Freya

Late to the party again: doggie nail file

July 26, 2009 by kathi

As you know, I’m often late to the party, like I was with the FURminator. Coincidentally, it’s another dog grooming aid that’s been around for a while, but that I’ve never tried until now: Shirley Chong’s Doggie Nail File.

A while ago, Denise told me that the owner of one of Axel’s half-siblings used a similar device to keep his dog’s nails short. I mentioned Shirley Chong’s article, and then kind of forgot about it.

I am guilty of not keeping my dogs’ nails at a perfect length. Neither one is very good about at-home nail trimming (although Freya will roll over on her back to have her nails trimmed at the vet, go figure). I was near the hardware store today and figured this was worth a try. Easier than wrestling the dogs into submission and hog-tying them for nail trims (you don’t think I really hog-tie my dogs, do you? Although if you’ve ever had a dog that was bad about nail trims, you’re not objecting to the practice either, are you?) and cheaper than taking them to the vet or groomer.

I already had a board that was close to the suggested size: my board was a 1 x 8 (if anyone can tell me why 1 x 8s are not in fact 1″ x 8″ I would love to know, by the way), 30 inches long. I spent the huge sum of $7.59 for a 1.5-foot length of 4″ and a 1.5-foot length of 2″ 3M Safety Walk Tape. I did not cover the entire board so I would have a non-rough area to grab.

As I’ve mentioned before, Axel was raised by a cat, so it was insanely easy to show him that I wanted him to scratch the board. He seemed to know what to do with a “scratching post” when I showed him with my hand, and then took his paw to demonstrate what I wanted him to do. I did not need to use the clicker at all, and I barely needed to give him any food rewards. Freya, however, tried to raise that cat to be a dog, and she really didn’t want to scratch the board, even with food, praise and clicker. We’ll try again, though, as she wasn’t violently objecting or anything, just very uninterested.

I’ll get some pictures or video at a later date, for those of you who are late to the party like me.

If you haven’t visited Shirley Chong’s site before for this great tip or a number of excellent training articles, visit or bookmark it now!

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 26 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 183 of 274)

First Rally-O leg for Freya!

July 25, 2009 by kathi

Freya now has the first leg of her UKC Rally Obedience 1 title! She had a score of 91 (out of a possible 100 points) which was also good enough for third place in a very small Novice A group. I will freely admit that pretty much all of the points deducted were because of my screw-ups, not hers. I did tell you that I was the stupid half of our team, didn’t I?

Thanks to Sharon, Tracy, and Melanie, who all supplied moral support and good advice (unfortunately my paralyzed brain didn’t retain much of the advice) which really helped get me through my first trip back into any performance competition venue in almost 10 years!

More details tomorrow or Monday, and hopefully another photo, too.

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 25 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 182 of 274)

Last-minute preparations

July 24, 2009 by kathi

We’re spending the evening on some last-minute preparations for Freya’s rally obedience trial tomorrow. I have the van loaded with two crates, crate pads, reflective tarps and sun shields, sheets, towels and MapQuest printouts. And this time, I remembered to load my folding chair, although I’m sure I’ll be pacing instead of sitting.

We did not do any actual practice this evening, as it is not only raining, but thunderstorming. I think we know all of the exercises by now, though. Or at least Freya does. I have spent some time once again reviewing the rulebook and the signs, and more time praying that I don’t misread any of the signs once it’s showtime tomorrow.

Freya is preparing for the trial by sprawling out on the love seat and napping. And snoring loudly.

Who is the more evolved species here, I wonder?

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 24 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 181 of 274)

Finally official! Freya’s TT

July 19, 2009 by kathi

Yesterday we finally received Freya’s certificate from the ATTS temperament test we did back in May. She is now officially Sciroco’s Freya vom Viersen CGC TT!

The Letter of Certification emphasizes that a dog who passes this test is likely of sound temperament, but that the test is not a warranty of sound temperament. This seems sort of obvious, so I wonder if people have attempted to misrepresent the certification as being more than what it is. That would be sad, but not particularly surprising. Sort of like the people who try to claim that their therapy-certified dog (usually not a working therapy dog) are service dogs so they can get them into places that are normally off-limits to dogs, which is so wrong and makes it harder for those with a legitimate need to get their service animals admitted without question.

Finally, a word about the scoring. Responses for each subpart of the test are scored from 0-10, with the desired response being in the Average range of 4-6 where the dog shows either a positive response or a mildly negative response followed by quick recovery.

You can learn more about ATTS and the TT at the ATTS website:
http://www.atts.org/

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 19 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 176 of 274)

Free Flash and graphics that I do like

July 11, 2009 by kathi

I know I have ranted in the past about free Flash website introductions and the so-called webmasters who think these non-unique creations are making their websites better. That does not mean I am against all free stuff, though.

If you can customize it enough to make it your own without violating someone else’s intellectual property rights, I’m fine with it. If you are trying to get started learning by analyzing someone else’s work, I’m fine with it if they are.

FlashDen, along with the other Envato Marketplace sites, is now offering a free file of the month. July’s file is a nice photo gallery with quite a few customization options. I am a fan of FlashDen in general. As someone who is very weak in Flash but who needs to use it for projects now and then, I really appreciate having a good source of affordable and customizable Flash files like FlashDen. Not every file is a master work, but the buyer ratings and comments help in selecting something that is worth the price.

I also try to remember to log in to iStockPhoto weekly to grab the Free Image of the Week. It’s not always something I can use right away, or maybe ever, but I’ve definitely grabbed a few images that fit into themes that will come up in time. Again, I am a fan of the site for its reasonably priced royalty-free stock photography. I am not a great photographer, so when I can’t provide my own photo illustration for a project, it’s good to have an affordable source with quality images to choose from.

Some free stuff is definitely worth a lot more than the asking price!

Quick Rottweiler update: Freya is now in the stopped-up phase of her current IBS digestive upset episode. I always worry about a blockage at this point, even if she seems like she is feeling better. She is usually back to normal about 24 hours after the stopped-up phase so hopefully I can stop worrying tomorrow evening. Axel has some tummy troubles of his own today, but probably related to either grazing (most all of our dogs have been like black and tan cows and I wish I knew what kind of grass might taste bad to Rottweilers) or heat. Since we have had almost no actual warmth this summer, the heat seems to be affecting both dogs a little quicker than usual.

Quick jagoff update: Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised, but a few jagoffs still have firecrackers left over from last weekend. Guess where I would like to shove those firecrackers (hint: like Butt Rocket, only with higher-powered explosives).

(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 11 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 168 of 274)