Rocky Mountain Cluster or Bust!

It is almost time to hit the road for the Rocky Mountain Cluster in Denver this weekend. I am so excited to be going - with over 2,000 dogs in agility, rally, obedience and conformation there is certainly something there for everyone.

This is my first time going, I have to say that I am excited to go shopping! I've heard that there is so much there to buy that you have to make a few rounds first before you start spending your money - you might find something you wanted later but already spent your dough.

The dogs have been bathed, and let me tell you there is nothing like bathing 4 pounds of furious Toy Fox Terrier! But, with the new shampoo I bought he looks outstanding and no longer smells like a dog. Sniper was the first to get his bath - he knows a bath means show time! He LOVES to show, so he is having an absolute fit running around the house waiting for me to load him up.

Look for updates - the Miscellanous class is huge this year!

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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 ...

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...

Yard and other work at the Jackalope House

This post has been sitting for a while - mostly because I was more annoyed than I should have been that Blogger ate most of my post, and I didn't feel like re-doing it! Anyway, this post should have been posted on November 14th. I discovered on Wednesday evening when I came home from Bible study (the topic of which was gratitude, natch) to discover that my tub faucet running at full blast. Thankfully I am intimately familiar with the location of the water shut off valve to the house, so I shut off the water. My next thought went to my hot water heater - should I shut it off as well? A quick Yahoo search revealed that YES, I should shut off Bliss lest I burn him up. With that done, I went to bed, not feeling very grateful. The next morning, I cracked open my Home Depot book about faucets and ta-da! I figured out what it probably was, so I took apart the faucet to confirm what the book said. And I, dear readers, fixed that sucker. After a work meeting. In a dress and heels no ...

Hurricane Deck

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