Get 'em While It's Hot

What am I talking about? Why, heated water bowls, of course! As much as we rue it's arrival, colder weather is coming. Last year we ran out of these babies and couldn't get restocked until January. Apparently they don't "get" cold weather in Phoenix, consequently those shining stars at corporate hq didn't account for the fact that it gets COLD in Spokane. We could have sold 3X the number of heated bowls they sent us. So, Heads Up - Heated Water Bowls have arrived. I don't want MY students to go without! If you are thinking about investing in one for your puppers wintertime waterbowl the time is NOW to stop by and pick one up!

ADVANCED class coming soon!

Ok you Intermediate Grads, there's an Advanced Class beginning on Saturday, Sept. 13 at 12:00. High Noon. Showdown at the TC corral! If you've been wanting to take that last leg of our training program and get your CGC now's your chance to sign up! Space is limited, so don't delay!

Contratulations Graduates

Maggie, Annabelle, Carter and Sophie graduated beginner class last night! A great class, hope to see you guys all in Intermediate class soon! Maggie the pomchi and Annabelle the border collie started out with some real shyness issues, but everyone agrees that they have come a long way! Sophie is a great ambassador for the bully breeds, her sweetness really helped Maggie and Annabelle come out of their shells. Carter is such a Doodle, he's been fun to have in class too, coming out of the class a much more well-mannered Doodle!
It's so hard to take good pictures with a cel phone, little Maggie wouldn't sit still so her picture came out too blurry to post, but here's individual shots of Annabelle, Sophie and Carter along with a rather active group shot.




Congratulations, everyone for all your hard work! It shows!

Intermediate Class Starting 9/14

That's a SUNDAY, at 10:30 am. There is still room, so if you have made it through Puppy or Beginner level, be brave and take the NEXT step in training your dog! We'll work on HEEL and WAIT, to name a couple of the behaviors Intermediate focuses on, and we'll keep practicing the things we learned in Puppy/Beginner. In addition, we'll show you how to keep "raising the bar" on your pup to keep making progress in your training program. Please join us!

International All Breed Show

Turbo and I had a great weekend! We went with friends Coleen & Carmine to an International Dog Show. I handled one of their Miniature Australian Shepherds and gave dog showing advice to help them get started in dog showing. It's been years since I attended any AKC shows so this was fun and interesting. The International methods of showing is a lot different. I like it! The judge has the opportunity and obligation to interact with exhibitors. They even have a critique card they fill out to give their impression of structure, behavior, and movement. This is much different than the AKC method of allowing a judge 2.5 minutes to examine and determine the quality of one dog against all others it's competing against. My opinion is that it's much better for the breed if each exhibitor is held to the standard and is given honest opinion to the quality of their dog.
It was especially fun to see a few old acquaintances there as well. We got to see Cody's breeder, and tell her all about his wonderfulness. Best of all was seeing one of my breed mentors and friend, Pat from Wenatchee! We were able to sit down over dinner and talk about old times and re-establish contact.
I also was introduced to a new (to me) breed known as the Icelandic Spitz or Icelandic Sheepdog in the person of Galdur, who stole my heart and left an impression on me as to a breed I would like to get to know better and possibly own. Sunny, funny, and what a honey, Galdur climbed into my lap like we were old best friends. What drew me to him was his similarity in looks to Turbo! You know, I always refer to Turbo as my "Giant Mountain Pom", well he could actually be a "Micro-Icie". Here's pictures to prove my point:
Galdur


Turbo

Their main difference of course, is size, although structure is similar. Galdur is about 18" tall, Turbo is about 14". Galdur's weight is about twice what Turbo's is. They have similar coats, in length, depth and texture. The Icie is a bit more rectangular and Turbo is a bit more square. The Icie has double dewclaws in the rear and Turbo has none. The similarities are there because the genes are there. A thousand years ago, the forefathers and foremothers of Poms and Icies were common stock! Some were shipped off to Iceland, others off to Pomeroy, and differences began to show as form followed function through the ages.
The show was fun to attend, and makes me want to show more. If Galdur's temperament is representative of his breed, then I want one and I want to get back into showing! It would be fun because then Coleen, Carmine and I could show together and yet not really be competition against each other!
So, all in all, Labor Day Weekend was fun for me. Thanks, Coleen and Carmine, for inviting me to be a part of your dog show adventures!

Congratulations, Intermediate Graduates!

This Intermediate class deserves special attention, because the graduates are both junior handlers! They did a great job of handling Magi the retriever and Max the pug!

Social Hour Friday 8/29 at 3:00 pm

No class is scheduled in the 3-4 time slot so I'm inviting everyone who's participated in classes to stop in and do a little socializing with your dogs. We will start on-leash, and play it by ear as to off-leash activities.
This is a perfect opportunity to practice what you've learned, and keep your dogs social skills up to par.
I will be offering up these social hours as my schedule allows, and in different time slots so everyone can have a chance to participate. Watch the schedules for more puppy playtimes to come! We may eventually whittle them down to Large Breed and Small Breed, Puppy or Adult if it seems necessary.
Upcoming play dates include:
9/5 - Friday, 7:30 pm
9/12 - Friday, 7:30 pm
9/24 - Wednesday, 6:00 pm
9/27 - Friday, 7:30 pm
Looking forward to seeing you there!