The Jackalope House

I had considered beginning a brand new blog about the work I am doing on the house that I bought in Douglas, but I figured that eventually the work will be done and there would just be this sad little blog sitting out there with no updates once I got the house finished (kinda like this one - sorta sad with it's random and often piecemeal updates!).

Why the Jackalope House? Well, Douglas is the "Home of the Jackalope." It is where a very bored taxidermist took a jack rabbit and threw some antelope horns on and ta-da! A new legend was born. I find it hilarious that the town takes so much pride in the creature that their city logo has a Jackalope on it. So the Jackalope house it is!

But, I decided that I might as well just add it to the existing blog that I have - especially since the Little Nothin' Rotten Dogs* are moving to new digs as well!

So instead of dog updates, look for house updates! I hope to have lots of before and after shots to add to show my progress.

So what am I doing to this little 850 square feet house? First off it is a foreclosure so it is wrecked with lots and lots of garbage. That needs to go and it needs to be cleaned very badly! That is what myself and my sister are doing this weekend - that and tearing out all the really nasty carpet. Go us!

*this phrase was coined by my friend Sue, who insists that anything smaller than a Boxer is one of those.

Comments

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

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

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

Hurricane Deck

Search This Blog