Rottweilers. Computers. Cameras. World Domination. Not necessarily in that order.
The long-awaited WordPress for BlackBerry is here! I’m using it for this post, which will be rather short to prevent thumb cramps. So far, so good. It installed with no issues on my Verizon BlackBerry Curve 8330 running OS 4.5.0.131. I already had XML-RPC activated for my recent test of MoPress, so adding my blog and logging in went smoothly as well.
(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 7 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 164 of 274)
I’ve tried to keep my June 26 post about Mary Wild and the heat-related deaths of the show dogs left overnight in her van after a show weekend updated with new links as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has posted additional articles.
Today’s update reported that Wild has been charged with eight counts of animal cruelty, and is free on $2,500 bond.
While I absolutely think that Wild was criminally negligent and that criminal charges are appropriate, I was a little surprised to find that this would still be considered a misdemeanor; specifically a Class A misdemeanor, which could involve up to one year of imprisonment and up to $1,000 in fines.
I say a “little” surprised because in the past few years, many states, including Missouri, have made changes to their animal cruelty statutes. But as in most states, the death of an animal, even in a case like this, would not be a felony unless it was a repeat offense or unless torture was involved. I’d put heat stroke up there as a horribly torturous way to die, but I don’t believe that is how it will be seen by the courts.
We’re about to get another wave of high temperatures here in the Chicago area this week. Put the safety of your human and animal family members as a major priority. If you see someone stupidly putting their children or pets in danger, get help or get involved. Stay safe and cool, everyone.
(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 6 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 163 of 274)
Since I’ve complained often enough about jagoffs in the neighborhood, it might be a surprise to hear that we consider our latest new neighbors a welcome addition. They are welcome indeed, since they are not jagoff humans. They are pretty birds, and in fact, our Illinois state bird.
A pair of cardinals has built a nest in the neighbor’s rose bush. It sits up against our fence, and the nest is only about five feet off the ground. Last year, a pair of cardinals abandoned a partially-built nest in that bush. We blamed Axel, because he was always up on his hind legs, paws up on the fence, peering into the bush.
Hopefully, he won’t scare away this pair. We’ve seen the female sitting in the nest, so we’re trying to keep Axel’s attention away from the bush and the birds. I haven’t tried to get any photos yet, and if I do, it will be with a long lens and no flash. I don’t want to be the one to scare them away this year! (Those are not “our” birds in the photo above; I’m sure most of you figured that out from the credit line though.)
Speaking of Axel, he caught the frisbee twice today. Good boy, Axe! Rottweilers are not good candidates for frisbee dogs, and it’s a bad idea to throw the frisbee the same way you would for a border collie. But a low, straight throw is Rottweiler-safe, and he still looked cool hopping up just a little bit to pluck the frisbee out of the air just slightly above his head level.
I mentioned Freya’s upcoming rally obedience trial yesterday, and the need to get a training routine in order. Today’s task was to familiarize myself with UKC rules, since we’ve been practicing using AKC rules and signs so far. I’ve identified two exercises which are used in UKC Rally Obedience 1 that we’ve not practiced yet, as they are not part of AKC Rally Novice. One is Halt and Stand, and the other is Halt-90° Pivot Right-Halt. So we practiced those two exercises indoors today. If you know of any other exercises that differ between AKC and UKC, please let me know!
I didn’t want to train outside today, although it was a nice day. As I also mentioned yesterday, I expected the neighborhood jagoffs to finish off their fireworks today, and they did. I suppose I could have used it as an exercise in working through distractions, but I really don’t think we’re going to have to deal with fireworks or gunfire in a trial situation. At least I hope we won’t, or else I’m finding a safer sport.
Weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow, and after tonight I expect the jagoffs to be out of fireworks, so I’ll set up a practice course in the yard.
(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 5 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 162 of 274)
The July 2009 NaBloPoMo theme is “routine”
The new target date for Freya’s first Rally Obedience trial is now set in stone. Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, but I did mail in our entry last week for a UKC trial on July 25. So I definitely need to take a little time tomorrow to set up a training routine for the next three weeks. I’ll be trying to fit in any available run-throughs, fun matches, and drop-in classes. With the freakish weather that we’ve had lately, I also want to have both an outdoor plan and an indoor plan each day for home practice sessions. There’s not much space to practice in the house, but there are still a number of exercises that don’t need much space to practice: call front and finish, 270° and 360° left and right turns, spirals, sits, and downs.
I was going to start today, but the Fourth of July caused a huge disruption in our routine. I complained the other day about jagoffs who insisted on starting the holiday fireworks days ahead of time. I am not un-American, and I usually do not get overly bent out of shape about noisy celebrations until midnight or later. But my normally quiet neighborhood sounds like a war zone tonight. People are blowing off fireworks that are loud enough to set off car alarms, which they have, a half dozen times since nightfall. I’ve heard quarter-stick and maybe even half-stick sized “booms” tonight. Nothing that loud is legal in Chicago.
It’s almost midnight and there are still fireworks going off. The air is still thick with smoke. I am asthmatic, although it barely bothers me these days: except on New Year’s Eve and the Fourth of July. I really don’t want to go out there and breathe that stuff, and I wouldn’t, except that the dogs have to go out before bedtime. I don’t really want them breathing that stuff either, but they definitely need a potty break. Neither of the dogs is actively fearful of fireworks, but Axel feels he needs to protect me from whoever is shooting at us. That gets a little stressful for both of us.
Needless to say, the early evening hours when we would normally train outside were not particularly conducive to learning or practicing today. I really hope the neighborhood jagoffs have used up all of their fireworks. Since it’s still the weekend, I’m concerned that their inconsiderate jagoff selves will choose to continue blowing off fireworks for one more day. None of them seems to have blown off a finger or set their own garages on fire, so karma hasn’t come around yet either.
I’m doing something I never do, and am hoping for rain and lots of it. I didn’t get my wish tonight, and it’s not looking good for tomorrow.
(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 4 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 161 of 274)
I know I’m very late to the party on this one, but I finally have a FURminator de-shedding tool. I wish I hadn’t waited so long, as it is really the perfect grooming aid for the lovely Freya and her Undercoat of Doom. The model I got is one of the new ones, the FURjector, which has a push button to eject the fur from the blade. It comes in only one size, 2.65″ wide, which corresponds with the original medium size, for medium and large dogs.
When we were researching dog breeds, one of the big huge lies that we were told was that Rottweilers do not shed very much. Did I mention this was a big huge lie? Apparently “very much” is measured differently on whatever planet that Rottweiler owner was from. I’m glad I don’t remember who it was that told me that big huge lie.
Rottweilers have many endearing qualities, so the shedding was not a deal-breaker. Our grooming tool of choice up until now has been a traditional shedding blade, which is a pretty effective tool that is quite inexpensive. This one has survived all six Rottweilers to date.
Some of our Rottweilers have had very little undercoat. Axel really doesn’t have much. Freya is another story. Her Undercoat of Doom is probably the source of most of the dog hair that buries itself into the carpet and upholstery. We used the shedding blade on both dogs the day before the FURminator arrived. The FURminator removed quite a bit of additional undercoat and dead hair from Axel. But we couldn’t believe how much more it got off Freya. And remember, this is after using the shedding blade!
An additional bonus is that it didn’t cost any real dollars. Though I was hugely disappointed that ThankYou Rewards no longer offers Amazon gift certificates as a redemption choice, they do offer rather a wide range of pet-related products, and the FURminator was one of them.
A definite “four paws up” for the FURminator. Next time maybe we’ll follow the trend a bit sooner.
(NaBloPoMo | July ’09: 3 of 31 | 75% Challenge: 160 of 274)
