Merry Christmas!!!!!!

Christmas Poem

Some One Does Care

Snow fell with a great big "flop"
Straight onto the head of little Cindy Lop

Cindy Lop, the hound with no fear,
Climbed out of the snow free and clear.

She ran around, chasing her tail,
And when she bit it, let out a wail.

Joey, the boy, called her annoying
And his parents thought she was just boring.

She knew it was Christmas Eve that night,
And she knew Santa would come into sight.

That night she slept by the fireside
Dreaming of a bone, ten inches wide.

But he left her something better,
Even though she never sent him a letter.

He gave her a heart shaped pillow
That almost made her cry like a Weeping Willow.

She finally knew that someone did care
It just happened to be the man from up there.


-Michaela Seitter

#15: 101 Dalmatians

This is the classic story adapted from the book written by Dodie Smith. This story involves romance and adventure between humans and even their dogs. The love that animals have for each other shows from beginning to end. This furry movie will have you laughing and crying while you watch the best actors-both human and canine- display their colorful talent.

Plot (Caution Spoilers)

This story starts with the meeting of Roger and Anita in the park one day. Roger, played by Jeff Daniels (Dumb and Dumber, Speed) and Anita, played by Joely Richardson (The Patriot, Nip/Tuck), fall in love and get married and so do their two Dalmatians, Pongo and Perdita. Roger designed video games while Anita designed clothes for a well known fashion person, Cruella De Vil played Glenn Close (Sarah Plain and Tall, Air Force One). Cruella falls in love with a design of Anita's that would look wonderful in Dalmatian puppy fur and when she finds out that Pongo and Perdita are going to have puppies she plans on buying them. The puppies come, but Anita and Roger won't sell. Cruella gets mad and fires her and then threatens them.

One night, Roger and Anita take Pongo and Perdita for their walk and come back to find that the puppies had been stolen.. The police stated that they would do their best, but Pongo wanted to help. That night Pongo sent out the twilight bark. The next day, a message came back and they took off to find their pups. Meanwhile, some other animals are trying to help recover the pups. One dog, an Airedale Terrier, helps get them out of the mansion where they were being held, and then a Old English Sheepdog hides them in a barn.

Roger and Anita are still waiting for word on their puppies and now Pongo and Perdita. Anita realized that it had been Cruella that had stolen them for their fur. Pongo and Perdita meet up with the Sheepdog who takes them to their pups and the other 84 pups that Cruella had stolen. The police now know that they are looking for Cruella. They trace her to the barn where the puppies were at. She was trying to find the puppies, but had pigs, sheep, dogs, horses, and even raccoons trying to stop her. Pongo and Perdita start taking the pups back home. The police pick Cruella and three of her henchmen, but they were still looking for the puppies. They finally find them and took them all back to Roger's and Antia's place. They counted 101, but only 17 were theirs. None of the other puppies had identification tags and no one contacted the police about missing puppies. Anita and Roger agree to keep all the puppies.

Roger makes a video game based on the story and it becomes a best-seller. They move to a big place. The dogs have their family and Roger and Anita start their own.

5 out of 5 stars for family friendliness.

Top 15 Disney Dog Movies

Ok, I thought that it would be cool to watch the top 15 Disney dog films of all time and rate them. So I will come on later after I've watched the movie and tell everyone what it's about and anything else I can find on it. Here is the list:

#1 Lady and The Tramp
#2 The Fox and The Hound
#3 101 Dalmatians (Animated)
#4 Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey
#5 Oliver and Company
#6 Old Yeller
#7 Bolt
#8 Eight Below
#9 Iron Will
#10 Whit Fang
#11 Homeward Bound II: Lost in San Fransisco
#12 Air Buddies
#13 The Ugly Dachshund
#14 Snow Buddies
#15 101 Dalmatians

I will be going from #15 to #1. I hope everyone is looking forward to this as much as I am. Check back soon for an update.

Birthday Pictures

Here are those pictures that Rascal promised behind my back. I'm going to have to have a long talk with him. By the way, I wanted to let everyone know to zip over to my friend Rudy's blog after your done here.

Birthday

Hi, Everyone, it's me, Rascal. I hacked into my owner's account to talk for a little bit myself. Now as you all are probably thinking, "How is he typing?", I'll tell you. Pencils do wonders! I came up with the idea of using a pencil to type and.......NO! I did not get that idea from the Shaggy Dog. I would never take another dog's creation and claim it for myself, well not unless treats were involved, but they're not so back off! Anyway, August 15th was my second birthday and I couldn't believe that my Mom didn't bother to mention it, so I'm doing that for her. Also
I just wanted to let everyone know about my buddy Riley's blog. He is the dog that my family and I rescued. He is a lot of fun to play with. We chase cats and goats and have races through the cotton field. I wish I had the camera, but I don't, so I'll post some pictures later, if my Mom doesn't find out that I hacked her account and change the password. Pray Not! But I will post this picture just to make you smile.

New Blog

Yes, my new blog is up and running. I just did the first post and I think I got everything set. You can check it out here. I hope to eventually make it into a website, but right now I don't have the time to manage one, but please check it out and follow along if you like. I will also be adding a gadget so you can subscribe to it and to this blog. So then you can follow along with Rascal and Riley.

I'm Back!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm back, again. I actually haven't been doing a lot of dog stuff. I haven't been able to go and volunteer because the lady has been to busy. I was swamped with goat stuff, birthing, registrations, show entries, etc. But now I think I can come back and talk to ya'll about what I'm doing.

The Puppy Play Group has started. We have about 12 dogs. Ranging from Golden Retrievers to Labrador Retrievers to Australian Shepherds to Jack Russell Terriers. We accept any breed of dog as long as they are well behaved. We are currently working on Flyball, and it is going awesome. The people are willing to listen and do anything to let their dogs have fun. We are actually going to watch a tournament in September.

As far as Rascal's training, well, I don't think He'll ever compete in Obedience, but I do want to do him in Rally, so I think we'll be working on his Rally, and Flyball. I'm also looking at getting into SAR training. Wish me luck. I've got to go. Remember, I'm back to stay.

Rally-O 101

I wish I had a penny for every time someone asked me what Rally-O was. So, in this post I hope to help explain it by telling you what someone else said. Hahaha. I'm just not good at explaining Rally-O. But who knows, maybe you will become interested in it.

Rally

"What in the world is that?!" someone asked me at a recent show and pointed to the ring where stewards were setting up ground-level signs. I answered simply, "rally obedience," and explained the strange goings-on in the ring.

Rally obedience, or "Rally-O" as it has been termed by enthusiasts, is the latest American Kennel Club event to hit the show circuit. Rally-O combines characteristics of sports car racing, dog agility, and traditional obedience into a new fun sport.

Rally is timed, includes 12-20 performance stations depending on the level of participation, and is scored by a judge who watches for a smooth performance as well as skill in following the directions at each station.

As it does with obedience and agility, AKC offers Rally titles at three levels:

• Novice, with on-leash exercises that demonstrate the dog's understanding of basic commands such as sit, stay, down, and come and heel position;
• Advanced, a set of exercises performed off-leash that includes at least one jump; and
• Excellent, a more difficult off-leash course that includes at least one jump and demonstrates more precise skill and coordination between the dog and handler.

As in agility, courses are designed by the judge and are different in every trial. Exhibitors receive a course map from the judge and can walk the course without their dogs prior to the start of the class. Judges design their courses by choosing from more than four dozen stations that direct handlers and dogs to perform specific exercises.

A sign at each station gives instructions to the dog-handler team, and each team must execute the station's particular task within two-to-four feet of the sign. Once the judge gives the command "forward," the dog and handler complete the course on their own without further commands from the judge. Handlers may not use treats or toys in the ring, but may do anything else to encourage their dogs at the novice and advanced levels except physically touch them or make corrections with the leash. Encouragement is allowed at the excellent level but handlers cannot pat their legs or clap their hands as they can in novice and advanced classes.

Signs instruct teams to go fast or slow, to halt (dog must sit at heel), to make turns and circles, to reverse direction, to do a sit-stay-recall, or to follow other basic obedience exercises.

Each team has a starting score of 100 points from which points are deducted for such faults as missed or incompletely performed stations, touching the dog, leash corrections, etc. The team with the highest score (i.e., fewest number of faults) wins first place, followed by the next highest score for second place, and so forth.

If two teams achieve the same score, the judge determines the placements according to the time recorded for each team's course completion.

Rally-O is a wonderful introduction to the sport of obedience for dogs and owners, an end it itself, an opportunity for veteran dogs to remain active, and a chance for shy or anti-social dogs to get ring experience without worrying about being examined by a judge.

Many dogs enjoy this change from the usual silent heeling of traditional obedience as their handlers can clap hands, talk, whistle (even sing!) to them throughout the entire course without penalty. Those who participate in agility trials will recognize the pre-class "walk-throughs" and the challenge of working with their dog partners in an almost dance-like flow from one station to another. A complete description of Rally Obedience is on the AKC website at http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/RO2999.pdf. Station signs for all three levels can be found http://www.akc.org/pdfs/rulebooks/ROR999.pdf. Information is also available at dog clubs that are sponsoring demonstrations and classes for an increasing number of dog owners who are happily exclaiming "Rally-O!"

By Denise A. Gordon

Flyball Training - Part 2

Now that you know what flyball is, you can start to plan what you want to do. You need to decide if you are doing this for fun or competition, if you're going to join a team or start your own, are you going to build your equipment or buy it. These are choices that I can't help you make, but I'll do my best to help you get started as best as I can.

Fun or Competition

Let's start here since this is the first thing you need to decide. If you're not willing to spend time, money, energy, etc. Then competition is not for you. Even though training flyball for fun still takes these things, it is less stressful since you don't have to hurry with training, and spend loads of time, energy, and money on all training. So talk it through, and decide then move on to the next step.

To Build or To Buy

Well, I didn't have the money to buy, therefore I made the jumps. Ok. I did buy the box from a friend who was getting out of flyball, but that was because it was cheap and my dad wasn't sure how to build one. But if you're deteremined to buy then you can skip this section and go here.

If you want to build your equipment, there are really easy directions to go by, but I'll warn you, that if you're doing competition then I would build the equipment, train uses that and save money and get the ones made for competitions and uses those, because there are so many rules on six=zes of the jumps and box that it will save you a lot of stress at competitions if you buy equipment to use at competitions. Here are the directions.

Joining or Starting

Well, it depends really on where you live. See where I live the closest team is 1 1/2 hours away. So, I was going to have to start my own. I started with putting flyers out and getting the word out about it. I was contacted and found out that the lady was starting a dog club (puppy play group) and now I have about five other people interested in flyball. So now I have almost enough dogs for two teams, but if you still want to join a team then go here.


Well, this is the end of part two. The next part will be on equipment and books to read that will also aid you in your journey in flyball. Until next time. Bye.

Show-n-go

I took Rascal to his first Show-n-go. He was so excited. He drooled and wanted to love on everyone. It started at 9Am. Excellent was first, then Advance, and finally Novice, which is what we were in. Barb McNinch from Ringtime was there and she walked me through the Excellent course just to let me get a feel for it. Rascal whined when I stepped away from him and even when I just went to the bathroom which was right beside where we were sitting. We did two runs. The first one wasn't go good. I practiced on the sidelines right before and he still freaked when we got out there. He was just focused on everything, but me. We reached one sign and I told him around and started to walk when I noticed that he wasn't following. I turned around and there he was looking at his reflection in a mirror against the wall. He never showed interest in his reflection at home, but there it was different. He acted like he was in a trance and everyone was laughing. I pulled him away and the next thing happened. We came to an off set weave sign. We needed to weave a figure eight around two cones, but there were two dog bowls with toys. One had a tennis ball and the other one had a squeaky hedgehog in it. " Oh No!" I thought. Two of his favorite toys just sitting there, waiting to be played with. I started the figure eight. He lunged for the tennis ball. I kept going. Then for the hedgehog. I continued on my not so merry way. We finished with not to many more problems.

The second run was better. He paused for just a sec at the mirror until he realized that I wasn't going to stop. Then at the figure eight, he glanced that the toys, then imediately looked right back at me. He did fairly good even through it was his first time.

If you don't know a lot about Rally-O (Rally Obedience) then I encourage you to go look it up. It just might be the dog sport for you. Have a blessed day.

Flyball Training - Part 1

Well, before we get started in this series of posts dedicated to training your dog for flyball, let's talk about some of the history of flyball.

It all bagan in the late 1960's, when a group of trainers from Southern California created a scent discrimination hurdle race. When the dogs finished, there would be someone who would throw tennis balls to the dogs. They then decided to build something that would launch the balls known as a box. The first box was created by Herbert Wagner and Herbert also did a demo on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Doing that enabled the word to spread on this great sport. It was several dog training clubs in Toronto-Detroit area that held the first competition. After it was a big enough sport the first real tournament was held in 1983 and in 1985, Mike Randell wrote the first ever NAFA rule book and became the first NAFA Executive Director.

In Flyball, two teams race side-by-side over a 51 foot course. Each dog must run down the lane, jump over all four jumps, trigger the box, catch the ball, and go back over all four jumps again. All four dogs on the team must do this. There is no time limit, but you are racing at the same time that the other team is. Therefore, you are trying to beat their time.

The jump height is set to the height of the smallest dogs on the team's withers. The number is then rounded down to the nearest inch and another 5in. is subtracted, but the min. height is 7 in. For example, a 13 3/4 in. dog would round down to a 13 in. dog, then you subtract 5 inches and get 8 in. jump height. Like I said the min. jump height is 7in., while the max. is 14 in.

When flyball was first started there were no start and passing lights. It was all called by line judges who used stop watches to time the races and they would do "ready, set, go!" and when they called go, they would blow a whistle. The jump heights were set to a 10 in. min. and the height of the jumps was determined by the height of the smallest dog, like they do now, except it was rounded up or down. For example, if the height of the dog was 13 3/4 inches than they would round up to 14 in., but if it was 13 1/4 inches than they would round down to 13 in.

When the Electronic Judging system (EJS) came it made things a whole lot easier. The EJS uses lights and infrared timing to show the teams their starts, finishes, passing and individual times. Most teams run all four dogs under 20 sec and the World Record is 15.22 seconds. That's fast.

The NAFA divides their tournaments in divisions. Teams compete against other teams that are equal to themselves. Purebred and mixes can compete in flyball and earn titles. The NAFA holds nearly 300 tournaments a year.

Titles Each time a team races in a NAFA sanctioned Flyball tournament, their dogs earn points based on the following:

-under 24 seconds: each dog racing in that heat receives 25 points towards a Flyball title

-under 28 seconds: each dog racing in that heat receives 5 points

-under 32 seconds: each dog racing in that heat receives 1 point

20	Flyball Dog (FD) (includes certificate of achievement)
100	Flyball Dog Excellent (FDX) (includes certificate of achievement)
500	Flyball Dog Champion (FDCh) (includes certificate of achievement)
1000	Flyball Dog Champion-Silver (FDCh-S) (includes certificate of achievement)
2500	Flyball Dog Champion-Gold (FDCh-G) (includes certificate of achievement)
5000	Flyball Master (FM) (includes certificate of achievement and commemorative pin)
10,000	Flyball Master Excellent (FMX) (includes certificate of achievement and commemorative pin)
15,000	Flyball Master Champion (FMCh) (includes certificate of achievement and commemorative pin)
20,000	ONYX (includes commemorative plaque and pin)
30,000	Flyball Grand Champion (FGDCh-30) (includes Commemorative Plaque and Pin)
40,000	Commemorative pin and plaque
50,000-90,000	Commemorative pin and plate for 40k plaque
100,000	Hobbes Award (includes commemorative pin and plaque)

Well, this talk has been fun. I look forward to teaching you how to train your dog for flyball. I'm still not sure how long this series will last, but hopefully not to long. Keep in Touch!

Puppy Play Group

Our group has finally started getting together. We have about ten people and almost enough dogs to do two flyball teams. We get together and let the dogs run around and play and then we do some training. We have an Australian Shepherd, three labs, one JRT, one Golden, one Beagle, and one Labradoodle. We are going to be working onfFlyball, obedience, scenting, agility, and a lot of other cool things. We are also looking at getting someone to do an attack dog demo. Let's hope we can. I mean what's more exciting than watching a dog that is trained to attack on command, release on command and track people down? Well? Not much. I will keep filling you guys in on everything and be on a lookout for our blog which should be coming soon. But like Aslan says "I call all times soon". And remember, a trained dog is a happy dog.

Beach Ahoy!

Well, Rascal went to the beach for the first time. How should I put this nicely? He didn't like it. The water moving towards him, the sand moving beneath his paws, and the water touching him. I would run towards the water and he would follow me. Then the water would come towards us and he would take off for shore, but the leash snatched him back. He would see me still standing there and would rush in front of me and try to block the water from me. Hahaha! He was so scared, but he did enjoy the sand and shells. We also discovered a jellyfish that had washed up on shore. He thought that he could just walk up and sniff it. Luckily, I stopped him in time. We stayed about an hour and then drove the hour home. Let's just say that Rascal was beat. He slept the whole way home.

Monty's Home Video

Here's a video from Monty's Home. It was made by the volunteers at Monty's Home and the music was preformed by the inmates from the prison where the rescue/training program is located. Monty's Home is trying to gain national attention to share the plight of shelter dogs everywhere and with enough views it could happen. Pass it on to friends by email, blogs, facebook, myspace, send them to the Monty's Home website from my page or let them watch the video from here. Help us protect and save lives.

2010 Winter Purina Dog Challange

A must see video. Watch Here.

Goals For 2010

Here are some of my goals for 2010. All are dog related. Not to be finished in this order.

1. Complete Rascal's flyball training
2. Get a flyball box
3. Get a flyball team together
4. Enter a flyball competition
5. Complete Rascal's obedience training
6. Take Rascal to a show-n-go
7. Enter Rascal in his first obedience competition
8. Complete Rascal's rally-o training
   
9. Enter Rascal in a rally-o competition
10. Get Rascal's CD, RN, FD titles
11. Build a dog pen
12. Foster a dog
13. Rescue a dog
14. Volunteer at Paw Jam
15. Train Rascal in Search and Rescue
16. Train Rascal in Agility

I know that I won't get all of these done, but that's why their goals. At the end of the year, I'll let you know what was completed.

Keep training!

Dog Club

Well, I'm joining a dog club. It's called Puppy Play Group. I had this lady (Lori) contact me about training her dogs for flyball. I said that I would be happy to help her. I asked her if she would be interested in starting a dog club with me. And it turns out that she was working on getting one started. So she invited me to join them. She came over and watched me work Rascal. All I can say is, I HOPE HE BEHAVES LIKE THAT AT COMPETITIONS! He did he's sits, downs , drop on recall, tunnel, flyball jumps. He just did everything I asked of him. I wish I could have gotten pictures, but I was to busy giving commands. The club is going to be doing obedience, senting, flyball, and agility. It's going to be so much fun!

So, we'll be doing fund raisers, relay for life, and different kinds of things. I'll keep you up to date with pictures of Rascal and everyone else. Maybe even some videos.

Talk to you all later.



P.S. The picture is not of any of our dogs.

Christmas/Birthday

Yesterday was my 16th birthday. And I would like to mention the things I got for my Christmas and birthday.





Christmas

1. 4-H Hoddie
2. Bolt DVD
3. Get A Real Dog, Get An Australian Shepherd T-shirt
4. Beagle Ornament
5. Breed Rescue book
6. 2006 FCI World Agility Championships DVD
7. Bracelet & Necklace
8. Carhartt Jeans and Shirt
9. Dog pocketbook
10. 16 &17 Nancy Drew books (I collect the old ones)
11. WillowTree Angel Of Friendship
12. Flyball Jumps
    

Birthday

1. Captain Blood book
2. Bath & Body Works Shampoo
3. Under The Greenwood Tree DVD
4. Taylor Swift CD
5. Brittany Dog Statue
   

Rascal got three squeaky tennis balls and a squeaky squirrel. Sydney got a blanket, so hopefully she'll sleep on that instead of on our beds.