Rottweilers Ate My Laptop

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

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

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!

Giving him a break (5 of 31/40 of 274)

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Axel now has 5 points towards his AKC championship, and will hopefully pick up a few more this coming weekend in Columbia, MO. After he’s done showing on Sunday, he’ll be heading home with me for a few months.

We’re not giving up on him! Although he didn’t do much at the Deep South shows, he still came back to win points at some smaller shows back here in the Midwest. His breeder, handler and family are all in agreement that he could use a few months to grow up and out, and then go back out again and hopefully capture his needed majors with ease.

I am so looking forward to seeing him! It will be quite a long drive (about 6.5 hours each way) so I’m very glad to have the new minivan for a more comfortable ride and no worries about mechanical breakdowns in the middle of the vast midwestern wasteland.

I don’t believe I’ve shared the photo from his very first point, so here it is:

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Precious Gems Axel vom Viersen getting his first point from judge Mrs. Marcia C. Feld, handled by Julia Foster

Clicking the photo will take you to all of the full-sized photos from his first successful show weekend. Stay tuned! Axel’s show career will continue in the fall, after he’s enjoyed spring and summer fun with family and friends, including an ATTS Temperament Test along with Freya in May.

Giving (1 of 31/36 of 274)

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I think I’ve been doing more taking than giving for the last few days, and it will continue for at least another day.

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to redeem points from the various credit card company rewards programs that I participate in. You never know when they might arbitrarily end the programs, or almost as bad, discontinue the good rewards. Instead of being in a gift-y mood and passing out several Amazon gift certificates, I gave only one Amazon certificate to my husband, and spent all other available points on a Flip Mino mini digital camcorder for myself. Mine, all mine.

I would normally choose an expensive, whiz-bang “real” camcorder. But there is something to be said for something small, fun and simple that fits in a pocket and will definitely get used, even if only for dog and cat movies. Oh, and that didn’t cost any “real” dollars. It arrived just in time for my upcoming road trip, in which I finally get to see my Axel in the show ring. I just hope I can find a spot where I can film him without him spotting me and ruining what I am told is some great ring presence in my absence.

Also, my wonderful husband bought me a new laptop to replace the almost-six-year-old one I sort of complained about back in January. It is a pretty dark red Sony VAIO VGN-CS290JER. To make it even better to my shallow self, it not only color matches to my digital camera, BlackBerry case, and Bluetooth headset (and probably other electronic stuff I am forgetting), it came with a color matched wireless mouse. Life is good. Mostly good, anyway. I’d forgotten what a task it can be to get a new computer set up just perfect. It’s going pretty well so far as this computer wasn’t loaded with as much junk and trial software as the last two that came my way.

And tomorrow I pick up the much-needed replacement to my 11-year-old minivan. Because I had a pretty small budget and apparently not much imagination, it’s another Dodge Caravan. Grand Caravan this time, as they no longer make the short wheelbase Caravan, and blue, because when you buy out of dealer stock on the second-to-last day of the special offers period, there is no chance of getting a dark red anything. At least that has been my experience.

So if giving to myself counts, I’ve got our March NaBloPoMo theme well covered. Stay tuned for some less self-indulgent posts as the month goes on, I hope.

Oh! Can’t sign off without an Axel update. There wasn’t much Axel love at the Deep South shows, although he did bring back a few reserves and placements. He got back in the groove this weekend though with two more wins and two more points. Total points now: 5 of 15, no majors yet. He is basically 1/3 of the way there! I hope I am making the right decision to give him a break after next weekend. More about that during the week to come.

I’m so lame (33 of 274)

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Because I am so lame, I have been visiting the AKC site every day once a week had passed since Axel’s show debut weekend, waiting to see evidence of his official points progression. Never mind that the website clearly states that it could be several weeks before points are officially recorded.

I was quite busy at work on Monday and Tuesday, brought work home on Monday evening, and had no internet at home on Tuesday evening. So today during lunch I finally had a moment to check again. Look!

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For those who remember that I said he has three points, apparently his point for the February 1 show did not make this report.

Of course we made some time to watch the Westminster Kennel Club show on Monday and Tuesday nights. The internet has made this event better for me, since Westminster KC now provides streaming video from each day’s breed judging. Rottweiler #10 in the breed judging video is Freya’s half brother Odin, by the way.

I always enjoy watching the TV broadcast of the group judging, particularly the Working and Herding groups. I was pleased to see 10-year-old “Stump” get Best in Show and his moment in the spotlight, but I honestly don’t know enough about the Sussex Spaniel standard to make any intelligent comments on the win.

I was looking at the #westminster Twitters after the fact, and it was fun to see what the general public tweets about dog shows. It was pretty obvious to me which tweets were from dog fanciers and which tweets were from people who think that dog fanciers are “psycho dog people.”

One tweet that left me perplexed was one where someone wondered why none of the female handlers wore high heels. Umm. I hope the tweeter was watching the Toy group judging at the time they tweeted. In the other groups, it would have been evident that you have to run down and back, and around the ring, with your dog. Personally, any scenario I can come up with that involves a show ring, my dog, running and high heels does not have a happy or pretty ending.

I was watching rather than tweeting myself, except for a tweet in which I wondered who the new co-announcer was. I really did not care for her at all.

I haven’t been to a dog show myself in quite a while. I’d like to visit Axel this weekend, but so far it’s not looking good for that. Maybe I’ll go to the International Kennel Club show for the first time in several years the weekend following, though.