Happy Birthday Jackaroo

Today is Jackaroo's birthday. He is 8 years old today!

Later on we will stick a candle in a dog biscuit and sing happy birthday. It's his favorite song so he will sing along.

Wish him a happy birthday everyone.

I got tagged

dlyn tagged me this morning, so here I go.

Here are the rules.
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

Six quirky things about me:

1. Quirky, I'm not quirky the rest of the world is quirky. Oh OK, I'll make up some stuff.
2. I absolutely cannot do anything in the morning without first brushing my teeth. It sort of wakes me up.
3. I love to move my furniture and try different arrangements. Scott comes homes and says "whoa! you been busy again!" (Its exciting. Hmmmmm, maybe I need to get out more.)
4. All my towels and washcloths must be folded and facing the same way in the linen closet. If they're not I must fix them. (yes my husband is a saint.)
5. I collect Hall teapots but only the ones with gold leaf on them and they must be numbered on the bottom. Not quirky you say, well I don't drink tea and most of my prized pots have never been used.
6. I can think of a song for any occasion, even just everyday things that happen around me. Some people (People, people who need people) think this is annoying (It don't matter to me) but it makes life more interesting, like living in a musical. (Some guy once told Scott he hated musicals because it wasn't true to life. Scott said "it is at my house!")

So there, 6 quirky things, I suppose they are quirky. I am new to this blogging and have not met anyone else besides dlyn actually I'v always known her) so let me know you were here and I'll come by to visit.

Meet the Jackaroo

Koala Redhot Jumpin Jackaroo (aka Jack) is our 3rd dog and first Australian Cattle Dog. He was a rambunctious, go getter from the first day he came to live with us when he was 10 weeks old. Can you see the devil in that cute pup? Oh yeah!

Don't let this stately pose fool you he is an irreverent, strong willed maniac. He has tested my dog training skills more times than I can count, not to mention my patience. But he is also the dog of my heart. I would never say that where the others could hear so please don't tell them

When Jack first came to live with us he was a bit out of control to say the least. Australian Cattle Dogs are truly a breed apart. They are independent, smart, hard working and very busy. They most definitely need a job. They are also very willing to work with their owners, are extremely loyal and fiercely focused. All of those attributes are what I love about the breed and I am not sure I will ever want a different breed.

I wanted a pure bred dog so I could compete in AKC events and had great ambition to take the Obedience and Agility venues by storm. Jack is very intelligent and learned everything with amazing swiftness. He sailed through puppy class and Level 1 and 2 Obedience with ease, so I really thought we would have a wonderful career. However, at about 4 months old Jack started showing signs of aggression toward other dogs. I did all the wrong things hoping to stop it and to keep him safe, but of course I ended up making things worse. I got a bit of good advice and some really bad advice.
Through much learning, consulting dog trainers and behaviorists I have learned a fair amount about dog to dog aggression and have been successful in reconditioning Jack in most situations. We have had some nice successes in the agility ring but our obedience career came to an abrupt halt after our debut when Jack tried to eat a Bouvier des Flandres and a Golden Retriever while waiting in line. This behavior is frowned on by AKC judges and I have agree it was really not what I was working toward either. I was so disappointed, his heeling is just spectacular and his recall, well there are hardly any I have seen as nicely performed. But it's just not his placed to shine. Agility is his first love.

When we compete in agility Jack is amazing, he is so incredibly focused and fast! If he had a faster, younger, more athletic handler I'm sure he would be further along, but he has me and he loves me anyway. He is stressed while competing and sometimes he won't take obstacles ahead of us because he is worried I might be too far away from him. This has kept our qualifying rate much lower than I like but we are who we are. We continue to forge ahead and now are competing in AKC in Excellent Standard and Excellent Jumpers with Weaves and USDAA (United States Dog Agility Association) at the Master level. Pretty good stuff for a dog who really is very stressed competing in public and who has aggressive tendencies. I am pretty competitive, (ok very competitive) so I really have to remind myself what a miracle it is to be able to compete with him at all.

My experiences with Jack have also been useful to my career as I have been able to teach others my techniques and help them manage their difficult dogs. That's truly a blessing! I believe that's why God gave him to me and because not too many people would have kept him. All in all I wouldn't trade my Jackaroo for anything. There have been days when I thought I could happily strangle him, but of course I love him so I'm glad I was able to resist. And just look at that happy smile. What a great dog he has turned out to be. He will turn 8 on January 29th this year and though he has been difficult he has also been one of the best experiences of my life. I simply can't tell his whole story in this first introduction but we will revisit my boy in the near future.

The Pats are going to the Superbowl!!!!

Wow! what a game.
We are so excited, the Pats did it 18-0, unbelievable!!!!
We are planning our party, come over on Feb. 3rd and wear your Patriots garb!
Woooohooooo Go Pats!!!!

January Thaw

January thaw means a lot of things to people. When you have 4 dogs it means only one thing....get out the shedding rake!

I spent about 40 minutes last week de-hairing Tyler when temperatures soared into the 50's. He was not entirely pleased with the whole process but at least I have not had to vacuum the couch every 5 minutes.

I probably could have made Pomeranian out of what was left, that is if we wanted a Pomeranian, which we didn't . Tomorrow the weatherman says it will be 17 degrees. Tyler will probably wish he still had this hair.

Faith

It has been quite a week. With all the regular busy stuff that usually goes on in my life, might I add I love most of that busy stuff, this week has been a bit more stressful. But only because people I love are going through difficult times. My mother-in-law has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, an elderly friend of mine took a terrible fall and has cracked her pelvis in 3 places, broken her arm, had surgery and now is in a rehabilitation facility. A very close friend is living through watching her beloved mother pass away from this life. Another close friend deals daily with her mother's increasingly fading health. I long to wipe away all this suffering for those I love but all I can do is be there and pray for them and their loved ones.

At church today our Pastor gave a message that to me seemed so timely. He reminded us we must live by faith in God even when we do not understand what we are living through or why we have to do it. I live by faith, but I only have that strength because it is a gift from God, as is His grace. (Ephesians 2: 8-10) Faith is trust in God that even when I don't understand why we or others suffer He has a plan and holds us in His hands.

Our Pastor quoted George Mueller who once said "Difficulties are nothing more than food for faith to feed on." So I turn to God who loves us and I lift these I love to the Lord and ask for His comfort and grace for each of them. I trust He will care for them and through these difficulties their faith will be fed and they, and I in turn, will be strengthened.

Blessings and Concerns

At our church today we celebrated the blessings of a family who has adopted 4 children. They wanted to have a large family and do have one son of their own but were not able to have more children. They decided to work through an adoption agency and then strongly felt God was calling them to work through the Department of Social Services instead. I will make this long story short for you, in 8 years they have adopted 3 young boys and a little girl all siblings. This couple asked God for children and boldly asked that they meet specific criteria. God graciously granted them all. It has been a joy to watch the family grow from just 3 to 7 and to share the sometimes funny, sometimes happy and sometimes difficult journey of this unique family. They are an inspiration to me and a constant reminder of the great love and care our heavenly Father takes in our lives when we live trusting in Him. Truly what a blessing.

On the other side of things my young niece Lauren who is in the Army Reserves left on Friday for California and pre-deployment training to go to Iraq in March. Not having human children of my own makes all my nieces and nephews very special to me so I feel just a bit of concern for her. But I can remain calm as my sister Donalyn, Lauren's mom, is admirably able to place her little girl in the hands of our Father and trusts Him to care for her. Lauren actually belongs to Him anyway so I guess that's the smart thing to do. So I will as well, though I have not had Donalyn's practice.

Prayers for our soldier girl are much appreciated. My sister is praying Psalm 91 for Lauren daily, please join us if you like.

I send Lauren off with this strengthening Psalm as well.
Psalm 144:1-2
Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for
war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my
fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield,
in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

Meet Tyler

Tyler is our second oldest dog and our only laid back child. He was about 12 weeks old when we got him and he was the sweetest little puppy from the first moment we picked him at Northeast Animal Shelter. We had no idea what breed he was but a few years ago an AKC representative informed us he is a Norwegian Buhund. We didn't really care but its kind of cool to have a buhund since they are not well known. He has even been in dogworld magazine in an issue about rare-breeds. Pretty good for a shelter hound!

We introduced Tyler to Tasha at the shelter and she loved him on sight so we knew he would fit in the family. Much to our dismay, the day after we brought him home he got sick. His fever was off the charts and he was not able to keep any food down at all. We spent the next week giving him anti-vomit shots, IV's to keep him hydrated and I had to force feed him. After several vet visits and an ultra-sound it was determined he had some heavy duty viral infection, probably Parvo or Corona, and he would not live. We were heart broken, especially as we had lost our 2 old dogs just 2 months before. We went to bed each night expecting Tyler would be gone the next morning. I prayed over him daily as we watched him deteriorate. And then, unbelievably after 4 days he started to improve, his fever broke and he began eating. He was pretty leery of me since everytime he'd seen me the past week, I'd done something horrible to him. I had either given him a shot, stuck an IV needle in him or a themometer up his wahzoo. He didn't even like the look of me and hid behind Scott for a whole day! But he quickly gained strength and weight and has been fine with the exception of a bit of a sensitive tummy from time to time. He even forgave me after a few days.

Because Tyler is so calm and loving he is the favorite amoung many of our friends and families. My mother especially loves him and when she visits Tyler mainly sits in the kitchen near the cookie jar knowing she can't resist slipping him a cookie whenever she passes the room. He has always been good at working a room too. He learned to shake hands when he was a pup and found it endears him to many people and they always give him a treat. He is important to my work too since he is non-reactive and so is my diversion dog when working with clients who have dogs with behavior problems.

But, Tyler is Scott's dog and they've had a special bond from that first day they saw each other at the shelter. To Tyler, Scott is the sun and the moon and nothing else matters next to his dad, well cookies are a close second. Tyler was to just be Scott's pet dog, that is until Scott got bitten by the agility bug. The first year I competed with Tasha, Scott took care of us. He fetched us (sorry for the pun) water, breakfast and lunch and brought Tasha's treats to the ring after her runs. He made sure we had everthing we needed all day, and took care of me when I was nervous. He relentlessly cheered me on and encouraged me when I got discouraged. He was great too, my friends and I called him the cabana boy. But he slowly came around to wanting to try his hand at the sport too.

Scott started to take Tyler to agility class quickly fell in love with it. He was an awesome handler from the first but we really should have asked Tyler if HE wanted to compete in agility. He was stellar at class and progressed quickly. He was a good jumper and though he wasn't the fastest dog we had ever seen he certainly ran at a respectable pace. So, the next spring Scott eagerly entered Tyler in his first agility trial. Filled with expectation and excitment they went into the ring the first time. We all held our breath and waited for their first run. Well, we were shocked when Scott removed Tyler's leash and he bolted out of the ring. This continued pretty much that whole summer of competition. They had a few promising moments but Tyler was not able to finish a course. It was very vexing because he seemed to love the sport and being with his dad, but was so stressed at the competitions. Vexing also because Scott is a very good handler and we had expected them to earn titles at a good clip!

Finally in September that year Tyler finished his first full course and placed 6th. He didn't qualify but he finished the course and got a standing ovation. By this time Tyler and Scott had a following, (because if I may say so, my husband is a wonderful guy and Tyler is a real sweetie!) so many fellow competitors had been encouraging and cheering them on for all those months. Scott and Tyler have had many successes, they earned Tyler's Agility Dog Title in USDAA and Preferred Novice Agility and Preferred Novice Jumpers with Weaves Titles.

Now Scott mainly competes with Beta, his little blue cattle dog, but he and 10 year old Tyler still run several times a season. His antics in the ring keep us all entertained and he truly loves to make the rounds at the competitions to visit all his human and dog friends. tyler accompanies me on thursdays when I teach my agility classes and looks forward to seeing all his friends, they all have a treat and a pat for him. His favorite friend is his auntie Sheila who feeds him a pound of dog biscuits every week. WE are so glad our little buhund survived, he is well loved by us, our family and friends.

Back to real life

I know I promised on New Year's day to post Tyler's article the very next day and my fans (let's see I have 2, :-D) have been waiting with baited breath for it. Tyler has checked a few times himself. But, I had to go back to work and reality set in.

Though I only work 2 1/2 days a week, my job at our dog training school is busy! In that time span; Tuesday morning, Wed evening and all day Thursday I teach 8 classes. Now I am not complaining, I absolutely love teaching and my students are wonderful. So anyway I have not had time to write Tyler's article but it will be posted sometime this weekend.

I know one of my fans, (that's you Sheila) is waiting for this article because she adores Tyler and he adores her. She usually feeds him a pound of dog biscuits when she sees him so why wouldn't he love her?



In the meantime here is a picture of the handsome boy. check back to read his story.

Intro the dogs

Years ago one of my favorite uncles told me I had gone to the dogs and its really true. Besides God and my husband Scott, my dog children are the most important part of my life. We were not blessed with human children but God has entrusted us with rambunctious, loving, interesting, unpredictable, amazing dog children. And...we love it. In fact I have translated this love into my business being I am a dog trainer.
Today as we start 2008, I will introduce the dogs starting with our oldest and alpha dog Tasha.

Tasha is 12 years old and she is the reason I became a dog trainer in the first place. Here she is at 9 weeks when we first brought her home. Doesn't she look sweet? She is a Black Lab/Husky cross. Basically her 8 month old husky mom went into her first heat and no one knew but the black lab next door. He visited, left his calling card and went his way again, probably bragging to his lab buddies about his conquest.

When the family who owned Tasha's mom realized what had occurred, it was too late to do anything but accept the situation. This resulted in only 3 pups, Tasha being the only who was all black and well, you can see her eerie blue eyes. I swear to you I can feel those eyes looking at me.

Tasha was a hellion of the first order. We already had two very nice older dogs, Zeus and Cassidy who were 12 and 11 respectively, when this maniac came to live with us. I had always trained our dogs at home using the old collar jerk into a sit and mash your dog to the floor to teach a down, technique. This pretty much ensured your dog would do what you wanted simply to keep from being man-handled, but was the technique of the day. Tasha decided this was not the method she would respond to so I decided to get professional help and enrolled her in Dog Training School. Make no mistake, this training is for people not dogs, though the dogs benefit because their owners learn not to be so stupid anymore.

Tasha was a wonderful student, even though they slapped a pinch collar on her immediately. Thank goodness that school had started to move to lure and reward with food training and Tasha immediately got on board with that technique. Eventually we moved to clicker training and that just accelerated her training. I would have probably done obedience competition with her had I not been introduced to agility training. Once I saw agility it started the whole cascade effect that indeed sent me and my husband to the dogs!

Tasha was a talented agility dog though not terribly high-drive, still we enjoyed 8 years of competition and accomplished far more that I thought we ever would. When Tasha retired in July of 2006 she had achieved her USDAA (United Dog Agility Association) Advanced Agility Dog title and competed in the Master level until she was 9 years old when I moved her to Performance III Agility. At this level she no longer had to perform spread jumps and the old girl had more time to run a course. During her career Tasha qualified for the Dog Master Agility Team Championship 4 times! We even traveled to the National Competition in MD one year.

Because of Tasha my career as a dog trainer was born. I got hooked on agility and eventually was asked to become an instructor at the dog training school where I took classes. Four years ago two other trainers and I started our own training facility so now I show others how to train their dogs. I often marvel that I can do this for a living. I play with dogs all day and get paid for it. What a country!

Tomorrow I'll Introduce our second oldest dog Tyler. Until then have a great day and Happy New Year!