How's it working for us?

Back in the spring an email was making the rounds about the H$U$ and plans to choke out the small time breeders. For those of you who didn't see it the first time around, since I just stumpled across a copy of said email, I decided to write about it here and see if anyone else even gives a damn what has already happened much less what is about to happen. So with no more ado, here ya' go:

HSUS Agenda for Animals Officially Targeting the Hobby Breeder

Unless you want to become a nation of tofu burgers on the grill on the 4th of July, unless you DO NOT want a choice as to where your next purebred dog comes from...it is way past time to wake up and JOIN THE CRUSADE.

The following 12 Step plan was published in 1987, when the concept of Animal Rights was as foreign as fuzz on a frog's ***. Look at this list VERY CAREFULLY. ( Over the coming weeks, The Endangered Owner will look at each of these steps individually, so check back.)

Each and every item on that list is being attacked by PETA and the HSUS. And for all of you pet owners out there that STILL do not believe the Animal Rightists want to end ALL PET BREEDING, read item number 10.

From “Politics of Animal Liberation”

by Kim Bartlett,
published in ANIMAL AGENDA, November 1987


1. Abolish by law all animal research

2. Outlaw the use of animals for cosmetic and product testing, classroom demonstration and in weapons development

3. Vegetarian meals should be made available at all public institutions, including schools

4. Eliminate all animal agriculture

5. No herbicides, pesticides or other agricultural chemicals. Outlaw predator control.

6. Transfer enforcement of animal welfare legislation away from the Department of Agriculture

7. Eliminate fur ranching and the use of furs.

8. Prohibit hunting, trapping and fishing.

9. End the international trade in wildlife goods

10. Stop any further breeding of companion animals, including purebred dogs and cats. Spaying and neutering should be subsidized by state and municipal governments. Abolish commerce in animals for the pet trade.

11. End the use of animals in entertainment and sports.

12. Prohibit the genetic manipulation of species.

NOTE: This was written in 1987, long before genetic engineering and cloning. In this context, “genetic manipulation” means selective breeding”

**Cross-posting notice**

Cross posting is highly encouraged and welcomed. Post this message anyplace that it will be read by those folks still unaware of what is happening to our rights and to our culture.


Join the Crusade against HSUS+Pass It Forward!

One of the fastest methods of marketing used to quickly gain other participants, which can be exponential in breadth and scope –is by using levels of people. Just pick out say 10-50 as an initial goal, and all you do is forward this article. That’s right. This is just to inform people of the truth.

Many pet owners or fanciers, business owners or community people have tons of friends and others who would like to KNOW the truth. People who want to buy a dog. People who don’t know about HSUS.

Make sure to tell THEM to do the same thing with 10-50 emails. This is VITAL. Do not spam people. Either send to someone you know, or post it online somewhere (blog, forum, newspaper blog replies, Kijiji forum, wherever..) This is for education purposes. HSUS hires telemarketers. We don’t need to hire telemarketers because we already have enough people.

We have way more people than HSUS does. Especially if each person does what is stated above. If you know anything about math, (exponential power) you can see that we can get millions of postings and emails. And when millions of people know, they tell others. That is how Obama got a lot of people to vote. Email and posting online.

You know how rumors get started and end up as “urban legends?”
Well, we are going to make this one a non-urban legend about HSUS.

Bad news travels so fast online, it can take the place of 100 news broadcasts because so many people see it AT THE SAME TIME. HSUS is like Peta— but with the Political Push. And HSUS has far more $$$ than Peta, since it merged or swallowed up a bunch of other animal groups.

And it was done PURPOSELY–so they would have more corporate money and get into more political situations—which in many cases—create greedy scandals involving buying off politicians, as we have seen daily in 2008—the year of corporate greed going wild.

Is this what we want? Animal extremists with huge corporate coffers to buy off politicians? To take donations from innocent people and then make laws against our animals? To stop the breeding of good pets? To ruin the agriculture and pet industry? Beware–because it is here–and that group is the corporate conglomerate known as HSUS+friends!

For 2008, HSUS pushed 10 goals…6-7 of the 10 goals involved spay/neuter, dogs/cat laws, or farm animal laws. One other goal was to increase media exposure and another to involve Venture Capital (to make more $$$)…only ONE goal involved outside issue (seal hunting, Canada) Much of the laws HSUS pushes is against dog kennel owners of all types, dog owners, and dog breeders, regardless of size or type. HSUS loves to pretend that every dog breeder is a high volume business, yet HSUS pushes for laws against even small hobby breeders. In other words, HSUS says one thing, but does another.

HSUS in 2008, attempted to pass a forfeiture law in CA so that alleged dog raids could garner additional forfeiture proceeds. And we all know HSUS loves to help orchestrate kennel raids of all types, small dogs, big dogs, etc…..The state did not pass the legislation; they tried to pass it in Tennessee, and that also did not pass…. and now it seems HSUS closed its Western Regional office in Sacramento, CA December 2008 and laid off everyone, but one person. Hmmm….maybe the California legislature has had enough of HSUS???

HSUS like PETA, spends $$ to try and both devalue the production of certain food sources, to cause the public to think badly of agriculture/farm raised animals; eliminate the use of animals in biomedical research labs; phase out pet breeding, esp. for dogs, end the breeding of purebred dogs; end zoos, and circus animal acts; and demonize hunters as crazed lunatics. HSUS employs fulltime attorneys that do nothing but file lawsuits; it is not disputed that HSUS does not believe pets are our property, which is why they advocate for treating animals on same level as people. Guardianship is NOT ownership.

Not convinced about HSUS misleading the public? http://www.v-abs.com/HSUS.htm and http://www.humanewatch.org [ Make sure to see below, which tell about HSUS' involvement in different lawsuits.] What kind of group besides PETA— wants to hire convicted felons? HSUS. Yet, HSUS contributed $$ toward the proposed law against radical extremists targeting scientists and their families in CA. Why? Because HSUS is attempting to make it look like they don’t condone violence, yet HSUS does fundraisers for convicted eco-terrorists, one of which was on 12/13/08.

In 2005 Pacelle announced the formation of a new “Animal Protection Litigation Section” within HSUS, dedicated to “the process of researching, preparing, and prosecuting animal protection lawsuits in state and federal court.”

[Note: What this really means is HSUS becomes involved in LEGISLATION aimed at stopping the selling of pets, notably dogs; HSUS puts videos on mainstream TV and then tells the public to donate, while saying HSUS is busting dog kennels--but behind the scenes, they are advising cities to implement sterilization of all pets, no buying, no breeding of animals, and forced adoption of shelter animals, not buying from stores; HSUS attempts to help pass laws pushing MSN, forfeiture of dogs, and restrictions of pets including no tethering, etc]

2000………….HSUS uses convicted felon, avowed member of Animal Liberation Front (ALF), JP Goodwin (2008)–Goodwin is claimed to be an “expert” in dogfighting by HSUS, however when in court to testify as such, the court found he was NOT an expert. He may have experience being in prison, but he’s not an expert on dogs. Come on people, would you donate or give money to Scott Peterson who threw his wife in the Bay while she was pregnant? Of course not. So why would anyone want to donate to a group that hires felons? That fundraises for felons?

In addition to the HSUS flagship offices in Maryland and DC, the organization’s global network includes control over the following legal corporations (this list is evolving as new information becomes available):

Nonprofit affiliates:

Alice Morgan Wright-Edith Goode Fund (DC);
Alternative Congress Trust (DC);
Animal Channel (DC);
Association Humanataria De Costa Rica;
Center for the Respect of Life and Environment (DC);
Charlotte and William Parks Foundation for Animal Welfare (DC);
Conservation Endowment Fund (see ICEC) (CA);
Earth Restoration Corps. (DC);
Earthkind Inc. (DC);
Earthkind International Inc. (DC);
Earthkind USA (DC);
Earthkind USA (MT);
Earthkind UK [ also affiliated with the International Fund for Animal Welfare];
Earthvoice (DC);
Earthvoice International (DC);
Eating with a Conscience Campaign (DC);
HSUS Hollywood Office (formerly The Ark Trust Inc.) (CA);
Humane Society International (DC), which also operates
the International Center for Earth Concerns (ICEC) in Ojai, California,
the Center for Earth Concerns in Costa Rica, and
the Conservation Endowment Fund in California;
Humane Society International Australian Office Inc.;
Humane Society International of Latin America;
Humane Society of the United States (DE);
Humane Society of the United States (MD);
Humane Society of the United States (MT);
Humane Society of the United States (PA);
Humane Society of the United States (VT);
Humane Society of the United States California Branch Inc. (CA);
Humane Society of the United States New Jersey Branch Inc. (NJ);
Humane Society of the United States Wildlife Land Trust (DC);
Humane Society of the United States Wildlife Land Trust (KS);
Humane Society of the United States Wildlife Land Trust (OK);
Humane Society of the United States Utah State Branch (UT);
Humane Society University (DC);
Institute for the Study of Animal Problems (DC);
Interfaith Council for the Protection of Animals and Nature (GA);
International Society for the Protection of Animals (UK);
International Wilderness Leadership Wild Foundation Inc. [d/b/a The WILD Foundation] (CA);
Kindness Club International Inc. (DC);
Meadowcreek Project Inc. (AR);
Meadowcreek Inc. (AR);
National Association for Humane and Environmental Education (DC);
National Humane Education Center (VA);
Species Survival Network (MI);
Valerie Sheppard Humane Society University (DC);
Wildlife Rehabilitation Training Center (MA);
World Federation for the Protection of Animals Inc. (DC);
World Society for the Protection of Animals (DC);
World Society for the Protection of Animals (IA);
World Society for the Protection of Animals (ND);
World Society for the Protection of Animals (VT);
World Society for the Protection of Animals - Canada;
World Society for the Protection of Animals - Deutschland;
World Society for the Protection of Animals International (UK);
World Society for the Protection of Animals UK (UK); and
Worldwide Network Inc. (DC).
For-profit affiliates:
The Humane Catalog (VA);
Humane Equity Fund [defunct] (DC);
Humane Society Press (DC);
Humane Society of the United States Connecticut Branch Inc. (CT);
Humane Society of the United States Virginia Branch Inc. (VA);
World Society for the Protection of Animals (MA);
World Society for the Protection of Animals - Australia;
World Society for the Protection of Animals Executor Services (UK);
World Society for the Protection of Animals Trading Company (UK).

This list may not be completely updated, but was at time of initial printing by consumerfreedom.com–however after the huge merger of many more extremist groups with HSUS, they now own millions of acres of land, and probably can BUY whatever POLITICIAN they can pay………..so we all know how corporate GREED has ruined this country? Do we want to encourage MORE of the same thing with our animals???!!

HSUS is responsible for helping Louisville KY come up with the draconian pet laws now the subject of a federal lawsuit (2008), in which the COURT denied the amicus briefs of HSUS TWICE (in other words, the Court refused to allow it to be filed) And WHY did the court twice DENY the briefs?

One reason is because, HSUS used one of the same attorneys which was formerly representing one of the parties—that is considered a conflict of interest!! You call that ethical??? Hardly. Which is why the court refused to allow it, but HSUS spent lots of $$ on attorney fees to keep trying to file it, again and again! [See other posting on petdefense blog which gives specifics on this ordinance by typing in Louisville on search box on petdefense]

HSUS submitted to the Denver Fed Appellate Court this year (2008) an amicus brief claiming that dog breeds can be identified with 99% accuracy without bothering to explain such “accuracy” is only considered to be for entertainment purposes, not scientifically used as a reliable test at this stage (for breed)– due to the testing being in infancy stage. HSUS also submitted an amicus brief on the R. Stevens case, and Stevens was found not guilty in a precedential case on free speech issues (2008.)

HSUS is going around the country offering $5,000 for info leading to conviction of “dogfighters” and has purposely helped/ engaged in orchestrated raids of large and medium kennels of dogs, killing ALL the dogs upon seizure, even when the court verdicts led to acquittal of the owners. HSUS has bragged about taking down dog people and made a big deal of it, yet after 3-4 years, the accused are aquitted quickly but their dogs were killed right after the raids. This is becoming a pattern for the HSUS, which is NOT a legal enforcement team. Thought HSUS was about “saving” animals? Think again.

HSUS solicited donations for the Vick dogs when they did not HAVE custody of such dogs–but implied that they did!! In fact HSUS wrote letters advocating the dogs should be killed. Soliciting donations for dogs one doesn’t have amounts to fabrication. Lying.

HSUS purposely engages itself with local humane society groups so that HSUS can be involved in KENNEL RAIDS of small dogs, with the intent being that all such dogs will be seized and taken. HSUS often uses Best Friends, ASPCA, Last Chance for Animals and the like, to help out. No charges of abuse or gross neglect need be filed, in fact in one case, it was set up to seize the animals by saying there was an “environmental” violation of putting dog urine in the river. HSUS then broadcasts such RAIDS across the United States, and then helps groups sell the dogs the week following the RAID.

HSUS purposely has “merged” with other large AR groups (Doris Day, etc) so they can take over the advocacy of AR issues in all areas (legislate, advocate,lawsuits) and WP admitted, they intend to push hard in several areas, including legislation and gaining donations. Just looking at the huge list of corporations owned by HSUS above, do you not see the potential for harm? Do we need to become victims first like in the mortgage business? Do we need to lose our rights before fighting this cancer?

This is just one spoke in a large wheel of many people who don’t like liars trying to force their methods down our throats……………Make sure to see Gerry Spence’s take on corporations (like HSUS) that use propaganda to dumbdown the public on TV; see http://tinyurl.com/7dkh52 or http://www.gerryspence.wordpress.com

Note: You can shorten this to whatever amount you think is sufficient, you can add to it, and subtract. Just make sure when you send it out, you tell the other people to share it with 10-50 others. (You can also make a PDF, but many people are lazy and won’t open it.)

Please forward to others who will do the same! The truth about PETA has been out for awhile, but HSUS credibilty needs to be hit with the sledgehammer. And it’s now Hammertime! AB1634 was defeated in CA with massive numbers of opposition. We need to do the same, only MORE–against HSUS. Our work lies before us. Now we just need to do it!

What we now know is that two of the most onerous bills proposed in California by Senator Dean Florez failed...THIS YEAR. Do not forget that he has promised to reintroduce them next year. Then while we managed the beginnings of a win in Louisville, KY, what the devil happened to TN? Here in Maryland we managed to beat the H$U$ so called breeder limit bill, but there is no doubt in my mind they will be back.

The only way to stop all this before we lose all our companion animals AND our farm animals is to cut off the money. Chop down that money tree H$U$ has growing in its backyard. Insist IRS take away the non-profit status and make them pay taxes. So I say to you..."got 50?"

Afternoon's play

Sometimes I get the feeling that what everyone sees here is all work and no play and that couldn't be further from the truth. One the the best things about working with dogs who not only have a good bit of training, but have training that teaches them to be flexible and able to understand commands when they are used to communicate new ideas is that when we decide to play everyone understands what we are doing.

The following video footage is of myself and a group of students, apprentices and interns all working with a couple of dog (Tiny the Mastiff and Rugby the Maltese)on what we hope will turn into an entertaining video short.



What we learned was that Rugby needs more practice being carried and Tiny needs more practice carrying things that don't necessarily hold still. At the end of the afternoon, everyone agreed a good time was had by all. The downside of this shoot was expressed by the dogs who had to sit on the sidelines and watch since they didn't have a part. Guess the screen writer is just going to have to get busy and come up with some more parts. Who knows? This might just turn into a feature film.

Scammers, get a life

I actually have an entry in rough draft form that I planned on finishing and posting today. My plans were shot down when I opened my inbox. And this is what resulted. Can you tell I'm not pleased?
**************
Hello Dear yourself. Today I received the below correspondence in my inbox. Here is the short list of my problems with you and your request.

First starting right at the top, if you in truth do currently reside in Italy, pray tell why on this earth are you using a Peruvian mail server? That does give one a pause or should I say paws?

The next thing that popped into my mind was to wonder just how your “client” was going to be able to come to the US and in the same 3 week photo shoot be in Maryland, Illinois, Texas, Ohio and Maine just to name a few states your inquiry was sent. Yes, Dear we are all on the same page, which in part, is why we talk to each other.

Then I continued to read and come upon the information that said “client” owns a teacup Maltese puppy, whatever that is and it is to be trained to do what? And this training period is to be for how long? Oh yes, that’s right you did specify the time. It is to be for 2 one hour sessions each week for 5 weeks. So tell me, just how long is your client planning on spending in training said pup. And are you really sure it is a teacup Maltese. Seems you told a dog trainer friend of mine it was a Maltese Poodle and there were two of them. So just how many dogs are we talking about? Last thought on the actual dog. Can you tell me for sure, is it a Maltese or a Poodle or a Poodle from Malta?

Now about Jennifer Moor, seems that is a fairly common name. When I did a Google search I found more about you than I did her. I very much doubt your Jennifer Moor exists anywhere but in your head.

From there it is easy to just skip over all the rest until the last, the coup de grâce so to speak. You actually expect me to accept a money order from you? Surely you jest? And just how much over and above my fee will said money order be for? Or perhaps I really should be asking, just how much are you hoping to stiff me for? What a load of dog cr*p.

My best suggestion to you and your mates would be to find an honest job. If you put half as much effort into honest work as you are putting into trying to scam people, you would be a very rich person.

So tell me, does anyone actually fall for this sort of drivel? Oh and by the way, this is how I feel when I get yet ANOTHER one of these stupid, nuisance scams.


*****Begin Scam****

Hello Dear,
How are you today? Moneta Bianco, i am 42 yrs old. I use to work
in England as a pet sitter 7 yrs ago before i relocated with my family to
Milano, Italy where i now work as a caregiver, I have lots of happy clients here
in italy.

I have a client Miss Eliska Kovarova a model here in italy.
She will be coming to the U.S in 3 weeks time for a photo shoot job and will be
residing in Maryland temporarily until the neccesary arrangement for her job has
been made before she leaves, She has one 11months old teacup Maltese Puppy and
would be needing a Dog trainner to train the Puppy while she is out on her photo
shoot.
I have been looking for a dog trainner for over two weeks now, till i
met an old friend Ms. jennifer moore, She use to live in America before she
relocated with her family to Milano where she works now. I met her at Cosmetic
Surgery and Beauty Conference that was held over the weekend in Florence I spoke
with her about my client and was referred to you. She gave me your referral, So
i decided to contact you to know if you will be able to train her Puppy.
Miss Eliska asked me to come with her to the US but i told her i would not
be able to go with her to the US as i have a course i will be going for in a
week time and i do not know much about trainning a dog. So i promised to help
her get a good dog trainner in your Area. Pls tell me a little more about your
self, how long have you been a dog trainner? and would you be able to train her
Puppy from the 12th of next month to the 20th of November, 1hr individual
training session twice a week for for 5 weeks?
Pls i need you to get back to
me with the amount you charge per her and also let me know if she can pay you
via US money orders?
Do send your reply to my personal email address (
monetcare@yahoo.it ) for a quick response as i do not check this email often.

Thank you very much and do have a nice day.

Moneta Bianco
21
Via Merkato ,
1,20121
Milano Italy
********end scam******

Any of you readers interested in sharing your thoughts on this matter? Sure would love to hear from you. m

The Beast has been tamed

Personally I have always found watching a group of dogs doing a set of stays to be about as interesting as watching paint dry, however in this case I'm sharing this video because it is doing a pretty good job of showing how far the Kerry Blue, aka: the Beast, has come since May 29, 2009. When I first met her she had only one goal in life and that was to make sure she became the only dog in the world. KB's sure do have high opinions of themselves in my experience and Brandy certainly wasn't about to disabuse me of my opinion.



As you see when watching this video, for the most part she it totally focused on her owner. And here I must add, this focus is Brandy's idea. It has been achieved through the liberal use of properly selected distractions, praise, patience, praise, a steady step-by-step form of teaching first, praise and then training, corrections when mistakes are made, praise and yes, in the very beginning a couple of short, sharp and very serious "punishments" to make it easy for her to understand where the behavior line was drawn. Meaning very specifically, good dogs don't try to eat other dogs or people. After that Brandy was and continues to be given ever growing amounts of freedom to make her own choices.

Before anyone asks, no we did not use bribes, be they treats, food, or toys. What we did do and will continue to do is to honor her 'dogness' and show respect for her ability to learn by a method that acknowledges her unique idenity.

However, food, toys, treats have been used and will continue to be used on occasion as low intensity distractions. It takes much practice at saying 'no I won't' before the pride of being able to say 'yes I can' takes hold. We are just starting to enter that phase now. Her ability to maintain focus on her owner clearly shows that. Brandy is very typical of all good terriers in that she is able to call into action a laser beam form of focus. In the past that laser beam was turned on any and everything she considered as prey. Now she is learning better and certainly more acceptable ways of making use of that focus. The thing that is always so very interesting to me is how when the same intensity of focus is turned toward the owner, in every single case that laser beam has been softened to a mood light.

Lest you think all Brandy can handle are the stationary exercises here is a short clip of her working at a reasonably close distance from other dogs. Notice that she must deal with not only dogs on both sides of her, but also dogs either in front or behind her. I know it's difficult, but do try to keep your eye on the Kerry Blue since that is the dog we have been following.

The Taming of the Beast (Part 5)

Actually this is Brandy's youngest human. We thing she is just the cutest thing for miles around. She's currently learning how to move, play and "work" around lots of dogs and who knows? Some day she might just become a dog trainer.

And now moving on, here is a short clip showing Brandy doing her first set of stays in a group. This is very special since Brandy came here believing she would be doing the world a big favor to eliminate all small dogs. Note the dogs on either side of her.



If you look very closely you can see just how hard Brandy is working. She was a vibrating machine during the entire set of stays. I left the voice so you can hear the dialogue as I do my very best to build human confidence while Brandy learns how to control herself.

The Taming of the Beast (Part 4)

One of the ways we have chosen to help Brandy learn more self-control is through the use of select distractions placed on both sides of the path she must take in order to complete the recall (come command). Brandy has a history of behaving in a predatory manner toward small dogs. With this in mind we are using Ellie and Rugby as distractions. The goal here is always to make the exercise challenging and yet keep it simple enough so Brandy gets lots of practice making the correct choices.

Ellie the Yorkie and Rugby the Maltese are both very confident little dogs. Their overall behavior is that of dog rather than that of superbrat, pampered clothing accessory. They know they are completely safe while in the crates. When this was first started, Brandy's owner's husband remarked it looked to him like Ellie was actually a diver, diving in shark infested waters while staying within the safety of a shark tank.

At any rate, care is taken to ensure the safety of all the participants. While Sam was warming Brandy up with a short, brisk heeling pattern, the crates were placed six feet apart and a 15 foot longe line laid out on the ground. Sam heels Brandy to the start point, requires a sit and then first attaches the longe line before removing the leash.

What follows is a test of Brandy's self-control. She must hold her sit/stay until called. She must refrain from focusing on either of the distractions and finally, when called she must travel in a straight line at a fast enough pace to ignore the siren call of either toy dog.

Note that when Brandy thought she had a chance she left heel position and tried to sneak up on Rugby. Sam made use of the come command as the "correction". As this sort of sneaking up continues, Brandy will be given lots of practice on turning away from the object (another dog) of her predatory focus. This practice is critical to the success we are training for and without the necessary practice at saying "no I won't" Brandy would never learn to control herself.


We have now changed handlers. Sydney will continue to handle Brandy for the rest of this training session. This frees Sam up to handle additional dogs as we continue to increase the level of difficulty for Brandy. One of the first things to note is that from an unseen location Sam is cuing Rugby to bark. The reason for doing this is because we know that Brandy has been particularly bothered by the barking of toy breed dogs.

One of the more interesting things to note at this point is that the pressure being applied by the two toys is causing Brandy to travel in a much straighter line and she is also moving faster.


We have made several changes as we continue to increase the level of difficulty. Sam has come back as the handler, the two crates are much closer together, and the 15foot longe line has been replaced with a 20 foot longe line.

The added distance plus the closeness of the two crates means Brandy is tempted to simply avoid the entire problem by going around. She does manage to continue to make the correct choices, even when Sam heels her between the crates rather than around.


Sydney is once again working as Brandy's handler, while Sam shows up with a new dog. Pete the Lab is the perfect choice for this level of Brandy's training. He has more training that she does and he has that wonderful solid Lab personality that all too often turns from rock solid to just a rock. At first we continue to work Brandy using the 20' longe line. It doesn't take many repeats of the exercise before the mistake is made. Sure enough, just as she told us she would, she decides to cut around the crate defined runway and in doing so runs smack into and then over poor Pete. Pete breaks his stay, Sam gives his the leash and then uses the come command to bring him back. He is most happy to go along with our program even if it seems to mean Kerry Blue raining from the sky.

With the weak spot in the training finally exposed, we go about correcting it by shortening up the longe line, doing many repetitions while slowly increasing the distance. The two crates with their toy breed occupants remain as constants and Pete is moved from on location to another to give some additional interest to the exercise. In cases like this all four dogs are actually being given a chance to practice correct behavior. This means everyone is a winner.


We continue to increase the level of distraction and now have added a fourth dog. The fourth dog is Sanity, who at this point in her career is an old hand at this sort of training and doesn't require a handler to help her make good decisions.

The way the dogs have been set up is important. Pete, who is handled by Sam is now sitting close to Brandy and the crate with Ellie is actually out of Brandy's sight since Pete is big enough to pretty much block her view. Sanity, acting as her own handler is sitting on the other side of Rugby's crate. This means the crate is something of a buffer between Brandy and Sanity. It isn't much, then again, at this stage there should be no need for much of a buffer.

As we continue to practice the distance traveled is once again increased. It is also interesting to note that even when Brandy chooses to look away from Sydney, she never turns her head toward Sanity. Sanity's presences is strong and very few dogs are willing to offer her anything other than respect.


We now come to the last of this session. Pete has been moved to the other side of Ellie's crate and Sanity is now sitting in the direct line of "fire" so to speak. While Brandy started telling us the pressure is getting to heavy, Sanity began to take the pressure off by ever so slowly shifting around until she was facing the camera and just that little bit further away from Brandy. Brandy was able to successfully complete all the recalls in this set and we called it good and quit for the day.


Lest anyone make the mistake of thinking the dogs don't get enough praise and snuggles. Sydney and Brandy do some after training cool down time. It is good to note that Brandy is completely relaxed and comfortable now. Some of her physical and pretty much all of her mental exercise needs have been met for this day. Even terriers can be relaxed, calm and restful to be around. They just present more of a challenge in the brain stimulation department than many other breeds.

The Taming of the Beast (Part 3)

Since Wednesday morning is when all the advanced work is tested, checked and then moved forward, it seemed to be a good time to check Brandy and see just where she is in her training thus far.

With that in mind, Sam acted as her handler and we ran Brandy through a complete Novice run-thru minus the group stays.

Yes, there really are two additional dogs in the ring. Remember, Brandy has had a very poor track record where dogs that are smaller are concerned. So with that problem in mind we never pass up an chance to give Brandy the freedom to practice her "Just say no" skills. This then led to the two small dogs being the figure 8 posts for the figure 8 exercise.

If you watch closely you will note that Brandy is never actually fully off lead. What we are doing is to go to progressively lighter and lighter lines to give the feel of being free while still allowing us to make a correction if she were to be unable to say "no" on her own. Since she did so well with this tomorrow we will be able to increase the level of responsibility even more.