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Posted by Erin Doyne at 22:22

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Announcing Kemar's Tomorrow's Another Day, JC!

We went lure coursing this weekend and between running for the JC title (which Scarlett got) Janet took pictures of us with the Old Mill horse farm in the background.

We had tons of fun, got over 900 pictures, and I got necklaces for the whippets. Scarlett earned her JC, Rose got one leg toward the JC, and we spent time with our friends. Best. Weekend. Ever. Click any of the photos to go to the site and find the rest of the photo albums.

Posted by Erin Doyne at 17:48

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Roasting Rosie

Since Patrick's fireplace is a gas one with a thermostat, if it gets too hot, it turns off. One evening when Rose was roasting in front of the fire and the thermostat kicked in and turned the fire off. Within moments she was up and walked over to me and sat, lady-like, with a face that was all dignified pleading. When I didn't get up to turn her fire back on, she put a paw on my knee as if to politely say, "Please?"

Patrick found her performance so charming, especially since she rarely asks for anything on her own, that he turned the fire back on. She immediately lay in the exact same spot and went to sleep.

Posted by Erin Doyne at 23:51

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Lure Coursing Day One

At the meet, Scarlett bounded around, wagging her tail, greeting everyone, human and dog alike. Rose, on the other hand, had a tough time. All the new people and dogs were overwhelming and she got flustered. After a bit she seemed to do okay with the whippets and IGs, but she HATED the borzoi and would lunge, snap, and bark aggressively at any that got too close.

When it was her turn to run her single stake, she didn't seem to understand what to do. She got off to a bit of a slow start, but then seemed to figure it out. She made it through the first few turns in a relatively tight box layout, then started in on the "easy" straight away. Unfortunately, it was straight away from me. She got a few feet into it, then seemed to "wake up" from the chase and look around. She looked confused for a moment and worried, until she spotted me and started straight for me. I called her so she wouldn't get distracted and she came right to me. She scored 19 points out of 100.

Before her second run, I got closer to the lure with both Rose and Scarlett. Scarlett was a natural, lunging and barking. She was clearly following the lure with her head as they ran the course and strained at the end of her leash to track it. After several dogs ran, Rose seemed to pick up on what Scarlett was doing. She started just blindly following along and barking too, with an air of someone who doesn't know what the excitement is all about, but who doesn't want to miss anything. Then she started to really see what was going on. When the lure came close for the reset, she really keyed into it.

Then we went for our second try. I messed up on the slip and fumbled her start, but in a single it didn't matter much. She went down to the first straight away and I yelled "good girl" and she put on the brakes and came right back to me. Oops! I feel like she could have done a little better if I hadn't yelled, but we are both learning. :) She got 5 points on her score.

After that second run, though, she really seemed to understand what was happening and bounced along, lunging and barking at the bunny for the rest of the afternoon. I think tomorrow she will likely do better. We made friends with some people, including a man named David, who has 5 whippets and runs whippetview website and kennel. He lent us a slip lead for the day and coursing blankets and offered to run one of his dogs with Rose tomorrow as the test run for the lure first thing tomorrow to see if that would clue Rose into it even more. Rose is generally prey keen, she just didn't get for a long time that plastic bags counted as prey. We've tried playing with plastic bags around the yard and Scarlett is keen on that, but Rose didn't get it. I think now she is starting to.

At the end of the day we ran Scarlett in an abbreviated run that was spectacular! Her running form looked great. All 4 feet leave the ground on the stretched out part of her stride and the front and back pairs are really well synched. She is incredibly focused, especially for only a 10 month old. She did her first turns today and kept up really well with the change. There was one turn that kind of threw her off for a moment, but she corrected and got back on track right away. The kid is a natural and I can't wait to really see her go. She is small, but she has so much else to recommend her and clearly loves it, so it is a joy to watch her having fun.

The pictures

Tomorrow's Another Day, of course, so hopefully Rose will hit her stride tomorrow and Scarlett is sure to have fun. :)

Posted by Erin Doyne at 23:20

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New Photos and More Hunting

First, an administrative notice: I've added a New Photos page, also linked on the right side of the main page. It'll show the 20 most recently uploaded photos, so enjoy! Now time for some dog-content. Early last week, during their last trip outside for the night, I noticed a rabbit hopping along near the back of the fence, but Scarlett and Rose were more concerned with going back inside to go to sleep. I thought they might be broken at that point... Last night, however, was quite a different story. They were out doing their business, and I see another rabbit hopping along the fence. It had just noticed the dogs, so it sprinted away towards the back of the yard. That alerted Rose who took off like a shot, and Scarlett not far behind. It was quite the impressive site, with the rabbit just barely escaping through a small gap in the gate (where it's warped). I can't wait to take them lure coursing on the 15th!

Posted by Patrick McNeill at 17:30

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Rose the hunter

I took the dogs for two long walks around the lake at Patrick's on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday Rose saw some geese run from the path into the pond and she decided to pursue. She got her feet wet, then turned around with a look like, "That's yucky!" and I thought, "well, that will teach her to chase geese into the lake." Then she looked back at the geese and clearly was thinking, "Oh, what the hell. They are only 5 feet away! I can get my paws a little wet," and she jumped in! The lake gets deeper fast and within 2 feet she was swimming (on a long retractable leash the whole time) and she turned right around, wide-eyed, as if she had no idea that it was going to get that deep. She got out and shot me a dirty look, as if I should have warned her not to jump in.

The next day, there were ducks running into the lake. She clearly thought about it, but all I had to say was, "Rosie, no no" in a very conversational tone and she turn away, as if to say, "Oh, yeah. No, not worth it." Later, we heard a crashing through the trees and she posed like an arrow about to be launched from a bow, with the same intensity. When a squirrel bounded into sight, Rose launched at it. I held onto her leash and she barked and whined to get at him as he ran away. She was up on two feet, she was straining so hard.

I can't wait to see her lure coursing! She clearly has a strong prey drive and that classic sighthound single-mindedness. She has such long legs, that she should be pretty fast, even though she's a bit out of shape. I think she will really enjoy it, though. There is coursing this month and next, so hopefully we can get her entered and see how she does.

Posted by Erin Doyne at 12:47

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More Pet-sitting adventures

We just pet-sat Kaiser again while Chad was away on a business trip. This time it was disaster-free. Scarlett loves when Kaiser visits, since he has a similar energy level. Rose is already too mature for most of Scarlett's shennanigans, although Rose will play with her if Scarlett gets something going. After Kaiser left with Chad to go back home Scarlett stood at the door and cried and cried. I tried to distract her by letting her outside, but she just looked around and came right back, as if to say, "Nope, he's not out here." The next morning she woke up early and rushed downstairs to see if he came back, but his crate was still gone. After that, she seemed to accept that he went home and stopped moping.

Having TWO dogs like Scarlett is a bit tough on the humans though, just as having two dogs like Kaiser is tough on Chad when he watches the girls. He took a bunch of pictures from when he pet-sat for us while we were at Meredith's gradutation party, though. I put them in a new album in the June folder.

Posted by Erin Doyne at 00:31

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Dynamic Duo Dismay Dogsitter

Patrick and I are on vacation at the beach in North Carolina. Sadly, no dogs allowed, so we left Scarlett and Rose with my friend Chad, who owns their good friend Kaiser, the German Pincher. Relieved that they would have a pal to play with while we were away, we have been enjoying our vacation. Well, we got a message from Chad the other day. Apparently the girls jumped over the baby gate while Chad was at work and had whippet zoomies around the apartment. They knocked over the microwave and all the dog food and treats on top of it. While they were having a great time, the less nimble Kaiser tried to dig his way out . . . .making big holes in the carpet! Scarlett also peed on the rug, since she isn't used to having to hold it during the day, since Patrick works at home. After cleaning up the mess, Chad took the trio for a walk, thinking, "At least no one got hurt." Just then, Scarlett got stung by a bee! With the ensuing chaos, Chad got a nasty rope burn on his hand from Kaiser's leash. Uh oh! At least Scarlett had no adverse reaction to the bee sting and we are headed home in the morning.

Posted by Erin Doyne at 18:41

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Snappy

We are pet sitting this week for Chad and Karen. Kaiser will be visiting for around 10 days and it has been a bit of a challenge.

My mom stayed the night on Sunday on her way from Washington, DC to Orlando. She brought with her Mike and Katie and both the dogs and the people were stressed from being in the car for so long. Mike hadn't been eating properly or getting his normal sleep because of all the traveling and he was unusually cranky. Being thrown into the new household with 3 other dogs was a real strain on him and so he didn't react well. Complicating it, Rose is easily unsettled by new dogs and new people and she hadn't met my mom or sister before. Her anxious barking put Kaiser on full alert and there were a few scuffles. Mike even got a tooth on Rose and left a little mark on her neck after one skirmish.

After my mom left, things got a bit better, but Kaiser is definately a challenge this visit. He has been crying in the early morning hours, around 3 am or 5 am each night. Finally last night he slept the whole time. It wouldn't be a problem, since he is downstairs, but when Scarlett hears him crying she wakes up and cries too. She can't stand for anyone to be upset and must comfort them. She was spectacular with my mom and her dogs, working really hard to make them comfortable and play with them, but Mike wasn't in the mood for it. Anyway, she has been waking us up when Kaiser cries.

They have also been playing a bit rougher with Kaiser around, no doubt because he is a bit bigger and tougher. However, delicate little Scarlett doesn't know her own limits sometimes and Rose gets overexcited and plays a bit harder than she should with Scarlett. Even though Rose is the first to step in and defend Scarlett against another dog, she is also the one who will grab Scarlett by the throat and pin her to the ground. I think Rose is probably a bit unsettled by it all and is struggling to gain control of the situation, by defending against intruders and trying to bring little Scarlett under control.

Luckily the only casualty has been my shoe, which Kaiser chewed up after he saw Scarlett carry it around. I hope that this ends up being a positive experience for Scarlett and Rose, instead of one in which Scarlett picks up Rose's anxiety and aggressive reactions.

Posted by Erin Doyne at 12:55

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Scarlett and the CGC

Our first task was walking through a crowd. Scarlett was catching my excitement, plus Chad, Karen and Kaiser were there for the first time, so she was having a really tough time making it through the crowd without wanting to run and play with Kaiser. I could tell it was going to be a long night . . .

Then we did the sit-down-stay and recall tests. The building must have been 95 degrees with 90% humidity and as we waited our turn the temperature took its toll. Scarlett's enthusiasm wilted like a flower in the hothouse conditions and she was PERFECT for all 4 parts of the task as she no longer had any interest in the other dogs, even as we watched Kaiser pass the first part of his test easily. I think she would have happy sat and laid down with only the hand signal. For the stay she looked like she would have waited forever for me, yet her recall was focused and lovely, although not particularly speedy. With the four new checkmarks under our belt, I wasn't complaining!

Then we did the meet and greet parts of the test with Virginia, one of the nicest and kindest of the instructors. Her gentle manner helped keep Scarlett settled and we passed with flying colors.

On to our most difficult station . . . controlled walking. The task was proctored by the toughest of the instructors. Sharon does competitive obedience with Australian Shepards and has an 8 month old dog with a CD award! As we waited our turn, I watched her fail dog after dog. Meanwhile, Scarlett was increasingly distracted by the hint of a cool evening breeze wafting through the air from the open front door, right next to the ring where Sharon was stationed. Uh oh.

I stepped up to the mark and listened to the instructions with a sinking heart as Scarlett began driving away from me, toward the refreshing night air, where Patrick and Karen were waiting. We gamely attempted the exercise and she actually did very well until we got close enough that she could feel the breeze again. She began to lose her concentration, but all was not lost . . . until the black lab in her class walked up to the ring and stood right next to the finish mark, waiting his turn. She lunged forward, eager to be done. The allure of cooler air and another dog was just too much. I got her back under control, but Sharon was already shaking her head.
"That just isn't a controlled walk. She wasn't paying any attention to you and I can't mark that as a pass. Try again later."

I took Scarlett outside to cool off and blow off some steam. A few minutes later, we walked back and I asked if we could do the exercise in the back of the building, where she would be less tempted by the cool air. Sharon agreed, but again, Scarlett got distracted at the last minute by a Rhodesian Ridgeback near the finish mark and broke. No doubt the tension I was sending down the lead wasn't helping, nor was my total lack of confidence under Sharon's reproachful eye.

I asked if we could try outside, since Sharon could see she was doing okay until the end. We walked out to a part of the parking lot beside the building. "Could we just walk around for a minute? She's never been to this area before and I think that may make it tough."
"No," Sharon refused with an attitude that I had gotten all the leniency I was going to get from her. As I suspected, Scarlett was distracted in the new environment and we didn't do any better. I watched as Sharon shook her head and marked a big black X on Scarlett's test form.

Dejected, I walked inside to tell Patrick and Karen we'd failed. I couldn't help but notice as we walked in, Scarlett heeled beautifully, with no pulling. I gave the bad news quickly, then resolved to finish with the grooming station and the greet another dog station, figuring I could try to plead my case to Lynn, the head instructor, since Sharon was being a bit strict.

I walked up to Virginia for the grooming station and as Virginia ran her hands over Scarlett, inspecting her paws, teeth and ears, I couldn't help but whimper, "Sharon's being a bit tough this evening on the heeling."
"Sharon needs to relax, for crying out loud. She's used to a higher standard of obedience, I guess, but that is not what we are trying for here," Virginia chirped back. Music to my ears! If the other instructors thought Sharon really was grading a bit too hard, I might pull a pass out yet!

I walked up to Melissa and Piper, who were trying to get psyched up for their second try at controlled walking.
"We didn't pass, Melissa!" I announced. "Sharon was really tough." Then I demonstrated Scarlett's controlled walking and of course, it was her best effort of the night. No one but Melissa was watching.
"Oh no!" Melissa sympathized, then looked at Piper, who was as hot, distracted and tired as every other creature in the place. "I don't think we will be able to pass then either! It wasn't this strict with Jack."

Melissa walked off with Piper to try the controlled walking with less enthusiasm than walking into the vet's office. Scarlett and I finished the last few exercises and as we were waiting to do the supervised separation, Patrick and Karen looked at her test form.
"This says she passed," Patrick pointed out. I had been so upset by Sharon's grim demeanor that I overlooked the fact that she'd put the black X in the pass box, not the "Needs More Training" box!

When Lynn asked if she could do the supervised separation with Scarlett and Kaiser at the same time, I knew we were a shoo in for passing. I agreed, selflessly (ha, ha!) to save time for the rest of the class by letting Scarlett and Kasier go together. All the humans walked outside for the required three minute wait and I said a grateful thank you to the Whippet gods that it was Lynn doing the evaluation instead of Sharon.

From outside we could hear Kaiser let out a few unhappy woofs, but all in all, I felt pretty good. When we walked back inside, Scarlett was happy to see me and she left Kaiser's side to do a mini-leapie into my arms. I held her like a little person as she put her paws on my shoulder and licked my face, telling me she was happy it was over and that we passed.

"Scarlett was great and even helped keep Kaiser calmed down when he started barking. She was really good!" With that, Lynn marked off the last of the check boxes and Scarlett officially passed the Canine Good Citizen test!

May I present . . . .
"Scarlett" Kemar's Tomorrow's Another Day, CGC!

Posted by Erin Doyne at 13:05

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