and dog sports.

So that’s the short version of what’s been going on. I have a backlog of Freya training videos to analyze and comment on, as well as a couple of hopefully more informative short rally obedience-related videos that I’m editing in iMovie as time permits. I hope to also have some Axel frisbee video soon. On the technology side, I have some MacBook and Sony Reader thoughts to post. Oh, and I did manage to fit in the upgrade to WordPress 3.0 as well.

I know it isn’t supposed to be a main focus for this blog, but I still have some TV breaks that I never posted. Lucky for you all, some are no longer timely so you won’t have to read them, but at some point I still plan to tell you why Glee is the devil. I’m sure I’ll have at least a few new TV breaks once Rescue Me and Mad Men start up again on June 29 and July 25, respectively.

Saturday Pet Blogger Blog Hop, Week 2

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The weekend is here, and so is another edition of the Saturday Pet Blogger Blog Hop, co-hosted by Life With Dogs, Two Little Cavaliers, and Nip and Bones.

Today, please say hello to the other resident Rottweiler, Axe.

Axe is 3½ years old. He can actually catch the frisbee as well as chase it, and since he was raised by a cat, he sometimes tries (and occasionally even succeeds in) catching it between his front paws. He earned his AKC championship and Rally Novice title in January. His most important job, however, is just being our dog.

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)