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The Alexander Menagerie -- August 2007

Showing off Guin

Lynne, my boss's boss, loves horses, so I invited her and her friend Christine out to see Guin. I tried to arrange for Leslie to be there or Monica or Kyra, so they could do some training and make the visit more interesting, but in the end it was just me and Kalisa (not that I ever mind a visit with Kalisa).

Guin was filthy -- so dusty you left a handprint on her if you touched her -- and the ladies wanted to groom, so I suggested they bathe her. They thought that was fun, and Guin was much more impressive looking when she was clean. After we bathed her, I turned her out in the little arena, and they got to watch her canter around and buck and act foolish. Good news -- she wasn't limping at all.

The ladies brought tons of apples and carrots, and we walked around the pastures and visited all the horses. I was glad Kalisa was there, because she knows all the names and the stories behind many of the rescues.

It was a low-key visit, but the ladies seemed to have fun. I like it when people admire my horses, and I like Lynne a lot, so I also enjoyed the visit. After the ladies left, Kalisa and I rounded out the day with a two-hour lunch and gab-fest at the Hub. Nice day!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Field trial at Carlson's

I twisted Kalisa's arm today until she agreed to go with me to Carlson's in Fall City to watch a field trial. We stopped for lunch first -- her first experience with Small Fryes (which she loved) -- and got to Carlson's in the early afternoon. They were on the fifth and final series.

We saw the test dog run, and then stayed for three or four others. It was a water triple. Two of the lines were pretty straightforward, but the third line was close enough to the first to suck the dogs off mark. Fun to watch them figure it out -- or even to see the handling. These dogs were clearly well trained and loving their job.

Carlson's is a great location to train, and it's not that far from where I live. I'm fortunate to have a plethora of different field training locations nearby, if I decide to pursue any field training with my pup.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Weekend update

Leslie was supposed to come up this weekend, but we got our signals crossed. We tried to reschedule to Monday and Tuesday of this week, but Monica and Kyra couldn't get the money together. Bummer. I was looking forward to seeing her!

I've decided to bring Guin home at the end of the month. I still love Eden Farms, but since I've been working at T-Mobile, I haven't had time to get out there to see her, much less work with her. I moved her out there so Kalisa and I could go riding together, but that hasn't happened and since we're both working, isn't likely to. So it seems silly to pay $300 per month to keep her there.

I'm planning to go to a local field trial next weekend with Kalisa. I'm thinking about the pup-to-come, and so I want to watch some field dogs. She has a retriever with a pro trainer, and he might be running next weekend, so that would be a bonus. I want her to go with me regardless though. When we chat with other people I don't want to discuss curlies or clicker training, because both will be ridiculed at a field trial. She's a Lab person, so she can provide all the expected answers.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Smackdown!

So Monday night, I had a bad parenting moment. I knew Pax and Aslan were being growly to each other -- I'd been managing them all evening to keep them from fighting. But at my bedtime I went to bed, not even thinking about what would happen when they came to bed. You can guess:

Jay brought them both up with him when he came to bed at midnight. The bed was too high value, and suddenly we had a full-blown fight on the bed. (Nice way to wake up! Two giant dogs fighting on top of you!)

Didn't last long. Aslan outweighs Pax by 30 lbs and pinned him pretty fast. I pulled him off -- thank goodness he doesn't redirect to humans -- and we got them separated. No damage; fights sound horrible and look scary, but they're largely ritualistic. Dogs who damage other dogs are genrally dogs who haven't been well socialized with other dogs and learned proper social skills and bite inhibition. Behaviorists are far more concerned about the dog who has been in one fight and sent the other dog to the vet than the dog who has been in 20 fights but caused no injuries.

We tried putting one upstairs and one downstairs, but Pax wouldn't settle, so I finally just kicked him out and let them work it out between them. With plenty of space outside and no high-value parents to bicker over, they did fine, and the next morning they acted as if nothing was different. Silly creatures.

Interestingly, though, the fight seems to have made an impression on Pax. Aslan slept on the bed last night -- and Pax wouldn't. He doesn't cower around him or anything, but it's clear that Aslan has first rights to the bed now. That's a little problematic to me, because I own the bed, and I don't want Aslan getting pushy about it.

Wednesday August 1, 2007

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