Tuesday musings

I like training my dog better than showing my dog.

There. I said it. I’ve gradually realized this during the last five years but Phoenix’s arrival on the show scene in the last 12 months has really brought it home.

It’s not that I don’t like showing. I like it very much. I just like training better. I like the one-on-one time spent learning to communicate (with varying levels of success) with a different species. I like it that I can train when and where it’s convenient for me, with people I like and I can set my own agenda for the session. I can change the agenda if I want.

So why not forget shows and spend all my time (and money) training instead? Sounds like there would be a lot less stress and fewer gray hairs that way, huh?

I show because showing is a test of my training methods. If I didn’t show, I’d never find out what behaviors I’ve taught successfully (that is, which ones hold up under the stress of a new environment when the cookies and balls disappear.) I’d never know what my dog really understood, what he sort of understood and what he didn’t have a clue about.

We joke about our dogs being a 200 in the backyard but how many trainers can walk into a totally new environment and still have a 200 dog? If you CARE whether your training methods work, you gotta show to find out. As they say, the proof is in the pudding.

Showing drives me crazy because when my dog and I make a mistake in the ring, I want to stop and work through it. I am such a control freak (show me a serious obedience competitor who isn’t) that I can’t stand having to go on to the next exercise when my dog has just shown me he didn’t understand the previous one. Or that he was distracted. Or just plain didn’t give a damn on that particular day. I want to stop and TRAIN.

What if there weren’t any obedience trials? Would I still train?

Of course, because I love the interaction with my dog but I probably wouldn’t train the same things. I’d focus more on games and tricks in addition to basic household obedience. And I’d still teach scent discrimination because I think it’s cool.

What if they had obedience trials but didn’t keep score or have titles and you could just show at whatever level you wanted for as long as you wanted? Would I still show then? Absolutely, because I’d still get to go into the ring and test my training methods. Scores don’t have a lot of meaning to me. If I got a 199 with a robotic performance, I wouldn’t be happy because that is NOT how I want my dog to work. If I got a 190 with enthusiasm and animation, I would be delighted.

What about you? Do like training or showing better? Would you still show if they didn’t keep score? Would you still train if there weren’t any shows?

Today I am thankful for good friends to bounce training ideas off of. (Yes, I know you shouldn’t end a sentence with a preposition. And I don’t care.)

The 'Recipe'

Remember the two elderly sisters on "The Waltons" who brewed moonshine whiskey and called it "The Recipe"? Well, this is something like that. Only its legal. And non-alcoholic. Although it has been known to cause odd behavior in some individuals.

This is Swamp Water (or Polyjuice Potion for all you Harry Potter fans.) It originated a looooong time ago, when a bunch of us were training at the Shueyville Community Center every week (before its $175,000 makeover, they probably don't even allow dogs in the parking lot now) and decided to have a St. Patrick's Day party. I made green punch. It looked like this.

(Photo by Rilda at this year's Halloween party)

The original recipe has been lost and I've spent the last 15 years trying to recreate it. Every version of Swamp Water differs slightly. That's the beauty of it.

SWAMP WATER (makes 2 gallons)
2 packages Kool Aid lemon lime drink mix (dry)
1 can frozen lemonade concentrate
2 cans frozen limeade concentrate
3 2-liter bottles of ginger ale
a bunch of lime sherbet (4-5 cups?)

Mix Kool Aid with frozen juice concentrates. Add ginger ale and stir in sherbet in large chunks. Stir occasionally while serving to blend melted sherbet.

Having said that, you can substitute a lot of the ingredients to customize the recipe. I've used frozen pineapple juice concentrate in place of the lemonade and pineapple sherbet in place of the lime sherbet. That was a rockin' recipe but since our small town grocery store doesn't carry things as exotic as pineapple sherbet I usually go with lime because it's readily available without a trip to the big city.

The key to good Swamp Water is that is is tart and has a lot of fizz. You don't need to add any sugar, there's plenty in the sherbet, which doesn't melt right away but floats around and looks wonderfully scummy.

Today I am thankful for ibuprofen. I overdid it playing Frisbee with the dogs and winterizing flowerbeds over the weekend. The dogs are tired and happy, the flowerbeds are tidy and I feel like I've been hit by a truck.

Now I owe him a cat

U-CDX Phoenix!

Truth is stranger than fiction.

Phoenix did a lovely 3-minute out of sight sit today to earn his third leg and finish his U-CDX at the 4RK9s trial in Cedar Rapids. His individual exercises were not the best work he's ever given me but right now, I don't care! That sit trumps any other sins he may have committed along the way.

I knew he could do it and I knew he would do it but we've struggled with that darn sit so much in the last month I just didn't expect him to do it today. I was showing him because we were already entered, it was a very nice local club and I doubted we could do anymore damage to that exercise that we already had. That may not be the most intelligent approach to training I've ever had but live and learn. In fact, when we returned to the ring after the sit, I automatically checked the stewards standing at the gate. They were not holding Phoenix. Holy crap! Where was he? Well, there he sat in line, tense but confident, just like it was all his idea in the first place. Hurray!

I know we aren't out of the woods on this problem and we have a ton of work to put into it yet but today the planets were aligned in our favor. I think it helped that he was the dog on the end of the line, so he didn't have dogs on both sides of him. Michele and Rilda said he fidgeted a little at the start, then settled down into a very alert but rock solid sit for the rest of the time. Good boy, Nix!

Now, about the cat. Michele and Jeff found a little kitten in their front yard last night. It's a dark gray tiger stripe, my favorite. Michele will take it to the humane society if no one claims it soon (Jeff put a sign in their front yard, I'd love to see that.) Anyway, we were talking about the kitten today at the trial and discussing who should take it home and I jokingly said, "If Phoenix holds his sit today, HE can have the kitten."

Wouldn't you know. Guess he was listening.

Now I have to explain to him that I was just kidding and the Farmer would absolutely throw a rod if I brought home a tiny little kitten that would have to live in the house because the wild barn cats would either run it off or kill it. I'm pretty sure Phoenix wouldn't eat it, he just wants his own personal cat to . . . well, I'm not really sure WHAT he wants to do with one. But he wants one. And for now, he's going to have to go on wanting.

Jill is going to bring LeRoy The Bomb-Proof Cat to the last night of Utility class in a few weeks so Phoenix can meet a real, live cat up close and personal. So that will have to do. 

Boo!

Happy Halloween! 

Phoenix and I showed at the 4RK9s UKC trial this morning. It was pretty scary. More on that later.

Tonight I'm off to a Halloween party at SueAnn's, thrown by Tammy (and Bill? No, Bill probably won't claim any responsibility for this shindig. But he'll be there. Because there's food.) It's a Harry Potter theme again. I have my Hogwarts robe, hat and wand ready. The cauldron cakes turned out well. The treacle fudge? Well, not so much. It is now treacle dip for graham crackers. (Really, how can you go wrong with cream, brown sugar, molasses and chocolate? So it didn't set up? So what?!) The polyjuice potion ingredients are ready to be brewed.

Okay, the obedience trial. Phoenix has two U-CDX legs and it looks like that's what he may end the year with. He has decided he cannot possibly do the long sit. He gives it about a minute and then trots out of the ring. He is not a happy dog about this exercise, which means I am not a happy handler. Not sure what's going on. Both of us are very confused! Really glad we only have tomorrow's trial left, then a long stretch of trainin' with no trials until spring. Cuz we need a long stretch of trainin.'

I'm not sure where this problem came from. Since he broke at the K9 Sport trials a month ago, we've spent a lot of time working sit/stays in some pretty odd contexts. I sat Phoenix on the patio, got in the van and drove down the lane. He stayed. I put him on a sit in the living room and vacuumed around him. He stayed. (That one is major, he is the self-appointed vacuum killer at our house. My Dyson has the tooth-marks to prove it.) I put him on a sit three rooms away while I fix dog meals and tell Jamie very loudly HOW GOOD THIS BREAKFAST/SUPPER IS GOING TO TASTE. He stays.

But put him in a lineup of dogs and go out of sight and it's too much. I think he understands what he is supposed to do but he is just so mentally uncomfortable - for whatever reason - that he can't do it. So we will work on it. The rest of this fall. All winter. Next spring. Fortunately, everyone always wants to work group stays so it shouldn't be hard to find friends to help us work through this.

On the bright side, DeeDee, Peggy S.'s malinois girl, was sitting next to Phoenix on the long sit, at least for the whole minute he bothered to stay there. The two of them did not do anything inappropriate. They had spotted each other earlier in the morning and never has the phrase "their eyes met across a crowded room" held so much meaning. Nix gets so excited to see DeeDee, I don't know what I'll do with him when we go to Mal nationals next May and he's surrounded by "his kind." Of course, DeeDee has her SCH1 so she may have just told him to back off, buster.

Ran to Petsmart after the trial to get Phoenix a new travel collar. His collar with his name and my phone number embroidered on it broke last night. The snap, well, snapped. So I grabbed the first available extra collar this morning, which happened to be Connor's martingale collar that was still hanging on the hook by the door even though he's been gone two months today. (Miss you, Skunk Dog. You always liked dressing up for Halloween.)

I let it out and it fit Phoenix fine but there was just something about my live Malinois wearing my dead Sheltie's collar that just didn't work. Collars are kind of a sacred thing. So Phoenix got a new one and Connor's collar is now hanging off the edge of the frame of his OTCh. certificate. That's better.

Have a great evening of trick or treating! I'm off to brew a potion!

Trips down puppy memory lane

Susan Garrett has done several recent posts on her blog (http://susangarrettdogagility.com/) about how she picked her puppies and all the mental turmoil involved. It made me laugh because we all know people who have studied pedigrees and lines and obsessed to the nth degree about getting the perfect puppy to excel in their chosen sport, then done something crazy like pick a puppy based solely on its markings.

I’ve been blessed with six dogs in my life. I’ve gotten to pick exactly two of them.

My first dog was a beagle. I was 3 years old when she came into my life in 1968. My grandfather gave my parents $25 and said, “Melinda needs a dog. Get her one.” I wonder if he had any clue what he was starting with that $25 beagle. Pokey (obviously named by my 3-year-old self, what can I say, the Little Golden Book “The Pokey Little Puppy” was hot among the preschool set that year) was the first dog I ever showed in an AKC obedience trial. I was 9, she was 7. As they say, the rest is history.

Next came my first tervuren, in 1978 when I was 13. Gypsy was, in a way, the puppy no one else wanted. She was the puppy the stud dog owner agreed to take back for stud services but she really didn’t want to keep her and was happy to sell the “too small” bitch to a 4-H kid. The 4-H kid decided to show her in the breed ring because no one told her she was too small to finish and Gypsy became my first (and only) owner-handled champion.

After college, I got my first sheltie in 1989. I picked Jess out of the litter at 4 weeks. I chose him based on the extremely scientific criteria that he was the only puppy in the litter who did not have a full white collar. I did not want a puppy who looked like he was wearing a neck brace!

Sheltie Connor followed in 1994. I was not looking for a puppy when he walked into my life. He picked me. End of story. (You can read more about Connor at http://exercisefinished.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html. If that link doesn’t work, it’s the Aug. 31 post from this year).

Terv Jamie was a bit of a project. I wanted a girl, not a boy. There were no girl terv puppies to be had in the summer of 1999. After several breedings missed or litters that produced only one or two puppies, when Jamie’s litter arrived, his breeder told me I could choose between the two boys. I’ll never forget that trip to southern Ohio and my carefully thought out puppy testing, which was pretty much a total trainwreck and a story all in itself. In the end, it was a no-brainer. Even as a puppy, Jamie was long-legged, lean and graceful. His brother was cobby and stub-legged with no apparent neck. Jamie came home with me, screaming and howling all the way.

Phoenix was the first puppy a breeder truly chose for me, based on about a million e-mails. I should write a post about how I found Catherine and Carousel Malinois because I have no doubt Divine Intervention was involved. I flew to Oregon from the Midwest to get Phoenix in February of 2007. Arriving at Catherine’s house, she handed over a wiggling, squirming, gnawing bundle of fur and teeth who looked me straight in the eye as if to say, “Who are you and what are you bringing to the table?” It was the dawn of a whole new relationship.

I have several friends who have gotten new puppies this year. It’s been fun to experience all their anticipation as the blessed day approaches. Puppies are so darn much fun! I’ll write more soon about my puppy-picking experiences, especially with the Belgians. Truth is stranger than fiction. Honestly, you can’t make this stuff up.

Halloween fun

Since our last name is frequently (mis)pronounced "Witch-man," it's no surprise we received a visit from a relative over the weekend. Elphaba, the green-skinned and very misunderstood witch from the book and musical "Wicked" stopped to say hi during a break from doing her show in Des Moines.

She helped the Farmer unload some corncobs.
Apparently there was a communication problem.

Then she helped me with agility training.
We had trouble with the 2-on, 2-off concept.

She helped me repot a few plants, too,
but was careful not to mess up her manicure.

Elphaba and the Farmer compared fashion sense.

She made a new friend.

She helped me do some obedience work, too.
She throws the dumbbell worse than I do.

And finally, she played with the Belgians.
Phoenix! Give cousin Elphaba back her hand!

Food for thought

I have another recipe to share. Yeah, it's one of those girly salad things and you're right, the Farmer wouldn't touch it with a 10-foot pole. In fact, a number of you have expressed concern that the Farmer is not getting the meat and potatoes meals he requires. 

Thanks for caring but let me assure you, no one on this farm, including the humans, the Belgians, the cats and 400 head of feeder cattle is malnourished in the least little bit. In fact, have you seen the Farmer and me lately? We are obviously not missing any meals.

In case you are still worried, here is a sample of what I have cooked for him in the last week: meatloaf, baked potatoes, corn; hamburgers on the grill, french fries; pork roast with soy sauce and brown sugar in the Crock Pot (it was nearly a religious experience), mashed potatoes and cinnamon streusel muffins. These meals were all followed by homemade chocolate chip cookies. Sometimes they were preceded by them, too.

This is in addition to a couple of on-the-go meals of "beans and rice" (that's what the Farmer calls any meal without meat) for me on class nights. The day I made my impromptu trip to the hospital last spring, when the Farmer arrived at the clinic just in time to see me being loaded into the ambulance, he told the nurse in charge, "There can't be anything wrong with her heart, all she eats is beans and rice." Obviously not true.

And don't you worry your pretty little heads about the status of Team Orange's Iowa version of Martha Stewart. It doesn't matter what you call me, the cookies, cakes, bars, breads, etc. will keep coming. My list for the Halloween party Saturday night includes Team Orange Special cauldron cakes, treacle fudge and polyjuice potion (aka, Swamp Water). It'll blow that witch's hat right off your head.

So here's the new recipe. Again, it's a take-to-work-for-lunch sort of thing.

CHICKEN PASTA SALAD WITH SUN-DRIED TOMATO DRESSING

4 C. cooked and cooled pasta (whatever kind you like, whole grain blend recommended)

2 C. shredded cooked chicken breast

1/4 C. finely chopped sweet onion or green onions

1 1/2 C. sugar snap peas, cut in half (I used regular frozen peas, cooked, bad me)

1/4 C. light mayo

1/4 C. fat-free sour cream

1 T. low-fat milk

2 T. chopped, sun-dried tomatoes, in olive oil, drained

seasoning to taste; I used garlic salt and black pepper

Mix cooked pasta, chicken, onions and peas in a large bowl. In separate, smaller bowl, mix mayo, sour cream, milk and tomatoes. Mix well and drizzle over pasta and chicken mix. Stir lightly to coat.