Ike has a Brag

We packed our little bags and ventured out yet again to the dog shows for another try at glory. Ike is growing in a good coat and he just really seems to enjoy showing himself off and being around the show comotion. This time we were in Vancouver, an intimate venue with 6 Shiba entries.

Ike was Best of Winners both days. We came back with some new friends, some Championship points, and some excellent experience. He was a very good boy and a good traveler. Beebe spent the weekend in daycare and became completely hoarse/squeaky from barking with glee. She sounds like a maltese now.

We are all home and snuggly by the fire now after losing power for a day (I guess Fall is here). Somebody managed to find a rubber ducky in the autumn leaves...

Ike like Agility

It's been 1 year with Ike, and to celebrate, he got to spend a day just with mom at an Agility workshop. As usual, it's hard to catch the little guy in motion, so my Mom came and tried. We didn't have much luck as you can see. He seemed to really enjoy himself. It was a great confidence booster (not that he lacks any at this point), and helped us to work on focus just before his last show. This boy is no wall flower!

Shiba Flyball Spam

Yeah! Here is a video finally of Beebe learning Flyball. This is from two weeks ago. I started using a new training reward (rabbit fur toy) that doesn't show up in this video, and it is really helping.

http://seattleflydogs.blogspot.com/2009/10/bebee-is-flying-high.html

Rally, Oh!

Rally Obedience, Rally-O for short or simply Rally, is very fun, but it's harder than I first thought it would be (with a Shiba anyways). Beebe and I just finished our second class, and we already have pages and pages of homework. What is Rally? Here are some quick descriptions:

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/rallyo.html
http://www.akc.org/events/rally/index.cfm

Rally-O is a relatively new competition sport sweeping the country. For pets, show and working dogs alike, it is a fun but technicial event that tests the skills of both handler and dog as a team. An enjoyable learning experience for juniors to retirees, Rally is a combination of aspects of formal Obedience and Agility but in a more relaxed scenario. The handler and dog duo is called a team, and as this implies, the two are a pair judged in unison and most teams by in large seek to improve their teamwork skills, focus and accuracy vs seeking out prizes.

Unlike some of the other dog events I have done, I feel no pressure to out perform any other person, as this is all about improving my working relationship with my dog and going for our collaborative personal best. All breeds and mixes have the potential to benefit from participating in a Rally class.

Got a dog with poor focus? Have a dog that is getting bored with Obedience? Really want to try a less traditional method of obedience training that is more than just marching in a heeling pattern? Want to bond a little more with your dog but don't know where to begin? Give Rally-O a try and the sky is your limit.

Lovesick Blues

Ike's been singing a sorry tune these last few weeks.

"I got a feeling called the blues, lord

Since my baby said goodbye.

And I don't know what I'll do.

All I do is sit and cry, oh lord ..."

He paces, and sniffs, and licks the ground while chattering his teeth and drooling. Is he rabid???

He refuses to listen and doesn't want to eat no matter what I make for him aside from an occasional feathered bird snack. He must be starving. Obviously he is "sick" or something and the food I make is garbage, even the fresh grilled tuna and mashed sweet potato.

He is trying to dig out from under the fence and won't sleep. He must not be getting enough exercise I guess. Yep, those daily hikes and jogs just aren't enough for this little man all of a sudden.

Just when I think we will all get a little relief from this during the still of the night, that's when the whining, no, the howling, begins followed by repeated attempts to jump on me, pull on my arms, and stand on my head. Does he have to pee? No, not at all, but he sure looks silly writhing around with those 3 am come hither eyes trying to entice his sleepy sister Beebe to flirt with him.

What the heck has happened to my sweet, mellow, easy going boy??? He's turned into one rangy, marking, crazed wild-dog in a matter of days.

The mystery is solved when, while out in the yard last week, an itty bitty Fifi sans owner comes running up to the fence line. Beebe is furious that this interloper is making approaches towards the property, while Ike, who is doing nothing to defend the fence at this point, completely ignores everything except the new girl. I do my best to shoo her away, seeing no owner and haul my little Romeo back inside. "Fifi" reappears again the next day, followed by several dogs. He is very woeful and forlorn now that he has been forbidden the company of his secret lady fence friend, but his less desirable behaviors should start diminishing. It is to be hoped anyways. Ugh.

Shiba Flyball Duo

Beebe REALLY likes flyball, and is learning how to take the ball from the launch box. We are finding that the use of lazer pens and a fox tail greatly improves her desire to retrieve on command and recall over hurdles.

Apparently it works for Ike as well, although he seems to like simply being with people and working to please-wow! He came to practice last week and we had some extra time, so we decided to give him a test run. He was raring to go! He cleared the jumps without issue but had a little hesitantion taking the tennis ball from a stranger. He isn't exactly competitive, but he is so much nicer and more predictable around other dogs.

He immediately began wooing some other team members dogs and they all seem smitten with him-enough so that he was offered a spot as the second Shiba Flyball Student! It looks like he and Beebe will be one, big, bad Shiba Flyballing duo if all works out (as best as can be hoped for given that these are Shibas after all ;).

Mons Shibus: scared heights

Where else to take refuge from the scary vacuum monster? How about the grooming table!