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Post by Gazinghound on Feb 12, 2013 20:37:12 GMT -5
Indeed, a lot of it is slamming this region...fortunately, I'm just far enough inland and seem to be positioned just right so that our part of town doesn't get too much of the damaging winds, rising waters, etc. This storm didn't do any harm to us, either; just a nice foot or two of snow out there for the big dogs to plow paths through, so Jack can follow them. xD They've all definitely enjoyed playing in it--especially Ulla, who persistently requests to be let out whenever she spots her winky-terrier pal next door. It would be so interesting to watch Bella's response to seeing her first snow!! It's too bad a freak snowstorm doesn't decide to just randomly dip down there... ;D
...or chair, or couch, or whatever we happen to be on. I feel your pain.
Aw, great going, Bella! Distraction is one of the main issues for many dogs, I'm sure. Especially hounds. It's tough to focus with all the fellow students and potential playmates around. I know I have to keep the other dogs away from my training area (wherever it happens to be at any given time) if I really hope to get anything done.
And of course recall is one of the most important, though often another of the most challenging, commands for hounds. Ulla's not perfect, I must admit, but I can give her a solid B+. Some of the time I know she hears me, but is simply waiting until she's good and ready to come. The words "chewie" or "food" also work remarkably well, usually better than her name (or the boys'...)
And knowing her as I do, I imagine that if she were ever to accidentally get loose in an unsafe area, she might be a bit disoriented at first, but would probably stop and look for me rather than just freaking out and running away. Sometimes she's actually even more reliable than Rusty, though, which is surprising (and almost always responds before Jack...but he's getting there, and following her lead.)
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Post by grizabella on Feb 17, 2013 23:48:03 GMT -5
Our weather's been exactly the opposite, we're going through a hot spell at the moment. Ick! Dog training was cancelled this week because it's so darn warm.  I'd certainly take that freak snow storm right now!! It SHOULD be a bit cooler tomorrow, I sure hope so! Bella's recall is pretty good, better than Tiggy's ever was, but once she's really distracted it can take an awful lot to get her attention back again. Not that we've been going to the oval for off-leash runs recently anyway, it's too hot, by the time we get there Bella's already exercised out. We've been mostly sticking to runs nearer the house on the leash or long line. Bella could do with more bum muscles so we've been doing a lot of running up and down hills which she really enjoys. Elvis greyhound is much more muscly than Bella despite the fact that she's a heck of a lot more active than he! I've been planning which shows I want to do this year, it's looking like we'll probably do about seven, I'd like to do more but I have to prioritize elsewhere money-wise. Unfortunately there aren't any Saluki or Sighthound shows in our state (I think we'll go over to Victoria or NSW sometime maybe after Bella has her title, whenever that may be!) but I intend to enter Bella in both the Hound Club of SA shows this year, as there is apparently a pretty good Saluki entry. I'm going to enter her in the Royal Adelaide Show in September, which will be really exciting as it'll be our first benched show. It's sort of our 'mini Crufts', and goes over about a week.  |
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Post by grizabella on Feb 20, 2013 22:29:44 GMT -5
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Post by grizabella on Feb 26, 2013 23:40:30 GMT -5
Bella showing off her new 'Ellie Badge' tag from DogTagArt.com.   Last night we went out for a few hours, leaving Bella alone. Though she's used to being left for periods like this she's been very clingy ever since. In fact, when we went to bed last night she howled when we left in her usual sleeping spot in the lounge room, and wouldn't settle until she was allowed to use her bed in my room. As well as that, she started the mournful howling back up again this morning when I left her to have a shower. I swear my dog is the world's biggest drama queen. Hopefully she'll settle back down again soon. Bella's probably a bit cross with me because I lost her Very Best Ball by accidentally (I never have been very coordinated) throwing it in the pond. It sunk. I looked for a while but could not for the life of me find it. So I've ordered Bella a new ball, only the new one will be one that floats.  |
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Post by Gazinghound on Mar 10, 2013 2:46:31 GMT -5
Ooh, yucks! =( Be nice if we could each send a little of our weather through the mail and try to balance both places out. I really want to drive everybody over to the dog park (the nearest one isn't walkable), but the ground is still just so nasty, like a bubbling, swampy sponge of ewness. D8 Totally not worth the trip, especially if it's no better than the backyard. Surprising how Salukis can actually have better recall than sporting dogs. Rusty will just ignore you 'til he's done moseying around doing apparently nothing, or stare at you with the tail going as if to say, "Hello! Sorry I don't feel like going in yet, is that okay? Will you still be there when I do?" Kinda like Ullie, but I can usually get her to come running first. A hound's attention can be a very challenging thing to regain once you lose it. xD Hehe, that's cool! Bodybuilding Bella! ^^ Ullie loves climbing, too. She's a regular mountain goat!  Seven to ten shows a year is about what we did, too. (Now she's in season again, which, among many other things, means that she walks around slamming her ass into everything/everyone and wanting you to scratch her while she wiggles about...and sleeps on my bed more often...and everyone is wondering whether we can finally get her spayed. I want to check with her breeders, but somehow their e-mail disappeared from my address book, and our mutual friend didn't reply to me about it...) Anyway, I discovered I was quite fortunate to have an active Saluki club--not even just sighthounds in general, but particular to the one breed--right here in New Jersey. Their specialties every year, plus the hound shows, afforded us some great chances to rack up points, and some terrific wins. Hope those hound shows go swell for you guys!! That Royal Adelaide Show sounds pretty epic; I'm almost surprised not to already be familiar with it. Sure wish that were televised, too. Bet that'll be an experience. We never did a benched show; they're all but gone here, really. Westminster is the last one left, I believe. That third photo is my favorite--what an epic, majestic pose!! Straight out of a movie! The last one, too. Looks like a really enjoyable walk in the woods.  *gasp* That is such a great idea for a tag...!! *sniff* Looks wonderful on you, Bella. My boys' came as well, and they all look just so darn spiffy with 'em! Jack's jackpot slot and Rusty's pupperoni pizza:   Rusty's actually came free because they picked his goofy-face photo as one of their winners. Bella's totally should have been, too. Were you able to apply the free shipping code? But oh, you silly, overly dramatic girlie, you! D-; Just when I was thinking that we might be getting through a heat without all of OUR same drama from the last time, all of a sudden the boys have decided to, er, act up...or rather, Jack glues himself to Ulla's legs, Ulla runs off to attack Rusty (or ME!), Rusty responds by grabbing a hold of her hind legs as well, and, you know...you wind up with what resembles a doggy bunny hop across the living room and kitchen. _-_ She gets so unimaginably silly and loses her mind thanks to this; in fact, I'm being horribly ravaged as I write this. Aargh. Wet nose in my ear feels extremely hilarious. Evidently it sounds downstairs as if she's tap-dancing up here. *.* She's totally not in her right mind, an utterly mad dog acting like a guy; this has been going on for days. She should conk out in a few minutes...dare I hope? Or do I need to hide under a chair again to avoid being violated by these awkwardly aggressive, violent "hugs?" Oh, please, oh, PLEEEEAAAASE let Ms. Humpy-Dumpty conk out and finally tire of this molestation!! It's outlasting the actual messy part of the "period"...:/ My mom's still got to choose an appointment date for Jack's neutering, but she'll drag her feet on that for the rest of his life if we let her. Additionally, Jack pulled a neat little trick yesterday after pottying in the parlor; he flipped Ulla's "good bed" (always set aside at this time on a couch they don't use because they don't like the slippery leather) right over the mess to cover it up, as though I wouldn't figure out whom was responsible. Had to clean both the rug and the bed cover...the adorable little devil. Ohhhhh, dear--floating balls sound like a wise idea, 'cause those water hazards'll get you every time. Although, how clear and deep is this pond? Got any googles and/or a snorkel? xD She may be so upset at the loss of the Very Best Ball that she'll demand an even more thorough search... I had Ulla and Rusty doing 'Lady & the Tramps' by giving each of them an end of a spaghetti strand; it was cute, but let's just say that Ullie needs to take a lesson or two in etiquette from Lady. xD |
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Post by grizabella on Mar 10, 2013 18:35:15 GMT -5
Wow, your dog park sounds.. messy to say the least! I think 7-10 is a decent number of shows to be entering, it sure does add up cost wise. I don't know how people can afford to enter several dogs every week!!! We tend to have quite small entries here, but the few dogs entered are very stiff competition. I think the Hound Club shows have quite a few more Saluki entries, and friends of mine enter so it's rather more fun than most shows. They have Royal shows in most states here, but I think the one in Adelaide might be the only indoor one. I've been along a few times to watch, and am very excited to enter myself. It sounds like it would be a great relief if Ulla was to be spayed! Hearing about all those antics makes me glad in a way that I don't have the drama of two dogs obsessed with the one in season! Sounds like lots of shenanigans in your house! If neuter classes at shows weren't so uncommon here, I'd probably see about having Bella spayed as I definitely won't be breeding from her. Ooh, I do love the boys' tags (and my goodness, does Jack have the cutest wee face ever or what?!). Rusty was most definitely a well deserving winner, and his tag looks super on him. We couldn't get free shipping to Australia, but it was pretty reasonable. Bella seems to be over her little anxious phase, which is quite a relief really. She's discovered that it isn't actually necessary to be so clingy all the time. Oh dear, how cheeky of Jack to try and hide his wrong-doings, sneaky little chap! We had an 'accident' yesterday, though not from Bella, it was Arya Borzoi over on a playdate who did a poo on the rug, much to the mortification of her owner! I can imagine that Ulla and Rusty's spaghetti sharing didn't come off looking quite as romantic as in the movie, lol! |
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Post by Gazinghound on Mar 15, 2013 2:51:42 GMT -5
Basically, any grassy area is like that right now…including and especially our disgusting yard. Pretty much nothing but soil and patches of crabgrass. xD And I think I need to sit Jack down and read him my old storybook called “The Diggingest Dog”—it has a rather good moral for overly diggy dogs. -.-
Yeah, right? The entry fees seem kinda reasonable if you enter one dog into a few shows every so many months, but to constantly enter…I guess people must use their entire savings in the hopes of campaigning a really, really strong dog and becoming a top winner in the country. *o* Ulla has been in shows where there were like, two of us, and big specialties with upwards of 50 or 60 Salukis. I have a feeling Bella will rock those shows! ;D You can lick the competition, girl!
Ullie prefers outdoor shows if the weather is fair; they usually just feel less confining and give you more space to spread out, and it helps keep the dogs more relaxed. Most of the ones we entered were outdoors, although I did enjoy quite a few indoor ones, and most of the first ones I ever attended…including the first one in which I handled her…were inside.
Honestly, it would make things so much easier for about three weeks if she were spayed. Although, the last two heats were particularly hectic because of the still-unneutered Jack; Rusty is now sedate enough that neither of them would have gone so insane if it were still just them. Definitely count yourself lucky that you don’t have to experience this harassment, lol! (It's finally subsided, thank Dog.)
Still…speaking only for myself, I’m willing to put up with another one or two sessions of madness for the sake of entering Westminster next year. Not that I think they’d be able to tell whether she was ‘fixed’ or not anyway, actually…but, still. Jack’s the one who’s –gotta- get snipped.
He certainly is fortunate that his face contains such unquantifiable amounts of cute. =) We absolutely love these tags. The glow-in-the-dark edge protector things collect dirt inside, which I didn’t foresee, but luckily they’re very easy to unclip and clean off.
Tsk, tsk, Arya—relieving oneself on a friend’s rug is quite a big no-no! ;D Aw, that’s great for Bella! I knew she was more than a clever enough girl to eventually figure out that all the anxious clinginess was fruitless, and more bothersome than it was worth. Now I just wish she could explain that to Rusty…=\
I wished I’d had my camera with me for the silly spaghetti-sharing...
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Post by grizabella on Mar 18, 2013 22:09:33 GMT -5
It seems to be cooling down a bit here, which is nice. Grass round here is rather yucky at the moment as well, though ours is yucky due to it being all dry and full of prickles! Can't go out for five minutes without having to pick a load of prickly things out of Bella's feet, elbows and trousers (and my socks!).
All the shows with 50+ Salukis (I say 'all' the shows, I think there are only two) are interstate unfortunately, and a minimum of 10 hours drive away, so if we do ever enter, which I'd like to, it'd be a few years off. I think we probably have more outdoor shows because through the vast majority of the year we don't get much rain. I don't think I'll ever bother entering any shows in the summer though, way too hot for that!
Poor Jack, at least 'the snip' will be less intrusive for him than it would be for a bitch. I don't imagine it'd be much fun all the same.
Bella sends Rusty confident, content and non-fretful thoughts.
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Post by Gazinghound on Mar 26, 2013 1:10:51 GMT -5
Oy, it was bitterly FREEZING and windy today, and snowed again…actually stuck a bit this time, although I was right in thinking that it wouldn’t last long. It’s not enough to be nice and pretty and fun, but enough to keep it cold and mucky and muddy. I did my yard-cleansing before it started, which was not very nice because I accidentally knocked the loaded shovel into a tow trailer, and had to re-scoop half of it. DX D’aw, that’s an equally yucky kind of yucky grass! It was like that at our hotel in South Carolina…so many times when I walked her around the parking lot and the surrounding sandy/beach areas, I had to pick prickly things out of her feet when we got back in the room. Must have been one of the tropical trees. And of course Rusty picks up loads of “stickers” when he goes plowing through tall brush in the field, too.
Actually, the ground was so nasty over the past several months that a section of the fence actually started leaning backwards toward the neighbors. I think it’s standing better now, but we really couldn’t do anything about it because it’s an old, possibly-on-the-verge-of-rotting-and-falling-apart wooden one. >.> There are so many things we want to update and replace on/in this house, but none of us plan on living here for more than a few additional years, so it’s just a question of what’s worth doing ourselves simply to maximize the property value!
Oh, that would be quite a trip for a show, yeah…I think the furthest site we went to was maybe about 4 hours from us. A bigger trip would feel pretty special, though. Perhaps you can save it as a goal to enter one of those large shows eventually. I would imagine that most shows down there would take advantage of the outdoors, but it’s no fun (for the handlers or dogs) when the weather’s too cold, hot, or rainy. We had one on a morning that turned out to be extremely, memorably cold, and that was brutal.
True…neutering is a relatively simple, straightforward operation…and luckily I don’t think he knows enough to dread it…probably won’t even realize anything’s missing. ;p The only thing is that one’s undescended, so that’ll make it more intrusive than it would normally be for a dude.
Thank you for that, Bella. I do believe Rust is feeling the relaxing vibes…he was largely a mellow, low-key couch potato today.
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Post by grizabella on Mar 29, 2013 19:16:30 GMT -5
Oh dear, your poor fence! That's a shame that there's not much to be done about it, I suppose as long as it remains safe for keeping the dogs in, that's the main thing. It might be fun for us to go on a big trip to one of the Specialties once Bella finishes her title, it would be a great way to celebrate I think, and I'd be able to finally meet Bel's breeder. I'd love it if I could live in Victoria one day (if work permits, I'm going to have to go pretty much wherever I can get work in the competitive field I want to get into!), as well as the Saluki Specialty, they also have a whippet racing track, where other hounds are also welcome to have a run, and a really awesome pet resort where you book the areas for your dogs so you don't have to worry about dodgy people and aggressive dogs like in most dog parks. I think it would be fun to organize to have a few friends for a big playdate in a place like that, I so wish we had one in SA. They have agility equipment and a pool as well... it sounds divine! Hopefully it wouldn't be too big of a procedure for poor wee Jack. Bella has updated her bloggings after an awesome playdate with Elvis. salukibel.blogspot.com.au/search/label/bella%20saluki |
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Post by grizabella on Apr 15, 2013 0:59:27 GMT -5
Bella entered the Hound Club of SA show on Sunday, and was handled by Arya's mum as I had a limp which was unfortunate. It was very lucky that I had a friend willing to give dog showing a go! Bella didn't win anything, but was runner-up in her class of three which I was still very happy with. She was a bit of a fidget-pants when the judge went over her, but she did move very nicely.  Bella by panGH, on Flickr  Bella by panGH, on Flickr  Bella by panGH, on Flickr It was nice to see that Bella's actually enjoying herself at show now- except when either me or her stand-in handler were rude enough to move out of her sight, in which case she'd make her displeasure known. She was interested in the other Salukis more than before, maybe she remembers a couple.  Bella by panGH, on Flickr |
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Post by grizabella on May 9, 2013 6:01:18 GMT -5
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Post by grizabella on May 25, 2013 21:40:58 GMT -5
I'm going to have a little bit of a braggy post as Bella's had a really great show weekend and I am extremely proud of my beautiful girl. Bella won Best of Breed both times this weekend (though on the Sunday she was the only Saluki entered), for a grand total of 14 points won over the two days. She's now sitting on 32 points after one year of occasional showing and I am so chuffed! Bella was really good in the ring, moving for me pretty much perfectly, and standing nicely for the judge very nicely with minimal fidgeting (by Bella standards anyway!), which was particularly good as she was in and out of the ring more than usual on the Saturday and she was starting to get sick of it all by the afternoon.  Bella by panGH, on Flickr On Saturday, as well as winning a Best of Breed over two other Salukis, Bella also won INTERMEDIATE IN GROUP which was hugely exciting and a wonderful surprise. For those not familiar with Australian dog shows, this means that Bella was the best in her age class out of all the hounds entered. We had to stick around until the end of the day to compete for Intermediate in Show, which Bella didn't win, but it was very exciting to be in a General Specials line up all the same. I tried using bait with Bella in the ring, which I hadn't attempted before, but she wasn't remotely interested, there were just too many distractions. She did perform pretty well considering.  Intermediate in Group by panGH, on Flickr  Bella by panGH, on Flickr  Bella by panGH, on Flickr |
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Post by grizabella on Jul 11, 2013 20:47:36 GMT -5
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Post by grizabella on Aug 21, 2013 7:01:46 GMT -5
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I'd certainly take that freak snow storm right now!! It SHOULD be a bit cooler tomorrow, I sure hope so!
