summer_jackel

My pup continues to grow. For all that she strongly implies the thing that she is becoming, Zhava still remains a knobbly-kneed puppy, not fully grown in coat, height or anything else. Here are some moments.



( dogs in sun and mist )

A couple of days ago, howl_at_the_sun visited, something that we've been trying to do for a couple of months. She recently adopted Cali, Bliss' younger full sister, after having been enough impressed by my big blue floaty thing to want a little tri version of him. kynekh_amagire and I both happen to also have tricolor puppies, and have wanted to let them all have the chance to play.

Taking the lot of them to the beach on a beautiful October afternoon was really fun. Here I am...with NINE dogs!



So I took a lot of photos. So many that I will probably make multiple posts for them, but still, you're warned!

( I roam I roam I roam )

May all of you have a beautiful Autumnal Equinox.




( Some animals this week )

Derzhava is now 14 weeks old. Here are some more pictures from the beach trip!

Puppy Update: I've taken my dog infant twice now into the big world outside walking distance to my house, (the dog show and the beach), and she enjoyed both. She's definitely no longer in a fear period, although she's all about having a moment of boldness and then returning to her safe spot as my little hound shadow, especially outside the house. She (surprisingly?) may be quicker to understand the meanings of new commands than my herding dog puppies, but she is definitely less motivated to perform them without a treat.

She's acclimating into my pack well, and watching the four of them (six when Kyn's dogs are added) sort out all of their little understandings and relationships is really fun. It's also a bit bizarre to look at this relatively large, powerful animal and realize that she's a total infant; you couldn't even call her a juvenile dog. Adorable. You all can look forward to photos of the incredible dorkitude of an adolescent Borzoi---most people don't share those with the world, but I intend to share the hilarity of Zhava's growing up with the world.

I still have a bunch of beach day pics that I didn't post. Here they are.



( dogs )

Life continues. Today is my day off; I am pedaling my bike trainer, which is what I am usually up to when I post. I just had to have the trainer serviced because use had worn the steel tube that attaches my bike's rear wheel to the trainer mechanism so that it was no longer flush and didn't hold the bike. The mechanic filed it down and added a washer, and then asked how much I rode it. I guess he isn't called upon much to repair trainers. I told him that I rode 20-30 hours a month, which is true, if less accurate and less personal than my first answer: enough to keep me centered, happy and sufficiently sane.

Comfort the Pictus cat died last night, and I am sad about it; there was perhaps a time when I felt a bit embarrassed about grieving a fish, but that's long past. I'd had him for seven years and got him as an adult; the outer observed age of the species seems to be about eight, so I think the little guy did ok with me. I got him on the way home from a really disastrous court appearance in my first year as an attorney; I'd made a bad newbie lawyer mistake and felt awful, thus "Comfort the catfish." He was a good little fish, and his active presence added a note of cheer and beauty to my home.

I'm in a place in life where a number of the animals that I obtained in my 20s are reaching their expected lifespans and passing, others who I have thought of as the babies are in their prime, and a younger generation is beginning to establish. It's a very bittersweet feeling, like thinking of who I was when I got that fish, how confused and trapped and not who I am now I was. How much happier I am now and how much more sorrowful. How much more myself I feel, how my life with these animals now feels smooth and harmonious, as the animals I used to have and don't anymore felt utterly right and perfect and different than these when I had them.

I walked my three sheepdogs this morning and then bathed Coba; I took Nikolai for a short walk and bathed him, too. Now I'm pedaling on the deck, hour 2.30, watching Tiger stalk around while Magic, 16, lounges on a cushion in what passes for midday sun around here. For Sysiphean boulders, you have to admit that they are awfully loveable and cuddly. I couldn't be happier.





( cats, dogs, bugs, slugs )

Spring is beautiful.


( spring photos; slug and spider warning )

I got some good ones! Spring is hitting its stride and Kyn and I hit the beach yesterday to celebrate it.

In addition to gently introducing some more of the behaviors Coba will need in open level obedience, I have begun to focus more on training him to show in conformation. I plan to start attending handling clinics more frequently, and I'm trying to stack him several times a day, which should get him more comfortable standing properly and holding it long enough to be judged well. I'm getting better at coinvincing him to keep his ears up, too.

Handling in obedience is much more comfortable for me, but my dog is ready and I think he is good. Given my level of inexperience, the fact that I'll only be showing him locally and his somewhat imperfect ear set, I probably won't be able to finish his championship, but I'm really hoping that he can at least earn some points towards it before he reaches retirement age.

So: I am learning to stack and will try to take regular photos to analyze what I need to do (also to record progress and for prettiness). Critique is invited, although for this set, bear in mind he is on an uneven surface and his coat was last finished a week ago.



( A bunch of stacks and some nice action shots! )

I got some really lovely shots of my pack, Nikolai and one of Josephine the tarantula.

( About a week to Equinox )

Today was warm and pretty and I went to the park in sunny Sebastopol to take advantage of it. The trail there was still too muddy to be fun, but we got some dog park time in and I did some training on the lawn. I'm planning on entering Coba in an obedience show next month; my goal for entering another conformation ring is a show in September. It was a good session; his attitude is great and he's improving in several places. I would like him to be cleaner on his about turns and sometimes his finish looks sloppy, but his stays are much better now. Hopes that he'll get points in Novice A soon are reasonable.

I figured out how I'm going to train his conformation gaiting, which is the big issue---Coba likes to work very close to my heel, which is fine for obedience. For conformation, he must move in an animated, precise trot, not breaking into a gallop, and do so at arm's length. (This is so that the judge's view of the dog's gait is unhampered). So, I need to teach him that. The command I'm using is 'gait' and what I'm doing is pretty simple; holding the treat in the extended left hand and prompting his focus to that hand instead of my face. Without boinging, please. Ideally, I will gain the ability to hold him at the proper gait with MY gait while I ask for this this; Coba's ability to follow this move is going to be directly proportional to my ability to lead it, as it were. We should have it well enough by September. I hope.

I got the following shot of the shirty little cupcake beast, and while its quality as a picture is embarrassing, it shows Coba's profile really well. Note that he's not properly stacked, so his topline isn't right; for one thing, he's standing on uneven ground. But his head planes look nice; for those inclined to canine geekery, the geometry of a sheltie's head requires the lines of topskull and muzzle to be straight and parallel to each other, separated by a small and gentle but distinct stop (the bit of a dog's face where muzzle meets head). Collies, fwiw, also have the parallel lines, but they have more of a gradual "rolling" stop. Coba also has his ears up in the ideal position, by which you all know that I took dozens of these pictures and this was the only one that got it, because the beast just will not hold his ears.



Still: Coba totally grew into his promise and I need to get him in the ring now.

( conure, pretty sunny day, doggies )