Skip to main content
The AKC show was tons of fun - who knew that definate ring times could afford you the opportunity to socialize with non-dog show folk later in the day - OR - even earlier in the day?? All the vendors - fantastic! LOVE to see all the doggie stuff even though I kept my monies in my pockets.

Sniper won on day one, and his half brother Sin won on day two.

It really was hard, hard, hard to not cry every time I saw the rally ring (conveniently located in the open grooming building). I know I should give myself time to grieve over my Lola princess... and I think I am. Tomorrow will be a week and the pain is still very acute.

Our last picture together, celebrating our success:

CH RaganRat Lola Ann David at HDK

(You can click on the picture to go to her album)

We got two first places and one second place in the quest for our title - not bad, I think! Okay, and two NQs because she decided to not work for me.

The hardest is at night when I am counting out treats for the dogs and I have to remember only 6, because 7 is gone.

I think I am trying to turn some of my pain into motivation by getting back on the workout and low carb wagon. Keeping a diary is key, I think to helping me get through it all. I need to do something! When I first got Lola I looked like this:

CH RaganRat Lola Ann David at HDK

Lola gained weight because she got spayed - I have no such excuse.

Onward. That's the only sensible place to go.

IN other news - in a few weekends is the JRTCA trial that I am ring stewarding for. I am really excited to check out all the little terrierists and do a little playing with my Rat Dogs.

And just so you know I haven't sold my soul to AKC completely, I am skipping out on the Cheyenne Kennel Club show just to watch and play with other dogs!
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

High Toes

Sometimes I get into discussions with people about dog structure and really, really, it makes me want to beat my head against a wall. However, those always make me publish those words and pictures that have been rattling around in my head for a while. Case in point – someone posted on a board that they thought that a high toe on a dog was a “cosmetic fault.” My opinion on this is fairly solid – NO! A high toe is a STRUCTUAL fault. Someone then posted that they wanted “proof.” Ah, here we go. The boondoggle of proof! Studies! Someone, somewhere, somehow agreeing or disagreeing with my point! The unfortunate thing is that it really isn’t to be found. Our Proof wanter found a website in which a couple had a Staffordshire Terrier with a high toe, and they readily admitted that the high toe caused issues with her gait, but then concluded that it was just a cosmetic issue. Hmm, really? The document can be found here , you can look at the pictures and read it for yourself. (Don't use the
6 comments
Read more

All Positive - All BS

I, in my infinate inability to keep my mouth shut, offered someone training advice on a public forum for their resource guarding Rat Terrier. I told them that when he does the growling bit, calmly walk over, pick him up by the scruff of the neck, and put him in his kennel for a few hours. In my own experience with Ratties, this works pretty well because the dog learns that if you attempt to guard something, you will be corrected and then removed from your treasure and the rest of the pack. I didn't think that this was in any way controversial. Oh, how wrong I was! I found out that I might as well have told her to punt the dog like a football across the room, because that is what "scruffing" is to the "All Positive" fanatics. Of course, their suggestions would lead to reinforcement of the behavior or out and out terror. There were two camps - the first camp said to "redirect the dog's behavior by offering it a treat to give up it's treasure
Post a Comment
Read more

Brindle and the Rat Terrier

It seems like every once in a while the topic of brindle comes up in the Rat Terrier world. Teeth are gnashed and garments are rendered because brindle is not an acceptable pattern in our breed, and the standard says that brindle is a disqualification. The standard probably won’t change any time soon, and I certainly hope that it will NEVER include brindle! Why? The UKC standard says, in the very beginning, that “These terriers probably included crosses between the Smooth Fox Terrier, the Manchester Terrier and the now extinct white English Terrier… Some of these dogs were crossed with Whippets or Italian Greyhounds (for speed) and Beagles (for hunting ability).” Let’s take a look at the ancestors of the Rat Terrier and how their standards treat brindle: Smooth Fox Terrier UKC : Serious Fault AKC: Objectionable Manchester Terrier: UKC: Disqualification AKC: Disqualification Whippet: UKC: Any color/pattern accepted. AKC: Any color/pattern accepted. Italian Greyhounds: UKC: Disqualif
5 comments
Read more