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that was one long poke.

  • May. 31st, 2009 at 9:52 PM
hustle mickey worrying
Up at 6 am to make the drive to Wrentham with the TBRE and the GRD, who we then threw on the table and groomed for a 10:00 am ringtime. He didn't get put up (we got another nice blue "thanks for playing" bookmark from Open Dogs to add to his collection) but he was an absolute prince in the ring. He's remembering how to do the work.

Then he got to come out to Wolf Rock for a dry run as a climbing dog, where he was just a perfect gentleman. He's well on his way to becoming a very nice crag dog--he was mellow and kind to climbers and the occasional hiker dog, too, which is quite an accomplishment for a dog with the PTSD issues Ace has had. He seemed to understand that this was Serious Business, and that he needed to have his game face on and be a working dog, which was excellent, and means he can probably keep coming back--though I'm not yet ready to try him at Ragged, which is crowded.

I climbed a 5.8 (with a little cheating since the damned tree was in the way anyway) and a 5.5, and nobody died.

GRD is now sacked out so hard he didn't even lift his head when I went downstairs to get my phone.

And I am about to join him. Next Sunday we're going to try a herding instinct trial and see how he does with the sheeps. Memo to me: order his seat belt in the morning. Because he does have some bad habits in the car, like wanting very badly to help drive....
  • Mood: exanimate
  • Music:James McMurtry - You'd a' Thought (Leonard Cohen Must Die)

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( 19 comments — Leave a comment )
[info]truepenny wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 01:56 am (UTC)
All kinds of love for the GRD!
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[info]zaratyst wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 02:02 am (UTC)
Fun! We're doing agility with one of our dogs, which is a lot of fun. She's not ready for competition though. I just thought I'd comment with a link to the doggie seat belts we have that we liked a lot. http://www.ruffrider.com/
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[info]n5red wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 02:08 am (UTC)
He is an absoltely wonderful dog, no matter what the cat says,
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[info]blackcoat wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 04:12 am (UTC)
I agree with the cat, on principle.
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[info]colomon wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 02:46 am (UTC)
Yay! I've been waiting for a report all day. :)
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[info]beyondfake_0 wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 05:24 am (UTC)
<3 GRD.
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[info]b_twin_1 wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 07:49 am (UTC)
Ahhh... good puppeh! :)

What does a herding instinct trial involve? (I'm pretty sure we don't have these in Australia)
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 12:05 pm (UTC)
Basically, you take the dog, put him in with the sheep, and see if he displays sustained interest in them without displaying undue aggression.

If he does, you try to teach him a few basic herding behaviors.

Since most Briards and other herding dogs today don't get to do the job they were born for but are companion or otherwise working animals, it's a handy way of making sure that the breed is not losing its working ability trough being bred as pets or for the show ring. Also, the dogs often really like it.
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[info]b_twin_1 wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 08:05 pm (UTC)
Sounds interesting!
Over here we just have Utility Trials and 3-sheep trials (that I am aware of).

Here's hoping he does all the right moves for you (aka moving to head them off instead of chasing! hehe) :)
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 12:13 am (UTC)
Oh, we have herding trials too. This is just to see if the dog has any instinct.
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[info]pixel39 wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 04:52 pm (UTC)
Clearly you are not staying within the boundaries of the road properly as far as he is concerned. :-)

What does a crag dog do?
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 05:01 pm (UTC)
Hangs out with climbers. *g*
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[info]pixel39 wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 04:57 pm (UTC)
I briefly had a mental image of the Dogge in a climbing harness, you see...
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[info]ambar wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 05:01 pm (UTC)
I gave up on the seat belt with the current GSD; she can worm her way out of it no matter what I do.

Amazingly, it's possible to wedge an appropriately-sized Varikennel in the back seat of a 2005 Prius. Ask Me How. :-)
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[info]matociquala wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 05:07 pm (UTC)
Tesseract?
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[info]pixel39 wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 05:18 pm (UTC)
Speaking as someone married to someone with a 2004 Prius, I'd guess it involves a lot of shoving. And possibly a crowbar. :-)
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[info]ambar wrote:
Jun. 1st, 2009 07:40 pm (UTC)
There weren't any to be had at the pet store. Instead:


  1. open right rear door all the way (sadly, this is not perpendicular to the body of the car)

  2. roll passenger front seat all the way forward, fold seat forward.

  3. angle crate into back seat following the door line; when it hits the driver's seat, it can be straightened to follow the line of the back seat.

  4. close right rear door.

  5. realign passenger front seat to a more reasonable angle; push back as far as it goes (which helpfully wedges the crate into place).

  6. insert noisily anticipatory GSD (but that is a different flow chart).



Edited at 2009-06-01 07:41 pm (UTC)
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[info]batwrangler wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 04:25 am (UTC)
Sometimes you have to disassemble the Varikennel, wiggle the pieces into the car, and reassemble it. :)
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[info]pixel39 wrote:
Jun. 2nd, 2009 05:06 pm (UTC)
Someone on one of my mailing lists has a dog that has pet sheep. Her son wanted to do herding dog stuff for 4H or something along those lines, so they got some sheep for the dog to herd.
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( 19 comments — Leave a comment )

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