The dog musing/vent thread

[Elrohwen]

We got a major yesterday! :banana: So excited. We also picked up 2 points on Saturday to put him at 10 total. It should have been a major on Saturday, but Watson's sister didn't make it because their breeder has tiny puppies in her house, and didn't want to bring in any diseases. I had to tease her a bit about that one - breaking a major for her own dog. The second day another bitch came which made a major again (which she actually took, allowing her to finish).

It was a long weekend though. We planned to stay with a friend in Albany since it's slightly closer to the show site than our house. Watson was so overstimulated from playing with his dog friend that he wouldn't sleep. After two hours of pacing and whining, and basically having a panic attack of sorts, we just drove home. We got in at 1:30, and woke up at 5:15 to drive back to the show site for an 8:45 ring time. Ugh. I'm still so out of it. Totally worth it though!

The best part is that the judge on Saturday took a really hard look at Watson in the BOB ring. There were two specials - one was the #3 Welshie in the country last year, and the other was at Westminster this year. They are both really nice dogs and she actually looked at Watson a few times as if she was considering putting him up.

Watson thinks the best part is that he won his first real prize - a stuffed giraffe. I also got some Welshie mugs, some leashes, and two actual blue and white Best of Winners rosettes with the New England Sporting Group Association logo on it.

 

[Slick]

Thank you Leo, for intentionally vacating the carpeted area when you had to throw up for scarfing down your food way too dang fast. However, next time, when you have to choose between the tile floor and your dog beg, I would really prefer you choose the tile floor...

 

[Shai]

As far as the goldens go, one of my friends just had to return her golden to the breeder for aggression issues. Show bred dog too.

Which is every bit as incorrect as the heavy-coated/-boned giant sofa lump with no little/no working drive.

Both are far too common.

My beef isn't really that lower drive Goldens exist nor that they are seen as great family companions -- they ARE great family companions as long as their basic needs are met and they get lots of quality people time -- I just get heartburn with the idea that they are all like that, that they are all supposed to be like that, and snide comments that every other breed is not "like a Golden" with the subtext that Goldens are witless creampuff sofa pillows.

A good Golden should, IMO, be naturally bombproof and athletic and think everyone is well-intentioned. They should also be high energy, orally fixated, totally head over heels with their people (and needing a corresponding amount of time dedicated to their social needs), inventive problem solvers, and generally gregarious super-involved helperholics. A lot of those things do make them awesome family companions for many families...that reputation is well-deserved. But that doesn't make them easy and the amount of work it takes to ensure they are happy, well-adjusted members of a household and society gets glossed over when certain comments perpetuate.

/soapbox

 

[sassafras]

Helperholic, lol.

 

[Babyblue5290]

Apparently some strange act of Karma has decided that Talon's enemies must stay as close as possible. Long,

Backstory:

A little white Bichon who always would run around the neighborhood is Talon's most hated enemy. The dog is very friendly, however it likes to "Tease" Talon whenever we are outside and follows us around. With Art the dog just runs right up and plays, but it's probably because Art is less intimidating. With Talon however, it runs up to use, stops and watches Talon from about 6 ft away, than runs towards us but as soon as Talon makes any kind of movement, it runs away, over and over again. At first Talon only wanted to play with it, but over some time it's become and instant source of frustration and reactivity for him. He now see's the dog, knows what's going to follow, and immediately freaks out. This is now the ONLY dog he acts this way with that runs around free. The other dogs we see often are so calm that he can be around them without freaking out at all.

I've tried throwing treats at it so it doesn't follow us home, but it just ignores the treats. I can sometimes keep Talon from freaking out for a while, but every single time he stays calm the dog still runs towards us and away, even if Talon doesn't move at first. >_<


Now for the fun part. This dog use to live somewhere close, but not in our apartment complex. I came down the stairs from our apartment with Talon only to end up face to face with the bichon an it's owners opening the door to the apartment below us. O_O They apparently are moving in. We can't really get downstairs without passing their door.

Talon luckily held it together, mainly because the dog WAS on leash so it couldn't do the "oh hey lets greet....nope, just kidding...no really lets say hi...nope nener-nener-nener" thing and we did an emergency u-turn back up the stairs so he didn't have long to see who it was.

I think I'm going to take this as a good thing. if the dog is bothering us, I can let the manager know and they can actually do something about it, plus this gives us more oppurtunities to work on his behavior around this dog while it's under contorl. so....I guess it's a yay thing lol All I have to do is make sure Talon doesn't try to eat it. ha....ha....

 

[Sekah]

Cohen is a cover girl!

http://pawsh-magazine.com/2014/03/pawsh-no-9-spring-2014-cover.html

Her face is kind of plastered all over their website right now. I... can't complain. I think there may be more shots of her inside the magazine wearing different hats, but I won't know 'til it's released. I'm psyched!

Our cover pup, Cohen, looks like she is crooning with glee at the prospect of warm weather.

 

[Babyblue5290]

Cohen is a cover girl!

http://pawsh-magazine.com/2014/03/pawsh-no-9-spring-2014-cover.html

Her face is kind of plastered all over their website right now. I... can't complain. I think there may be more shots of her inside the magazine wearing different hats, but I won't know 'til it's released. I'm psyched!

I love that photo, congrats on making the cover!

Cohen seems like such a cool dog.

 

[meepitsmeagan]

We got a major yesterday! :banana: So excited. We also picked up 2 points on Saturday to put him at 10 total. It should have been a major on Saturday, but Watson's sister didn't make it because their breeder has tiny puppies in her house, and didn't want to bring in any diseases. I had to tease her a bit about that one - breaking a major for her own dog. The second day another bitch came which made a major again (which she actually took, allowing her to finish).

It was a long weekend though. We planned to stay with a friend in Albany since it's slightly closer to the show site than our house. Watson was so overstimulated from playing with his dog friend that he wouldn't sleep. After two hours of pacing and whining, and basically having a panic attack of sorts, we just drove home. We got in at 1:30, and woke up at 5:15 to drive back to the show site for an 8:45 ring time. Ugh. I'm still so out of it. Totally worth it though!

The best part is that the judge on Saturday took a really hard look at Watson in the BOB ring. There were two specials - one was the #3 Welshie in the country last year, and the other was at Westminster this year. They are both really nice dogs and she actually looked at Watson a few times as if she was considering putting him up.

Watson thinks the best part is that he won his first real prize - a stuffed giraffe. I also got some Welshie mugs, some leashes, and two actual blue and white Best of Winners rosettes with the New England Sporting Group Association logo on it.

Great job! Watson is definitely a stunner and deserves every bit of it. Way cool the judge Saturday was looking real hard at him. It's hard to go up against specials!

 

[Upendi&Mina]

We got a major yesterday! :banana: So excited. We also picked up 2 points on Saturday to put him at 10 total. It should have been a major on Saturday, but Watson's sister didn't make it because their breeder has tiny puppies in her house, and didn't want to bring in any diseases. I had to tease her a bit about that one - breaking a major for her own dog. The second day another bitch came which made a major again (which she actually took, allowing her to finish).



It was a long weekend though. We planned to stay with a friend in Albany since it's slightly closer to the show site than our house. Watson was so overstimulated from playing with his dog friend that he wouldn't sleep. After two hours of pacing and whining, and basically having a panic attack of sorts, we just drove home. We got in at 1:30, and woke up at 5:15 to drive back to the show site for an 8:45 ring time. Ugh. I'm still so out of it. Totally worth it though!



The best part is that the judge on Saturday took a really hard look at Watson in the BOB ring. There were two specials - one was the #3 Welshie in the country last year, and the other was at Westminster this year. They are both really nice dogs and she actually looked at Watson a few times as if she was considering putting him up.



Watson thinks the best part is that he won his first real prize - a stuffed giraffe. I also got some Welshie mugs, some leashes, and two actual blue and white Best of Winners rosettes with the New England Sporting Group Association logo on it.

Huge huge congrats! That's awesome.

 

[GingerKid]

A good Golden should, IMO, be naturally bombproof and athletic and think everyone is well-intentioned. They should also be high energy, orally fixated, totally head over heels with their people (and needing a corresponding amount of time dedicated to their social needs), inventive problem solvers, and generally gregarious super-involved helperholics. A lot of those things do make them awesome family companions for many families...that reputation is well-deserved. But that doesn't make them easy and the amount of work it takes to ensure they are happy, well-adjusted members of a household and society gets glossed over when certain comments perpetuate.

/soapbox

My friend's mom has a bench-bred golden that is all of these things. She was also a complete (friendly) psycho until about 2 years old. I mean, she doesn't have a malicious bone in her body, but 80lbs of (kind of slobbery) fur launching herself at you in a frenzy of happiness is still kind of terrifying.

At 8 months old used a piece of paper to pull a plate of tortilla chips off the kitchen counter by while my friend watched. And then laughed. And then got yelled at by his mom for letting her do it.

But at least she never counter surfs! :lol-sign:

 

[Finkie_Mom]

Cohen is a cover girl!

http://pawsh-magazine.com/2014/03/pawsh-no-9-spring-2014-cover.html

Her face is kind of plastered all over their website right now. I... can't complain. I think there may be more shots of her inside the magazine wearing different hats, but I won't know 'til it's released. I'm psyched!

Love it! She's so pretty (and talented!).

 

[Ozfozz]

Cohen is a cover girl!

http://pawsh-magazine.com/2014/03/pawsh-no-9-spring-2014-cover.html

Her face is kind of plastered all over their website right now. I... can't complain. I think there may be more shots of her inside the magazine wearing different hats, but I won't know 'til it's released. I'm psyched!

That's so exciting!! She looks like she was born to model

 

[Sekah]

She was probably thinking "oh god get this thing off me" but... it worked out I guess!

 

[Upendi&Mina]

Snitch is now officially bordering on bigger than Cara. Where did my puppy go?

 

[Dogdragoness]

Buddy has decided that when we aren't home, he is not going to stay in his cage and keeps getting out!

I bought said cage at a flea market and it was damaged when I bought it, but he hasn't had a problem with staying inside until recently. so I switched the little bugger's cage out with one that is not messed up that a friend gave us and it has a double latch, we'll see how he likes them apples.

 

[Babyblue5290]

Took a walk with the dogs, did not go well.

Art was the bad one, I think he may have been just a bit over-excited and under-excercised. He kept barking at all the dogs he would see (excitedly) or the cats. There were a ton of cats and dogs too. This wouldn't be such a huge deal if it wasn't for the fact Talon would start loosing his cool as soon as Art started barking. He didn't even know what he was barking at half the time, but if Art did it Talon HAS to do it too! We did get a good quiet sit from Talon when Art was freaking out over a cat near the end of the walk which was good. Plus, Talon didn't have any problems with the cars at all. He also saw two skateboarders and a bike, a bit of overexcitement there but not too bad.

 

[Finkie_Mom]

Took a walk with the dogs, did not go well.

Art was the bad one, I think he may have been just a bit over-excited and under-excercised. He kept barking at all the dogs he would see (excitedly) or the cats. There were a ton of cats and dogs too. This wouldn't be such a huge deal if it wasn't for the fact Talon would start loosing his cool as soon as Art started barking. He didn't even know what he was barking at half the time, but if Art did it Talon HAS to do it too! We did get a good quiet sit from Talon when Art was freaking out over a cat near the end of the walk which was good. Plus, Talon didn't have any problems with the cars at all. He also saw two skateboarders and a bike, a bit of overexcitement there but not too bad.

I'm glad Talon did well with some stuff. Kimma was actually the one being a bit barky/reactive on our walk just now. And of course, like your Art and Talon, Jari then has to react because Kimma is.

It didn't help that they both did a "drive by" treeing of a squirrel, and said squirrel dropped half a loaf of bread on their heads, then we passed by the yard with two Boxers who run the fence. Blarg.

 

[PWCorgi]

Siri is not reactive, at all, and I love it. But if she is out with Frodo, oh lordy, she turns into a little sh*thead. Frodo is manageable if it's just him out, but if he's out with her, he's terrible.

Needless to say, they never go anywhere together.

 

[Oko]

Every time Feist's brother's owner posts a FB status about him, it solidifies the fact that it isn't my fault, her relatives are wacked too. :rofl1:

 

[Babyblue5290]

lol well I'm glad it's not just my two who are asshats together :rofl1:

We use to not take the anywhere together (because of that issue) but lately with walks Art has been so good with people and is usually not reactive towards dogs, and Talon is doing good with dogs and not reactive towards people. So it was going well, today I'm going to count as a fluke. maybe.