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Dogs with jobs

September 5, 2016

It’s Labor Day so I thought I’d talked about how hard the Solstice dogs labor.  Every dog has their own personality and they all think they have a job to do around the house.

Sweet Banner is my homebody, she isn’t really interested in leaving the house but she takes her job very seriously.  She is the protector of the toys and my couch buddy.  She also makes sure that I am protected at night as the designated Bed dog.  She is the best bed dog (as in you don’t really even know she is there).

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PJ is the man of the house and he takes his role very seriously.  He protects his girls!  If a leaf drops in the neighborhood he is aware of that leaf!  (we have a lot of leaves).  PJ is also the “fest” dog.  He loves going to festivals and events and meeting the folks and spreading the Cardi love.

 

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Frost is the busy girl, at home she is the chewer of bones and chaser of cats.  She works hard with me as my obedience/rally dog (too bad she has a crappy trainer) and recently after being introduced to Barnhunt she is keeping the yard clear of rodents.

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Bailey is the working girl.  She is my sports dog.  Barnhunt, Coursing and nosework are all part of her jobs.  Plus she is Sienna’s escort and Grandma’s guard dog (she can always be found sleeping under Grandma’s chair.

 

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Last but really first is Lindy Hop, aka momma dog.  At 11+ she is the house hoodlum!  She gets into stuff, riles up the rest of the crew, barks for no reason and is all in all a spoiled brat.  And yes she gets away with lots.  Got to love my momma dog!

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As you can see they work hard!  So we are going to celebrate Labor Day by enjoying our unofficial last day of summer. Hope your dogs enjoy their jobs!

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So why train your dog?

August 26, 2016
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It’s funny how fast the dogs pick up training and how sometimes the concept is very hard.  Take Miss Frosty, the STAY command is very hard for her.  She has ants in her pants or something.  She just thinks STAY is boring.   But yet other things are instant for her, she is the only dog at the house who has a fast recall, “Frosty COME” and she is on her way, unlike the rest of the lollygaggers (is that a word?)   Good girl Frosty!

I decided to try Frosty out on Barnhunt.  Our friends at Georgia Barnhunt were hosting a clinic and I wanted to take Bailey to work on her Master level skills and I thought, why not I will take Frost and introduce her to the sport.  After giving the caged rat the “side eye” and leaping on and off the straw bales with obvious glee, she got down to business and started looking for the rats.  She was not that interested if the rat tube was in plain sight, she like finding them in the straw.  So all and a successful introduction to the the sport.

I didn’t realize how successful until this happened, a couple of days later:

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Yep, still moving when she brought it up on the deck!   Good girl…..EWWWWW!

I guess she is telling me she wants to Barnhunt!  Sometimes it doesnt’ take much training!

To learn more about Barnhunt (where NO rats are harmed!!!) go to http://www.barnhunt.com

 

 

Goodbye old friend 

July 20, 2016
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Today is a sad day at Solstice, we said goodbye to our old friend Stoney.   Stoney was my first Cardigan and we had a lot of fun together.  Stoney was the king of the Major reserve, he retired from the show ring with 17 points and 12 major reserves, nobody can say we didn’t try.  Stoney won when he wasn’t supposed to and lost when he should have won.  He beat national award winners and eventual BIS winners.  He introduced me to the Cardigan family and was always fun to take into the ring.

Stoney was my first agility dog, we completed our Novice Standard title with some hilarious runs.  He was also my first Mexican Champion and the year we showed in Mexico he was the #1 Cardigan.

Stoney was a therapy dog and an AKC ACE award nominee.  He did many a good deed.

He hated big black dogs and loved red dogs and girl puppies.  Other than that he was kind of an old grumpy guy.

Being grumpy led to his retirement from sport and when we moved to Georgia, my good friend Janne offered to keep him at her dogless house during the moving process and he just enjoyed being an only dog that he stayed behind to fill her dogless life.  I can’t not thank her enough for giving him such a sweet last few years and today helping him to the bridge and helping me to keep my promise to make sure he was always taking care of his whole life.  Much love to Janne.

Thank you Stonehead for being you.  Rest well Mr. Head,  Godspeed.

MX CH Aelwyd Solstice at the Stones, NA, CGC

5/30/2000 – 7/20/2016

 

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More letters more fun!

July 20, 2016

PJ, Bailey and I joined the Keelmtn team at the International Canine Kennel Club’s Georgia shows.  We had 6 shows in one day and I can tell you we were all wore out!  It was our first opportunity to play in the ICKC arena.  It was fun but like I said we were worn out.  Between the Solstice and Keelmtn we had 2 adult Cardis, 2 adult Pems and 3 Pem babies and we got lots of ribbons and both PJ and Bailey earned their Intercontinental and International Championships.

 

New Letters and Stuff

July 6, 2016

I have been lax in blog updates, seems we have been to busy to blog.  We have been having a good time with our BFF Leslie and her pretty Pembroke babies.  We had lots of opportunities to play with them at matches and shows.

We have had some Cardigan fun too!  Bailey finished her Coursing Ability Advanced title.  She loves to run CAT!

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Frosty got new letters too.  She earned her Canine Good Citizen title.

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I got new letters myself, well sort of, I am now an AKC CGC Evaluator, is that the CGCE?  I’m able to give the Canine Good Citizen test as well as the Advanced, Urban and the STAR Puppy evaluations.

PJ and Bailey showed at the International Canine Kennel Club (ICKC) and were awarded 2 Group 1s for PJ and a Group 2 & 3 for Bailey.  Leslie’s pretty Pem kids were award 4 of the 6 Best Puppy in Show ribbons.  We had a fun time.

Outside of our competitions Bailey and Banner are doing Nosework.  I joined the National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW) to learn more about it.  They love the scent work.   Frost in Obedience class at Atlanta Obedience Club (AOC) and I am doing a virtual class with her through the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy, Rally Skill Building, it has been interesting.

In May I rotated off the CWCCA Board of Directors as I decided not to run for another term.  In June I started my second term as the President of AOC and our very busy club keeps me plenty busy.   So with that plus all the summer fun the ATL has to offer the Solstice Gang is busy.

Thanks for checking in on us!

CAT and a half

April 18, 2016

I think chasing the “bunny” really is Bailey’s favorite dog sport. She barks and whines and jumps and pulls while waiting for her turn. This weekend she got to run 3 courses and got 3 more Qs toward her next Coursing Ability title.

For the CAT title you need 3 qualifying runs and for the CAA you need 10 and for the CAT title you need 25. Bailey now has 7 Qs and hopefully she will get some runs later this year to get the last 3 for her CAA. I will keep letting her run as long as she is having fun so maybe she will earn  the X title down the road.

Special thanks to GANG (Greyhound Association of North Georgia) for holding these events for all of us non sighthound folks)  check them out at http://www.gangcoursing.org

Tally Ho till next time.

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Rattie O!

March 21, 2016

Lindy Hop earned her Open Barnhunt title this weekend.   The Open title is finding 2 rats, a climb and a tunnel in 2:30.

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At just shy of 11 years old she won’t be advancing to the Senior level. She loves hunting the rats but I won’t ask her to climb the extra bales.

Barnhunt is currently reviewing it’s rules so there may be other options so she can keep playing the games.

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Bailey’s weekend wasn’t as successful in her Master quest. We are currently 0 – 11 mostly for a lack of tunnels. We need do some tunnel work before we try again but we still had fun!

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I said Come!

March 1, 2016

When training any dog, young or old the recall is the most important command you can teach your dog.  It can save their lives.
 
I don’t know about you but when we aren’t actively training for something I get very lazy with my dogs and my expectations of their behavior.  Dogs being dogs they are natural opportunist and they will take advantage of a situation.  That is what has been happening at home.  The weather has been mild and outside has been more interesting than inside which makes them deaf to the word come.  I noticed a correlation between their lack of hearing and the weather.  They can develop sudden temporary total hearing loss in direct relation to the nice weather and outdoor activity by the birds and squirrels.  I’m tired of standing on the deck waiting for them to mosey on into the house so we started working on the recall. 

Since I live with Cardigans, food is a great motivator.  Snacks are certainly worth paying attention for and appreciated and if you know anything about corgis in general you know they never live very far from the refrigerator.   Because Cardigans are so motivated by snacks you have to keep an eye on their weight and if you are training with food it can go from fit to fat pretty darn quick.   I have been rewarding the recall with treats, I yell come and when they come they randomly get a snack reward.  They never know if it is a food or a praise reward, but there are still a lot of treats handed out as the ins and outs are frequent.  It is sometimes a Catch 22 in watching their weight and handing out yummy training rewards.  Then along came Fromm Liver Recipe Low Fat Dog Treats.  The Solstice gang loves them and I don’t worry about handing them out for a fast recall to the back door.   These Fromm treats are 1 Calorie per treat, made from 100% USDA inspected ingredients in a USDA plant in Wisconsin. 

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Now how did I find out about these tasty treats?  I am part of the  http://www.chewy.com Blogger program and once a month I get an email with list of products they would like to have reviewed.  I chose one or more products and then they ship them in their very quick Chewy way and then we try them out.  They send them at no cost to me but my opinions and comments are entirely my own, well mine and the dogs.   These treats are ones I’m adding to my autoship order.

So if you need a low calorie training treat give these a try.

If you are interested in becoming a Chewy blogger, contact Sidney Villegas at  svillegas@chewy.com” svillegas@chewy.com for more information.

Words Matter – if you love your pets read this!

February 5, 2016

This an article from Best in Show Daily and if you love your pets you need to read this!  Animal rights is not Animal welfare!

Here is the link to the original article at Best in Show Daily, I also copied the text below.

http://www.bestinshowdaily.com/words-matter/

Words Matter…Posted By Elizabeth BrinkleyIn Dogs & People Learn! Political Beat

The indignant people who have informed me they will call their dog what they want, can’t see the forest for the trees. The animal rights cults have a plan and one of the tools they use is called “incrementalism” – one step at a time, one inch at a time, one bad law at a time. They have worked on their plan for years. They have convinced us all breeders are bad. That professional breeders are “puppymills”. That no one should make money raising dogs. They have encouraged us to look on dogs as emotional substitutes for children and call them “furbabies” and “furkids”. Sounds harmless – right? The plan is simple – indoctrinate the public to think of dogs as “almost human” and then they push for “rights” for the animals. They push for “better care” for the animals but that is better care by THEIR standards and they will find ways to make sure it is impossible to live up to those standards. They push to end the slavery of ownership (and yes they really do talk like that). They push for laws to have owners declared as “guardians”. There is a reason for that. The word guardian has a well-established track record in the legal system. If the word “guardian” is applied to you, then the state can come in and decide if your care of your ward is adequate or not. If they decide in their infinite wisdom with all the profound knowledge of animal husbandry that these noble bureaucrats have at their fingertips (and yes that is sarcasm) then they will remove your animal and under the law they would be able to take your dog and you would have NO recourse because you weren’t a fit “guardian”.

Do I occasionally refer to myself as mom to my dogs? Yes, but I make a conscious effort to NEVER do so in public unless I am around other dog people who will know that I do not consider myself to be the mother of a dog (although I know of people who think of me as a bitch). Do I think dogs are incredible? Yes, BUT they are not “almost human”. Dogs don’t have morals or ethics. That tongue that licks your face probably licked that dog’s butt or another dog’s butt in the last 24 hours. Your dog will breed with a close relative because they don’t know any better. They will eat poop. They will attack a bunny and destroy before your eyes. THEY ARE DOGS. I honor my dogs for their intelligence in working with humans and the unconditional love they give but I never forget they are ANIMALS and they will react like animals in a bad situation.

‘A dog is NOT “almost human,” and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such’. — John Holmes

Every time we anthropomorphize a dog and attribute human emotions to an animal we take one more step down the slippery path, helping the animal rights cults remove animals from our lives. That is the goal of animal “rights” – NO animals. Ingrid Newkirk, co-founder and President of PETA wrote of her vision for the future of our pets: “As the surplus of cats and dogs (artificially engineered by centuries of forced breeding) declined, eventually companion animals would be phased out, and we would return to a more symbiotic relationship — enjoyment at ‘a distance.’” “We have no ethical obligation to preserve the different breeds of livestock produced through selective breeding…

“One generation and out. We have no problems with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding” — Wayne Pacelle – President of the Humane Society of the United States.

Animal rights” is not “cool” and it’s not “politically correct!” “Animal rights” is a radical, extremist, and cult-like belief. It is dangerous for humans and animals. Folks who choose this misanthropic path have the right to make that choice, but they do not have the right to force this horribly anti-human and dangerous belief system on the rest of society through their campaigns of lies and misinformation. I think it is time and past to watch our language and set folks straight about what we do and why we do it. So if you want to go on referring to your dog as your baby, your furkid, your furbaby, you can do that but there will be no complaints allowed when they come to take away your baby because they don’t agree with the way you care for it. It is time to “rescue” the language affecting our animals and people’s perception of them. It took 30 years for animal rights to hijack our language and then seek to steam roller us with it. It is time to take it back. Or to quote Jay Kitchner’s kick butt article “Take back the conversation”.

Look what Mr. Chewy sent us

January 24, 2016
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We get our food from Chewy and they have wonderful customer service and they work really hard to find out what pets and people really like.  One of the things they do is to send products out monthly for bloggers to try and review, Chewy sends them at no cost in return for an honest review.  This month Chewy sent us two products to review and this is the first one, the Outward Hound Kibble Drop. Since the weather has been ugly and we have been in the house a lot so I thought it was a good time to try the game.

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What’s this? The Cardi kids were very curious about it, well duh, they knew there was food in there.

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Let’s get the food! How do we get it? Banner tried from the top, and she was really the only who flipped the doors open.

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Bailey’s solution, take the whole thing and dump the kibble on the floor.

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So how are we reviewing this product? Probably not a great adult Cardi puzzle. It is a little light weight and those tricky Cardigans will just cheat and turn it over. I think it could be a fun toys for puppies and smaller dogs.  I will add it to my puppy enrichment tools.

Thanks Chewy for letting the Solstice gang try it out.  Get one for yourself at http://www.chewy.com