Wheres my sanity

Kitchen Window week 2

2011-05-15T16:17:00.000-04:00

Well I did say I would take some pictures each week.. Even though I didn't get around to uploading last weeks until later in the week they were taken on Sunday. So it is Sunday afternoon at about the same time and this time Momma Robin is out shopping so we get to see what is in that nest so far.

When she is finished laying there should be between 3 and 5 eggs.

My kitchen window

2011-05-12T15:31:00.000-04:00

Doing dishes is actually interesting these days. When I look straight forward this is what I see.

Yes, she is a Robin and is very busy with the family thing.

A sad day

2011-03-16T23:10:00.044-04:00

Yesterday was a very sad day for me. So sad that I wandered around moaning softly to myself pretty much non-stop. Why? Did something happen to a dog? Nope. Did something happen to a family member? Sort of.

You see, I lost my most beloved Catawba tree. Those of you who have been here know the tree. It featured in at least 50% of all the pictures taken here. The dogs climbed her. Kids climbed her. Squirrels made their home in her. Birds nested in her. And above all, I just plain loved her. For right now I'm going to share a few pictures of it, first in all her glory and then in her ever so sad demise.

See, after at least 120 years of life, bugs, rust, rot, wind, rain, ice storms all took a mighty toll on her and now all that is left are lots of useful logs, a pile of firewood and a somewhat large pile of mulch. No, the mulch from my once lovely tree did not get mixed with the regular mulch mountain. Instead it formed its own pile and for some reason the dogs seem to like it better than mulch mountain. Memories of climbing the mulch when it was a tree?

I moved here 11 years ago and fell in love at once. Allen Hufnagle, the best tree man there is, told me I needed to cut her down. I refused. Every year I refused and every year I patted her and talked to her and made sure she had water when there was a drought. I did the best I could to keep the bugs and worms away. Mostly I just enjoyed watching her each and every single day.

As she was....................................

I truly believe the double whammy blizzards of February 2010 dealt her a fatal blow. Allen said she was going to have to go. I fought to keep her one more year. The snows this past winter tore at her heart and by spring she was clearly too weak to even be able to handle the weight of her wonderful flowers and magnificent leaves. And so, I didn't get to see one more spring with a tree full of beautiful flowers.

The day she died............................................

That's all for now. I'll post some more stills tomorrow and then some video footage of how a great crew of real tree men carefully took her down one piece at a time and never let a single piece fall on the fences or harm the much younger and smaller black walnut tree that had grown up in her embrace. In fact, after she was pretty much finished they even took the time to carefully trim that walnut tree so it will be able to stand on it's own and grow tall and strong.

Last night everyone else thought it rained. I know better. Even the sky cried for her.

Oh, beautiful Catawba! You will live in my memories forever and ever.

Open gates

2011-01-31T14:46:00.000-05:00

"The gate is open," a cry that can strike fear in the heart of just about any dog owner these days. It has taken me several days to get it together to post about this since I was so mad, angry, lusting for blood when it first happened I didn't dare post anything.

Last Thursday at 3 a.m. I got up to hand the gate keys to the snowplow guy. I then waited for him to go out and unlock the big gates and bring the keys back to me. The very last thing I said to him was, "don't forget to close and lock all the gates". Get that part? All the gates!

Over the years I have gotten myself something of a reputation for being lacking in sympathy when the cry goes out that someone has lost a dog or dogs because a gate was left open or a door not shut properly, or whatever. If I respond at all, my very first question is why wasn't the dog or dogs trained to honor gates and doors, open or closed and why, oh, why, weren't the dogs taught to come when called. Each time I would write such a post after I hit the send button I would always wonder just what sort of bad luck I was bringing down on myself due to my stance.

Back to Thursday. When I got up, I just glanced out the window to make sure the plowing had been done the way it was supposed to be done. At the same time, I made note of the fact the big gates were shut and locked, never thinking to look any further. I opened the office door and let Sanity and Ellie out. Next I headed downstairs to the kennel room and let out all the dogs who were staying with me.

With everyone outside I made my way back upstairs and went straight to the kitchen porch to collect buckets, unthaw them and put out fresh water. Having taken care of their morning toileting, all the downstairs dogs were hanging around the porch waiting for the water buckets. Put fresh water buckets down and headed to the kitchen sink to start washing dog food pans. Barking. More barking. Even more barking.

Wait a minute! That barking didn't sound right. In fact, that barking sounded all wrong. I dropped the pan in my hand to pretty much fly to the office door and check on dogs. I could see even before I opened the door that all the downstairs dogs were accounted for since they were all lined up at the fence. Not just lined up but staring intently at the street.

When I got the door open and stepped out on the porch my stomach sank and my heart started to race overtime. Both the small gates were standing wide open. For heaven's sake, we have not one but two gates that must be unlocked, unlatched and opened in order to get in or out. The point is one of safety. Well, so much for safety in this case. Not only had said gates not been locked or even latched, they had been left standing open. And just where, oh where, were Sanity and Ellie?

Ah, yes. That barking that wasn't right was coming from them. They were both all the way out at the street at the far corner of the property barking at a walker. At least I think it was a walker, couldn't really see much because of all the brush, but I could have sworn I saw the tail end of a coat, walking, not running.

I called, "Sanity, come" and "Ellie, come". Only had to make that single call to each of them. At once without any hesitation, they stopped the barking, turned on a dime, spit out nine cents change and beat feet at top speed all the way back to the house and inside. I was so shook I simply called all the rest of the dogs to come back in as well. To H*LL with the gates for the time being. You can sure believe I was pretty snarky towards the snowplow guy.

A bit later, when the day really got going the gates did get closed and latched and all the dogs got to go back out and play in the snow. Have you trained your dog to come when called no matter what? Now I have to go back to the training board and refresh gate manners where Sanity and Ellie are concerned. But, oh how beautiful a reliable recall is to behold.

11111

2011-01-11T17:55:00.000-05:00

Even if I didn't have a single thing to say I would have had to post something today. How neat if this the date? 11111. Wonder what that means in machine language?

2011-01-02T14:59:00.001-05:00

Hear me shout! Happy New Year!

Yes, I know there was a picture yesterday with lots of dogs saying the same thing. However, I wasn't allowed to say anything and now I AM! So there.

Happy New Year 2011

2010-12-31T23:24:00.000-05:00

Some of the Team Applewoods got together today for a photo shoot. They wish all of you a Happy New Year.

Plan for 2011

2010-12-25T15:14:00.002-05:00

Off and on, year after year, I rant about the terrible shape dog ownership is in. It gets blamed on first one sort of animal rights group after another. The rant continues as one truly awful bill becomes a law after another. Doors continue to be slammed shut on dog owners and of course this past year has seen the black death of animal hate spread to all our farm animals as well. Things sure do look bleak, and yet, and yet...

A few days ago I sent a post to a small email group I belong to in response to the current and seemingly prevailing view that any sort of formal dog obedience is somehow useless. Here is my response to that thread.

I freely acknowledge the fact that the commonly held belief of those who don't understand what a true golden treasure AKC obedience offers are the ones who are the loudest in their insistence the trials are not necessary, not wanted, of no use, etc.

This stance is not a new one; it's just that in the last few years it has sadly become the most prevalent one.

As an obedience instructor just what do obedience trials offer you? The answer is they offer you a way to check your skills AS AN INSTRUCTOR. Of course, you will need to understand the rules and make sure your students are properly prepared prior to entering. What you will find (IF) you do your job well, is that your top students will always have scores in the mid-190 range and your average students will have scores in the 180 range. Your poor students will take twice as long to achieve a Companion Dog title and they will do it with scores in the 170 range. All of them will be proud of what they have done and most will want to continue with more advanced training.

As a trainer just what do obedience trials offer you? The answer is they offer you a way to check your training skills. They help to keep you intellectually honest. If you are training dogs for others they serve as a way to insure you are turning out a top quality product and one that has been proven by your peers in as unbiased a manner as possible. All this will do is bring you more business.

As an owner what better way to test your skills, hone your abilities, get to show off, pick up some bragging rights and just generally improve your overall relationship with your dog.

People fear what they don't know. Lazy people never manage to make it through the door when it comes to entering that upper level of a human/dog relationship. A relationship only achieved by learning and then teaching and then finally molding yourself and your dog into a smoothly working team. Once a smooth team, the obedience ring brings so much joy and pleasure to both team members.

Truly it is a shame so many of those in the very best position to bring back well trained dogs as the norm refuse to take part in doing so. Leave the "skinner-box" mental attitude to those who don't train, but simply manage their dog through a few tricks. Take "real working dog" attitude with you and step in that ring. You will love the difference.

What I have seen happen here consistently for more than 40 years is that the good trainers train for everyday life, spend 2 weeks to 2 months learning ring skills and then step in the Novice ring and clean-up. They come back from those trials walking taller, talking softer and hooked on dog training. They are the hope of our(your) future. Continue to fail them as many of you have been and within the next 10 years it will all be gone and so will your rights to even own a dog, never mind actually train one.

My reason for reposting is with the hope of stirring up some action. Not just a comment or two, not even a post or two elsewhere, but real, honest-to-goodness action.

This is what I want for 2011, not just for me but for all dog owners, dog trainers, dog obedience instructors.

I want to hear from dog obedience instructors who are honestly looking for ideas that will get dog ownership back on the right track.
I want to hear from those of you who are already starting to be successful in some small way.
I want to hear from you with each successful step forward your students take.
I want to read about how one dog trainer in one town managed to use the success of a couple of students to gain 4 more students, and then used those 4 students to gain 8 more students and the 8 in turn became 16, etc.
I want to hear about how all those students took their well mannered and well trained dogs off to some AKC trials and earned not just Companion Dog titles, but first places, and yes even a High In Trial or two along the way.
I want to have the pleasure of reading about how 8 of the original 16 have now mastered the real test of a good owner and taught their dogs to retrieve. Not just a dumbbell in a sterile environment, but real retrieve work in the real world.
I want to find out that the 8 students who taught the retrieve also understood the true importance of teaching the Broad Jump as well as the other requirements of a Companion Dog Excellent title and they all earned the right to put the letters CDX after their dog's name.
And being the greedy sort I am, I want to find out that of the 8 students who earned a CDX, 4 of them are now true dog training students and are working on the oh so technical skills necessary to train a real UTILITY dog. That way, they really have a wonderful and useful dog at home and in the community and a dog that has the right to the letters UD after his name.
Of course, for 2012 I sure hope to learn that of the 4 who traveled all the way to Utility 2 of them go on and earn a UDX and one of them manages an OTCH (Obedience Trial Champion).
My final wish? I want all those now successful dog owners to band together and march on their "city hall" and take back the freedoms that have been lost because of the animal rights movement.

Anyway, happy holiday season to all the rest of you. May your leashes be well used and someday soon only be needed for safety reasons rather than because of some law.

Season's Greetings

2010-12-25T15:13:00.002-05:00

aDSC_0162
Originally uploaded by samd517
Sanity on the right, Rugby in the middle and Jasmine on the left are helping me wish all of you a Happy Holiday season this 2010.

Come train with us next year and learn just how much fun dog training really can be.

Update Jean Cyhanick pledge

2010-12-19T16:40:00.000-05:00

Below is the update from Walt Hutchens on where and how to send in your pledge dollars. I've managed to scrape together $50. I think there are 40 people who have signed up to read this blog on a regular basis. Just think, if each of you only sent $10 that would mean an additional $400 to the fund.

And just think, if each of you matched me and sent $50 it would mean $2,000 added to the fund. People, we must help Jean. We must help Jean because the thought of her losing this case is just unthinkable. Were she to lose due to lack of funds is even more unthinkable. This case will directly effect each and every single one of us. Not just breeders, be they volume or hobby, not just owners, but trainers, dog food manufacturers, vets, and every single person who has or will at some time in the future have a dog to help them, comfort them, be their unquestioning friend, the life that meets you at the start of every day with joy and makes you feel wanted when you come home in the evening. Please make a donation to protect yourself from losing your dog to government theft, be it the dog you now own or one in the future.

Hi ...:

WE HAVE ENOUGH PLEDGED TO PAY THE ATTORNEY FEE FOR JEAN'S APPEAL. Now we just have to get the money to the lawyer. Until it gets there, nothing will happen and there is a real deadline coming soon.

We will be able to pay the fee of $35,000 in time to make the deadline only by using part of a loan from a generous pet-law member. WE WILL HAVE TO PAY THAT LOAN BACK. There's also a good chance that a few people who pledged, will drop out. Some of you thought you'd be able to beat your pledge amount when you actually donated and IF YOU CAN SEND EXTRA, THAT WILL BE VERY MUCH APPRECIATED.

PLEASE SEE THAT YOUR DONATION REACHES THE ATTORNEY NO LATER THAN DECEMBER 28th. Sooner is better!

We HAVE NOT been able to arrange for PayPal. There are two ways to pay:

1. BY MAILING A CHECK OR MONEY ORDER.

A. 'Pay to' Black, Noland, and Read, P.L.C.

B. Write the number '20100406.003' in the 'memo' area on your check.

C. If your address isn't printed on your check, write it there.

D. Put your return address in the usual place on the outside of the envelope.

E. Write 'WMK' in the lower left corner of the front of the envelope.

F. Mail to:
Black, Noland, and Read, P.L.C.
PO Box 1206
Staunton, VA 24402

OR -- if you prefer:

2. BY CREDIT CARD.

A. Call between 8:30-12 OR 1-5 ET, any weekday.

B. Have your card handy as they will take full information.

C. Call BNR at: 1-540-885-0888

D. Ask to speak with Whitney. If she's unavailable, the receptionist will

know how to take your information.

(Whitney is ALWAYS there, but ... just in case!)

E. Say "I want to donate for the Jean Cyhanick appeal."

F. Give credit card info as requested, ending with the amount you're donating.

G. You will be asked for your mailing address as there is a notice that the lawyer has to send you.

The office will be closed Thursday-Friday, December 23-24, so 'sooner is better than later.'

While there can never be any guarantees for what happens in a courtroom, THIS IS A WINNABLE CASE. YOU are going to make it possible for Jean to try.

We have a fine law firm and Tate C. Love is a fine lawyer: They're strongly committed to winning this appeal. It gets no better than that. THANK YOU.

And I know that Jean also thanks you from the bottom of her heart.

I will keep you informed as things progress, however progress in appeals cases is typically measured in months.

Walt Hutchens

Timbreblue Whippets
Puppycam most nights roughly 8-10 PM ET at:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/timbreblue-virginia

Jean Cyhanick pledge

2010-12-16T16:50:00.001-05:00

If we as a group continue to sit on our hands and do nothing there will be no more dogs in 10 years. Harsh? Black helicopters in the sky? Another of Margot's "the sky is falling" rants?

Nope. Not at all. For background go to http://got50.blogspot.com/ If we as owners, trainers, breeders allow the travesty in Virginia to stand, then we will live to see the dog vanish from our homes, hearths, fields and hearts. I'm not a breeder. I don't even get to many dog trials/shows anymore, but I still have managed to pledge $50 from my very slim budget to help fight this battle. It's my battle. It's your battle. It's our battle. Please make a pledge and then when they let us know where to send the money, actually sent what you pledged.

Margot

Here is what others are saying:

Not yet, but soon!

With the help of a generous loan from a pet-law member, we now know we
can do it. We would have to pay the loan amount back, so WE STILL NEED
PLEDGES but we no longer need to worry that we won't be able to pay
the attorney in time for him to make the filing deadline.

I have some details to clear up with the attorney's office which is
semi-closed today due to snow in the area. Then I have to write up the
payment instructions and get them ready to send to those who have
pledged; even with a good mailer, sending out almost 300 emails takes
some time.

I'll let the lists know when the instructions have been mailed.

WE DO STILL NEED PLEDGES. We're only able to make the $35,000 total
with the aid of the loan so WE CAN'T QUIT WHERE WE ARE.

The story of what happened to Jean is at: http://www.got50.blogspot.com/

in the second post. Those who want to pledge can email me at: waltah @
earthlink.net (take out the blanks). Instructions for where to send
payment will be emailed within a few days.

PLEASE GET 'Jean Cyhanick pledge' in your subject line so your email
doesn't get lost. I'm still finding pledges in out-of-the-way places
and I would hate to think that we'd lose any!

I've send out acknowledgements to most of those who have pledged: If
by Friday PM you haven't heard from me saying "Thank you" then please
send your pledge again.

I can't tell you how impressed I am at all the support you've given
Jean and this effort. While there are no guarantees, THIS IS A
WINNABLE CASE and Jean has a good attorney.

Don't think of this just as a court case: Appealing a verdict on a bad
law gets attention in the legislature, especially in the committees
that made that law happen. The legislative process is definitely
messy, but VA General Assembly members do want to get things right. A
law that comes back from an appeals court in a pine box is very likely
to get a stake through the heart in the Assembly.

You'll also be helping a breeder who did nothing wrong and had the
courage to face spending the rest of her life in prison in order to
prove it.

PLEASE FORWARD

Walt Hutchens
Timbreblue Whippets

Training by the Wish method revisited

2010-12-07T10:24:00.007-05:00

Way back in August I posted about an incident that happened to one of my students and her dog while they were in the Novice A obedience ring doing stays. The following comment was just posted about that entry. However, I get the feeling the writer in question may have actually attempted to read some of my earlier blog entries. How many? Who knows, but it does appear to me that perhaps reading comprehension skills may not be quite up to par. Either that or my ability to tell the story using words, pictures and video is just not up to the task at hand.

So, first the comment:

Patty Sontag said...
It really sounds like many of the people posting think the only way to train a dog reliably is with force and harsh corrections. I trained my Kerry Blue to his UD with positive reinforcement - no ear pinches, collar corrections, prong collars or electronic collars. HE NEVER BROKE HIS STAYS, EVEN WHEN OTHER DOGS CAME UP TO HIM AND GOT IN HIS FACE. He NEVER NQ'd on stays on his way to his CD or CDX - NEVER! I proofed and proofed his stays and they were solid before I stepped foot in the ring - my instructor made sure of that. Perhaps other handlers, instead of showing their 9 month old puppies in Novice, should wait until their dogs are a bit more mature and have more self control before putting them in situations that they can't handle. I know I would certainly appreciate that. The problem isn't positive reinforcement, it's the people who are in such a big rush to get their OTCH by the time the dog is 2 or 3. Don't shoot the method, shoot the stupid person at the other end of the leash who has entered their dog WAY too early without being sure that their dog can handle the situation. Anyone who knew him wanted to be placed next to him - they knew he was solid. Unfortunately, I lost him to cancer 3 weeks ago and picked up his ashes this morning. He was one GREAT dog.

Now for my comments:

Dear Ms Sontag,

I am truly happy for you and your success with your Kerry Blue. I'm sure your hard work and patience brought you much closer to this dog of your heart than you have ever been before. I'm also so sorry for your loss and know that the grieving process is at best a difficult one and at times a seemingly endless process of grey and dreay days, followed by cold and sometimes sleepless nights.

Know that the grieving process will one day complete its course and your lost KB will take a special place in your memories. Meanwhile, time marches on in a most relentless fashion.

From your writing you leave the impression of a dog who was a middle of the pack sort of terrier who never actually turned on to his true terrier nature. In a word, he was a "cold" rather than "hot" terrier. It does sound as if this was an ideal sort of dog for you and where you were/are in you travel up life's hill.

Your stated way of showing a dog what you wish him to do with, to or for you does work with a small percentage of dogs with a very specific temperament type. It is not confined to just a few breeds, but can be found across the total broad spectrum of domestic canines. Just because you happened to be lucky enough to stumble on one does not in any way guarentee you will ever have another one with the same skill sets. What is most likely is that any and all dogs you own from this point on will be much closer to the norm.

I do remain curious about the nine month old puppy you mention. Is this someone you know? It certainly didn't have anything to do with the dogs belonging to the students I have blogged about. The main student dog in "Training by the Wish method" was a Yorkshire Terrier who was almost 10 YEARS old. The Kerry Blue that is the feature dog in the "Taming of the Beast" is almost 5 YEARS old.

Ellie the Yorkie was a throw-away dog who had also been labeled a special needs dog. It was claimed that she was dog aggressive, people aggressive and killed things smaller than herself. Brandy the Kerry Blue came only AFTER two other trainers had failed her, she had seriously injured more than one dog, managed to land a bite on a human and been labeled by her country of residence as potentially dangerous. Quite frankly I'm still waiting to be introduced to the trainer/owner/dog combo who has successfully rehab'ed a dog with these labels, put obedience titles on them and seen them move successfully back into their respcetive communities.

Where is Ellie today? She is a hard working "school" dog. Her job is to demo just how to go about the business of training a toy breed to behave like a proper dog rather than a battery powered toy. She also helps train all the children who come here. With her help they are able to learn good, careful, thoughtful, kind handling skills. Skills that will go far to help them in many areas of their lives in the future. Oh, and yes she did finish that C.D. with a second first place and a HIGH IN TRIAL. Most of the time we think she is a very fine little critter. On occasion she slips back into her old ways and gets called "that little rat" and then quickly does something special to mend her slip.

Where is Brandy today? She has finished her C.D. with nothing less than a second place. She was entered in 4 trials. She qualified in all 4 trials. Currently she and her owner are busy putting the final touches on the Open exercised with plans on a C.D.X. spring of 2011. They have also started Utility training and plans along with our hopes are to see them in the utility ring by late fall of 2011.

Brandy is without peer when it comes to scent work as seen in these two video clips.

and

Brandy now has much better things to do than wasting time on small or medium untrained, not-dogs. What is a not-dog? It is one of those sorry, twisted creatures who have no jobs, no real training, no responsibilities and so are forced to spend their days slowly growing more and more stupid due to lack of metal stimulation and challenge.

Time change blues

2010-11-07T23:24:00.006-05:00

I'm starting off by stating my official position on this business of time change...
I hate it.
I have never, ever gotten it right. Not once, not ever and this fall change just added the newest painful twist to my time change blues.

Back in the dark ages clocks were just clocks and they all had faces and numbers and an hour hand, a minute hand and some of them even had second hands. They ran because you wind them up, reset the weights, maybe plugged them in or even possibly changed a battery. If you wanted to change the time, you simply turned the appropriate dial until you had moved the minute hand enough times around the clock face to make the change. That was then.

In a time jump I really didn't want to talk about, 12 or maybe it was 15 years ago I was forced to move forward when my trusty bedside clock of 40+ years finally kicked the bucket.

This new clock still had a wonderful face with real numbers and three hands to tell me the hour, minute and second. It had a simply great alarm. Honest, instead of the usual nasty bonging bell or screeching whistle this one has a wonderful sounding chime. It actually plays the Westminster chimes and just slowly gets louder and louder until you shut it off. It came with a neat nightlight, a radio I never did learn how to use and a snooze button.

The down side to this clock was you had to be able to deal with setting a digital clock if you wanted the alarm part to work. Some of the time I would manage to get the alarm part set on my first try. Most of the time it would take me several tries over the space of several days just to figure out how to set the alarm once again.

And so when I got up this morning I started the business of resetting the clocks. Well, actually I only reset the "real" clocks. The clocks with faces and hands and neat little turn wheels on their backs. Which brings me back to the clock with two times.

I managed to set the "real" clock without a hitch. Then I started the painful business of setting the blasted digital part. No dice. I fiddled with it. I got frustrated and left it for a time. Went back and tried again. No dice. What was worse was the fact that all of a sudden the light went out and none of the buttons worked at all. Mind you the proper part of this clock continued to keep time just fine. Only the digital part had stopped working.

This evening Jesse went around setting all the digital clocks and in his clock checking he was kind enough to set my bed side clock. After he finished he came in the office to tell me they were all set. How nice, I guess.

You see, I was on the computer searching for a replacement for the dead bedside clock. Now here he is telling me it works just fine.

"So what was wrong with it, or dare I even ask?"

"Oh nothing. It was just unplugged and I plugged it back in. Reset it and it's just fine."

I did the only thing left to me...I started slowly banging my head against the desktop. Time change should never, ever have to happen. Besides, none of the dogs will acknowledge a change of time and so will be off for at least a week.

Summer's end 10.10.10

2010-10-10T22:17:00.006-04:00

How I hate seeing the last of summer and for me one of the signs the end is upon me is when I have to say good bye to my summer flower garden. Granted in a few days the fall flowers will begin to really show themselves. Yes, they are nice enough as flowers go, but...

My heart will always be with my summer flowers.

Wish Method of dog training part 2

2010-08-17T12:03:00.002-04:00

Cut and paste seemed to be the most efficient way to respond to some of the comments from yesterday's blog.

First, Linda's comment about the Open A ring. Glad you Q'd on Saturday, sorry you didn't make it on Sunday. Open A=the heartbreak class, for sure.

Yes, it could have been a bit dicey, but wasn't since judge and stewards were doing their job. My biggest complaint with the current popular methods of dog training is the total lack of any ability to teach a dog how to behave in a responsible manner. Dogs break their stays because they can and they know they can and there isn't any reason why they should stay when there are other more interesting things to do.

I have to say that there aren't many things that make me quite so mad at current dog owners as I get toward those who choose a power breed and then simply REFUSE to train it. Instance on doing warm, fuzzy, gooey things that appear to make the human feel good doesn't do anything toward meeting the mental needs of a power breed. I get to say this because with very few exceptions I have always owned a power breed and did quite well with them in obedience. Nope, it would never have occurred to any of them to stay break and bother another dog. In fact, it never occurred to them to stay break even when another dog broke and came up to them looking to start something.

Train your dogs as if their life may depend on it. You never know when that will become true.

Linda said...
Excellent post! Sorry we didn't meet, I was there both days in Open A, Q'd yesterday with a 4th place :) Unfortunately, it didn't happen for us today. Btw, a Rottie got up in the Open ring during the out of sights and went and stood over another dog - the steward and judge were quick to react and no harm was done but it could have been dicey.

Now, moving on to Doranna's comment. The way to solve the problem is to train to the point were both of you are comfortable in the Open B ring. The Open B dogs have much better training, the handlers are far less likely to be bringing an untrustworthy dog in the ring.

Over the years I have had many of my dogs threatened while doing stays in the Novice ring. It is just one of the things we train for, however once, just once I was in the Novice B ring with a Great Dane. She was working on her third leg, having gone high scoring Dane and high scoring working breed two days in a row. The sit/stay was sort of dicey since 4 dogs down from us was a nasty Lab who broke and would have started trouble, but for the fact we were already on our way back to the dogs.

These days it would never have turned into a problem because the judge would have shown them the gate right then and there. But that is now and this was then and the dog stayed to do the down/stay. We had hardly gotten to the other side of the ring and turned when that nasty piece of work was up. He just stood there for a second or two and simply launched himself over the backs of the other dogs to land on top of the Dane.

Believe me when I say I sure as hell didn't wait to see what would happen next. Actually as soon as I saw him turn and look at the dog I was handling I was out of the line-up and headed across that ring. Only took me three bounds to get there and I had him be the collar and hauled off. Sadly, my Dane was took shook up to even handle a redo. So no third leg that day and it ended up taking almost 5 months to get her back. Most of the problem was the lack of any matches. Once spring came and the matches started back up she got over her shakes and finished up with a third high scoring working breed.

These days I realize it is much more difficult to prevent problems and all but impossible to fix a problem. There simply aren't enough matches and finding an outdoor match, at least around here, is even more difficult.

For all of you who though the dog park idea was so great, how's it working for you now? Are you still able to take your dog to the park and train?

Are you still able to get together with friends, set up a ring and hold your very own impromptu match at the local park?

Gee, can you go the local dog park and train your dog? Not just novice level, but open and utility level?

How about this one: when was the last, or should I say first, time anyone used the local dog park to hold a fun match?

10:46 PM
connerybeagle said...
This is exactly why I haven't taken Connery Beagle up to CDX, in spite of my longing for a VCD2 (we're still working on #1, but we're close, and he's got his MACH). After being viciously jumped at not one but two dog shows, what are the chances I want to do the long stay exercises while forced out of sight so I can't intervene if necessary? Trust the stewards to do it? I don't think so.

--Doranna

If I can find enough volunteers to stake out the ring and jump in if *any* dog breaks his stay and heads toward the Beagle, one day I might try it--but if that happens enough times, it'll teach him the wrong thing about what "stay" means. Anyway I'm not there yet. It took 6 months to get over the first attack (giant breed). It took 18 months, x-rays, therapists, and unending retraining to get over the second. I don't happen to think either of us would recover from a third.

Training by the Wish method

2010-08-15T15:06:00.007-04:00

To read the original story that goes with these pictures please go to:

http://misterrugby7.blogspot.com/2010/08/fiasco.html

The early 1990's saw the introduction of a belief system that has probably done more harm to all dogs and taking formal obedience competition to its death throes than any other single thing. That system of training is what I have always though of as the "wish method of dog training". Based almost completely on idea that everyone has to be able to feel good about themselves without every lifting a finger to do the work necessary to develop both mind and body of the participants. In this case, the participants are on the right side the human and on the left side the canine.

Moving almost in lockstep with the "wish method of dog training" arrived the Internet and a way of communicating with others that made it possible for a person to never set foot outside their home and yet be able to show pictures of them teaching a dog to do all sorts of really amazing things. Now everyone with a computer and a camera or two could become the owner of Lassie and Rin Tin Tin all rolled into one.

Meanwhile, if you have managed to read this far you are most likely wondering what on earth is she ranting about this time or maybe it is more a case of "get to the point old woman". Humm...yes, well the point just happens to be that dogs need to be able to see/hear/feel the connection between cause and effect. To put it another way, they need to be given ALL the necessary information and then allowed to make mistakes and in doing so learn from those mistakes. This does NOT happen by pretending the mistake never happened. It does not happen through withholding praise or treats or toys. The biggest flaw in that way of doing things is always going to be the inability of the human to accurately gauge just what equals praise/reward to the dog.

So that takes us right back to actually training a dog to follow a set of rules and in doing so become successful at completing an assigned task. Not just completing the task, but doing so in a workmanlike manner. Completing said task in a way that doesn't just please the human, but more to the point pleases the dog.

The pictures below were taken of the Novice A ring at the Penn Ridge Kennel Club, Inc., in Harrisburg, PA on Saturday, August 14, 2010. As you can see it was a small entry. Small entries being the new norm and the warning bell there is something very wrong with the sport.

The group doing stays consists of mainly dogs representing the "power breeds". There were two exceptions and they were a Sheltie being handled by a very young girl and a Yorkie being handled by a first-timer. The line-up starts with a Giant Schnauzer sitting next to a Black Russian Terrier and ends with an American Staffordshire Terrier sitting between a Doberman and a Newfoundland.

Now let's look at what was wrong from the very beginning. Wrong before the handlers gave the stay command or left the dogs. You may not be able to spot it in the first picture even on close inspection. If you can't spot it in the first picture move on to the second picture.

Since the dogs are sitting on mats and the two mats have been taped it should jump out at you. What?

The line isn't straight. In the first picture it appears to be straight and yet, just as soon as the humans are removed from the line the Dobe shifts back and the AmStaf starts moving forward. Study the picture some more. The Yorkie was behind the tape line and now is in front of the line. What we don't know from the still shot is whether or not the Yorkie is forward in the second picture because the judge had the handler move her forward or because she shifted herself forward.

What is important to keep in mind is the fact that this 10 pound Yorkie is now in a very exposed and potentially dangerous position. She is still far enough back to be pretty much out of sight and therefore out of mind as far as the Giant Schnauzer, the Black Russian and the Sheltie are concerned. However, she is now also in full view of the Doberman, the AmStaff and the Newfoundland. Her danger is much clearer now. The AmStaff is up and hunting. This picture shows just how near the danger is while the handler slowly walks across the ring to attempt an intercept of her offending dog.

To play the "what if" game, just what do you think would happen if the Yorkie had been trained in a stress-free manner that never included any real consequences for the misbehavior of stay breaking? Before you answer look closely at where the Yorkie and the AmStaff appear to be looking. Note where the handler is. Note where the judge is. Note there is not a single steward in sight.

In the following picture we see it took the handler so long to reach the AmStaff it was already to the end of the line and offering a direct challenge to the Giant Schnauzer. One has to wonder what the handler was thinking when she wasted time going between the Schnauzer and the Black Russian to then grab her dog by the groin area.

Yes, the Yorkie is still holding her sit/stay. You aren't able to see her because of the distance left between her and the Sheltie. Tension had to have been running really high at this point.

Sure enough, the Schnauzer is unable to withstand the distraction and is willing to take the challenge. Now we see the Schnauzer's handler added to the mix. The Sheltie is still holding, but the pressure has caused a lift of one front paw.

Much noise and some spit while the two humans are forced to use lots of muscle to get them apart and keep them that way.

Two much pressure, tension, stress for the Doberman who gets up and does what? Appears to be moving across the ring toward the handler. Still no stewards in sight, but the Doberman handler has moved in to intercept her dog. And the Yorkie, all 10 pounds of her is still sitting right where she was left.

Come time for the down/stay and there is a very large hole left between the Yorkie and the Newfoundland.
For the Yorkie, who by the way is our very own Ellie is was just an interesting bit of entertainment. Don't know how the others felt. The thing that kept her safe was a solid sit/stay. What many of you readers may not know or perhaps don't remember is that Ellie came to us just one year ago as a "throw away". A victim of the sever downturn in the economy, Ellie was labeled a special needs dog. She was supposed to need a home without children, without other pets and she was labeled as dog aggressive.

Over the past year we have taught her the rules and they are exactly the same for every dog. It doesn't matter if said dog weights 6 pounds or 140 pounds, they all have to follow the rules. We taught her to be obedient in ways that matter. She comes when called, holds sit, down and stand stays with ease and confidence. She heels off lead as reliably as she heels on lead, neither lagging behind nor pulling ahead. So it just seemed reasonable to enter her in some obedience trials and test her training against the training of other dogs. She earned her first leg and a second place this day. On Sunday she earned her second leg and a first place. The two trials represent her first and second time in the obedience ring.

Group stays are NOT dangerous when all the dogs, no matter what the size, are well trained. The way I see things these days, there is very little chance for the average owner to actually be successful in the obedience ring even at the Novice (Companion Dog) level due to the sever shortage of qualified instructors.

Qualified instructors teach owners not just what they think they want, but also what they really need. Along the way the owners find a new and wonderful world opening up for them and their dogs. A world they could never have ask for since they didn't even know it existed.

As a trainer/instructor are you opening up the wonderful world of dog obedience training and trialing to your students? Or are you insisting is isn't necessary to do anything more than the very least amount of work necessary to help your owners feel good about themselves even if they end up having to kill the dog.

My current rant isn't truly over, I'm just stopping.

Last comment. All my students who attended these 2 trials came home with not only what they went to earn, but more. As for Ellie, she earned 2 legs toward her CD as well as a second place to be followed by a first place. I'm very, very proud of both Ellie and Sydney her part owner, trainer and handler.

Surprise

2010-07-29T21:42:00.004-04:00

I just had the most wonderful thing happen to me. Cranky, nasty, bossy, overbearing, mean me left home this evening to go teach my two Thursday evening classes.

I was pretty stressed-out when I left since I need to be ready to start the first class at 6 p.m. and the damn phone started ringing at about 5:15 with calls from people who should have known better. (Judith - You were not the first call and there were 2 additional calls after you)

Both of the students who normally drive me to class called and said they were running late and wouldn't be able to pick me up. To make matters worse the other two people who sometimes pick me up are both away on vacation. I know that because their dogs are here.

My substitute ride gets here and by the time we finally get to class we are already 15 minutes late. So when I get out of the car at the door and walk into the building I'm only thinking about getting the class started. Instead of the lights being on and the fans running in the training room it is dark. The jumps haven't been set up and there isn't a soul around.

I'm hot, tired, and cranky and I hurt. Why in the devil do I see students rushing here and there and yet not a single one of them is available to help set up for what is now a 30 minute late class?

Finally, a couple of them come out on the training floor and sort of start setting up. Another student comes over to me and asks me if she could talk to me in the conference room. "Sure, why not? Doesn't seem anyone is interested in working right now so we might as well go somewhere else." And with that Sanity and I follow her to the conference room doors. These are the extra wide double door set-up and instead of just opening one door she throws both doors wide open.

SUPRISE!! SUPRISE!! SUPRISE!!

The entire room is crammed full of students and their dogs. There are two long rows of tables covered with brown paper and two bushels of wonderful Maryland crabs. One bushel of crabs for each long table. In the back of the room are two more tables covered with salads, a cake, fresh strawberries, cream, and drinks.

These truly wonderful people got together and threw me, mean, nasty me a WONDERFUL birthday party. Yes, it well and truly was a surprise. They worked on this party for almost a full month and somehow managed to keep me from finding out about it.

I received many wonderful gifts, but the one I will treasure forever is a book of pictures. These pictures were all taken either during the Thursday evening class or at my place; some were outside and some in my training studio. These pictures are of dogs past and present and each one of them brings so many good memories.

Right now I just can't fully grasp what happened. As my son said after reading what each person wrote in the back of my book, "Mom, you have a book full of love." How right he is. How rich I am. May all of you be lucky enough to have something so rich and full happen to you before this year is over.

We even had a couple of people there who were just "checking us out" as they decide whether or not Applewoods Dog Training and Margot Woods are a place they might want to come for dog training. They got fed too. The fact that the room was full of dogs. Dogs that were quiet, mannerly and pretty much out of sight sure seemed to make a strong impression on them. Hope it was a good impression.

More History of the Beast

2010-07-28T18:26:00.007-04:00

It has been one year since Brandy first came here for help. The changes have been enormous to say the least. For anyone who is thinking about embarking on the journey to "save" or retrain a dog with documented dog aggression issues, I say this to you, "have a serious plan".

Here are the links to last year's history:

http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2009/08/taming-beast-part-1.html
http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2009/08/taming-of-beast-part-2.html
http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2009/08/taming-of-beast-part-3.html
http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2009/08/taming-of-beast-part-4.html
http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2009/09/taming-of-beast-part-5.html
http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2009/09/personally-i-have-always-found-watching.html

Actually you need not just a serious plan but the dedication and determination to see it through. If you aren't ready or able to spend at least 1 to 2 hours per day for an entire year working a training plan that spells out on a day-by-day basis exactly what is to be done and when, where and how each weekly test is to be handled, well do you really want to take the risk?

Brandy's journey included, but was not limited to learning a very solid sit/stand/down with stays, a reliable recall in the face of the very sort of distractions that got her into trouble in the first place and of course, solid, precise heeling both on and off leash.

Once the baby stuff was well along a serious working retrieve was added along with a drop on recall, and the hold used during the early stages of retrieve training was beefed up to be an exercise unto itself. Brandy has a stuffed toy that she is responsible for and which she carries every were she goes when she is out and about in public.

Since we are currently in the final, polishing stages prior to entering the necessary AKC Obedience trials with the FIRST goal being that of a Companion Dog title it became necessary to make very certain that she will not back slide and allow her strong prey drive to get the best of her. So, with the help of some serious, hard working little guys we set about the business of making as sure as possible Brandy has excellent control of herself.

The test of her self control was then tested at a match and guess what? First of all in the next ring was a toy breed dog doing Open (Companion Dog Excellent). Brandy did the "laser eye lock" and then was able to turn it off and continue working.

Will she ever be one of those "oh, don't worry she loves all dogs" kind of dogs? Never in this lifetime will that happen. However, I honestly believe that there aren't but a very, very few of that kind of dog anyway and most of them are less than 3 months old or more than 15 years old.

Is it too late?

2010-07-07T18:21:00.011-04:00

My senior apprentice, Samantha "Sam" Daley has posted some thought provoking blog posts on her blog. I'm strongly encouraging all of you to head over there, read, think and perhaps post a comment or two. She sure could use the support right about now. http://misterrugby7.blogspot.com/

It all started with my assigning a very eye-opening task to all my students and just about anyone else who happened to be around me at the right time. The task is a simple one. At least it appears to be simple on the surface. Now I'm assigning it to all of you as well. Not only that but I shall take a page out of Sam's book/blog and call it a contest. As is true of all contests there will be a prize for the first person able to complete the task.

The Task
All you have to do is to go out and find 10 dogs 1 year of age or older. Five must be intact dogs and five must be intact bitches.

The Reason
This task didn't come about on a whim. Nope, not at all. It got started because I shared some figures with a couple of my classes. The figures? It depends on which group you want to believe but here they are:

Coming straight from the mouth of the beast, also known as HSUS http://www.humanesociety.org/issues/pet_overpopulation/facts/pet_ownership_statistics.html75% of all owned dogs have been rendered sterile. On the other side of the field is the American Pet Products Manufacturer's Association. Take a gander at what their figures show: 72% of all owned dogs have been rendered sterile. http://charityguide.org/volunteer/fewhours/spay-neuter.htm

About 20 years ago HSUS gave us "Spay and neuter until there are none". A result of the "...until there are none" campaign has been to all but eliminate litters of puppies or even the odd one or two pups available at the local municipal shelter or humane society shelter.

What one finds at the shelter will be a heavy preponderance of dogs from about 9 months to 28 months of age. These dogs have lost their homes for pretty much the same reasons. Lack of training, lack of any place for the former owners to get meaningful help with training. These are the bullies, the fighters, the biters, the failure to housebreak and a host of other similar issues and they do NOT represent a problem of over breeding. These dogs all represent a problem of retention. They are unable to stay in a home because the lazy, permissive cult of the furchild has doomed them to failure.

The fact that breeding stock numbers have now fallen below a sustainable population level has given rise to a new breed of human. As they campaign to kill via desexing on the one hand they are becoming more vigorous at importing strays/mutts/street dogs from all over the world. http://www.naiatrust.org/resources/foreign_strays.htm After all, they have to find the poor waifs to raise the money necessary to keep those fancy new shelters open.

The Burning Question
Are dog owners all too stupid and lazy to behave in a responsible manner when it comes to the ownership of their dogs? Or to put it another way, since when is maiming and restraining actually more humane than supervision and training? Leashes have been used as successful birth control devices for eons. Real training, the sort that teaches a dog to be responsible for its own behavior is yet another form of birth control that seems to have been tossed out the window. Why?

The Circus

2010-04-20T20:25:00.001-04:00

I love the circus. Truly I do and for me the very best part are all the animal acts. A circus just isn’t a circus without the animals.

First, I’ll write about the elephants and not just because they were the biggest animals, but also because they have been the center of much unwanted attention by a few malcontents. There was one rather small female who just seemed to be smiling almost all the time. I spotted her during the opening parade. She came out looking just like those in front of her and those behind her. Once in the big ring she appeared to be looking around and then her mouth opened just a bit and the corners of her mouth turned up and she got a bit of spring to her step. It was just enough different that I found myself not just watching her, but actually looking for her every single time the elephants came through the entrance door. Sure enough, she would make it about a quarter of the way around and here would come this really delightful smile and that bit of a spring to her step. She looked like she was having the time of her life, a sort of a “I’m so happy you all could come to my party” look.

The dog acts followed and brought about my only real complaint. Both dog acts were on at the same time in different rings. BOO! HISS! To truly enjoy what the dogs were doing required a person to split into two people and try as I might, I just can’t seem to master the split. The act right in front of us used standard poodles and smooth fox terriers. They were great and cleverly made use of the terrier personality. One little terrier played the ‘naughty’ dog who earned more than one laugh from the audience. Sam and I both found a ‘trick’ or two that we will be teaching some of the dogs around here, just for fun. I liked the idea of having one of the dogs run out and knock the jumps over rather than actually jumping and Sam liked the little ‘dive-bomb’ terrier. So we came away with some stuff to play with on rainy days when everyone is pretty much stuck inside.

As for the other dog act, well all I can say is Sam spotted a Maltese. More than that I really can’t say since we were just too far away to be able to see what they were doing.

I was totally captivated by the Friesian who led the horse act. His coal black and super glossy coat along with a high-stepping trot that showed off his feathers made it almost impossible for me to watch the rest of the horses who followed him. Most of the horses we saw were Fjords and quite lovely. I have to say most because I honestly don’t remember if there were any other horses or not. I did manage to glance at the striking black and dun stripped manes of the Fjords only to find myself going right back to that lovely Friesian. Truth to tell, I don’t honestly know what was going on in the other rings, because I was so enthralled by the horse act.

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. Nope, these days the circus only has tigers. Of course I can only speak for the show we saw, but is was fine. The tigers all appeared to be about as relaxed and comfortable as big cats ever get.

I realize every circus has much more to it than the animal acts and the human acts were all interesting, entertaining and not animals. What can I say? I just love the circus animals in all their glory and pride of doing a job and doing it not just well, but the very best they can. I love the circus and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey are and always have been my favorite.

The only downside was having to deal with rude adults and uncivilized children. There were the two 9 to 10 year old boys sitting in front of us who never stopped waving brightly lit wands around, except for when they were climbing on the backs of their seats. The urge to strangle was strong. Then poor Sam was crashed into during the intermission and had soda spilled all over her clothes, face, hands and hair. The ‘owners’ of the brat responsible didn’t even bother to acknowledge there might be a problem. On the positive side all the 1st Mainer employees were not just polite and helpful but actually nice about it. Over all, a wonderful, if tiring evening and I look forward to doing it many more times in years to come.

The animal rights agenda

2010-04-19T14:47:00.003-04:00

Subject: FW: The animal rights agenda - a personal story - a must read for dog (and cat) owners

Anyone who breeds, shows or owns dogs and cats in southern California needs to read this. Please note, the writer gives permission to cross post - I would strongly suggest you all do so. It doesn’t matter where you live. This, or something similar, is happening in every state, all across the country.

Carole
=======
I have permission to cross pst.
This is a note from a friend in S. CA. It is getting bad there with animal rights groups. this is not the first time this has happend to my friend. She lives in Riverside County and in the canyon and everyone has horses etc. do not understand these people, they are just plain crazy I guess !!!

Sandy

I have not listed my house yet. I can't until I get out of here ! I can't have people coming thru with both cats and dogs. My four dogs are licensed dogs and I have 10 cats on our 6 acre property. My husband fixed up the building behind the patio so I keep the intact cats there as they are very intense when they are cycling. But animal zealots are really agressive here so we can't take a chance. I can't even place my 3 spays for fear of problems. I met a woman at San Diego show who wanted to come see my neutered male. She worked at San Diego U and I checked the staff roster there. She did. She came and I had weird vibes. Asked all the wrong questons.. left with out taking him home. Find out that she'd been sitting up the road for hours before the appointment with a big animal control truck. He left just after she did. So then I did a more intense look up online and find out that she is HSUS rescue .. deeply entrenched. So it was a sting attempt. There were 3 cats here in my house. But Dave and I were really furious. Dave said don't risk it again. Keep what you have until we can get out of here. Thats why we are so limited in price. We can't get any money out of this house until we can sell. Can't sell until we can get out. Vicous circle.

Oh yes.. at the Palm Springs Kennel club show in Jan, there were 25 PETA drones there collecting business cards. Posing as prospective pet inquirers or just interested spectators. I was talking to the superintendents and they knew some of them and told me heads up. Lately, when I am at the cat shows [take one cat] and have time to chat with spectators. We talk a while and they always ask for a card. I don't have any or put any out. Nothing to sell. After that, they end up telling me that they are animal services employees. More of the same.

AS does not have the staff to do this. But the groups associated with AS.. the 'drones' are making it their personal cause to search out breeders by posing as pet buyers all over soCal. As you may know, PETA purchased a big building in LA recently and brought 40 of their key go-getter staff here.

Oh yes.. one more thing. AS arrested a woman in San Bernardino recently with 8 cats. Reason: selling a kitten less than 8 wks of age. Now a 3mo kitten is the equivalent to a 2mo puppy. So my guess is that she took a deposit and that is a transaction before 8 wks of age. They swamped in on her and now in jail for animal cruelty and her cats were euthanized immediately.

Compared to the man who raped and killed the young woman in north county San Diego who got 5 yrs. Its insane.

This is how dismal the situation is here for breeders. I have commercial zoned property for kennel, cattery, horses, .. no limit. We would have to sign a waiver allowing AS to come into our home and take photos and allow them access at any time w/o prior notice. If I do not let them in to go thru every room and every building on the place at any time, my license would be revoked immediately and charged simultaneously. A hobby kennel is a snap .. just put up 10 chain link pens on dirt away from the house with partial cement slab or raised floor, roof and dog house. I would never use it because coyotes would bait the dogs and pull their legs thru the fence. Its illegal to own 5 house trained dogs who play and exercise on the lawn to potty, on 6 rural acres. Incidentally,I would be allowed to have 25 unvaccinated horses on same property all running together in one fenced area with no shelter.

In most all counties across the country, vets are mandated [paid by AS ]to turn over owner information to the country of origin of any owner who gets a rabies vaccination. Now those who don't license, don't get rabies either. The only people who get rabies vaccinations who may not license are breeders/show exhibitors. For shipping purposes. Keep in mind, no one is checking incoming pets into LAX. AS staff [maybe the emotially charged volunteer drones] cross-checks rabies vaccinations with licences to find owners who are out of compliance.

Back to this issue. Highly likely that it would be frowned on to have a kennel and a cattery. 9 cats requires a commercial facility. Building permit would be $20K plus health department fee $6500 plus $17K for transportation study to determine if the cattery business would impact the area. So before the building can begin, its about $45K. From there, add $60 for the cost of a qualifying building to house 9 cats comfortably. I will never make $100K from my cats nor to I want to sell a lot of cats. I just want to own and show some dogs and cats. I do well and take very good care of them. We would have been wealthy years ago if we did not spend all our money taking such good care of our animals and providing beautiful place for them. Even if I make such an invest ment [$120K for both dogs and cats]they will harrass us continually. Breeding permit fees are starting and that will be a way to tax good breeders to pay for irresponsible pet owners they won't control [too risky for AS].

Let me tell you what I discovered last year. Riverside County CA cleverly re-zoned and re-classified every parcel in the county. Keep in mind that the requirement to have a hobby kennel has always been a one 1 acre minimum zoned RR, RA or A-1. Now only 1/2 acre parcels are RR or RA. 1-20 parcels are all now RE [rural estate]. Under this classification .. we are assured that its animal friendly environment. The statement is something like this: Mature animals okay but no offspring. So you can collect animals in rural estate but cannot breed them. AG zoning starts up again at 20+ acres. So they have effectively zoned out kennels and catteries in this animal friendly county.

You have to dig around to find a printout of the complete classification descriptions. This master plan [indeed !] was developed by a subcontractor and format was probably developed by HSUS. I wonder how long existing kennels/catteries will be allowed to operate as most are out of compliance now. The sleuth squeeze

A copy of this can be obtained from Riverside County RCIP or type in search: Riverside Master Plan or by going to http://www.rcip.org/generalplan.html

Sandy Kiever

Humane Watch vs HSUS update

2010-03-16T10:32:00.004-04:00

This isn't what I was going to post about, but it is important enough to get on the blog first. A request has been made to spread this information far and wide. So the translation would read: Please forward the below information to everyone you know.

Permission to crosspost, but please strip my name & contact info. I'm just the messenger.

There's an update at HumaneWatch saying that as of 8:00 pm Hills no longer appears on the Care2 site...Go to the Humane Watch for the latest: http://tinyurl.com/yz9bptm

Don't let the agriculture folks have all the fun pointing out their objections to businesses that donate to HSUS. Hill's Science Diet does it, too. Think that's a little...I don't know. Weird? Time to weigh in. Here's the proof.
http://www.care2.com/click-to-donate/pets/

Here's the spin.
http://humanewatch.org/index.php/site/post/the_hills_are_alive_with_the_soun
d_of_hsus/

http://tinyurl.com/yz9bptm

More links and a link on how to contact Hill's through the humanewatch link or the tiny.

http://tinyurl.com/yz9bptm

Other animal interest groups are emboldened by their recent success in educating others as to the lunacy of donating funds to an organization that is ultimately going to put them out of business. Yellow Tail wine has changed its corporate giving plans so as to only donate to groups that actually give care to animals. Pilot Travel Center agreed to remove the donation cans from their centers when the same issues were raised. It was pointed out to them that the livestock industry throughout the country is run by truckers who use their centers. The latest was Mary Kay cosmetics. The wife of the founder donated to HSUS in her position as a major player in a Dallas fundraiser. HSUS listed Mary Kay as a corporate donor until that link was brought to their attention.

So now it's up to pet owners everywhere to educate Hill's as to HSUS's agenda. Be polite, but let them know how you feel. I know I will. Oh, and tell your veterinarians, too. Flex your muscles.

Don't steal my sanity

2010-02-23T21:11:00.004-05:00

First the background. I'm not walking all that well these days and sure enough have to 'count' my steps. Sanity lost her public working privileges several months ago. The snow is just the pits on so many levels I've lost count. They are calling for yet another 5+ inches later this week. GAG.

I had an appointment for a hair cut this afternoon. What with one thing and another I had Jesse (son) drive me and Sanity rode along. Just because she lost some public privileges doesn't mean she can't carry the shoulder pack and ride along. Still saves me from having to struggle with a purse.

Rather than making Jesse wait, not a thing very many men are fond of doing, he dropped me at the hair salon and then with Sanity riding shotgun went off to run some much needed errands. One of those errands called for a stop at the post office on Main Street. When he got there because of the lack of parking (a snow related problem) he had to park around on the side of the building and some distance from the street.

As he was returning to the car he passed a local LEO on foot who was talking to a county Sheriff. The Sheriff's car was completely blocking the entrance to the Post Office parking lot. They looked at Jesse, Jesse looked at them and continued on toward the car. Nothing different or exciting so far, eh?

Then the car came into view. The back door was standing wide open and this strange man was leaning into the car with his arm outstretched. On the far side of the back seat sat Sanity. Silent as an old movie, she was in full ugly face display and managing to stay just out of reach.

Well, Jesse dropped the boxes he was carrying and taking off at a run, yelled, 'what the f ck do you think you are doing?'

For starters it sure did get the full attention of both LEO's. It also caused the want't'be thief to leap back, take a frantic look around and then start to run towards the LEO's yelling, 'he stol my dawg'.

The city LEO moves up to where Jesse is now standing and the creep gets snagged by the Sheriff. Identification is called for and Jesse gets out his driver's license, then moves over to the car and gets out the registration. City LEO says, 'Mother's car?' Jesse says 'yes'.

Next City LEO looks in the back seat and sees not just a dog, but a dog wearing a shoulder pack that says "Service Dog" on the side. Easy enough to see since Sanity has now moved over to the open door, the better to see what is going on. City LEO says, 'Service dog. Your mother's?' Jesse says yes as he closes the back door and after putting the registration away closes the front door.

The very next second, the Sheriff has the creep whipped around, bent over the hood of his car and it cuffing him. At the same time he is hearing the 'you have the right to remain silent' stuff and they are charging him with a host of crimes that had not a single thing to do with dog napping or even attempted dog napping. As it turned out, this was someone they had been searching for for a couple of days for burglary, and several other crimes.

I am so pleased with Sanity. She did exactly what I want my dogs to do in situations like that. Stay out of reach. Keep quiet. Do what threatening needs to be done without making a sound. Of course, it goes without saying that off leash training meant she didn't leave the car just because the doors were standing open. She didn't run away because no one was there to restrain her. Yes, oh my yes, she did a very good job.

Sometimes I wonder if all my dogs have some sort of flashing sign over their heads that says, 'steal me'. I've had 6 Dobermans over the years and at some point in each of their lives some creepy fool has tried to steal every single one of them. Bless them, one and all. They all handled the event exactly like Sanity did. No way can they be charged with dangerous behavior.

Like I said, 'Don't steal my Sanity'.

Just a little bit ago, she came in the living room and headed for her bed. AKKK! There was an Ellie, aka: mini-me curled up in the exact middle. So just where was she supposed to relax? Big, soulful eyes stare at me and she started to pace back and forth. Many sighs and even some moan's. Mini-me pretends she doesn't know about the trespass.

Finally I take some pity on the poor misunderstood thing. Even so, I have no intention in getting up just to solve what is actually a very simple problem.

"Sanity, fetch the blanket." Sanity walks over and picks up one corner and starts to tug. It's heavy rather than light. Seems it currently weighs 9 pounds. She drops the corner and comes back toward me with this truly pitiful look on her face.

"Sanity, if you want your bed, you are going to have to fetch that blanket." She turns around and moves back to the bed and picks up the corner again. Holding it in her mouth she stares at me.

"Well, don't just stand there, fetch the thing." With that she gives a mighty heave and sends Mini-me flying and in the process gains position of her bed once again.

Post script: We don't lock the car because a few years ago it was stolen. The thieves broke the locks and a window and the ignition. It just didn't seem worth it to pay a ton of money to get the locks fixed just so it could be forced again. So we just make very sure there is nothing left in it that can be stolen and that includes large, well trained Dobermans.

After blizzards 2010

2010-02-14T19:28:00.007-05:00

This is what it looked like yesterday at about 2 p.m. As you can see, the snow is still piled high and deep. Neither the driveway, parking lot or paved training area had see shovel or plow. I was really getting pretty worried since it just seemed I continued to get pushed further and further back on every one's list. A little bit after I took this picture our local snowplow good guy came by and took one look and said there was NO WAY what remained his still working equipment could handle the job.

A little bit after that, Allen, tree care extraordinaire showed up. Took one looked at the mess and said, "Its too late in the day for me to try and start this without risking damage to my bobcat. See you tomorrow, late morning when it will be easier. Oh, and by the way, good thing you didn't let anyone else try to move this stuff with a plow."

Seems if I had it would only have made the job more difficult, more expensive and there would have been a chance he wouldn't have been able to do anything for me at all!

Look closely. What you are seeing are dog footprints INSIDE the flower garden. The snow is so deep they are able to simply walk over the top of the fence and right up to the side of the house.

About 10:30 this morning he showed up with big truck, trailer, bobcat and oldest son as a helper. They started moving the snow. They moved snow. They moved some more snow. Son shoveled in select places to give what looked like an outline for the bobcat to follow.

Alle pushed snow. He picked up snow and dropped it somewhere else. He piled snow on top of more snow.

By the time he was finished some of the piles of snow were more than seven feet high and there was more than one of them. Best part, we can now see pavement and in a few places actual ground! This will help to speed up the melt. Even so, I have this awful feeling I'm going to be looking at piles of nasty, dirty snow/ice until the Fourth of July.

At least we will be able to get people and dogs in and out of here once again. The cost? To date more than $400 and a big plate of fresh, warm brownies. My big tree? A loss. Once the snow is gone and it is possible for him to get back in here and work that tree is going to have to come down. It has been damaged past all hope of salvage. One of the problems is exactly what I thought it would be. Because almost all the lower limbs have been stripped brutally off the main trunk, it is now top heavy. Lacking the necessary close protection and support of other big trees beside it the next heavy wind storm we have will deal the final death blow and that very well could put it straight into the middle of my living room. Not a pleasant though, no matter how much I love my big trees.

Blizzard 2.1a

2010-02-11T14:35:00.005-05:00

In response to one readers comments about having to shovel more snow here over the past few days than she ever did in Russia, I submit this is the reason for the difference.

What you are watching is the snow clean-up of a runway after a snow storm. Gee, seems like a splendid idea to me.

Blizzard Part 2.1

2010-02-10T12:21:00.003-05:00

A former student of mine sent this picture to me. I wish I knew who built the snowman and took the picture. I'm quite sure this is actually me.

Blizzard Part 2

2010-02-10T11:39:00.006-05:00

Over the past weekend we had a blizzard and you have seen pictures of what it looked like. It also left more than 30 inches of snow in our backyard and made a mess of some of my wonderful trees.

This morning I got up to blizzard number 2. Yet, it's official this is yet another blizzard in an area of the country that sometimes doesn't see enough snow to measure. Here are a few pictures of what it looked like at 11:00 this morning.

Looking out the office door towards the big tree on the other side of the paved training area.
The gate you can just barely see in the middle, right-hand side of this picture is 48 inches tall. This is an area where there are no drifts, or at least no drifts yet. You can also see the double gates, keep in mind they are 84 inches tall.

This next one was taken looking out the office door towards the back yard. The fence in the foreground, what you can see of it, is 48 inches tall. Looking out to the back and you are looking at 84 inch high fencing. Yes, that one tree is slowly being sucked to the ground.

This picture is taken looking out the window in the little room off the kitchen. You are looking at the roof of the shed and Jesse's truck.

Now, to help you with the perspective here is the same view as it looked last Friday morning.

While I worry about my trees and the lines that keep me in contact with the outside world, others are having to worry about the integrity of their roofs, how to stay warm because they are without heat and have been for days and days. Guess I shouldn't be whining so much, but I still HATE SNOW.

Where, oh, where is that global warming the algoreites keep bleating about?

Blizzard aftermath 2010

2010-02-09T14:48:00.006-05:00

Here's what it looked like just after it stopped snowing.

Here's what it looks like today. What you are seeing are all the dogs here right now. Ellie and Bliss (here for training) are bold enough to at least run out to the big tree and back several times. Meanwhile, in the lower left hand corner is all you will ever see of Sanity. The entire business is just as terrible to her as it is to me. She won't even try to leave the tiny shoveled area.

My once beautiful pine tree is now pretty much a party toothpick. All the limbs are in the driveway and parking area.

This shot shows just how tenuous our connection with the outside world really is. Notice the one thin strand of wire that is all the connection we currently have. One more even mild blow and poof, no more Internet, no more telephone.

My poor cane was crying in fear. Fear of my leaving it behind as I struggled back into the house. It got stuck there while I took the pictures.

Meanwhile, my son just walked to announce they are calling for 20, yes that is twenty additional inches. Most of the counties are all but done in and lacking salt, sand, trucks, manpower will be giving up sometime very soon. Have I remembered to tell all of you just how much I HATE SNOW. I HATE IT... I HATE IT.

Pray we don't lose our power because our power line is just a hanging by a thread on the other side of the house.

Will we be able to get out before April? And most of all, just where in the hell is global warming when you need it the most?

UPDATE on Spay & Neuter HSUS

2010-01-26T13:14:00.006-05:00

For the life of me, I don't seem to be able to find where I put the name of the author of the following information. Dear Author, please accept my apologies for using your material without the proper attributes. Just as soon as I know who you are, I'll rectify the situation.

Part of my problem is that having reached the age of CRS, I now find that I dare not put something aside just because of a single missing piece. To put a thing aside is now perilously close to the kiss of death.

SPAY & NEUTER UPDATE AND CALL FOR FOLLOW-UP ACTION

The IRS Tax Fraud Office in Fresno, CA has now received over 3,200 letters from concerned citizens from all 50 states - - over 1,100 were documented by certified mail. This is extraordinary because the IRS has probably never before received 100 requests about a single public charity, let alone more than 3,200. Additionally, the Tax Fraud Offices in Fresno CA and Washington DC are now in possession of more than 400 pages of documents that "document" that the HSUS has engaged in over 2,000 distinctly different lobbying activities over the last five years.

These documents clearly suggest that the HSUS has engaged in "too much lobbying," which could result in the IRS revoking tax-exempt, public charity status of the HSUS, and assessing back tack taxes, penalties and interest on the more than One Half of a Billion Dollars in revenue that the HSUS received in the last five years. That could amount to Tens of Millions of Dollars that the HSUS would have to pay to the IRS!

It is not too late for more letters to be sent to the IRS - - each extra letter increases the pressure on the IRS to begin an audit NOW!

"Thousands of concerned citizens from all 50 states are asking the IRS to audit the Lobbying Activities of the HSUS" is an impressive "sound bite" that may best be used in asking your Members of Congress to also make inquiries to the IRS about the HSUS.

A number of you have already sent E-Mails to your Members of Congress, and many have received "boilerplate" non-responsive responses that were "ghost written" by Staffers who are unaware of the "National Outcry" for an IRS audit of the HSUS.

That is why the time is now right for those of you who have already sent an E-Mail to your Members of Congress, and for those of you who have not done so, to consider either E-Mailing or FAXING the following short letter to your Respective Members of Congress. Since it highlights that many of the 3,200+ letters came from (your state), this will be a red flag that will be brought to the attention of the Members of Congress by their Chiefs of Staffs - - that is what typically happens when they believe 10 or more of their constituents took the time to write.
That is why the following letter should be E-Mailed or FAXED to your respective Members of Congress.

"The IRS Tax Fraud Office in Fresno, CA has received over 400 documents that substantiate more than 2,000 distinctly different lobbying activities of the Humane Society of the U.S (HSUS).; and has received over 3,200 individual letters from concerned citizens in all 50 States who are requesting that the IRS audit the alleged excessive and under-reported Lobbying Activities of the Humane Society of the U.S., as well as its tax-exempt, public charity status.

Many of those requests came from our State. I support those requests.
Please let me know when the IRS will begin its audit of the lobbying activities of the Humane Society of the U.S." (This last sentence makes it harder for a non-responsive, "boilerplate" response.)
To those who may question whether contacting your respective Members of Congress will really make a difference, I wish to share part of a response received by a breeder from her U.S. Representative: "I directed my staff to contact the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and have them respond directly to your concerns, since that agency is tasked with assigning tax-exempt status to organizations. Additionally, I have requested the IRS to provide a copy of that response to my office for review. In the meantime, you can be sure that I will remember your perspective should related legislation come before Congress."

Yes, thousands of letters and follow up communications with your Members of Congress can and will make a difference, and could cause the HSUS to be led to the "IRS SLAUGHTERHOUSE!"
　

2010-01-17T18:46:00.004-05:00

Are you someone who cares about what happens to dogs and cats that fall on hard times through no fault of their own?

Do you get all teary-eyed when you hear the sad music and see the pictures of starving/abused animals during those FREE public service announcement ads on TV?

Do you ache to open up your heart, your purse, your checkbook to help the most recent of the reported abuse cases as uncovered by the Humane Society of the United States?

If so, did you know that the H$U$ takes your money and then laughs all the way to their bank while less than 1/2 of one percent of the money donated actually is spent on the dogs and cats you have shed a tear about?

Humane Society of the United States 2008 Tax Filing

In 2008, the Humane Society of the United States
(HSUS) spent just HALF of ONE PERCENT of its total budget on organizations
providing hands-on care to dogs and cats.
More info at http://www.chicobandido.com/2010/01/humane-society-of-united-states-2008-tax-filing/

If you want to help animals in need then give your time and/or money to an organization in your community. An organization you can visit. One that has real people you can talk to and real animals you can actually see and touch.

Just please, for your sake, for my sake and most of all for the sake of the animals, don't give to an organization that is going to take your money and use it to steal animals from someone who is doing a good job caring for them only to turn around, mistreat said animals, neglect them and then use the pictures of that neglect as an excuse to beg you for more money.

Not all groups are equal and it is important to make sure the right groups receive our help and those whose hidden goal is to steal all our animals are closed down. One way to close them down is to deny them operating funds.

Think before you give. Give wisely. Don't give to false prophets.

More Bars in More Places

2010-01-06T22:14:00.008-05:00

This really is about the Wednesday morning Open/Utility class. Like just about everything else in my life it seems the things I don't plan for, those things that just sort of happen or just grew are always the best. My Wednesday morning Open/Utility class is one of those just grew things.

It started out with two students who traveled a fair distance to study under me. They wanted Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) obedience titles on their dogs. This is my Intermediate level class. Both dogs already had their Companion Dog (CD) titles. The Novice class is where I normally teach the necessary requirements for basic living and it is those basic living skills that are the basis of the Companion Dog title.

The problem was the same as is always is when I face students in this condition. While it is true the CD was earned and in their cases, with good scores, the foundation was so weak unless we went back and rebuilt there was going to be no way I could give them what they wanted in a reasonable manner of time, if at all.

So they stayed. I taught and they were both good, diligent students with good dogs. The strongly rebuilt foundation made it possible to move on in a timely fashion and the CDX's were earned fairly quickly and with good scores. Then it was on to Utility Dog (UD). Meanwhile, a friend and her dog joined the class for a time. A couple of my Novice students joined the class.

The original two students completed the Advanced material (Utility Dog) and moved on to the really difficult stuff. Learning the art of keeping a dog's spirits up, keeping it enjoyable and at the same time building in more and more reliability, stamina and precision. In due time both dogs had completed the requirements for a Utility Dog Excellent (UDX) and shoot, if you are going to do that then might just as well finish up with an Obedience Trial Championship. So they did.

Of course, more students from my novice class and/or my retrieve class joined this lovely mid-week class. So here's what this bunch looked like this morning. It was cold and blustery outside, while inside in my little training studio six dogs and six humans were warm, comfortable and doing a nice mixture of new and difficult tasks along with comfortable and easy tasks. Here they are doing the down/stay part of a set of stays.

Seeing as how none of us seem to be able to "just train" we all agreed it would be fun to play around with the dumbbell visit again. So we lined everyone up and left them doing a sit/stay with a twist. Everyone one holding their dumbbell.

For those of you who might be wondering or perhaps don't recognize all the breeds. From the left they are Standard Poodle, Caruso; Doberman, Sanity; Labrador, Pete; Brussels Griffon, Cabot; Yorkshire Terrier, Ellie and Maltese, Rugby.

While it is true I could have just used one shot instead of three, it just seemed like it would be more interesting to show three of the 9 taken. See, while they were working on holding the sit/stay and the dumbbell we were all dashing back and forth, jumping up and down, making silly noises and just about anything else we could think of. Sure its true that the silly humans were either supplying distractions or just playing the fool. Meanwhile, the dogs were getting a chance to learn what I think of as 'steady under fire'.

It actually wasn't until later when I finally load the pictures on my computer that Sam and I both realized we had the beginnings of an AT&T commercial. In this case I get to say, More Dogs in More Places. No, there really isn't any point in sending this in to AT&T. Seems they don't want any outside suggestions. Poop on them, their loss, our gain.

Not a bad sit/stay. Not a bad dumbbell hold. And best of all a darn good More Dogs in More Places. AT&T, eat your heart out.

Sit on the Dog pictorial

2010-01-04T19:14:00.007-05:00

I'm starting this pictorial out with toy breeds. The first thing to notice is that their size and special needs are being seen to, which makes this exercise both easy and reasonable.

The toy breed dog really should never be required to do any sort of a down in a location that has the potential of putting them in physical danger. Doing a 'sit on the dog' strictly by the book will do just that and serve to damage the trust relationship between dog and owner. So two changes are made. The first one is to supply a small bed with sides and the second is to place the bed UNDER the chair rather than on the left side.

Notice the position of the collar and the leash. There is just enough slack allowed in the leash to maintain the slight upward pull on the collar. Since the dog is actually under the chair the leash angle is toward the owner's left side.

Pay attention to the location of the leash. Even though the dog is ultimately going to be under the chair there is still the need to adhere to the left side rule at this time.

Generally when you see a dog doing what this Lab is doing the digging is accompanied by verbalization. The noise may be anything from an annoying whine to a loud bay and frequently settles in to steady cadence style barking if not stopped.

Temporarily resigned to his fate our Lab is now quiet, in a comfortable position and able to take in his surroundings.

Babied and catered to this Portuguese Water Dog wants no part of the floor and tries for a lap.

When that fails, she sits hunched up and brooding. But not for long...

Surely the lap is not to be denied a second/third/tenth time and so she tries again and again. Each time she is simply pushed off and away and, if necessary, the leash is readjusted to allow less slack.

Finally getting the message, but only in part, Portuguese Water Dog grudgingly does a down. Notice she is still not willing to pay attention to what is going on around her. Because her curled up in a ball position is yelling, "I'm not here and I'm most certainly not going to play with you" we know there is still much work to do on this one exercise alone

And now we come to the large dog. Since this is what I call a 'naked' dog, i.e. one with short, tight coat and very little body fat, like the toy breed it makes good sense to supply a mat or bed for them to use during this exercise. No, it most definitely isn't spoiling or pampering. It's just good animal husbandry practice. Dogs with little coat/body fat protection are very prone to pressure sores on hocks and elbows. Besides which, this exercise is supposed to be teaching calmness, a willingness to follow and patience, not how long can you stay in one spot and suffer physical breakdown without complaining.

Meanwhile, our model is saying, "I ain't a gonna do it and you can't make me" Of course, the dog new to this sort of discipline hasn't a clue as to just what "it" might be. Being fair in this case simply means allowing the dog the necessary time to figure it out.

Here our model has resorted to pulling as hard as possible. Since there really isn't enough slack to allow for the necessary traction the pulling is short-lived.

Having figured out the guidelines of this rather strange human behavior, we are now treated to a calm, alert dog who appears to be very much with the program.

Please note that all the dogs used for these pictures are models well accustomed to posing and every single one of them are volunteers. Truth be told, one of them even threw something of a temper tantrum when she thought she might be passed over for the photo shoot.

No humans were injured during this production.

Sit on the Dog, aka: The long down

2010-01-03T14:50:00.006-05:00

Because I am constantly getting requests to explain my 'sit on the dog' exercise I have finally decided to put a copy here. Before you go on to read the instructions you need to know these FACTS:

Students who actually come to me for training seem to find this a very difficult exercise.
People who hear about it, almost NEVER get it right.
People who read about it, seldom get it right.
Everyone wants to either add or take away some part of it.
More than 50% of those who hear about it or read about it don't believe it will work simply because it is TOO EASY.
When it is done EXACTLY as explained, it is 100% successful.

THE LONG DOWN (Margot’s sitting on the dog exercise)

There is a major difference in the down/stay and the long down. The down/stay can only be taught after the dog has learned to down on command. Teaching a dog to down on a voice command can take up to three weeks of working three sessions per day, every day. The dog must be wearing collar and leash when doing this exercise.

The long down can be taught in a couple of sessions. It has a totally different focus. It cannot be called a long down unless it is at least 30 minutes in duration. The dog has on a collar that it can’t back out of and a 6’ leather leash is then attached to that collar. The leash is then run, from left to right over the seat of a solid chair that does not have wheels. The owner then sits on the chair and the leash. The leash is adjusted so that when the dog decides to lie down there will be gentle upward pressure on the collar. At no time does the owner touch, look at or talk to the dog. The dog must be wearing collar and leash when doing this exercise.

The owner must have something else to do during the long down period. Read a book. Play a computer game. Write out all your complaints about having to do this stupid exercise. Talk to a friend. Eat a meal. Pay some bills. Do some homework. It really doesn’t matter as long as you are doing something. The only time you would acknowledge the dog is to push it away if it tries to climb into your lap or tries to eat the leg off the chair you are sitting in or some other behavior that is equally unacceptable. When this happens, you must take whatever physical means necessary to cause the dog to stop the behavior at once and not resume it at a latter date.

This is an exercise in leadership and dominance. You are supposed to be the dominant one and the leader. As such, you are the one who decides where the two of you will be and for how long and it is not a voting matter. This is an exercise in patience. Something every dog must learn if it is to survive to live a comfortable life. There are no maximum time lengths for this exercise. However, the minimum time is 30 minutes. The exercise should be practiced twice per day, every day. The dog must be wearing collar and leash when doing this exercise.

After the first couple of days, this is a very calming and soothing exercise for both parties. During the first couple of days a really determine dog will go through the most amazing series of behaviors. Not only that, they will repeat the series in the same sequence over and over. When none of the behaviors win them the leadership post they will literally throw themselves down, give a very loud humph and refuse to look at you. After this period has past it is all smooth sailing and happy tail wags.

Again, the long down has nothing in common with a down/stay other than the physical position of the dog. You can NOT leave a dog that is doing a long down because you are a major part of the picture. You do leave a dog that is doing a down/stay. You can NOT tell the dog or show the dog how to do the long down. You must give the dog the chance to figure out what the most comfortable position is going to be. The dog must be wearing collar and leash when doing this exercise.

There you have it. Nothing difficult about it. Very straight forward. And simply because it is so very easy just about everyone wants to twist it, change it, turn it into something it well and truly isn't and never was.

The back history one this exercise goes back more than 40 years now. I wanted to teach group classes that were really meaningful. Group classes that actually felt like a class room where learning was valued. To me that meant students sitting in chairs, able to take notes if they wished. It meant quiet, attentive students. But what to do with the dogs? The wild, untrained, heathen sorts. The dogs that had been labeled fighters. The dogs that had been labeled biters? The shy dog? The overly bold dog? How could I have 15 to 20 misfit dogs, dogs who had been kicked out of every club and training school for 50 miles in the same room with owners sitting quietly in chairs and taking notes on what was being taught?

Enter the sit on your dog exercise. Some first week classes were so bad each owner had to be escorted into the classroom and settled in place before the next team dared enter. By the second week of class the owner's had no need of an escort and by the third week I could walk into the classroom at the start of the class and find the quite, attentive students I so craved. And so was born the "sit on your dog" exercise. Over the years it has had much refinement and most was due in a vain attempt to get people to just do the exercise as it was taught. Neither add nor take away from the instructions, that it would seem is the true key to success.

No matter how hard an owner works, no matter how clever a trainer happens to be, the dog will learn nothing of value unless it is paying full attention to the lesson. That means the full focus of the dog's mind must be on the lesson and this is a thing that will never happen until the dog is given a chance to find that calm center point. The same, by the way, is true for the human. There really isn't much of anything useful to be gained by trying to teach or learn when the mind is in a scattered and unfocused condition.

Got 50 campaign revisited

2010-01-01T10:38:00.005-05:00

Once again, Walt Hutchens has stated the case so well I simply can't find a good reason to re-invent the wheel. In this case the S/N H$U$ wheel. Please read carefully and think about what he is saying.

"...How do we get to that long term future?
This isn't a question of alternatives (for the future), it is a question of means. At one level the answer is clear enough: We need a whole lot more people who understand what's going on. That's the "Got 50?" campaign-- the idea that each of us who DOES know should recruit 50 more who equally understand and who equally would NEVER give money to HSUS or any of the others. AND who will in their turn go out to find 50 more.
Of course there's a lot of other recruiting stuff going on, as has been true since long before that label was applied. But recruiting takes time and while it proceeds we have to play defense. We aren't going to win all the battles but we can definitely slow down the AR advance. The more we do that, the less total damage our country and our animals will sustain.
So talking about what needs to be done now, that's it: Recruiting and defense. Sure, if you see an opportunity to fix a law affirmatively, then do it, but such opportunities will be rare. It's easy to see why you are casting about for something easier: exotic animals may be the most difficult defense project of all. But there is no 'easier.' Ultimately we will win because each loss of an animal use, even each encumbrance, raises costs or reduces income for our nation AND catches more people in the web of bad laws. (The greatest favor Wayne has done us in the last couple of years was to start seriously attacking farmers ...) But if 'ultimately' is two decades off, the price is going to be very high.
Five years to the crest of the tsunami would be a lot better than twenty, and I think that's about what will happen. HSUS can't slow down because what they're doing is like the running of the bulls: Both the more militant part of the AR movement and the rapidly awakening animal users are right on their heels. If they falter or slow down ...SPLAT!
Remember that HSUS's business is strip mining the good will the organization built up 1950s-1990s when it actually did some good. Now they claim only to 'protect' animals, by which they mean make animal ownership and use more difficult. People THINK they actually feed or care for animals with donated money but actually they just lobby and litigate. As the American public catches on to that, HSUS is going to be in trouble.
Of course almost any action from the IRS is going to be a serious problem for them.
SEND THOSE LETTERS!
Spreading the word that HSUS does NOT help animals as we fight each new proposal for a bad law is what we need to do now. ..."
Walt Hutchens
Timbreblue Whippets

A tip of the hat goes to Walt Hutchens.

Spay/Neuter H$U$ Update

2010-01-01T09:55:00.005-05:00

First, Happy New Year to all. Now let's see if we can't make some serious inroads in the problems the animal radicals have been causing all of us. Yes, I did say all of us. Their stated goal is to eliminate all animal contact, but more on that later. For this first blog entry of 2010 I give you this.

_____________________________________

UPDATE ON "SPAY/NEUTER THE HSUS" INITIATIVE:
Mr Frank Losey reports that he has received confirmation from 34 states that have already sent in certifed letters to expose the HSUS to IRS. More from these states is certainly welcome.
THANK YOU all for doing this carefully-timed event at this busy time of year. Remember, BUSY PEOPLE CHANGE THE WORLD!!!
* * * * * * *
BUT....We would like to hear from ALL 50 states!!!!!!!!!!
* * * * * * *
The following states have not been heard from yet: if you know people in these states, PLEASE ask them to spend a few minutes to act between today and Jan 4th:
Alaska
Louisiana
Mississippi
North Dakota
Arizona
West Virginia
Montana
New Mexico
Delaware
Wyoming
Hawaii
Connecticut
Rhode Island
Maine
Utah
Minnesota
Now it is just a one-page letter, and the certified receipt - very easy!
Here is the letter, it couldn't be easier!!:
Internal Revenue Service
Fresno, CA 93888
Dear IRS Tax Fraud Investigator:
I respectfully ask that the IRS audit and investigate the alleged excessive and under-reported "Lobbying Activities" of the Humane Society of the United States.
Please keep my identity confidential.
Sincerely,
Your Name and
Address
As the Nation joins together to expose the HSUS...please crosspost this NEED for the copy of your certified receipt.
Scan and e-mail receipt for certified letter to f.losey@insightbb.com
or
Fax certified letter receipt to: 479-299-4417
or
Snail-mail your certified receipt (green) to
Frank Losey, 2029 Tampa Blvd, Navarre, FL 32566
(PLEASE NOTE, THE RECEIPTS ARE VERY IMPORTANT FOR FRANK TO HAVE IN A FOLLOWUP INITIATIVE IN WASHINGTON, DC. NUMBERS MATTER!)

Busy day

2009-12-31T23:44:00.004-05:00

Well, this time Sam beat me to it when it comes to posting pictures and video about what is going on around here. To make matters worse, grind salt in my wounds and all that sort of thing, while they were in the training studio having so much fun, I was so tired I had fallen asleep and missed it all.

On the one hand I'm mad that I got left out. On the other hand I'm so proud of all of them I could just about bust. Does that qualify as being in balance?

Go here to see what I'm fussing about:
http://misterrugby7.blogspot.com/2009/12/where-do-i-even-start.html

And now with a toast from the past I bid you all a Happy New Year and may it be healthy and more prosperous than last year.

The Mighty Maltese

2009-12-30T18:35:00.004-05:00

Sometimes a person just has to do what a person must do. In this case, Sam, Rugby and I got together and shot this quick video as a protest.

Yep! That's right. We are all protesting the misconception people seem to have about toy breed dogs and perhaps Maltese toys in particularly. Sam ordered a dumbbell for Rugby and had to deal with being told what she was ordering was too big. It wasn't.

Several months of hard use later it broke. One of the bells just fell apart during a training session. Since Mr. Rugby has also been taught to retrieve all sorts of things besides the dumbbell he "borrowed" a dumbbell from his friend Ellie the Yorkie. Meanwhile, Sam ordered not one, but two new dumbbells, thinking to have one to use and one for a spare. Again, she was told the size she was ordering was too big. Shoot, it wasn't too big the first time around and it sure isn't too big now.

She complained to me about the problem. I found I was most annoyed about this issue. See, just a couple of months ago I ordered a dumbbell for Ellie only to have the wrong size sent to me because what I had ordered was "too big". Not so.

Sam and I both filed a protest and Rugby's new dumbbells are on the way. Meanwhile a guy's gotta keep on training. So Rugby asked Sanity if he could borrow her dumbbell. She said yes. Here is Rugby, hard at work. As you can see, he's no shrinking violet, hot-house, sissy, purse dog. Nope, this is a serious working dog that just happens to come in a very small package.

I don't know about you, but I think Rugby is one super and very special, not-toy, dog. Wonder if his diet of raw, meaty bones has anything to do with his jaw and neck strength?

Rescind HSUS' tax exempt charity status

2009-12-27T08:57:00.002-05:00

Subject: Please join the campaign to rescind HSUS' tax exempt charity status

PERMISSION TO FORWARD and CROSSPOST is granted!!!!

I apologize to any who have already received this message but feel it is critical to reach everyone at this time.

As all of you know, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is perhaps the largest and most powerful anti-pet breeding organization that we face. They are behind much, and possibly most, of the adverse pet breeding legislation on the state and federal level throughout the United States. Those of you involved in Illinois pet ownership and breeding issues this past year know that the IL chapter of HSUS was directly supportive of legislation - and even helped in drafting several bills - that would have taken away our rights to own and breed our pets, such as HB 198 and SB 53, as well as other bills very harmful to our cause.

HSUS performs this heavy lobbying and legislative activity by masquerading itself as a 501(c)3 charitable organization and soliciting donations based upon this tax exempt status.

Under IRS regulations, lobbying, while not prohibited entirely, is heavily restricted for organizations receiving this tax-exempt status. HSUS has gone far beyond this boundary. It is time that we expose the HSUS for who they truly are.

With that in mind, there is a drive spearheaded by Mr. Frank Losey of Missouri Professional Pet Breeders Association that will put pressure on the IRS to thoroughly investigate the HSUS' tax exempt charitable status, and we are hopeful that such an investigation would have the result of removing HSUS' tax exempt status.

Mr. Losey is a long-time professional lobbyist in Washington DC, who represents animal ownership interests (in other words, us!), and has a very strong knowledge regarding what is - and is not - allowed in professional lobbying activities. He has amassed this information in the comprehensive and well-researched document entitled "Overview Summary of the Scope and Magnitude of the Lobbying Activities of the Humane Society of the United States, a Tax-Exempt Public Charity" (see link below to article below at which you can access this document.)

The first step for the plan to disarm the HSUS is for each of you to write a letter to the IRS asking that this be done, if you have not done so already. Also please write a letter for any groups that you may represent. Be certain to send a separate letter for each adult member of your household, as well!

The letter can be very simple - just ask the IRS to investigate HSUS' activities with regards to their 501(3)c tax exempt public charity status, based upon evidence you have seen showing that this tax exempt status is not justified. A sample letter is as follows:

Dear Tax Fraud Investigator,
We (I) respectfully request that you investigate the Humane Society of the United States ( tax identification number EIN 530225390 ) for their excessive lobbying using charitable donations.

Please keep the identity of my company ( or my identity ) private.
Thank you for your consideration in this urgent matter.

Respectfully,
(Sign your name or company name)
Type your name or company name
Address
　　
Please place in a separate envelope for each letter sent, and mail to:

Internal Revenue Service
Fresno, CA. 93888
(No street address or box number is needed)

Please mail this CERTIFIED MAIL. You will get a receipt from the post office when you send by certified mail. Please make a copy of the certified mail receipt and e-mail, fax or mail to:

Frank Losey
2029 Tampa Blvd.
Navarre, Florida 32566

or fax to: 1 (479) -299 - 4417

Mr. Losey MUST have copies of the certified receipt plan. If the IRS fails to act, Mr. Losey will go above them and demand that an investigation take place. It is vital that we follow the steps provided so that Mr. Losey has evidence, through the certified mail receipts, of the importance and urgency for the IRS to take action based upon public interest in this matter.

Please take this action by January 1, since we want a flood of letters to be received by the IRS during a short period of time.

Mr. Losey informs us that there will be additional steps to be taken in this campaign to remove HSUS' tax exempt status, so stay tuned for future reports on this subject.

The Cattle Network has information on this campaign which they are distributing to their members. This article has links to additional information on the SAOVA website, including the great amount of evidence that Mr.Losey has accumulated against the HSUS. You can access the Cattle Network article here:
"New Campaign Investigates HSUS Lobbying Activities" (Dec 23 2009)
http://www.cattlenetwork.com/New-Campaign-Investigates-HSUS-Lobbying-Activities/2009-12-23/Article_HotTopics.aspx?oid=969967&fid=VN-HOT_TOPICS
　
http://tinyurl.com/ybs36oy

Will this campaign work?

Does my letter count?

Below is an item off the national pet-law list, written by the list moderator Walt Hutchens, who asked just these questions of a tax expert. After reading it, you will see the importance of participating in these efforts yourself. (This item may also be forwarded and cross posted, as well.)

Thanks

The following was just posted on pet-law by the list moderator, and may be crossposted.

If you haven't gotten that letter out to the IRS, please do it today!
crossposted message below:

I expect some of us are wondering how worthwhile it is to do this. I
can answer that question.

As it happens, we have a contact, a professional who is an expert on
exactly this issue -- the tax status of non-profit corporations. Trust
me, this person KNOWS how these things work.

We asked this individual about this campaign. Here are paraphrases of
the responses to several specific questions:
============ ========
Q. Does the IRS care about these things?
A. Yes, ABSOLUTELY. EVERY complaint about abuse of the tax code must
be investigated.

Q. Isn't it enough to just poke the IRS once or twice and let them
take it from there?
A. NO, that isn't a good approach. With one or two complaints it can
be like cleaning up your bathroom closet: You know you ought to do it,
but if you don't get to it today, nothing ter rible will happen and
you've got more important stuff to do. But then tomorrow, some other
crisis comes along ... maybe you'll never get to hanging up the toilet
brush and picking up the Tidy Bowl bottle at all ....
The more letters the IRS gets complaining about a specific problem
corporation, the more likely they are to take action.

Q. So more complaints means more certain and faster action.
A. Yes. But it goes beyond 'more certain and faster.' The more
complaints there are, the higher the level at which the problems will
be considered.

If there is a serious problem, you WANT high level attention because
that's where the big decisions get made. Get those top managers on
board with thousands of letters and if the complaint is found to be
justified, the top levels can and will do more.
It is the IRS's job to collect taxes. Nothing pleases them more than
to find a real tax cheat, turn him upside down and shake. Top
management shakes a lot harder than lower levels.

Q. Do we have to get our contacts (letters, etc.) exactly right?
A. The IRS are professionals. Tell them about the problems (in this
case your view that a corporation claiming to be a charity is nothing
of the sort), give them whatever you have, and they will take it from
there.

Even stories are good, as long as they describe significant actions by
the corporation that do not represent a valid charitable purpose. When
telling stories, DO focus on the specific corporation and be as clear
as you can about what they're doing, but DON'T feel that if your
format isn't perfect or a word is misspelled, they'll toss your
complaint.

Q. What if I don't have any new facts?
A. Then just tell the IRS that in your opinion this corporation does not
meet the guidelines for a charitable exemption. Again, NUMBERS COUNT.
One letter ought to be enough to get basic checks done, someday.
Thousands, however, WILL get a serious investigation started.
============ ======
SEND THAT LETTER, folks. Do it now. If you can't or don't want to
write your own letter, then go to:
http://www.saova.%20org/SpayNeuterHS%20US.html
OR

http://www.adoa.org/documents/overview_summary_excessive_lobbying.doc
http://www.adoa/.org/documents/cover_letter_irs_fraud_division.doc

And print and send the 'cover letter' form letter -- second item on
both lists, above, edited to provide your personal information.

Frank Losey says: "The most important priority is for letters to be
sent to the IRS Office in Fresno,CA (The two line address is the
address - - no street address.)

"Ideally, the letters should be sent by Certified Mail, and a copy of
the certified mail receipt should be sent to me by E-Mail or to 2029
Tampa Blvd, Navarre, FL 32566 or FAXED to 479-299-4417. "

Finally, please FORWARD THIS INFORMATION to other lists

More Snow Daze

2009-12-24T15:42:00.003-05:00

Sanity starts a hunt.

So how is she doing it? Scent or hearing? For sure it isn't sight. Not unless the "look of eagles" means X-ray vision.

Sadly or not so sadly, just depending on your point of view, she never did manage to catch whatever it was under all that snow.

A December snow day

2009-12-23T13:59:00.009-05:00

We really do have lots of snow on the ground. I had to pay a guy to come in with his snow plow and plow out the driveway and a big section of the old parking lot just so the dogs would have a place the "go" that wasn't butt high or over your head high.

Rugby had never met Black and Blue until now. Never mind Rugby's size since he seems to be of the opinion that somehow he is in-charge. Most of the time he turns out to be a wonderful icebreaker and then there are other times when he runs into some minor glitches. This is one of those glitch times.

Black and Blue are more than a little bit puzzled as exactly why this strange creature is trying to get them to do something. Anything. Some of the problem seems to be that Rugby's accent is different.
After all, they were here long before this strange looking snowball.He really should show more respect toward his elders.

Not to be deterred in the least Rugby continues to invite them to join him in a wonderful game. Blue just wants him to GO AWAY and Black isn't sure what to make of the entire matter.

Finally, Rugby gives up on them and heads off looking for someone else to play chase and be chased. Because he didn't stay around to coax them, they are just curious enough to follow him.

Sorry you two, but I'm outta here.

That's Ellie up ahead. Hurry! Hurry, Hurry! Gotta fly.

Hello, sweet thing. Chase or contact sport?

That's great! Contact sport it is. And Blue stands there wondering what on earth is going on.

All photos by Sam Daley. Thank you, Sam.

Shell Game Continues

2009-12-20T14:31:00.005-05:00

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about this before. Well I'm going to do it yet again.

I really was going to do my own research and write my own opinion, but the truth is someone else has already done a bang-up good job and I am a hardcore believer in never, ever wasting time trying to re-invent a perfectly good wheel.
So go here: http://ar-hr.com/2009/10/29/paving-the-way/and read what E. Saunders of Animal Rights or Human Responsibility (AR-HR) has to say on the topic.

Also go here: http://petdefense.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/hu-pretends-to-be-police-expose-by-carrol-cox-show/

And now for the skivvy on the latest H$U$ and their version of "The Art of Stealing under Cover of Law".

Since I watch as little TV as I possibly can I personally haven't seen any of these commercials on Fox, but I am willing to trust those who are reporting on having seem them.

First came two commercials, complete with sobbing music, sad puppy eyes, sick animals and the plead to care enough to donate to the Humane Society of US along with a web page address for where to send you money.

Couple of days pass and the same Fox News commercial appears only this time it has the ASPCA listed as needing your money. A web page address is list telling you where to send your money.

Couple of days pass and, you guessed it. The very same commercial appears yet again. Only this time the web page address listed is for Rescue Animals Now.org. Confused yet?

The all three web page addresses are owned by, you guessed it: Humane Society of US sometimes also known as H$U$)owned per the domain registration:

Registrant Organization:The Humane Society of the United States
Registrant Street1:2100 L Street, NW Registrant Street2:
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:Washington
Registrant State/Province:District of Columbia Registrant Postal
Code:20037 Registrant Country:US Registrant Phone:+1.2024521100
Registrant Phone Ext.:
Registrant FAX:
Registrant FAX Ext.:
Registrant Email:hsusdomain@HSUS.ORG

The registrar used is godaddy.com.

A poster to pet-law@yahoogroups.com as this to say about what H$U$ in all its hundreds of different dresses is actually saying:

Perhaps we're going about this all the wrong way. Instead of working towards educating the public and being the voice of reason, we should just pretend to be PETA and HSUS supporters and really get out there in the public and demand things that we can prove they support:
Taking away your Constitutional rights to own pets
Legislating your pet-related business out of existence
Insisting that lab rats are more valuable than the life of your sick child
Destroying the American economy by ending all livestock farming, ranching, animal or animal product transportation, the sale of any animal product or by-product, the regulation of all food industries including groceries and restaurants.
The mandatory enforcement of veganism regardless of whether or not it is a healthy lifestyle choice for you
The extinction of ALL domestic animals (from cats to cows).
The closing of all zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks and circuses
Mandating the immediate end of all hunting, trapping and fishing.
Making it illegal to harm any animal for any reason whatsoever, including striking a deer with your car when it runs out on the road, killing a wolf, bear or wild boar that's taken up residence in your yard and is now trying to gain entrance to your home.
Rewriting the bible, torah & koran to insist that all the leaders of the world's major religions were really vegans.
Gaining full legal rights for all animals, which will then (logically) be able to vote, hold jobs and be elected (having the benefit that you'll finally know the politician you're voting for is a real ass BEFORE you cast your ballot).

Vegan anyone? Not me. My dog votes and so do I. We really must start working on voting all the bums out and voting in some people understand the difference between welfare and rights.

Rugby Photo shoot

2009-12-11T12:24:00.008-05:00

All of these pictures and the video is brought to you by a person who NEVER allows a dog on her quilts. Now all I have to figure out is just how Rugby managed to get that person to waive the law for the length of time it took for this photo shoot.

After thought

2009-12-09T14:22:00.003-05:00

This is an example of what sane, thoughtful, caring animal owners are up against.
http://nathanwinograd.com/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/expo2006.wav

I don't even know what to say in response to that sort of crap. And yes, that is the nicest thing I am presently able to say.

It's like losing a filling in a tooth and you just can't seem to keep your tongue out of the hole, I just can't seem to let this bit go. So for those who would like to read more about what is really going on I recommend you head for this blog: http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=2318

What is a Puppy Mill?

2009-12-09T11:14:00.005-05:00

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed(and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H.L. Mencken

A reader says,

"I personally will continue to support groups that spread the awareness of puppy
mills."

To which I am forced to reply, "and what pray tell, exactly is the "puppy mill" clamor to be against?" Is it the breeder who has 25 dogs of which 5 are retired seniors and neuters, 5 are being shown, 3 are being used for breeding, 2 are puppies from previous litters that were returned as adults and 5 are puppies in training. This breeder produces or used to produce one or two litters per year. Is that the puppy mill?

Or is it that breeder who has 100 or more and really is commercial in nature? With the majority of canines being bitches being bred, in whelp or nursing? Is that your puppy mill? After all they actually raise and sell puppies as a cash crop. When did it become illegal or immoral to earn a living doing something you actually enjoy doing?

The real rub comes when the "anti-puppy mill" bill that calls for a limit of 50 dogs is passed and then a couple of years later that limit is quietly lowered to 25 dogs and the following year is lowered to 10 dogs and the next goal will be 5 dogs and finally the true goal is reached. Zero dogs.

From asking for a legal definition of "puppy mill" I jump to this quote:

"Laws against inhumane treatment never bother those who do not act inhumanely."

To this I am forced to reply, "HUH?" And then I say please go back to http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2009/11/murder-hollow-basset-pack-update.html
and
http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2008/11/are-you-next.html
or how about
http://www.animalcontrolwatch.com/?p=3

There is yet another problem with the word 'puppy mill'. The loudest squeaky wheel just happens to be H$U$ along with it's various minions. Their repeatedly stated goal for dog and cat breeders continues to be stop them all:

"Producing animals for sale is a greedy and callous business in a world where there is a critical and chronic shortage of good homes for dogs, cats, and other animals, and the only "responsible breeders" are ones who, upon learning
about their contribution to the overpopulation crisis, spay or neuter their
animals, and get out of the business altogether." - PETA, "Animal Rights
Uncompromised: There's No Such Thing as a 'Responsible Breeder'
One generation and out. We have no problem with the extinction of domestic animals. They are creations of human selective breeding." Wayne Pacelle, Senior VP of Humane Society of the US, formerly of Friends of Animals and Fund for Animals, Animal People, May, 1993

"Breeders must be eliminated! As long as there is a surplus of companion animals in the concentration camps referred to as "shelters", and they are killing them because they are homeless, one should not be allowed to produce more for their own amusement and profit. If you know of a breeder in the Los Angeles area, whether commercial or private, legal or illegal, let us know and we will post their name, location, phone number so people can write them letters telling them 'Don't Breed or Buy, While Others DIE.'" "Breeders! Let's get rid of them too!" Campaign on Animal Defense League's website, September 2, 2003.

Meanwhile, in the interest of speeding up the removal of our pets,

From July 1998 through the end of 2005, PETA killed over 14,400 dogs, cats, and other "companion animals" -- at its Norfolk, Virginia headquarters. That's more than five defenseless animals every day. Not counting the dogs and cats PETA spayed and neutered, the group put to death over 90 percent of the animals it took in during 2005 alone. And its angel-of-death pattern shows no sign of changing.

How about this? A breeder is just that, a breeder. Makes no difference whether there is one bitch bred once in 10 years or 200 bitches who are bred every season until they are 7, a breeder is a breeder. To that you might add the adjective commercial, hobby, pet.

Oh, my! Now there is a call for defining those three terms. Well how about this? A commercial breeder is someone who earns their living breeding and selling dogs. Numbers don't count. A hobby breeder is someone who doesn't earn their living breeding and selling dogs.Again, numbers don't count. And that brings us to the pet breeder. The pet breeder breeds one or two litters over the course of the lifetime of one bitch and never does it again, because they just learned how expensive it is and just how much work is involved. Let us not forget that Snoopy was born at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm and that was originally considered to be a good thing.

This is just an interesting afterword:

Snoopy had been born and raised at the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. His father used to run with hunting dogs, but would secretly run ahead and warn the rabbits. His mother is famous for her tapioca pudding, and in a 1990s Peanuts strip, came over on a World War I-era troopship to visit Snoopy and Spike, who had been ill with the flu. Out of all his siblings, Snoopy's brother Olaf was sold last. Before they were sold, Snoopy and his brothers and sister made a band and one by one each was sold. Snoopy's original owner was a little girl named Lila, who had to return him to Daisy Hill after her family moved to an apartment where dogs were forbidden.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snoopy

I think it also shows us just how far down a twisted path leading to the death and loss of all our pets, H$U$/PETA has taken most of us. Pink Koolaide, anyone?

The new naughty words

2009-12-08T13:49:00.007-05:00

Take the time to watch the video before you read what I have to say about new naughty words.

We all know what the old naughty words were. They were the Anglo-Saxon expletives that are now heard routinely on TV, in the movies, on the streets and in the schools. They have become so common the only way a person can voice a complaint is when the speaker uses the same two or three of them over and over again to the point where it isn't possible to ascertain what, if anything, the speaker is trying to say.

Those are not the words I write about. The new naughty words are words like:

work
discipline
drill
memorize
leadership
submission
correction
contention
compulsion

The reason why or even how those eight words became the new profanity is totally beyond me. If you watch the above video all the way through and you pay attention to what is really going on there are some things that should jump right out and slap you in the face during the first viewing.

What? The extreme attention the dog is giving the trainer didn't happen through the use of food, toys, games, special training collars or prayer. That attention was earned with hours of hard work over a period of several months. That work didn't just include all of the bad words in the list, it also included both time and duration.

The dog is now at a point where he can concentrate with that level of intensity for up to 10 minutes. By this time next year that will have been pushed to at least 3 times that amount of total focus on the handler, with no lose of attitude. I'll say that part again just in case you missed it the first time. There is no loss of positive, good, upbeat, happy, confident attitude.

Why? Because during his training he was taken to the point of contention and helped to move beyond that point. On the other side of contentiousness lies self confidence, confidence in the trainer, trust, safety, pride of purpose and an entire host of other feelings and sensations that are only experience by those who are willing to practice make full use of all those naughty words and what each of them means.

Pride of purpose means knowing and understanding what the purpose is for starters. Pride of work is the strongest and most powerful reward of all. No food treat nor toy nor game will satisfy a dog who has been lucky enough to join with a trainer that understands leadership, work, discipline, and yes, compulsion.

Now, go back and watch the video a second time. See if you can spot the number of times the dog is corrected for making a mistake. Remember, there are no cookies, no toys and no leash. Then take a look at the background. In the upper left side of the frame you will see two other dogs. They spend some of the time watching and some of the time playing. They are not tied nor restrained in any fashion. When it is their time to work they will come out on the floor with the very same upbeat attitude seen in the Lab.

For those of you who may be wondering, yes the Lab is Pete. Under the table waiting their turn are Rugby and Ellie. Sam is the trainer.

Just a bunch of randoms

2009-12-07T23:30:00.001-05:00

I started collecting the quotes used in this blog several weeks ago. Had fine, high-fluting ideas about writing a deeply thoughtful, insightful, monologue on where we stand at the close of this year of Two Thousand and Nine CE. The first problem I ran into was that every single time I would start to write this amazing opus my mind would simply go blank. When I would finally come back to myself I'd be playing Solitaire.

Now I ask you, how is a well-meaning, reasonably thoughtful person like I thought I was supposed to write anything of worth when the blasted computer switched to Solitaire in such a sneaky fashion?

My final solution is what I am now offering you. The entire, current collection of quotes. They are well worth thinking about. They are offered to you with the hopes that you, my reader, will be led into doing some research on your own. I don't know about you, but I know I wouldn't have a life worth living if it was bereft of animals.

In my case, with my current living situation that means dogs, dogs, dogs. I want to continue to train them the way I have always trained them. I want my right to care for them as DOGS! I want to continue to be the owner and to use what is now a unPC term, I want to be the master (well in my case, I guess I need to say mistress).

I don't want to lose them. No, I don't want to be a dog mommy. No, I don't want to have the state allow me guardianship over a group of fur children. No, I'm not willing to live with a bunch of "little people in fur suits". I'm not willing to prevent my dogs from learning the joys of real work.

"Animal rights is mental illness masquerading as philosophy." Walt Hutchens

I continue to wonder if the real problem is that for one reason or another we now have a huge population of mostly women of a certain age and education level who are all suffering from Munchausen by proxy syndrome (MBPS) and the poor proxy just happens to be whatever animals they have taken a fancy to. These women also managed to raise a generation of young humans who seem to be pretty much neuters, insist their animals be rendered sexless and who are continuing the MBPS with a vengeance. The goal would appear to make the condition the legal norm. May G*d save all of us from such a fate.

"Animal Extremists and Animal Terrorists. The difference is that anyone falling
into those two groups will gladly deprive you of your civil rights, your
property and even your life in order to get what they want (witness the
story about the fur protesters in Morgan, UT who claim that "God hates fur"
and even carried a poster with a drawing of an automatic weapon and the
words "no compromise") ." barbarajhaines

Now that's another thing I just don't get. Here we are, living in a great country. A country founded on a person's individual freedoms. Pride of our civil rights and our right to own property seems to be falling out of fashion. In it's place is what? Socialism? Something even worse?

The solution begins when we spread the word: "When you donate to HSUS, a shelter
dog dies." Loretta Baughan

Now this is something we should all be saying every single chance we get. Money donated to the Humane Society of the US doesn't go to help any animals. It sure doesn't help the lost, broken, cast off dogs. It sure doesn't help the horses or the cattle or the sheep or the pigs or even the chickens. What it does do is help pass yet another round of human hostile, animal killing bills into law. As a certain TV personality is fond of saying, "How's that working for ya?"

To the Members of the California State Assembly:

I am returning Assembly
Bill 241 without my signature.

This measure would make it a crime for
any person or entity to own or control more than 50 unsterilized adult dogs or
cats for breeding or raising for sale as pets. I support measures designed to
prevent animal cruelty and that punish persons engaged in the abuse of animals.
However, this measure simply goes too far in an attempt to address the serious
problem of puppy mills. An arbitrary cap on the number of animals any entity can
possess throughout the state will not end unlawful, inhumane breeding practices.
Instead this measure has the potential to criminalize the lawful activities of
reputable breeders, pet stores, kennels, and charitable organizations engaged in
raising service and assistance dogs.

For these reasons, I am unable to
sign this bill.

Sincerely,
Arnold Schwarzenegger

When Gov. Schwarzenegger refused to sign CA 241 into law, I was one of a great many who gave a sigh of relief. Sadly that was just one of hundreds of bills presented to legislative bodies all across this great land of ours. Why? What on earth has gotten into the elected officials? They continue to accept bills written by H$U$ toadies and then vote those anti-animal bills into laws. Laws that will do much harm and do no good. Strange behavior, strange indeed.

Animal Welfare or Animal Rights?
Here are some of the differences:
　
As animal welfare advocates. . .
We seek to improve the treatment and well-being of animals.
We support the humane treatment of animals that ensures comfort and freedom from unnecessary pain and suffering.

We believe we have the right to "own" animals -- they are our
property.

We believe animal owners should provide loving care for the lifetime of
their animals.

As animal rights activists. . .
They seek to end the use and ownership of animals, including the keeping of
pets.
They believe that any use of an animal is exploitation so, not only must we
stop using animals for food and clothing, but pet ownership must be outlawed as well.
They want to obtain legal rights for animals as they believe that animals
and humans are equal.
They use false and unsubstantiated allegations of animal abuse to raise
funds, attract media attention and bring supporters into the movement.
　　　　 (The Inhumane Crusade, Daniel T. Oliver – Capital Research Center)

For now I will just ask you to read, think about what you just read and then read it again. I don't know about you, but no way will I ever be willing to believe my dogs are my equals. Well, maybe I could be convinced to change my mind on that matter when the dogs start washing windows. Certainly not before.

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) spent less than 5% of its
$152 MILLION income directly aiding animals. Most of their money went to
executive salaries, travel and political lobbying.

If you really want to give your money away to be used for paying executive salaries, travel and heavy duty political lobbying, hey it's still a free country. It's your hard earned money and you should be free to spend it, give it away, bury it or burn it. In the giving away part, at least know what that money will be spend on. Know it will be spend on eliminating domestic animals. Personally I think that is a really bad idea, but that's just me.

Animal rights laws are another way for government to meddle in your life

We've got way, way too much government as it is, do you really want more?

Even Dobermans enjoy duck hunting and duck eating.

Serious Opinion Needed

2009-12-06T16:02:00.014-05:00

I say this is a great picture. I love the expression on both faces. I love the pose. I think the color contrast is nice. Yes, it would have been nicer if Sanity's ear tip hadn't been cut off. Yes, it would have been better if the clutter in the upper right hand side wasn't there. But as dog shots go this one is a keeper for me.

I didn't take it. Yes, I did act as the 'handler' getting the poses, but I wasn't the cameraman. Nope, that skill was left to Sam (Rugby's owner).

Sam's blog is here:http://misterrugby7.blogspot.com/ She has lots of great pictures. Go take a look.

But now back to the voting thing. I already showed you the picture I like the best. Here is Sam's choice and a runner-up. You choose Runner-up

So what say you?

The perfect dumbbell

2009-12-05T20:19:00.013-05:00

I am a "hit and miss" member of an obedience training email group. The reason for my status has to do with my frequent lack of patience and understanding when it comes to the contents of many of the posts.

Recently, this group had a thread running about not just retrieving, but how important the perfectly fitted dumbbell would be to the success or failure of any given retrieve. HUH? I would read one of these posts and all I could think to say was, "Why not train the dog?"

A poster would write, My dog already knows how to retrieve, BUT:

"...DOES chomp on the dumbbell and this is a problem. Can you give me suggestions on how to break this. Do I need to start over from the beginning and ... train her?"

"...only starts chomping when she comes..."

"...has started refusing to pick up the dumbbell some times..."

"...refuses to pick up the dumbbell when it lands in grass..."

"...sometimes drops the dumbbell..."

That is just a sample of excuses/problems that I hear or read about. To one and all, I say, "stop making excuses and train the dog".

So does the retrieve problem show up because the dumbbell is too big? Here is a clear-cut case of that being a problem.

In this case, the dumbbell isn't too big for the dog to handle on a regular basis, it is TOO BIG. The Maltese model who posed for this picture and the following pictures has actually done a retrieve on the flat with this dumbbell. He really does know "fetch" and has the heart and brains of dogs weighing 15 times his size.

Perhaps the refusal to retrieve correctly is being caused by the dumbbell being too small.

Then again, maybe the bit is too long, too short or too thick.

By all means do choose a dumbbell that is a comfortable fit, but not so light, with such a thin bit that the very act of retrieving is moved from useful work to cute trick.

A thank you is due Sam Daley for her great photography skills. And another thank you is due to my canine models, Sanity, Rugby and Jasmine. They are so patient and willing every single time I get the urge to have a photo shoot.

Go! Mink Farmers rock

2009-12-02T09:23:00.003-05:00

I had another topic planned for today and decided to shelve it for later. For as long as I can remember I have dreamed of owning a mink coat. At this point in my life I've pretty much given up that dream, BUT it sort of resurfaced when I came across this album posted to Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=130947&id=707803534&l=ac76fdebf8
and
http://www.furcommission.com/news/newsF11t.htm

Suddenly that dream of mink flared up hot again. Who knows? Maybe the economy will finally get better, the bottom line here will get fat and I'll manage that dream coat.

After years of reading about fur farmers being driven out of business by pasty-faced, plastic coated vegans who come sulking around in the dark of the night to destroy, burn and pillage. The wonderful mink farmers and other residents of Morgan, UT came together and showed a willingness to stand up for their way of life. Good for them! I will just keep on hoping this show of solidarity is a part of a greater beginning.

A beginning of the awakening of all Americans who own, live with, work with, farm or just plain enjoy the company of animals in their lives. The very animals who help to make us human, as well as feed and clothe us.

Way to go, Morgan, UT!!!!

Forever homes: A myth or just plain cruel

2009-11-26T13:50:00.008-05:00

This quote is in response to an earlier entry. I'm quoting first and then will follow with my response. I'm doing it this way because I honestly believe it is a very important point and a way of thinking that needs further consideration.

wow, you are on the roll!
But I have to admit you confused me with this one. Maybe the idea of fostering an animal from the shelter for the holiday is a lame one, but I think you a bit overstretching the consequences.
I doubt lots of people would run into the shelter on Black Friday to get a dog. Life is
not Hollywood. But even if someone does, I doubt the experience will turn him or
her into the animal hater.
The only people I see doing something like this are those who would buy a puppy for Christmas and then take it to the shelter when he becomes big and unmanageable. But those are the people who do not put much thought into anything and I doubt any thought at all will cross their mind after the shelter door closes behind them.
now, do you really don't think that adopting a dog from the shelter is rescue? Maybe from "no kill" shelter it's not, but I think if you save the dogs life it is a rescue.
Here is a story of the dog that our friends had adopted:
http://www.bevhollinsphoto.com/blog/?p=849
It's true that our society overly humanizes animals, but I don't think it's
right to put down the dog just because no one wants it. And I don't think there
is anything wrong with wanting to give that dog home for the rest of it's life.

I have come to believe the constantly voiced/written animal radicals dream of "forever" homes falls in either the myth or cruelty category. We live at a point in this country's history where the majority of adults either don't bother to ever form long term relationships with other humans or think a long term relationship is 10 years or less. When two humans come to a point in their lives where their interests have completely diverged they don't start stressing about "forever marriage" anymore. They just pick up the phone and make a appointment with a good divorce attorney and get on with the business of moving on with life.

So what I want to know is why, please someone tell me why, must dogs and cats be forced to remain in a "forever home" that is not a good fit? How much kinder and more realistic is to to admit that the puppy you had such glowing plans for has grown up to just flat out hate those plans? I think about all the times over the years that an owner has come to me for help, because of the problems they were having with their dog not fitting into the roll planned for them. I could just as easily turn that around and say they were the driver and the payer of fees, but it was the dog who was complaining about the problems he was having with the humans.

Either way, the real solution, the thing that worked the very best for all parties was for the humans and dog to get that divorce. This then freed to dog to find a much better set of humans and it freed the humans up to either continue their life dogless or enter into a relationship with a dog that was more suitable.

Don't go getting all fuzzy brained and weepy on me. Consider just these two examples.

First was a young Border Collie. She had the misfortune of landing in a "marriage" with a family that consisted of 7 children under the age of 10. The parents were nice a couple. They were also overwhelmed by the children. The children raced around yelling, crying, laughing, talking, eating and not paying much, if any attention to either parent.

T0 this mess was added a Border Collie. By the time I saw them, she was almost totally insane. Frankly I didn't blame her one bit. I wanted to bark and bite most of those kids myself. To keep my sanity I did end up insisting all 7 of them do a "long sit/stay". Did I mention the reason they came to me was because of the dog's constant barking and the the fact she had now started biting the children?

This Border Collie got lucky. She was the right age and I just happened to know of a farmer who had lost his hard working farm collie to old age. He had ask me to keep my eyes open for a new dog for him. I talked the family out of their dog and she went off to live with the farmer and after a 3 month decompression period turned into what he many years later told me was the very best dog he had ever owned.

Second dog. A very large, male Akita. This fellow was overbearing, suspicious of all new things, hated having to live inside and had zero respect for either of his very well educated, wealthy, over achiever owners. I managed to get him out of that home. A home, I might add, that the radicals labeled as the almost perfect home and one he hated. He went to live, work and pretty much worship the owner of a scrap metal lot. This lot and the building were cold in the winter, hot in the summer, dirty all the time. Here he was free to be as nasty as he pleased to the unwanted and very questionable humans that sometimes came around after dark. He lived a long and very happy life.

I'm going to add a third dog to this list. Some of you know her through this blog and some of you know her in person. I am speaking of Sanity's little Yorkie. I really have no right to say if she was happy in her first home. I have no doubt that she is happy now. The first home said she was dangerously dog aggressive. The first home said she wasn't safe around children. The first home said she was fearful of strangers. Turns out not a one of those things were true. Lucky her, the first "marriage" ended in divorce and she was handed over the fence to me. This marriage sure does look like a keeper.

Bottom line here is the "forever home" claptrap is dooming many dogs to a life of misery and what under other conditions would be a good home is in truth a very bad home.

Many, many times a person gets a puppy or a dog for the right reasons at that time, but time and changes make the choice not so perfect. Why, oh why does a certain part of our population want to insist that the poor dog must be forced to live in a constant state of misery just to meet the requirements of a "forever home".

All this wandering about really does have something to do with the beginning and taking dogs home just because it is Thanksgiving or Christmas. The dogs don't worry about human designated holidays so they will be much happier to got to what might turn out to be a new marriage when the humans have more time to give, have more quiet in the house and fewer guests, no parties and definitely no overly rich foods to make things extra difficult. The time between November 15 to January 2 have got to be the worst time of the year for adding a new animal to the household.

Foster a pet for Christmas? BAH! HUMBUG!

2009-11-25T11:45:00.003-05:00

After yesterday's blog I seem to be on something of a roll. Please refrain from reading my comments until after you have read what the below link has to say.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20091125/fosterpets25_st.art.htm

http://tinyurl.com/ydndjpu

Foster a dog for Christmas? What ever happened to the warning, "Never bring home a new animal during the holidays?" Funny thing, that. Seems to me I don't remember at time in the last 40 years when many people thought getting a puppy, kitten, dog, cat between Thanksgiving and New Year's was a good idea.

Well, that may be a tad bit too all encompassing. While it has always been true that those who already know how to handle, train and care for a house pet are able to do so anytime of the year it's still not easy to do during the major holidays at the end of the year.

Just about every place that has an animal control department also seems to have limit laws. What this very efficiently does is make sure the only people available to take part in this harebrained scheme are those who know the very least in the way of practical knowledge of good, honest animal husbandry type care of the fosters they will be taking in.

How many will understand the need to maintain some sort of quarantine to protect the resident dogs/cats from any disease being harbored by the incoming foster? How many will understand how to orchestrate a safe introduction between the resident animals and the incoming foster?

The few questions I just posed hardly touch the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bringing a new animal into a household with resident dogs/cats firmly in place.

Then again, maybe the entire plan is to turn down those who may actually have the experience and know how and replace knowledge with warm fuzzy thinkers who don't have a clue as to what it takes to properly care for, feed, train and exercise a dog or even a cat. When they fail, as a very large majority will, the number of anti-animal people just increased yet again. After all, the thinking goes, if I can't even take care of one dog/cat then there is no way Sally Smith or Jill Jones can take care of 50. Never mind that both Smith and Jones have the proper set-up, coupled with some full time help and a part timer or two. Nope, if Ms. Fuzzybrain Lovesdogs finds it next to impossible to love her just 'rescued' 90 pounds of wild, untrained young, male Lab, then it's a slam-dunk that neither can anyone else.

The entire "Foster a Pet for Christmas" just stinks. If you are just itching to help then actually go do some volunteer work. Take a couple 40# bags of food, bedding, even toys to the local shelter and then should you decide that giving temporary housing is something you want to do, do it AFTER January 1.

Besides which, the generic you needs to remember the reality is you are not strictly speaking engaging in rescue when you go to a shelter, group, pound to pick out a pet. You are doing the equivalent of going to a used car lot, only instead of cars/trucks you are buying a used or what do they call them now? Previously owned. That's right, you are buying a previously owned animal. Mind you there is not a single thing wrong with buying a previously owned animal as long as you admit that is what you have done. You didn't rescue it. You bought and paid for it.

Just do the homing, rehoming stuff after the first of the new year.

Dog Show Victim

2009-11-24T17:09:00.006-05:00

I've been sitting on this story for almost a full week now. Much as I wanted to talk about it, I also wanted to wait until it was confirmed and both sides had a chance to weigh in. Well that has now happened and so I'm going to start by posting both sides. Then, I'll follow with my thoughts on the issue. This is one time I really do hope readers will share their thoughts and will also forward a link on to others.

Cross-posted with permission from the author, Margaret Byrd:
　
Everyone needs to know that a dog club member was stopped by police near Birmingham, AL on the way to the Magnolia Classic Trial. The actual law enforcement officer was a sheriff's captain for Jefferson County. They held her for 45 minutes on the side of the road with 6 patrol cars flashing red lights. She was treated like a criminal. She and her daughter were both very frightened by the way they were treated. The policeman asked her if she knew why she was stopped and she told them, "No I don't". He said, "I stopped you because I saw you had dogs in your truck". Her dogs were in secured kennels elevated by a table in the back of her truck to be near the topper windows. Equipment was then stored under the table.
They said she didn't have water in the dog crates. She explained she had just stopped at a rest stop, let all the dogs go to the bath room, offered them water and they didn't do well with water in the cups while the truck moved. Then she poured water in the cups and none of the dogs drank. He then said that the back of the truck was not air-conditioned. She pointed out that the temps were 58 at the time. Then he said she had inadequate ventilation. She told him the dog's hair was moving as they traveled and there was plenty of ventilation.
He wanted to know where she was taking the dogs and why they were in her truck. She told him she was headed to a dog show. He asked where the show was taking place. She stammered and he was sure she was lying. He asked for documentation to prove she was attending a dog show and proof that she was entered as a contestant. She didn't have a flyer so she told him to go the JRTCA web site and the trial would be listed. He called his main office and had someone go on line to view the site. He told her if she was going to a dog show why didn't' she have entry forms with her. She told him that she was going to enter when she arrived.
He looked in the van and asked about the research foundation equipment. She told him what it was and he stated it looked like drug paraphernalia to him. She showed him paper work for the DNA study to prove the equipment was for legitimate purposes.
He told her he wasn't convinced that it was a proper way to carry her dogs and he was going to call animal control to come and investigate. When he called them they said they couldn't come for an hour and a half so he took photos of her truck and dogs to show to animal control so animal control could decide if her set up is acceptable or not. They informed her they had all her information and knew how to contact her if animal control decided her set up was inadequate. Fortunately, animal control couldn't come immediately so they let her go.
She had forgotten her brief case with her rabies certificates in them. It was the greatest good fortune that they failed to ask. You all need to know that in many areas animal terrorist (nothing they do is right) groups are in control of animal welfare and of animal control.
During this event they would not let her daughter get out of the car to smoke a cigarette. One officer went to the side of the car after she asked and stood there to prevent her from leaving the vehicle. She became very frightened and called her father. Then she heard them tell the others to turn off the cameras and she became even more afraid. Both were made to feel like they were in a third world country because they had dogs in the car.
The following are some of the things that are critical to know to keep you & your animals safe:
1. Dog owners need to be alerted to the current climate. Please understand this current outrage may be the direct result of the influence of animal activist groups disguised as animal welfare groups. Law enforcement is on board with them in many areas because they view them as experts. HSUS gives law enforcement positive press. HSUS donates money to many reelection campaigns. Some officials have been given nice jobs with HSUS when they retired from public office.
Animal Terrorists are succeeding in getting laws passed that restrict our freedoms of animal ownership. Their influence is sometimes apparent among public officials at every level including law enforcement and animal control.
If you read Saul Alinsky - "Rules for Radicals" you will see the method they use to enact new laws that seem so warm-and-fuzzy but in reality are aimed directly at each of us. They don't want us to have (pet owners you are not exempt) or breed animals and they are willing to do anything to stop us - lie, cheat, steal.
According to Alinsky "Rules for Radicals", to affect radical change, First: you create a problem (out of thin air). Animal Terrorists have created the language which includes the term "puppy mill", "back yard Breeder", "hobby breeder", "vanity breeder", "basement breeder". The uninformed jump on the band wagon and the next thing you know commercial breeders just breed another litter of pups to offset new costs while you and I are forced to become criminals, give up our dogs, or to sign away our constitutional rights in order to have a dog.
2. Keep your dog papers in your vehicle when you travel with your animals. I can't stress this enough. I've been guilty of driving without them but no more. It could cost you thousands of dollars, or worse you could lose your dogs. Your dogs could be taken into custody to a pound till you could get your papers to show authorities. You would be powerless to stop them. Meanwhile, no telling what they would be subjected to in that environment. Further, some communities/states have laws that state any animal confiscated and taken to a shelter must be spayed or neutered before it is returned. These things might be fought against in court but your animals would already be spayed or neutered, or even euthanized, before you could win in court. It has happened to others. Eventually some others have won in court but their animals were all already dead, spayed, neutered, and/or sold to pet people that "rescued" them from the shelter (who happened to make a chunk of change off your stolen dogs and from the PR of having "rescued" them).
3. Stay Street-Legal. Make sure your car is travel worthy before any trip. No lights burned out, no out-of-date inspection sticker, etc. Give them no reason to stop you for a minor infraction. The constitution still protects us against illegal search and seizure without probable cause. Above all DO NOT SPEED. If you are in a big hurry, leave earlier. Giving the police a right to stop you under color of law has officially just gotten way more expensive. Apparently our fellow club member was stopped unconstitutionally - IMO. Right or wrong, she was victimized only because they could see her dogs in her car. It is a sad state of affairs when our constitutional rights can be violated because we have a visible dog in the car. Sadly, you might have to consider this when you get your next vehicle.
4. Buy or borrow a video camera. Video tape your dogs kennels, the condition of the kennel, your dogs' condition, water containers, bedding, etc. Have a video of your dogs competing at a dog show. If animal control shows up video tape the entire event. If they take your dogs, go to the shelter & video tape the place they take them if possible. One fellow in AL with show pit bulls did this and he got his dogs back.
5. Keep a contact person's number in your cell phone. If you get into a situation like the one that happened near Birmingham you might need someone to call that can send help. We need to develop a system of hot lines through out the country so a volunteer in each state or area could come to help in an emergency.
6. JRTCA members and the Magnolia Group should join with the My Dog My Choice members and contact the elected state officials for AL and the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce &/or Jefferson County officials to lodge a formal written complaint. We need to organize a letter writing campaign. I will create a sample letter and get us addresses to use. Email me at mbyrd@centurytel.net for this information.
If an area gets the reputation of being in an unsafe place for dog owners to travel, exhibitors will not attend events in that area. The person that had been victimized went home through Birmingham after dark and went to a different town to spend the night because she was afraid. Even then she was afraid in the motel so close to the area.
It is bad for the local economy to lose a source of revenue. How many people would go to the GA trial, for instance, if they worried about traveling through AL? Dollars spent in a community roll over 9 times in that area.
Having a dog in the car does not automatically make us criminals and remove our 4th amendment rights against illegal search and seizure.
7. Just so you know, TN is the state where police shot a man's dog and victimized his family when he accidentally left his wallet on top of his car. They thought the money blowing off was evidence that he was a robber. The man has won a suit in court over it but his dog is dead, his wife and children are traumatized and his knee is permanently injured.
In LA a man's pit bulls were taken and killed within 24 hours. He proved he was innocent in court but all his animals were already dead. He is suing.
The newest hype they are introducing as another "First create a problem" is the idea that dogs have a larger carbon foot print than an SUV. Think that is too far out to be believed or to matter? Will you still think so if they pass a law which requires you to pay a Cap and Trade tax to keep your dog, or a national limit on the size and number of dogs you can own?
You can't begin to imagine the things I'm reading about the victimization of animal owners & the loss of our freedom of animal ownership in communities all over the USA. We must all wake up and become proactive before it gets any worse.
Don't be sucked into any of the animal terrorists' agendas (like puppy mill bills etc). And for heaven's sake don't send money to any of them or let your families and friends do so. It's not just the commercial breeder. It's not just the pit bull people. It is not just the other guy. It is your personal freedom of quiet enjoyment with your animals and it is happening TODAY. We can stand together or we can all fall one by one. Think about it please.

And now I finally have a copy of what appears to be "the other side of the story". Here it is.

Here is an email from the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and their
version of the traffic stop. Similar but still a bit different and they
felt they had a reason to stop her.

From: Christian, Randy <_christianr@jccal.org_>
Subject: Email circulating about Jefferson County Sheriffs
Date: Monday, November 23, 2009, 1:31 PM

Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight. We have a great
reputation for caring for animals and seeing that abusers are brought to
justice and we are very offended that someone would attempt to stain that
good reputation.
The Facts:
She was stopped driving a Truck with a Camper Shell. Multiple dogs were
visible in rear camper window. This Captain is familiar with people who run
"puppy mills" and these were all the same breed and were puppies. The 3
visible in the back window were visible panting.
Our Captain was in an unmarked unit so he called for a marked unit to stop
them. 2 showed up (not the 6 described) and initiated the stop. The Welfare of the dogs was checked and the driver was advised that the stop was to check the welfare of the dogs, plus her car tag was covered by extra dog crates and not visible. Finally, she was found to be in possession of a case of untaxed liquor.
The entire stop lasted 17 minutes (certainly not the 45 minutes described)
as documented via our communications bureau. The delay was because the
driver did not have any documentation showing where the dogs were being
taken, no registration for the show, etc.
Our Captain called the Animal Cruelty Officer who advised that the shows require pre-registration and she should have some type documentation. She provided web site and once it was verified there was a dog show and this person was a participant, then she was only verbally warned about the blocked car tag and the untaxed case of liquor that was stored under the dogs.
The Captain, an actual animal lover, owner of a registered purebred
daschund, and an investigator who has headed up several animal cruelty
investigations, including "cock" fighting was only verifying the well being of the
dogs.
This driver thanked our Captain for caring about the dogs and checking on
them when she left the traffic stop. The Captain even provided her his
business card with his phone number and told her in case she got stopped by
someone else, they could call him to verify she had been checked and warned
about the violations.
All the extraneous information provided by this person is exaggerated and
it is not known why she has decided to change her parting words of thanks
into an obvious attack. It has been my experience that true animal lovers
appreciate that we would take the time to investigate the well being of man's
best friend.
Lt. Randy Christian, Office of Sheriff
Jefferson County
2200 8th Ave north
Birmingham, Al 35203
Office (205) 325-5711
Fax (205) 325-5702

So even if we go with the old saw that says the truth is somewhere in the middle of two reports as far as I am concerned there are still major problems.

Let's just start at the top. Our dog show exhibitors failed to be proactive, or even truly protective of the dogs they were carrying. Specifically, they had no paperwork with them. Granted, I haven't carried a van loaded with dogs and gear to a cluster of trials in many years, but back in the day, when we were trialing almost every single weekend, we CARRIED PAPERWORK with us for every single dog.

That meant we had copies of rabies certificates, current health certificates, entries for each dog, most of the dogs were tattooed, and we had at least one trial premium. The word was there was always a chance you would be stopped when carrying out-of-state tags on your van and traveling in the south.

Since I always had dogs that belonged to other people I felt I had to be especially careful about ID and pretty much stayed away from trials held in outlying areas of the south. Like it or not, it was just a fact. Besides which, there were plenty of trials in other locations that weren't so iffy. Moving on.

What's with risking carrying something that will be called illegal just as soon as you cross a state line? Again, why take the risk? Is it really worth it? A complete case of untaxed liquor? In a southern state? Better if you had been carrying moonshine.

Why have rig set-ups that actually put some or all of the dogs at window height? That always did seem to me to be just asking for trouble. Trouble from the LE. Trouble from busybodies. Trouble from thieves. The same thing goes for bumper stickers that advertise the fact you are carrying dogs, much less show dogs. And those kennel signs, let's hope they are the magnetic type and that you remember to remove them BEFORE you start the trip. Sure, put them back on the van while you are on the trial grounds, then remember to remove them again before you get back on the road.

As to why this person or anyone else would be unfailingly polite until the stop was over and the LE long gone. That is only common sense. To do anything else but basically grovel is to risk serious bodily harm, loss of personal freedom, complete and permanent loss of the dogs and most if not all of your gear. Best believe no matter what you feel, be so polite it hurts and be even more polite. In a word, grovel.

Remember, if you screw up and they do take the dogs YOU WILL LOSE THEM. Should you, by some wild twist of fate, get some of them back you will not get all of them back. The ones returned will be missing body parts for starters. Most will come back in such poor physical and mental condition that you will not be able to save them even if you are willing to spend thousands of dollars in veterinarian care.

The people who wear the Animal Control(AC) hats are not the brightest bulbs in the LE package. They are frequently hard pressed to tell the difference between a dog and a cat, much less the difference between the various pure breeds. They are most definitely not your friend. The LE who doesn't own a dog, owns a mixed breed, or out of control pet dog is not your friend.

While I am sorry this happened, I can't say I'm at all surprised. Frankly, the thing that does surprise me the most is that it hasn't happened sooner and more frequently. If this is what it takes to wake up the complacent kennel club members than I make no apology for what I am about to say.

H$U$ is not your friend. PETA is not your friend. More than likely the local AC wants your dogs. Wake up breeders and owners in this country to the truly awful creeping black death that is coming. A death that will bring an end to dog and cat ownership as we have known it for just about forever. That cloud will also begin to kill off all our farm animals, but that is a topic for another time.

Kids, drugs, training

2009-11-22T15:33:00.007-05:00

I think I can claim one more victory that is related to my dog's
aggression. For some bizarre reason every time my dog would get into the fight
with another dog my daughter would be by my side. This must've been really bad
luck because I always was insisting on walking the dog alone as it would give us
"our time" without worrying about anyone else.
As traumatic as it was
for me, and I am not a wimp, watching my dog attacking another dog, I can't even
imaging how 7 year old must've felt then. For two years my daughter would become
hysterical any time we would consider taking Brandy to public or
camping.
When I started going to Margot for private lessons...

To read the rest of this entry please go to the following blog:
http://skyreflection.blogspot.com/2009/11/another-victory.html

Thirty years ago I was warning people that if we didn't do something about teaching children about animals we would stand to lose them. No one wanted to listen. I begged and I pleaded with dog owners I knew to help stop PETA and H$U$. The problem was that everyone just knew PETA believers were just a radical fringe group and no one knew anything at all about H$U$.

Meanwhile for the same thirty years PETA and H$U$ have been in our children's schools handing out comic books like: http://www.furisdead.com/feat-momfur.asp and of course the most recent madness: http://www.petakids.com/sea_kittens/index.asp

So after thirty years of steady brain washing techniques starting in kindergarten and continuing all the way through graduate school is it any wonder we are losing our rights to own animals? Is there anyone, anyone at all reading this blog who can say they live in a city/town/village/county that doesn't have a pet limit? Gone are the days when we could own as many dogs or cats as we could feed and care for. So just what does this rant have to do with the quote from Yuliya's blog and the problems she was facing with her daughter?

Everything. Yuliya knew she needed help with her first dog. She did all the things she was told were the correct things to do. What it did get her was a dog that was pretty much out of control, has a record with the county and a child that was truly terrified of dogs. So what can be done?

I feel really confident in saying that using any form of a "drug cocktail" would not have solved the problems for either dog or child over the long term. Being a "damn the torpedoes, full steam ahead" sort of person, once I learned just how deep the problem ran it only made sense to have the training include both dog and child.

And so, almost every week we had a 7 year old sitting on the sidelines in a huddle, with tears flowing and most of the time eyes squeezed tight shut. I just kept on insisting both dog and child would heal at about the same rate of speed. And so they did.

One of the things I did was to assign a task each week that a 7 year old could do and be successful at doing. It was when they finished up the private sessions and moved to the group class that is when things started to speed up as far as healing was concerned. For the first month, at least once every single class I had to deal with a 7 year old rushing out on the training floor to place herself between one of the little dogs and Brandy.

As she became more comfortable with doing the examination part when I called for a class stand for exam exercise, there was less and less tension in her. The more she was engaged in helping with other dogs the less time she had to worry about Brandy. I think we were lucky since instead of one child we had 3. Neither of the other two children were worried and that helped to make it more difficult for her to worry.

The thing that finally made a difference was when I told "Miss Worrywart" she had to join a close order drill I was getting ready to start. Sam was generous enough to allow Rugby to help with the changes. Once she got a taste of being responsible for a dog and realized she didn't have time to worry about what either her Mother or Brandy were doing things really started to fall into place. As you watch the short video of the work, take note of the children on the sidelines. The bike and also a scooter are there and being used at my request.

Don't know about anyone else, but I get such a kick out of watching this footage and getting to see just how far not one, but several dogs, one child and a couple of adults have come in just a couple of months.

97+ and going strong

2009-11-18T13:08:00.002-05:00

Someone sent this video to me, thinking I might be interested. Might be? Good grief! What I really want to know is "how does he do it"?

I was told Mr. Richards is over 97 years young and just earned a 1st place in Utility B with his dog. Watch it here and be truly amazed.

George Richards & Hummel at Dachshund Speciality 2009 from John Richards on Vimeo.

I have watched this video several times now and still find I'm forgetting to breath for rather long periods of time. Hope all of you find it as wonderful as I do.

Murder Hollow Basset Pack Update

2009-11-17T21:58:00.005-05:00

UPDATE: If you want to donate a few or many dollars to help this battle along here is what you need to do:

You can donate online at http://www.naiatrust.org/join_us.htm. You can
donate on-line by entering an amount under "Legal Defense Fund Donation, " entering any amount and clicking on the "Donate Now!" button or you can can send it snail mail to:
NAIA Trust
PO Box 66579
Portland, OR 97290

Below is the most recent update in the battle to locate and return the Murder Hollow Basset Hounds that were stolen under cover of "law".

This battle is being fought for all of us. For the person who owns one dog or cat to the person who owns, cares for, trains and works entire packs of dogs this battle is being fought. A win in this case will not only make it possible to find out exactly what has been done to and with the hounds that were taken, but will be an important step in the taking back of the rights of property that has been and is being taken away from all of us.

Please spread the word and if you know of any group that can help with the heavy financial burden, please see the word reaches them. To read some of the back story: http://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2009/08/spca-outrage-in-philadelphia.html

The two noise code violation complaints that were filed against Wendy Willard by
the PSPCA and issued by the City of Philadelphia, Department of Health, alleging
animal noise and excessive animal sounds, under sections 10-105(4) and 10-403(6)
of the Philadelphia Code, respectively, were dismissed at an administrative
hearing today. This victory was the first action on the case. These were the
original charges that lead to PSPCA to want entry to her property.
　
We still are unable find out the whereabouts or condition of the hounds that were
seized by the PSPCA and probably won't until the hearing on the cruelty charges
in January. This is still a complex case and we are spending about $10,000 a
month to get this prepared. If any of you know groups that might want to
support this other than our current supporters (NAIA, Master's of Foxhounds,
Pennsylvania Federation of Dog Clubs, National Beagle Club, National Basset
Club, U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance), please let us know because we need to keep the
money coming in to take this to a successful conclusion.
　
A full win on this will overturn the mandatory spay neuter laws for anyone having over 4 dogs in Philadelphia and eliminate the arbitrary limit laws there. This would
establish a precedent based on constitutional grounds and will be useful in
fighting these laws in jurisdictions across the country.
I will keep you posted as the case progresses.
Permission granted to
crosspost.
Julian Prager
NAIA Legislative Coordinator
PFDC Legislative
Chair

Birds and Drugs, but not together

2009-11-16T09:57:00.009-05:00

Last week I posted a short video of a part of the large flock or flocks of big, black birds that stop off here every year in the fall. Even though it wasn't the clearest of footage you can still make out the fact they were eating something.

Knowing how many walnuts fall to the ground in my yard every year, one reader suggested "maybe they are eating the nuts". Nope. Not possible and that's a not possible on two fronts. First, it isn't possible because neither of the areas the birds were interested in were areas that had walnuts on the ground, because no walnuts trees grow in those areas. In the back the trees in question are 2 mulberry trees, a large locust and a maple. In the front its 2 large maples and a couple of blue spruce. It is worth noting than none of the trees are less than at least 50 years old, so we aren't exactly talking about small trees.

As for eating the walnuts, not possible. When the walnuts first fall they are about the size of a baseball and covered in a green outer casing. They are also hard enough to do some damage when they hit things. After they have been on the ground for several days the green covering turns brown and then gets soft and mushy underneath. They are true ankle breakers at that stage. Next the mushy stage passes and what is left is the hard shell nut most people are accustomed to seeing. The big, black birds in question don't have the right sort of beak to hammer open one of those shells. So, no they aren't eating the nuts. That job is left to the truly amazing squirrel colony that lives in the trees.

DRUGS and dogs

I got to attend a lecture on Sunday. This lecture was given by one of the big authorities on animal behavior modification via the brave, new world of drugs. Since I went as someone else's guest I was sworn to keep my mouth shut. By noon I honestly thought my head was going to explode.

When the reservations were made for us the person taking the reservation was told there would be a service dog coming. She promptly told my friend "no dogs allowed". Which triggered a reminder that the lecture was being held in a public place and service dogs were allowed by law.
Now the only reason I am bringing this up is because of what was said next.

You see, the response to the "service dogs are allowed by law" was the statement that the same law allowed them to turn away any noisy dog or any dog that caused a problem. Don't you sort of wonder why they would make such a statement? I know I have my own ideas. I honestly believe that while they call themselves dog trainers and animal behaviorists, they have actually never seen a trained dog actually working.

Several people came up to me during one of the breaks or at lunch time and wanted to know what "program" trained my dog. I guess I'm sort of snotty, cause I said I'm the program that trained this dog. It sort of acted as a conversation stopper. I make no apologies for my lack of patience with the clicker, food, play group and their lack of ability to actually get a dog trained.

Cranky. Yes.

Annoyed. Yes.

Miffed. Oh my, yes.

What fun (not) to sit and watch a 'famous' person proudly announce how wonderfully friendly her super dog was. Why he even jumped up on a counter at Petsmart and gave the clerk a big kiss.

I confess at this point that I too once had a dog jump up on the check-out counter at a PetCo. The clerk offered her a treat without asking my permission first. This was Wrap as a young, very exuberant dog. Before I could so much as blink, much less stop her, Wrap had elevated from the floor to the counter, snatch, eaten the cookie AND...

And knocked the clerk out of the way, stuck her nose into the cash drawer, grabbed a mouthful of 10 dollar bills and floated back to the floor. Do I need say I was upset, mortified, angry at the clerk, ashamed that I didn't catch the beginning of her jump and a host of other things. None of them were good. Meanwhile, Wrap thought it was one of the funniest stunts she had managed to pull off so far. Now I look back on that day with fond memories, but never have I bragged about how friendly my dog was that day.

WHATTHEFU**? She also was so kind as to share a video of her rapid stuff method of treat training. With a dog in a tight and very controlled environment we got to watch her use food to get the dog to "hold its breath". For the life of me, I never did see the dog actually stop panting and close it mouth on command and, honestly that is what I expected to see.

I almost forgot. Sanity had to retrieve her bed so I could roll it up when we left. And she had to figure out how to get through the press of people and the chairs blocking the way when I sent her back to where we had been sitting to retrieve my jacket.

Most of all she had to deal with a large number of pretty clueless people in a rather small space. As you can see it is going to be a tight fit.

Here we go, working our way between the tables on the way to the restrooms.
Look closely and you can just spot us beginning the return trip.

In order for her to do two of those jobs I had to repeatedly ask people to please leave her alone since she was working. The really funny one happened after the third person picked up her leash and tried to stop her. After I told that person to leave her alone, she gave them a dirty look, picked up the leash in her mouth and carried it herself. I'm thinking she was just flat tired of what her body language was calling the 'stupid humans'.
Sticking close so as to avoid getting kicked, stepped on or fondled by strangers. Amy's not a stranger, but a friend. Just seconds before this picture was snapped two different strangers wanted to fondle her. I said no they couldn't pet her or touch her because she was working. And I'm not all fire breathing dragon, I did thank them for asking.

Finally I was totally blown away by the number of strangers who came up to me and wanted to know if I would like them to "take her outside?" for me. I continue to try really hard to see that as well-meaning, but clueless offers of help. Mind you, I'm not at all ungrateful of help given to move objects out of the way of the scooter or open the restroom door or any other heavy door. But take my service dog away from me? Not on your life. I work very hard at developing a high level of trust between myself and my dog. No way am I willing to endanger that trust by handing her off to a complete stranger to take her where? And do what with or to her?

Now I'll stop this, cause I actually do feel a little better and who knows? Maybe I'll manage to find it in my heart to better understand the drive away from actually training a dog to using different drugs as a blanket to over the dog's problems.

The Birds

2009-11-12T14:00:00.003-05:00

This happens every year about this time. I don't even know for certain just what sort of bird they are other than that they are quite large, black and noisy.

When the flocks start to arrive I have gotten into the habit of bring all the dogs in the house. What I learned was that if I leave the dogs out the birds just sit up in the trees, crap all over everything including the dogs and don't leave until they are allowed to lite and eat whatever it is they eat when they stop here.

I'm sorry the video isn't any clearer. One of the things you really can't see is just how many birds are perched in the trees around the "eating" area.

Every since I got it in my head that the birds were actually eating some nasty that if left alone would harm and maybe kill my trees, I've been content to let them have use of both front and backyard until they have finished the meal. Gee, does that mean I'm a green?

How's it working for us?

2009-10-25T10:56:00.004-04:00

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

2009-09-20T16:46:00.005-04:00

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

2009-09-17T14:22:00.005-04:00

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

2009-09-13T19:33:00.005-04:00

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)

2009-09-12T15:10:00.003-04:00

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)

2009-08-21T18:02:00.002-04:00

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)

2009-08-19T18:24:00.009-04:00

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.

The Taming of the Beast (part 2)

2009-08-18T17:47:00.005-04:00

In this video Sam is taking Brandy out of her kennel run for the first time. She spends a few minutes in the kennel talking to Brandy, then clips the leash on and they take a couple more minutes to get through the gate in a polite way. Next Sam spends some time getting acquainted with Brandy and giving Brandy a chance to pick up the working rhythm. After that they head into a figure 8 pattern.
The thing that makes this practice session so challenging is that both "posts" are actually tiny crates. In one crate is Ellie, our Yorkie and in the other crate is Rugby, Sam's Maltese.

Brandy came here with a bad reputation where small dogs were concerned. She is being given lots of chances to practice saying, "No, I won't try and kill that sorry excuse for a dog."

During this coming week she will get to practice her self-control over and over and over again. It's truly great for building good character. After Sam worked Brandy for about 15 minutes, we had a change of handler's and Sydney took over.

In this video Sydney is heeling Brandy right up to the individual crates, requiring a sit and then just quietly standing there and giving Brandy many chances to decide to turn her head away from the strong distraction.

When we see Sydney struggling to get Brandy to move close to Ellie's crate it is because Brandy is still a little afraid of losing her self control and so is trying to avoid the distraction all together. This is a sign of real progress. Keep in mind that Brandy is not being bribed or physically forced to turn away. The decision is strictly up to her. Of course, should she make the wrong choice then Sydney would at once run away at a very fast pace, only to return to a normal pace and come right back to the original position.
What I find so fascinating to watch is how she works out the problem of self-control. While she was really not just trembling, but just about vibrating each time one of the "distractions" came within her line of sight as we continued to work she became calmer and clearly more in control of herself. It can be seen by just watching her head placement. By the time we had worked for 30 minutes Brandy was really tired and more than ready to call it a day as far as school work was concerned. She spent pretty much the next 4 hours sleeping.

Taming the beast (part 1)

2009-08-16T12:12:00.000-04:00

Saturday morning we held our very first outside Canine Good Citizen(CGC)test. As far as I was concerned the weather was great. Of course, I also realize that my total tree canapoy, which keeps us in the shade all day and the gentle breeze that never stopped blowing had a lot to do with how it felt. I also acknowlege there are lots of people who think I'm crazy, daft, or just plain insane to call mid-August in the land between Washington, D.C. on the south and Baltimore to the north as great. Then again, they are pretty much all people who like cold weather. Personally, I truly HATE cold weather, always have, always will. So there!
This great picture was taken of the small dogs who would be taking the test. Some of them know each other and some don't know anyone. Yet they all managed to remain mannerly all day. Of the four dogs, one was the dog in the crowd, two others earned their CGC and sadly one did not manage to pass.

Yes, the Yorkie in the group is Ellie. Ellie, one of the dogs who arrived here with more negative baggage than good memories. Once again, it can be seen that she manages to get along with other mannerly dogs, in this case, dogs her size.

Here is a picture of Brandy. Brandy didn't manage to get her picture taken while in the CGC ring and I'm truly sorry for that since Brandy, yet another dog labeled potentually dangerous earned her CGC after only 9 lessons and was very willing to mind her own business when faced with a dog in the crowd and the friendly stranger with a dog. This picture shows her making the choice to look away from a distraction that just a few short weeks ago would have sent her in to something of a frenzy.

Here is a picture of Ellie during the disintrested stranger station. She had no problem with remaining beside Sydney and then for the next station sitting quietly while being petted by a stranger.

For my part I am especially sorry this shot was just a still. What was actually going on here looked more like some sort of Chinese Firedrill than a walk through a crowd station. The problem was caused because they were one of the very last teams to take the test and some of the helpers had already left for home. This meant we were actually short ring helpers. So everyone who was left moved to the crowd station and then just about the time Sydney and Ellie reach that point for some reason just about everyone started rushing off to go to the stations coming up.

All in all it was a good day. I was sorry to see a few dogs that were lacking in enough training to receive a passing grade. Hopefully they will be able to find the sort of trainer they like and get the necessary help. As it stands right now I think we are going to put on one more CGC test this year. The tentative plan is to run one the last Saturday in October.

Yard Boss

2009-08-11T17:48:00.003-04:00

I've been ask to talk a little bit about the dogs that become "yard boss". They are also sometimes referred to as "Sargent at arms", "pack leader", "pack supervisor" to name a few of the many different titles they are known have.

First, it is important to understand that a "yard boss" can't be made. The dog in question either has what takes or doesn't. Yard boss dogs come in all sizes and a couple of different attitude styles. They must know all the rules of the yard, both the pack rules and the human rules. This is not something that just any dog can do. In fact, most dogs want nothing at all to do with the amount of responsibility that is a major part of the job.

From my own experience there seem to be two different types of boss dogs. There are the boss dogs that use distractions to get the job done and there are boss dogs that make use of body contact to get the job done. The one thing both types have in common is an ability to communicate with every single dog in the yard and then take it to the next level and communicate with the human or humans in charge.

Some of these dogs come into their position at a very young age and others take several years to sort of sneak up on the job. Wrap came into her position as yard boss at a young age. See was about 18 months when she started working as a yard boss. The thing I remember most clearly was how she handled problems that arose between older dogs. She would seemingly bump into one or the other of the angry dogs and then fall over and start wiggling and kicking her legs as if she were still a little puppy. All the adult dogs found that to be so off putting they would move away in disgust. Of course that was exactly what she wanted, the almost fight forgotten in their mutual distaste of a young adult dog acting like a puppy.

One of the things that seems to make it easier for a young dog to grow into the position is the amount of formal training they have and how serious their jobs are to the existing humans. The more formal training and the more real jobs a dog has the higher the status in the yard. This doesn't appear to be something that can be forced or changed by a human. It is just something that happens.

By the time Wrap was 2-1/2 she had managed to tease, laugh, play the fool and handle all the work that called for a dog, right up the top of the pack. And that is pretty much were she stayed until the day she died.

I think the reason why Sanity has taken so long reaching yard boss status and is still struggling with the position is because she really didn't feel she could fully take over as long as Wrap was still on the scene.

Changes

2009-08-09T23:53:00.002-04:00

Back in March a little pimple of a problem grew to boil size, festered and finally broke open. Sanity forced me to pull her from working in public because I could no longer trust her to behave in an appropriate manner when rude children were around.

Wrap left us in April. At this time Sanity was not a yard boss. She was more a riot inciter and would be more likely to be a reason for a squabble to break out than the reason why it stopped. Anything, everything, nothing would send her off into wild frenzies of barking that nothing could stop other than my enforcing a "give me 20" rule. Having to do 20 dog style push ups did help to take the edge off the frenzy.

Ellie arrived in May. Sanity viewed her a a nuisance and something to be ignored to the point of stepping on her rather than over her. However, by the end of May Sanity and Ellie were starting to develop an interesting relationship. It consisted mostly of Ellie following Sanity around everywhere and doing her level best to copy everything she saw Sanity doing.

In June I switched Sanity over to a raw meat and bones diet that includes green tripe and some cooked veggies or fresh fruit that happens to be hanging around. The first week was almost the last week of this experiment since I pretty much couldn't get her to eat much of anything. She was very happy to lick the bones for a time, but then would look at me and seem to ask, "so when are you going to put the food down?" I just continued to tell her that was the food.

By the beginning of the second week of this new diet something clicked in her brain. She started eating and eating with gusto! Of course, there was no more worry about her inhaling her food. Can't do that when you have to chew and chew and chew, just to get one bite you can swallow.

In July, I thought I was seeing some changes in Sanity's behavior both out in the yard and in the house. For starters, I was rarely having to call for 20 push-ups to help her come back to her senses. Then I thought I was noticing some of the very desirable "yard boss" behavior starting to show up every now and again. The most interesting thing was the change in her behavior after she finishes her dinner. She is calm. She is quiet. She is mellow and relaxed.

I'm finally writing about this because other people have begun to notice the very same things I've been noticing. That means it is really happening and not just wishful thinking on my part. It started with little things like her saving Ellie from the dog killer Golden by running between them and then cutting the Golden off. This gave Ellie time to make it back to the house and for the rest of us to put the yard back to rights with the Golden back in jail. I thought it was just a fluke or maybe I just imagined it.

That was the first time I actually thought I was seeing proper yard boss behavior, but didn't want to trust myself on the subject. Since that first time I have seen the same behavior almost daily. Squabbles are becoming less and less. And while that is true it is also true that Sanity is more and more willing to go retrieve string wearing dogs who are not coming when called.

All this makes me wonder if she was just waiting for Wrap to be gone before she finished her growing. And that leads me back to the kids problem.

Starting in June I finally managed to have a few students here who have either children or grandchildren of exactly the right size and age. It means I have been able to stage training problems and actually work on her attitude towards children of a certain height and behavior. Little by little, even this problem is resolving itself in a way that is going to get her back to working in public again. No rush, best to take things slowly and steadily rather than to rush and end up back sliding.

All in all this summer has been full of some pretty important changes and ones that sure have given me lots to think about.

SPCA Outrage in Philadelphia

2009-08-05T22:22:00.005-04:00

How much longer will this sort of theft uncover of questionable laws be allowed to continue before animal owners all over the country finally wake up and realize HSUS has you and me and all our friends, family, neighbors firmly locked in their gun sights.

Isn't it Philadelphia that is supposed to be the city of brotherly love? Must be too old fashioned an idea.

http://neveryetmelted.com/2009/08/05/spca-outrage-in-philadelphia/#comment-140915

Read this and begin to wonder just how long it will be before they come for you. How much longer before owning one dog with no reproductive parts will still label you a puppy mill, whatever that is. The term "puppy mill" is so elastic and slippery the animal radicals are able to stretch it and twist it and curl it and fluff it to mean anything they want it to mean.

Please pass on the word about this latest travesty of animal "protection". It is important that everyone know what is happening.

Dispelling the term "Puppymill"

2009-07-04T17:35:00.002-04:00

I really am going to try and make this the last polical rant for a time. Please read what Karen Strange has to say and at least give it some thought. "Puppymill" really does need to be seen as a bad word.

There is no legal definition for the term "puppymill".

The term "puppymill" is a phrase coined by animal rights activists and
supporters against anyone who breeds dogs, regardless of the care the animals
receive. The name-calling is a means to turn the unknowing public against all
dog breeders and to raise endless funds for continuous propaganda and
money-making schemes by animal rights activists and organizations.

There is a difference between professional kennels and sub-standard
kennels.
Professional breeders operate legal kennels, licensed by the state
department of agriculture as well as USDA, and meet or exceed all guidelines
pertaining to the health, care and well-being of their animals. They are active
members in good standing of state associations, attend seminars, and earn
continuing education hours for lectures on such topics as pre-natal and
post-natal care, nutrition, health care, socialization, grooming, kennel
management, tax preparation, ventilation, incubation and reproduction.

Substandard kennels are illegal, unlicensed facilities that produce
animals with no regards to their health and well-being.

No one supports neglect or abuse of animals. Calling legal, licensed,
professional breeders "puppymills" and claiming that they abuse their animals is
grossly unfair and unjust, and is not acceptable.

The term "puppymill" is a derogatory word used by animal rights activists
and supporters against anyone who breeds dogs, and is no more acceptable than
using slur names for those of different ethnic backgrounds. It is as degrading
and offensive to professional breeders to call them "puppymills" as it is to
call our fellow man slur names. It is not socially acceptable to call our fellow
man names, nor is it acceptable to call breeders slur names.

We ask that you refrain from using the term "puppymill", and that you
correct others that use the term to describe dog breeders. Animal rights
activists use the term to garner support for fundraising, and those funds are
being used to eliminate all agriculture, use and enjoyment of animals. Please
help us to stop the spread of animal rights issues. Let's all begin by
eliminating the term "puppymill" from our vocabulary.
　
Karen Strange,
President & Lobbyist
MoFed

Scam

2009-06-25T11:45:00.004-04:00

I can't begin to say just how much scam in all its many forms just plain pisses me off. This is a new one to be watching out for and remember their goal is to part you from as much of your hard earned money as possible.

In this case the scam was received via fax. A quick google search turned up the fact that the very same thing with only a word change here or there is going on via snail mail and email. So here's the scivy:

Attention: Owner/Manager
FROM: Jennifer Preston, 609-613-5917

We are pleased to inform you that you and your business have been selected to be published for free in the 2009/2010 Edition of Princeton Who's Who of Executives, Professionals, & Entrepreneurs.

On June 24th your candidacy was approved. Your prompt response is needed to ensure your correct information is published. For accuracy purposes, please be sure to fill out the information below and FAX it back to 609-613-5917 at the earliest opportunity.

The office of the Managing Director appoints individuals based upon a candidate's current position, and usually with information obtained from researched executive and professional listings. The Director things that you may make an interesting biographical subject, as achievement is what Who's Who is all about.

Upon final confirmation, you will be listed among thousands of accomplished individuals in Princeton Who's Who. Remember, there is no cost to be included.

On behalf of the Managing Director, we look forward to your appearance in this year's edition. Best wishes for continued success.

Sincerely,
Jennifer Preston
Editor in Chief

Here are some details of the miscreants scammers and their
contacts:http://www.princetonpremier.com/

Owned by:Princeton Premier23-35a steinway stastoria, New York 11105United States

Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)

Domain Name: PRINCETONPREMIER.COMCreated on: 11-Feb-07

Expires on: 12-Feb-09

Last Updated on:

Administrative Contact:nunziato, joseph admin@digitalhighs.com http://www.digitalhighs.com

Princeton Premier23-35a steinway stastoria, New York 11105United States7183546893

Technical Contact:nunziato, joseph admin@digitalhighs.comPrinceton Premier23-35a steinway stastoria, New York 11105United States7183546893

Domain servers in listed in order:

NS1.SECURESERVERDOT.COM
NS2.SECURESERVERDOT.COM

I swear, if I had any solid BLACK paper I would fax it to the number supplied. Meanwhile, just a head's up that this bunch is also doing the very same thing via telephone.

Noose Set to Tighten on Los Angeles Purebred Dogs

2009-06-13T18:11:00.004-04:00

While the title is "Noose Set to Tighten on Los Angeles Purebred Dogs" keep in mind it is also set to tighten on cats as well. The H$U$ goal is to have no animals come in contact with any human for any reason at any time. There MUST be no compromise with these animal radicals. Any compromise is viewed as weakness and exploited to the fullest extent possible. Please read the below article. Please think long and hard about just how it will have an effect on you and your animals even if you live 3,000 miles away.

Meanwhile help this information go viral on the web. It is one more way to fight for your dog/cat. It is one more way to stay an owner.

The below is exactly why there can be no compromises with Animal Radical groups.
Judy Goldberg
Greylock Poodles
Noose Set To Tighten On Los Angeles Purebred Dogs
AKC Disqualification Shows Entire Nation The Danger of
Compromise, Apathy Or Agreeing To Biased Task Forces
by MARGO MILDE AND JOHN YATES
American sporting Dog Alliance
http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org/
asda@csonline.net
This report is archived at
http://eaglerock814.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=general&thread=\44

LOS ANGELES, CA - It will be next to impossible to own a sexually intact registered dog or cat within the City of Los Angeles, if City Council approves a series of recommendations by the Spay/Neuter Advisory Committee in a March 30, 2009,report. These recommendations have been sent to Los Angeles City Council and to Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa in final form, the American Sporting Dog Alliance has documented. Action on the recommendations could happen at any time.
It already is illegal in Los Angeles to possess a sexually intact dog that is registered with the Field Dog Stud Book (FDSB), and the committee's recommendations would cancel out current exemptions for approved show, field trial, performance and breeding dogs registered with the American Kennel Club (AKC), and also rare breed and smaller registries. The recommendations also may affect dogs registered with the United Kennel Club (UKC), and cats registered with the three top feline registries. Beginning this year, the ordinance has required all dogs and cats that did not qualify for an intact exemption to be spayed or neutered at the medically unsafe age of four months.
Now, however, it is clear that even these few exemptions are intended to be phased out, if recommendations from the committee are approved by the City Council. The committee's recommendations also contain a series of "Catch 22's" that would make it virtually impossible for the owner of an intact dog to maintain an exemption for competition, field trials and shows, even if the registry itself maintains its exemption, documents show.
The unfolding situation in Los Angeles gives dramatic and clear proof that the ultimate goal of all animal rights-inspired legislation is a step toward the elimination of animal ownership in America. Each law, ordinance and regulation is merely the first step toward a tightening of the noose in this incremental approach to making America a nation without dogs, cats and other domesticated animals. Each step is designed to lead to another, until no more animals are left.
For dog owners, it means that any compromise with animal rights activists is illogical, unwise and totally illusory. Dog owners who agree to negotiate, participate on task forces or committees that are stacked against them, compromise, cut deals, remain apathetic, or fail to fight hard for their rights in the political arena, are slitting their own throats. The only alternative is to fight back courageously against all animal rights legislation, and refuse to quit, surrender or compromise.
That lesson applies equally to all Americans who own dogs or cats, and has immediate meaning to Illinois, which has set up a task force to study new dog laws, and Maine and Santa Barbara, CA, which are now in the process of having the results rammed down their throats by task forces that were designed to have strong animal rights biases.
The Los Angeles Committee also provides a clear lesson to dog owners about how task forces and committees can be taken over by nonresident animal rights extremists, who now are incorporating these committees into their nationwide strategy. The American Sporting Dog Alliance first uncovered this strategy in the City of Dallas, TX, which passed a repressive spay/neuter mandate last year based on the recommendations of a committee with official status that pointedly excluded anyone who was not an animal rights activist.
The Los Angeles Committee includes at least one person who does not live in the city: noted animal rights extremist Judie Mancuso of Laguna Beach, CA. Mancuso was a major force behind last year's failed effort to enact statewide mandatory spay/neuter legislation, and is leading efforts for legislation this year.
Mancuso also works on mandatory sterilization issues nationwide, and recently testified in Chicago, where she claimed that these ordinances do not affect the availability of purebred dogs. The Los Angeles proposals contradict and discredit Mancuso's statements in Chicago and elsewhere, and show clearly that her real goal is to eliminate purebred dogs.
Here are the Los Angeles Spay/Neuter Committee report's highlights pertaining to owning intact purebred dogs.
Almost all of America's dog and cat registries would be removed from the list of approved registries, because they do not have official policies to protect the health and soundness of dogs eligible for registration and used in breeding programs, as would be required by the new recommendations. We see this requirement as a "Catch 22" that is impossible to fulfill, because the science of canine genetics is in its infancy and does not allow many conditions to be predicted accurately (and thus prevented), and the Los Angeles ordinance is essentially requiring registries to be liable (including financially liable) for the results of matings over which they have no real control. Private breeders of high quality dogs also would object to a distant registry taking control of their breeding decisions, if for no other reason than the fact that registry officials would have no first-hand knowledge of the dogs involved, their progeny or their ancestors.

Dogs registered by the American Kennel Club (AKC), which is the nation's largest registry, could not be kept sexually intact or bred in Los Angeles if these
recommendations are adopted. This also would apply to dogs registered through
the American Dog Breeders Association (American pit bull terriers), the Continental Kennel Club, the American Rare Breed Association, the Australian Shepherd Club of America and the Dog Registry of America, and possibly cats registered by the three major feline registries.

The status of UKC-registered dogs could not be determined from the report. The UKC already has an extensive list of breeding policies, but they are essentially recommendations to breeders and most are not mandatory. Nor is it known if the UKC would be willing to assume liability for the actions of breeders.

Field Dog Stud Book, which is America's oldest registry and the premiere registry for pointers and setters bred for hunting and field trials, is not included in the current list of approved registries and also could not possibly meet the requirements of the committee report. It is currently illegal to own a sexually intact FDSB-registered dog, or breed it, in the City of Los Angeles.

To obtain a breeding permit, the report recommends requiring that a dog must be temperament tested, have Orthopedic Foundation of America certification for hip dysplasia, meet other unspecified "health requirements," and have earned or be earning a title in competition through an approved registry (of which there would be
none). We regard all of these as cynical "Catch 22s."

Temperament testing would be done by the animal control agency, which lacks the expertise to evaluate dogs of most breeds and could not do a fair evaluation in the chaotic environment of an animal control facility. Thus, many good dogs would be set up to fail.

OFA hip certification cannot be obtained until a dog is two years old and the Los Angeles ordinance requires dogs to be spayed at age four months(long before they would be bred, entered in serious competition or could be certified by OFA), and animal control personnel do not have the knowledge or experience to evaluate genetic health problems or the ways to reduce or eliminate them.

The report also recommends that all dogs be entered into a show or competition at least annually to qualify for an exemption (the current requirement is one show every two years). However, this fails to account for the reality that many dogs are kept for evaluation for a year or two before they are entered in competition or sent to a professional trainer, an injury or illness can hold a dog out of competition for lengthy periods, and many outstanding champions are retired from competition early to use for breeding in order to pass on their outstanding genetics to future generations. These dogs would have to be sterilized, under the recommendation.

The current ordinance exempts a dog that is being trained for competition, or as a guide, service or military dog. However, the committee report recommends eliminating this exemption if the dog's trainer is not an officially licensed business in the City of Los Angeles,as well as stating that dog trainers should meet certain unspecified "qualifications" to be licensed.

The dog world is not local. Many serious breeders are themselves highly competent and qualified trainers, and many send their dogs to trainers who are located in other parts of the state or nation. These trainers could not qualify for a Los Angeles business license for the simple reason that they do not live in the city (and possibly not even in the state), and the breeders could not qualify for a business license because they are hobbyists who are not in the business of training dogs for the public.

Moreover, no one in the animal control department is even remotely qualified to pass judgment on the ability or qualifications of a professional trainer. It is doubtful if any professional trainers of field trial or hunting dogs live within the city, as there would not be enough suitable grounds nearby, and regulations and taxation would be prohibitive in an urban environment.

Requirements to maintain a sexually intact dog also would be tightened generally, including mandating spay/neuter for a second offense of leash laws or a second impoundment by animal control, shortening time limits for compliance, denying permits to dog owners to whom even one warning had been issued, and raising prices of intact and breeding permits (current permits cost $100 per animal per year, and allow the holder only one litter per year per each female animal for which a permit has been obtained).

The Los Angeles Committee report to City Council is contained in a 91-page (pdf file) report that can be viewed at
http://www.laanimalservices.com/spayneuterlaw/committee/march09_rep.pdf.
See pdf pages 68-through-74. Look for Recommendation Twelve.
This report was located and researched by ASDA advisor and researcher Margo Milde of Glenview, IL.
The current ordinance can be viewed at
http://www.clkrep.lacity.org/onlinedocs/2007/07-1212_ord_179615.pdf
.
The American Sporting Dog Alliance urges all Los Angeles dog owners to oppose this report to City Council. We also ask dog owners everywhere in America to learn from what is happening in Los Angeles and spurn the idea of task forces, negotiations with animal rights activists, or agreeing to compromises. Failing to fight back courageously is the first step in participating in the destruction of the dogs that you love, and your own freedom and basic rights as an American.

We also challenge the purebred dog and cat registries themselves, but especially the American Kennel Club (AKC), the largest purebred dog registry in the United States, to vigorously oppose the Los Angeles committee's recommendations. We also urge these registries to make adverse legislation involving any facet of dog and cat ownership and breeding their utmost priority. We especially ask the AKC to clearly communicate to its affiliated and member clubs the dangers of seeking purebred or show exemptions in any proposed legislation involving dog ownership or breeding, since, as these Los Angeles committee's recommendations illustrate, such legal exemptions are only a sham, to be all too easily removed by the Animal Rights zealots who seek the extinction of all purebred breeds of dogs.

The American Sporting Dog Alliance represents owners, breeders and professionals who work with breeds of dogs that are used for hunting. We also welcome people who work with other breeds, as legislative issues affect all of us. We are a grassroots movement working to protect the rights of dog owners, and to assure that the traditional relationships between dogs and humans maintains its rightful place in American society and life. The American Sporting Dog Alliance also needs your help so that we can continue to work to protect the rights of dog owners. Your membership, participation and support are truly essential to the success of our mission. We are funded solely by your donations in order to maintain strict independence.

Please visit us on the web at http://www.americansportingdogalliance.org/
Our email is asda@csonline.net .
PLEASE CROSS-POST AND FORWARD THIS REPORT TO YOUR FRIENDS