March 10, 2001
Obedience Hilltown Show N Go
Howdy Hooooooooo, Everyone,
I start out this new adventure with a heavy heart, but by the time it is over,
rejuvenation and delight in a working relationship with a being other then a human,
will over shadow the sadness.
We choose to add a four-legged member to the family in hopes that they will live forever.
They do not. There were two dogs that touched me in their own special ways and both of these
dogs have now passed on to that �big giant kennel in the sky��.the place where I want to spend my own eternity.
The first dog is Raven, one of Betsy�s Rottweilers. Raven was a four and a half year old,
happy dog until about November. That is when Betsy realized that there was something seriously wrong.
Trips to the vet resulted in a few lab tests that led to a diagnosis of Cancer of the Kidneys.
Sadder still, Raven was given two treatments of Chemotherapy before Betsy felt that there was something
wrong and choose to take Raven to another vet.
The second vet performed similar tests, but received quite different results.
Raven did not have cancer, but did have a �now� serious kidney infection.
In a story that gets long really fast, Raven never recovered.
Wasting away to nothingness after not eating for nearly three weeks, Betsy choose to end
Raven�s suffering by having her put to sleep last Monday morning.
I was relieved to hear that Betsy had made her decision, but it really did not hit me
until Tuesday morning when I walked into my cube at work and there was the picture I have
on the wall of what I call �The Three Corgis and The One Mutant�. Simply put this is a picture of Crumpet,
Mandy, Sprout, & Raven, all sitting and staring at the fragmented Joycie body. The photograph always makes
me laugh because it really should be called �The Rottweiler and the Three Mutants�.
The second dog touched me in the oddest of ways, along with his mommy.
I have mentioned Bingo the Dalmatian before to the Y2K9 Email List, but I found out at the USDAA
trial in a few weeks ago, that at the age of 10, Bingo had died of �Bloat� a month before.
(That is where the stomach turns over on itself, twisting off access to the rest of the body.)
What made Bingo special was his Mom, Leslie. Bingo got a late start in Agility
(I believe at 8 or 9 years of age) and his idea of running a course was different then most dogs�.
A course to him was really do a few obstacles, and then make up his own, like visit the score keeper,
visit the next dog on the line, oooh come back to mom, do a few more obstacles, and repeat.
Leslie always got out there and worked that course, even way after Bingo decided to add in his own fun.
There was no pressure on this dog to Q, although we all know that it is nice to get that Ribbon now and then,
but the only thing that Leslie demanded was that Bingo had fun. This is a woman after my own heart.
We were all there for Leslie and Bingo during a Jumpers run where Bingo kept it together
and played by the NADAC rules of running a course. It was neat to see about 100 people
standing outside of the ring cheering Bingo on as he hauled his body over that last jump�.at Mach 5.
Leslie just wanted to get Bingo around ONE course and Bingo did it for her this time.
I have never heard a louder explosion of clapping, cheering, and whistling before, not even for a dog
that had just received its MACH, ADCH, or NACH and Bingo was �just a Novice dog�.
That is what this is all about to me.
My heart goes out to both Betsy and to Leslie in their loss of Raven and Bingo.
There is a bright side as both of these woman have pups to look forward to.
Betsy has two of Raven�s kids, Victor & Jazzy and Leslie has Poker.
So, hugging my own Little Man named Crumpie and truly appreciating what I have in a little working buddy,
I abused him by going to what Mike and I call ��.Doggie Gestapo.
I know, it is a horrible name to call Dog Obedience, but to be honest,
when I start to hate obedience for its rigidness, I can hear Mike�s voice when he tells
Crumpie where he is going. I find myself smiling and relaxing.
Crumpie LOVES obedience. Sick dog.
This is where we start the happy part of the email.
I am not going to give the blow by blows as this email is already too long,
but I can say that my Saturday was exactly what I needed. It was a pick me up.
Crumpie and I headed to Hilltown�s Obedience Show'N'Go. I had entered him for two runs
with two separate Sits & Downs. I was there mainly for the focus of the later and ooops
forgot to practice for the rest. Bad me.
Crumpet surprised me as he really worked his heart out during the Heeling, Recall, and Stand for Exam.
Two high points were that for the Stand, he did his �Up� and stood stock-still. HURRAY!!!!!
The second was the Recall. Since that once back in January, I am now petrified about
Crumpie breaking the stay. Both times he was awesome. He even got his straight sits �in front�
and managed to sit straight coming back to Heel. Hurray for Crumpie.
The thing that was fun for me is that there weren�t that many people and I had a blast talking with everyone.
It was nice to see that everyone had some kind of positive training method�.
with a few not so positive and the results showed it. I learned a few things that
Crumpie does that I cannot see because I am on top of him and that info is going to be added to our training.
Helpful, Constructive Criticism. Just the way I like it.
Time for the Sit and & Down.
I felt like I was walking to the gallows as we were marched into the ring.
This was it. I have completely changed the way I have trained this and Crumpie and I
have been working really hard. It was time to see if all the minutes standing in the Living Room,
the purchase of the $8.00 Stop Watch, and bugging Elaine to be the �Judge� & watch time for us, was worth it.
I was dying to leave Crumpet an walk to the other side of the room, but to be honest,
since January and the way I am now training, eight feet was going to be my limit. I want him to
succeed and NOT fail. I want to come back to him and MEAN �Good Dog� and I WANT to give him treats.
My morbid curiosity of pushing the Crumpie Envelope was going to have to wait.
We Sit, We Stay, I leave. A minute used to be a really long time, but when you have been
training for a three minute Sit, my gosh is that a short amount of time.
The lady next to us is using a harsh voice to reinforce her dog�s stay. Crumpie looks upset.
�Mommy she is mad at ME! What do I do?�
Confidence Crumpie, Confidence.
I whisper a �Good Job� and all of a sudden he is back to smiling.
We were getting into the swing of standing and staring at each other
(I have to keep eye contact with Crumpet or else he feels insecure) when the Judge calls for a return.
I start to walk back and I can see that Crumpet is confused. Noooooooooooo.
I want to scream Good Doggie, but I cannot because I have been mirroring the actual test in training.
I get back into position and��..HE WAITS!!!!!!!!!!
My gosh, I have never seen a dog so proud of himself before in my life.
I know, I know, eight feet is a short distance, but not with us.
Time for the Down. Crumpie is steadier on this so I elected to go ten feet.
Happy, happy, happy, doggie.
Pant, pant, blink, pant, smile pant��. Perfect.
The lady next to us is not longer an issue.
Three minutes is shorter then Five. Crumpie really does not know what to do with me.
The next set of S & Ds are slightly different. We get to about 30 seconds and I see that
�oh you mean Recall� look goes across Crumpie face. One paw moved forward and an �utah� comes from me.
�Oooops, forgot�. He stayed sitting in the position for the last 30 seconds.
I just gave Crumpie praise, no snackies for him. He was confused but honest to god,
I saw the light bulb go on over his head. �If I stay, the Snackies will come�.If I stay, the Snackies will come���
The Down was a repeat of the first time around. The Snackies came.
This is exactly what I needed Crumpet to learn.
We stuck around because they were going to let us go a third time. We did not wait long.
We all decided that we would change the direction and that two women were going to make
noise outside of the ring, plus we were going to extend the time a bit. Heck, time extension?
Cannot be any worst then three minutes could it? Crumpie and I will play.
The only thing that I did was to go five feet out. I wanted confidence not ego.
Noise was made, another dog practiced a Recall, balls flying everywhere,
and Crumpie was panting away with his smile. I slowly edged backward and almost made
it to the eight feet when time was called.
The third Down was a repeat of the Sit. I just edged backward over the course of three minutes until I was ten feet out.
What a fantastic way to see that something you figured out was actually being accomplished.
Thanks to Mikie and Elaine for all of those times I nailed you guys to be the Judge and to time us.
I just could not risk Crumpie being used to me having the timer in my hand. Lord knows it could become a crunch.
Little tiny steps need to be taken.
I thanked everyone for the fun morning and the promise that the next time they will see us, Crumpie and I will be doing those S&Ds at more then eight feet. The girls all laughed.
We came home and then I head out to play with Victor and Jazzy in the lightened form of Doggie Gestapo. : ) Victor is so much like his grandma, Liesl and I have to remember that. Jazzy is too much like her Corgi Cousin Crumpet.
Both remind me to be patient, keep the lesions short, keep the fun & positive attitude, and that �to die for Heeling� just magically appears. The Down magically happens too.
With these four pages typed, I end my doggie weekend adventures. It is time to just be �Ball playing, Frisbee� Crumpie and �Need a Shower� Joycie.
Hope you all had a day as good as mine.
Joyce, The Determined Bean had a Breakthrough.
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Last Updated on April 21, 2007
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