The Melt-Down

Hi Friends,

A couple of weeks ago Ozzie and I entered a small Obedience Trial as we’d been training for over a year and it was time to stick our toes in the water, (figuratively speaking) and see what this Obedience Trial stuff is all about.  So off we went on a Saturday morning all ready to blast the competition off the face of the earth and come home with a couple of nice ribbons.  WELL, instead of that, Ozzie took one look at the competition ring and said “you want me to do what?”   Yes, it was a total melt down.  He was stressed out and overwhelmed by a bad case of stage fright.

In spite of that Ozzie did some of the exercises quite well.  But of course we didn’t get a qualifying score, known as an “NQ” in obedience competition lingo.  So we came home and licked our wounds, and decided to take on another  Obedience competition in March. In the meantime Ozzie is visiting as many places as possible to become more comfortable with new locations, smells and sounds.  And of course we continue to train for the exercises  as well.

Here are a couple of pictures from the January trial.

Ozzie with his Border Terrier buddies Gracie and Luke.  Practicing the long sit?

Is it my turn yet?  All this waiting………. time for a little nap?

Copyright Susan J. Edminster, Granite Falls Washington, February 18, 2012.

All rights reserved.

Pictures generously provided by Kathy Teufel (Gracie’s mom)

The Snoody Springer

Hi Everyone,

Our four month old puppy is learning to wear a snood at mealtime to keep those beautiful ears out of the food.  Stinky!  Here’s a picture of Ozzie all ready to get some grub!

Susan J. Edminster, Granite Falls Washington, 7/24/2010 All Rights Reserved.

Picture is the sole property of Susan J. Edminster

Where’s Your Place?

Mr. Ed’s dog Miles is always looking for a chance to snack and since he’s a tall boy his head isn’t far from counter height making a “hit and run” easy for him.  He once grabbed a banana and ate the whole thing, skin and all.  So when I’m cooking dinner Miles likes to hang out around the kitchen hoping for the odd crumb to fall within his grasp.   It kind of drives me nuts to have him under foot, in fact I won’t put up with it so taught him to “go to your place” and this is where he has to stay while I’m preparing a meal.  The way I trained him was to back him up out of the kitchen and put him on a sit, right at the end of the island, then give him a dog cookie.  As we worked on this I’d get a little further from Miles while he remained in his sit, and when he was successful he’d get another treat.  Eventually he learned that “Where’s your place?” means he’d better scoot and sit as quickly as possible and he’s really pretty good at it, in fact he gets so excited he just leaps into his sit.  From time to time I throw him a little tidbit so he’ll know it’s all worthwhile.  His favorite t is a little piece of romaine, the crunchy part down at the bottom of the stem.  Yum!  Anyway, here’s Miles sitting as nice as you please, just hoping for the best:

What a good boy!!

Susan J. Edminster, Granite Falls Washington, April 28, 2009

Saving the Furniture, Part ll

Since we’re getting ready to have our furniture recovered and it’s not exactly an inexpensive project we’d like to have some way to keep the furniture looking spiffy once the job is done.  So we tried the little wooden fence which works fine, but Mr. Ed suggested just laying the fence down since the dogs & cats won’t like to lay on it that way… too prickly, right?   Here’s how that looked….

 

Mr. Black Jack the Cat definitely is avoiding the new set up and taking his afternoon nap on the rug.  Good boy!!

About 15 minutes after the above photo was taken I went out to the garage for a few minutes and when I came back in (you guessed it) both Mr. Black Jack the Cat and Poppy our elderly Springer Spaniel were curled up just as nice as you please on top of the fence so neatly positioned to discourage them.  Sadly they jumped down before I could grab the camera for a photo of the evidence. Hmmmmm……. this is not working.  But I’m not ready to give up on the fence so tried a new positioning and we’ll see how that works:

This time I positioned the fence so it isn’t level… kind of undulates across the couch seat.  I wonder if this will be the answer…..  I’ll let you know tomorrow.

Susan J. Edminster, Granite Falls Washington, April 28, 2009