Heddy tries Confirmation Class

Last night I had a meeting in Salisbury after work so we ended up arriving at the kennel club over an hour before our Rally class was due to start. I figured we would just hang out and watch the other classes.  While waiting A very nice gentleman came over and was asking me about Heddy. (My favorite subject) Course it did not hurt that he was full of complements about her.  He then asked if we were going in to the Handling class. I said no that we were not signed up. He said no problem He was the instructor and drop in were always welcome. WELL guess that ended that I was in the class.  First I found out that my color was ALL Wrong. so... Collar OFF No more collars breaking her coat. Then He did not like her chain collar either it to was hard on her coat and my leash was too long.  So one of the other ladies in class went and got me a proper show leash to borrow for class.  NOW we were ready ... OR so I thought.  I soon found out that I did not know how to walk. and that I was impeding my lovely dogs natural movement. ARE WE HAVING FUN YET. Actually YES  I WAS. I have never met anyone that was able to correct almost everything I did and yet not make me feel like a fool. He explained why I needed to do things this way and DARN when I did what he said  Heddy responded by NOT jumping and spinning and just walking along at a very nice pace.  I learned so much and I was amazed I ENJOYED IT and so did Heddy.  He even took the time to advise me on grooming and said that next week I should bring my grooming tools so he could show me a few tricks.
I was amazed that Heddy stood nicely on the table and let him go over her. The  only problem we had was learning to STAND. I have worked so hard with her to learn to SIT when I stop that it is automatic. So NOW we are working the STAND and stay command to death.  BUT as long as there is LIVER involved she will sell her soul.
Heddy thought this was a great warm up for Rally class and she had a great night at class. again most of our mistakes were MINE. I just can not seem to keep my feet still. Then when I think about keeping my feet still I forget to give Heddy the right commands.  It is really tough when an 8 month old Border Terrier is smarter than You. I am just really glad that she is having fun.

Crabbing

One of the befits of living in Delaware and on the water is Crabbing. Now I am not to sure how that is going to work out with Border Terrier help. Last week-end we had our Grandsons for the day and we did some Crabbing from the bulkhead not to keep for  eating just for fun. We would catch and then release them into the boat slip to watch them scurry back into the water.

Well in Heddy’s mind this was a GREAT NEW GAME. I am not sure if we should let the crab teach her not to touch or keep telling her NO! LEAVE IT! Because at some point she will meet a crab on her own. 

BACK TO SCHOOL

OK Break time is over.  After returning from Nationals I had every intention of Heddy starting Agility classes it seems that Heddy had other plans. As soon as we got home from Nationals Miss Heddwyn went into her first FULL BLOWN HEAT CYCLE. SO needless to say we did not get to go to the Agility class. I just do not think it would have been at all fair to Heddy’s Brain or to the Male dogs there to take her. The instructor AGREED. It seemed Heddy was the ONLY girl in Class.

So now that we are done with all the silly stuff. And Heddy’s brain seems to be coming back into focus a little ( OK I admit it her brain has never been totally in focus)  I started looking for classes we could join. There are only two kennel clubs with in driving diatance and Everything had already started.  Misipillion Kennel Club   http://www.mispillionkc.org/index.html   was not having a Rally class this time and we have already done PKT and CGC.

So I took a chance and sent an E-mail to the Rally Novice instructor of Salisbury Kennel Club  http://www.SalisburyMarylandKennelClub.org/ 

Barb  Walls. WOW are we glad we did. Class was last night from 8-9 and she had no problem with joining the class half way.

What a wonderful instructor.  We ran into Heddy’s PKT Instructor as soon as we arrived so we felt very welcome. The Hour went by so fast and I learned so much. I have tried for several months now to learn Rally from the Internet but NOTHING beats havings someone explain and show you how to do something correctly.  Both Heddy and I had a wonderful time. Unfortunately I was the only one tired after class.  Heddy went home ready for more FUN.

 

Time to PRACTICE .

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.