Heddy has a Reptile Day

We have had a run on Turtle rescues around here and as always Heddy has to be right in the middle of it all.  Our first short term guest was a newly hatched Painted Slider that luckily was discovered right before a large bunch of leaves was headed for the shredder. We were raking and noticed this small green disk. At first I was not even sure if it was alive but after a few hours rest in some water we released him into the boat slip all under the watchful eye of Miss Heddy.

   

As soon as I thought we were done with our turtles my son Wayne came home from work with a  Box Turtle that he Rescued from the middle of the road. Now PLEASE understand I do not approve of removing Box Turtles form their environment BUT this guy was in the middle of the Highway and needed to be removed we will take care of him for a while then release him into a Sate Park where he works. Again as usual Heddy was into helping while we built his cage. Notice that the Turtle does not appear as excited to meet Heddy as she was to meet him.

Raising a Border Terrier Puppy has been

DAYS FILLED WITH FUN

Team Obedience

One of my favorite parts of Specialty  in North Carolina last week was the Team Competition in Obedience.  It is my first attempt at Video and I was also trying to take some still photos at the same time . So I am not sure what happened to the sound at the end but

Enjoy the Amazing, Talented, Wonderful, Entertaining,

Border Terriers.

National Specialty PHOTOS

It was a very long week and I am glad to be home. We stayed till Sunday Morning and I was just to tired to finish out the week. For anyone that would like to see more photos of the week they are posted HERE:

http://picasaweb.google.com/photodreamer53


And I would like to add just one small thing. My first dog show experience was also almost my last. I met some VERY wonderful people out there last week and I hope will stay friends with for a long time. But For someone BRAND NEW to the GAME it is very easy for a small word or action to make you question was it worth it.
Heddy and I had a good time together. But we also had some rather painful moments as well.
This post from the Border Terrier List helped me get through it all . That and all the new friends I have found.


DON'T YOU DARE STEAL MY JOY
 by Connie Cleveland

On the occasion of my tenth anniversary, my husband asked me how I wanted
to celebrate. I asked that we take a very dear friend, my adopted grandmother
and one of the greatest of all the great southern ladies, out to dinner
with us.
At dinner, my husband, Brian, presented me with a diamond ring. It was
gorgeous and I was speechless, but even as I thanked him, I worried about
the expense and extravagance of such a gift. As if he knew that the next
line belonged to my grandmother, my husband excused himself from the table.
He was barely out of sight when she reached across the table and grabbed me
by the shoulder, "I know what you're thinking, I know you think he couldn't
afford it and it's too extravagant. I don't care if he had to put a second
mortgage on the house to buy it, don't you steal his joy! It's beautiful.
Accept it as the token of his love that it is and say nothing about how he
shouldn't have bought it for you." Then she repeated, "Don't you dare steal
his joy!"

That was the end of the conversation. She sat back in her seat, smiled at
my returning husband, and we had a lovely dinner. I took her advice and put my reservations out of my mind. The ring has never come off my finger, but
most importantly, I learned a wonderfully important lesson, never to steal
another man's joy.

 Are you a joy stealer?
"You know if my dog hadn't gone down on the sit, I would have won the
class", said, unfeelingly, to the winner.

"I sure didn't think your dog worked that high a score."

"I can't believe you placed, I thought Jane Oneup and her dog would beat
you."

"I thought I had that class won! My dog had a great performance, " said to
the winner.

"Isn't that judge an idiot? I can't believe the dogs he put up!" said to
 the winner.

"Boy, aren't you glad Mrs Winallthetime wasn't here today or you might not
 have won."

"You passed that Master test because the water blind was so easy."
"That was the stupidest set of water marks I've ever seen. No trial should
 end that easily," said to the winner.

Do you discourage or encourage fellow competitors? Do you tell them their
goals are too lofty and their dreams too big? Are you trying to be helpful
or trying to keep them from accomplishing something that you never had the
ability or perseverance to do yourself? It is equally as harmful to steal
joy by destroying the dream.

"No Basset Hounds get UD's," said to the owner of the Bassett in Utility
class.
"I've never seen a Rottweiler that could do fronts and finishes", said to
the owner of the Rottweiler practicing fronts and finishes.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a UD and a Master Hunter? Do
you know how few people have ever done it?" said to the first time dog owner
setting out to do both.

When FC AFC OTCH Law Abiding Ezra had both his field championships and 65
OTCH points including all the necessary first places, someone had the guts
to come up to me, his owner, trainer and handler and say, "No dog will ever
be a field champion and an obedience champion." My jaw drops when I think
about it. Isn't it unfortunate that I remember this attempt at stealing my
joy much more than I remember all the cards and letters and congratulations
I received when those last 35 points were earned?

If you are willing to destroy someone's dream, perhaps you don't realize
that it is the JOY of pursuing the dream that keeps the dreamer motivated,
not just reaching the accomplishment.

My husband and I travel and compete together. I remember an event, early in
our relationship when I watched his Doberman fail articles. "Darn it, " I
said, as he came out of the ring," she didn't even try to find the right
one!" "Oh", he replied, "but, weren't her heeling and signals wonderful?"

Unknowingly, I had almost stolen his joy. He was celebrating the
improvement on the exercise that had been giving him trouble, and I was focused on the failure. Since that experience, Brian and I have learned that the best
response to a questionable performance, "What did you think?" That way, if
the handler is excited about some aspect of the performance, you can share
that excitement. If the handler is disappointed in another aspect, you can
share the disappointment. You are safely removed from being a joy stealer.

I hope you have a lot of dreams and goals for your dogs in (the coming
year). Undoubtedly there will be moments of disappointment as you venture
through the landmines of injury, failures and other setbacks. Remember that
the joy of the journey is worth the difficulties along the way and don't
let anyone steal that joy. Guard it well and at he end of the road you can own
it and revel in it with all the other memories of the trip."

RALLY NOVICE - A and Terrier Races

After our total disaster in Pre-Novice I was standing around watching the Rally and got totally PSYCHED OUT. what great dogs and one of the owners told me how much time and money she had spent on training for just this class.  I decided that the Comedy team of Nancy and Heddy had done enough damage for the day. SO I went over and pulled Heddy from the Rally Novice -A Class. and Volunteered to help. As I was helping the Steward I calmed down and told the steward what I had done and why. She said no puppy should be pulled for those reasons and asked the judge permission for her to be put back in the lineup. The Judge was wonderful and agreed with the steward. Telling me to go get my puppy.
WELL that is great except that because I had pulled her I did not bother to walk the course or really to even pay attention to what the course was. SO the very first time I read any of the signs was as we entered. WHOOPIE. HERE WE GO AGAIN.
I guess I was more relaxed since I was so busy reading the signs and processing the information. BUT Heddy had a great time. When I stopped she SAT. And when asked she went DOWN. In fact SHE must be able to read because I misread one of the signs and told her to down with out a SIT but she dropped to a sit first TEN did her lovely DOWN. The Judge laughed and told me that although I gave the wrong command my dog did it right.
She was totally frozen when I had to walk around her and even did  a decent heel from the front  ( we had never done that before that morning) So I left the ring a very HAPPY owner with a HAPPY  Puppy. It doesn't get better than that does It? ....  We went over sat down and watched the rest of the class. I really learned a lot watching the Novice-B. BOY now I see what I did wrong and will do it different next time.

The judge called all of the NOVICE -A class back into the ring. She asked if anyone had gotten there first legg. I just stood there. Novice ME I had no Idea that I WAS SUPPOSED to check the score board.  The Steward again came to my rescue and told me that Heddy had a Qualifying Score and that YES we had JUST gotten our FIRST LEG.  One of the other dogs finished their RN and then they announced 4th and third place. Suddenly they announced 2nd place and I was in a TOTAL state of shock in fact I had to check my arm band because they had JUST ANNOUNCED OUR NUMBER.
WE WON 2nd PLACE in RALLY NOVICE -A I still do not believe it.

From there we went straight up to the Terrier Races. I can not imagine where she found the energy but Heddy loved it. THe first trial run they ran with muzzles but ALL of the Puppies were so busy trying toget rid of the muzzles that no one ran. So since they were puppies it was decide that they could run with out Muzzles.

There were two Puppy classes and even though she was the youngest puppy she won her heat.  When they had a race between the winners of the two heats. Well lets just say that I believe the Little Blue Boy that beat her must eat jet fuel for breakfast. WOW was he fast. He was not only a very Handsome Blue and Tan Border Terrier but VERY VERY determined. Even after his race was WON . I saw his MOM have to chase him down when he tried to race outside the course.

I do not have any photos of Heddy Racing (YET) but here is one of the other GUYS doing a great Superman impression. 

Heddy was very HOT and Tired from her LONG day so after a quick dip in the Puppy  pool to cool her off we headed on down the hill and back to the Hotel Room where neither one of us had any trouble sleeping.

PRE NOVICE OBEDIENCE ...... hahahahahahahaha

Ok so again we arrived at FENC nice and early , remember I have NEVER shown a dog before so I really do not have any Idea how this all works. We find a nice shady spot for the trusty Prius and our stuff get it all set up for the day.

So with all of our stuff under control we headed up to watch the show and maybe see how it is done. I really enjoyed watching the other Border Terriers compete There is nothing like a Border Terrier in the Obedience Ring. And I quickly learned why everyone kept telling me that you always had to bring a sense of Humor into the ring with you. As even some of the very best trained Borders just sort of occasionally did their own thing.

In all the confusion it seemed they decided to move the Pre-Novice class up so I RAN and got Heddy and we checked in then it seems as soon as we checked in the decided that NO they could not do Pre-Novice NOW it would v=come LATER after the Teams. OK so take Heddy for a walk to calm down then come back up to watch teams. What FUN.
Then again they are looking for PRE-NOVICE. and NOW oppps no not now they are going to take linch first.  At this point I am confused.
So I put Heddy away again. Only to hear them call me to the ring as soon as I get back from the car. SO I run back get Heddy and here we come. I am not sure if I even remember my time in the ring. I must have remembered to breath, cause I did not pass out. When I entered the ring I told the judge this was my first dog show experience EVER and smiled. Her response was well first take that thing off your pants. I had forgotten that I had a clip hanging form my belt loop.  So much for brownie points. And so we began. FORWARD... I truly believe that Heddy knew just how upset and nervous I was as she did not do ANYTHING I asked. She DID HEEL beautifully but I think it was out of FEAR!  I am not sure if she SAT one time when we stopped. THEN to just add icing to the cake when the judge came over for the STAND for inspection Heddy leaped up onto her and tried to kiss her WHOLE face. THE JUDGE WAS NOT AMUSED. I do not even think she smiled. ... So she said we could leave. I thought we had done so poorly that we were excused. SO I again PUT poor Heddy back in her crate.  Only to have someone come running to find me saying where is Heddy you are needed for the long Sits and Downs. OH LORD.... Grabbed out of her Crate again in run back to the Ring. we are directed not to a place at the end of the line but RIGHT in the middle.  So here we go SIT.... Heddy Sits so nice then plops down. BUT at least she stayed.  Then the LONG Down.  SO.... DOWN.... Heddy is in a lovely down doing great I am actually starting to relax... when suddenly Border Terrier tumbleweeds of Undercoat go rolling thru the ring.A little fluff gets past her but then A BIG BEAUTIFUL BALL OF FLUFF..... Well we all know where this went. Up went Heddy and Hooray look at me Mom I caught the ball.  Again Judge was not Amused.
I truly wish I had photos or a video to share but the mental photos will have to do.
This time we truly were excuses and Heddy got her nap.  just a short one....

EARTHDOG .... NOT

We are up at the crack of dawn after a very good nights sleep. Out for our morning walk greeting new friends along the way. Since I am not sure what time we should arrive or even what to do or exactly where we need to be. Heddy and I head over early. As is usual we are EARLY. In fact we are the second car there. Thank God for the first car as they KNEW where they were going and we just followed along.
We got all registered and began the LONG wait for our turn.  All the other Dogs MUST have know what was going on because they were just so excited to get going. while Heddy just thought she was there to make lots of new friends
Unfortunately she also included Mr RAT in the category of NEW FRIEND.  When it was finally her turn we went out to the IQ site. Heddy was so good she followed the sent trail and popped right down into the hole course then she turned around and came right out again. so I finally  went over and told her to GET IT so down she went .......... and that was all there was. the Judge was so nice she rattled the cage she even finally opened the trap Heddy was there Happy as always just looking at MR RAT making friends. In fact she took it as far as to give him a kiss.
 OK so we have now established that Heddy it just TOO YOUNG to kill Rats.
BUT at least she loved the tunnel and had no problems going in.

AH WELL tomorrow is another day
OBEDIENCE Pre- Novice  and RALLY- NOVICE A

Getting caught up

Well it seems as if I fell of the face of the earth for awhile. But in reality I was a little down in the dumps and I also came home to a massive amount of work that had to get taken care of FIRST.
But putting all of that behind us. We are BACK!
Our first day in North Carolina was uneventful. We arrived promptly got lost and spent an hour finding our hotel. Never listen ONLY to a GPS. If I had used my eyes as well as my ears I could have seen the Hotel from the Highway and would have Known to turn Left NOT Right. But anyway eventually I knew I had to be wrong and called the Hotel. They were so nice and gave us proper directions directly to them. What a great place to stay. The staff came out from behind the counter to meet Heddy and give her a cookie, Oh YEA she's gonna like it here.  Then helped me shlep all my stuff to the room.  We went over to the Lodge and got our information. Which Heddy thought She should investigate further.

Since we had nothing else to do till tomorrow we decided to go find the show grounds. Nice drive through the Mountains. But there was no one around at the show grounds so Heddy and I took a nice LONG walk. We never did find out where they were doing Tracking so eventually we just headed back to our room for a nice quiet evening.

Tomorrow is our first attempt at EARTHDOG.