It's All About Balance

90% of the time Poo-Key is the “normal” dog. I may have mentioned that Verdae is, well, a bit of a weirdo. Poo-Key may not be a great sport dog or trick dog. May not exactly shine where thinking is involved. Where she does shine, though, is anywhere a completely non-reactive dog would.

You would be hard pressed to find a better hiking partner. Since Verdae lives in a little bubble around his head, he completely ignores other people and dogs. He loves to follow a path and therefore stays on the trail. No wandering around in tick infested grass like Poo-Key is prone to doing. He waits when you ask him to and otherwise just trucks along at a reasonable pace. His weirdness also makes him a great travelling partner. No barking in hotel rooms. Could care less if kids are running down the hall or housekeeper are pushing their little carts around.

Basically, where Poo-Key fails, Verdae is the Honor Student.

This also goes for the living room.

Verdae does not like delivery people. He loves people in general and certainly not aggressive. He just gets stressed when people he doesn’t know come to the house. He is fine with diesel trucks away from the house. But at home it means… OMG SOMEONE IS COMING TO THE DOOR! Because he doesn’t get to greet them, he never gets to close that loop, as it were. With other people the loop is: Get excited, oh, it’s just a person, chill out. Delivery people never make it past the “get excited” part.

It is pretty easy to snap Verdae out of “The Sky Is Falling” mode. You only need to say “sq.” Don’t even need to get the whole “squirrel” word out. Just the front bit.

I don't usually complain about stuff that's free and I am not normally a bandwagon person, but I am jumping on this Blogger one, but, THE NEW INTERFACE FRICKIN' BLOWS!!! Change it back.

Complaining About The Complainers

Whining about the whiners?

Bitching about the bitchers?

I know it’s contradictory. Makes no sense.

Doing it anyway.

What is with people thinking competing with your dog is some sort of right? I know I can’t be the only one who is driven nuts by this crap.

Competing is different than practice. That is just life. That is half the challenge. Half the fun. Competing is also FOR THE HUMAN, not for the dog. Your dog doesn’t care about titles, times, points, legs... Any of that crap. Your dog may absolutely love agility, or nose work, or flyball, or obedience, or whatever, that does not mean that they are ready to trial. Matter of fact, depending on the dog, they may never do well in that environment.

If you have a dog that can’t handle the environment of a competition then don’t compete! All of this “I like playing with my dog so everyone else around me should alter their lives so we can trial” makes me want to scream!

I mean, if it really is that you “love to play” with your dog you may do lots of that outside of a trial environment. Go to class, play in the back yard, go to fun matches, rent a field. The problem, however, is that it’s not about playing with your dog. It’s about competing.

Now, I am not saying that only totally “bomb proof” dogs should ever compete. Not saying that you shouldn’t compete with a dog that’s stressed, silly, little nervous, has personal space issues or whatevs. What I am saying is that if your dog has a problem it is YOUR PROBLEM. There is nothing wrong with asking for normal consideration. If you need help, ask for it. You cannot, however, assume that people will or should stop doing totally normal things to accommodate an issue that you don’t want to work on.

News Flash: There are other dogs at dog-related competitions!

Dogs tug at trials. Dogs walk around at trials. Dogs bark at trials. There may be kids at trials. There will be trial workers, judges, and other competitors there, too. There may also be food vendors with flapping umbrellas. I guarantee there will be old ladies in really weird hats.

If your baby dog is a little uncomfortable with strange humans, and you ask the leash runner to wait until after you have started your run to grab you leash… Fine.

If your dog will leave the ring with the sole purpose of attacking another dog and you ask the ring crew to assume a linebacker position to guard the entry and exit gates to keep your dog from escaping.. NOT FINE.

If your dog has an issue with a certain breed or type of dog and you ask an owner of that kind of dog if you can spend some free time together to work on it… Fine.

If your dog has a complete mental breakdown and is not able to function because it saw a Border Collie tugging and you get mad at the collie and/or its owner… NOT FINE.

Go back to where ever you setup, sit down, have a drink of water and seriously ask yourself why you are putting your dog through this.

If you are honest with yourself the answer is not going to be “playing.”

Footwork: CHECK!

Verdae's footwork is looking amazing! Going to be so much fun running this guy.

Verdae Meets a 3-Week Old Canadian Goose.

Today, on the way home from agility, Suzanne and I saw a weird looking animal cross the road. Once we got closer, we realized it was a baby Canadian Goose! His parents or siblings were no where in sight.

We picked him up, and decided to re-locate him. We moved him to a duck pond in Battle Creek.

Verdae was such a good boy with the baby duckling we named Miles!

Then Life Came Marching In.

Life.

Have you ever felt like one day it just jumped on your back and won't let go till you decide what you are gonna do with it? Well, it’s on my back right now.

My little brother is graduating middle school Thursday. He’s growing up! Not only that, but I have an official date for my driver’s test. (My driver’s test? Wait, I didn’t agree to this…). I’m in my last year as a “child”. When did I grow up? When did I come to the point that my childish years are going to be behind me? I’m going to have to make some changes.

This life thing comes with lots of decisions.

One that I have been working on is what I am doing with my life. My conclusion has pretty much come to this. "If you want to know where your heart is. Look to where your mind goes when it wanders". What wise words. And the truth is, I wasn't letting myself go to that place for a long time. I really couldn't tell you why. Probably self doubt, wanting to hang on to things, and worry. But here I am. I know you are all wondering... Well, where the heck did it go?

Easy.
Family.

Yes, I see my grandparents and brother every day. Let me explain.

I grew up in a "odd" situation. I got to see most of my cousins almost every day. We had family get-togethers at least once a week. Not only them but I grew up at with my mom. I also went to a lot of camps. Church camp, band camp, summer camp, horse camp, you name it, I’ve went. t was like a family too. Big groups getting together and just having fun. I think this is why I love dog showing so much because it reminds me of this.

My heart has been longing for home. Home with my family, the crazy get togethers, the bickering, the problems, the laughter, the joy. It has been years since my family could all be together and function in the same house for long periods of time. Maybe it’s because we’re Italian? I’m not sure.

And so, with that. I am planning something big. I am scared out of my mind. I mean to go work on my OWN scares me to death and at the same time is strangely invigorating. I am thinking about taking classes to do Animal Assisted Therapy. I have been thinking for a long time about what I want to do as a "career". I feel like this will combine everything I love and still leave me time to do things like train, trial, and do other things. I plan after taking the classes to work on some type of program with children. Not sure what exactly yet, I just know that’s what I am called to be doing! So with that- "Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its troubles. It just empties today of its strength. - Corrie Ten Boom

Verdae knows he is "G"!

Verdae the Gangster!

This, right here, is my, SWAG.