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.

Fast food

After spending entirely too much time the last few months shouting into speakers at fast food drive-throughs, I'm working to break that habit and eat at home before going to teach my class on Thursday night. Trust me, I still spend plenty of time shouting into speakers on trial weekends and am in no danger of losing that skill.

Like so many things in life, the decision to eat at home is easier said than done but my jeans have recently pointed out that I am value-sizing more than just my supper. At the newspaper office, we're also struggling to watch calories and portion sizes (believe me, stress eating has never been more popular) so I'm always looking for new ideas of things to take for lunch. Yes, the local bowling alley has awesome lunch specials but that brings us right back to the oh-my-god-why-are-my-pants-so-tight-they-must-have-shrunk issue.

Let me say up front, these are not five star gourmet meals but they are hot, fresh, tasty, relatively nutritious and not loaded with calories and saturated fat. They take less than 10 minutes to fix, can be easily zapped in the microwave and create very few dirty dishes. All this is a bonus when you're eating standing over the sink with one eye on the clock and one foot out the door and a dog bouncing off your head.

Recipe 1: Birds Eye Steamfresh Brown Rice (they make white rice, too, if you prefer that) and Birds Eye Steamfresh Singles veggies (peas work well, I haven't tried any of the other ones). Nuke the rice. Nuke two packs of veggies. Mix it all in a bowl. Add a couple splashes of soy sauce or plain ol' butter and salt. Add chicken (see Recipe 2) or any other meat if you want, although I think it's fine without. Divide into two servings, one for now, one for tomorrow. This makes a lot and it's very filling.


Recipe 2: Green Giant Steamers Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower and Cheese blend and Tyson Oven Roasted Diced Chicken Breast. To be honest, a friend introduced me to the chicken — which is a little pricey but totally a convenience item and so worth it — as dog treats. I decided it made excellent people treats as well.

Nuke the veggies and cheese (they cook in the bag), then nuke however much chicken you want. The chicken is precooked so all you have to do is heat it up. Mix the chicken with the veggies, divide into two servings, one for now, one for tomorrow. Green Giant also makes a veggie and pasta frozen combo that would be good with the chicken, too.

This doesn't make quite as much as Recipe #1 so you might need a piece of fruit or some whole grain bread to fill out the meal. Or some chocolate chip cookies and a bowl of ice cream.

Or I suppose you could just eat chocolate chip cookies for supper and forget about cooking anything. I'm pretty sure some of you already do. You know who you are. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Dare to be different

Ever have one of those days when there are so many ideas rattling around in your skull you have to get them out before your head explodes? I usually don't editorialize in this space but can't help myself today. Don't worry, it's not a negative rant. Just some observations about dogs, training and human nature.

The new issue of Front & Finish arrived yesterday and there’s a great column by Chapel Taylor titled “This Obedience Life: Why Method Matters.” She explores her journey through different methods of training and concludes that the training method itself isn’t nearly as important as finding a method that suits you and your dog. At the conclusion, she writes, “It could be that finding that right path is the thing that keeps someone working with their dog when they might otherwise have given up.”

After 30-plus years in the sport of dog obedience, I have decided the only safe generalization to make about training methods is that there are at least 100 different ways to train anything and no matter which one you choose, somebody will tell you why it won’t work. Then they will tell you how wonderful THEIR method is. Sometimes this is a friendly and open exchange of ideas with both sides gaining knowledge for the benefit of their dogs. Other times it becomes an ego-driven one way street of “My method is the only way to train and if you don’t do things MY way you will never get another qualifying score again” battle. Sometimes the person bashing another person’s training method has never even tried that method themselves. Or perhaps they did try it but it didn’t work for them, therefore they generalize it is a worthless method.

Too often, the bewildered trainer — who is totally overwhelmed by the avalanche of information being given by instructors, classmates, seminar presenters, DVDs, training buddies and e-mail obedience lists — uses the lemming method and just does what everyone else is doing. Through the years, I’ve watched trainers doggedly (sorry, couldn’t help myself) pursue training methods that not only didn’t yield results but seemed to find them locked in a constant battle with their dog, yet they were reluctant to try a different method. When asked why they continued to train that way, they proudly say, “That’s the way (insert Big Name Trainer here) does it.”

Experience has taught me that any given method will work ONLY if you are totally comfortable with it. In other words, you have to believe in what you’re doing and enjoy doing it. If you’re just going through the motions because last weekend’s seminar giver said that’s the way to do it, chances are you’re not going to stick with a method long enough to be happy with the results. I’ve tried forcing myself to conform to another trainer’s style and it didn’t work. I was demoralized and my dog was demotivated. Fortunately, I realized fairly quickly this was not the path for me and sought another approach.

This is where trainers who have been around the ring a few times have an advantage over newbies. Our previous dogs have not only taught us what kind of trainers we are, they have shown us what kind of trainers we are striving to be and what kind of methods we can employ correctly, humanely, with accurate timing and a minimum of clumsiness to yield a training process that is enjoyable for both dog and handler while at the same time creating the desired results. That’s never an excuse for not trying anything new but if we were paying attention, we’ve already got a pretty good road map of what works for us and what doesn’t. With every new dog, that map will become more detailed, with more roads, bridges, trails, detours and scenic overlooks being added during the journey. Treasure that map.

Trainers who are new to the scene have it much harder, since they don’t have much point of reference about what might be best for them and their partner. I cannot stress enough that if an instructor wants you to do something you are not comfortable with, let your feelings be known. Ask if there is an alternative method. Or look for an alternative instructor. Life is too short for bad dog training.

It’s been said that if the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem is going to look like a nail. Don’t fall into the rut of thinking there is only one way to train. Chances are there are dozens of approaches (really, it’s a wonder dog trainers don’t go stark raving mad with the sheer vastness of options), and it’s up to YOU to pick the one you feel most comfortable with. If you are comfortable with and believe in a training method, chances are you will transmit that to your dog as you train and you’ll get results you both enjoy vs. conflict or frustration.

Be creative. Be confident. Be happy. Train like you mean it. Believe in your dog. Listen to others’ advice. Dare to be different. Experiment to find out what works for you. Train for fun.

Hug your dog. Enjoy your training.

Combining soybeans

When I got home last night, the Farmer and Co. were combining soybeans in the field south of our house. It is dusty business. Corn moisture is still too high and corn can stay in the field longer with less yield loss, so the beans are coming out first.

Phoenix and I did some training in the front yard across the lane from the field while the combine was going back and forth. This wasn't as extreme as it might sound. My dogs are used to tractors, wagons, balers and other big, loud farm implements clattering around. They would probably be more distracted in a suburban setting with kids on bicycles or skateboards.

Beans are being dumped out of the combine hopper into a grain cart. From here, they will be augered (is that a word? Must be, I just used it) into a bin for storage.

I didn't take a picture of the 10 bazillion Asian beetles swarming around on the warm and sunny south exposure of our house. Those $#@! things were EVERYWHERE. I think they lived in the bean field and were very disturbed by their loss of habitat. However that does not mean they are welcome in MY habitat. At least they weren't as bad as several years ago when they were an absolute PLAGUE and we were still vacuuming them off the walls and ceilings in December.