Boogie & Goliath

(Phoenix, AZ) After a nice fun play time down at the polo field here at Westworld where we've been since late Tuesday afternoon, we headed up north in the car to New River, AZ. Since we do so much hiking in desert areas where rattlesnakes live, we thought it would be a good idea to go through a snake proofing lesson. None of our dogs are afraid of snakes - Slugger even likes to play with them which is definitely not a good thing in many areas.

The idea of snake proofing is to get the dogs to understand that they shouldn’t go anywhere near a rattlesnake. From what we were told, all rattlesnakes smell the same. So the idea is to let the dog smell the rattlesnake and then get an unpleasant experience so that they’ll avoid rattlesnakes at all costs.

I am not in favor of shock collars at all. I know people use them to train various behaviors such as no barking, come, etc. I could never do that. In fact, I've been dreading this day for quite some time. But I know that in this instance it is being used for something that could save the life of each one of my dogs....and possibly Mike or me.

The first thing the trainer does is put a shock collar on the dog and attaches a light weight rope to the dog’s regular collar. He doesn't use full strength shock as he doesn't believe that is necessary - I was glad to hear that. After getting the collar and rope on we then walk the dog up to an empty wire and wood box. The reason for this is to show the dog that the box is not dangerous in any way.

From there we walk straight up to a box that has two rattlesnakes in it. The box is closed and locked (he just opened it so I could take a picture when the dogs weren't around). There is a double wire cage around the outside so the snakes can't possibly strike. I will say they all rattled to beat the band - they were none too happy we were there. They kept sticking their tongues out at me too! I'm so glad they are in a box!



The first dog we did was Wazzu since she is the leader of the pack (second to us humans of course). We are to just walk normally, straight to the box without calling or pulling on the dog.



Wazzu followed me to the box and even from a distance she immediately noticed there was something interesting in the box.



But as you can see she had no fear of it at all....she walked right up to the cage and stuck her nose right up against the cage. You can see why this training is so necessary.



I had told the guy that Wazzu is very sensitive so he had turned down the shock collar below where he normally sets it. Since Wazzu was showing interest in the snake he shocked her....no reaction. He did that three times and got absolutely no reaction. So he turned it up one notch. As you can see, Wazzu wants nothing more to do with the snakes.



At that time you turn and run away from the snake. About 20' feet away you then stop and coddle the dog....like, oh poor Wazzu, are you okay sweetie. Then you walk back toward the first cage. Wazzu wanted absolutely nothing to do with the cage and she wouldn't let me get close either.

From there we move on to the second box which also has two snakes. But these are much bigger - in fact one of them is named Goliath.



From there we walk straight toward the second box. This time we watch our dog's every movement. The reason is so that we can learn what type of behavior the dog does when it smells the snake. That way when we're out hiking we'll know what their signal is that a snake is nearby.

As you can see Wazzu was very leery and gave the snakes a very wide berth.



We approached it from a few different directions but there was no way she was getting near it. Good girl. Then we take the leash off and we walk up to the cage while watching to see what the dog does. Even though Wazzu always wants to be close to me she didn't take a step toward that cage. She circled very far around the cage. Perfect!

Next it was Slugger's turn. We were really curious as to how he would react as we had a little game when we had a house in Washington. There were lots of garter snakes in our yard. When it was sunny he would go snake hunting. At first he would jump away but as time went on he got more brave and went from being frightened to punching at them and finally to biting them. It seemed like a fine game at the time...but now I'm very sorry we let him do that. But who knew.

Mike walked him up to the first box. He was excited and eager to see what fun adventure awaited him.



He was extremely interested in what was in the cage.



Unfortunately I was too busy watching Slugger and forgot to take pictures at this point. When Slugger got shocked he jumped up in the air and did about three back flips before coming back down to the ground. I had warned the guy that Slugger is afraid of most anything - and he certainly was afraid of the shock. But for some reason he didn't connect that to the snake at all. As soon as he got done being the star acrobat he went right back to sniff the snake. On no - this is not the reaction we'd hoped for. Once again Slugger became a star acrobat. This time he then ran away. Good boy!

Now it was time to walk toward the second box. Just like Wazzu, the dogs are not supposed to want to go anywhere near the second box as they should be able to pick up the scent of the snake quite some distance away. But as you can see, Slugger is walking right with Mike toward the box.



Not only did he walk toward the box, he was still very interested in the snakes and walked right up to the box. He absolutely is not supposed to being doing this at this point!



Poor Slugger got shocked again - no acrobatics this time but he definitely reacted.



I think it finally sunk in - rattlesnakes are not good. Now when Mike tried to walk him near the box he took the widest berth possible.



The final test was to take him off leash and see what he would do when we all walked up to the box. Nothing doing! He walked to the other side of the yard and just stared at us. I think from the look on his face he was no longer interested in getting near those snakes.



In fact, the minute we all stepped away from the cages and went towards Slugger he ran to the car and wanted in. Poor guy. But I sure hope he understands now.

Next it was Sparkie's turn. Just before Sparkie was to start, Mike mentioned that she is part Whippet. The trainer was glad we mentioned that as he said he turns it way down for whippets and greyhounds. Sparkie eagerly walked toward the first box with Mike and went right up to it to investigate.



Suddenly she jumped in the air and screamed.



As she did that Mike started running away as he's supposed to do. Unlike the other dogs, she screamed the entire time. Good thing the trainer had turned the control down! Sparkie always has been our little drama queen. Poor Sparkie. But after a couple minutes she calmed back down.

From there it was time to walk to the second box. As you can see she didn't want to approach the second box. Good girl.



Like Wazzu, she caught on very quickly. That's really important as Sparkie is the one that goes out ahead of us and clears the area while doing her hunting. So it's most likely that she would come across the snake first.

When we took her off leash, she stayed very far away from the box looking very scared. I don't think she liked Mike being so close to the scary snakes. We're pretty sure she understands that rattlers are bad. Perfect.

Finally it was little Boogie's turn. He's never seen any kind of snake before so this should be interesting. He was gung ho right from the beginning. In fact, he was pulling me to the first cage.



Even as we got closer he was still pulling me so we could get to the prize sooner!



He was extremely curious about the snake.



Perfect time for his lesson.



But unlike the other dogs this just made him mad. He was going to show those snakes who's boss! He didn't just go investigate again - he charged them!



We knew border terriers were dogs that thought they were tough but the trainer said none have reacted like this - not even Boogie's half-brother Klev'r was this crazy. So we had to do it again. After the second time he was more cautious but still was getting way too close - there is no way he should be this close!



After leaning in a bit he was just getting more confident and going closer. What is he thinking??



Oh here we go again. This time Boogie decided to take off. Finally!



It was decided we should go to the second box now. It didn't phase Boogie a bit - he wanted to go right up to the snakes. Where is his brain!



So the trainer worked with him a little more. Finally he decided to carry Boogie right up to the box. The idea was that when carried close he should really start squirming (which he didn't do).



Then when set down he should run away from the box. Boogie did actually shy a little bit away from the box.



But instead of leaving like all the other dogs, Boogie circled the cage fairly close. He is one stubborn dog who thinks he is "the big man on campus."



We'll just have to wait and see how he does when we go back in a month for the re-test.

Now that we were done with the snakes, the thing we wanted to test now was to make sure Boogie wouldn't be afraid of the cages since the rats that are used for earthdog are kept in cages very similar to the ones we just used for the snakes.

Boogie had no trouble distinquising rats from snakes. He barked, dug, and bit at the cage. Phew. That was really good.



This training really wore the dogs out. They slept all the way home and for a few hours after that as we packed up the RV and moved to the trial site. I'm guessing they'll enjoy agility a little more than the snake proofing....as will I.

All evening I kept hugging the dogs and telling them how sorry I was - I really felt so bad. But Mike kept assuring me that we were possibly saving their lives. I know that - but it still hurt my heart to know we put our dogs through some pain.

Hugs all around.

Debbie
12/14/07

Down Time

(Phoenix, AZ) I just can't say how grateful we are to Billie for letting us stay at her house while our RV is out of commission. It's not easy to find a place to stay with four dogs! We did our very best to inconvenience her and her dogs as little as possible.

We had to keep the dogs separate as she has one that thinks he can and should take on everybody around. He's Boogie's half brother. And he sure made Boogie a believer - Boogie stayed clear for sure! But it was very easy to keep everyone separated since there was a gate at the end of the hall and we had our own private door out of the house that led to a different part of the yard than the other dogs went to. While Mike and Billie had many things to do I stayed home with all the dogs and made sure each set of dogs had plenty of time outside to play. It really was a lot of fun as I just love Billie's dogs.

The good news was that the RV got fixed on Monday. Some other problems were detected but a different place needed to work on those issues. So about 5:30 Tuesday morning, Mike took the RV to another shop to get that work done. It took most of the day but I think we may be good to go now.

While Mike was getting the RV repaired, Boogie and I got to attend a Rally practice that was held at Billie's house. I was given some really good pointers. I've definitely got more to learn than Boogie! We then did a short little agility practice. Sure wish we got to do more of that.

It was nice to have a couple "down" days so Mike could do a bunch of errands and chores. We also got in another early morning Rally practice at one of the local parks. It was so fun as everyone said how much progress Boogie and I were making!!

The aggravating part of the last week or two is that our internet service has been pretty much non-existent. And of course with no RV we had no internet over the weekend at all. Even when we did get a spot or two of internet it wasn't strong enough that I could get onto the blog to post. I sure am dependant on the internet. How did the world ever get along without it? Much better in some respects I'm afraid. But I sure need it to keep in touch with all of you!!

Debbie
12/10-13/07

Slugger is Versatile!

(Tucson, AZ) The dogs were perfect angels in the hotel last night. Even though they spent the entire day in a vehicle in a stressful situation they were so well behaved in the hotel. If you didn't see a dog walk in the room you'd never know there was a dog there - let alone four of them. Even little Boogie was perfect - I wish he was that quiet at home!

We left in the dark this morning and got to the fairgrounds in time to get all set up. This is a great place for an agility trial. The arena is totally covered which was certainly a plus today as it was cold and rainy all day today.



But even nicer was the fact that on both long sides of the arena there were enclosed stall. I'm not sure what kind of stalls they were supposed to be but it worked perfectly for dogs. I'd say each stall was 12' x 12'. It was so nice not to have to set up tents, etc. And they really protected us from all the rain and wind....now if they just had heaters!



In addtition to all this, the fairgrounds are huge. There are a gazillion (okay, maybe only a zillion) very large fields the dogs can run free and play. We didn't do any of that on Saturday though as the weather was miserable.

This club did a lot of very interesting things. The thing that I found to be the most unique was that they offered all seven classes each day. When you entered you got to choose any six runs each day! I love this idea. It was really perfect. Everyone got to do exactly what they wanted - and it didn't seem to take much more time at all. In fact, they had course changes done as fast as anywhere I've ever been so I don't think the day went any longer at all.

They also set up a huge table and decorated it so nicely for Christmas. In addition to the decorations there were massive amounts of homemade breads, cookies, candies, pies, etc. It was very festive....and extremely tasty. Over the top nice for sure!

Interestingly enough, the chief ring steward (who did both rings!) was not a member of the club putting on the trial. But like always, she did a fabulous job. While this club is very generous in paying their workers, Workers got raffle tickets where the winners got high value gift cards. In addition, all workers got a coupon for lunch from the lunch wagon. The lunch wagon had some Mexican name and the large menu painted on the truck was all Mexican food. Hand written on a piece of paper they offered some American fare. The first day I tried the Mexican food since that was their specialty. Not so tasty. Sunday I had the American food and it was great. The best thing both days were the extra large hot chocolates. It was so cold outside that I think I saw almost every person there with a hot chocolate.

But that's not all. Every class you work you are given "Worker Bucks." These bucks are for money off future trials. Mike and I did work a lot (as we always try to do) and we earned over $40 off our next entry! Now there is a club that values workers...I guess that's because they don't have many of their own. They only perk they didn't give was coupons for not taking ribbons. But we felt very well compensated.

For the first time since his surgery we entered Slugger in three runs a day. I don't know if it was the cool wet weather or what it was but Slugger was really revved up each time it was his turn. His first run (Weavers) he was running fast - but too fast for him to figure out how to collect for the weaves. But we were pleased that he was running so fast. He's so cute when he runs fast!

His next run was Touch N Go. He was really working hard - he was running fast, looking for the next obstacle, and watching for Mike's instructions. With only two obstacles to go I thought this was going to be the run of his life. All he had to do was exit the tunnel, make a right turn to the dogwalk, then zoom out the last tunnel. No problem....or so we thought. As he exited the tunnel and started to turn to the dogwalk he noticed a photographer sitting on the ground. Oh cool - Todd is here....so Slugger thought. The look of surprise and excitment about Todd being here is very evident by the look on Slugger's face as he exited the tunnel.



So he ran over and gave the photographer a big kiss and then noticed it wasn't Todd afterall. He then got back on track and finished the course. Not only did he Q, he got 1st place. He continued his great performance in his Regular run getting a 10 point 1st place Q. An excellent day for Slugger.

Sparkie was running as fast as we've seen her run. Her confidence is really strong right now and ever since her chiropractic appointment in Las Cruces she's been running much more freely. While she was running nicely, she had one tiny boo boo in half of her runs. The runs she did Q were beautiful and she placed 1st or 2nd. We're just so pleased how smoothly she is running again.

Wazzu totally loves this type of weather and boy did it show today. She wasn't just running faster than normal, she was running as fast or faster than ALL other dogs in the entire class. Both judges commented to me on how Wazzu was running so fast...and with a big smile. Often times I have to look back or to my side to see Wazzu, but today I was always seeing her tail way ahead of me. So fun. And when she runs like that we have great distance. Wazzu went 5/6 today getting 1st place in every one. We missed our Touch N Go Q today but I didn't care. She was tearing up the course! The second to last obstacle was a dogwalk and she was just too excited and missed the contact. I'll always take an NQ due to excessive speed.

The trial ended about 3:30 - too early to go back to the hotel. Boogie hadn't gotten to do all that much today so we took him to one of the very wet fields at the fairgrounds and did our back and forth game. I go to one end of the field and Mike goes to the other end. Then we call Boogie back and forth. He loves this game and runs just as fast as his little legs can take him. We let Sparkie play too as she still seemed to have some excess energy.

After driving around Tucson to waste some time we got to the hotel around 5pm - earlier than we had hoped. But we were cold, wet and tired. I walked next door and got us take-out dinner from Denny's. I don't think I've been to a Denny's in over 25 years. I can see why people go there - it was inexpensive, good, and you got a lot of food!

The dogs were absolute angels in the hotel. They came in, went to their beds we brought and went sound asleep for the remainder of the evening and all night. We checked out and left very uneventfully. Phew!

We thought the dogs may be a little tired on Sunday but were we ever wrong. The weather was still cold but at least there was no rain. That made it much nicer as we could take the dogs to the fields to let them run during the day when we had breaks.

Wazzu was in a fine mood once again today and ran out ahead of me all day. Once again she went 5/6 with four 1st's and a 2nd. The only run we missed was our Chances run. Shucks! She was trying so hard but she just didn't understand what I was asking her to do in the begining. It's something we've never practiced so I can't blame her at all. So after it was obvious she didn't understand the beginning I took one extra step to help her then got back behind the line. She totally got it then and did the whole rest of the run better than anyone. I had more distance with her than anyone else had. I was past the finish line while she still had four obstacles yet to do - it was so amazing.

Sparkie was running extremely well today. She was showing all her speed and accuracy today going 5/6 with all 1st's. She missed one Regular Q due to a small error between dog and handlers. But it was very minor and the remainder of that run and all the other runs were total beauty. Gosh, they made it look so easy!!

As good as the girls were, it was Slugger's day to shine. He ran a great Regular run and got a 1st place 10 point Q doing his distance test very nicely! He was really trying very hard in his Touch N Go run but there was a discrimation test and he decided that he'd take his favorite obstacle (A-frame) over the correct obstacle which was a tunnel. But we didn't care as he was trying really hard and running really fast.

His last run of the weekend was Weavers. He'd been so happy all weekend and this run seemed no exception....but it had three sets of weaves! He zoomed through the tunnels - so fast you can even see him banking through them a little bit.



Then he'd get to the weaves. He concentrated so hard in each set of weaves that Mike said you could see smoke coming out his ears. When he finished the course cleanly, Mike and I both jumped up and down and hollered. This day had been a long time in coming. After seven years Slugger had finally earned his Novice Versatility Award. It just goes to show that patience and perseverance do pay off! We're so proud of our little special needs boy.

Our friend Billie was so kind to offer to let us come stay in her house while our RV was being fixed. Billie is so nice!! So when the trial ended we drove back up to Phoenix and got all settled in.

What a great weekend despite being without our house!

Debbie
12/8-9/07

Bumpety Bump

(Cottonwood/Tucson, AZ) Today we were excited to head down to Tucson for an agility trial. It seems like it’s been a long time since we got to do agility – it’s been two whole weeks!

We didn’t take the guys out for a hike this morning as we figured we’d have plenty of time to do something fun once we got to Tucson. Plus the weather was taking a turn for the worse and we wanted to get going before it got too bad. The wind was already really strong and it was just starting to rain.

We hadn’t been on the road more than 45 minutes when, in addition to the pouring rain, it got so foggy that we couldn’t see more than 30 yards ahead of us. We slowed down and turned our hazard lights on as we wanted to make sure people could see us as they approached. After a while the fog let up a little bit but the rain started coming down in buckets. We could see better however so Mike sped up.

Just about that time, the road got super bumpy. I looked over at Wazzu and with each bump she was flying completely off the couch – with her eyes as big as jawbreakers. Just as she’d land she’d fly up in the air again. I was flying off my couch just as high as she was and at the same time was trying to hold onto my computer as it was flying up in the air. I looked over at Sparkie, who was on the couch with me, and at Boogie who was in a crate right next to me. While they were bouncing just as high, they were both sound asleep. I didn’t want Wazzu to worry (yea, right!) so I started laughing….actually it did look really funny.

We’d been on this road numerous times before and didn’t remember it being bouncy at all. So we pulled over to check the tires to make sure we hadn’t gotten a flat. Nope, the tires all looked just fine so off we went again. But the bumping seemed to be getting worse and we were smelling something kind of like burning rubber. About that time a warning light came on the dashboard that said “DO NOT TRAVEL.” So at the next exit (which was out in the middle of nothing – we’re not even sure why there was an exit!) we pulled off.

Mike got out to see if he could find out what was wrong….and it was easy to see. The whole front end of the RV was down near the ground. Kind of like a drag car – not everyone has a drag racing RV! The rig was rubbing against the tires – no wonder we smelled burning rubber. This was not good.

I told Mike not to worry, we’d just call the Emergency Roadside RV Service we had purchased. When I got a hold of them I found out our policy had expired four days ago! Arg! We sure didn’t remember getting a renewal notice but they normally send those out so far in advance it's possible we just didn't pay much attention to it. We won’t make that mistake again, it’s on our calendar now – we won’t be relying on them to notify us.

The most fortunate thing is that we were in an area where we could get cell phone coverage. We called around to find a place that could work on this sort of problem. Then we had to find a towing company that could haul a 40’ RV. Not an easy task.

We finally found a repair center and a towing company. But we were quite a ways north of Phoenix and both the towing company and repair company were in south Phoenix. It took the tow truck two and a half hours to reach us.



Then in the pouring down rain, it took just over an hour to get the RV on the flatbed and secured tightly.



This is a sight I never wanted to see....and don't ever want to see again.



Silly me, I stood outside the whole time just so I could get pictures. I’m not sure this was my brightest move ever. I was soaked to the bone – and had no fresh clothes as they were all in the RV.

While waiting for the tow truck to arrive we put a few things in the car that we knew we would need for the weekend. But by the time we gathered up everything we would need for the dogs, the car was pretty much full. There really wasn’t room for much of anything for us humans.

After the RV was all hooked up and ready to go, Mike and the tow operator measured the height of the RV. It was tall! So on the way to south Phoenix we had to get off the exit before every overpass and then get back on the freeway. When the driver found a tall overpass he chanced it. That was scary as it just barely cleared! From then on he didn’t chance it again.

At 7pm we finally arrived at the repair shop. What a long day – and it’s not over yet. We still had to get to Tucson for the trial. But before we could take off we had to get the RV all checked in and pay the tow truck driver – I think it would almost have been cheaper to buy a new RV! They won’t be able to even look at it until Monday, of course.

Next order of business was to call around and find a hotel that we could stay in for the weekend. I ended up finding one that had space and allowed dogs – well, they allowed one dog. So guess how many dogs we have. (Big grin).

There were Friday evening agility runs but since we didn’t arrive in Tucson until after 10pm, we missed all events. We just went straight to the hotel and carefully, one at a time, took our “one” dog into our room.

We are totally tuckered. And I’m still wet to the bone all these hours later. But most of all, we are grateful that we are all safe.

Debbie
12/6/07

16 vs 160

(Sedona, AZ) With nice weather again today we decided to try a different trail. But when we got there it was so crowded there was absolutely not place to park - either legal or illegal. Needless to say, we had to go someplace else so we ended up back at our normal trail - Faye Canyon.

Since you've seen pictures from that hike, I didn't include any here other than one of a dry river bed we hiked up this time that we hadn't done before. If you just glance at this picture you don't even realize Boogie is there as he blends right in.



The trail was a little more crowded today...ie - there were actually people! We met some very nice people along the trail and gave each of them some guidance since we now know our way around here very well. But still most of the time we were on our own on the trail.

At first we just had the girls off leash but decided to let Boogie off as he had a lot of energy and certainly wouldn't bother anyone.

On our way back a guy came toward us with two small white dogs - they looked a little bit like Westie's but were larger. They were both off leash and as they passed us our three big dogs just ignored them. Boogie on the other hand thought they might be good playmates so he started to follow them. I went down the trail to get Boogie back. But as I got there the guy said "oh let them play, this is really good exercise for them."

The dogs were racing around just chasing. They were taking turns on who was the chaser and who was the chasee. All three dogs were having a great time and the guy was laughing as he watched them play. Then totally out of the blue he takes his water bottle and starts shooting water in Boogie's face while telling him to leave. Before shooting the water in Boogie's face, he never said anything like "I think that's enough" or "Call your dog, please", he just starting shooting water right in Boogie's face and yelling at him to leave. It didn't phase Boogie in the slightest. He'd just shake off and go back to playing.

I was stunned. In hindsight I have a lot I would have liked to say to this guy. But in the moment I was just trying to get Boogie out of the situation. I called him and OF COURSE he came right to me. Easy! That's all that needed to be done. There was absolutely no need to start shooting my dog with water. I'm really upset....but I won't go into any more detail.

After a nice take-out lunch from our favorite Sedona restaurant we headed over to visit a friend of ours that owns four houses in Sedona that she rents out (all have fenced yards and allow dogs). They are gorgeous homes that are very nicely decorated and extremely well apportioned.

The home we went to today is right near the very famous Sedona Chapel. I'd seen this chapel many times in the past but never from up close. I actually think it looks more impressive from a distance as you can see a lot more of the surrounding red rocks. But it is very interesting as it is built right into the rock.



Anyway, our friends have two large Leonbergers. The younger one, two year old Murphy, is just a total goof ball - and he loves to play with other dogs. The split second that Murphy saw Boogie he took off at a run to chase Boogie. This was really scary to Boogie as Boogie is only 16 pounds while Murphy comes close to 160 pounds. Boogie ran for his life and quickly learned that Murphy can't get under the table.

It was only a couple minutes later that Boogie then started teasing Murphy from under the table. And moments later Boogie quickly decided that size didn't matter. He was sure he could take Murphy down. To me it looked like Boogie was riding a horse.



You can't tell at all from my pictures but these dogs ran around the deck wrestling non-stop for almost two hours. Here you can get an idea of the size difference between the two dogs. What you also can't see is that Boogie's entire head is in Murphy's mouth. Boogie's entire body was one big slobber ball. We couldn't even touch him. We had to pick him up with a towel and try to dry him off three or four times during the play session. He used to be really soft but now he is sticky gooey!



Notice how Murhpy's paw is bigger than Boogie's back.



After a couple hours of chasing they were getting pretty tuckered so the play changed to wrestling on the ground. Look what raw feeding does for teeth - talk about pearly whites.



Once Murphy was down, Boogie decided...well I'm not really sure what he was thinking. But he took a huge mouthful of Murphy's neck (I'm sure he only got hair) and shook it back and forth like when they shake a small animal to kill it. He did that for a long time - taking big bites and shaking as hard as he could while growling.



Murphy laid there like he was just resting and had no idea that anyone was yanking on him. After Boogie realized he wasn't making any impact at all he started pulling with all his might...as you might guess he couldn't move Murphy even an inch.



Boogie then tried to dive under Murphy to grab his neck again. By now Murphy was really tired and decided that Boogie would make a really good pillow. Boogie must have been tired too as he didn't resist one bit.



I'm guessing Boogie is going to sleep well tonight!

Debbie
12/6/07

The Underground

(Cottonwood, AZ) Mike took the three big dogs for a hike this morning. They went up into National Forest land and without me along they could do a strenuous hike at a very good clip. By the time they got back, we had three very tired puppies – which was good as we were going to leave them for the afternoon.

We then set out for what we thought was a 45 minute drive. Turns out it was an hour and 45 minute trip so we were quite late. We had looked at the map and the two cities looked so close together. Turns out the road doesn’t go straight – it goes way around a mountain. Good thing for cell phones so we could call ahead and let them know we were really coming.

When we arrived at a house in Chino Valley, it was like entering Border Terrier City. This lady has 20 border terriers! Our friend, Billie, was also there with her two and of course we had Boogie along.

We were there for Earthdog practice. This lady has underground tunnels just like are used in competition. Here you can see them as we are starting to cover the tunnels with dirt so it will nice and dark inside.



Last time Boogie did underground tunnels he never made it fast the first turn – he just hit his head on the wall and then got mad and barked at the wall before turning around and coming out.

His first turn today he ran over ground. I had to call him back (which would make us fail in competition) but then he entered the tunnel nicely but carefully. He negotiated the tunnel perfectly! But he just stared at the rats. Darn. After about 15 seconds, his turn was over.

A number of other dogs then took turns having a blast working the rats. It is just so amazing to see dogs doing what they were bred to do. I find it fascinating to see how strong their instincts are. Boogie had a lot of trouble waiting for his turn.



By the time Boogie got his next turn he was going bonkers. I could barely hold him to get him to the start line. When I took off his collar he ran straight into the tunnel with a lot of speed. Before you knew it he was at the end….and he was working the rats….for a whole 15 seconds. Yippee – we’re making progress!

We put Boogie back in his crate in the car while his half-brother, Klev’r, took a turn. Before he could even get down in the tunnel we noticed another dog running onto the course. When we took a closer look we realized it was Boogie. Wow, he’s so excited to do this that he broke out of his crate and got out of the car. I guess he likes Earthdog!!

When he got his last turn he ran straight into the tunnel at an extremely high rate of speed and was at the rats in just a few seconds. This time he worked the rats for a little over 30 seconds! That is amazing for such a young puppy. We’re half way to the required 60 seconds. Good job little Boogie.

He didn't want to leave but as you can see he is panting hard.



He was one tuckered puppy on the way home. We were much later getting back than we had planned but the big dogs all seemed just fine. The weather was once again perfect and after another walk for everyone we were ready to rest for the evening.

We’re sure lucky to be meeting so many nice people that can help us get Boogie involved in such fun activities. The border terrier family sure seems to be a nice one.

Debbie
12/5/07

Support System

(Phoenix, AZ) Ever since we got Boogie, he’s had a little problem. We’ve had vets check him and we’ve monitored him very closely. It’s been gradually getting worse and yesterday about lunch time we noticed Boogie was really bleeding a lot. So we immediately rushed him to the vet. They glanced at him (in our opinion) and suggested we do a urinalysis and a complete blood workup. We did that and they sent us home. As you can tell by Boogie’s activities yesterday, he is feeling just fine.

I was patient all the way until 8:20am this morning and then I just had to call to check on his test results. Fortunately, everything came back pretty normal. There was only one number that was out of whack but they said all by itself that number didn’t cause them any concern.

So we had to go back in for x-rays. As seems common, we saw a different vet today than yesterday. After doing the x-rays (which all looked really good) he examined Boogie very closely. And, to make a long story short, Boogie needs to have surgery. The exact procedure is called prepuce reconstruction surgery. It is not a common surgery and the vets here can’t do it. So they referred us to a specialty surgery center that has five board certified surgeons. We got an appointment for an exam and surgery on Monday.

We’re very concerned – who knows if those surgeons have ever done this surgery either. Supposedly it’s a very delicate surgery and if not done properly there can be bad and leave on-going problems. After doing some research on the internet we were even more worried as everything we could find (which wasn’t a lot) was very scary.

So we called Boogie’s breeders to see if they had any ideas. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful they are. I’m totally NOT kidding when I say that within 15 minutes, they had gotten everything arranged for us and had calmed us down and made us feel very comfortable with our plans. They have a vet lined up for us that has done this surgery successfully before. They have known this vet for over 20 years and feel extremely comfortable with her. In addition, they said we could stay with them and they even said they’d give us all the warm fuzzies we could handle. How comforting is that!

Mike and I can’t begin to believe the support system that we and little Boogie have. It is truly amazing. We feel so blessed to have such an amazing support system for Boogie. I don’t know if all breeders take care of their puppies like this but no one could possibly do any more than Meg and Harriet do for us.

So instead of going to California (and possibly Washington) for three weeks, we are going to be heading over to New Mexico next week for Boogie’s surgery. We will be staying at Meg’s place (one of Boogie’s breeders) over the Christmas holiday while Boogie recovers from his surgery.

As much as we truly love all the help we are getting (and we do love it) it made us realize how mixed breeds really are second class citizens. Had one of our rescues had a medical problem (and believe me, we’ve had major medical problems) there is no support or help available. We had to figure out everything totally on our own. The only advocates for our rescues are us.

Whereas when Boogie needs anything at all, no matter where we are, we feel as though we have guardian angels here to take care of us and make sure everything is all right. There just aren’t words to explain how well we were taken care of. I can tell you one thing for sure, Boogie will never be alone in his life – no matter what. He is one lucky little guy.

We had planned on leaving early this morning to head back up to Cottonwood. But as you can probably tell by now, those plans were delayed a little bit. By late afternoon we did make it just in time to take a short walk before dark.

During the walk, the girls did get to go on a nice little deer chase. The boys were very dismayed that they weren’t allowed to join in. As always, the girls were very good and came right back (with big smiles) after their chase.

A fun ending to a bit of a stressful day.

Debbie
12/4/07

Rats!

(Phoenix, AZ) This morning we met at a different park for more Rally practice for Boogie. I brought a Novice course map that I had found on the internet and we set it up. I got Boogie out of the car and we happily went over to start the course. The first few feet Boogie was doing great. But after that I could get absolutely no attention from him whatsoever. What was going on - this isn't like him at all.

Wouldn't you know, I had set up the course right in the middle of where a very large bird had been killed and eaten. All that was left was a bunch of feathers - and obviously some very good smells. Oh brother. I know we have to practice working around distractions but I'm thinking they won't have quite this much of a distraction during a competition. I got him past that spot and thought we'd do better the rest of the way. But it just wasn't meant to be today. Around the rest of the course were MANY rabbit droppings. Mmmm, puppy M&M's. We took four giant steps backward today. Grrr.

We ended by doing a long sit stay with some other dogs that met us there (they were doing obedience not Rally). Boogie finally did something right! Good Boy!



Lucky for Boogie, we had an event scheduled for him this afternoon where not only was he allowed to use his nose - he was encouraged to use his nose. Earthdog practice. The last time Boogie did earthdog he ran into the corner wall and just barked at it - he couldn't figure out how to make the turn inside the tunnel.

He was as excited as could be when he saw what we were doing. When it was his turn I set him at the start line and he didn't hesitate for a second. He picked up the scent and went barreling into the tunnel. And then.....silence. Hmm, where was he? He didn't come back out but there was no noise at the rats. After a bit we opened the lid to the tunnel, there was Boogie lying there completely motionless and not making a sound. He was just staring as intently as possible. This of course is not the desired behavior so we can’t let him think that is okay. So I reached in the tunnel and pulled him out and put him back in the RV. Hey! This is not what he had in mind at all.

We only made him wait about five minutes while another dog got to try and then we got him back out to try again. He was a maniac – as almost all the dogs are when it’s their turn.

He zoomed into the tunnel so fast he was a blur. Then silence. He didn’t come out and we heard nothing. So we opened the lid to get him out but he wasn’t there. Where was he….and what could he possibly be doing. Suddenly we noticed that a blockade had been left in from the previous dog. We took that out and sure enough Boogie zoomed right to the rats.

How funny that he hadn’t made a peep or fuss of any kind. Normally when a dog hits a blockade they back out of the tunnel. But not Boogie – he just laid there staring at the rats from a distance of about four feet.

The previous dog had gone to the rats but once he got there he would back way up. So to keep him from doing that they would put a blockade just behind him when he got to the rats – that way he couldn’t back up. But when he was done with his turn they forgot to take this blockade out as it is rarely used.

This time when Boogie got to the rats (they are very small rats) he barked for about 10 seconds before going into stare down mode. Since he had made some noise they really wanted to reward that. So they encouraged him to make more noise – and soon as he did they let the rat loose. Big reward.

Let me say at this point: This is the part of this sport that really gets to me. I have a really hard time just knowing that the dogs get to go after the rats (only in practice – never in competition). I guess it was pretty obvious by my expressions and body language that I was having a really hard time with this. A really nice lady came over to me and explained that the dead rats don’t go to waste. There is an animal sanctuary where all the rats are taken. They are fed to reptiles that are ill and being nursed back to health. So we purchase the rats, use them to train the dogs, and donate them to a place where they are used to help save the lives of others. Okay, that made me feel a little better…a little bit.

About forty five minutes later it was Boogie’s turn again. This time we made sure there was no blockade in the way! He zoomed down into the tunnel and to the other end in record time for him. Hooray, this time he was barking and digging with only minor encouragement from us (not allowed in competition). He probably “worked” the rat for close to 20 seconds before stopping. Big improvement!

When we took him out of the tunnel, he was so excited his whole body was panting. When he pants really hard his tongue curls up on the sides. It was curled so much it almost made a complete circle! He definitely loves this activity more than anything else we do with him. It’s really amazing how strong their instincts are to do an activity that they were originally bred for many many years ago.

We finished with practice about 7:00pm. At 9:00pm, after the dogs had time to settle down a bit, Billie came out and got Boogie and me to do some Rally practice. How nice is that! As it turned out, she ended up giving us a private lesson. Billie is amazing! I learn so much from her – well, I should say she teaches me a lot of really good stuff. I wish I could remember even half of what she shows me. It’s no wonder her dogs have reached the top of the ranks in everything they do! I’m so lucky to know Billie. In addition to being a great instructor, she is one of the nicest most giving people you could ever hope to meet.

And Boogie totally loves her! Boogie pays pretty good attention to me….until he hears Billie's voice. Then it doesn’t matter what we’re doing, I don’t exist anymore – all attention goes to Billie. I’m going to have to make sure she never says a word when we’re in the ring competing!

What a day….at least for one dog!

Debbie
12/3/07

What Are You Eating Now?

(Cottonwood/Phoenix, AZ) This morning we all headed out on a walk before breakfast as once a month I have to walk for an hour before eating. We'd only been walking about 10 minutes when it started to rain. So we all went back to the RV and I grabbed my rain gear and headed back out to continue the walk taking Wazzu and Boogie with me while Mike, Sparkie, and Slugger stayed home to make a really nice breakfast.

Even though we were getting wet, we had a really great walk. Until, that is, it was time to be back and we had no idea where we were. An hour and a half later we decided to give up and call for help. Mike came in the car and rescued us. (I still haven't heard the end of that!) It sure was nice to get back to a warm dry home complete with homemade coffee cake fresh out of the oven.
After breakfast we packed up and headed back down to Phoenix. It poured the whole way down. We got all set up but due to the extremely stormy conditions we couldn't get the satellite to work. OH NO!! That means no TV or internet - what are we going to do!

Phoenix isn't used to much rain. The amount of rain that was coming down was even heavy by Seattle standards. It rained all day Friday and Saturday. During a ten hour period we got a quarter inch an hour - getting over five inches. I don't know what the total rainfall for the two days was but I know that the dogs were really tired of being stuck inside for two days!

We were so disappointed that it chose these two days to rain. The whole reason we were coming back down to Phoenix was that there was a Fun Day that was being held on Saturday. There was going to be lure coursing, a barn hunt, agility, herding, and pictures with Santa. And the best thing....it was open to ALL breeds. We were really looking forward to seeing how each dog did with the barn hunt. But due to the rain the event was cancelled.

In fact, there was so much rain here that they were telling people to stay home. Roads were flooded, electricity was out, parks were flooded....in fact an ASCA trial and a USDAA trial were both cancelled.

As best we can remember, this weekend was Boogie's first time to see rain. He found it quite mystifying. Normally when he gets wet (like if he gets splashed or goes swimming) he just shakes off and all is well. But he was so funny - he'd shake off but kept getting wet. So he was trying to walk and shake the entire time. It was the funniest thing.

Sunday morning brought clear sunny skies - along with TV and internet. Thank goodness!

We had made arrangements to meet a friend at a park to practice Rally with Boogie and his half brother, Klev'r. Parts of the park were still pretty soggy but we were able to find enough room that was dry enough for our purposes.




For only having a few days experience, Boogie was doing very nicely. He even did very nicely at the end when we did a long sit stay.



You know how dogs learn their nicknames very quickly? As an example, early on we started calling Sparkie "Sparkie Doodle" which soon became Doodle and then Dood (pronounced Dude). She answers to all those name - as well as some more. Among others, Wazzu's nicknames are Dizzy, Diz, Oz, Zu, Sweater Beater, and Beater. Slugger is Bumpkin, Baby and Bug.

Oddly enough, we don't have any nicknames for Boogie. Since we don't call him anything else, he only answers to Boogie. However, he is just like a two year old. He puts anything and everything in his mouth. If he is awake there is something in his mouth. So we are constantly saying "What are you eating now!"

This afternoon Boogie was up in the front of the RV with his back to Mike. Mike noticed that it looked like Boogie was chewing on something - so he automatically said "What are you eating now." As soon as Mike said that Boogie turned right around. You've got to be kidding me! He thinks this is his name! We tested it and sure enough, he reacts to that as well as he does to his name. Well that's sure a handy nickname. I guess you can sure tell how often we say "What are you eating now!"

Debbie
11/30-12/2/07