The Rally O Book

I just received my Rally-O book and the AKC signage that have all the exercises on them. I ordered it directly from Charles Kramer, father of Rally Obedience. I highly recommend this book if you want to train for Rally-O. It shows every exercise and explains it in detail. If you order the books, spring for the signage that he has done.The signs are nicely laminated and sturdy and can be used immediately for training.

Sace's growing up

Sace's in that wierd teenage phase where her ears have grown but her head hasn't caught up. Even so, she's as cute as ever. She's just now starting to lose her baby teeth. Watch for her in the show ring in a couple months.

Rally Obedience

It almost seems like another life time. I was a teenager when I first started training dogs. Back then, we had a young german shepherd, Misty. Misty and I were both a little out of control and I think my parents figured out giving us both a job might be a way to reign us both in. And it worked.

My first dog training instructor through the Manhattan Kennel Club was Dr. Charles L. Kramer. We learned alot, but I can't say my dog training skills were ever perfect back then. We did go on to compete at state, and we went to many dog shows and had a great time. And these were skills that I carried on the rest of my life.

While I grew up and went on to train dogs as a hobby, Dr. Kramer went on to invent a form of obedience called Rally Obedience. In it, the handler follows a course set up with different stations. At each station is a sign. Simply, you and your dog do what is on the sign. Before you try this with your dog, you are able to walk the course as many times as you can fit in to the allotted walking time. It helps you to figure out your flow and what commands you want to use with your dog at what time. Then it's time to try it with your dog.

Recently, Rally Obedience was accepted at an AKC Titling Event. In the Novice Rally Obedience class, everything is done on-leash. This makes it possible for any breed to compete. You can talk to your dog, use your hands, even repeat stations that you've done wrong. It's a postive way to train and one both handler and dog will enjoy.

Kishi's New Job

I brought Kishi out of retirement and entered her in Rally (kind of a cross between agility and obedience) this weekend. The past few years Kishi has been plaqued by all kinds of health problems, so I was really uncertain if she would perform, but her health is doing better and she seemed to be doing fine at home, so why not give it a try?

Well, we got to the show and she began shaking... cold? nervous?... nope! We got into the building where the ring was and she let out her excitement scream, wiggling all the way!

The girl is back! She watched me the whole time and was really excited to be back in the ring doing something. And Rally is such a positive sport, she loved it. She got her first Q in Rally (novice B) today. And I couldn't be more pleased. We try tomorrow for another leg.

If you haven't tried Rally with your dog, I highly recommend it. What a great sport!

Puppy has a name!

Kishi-Tibb's Legally Red
Her call name will be Versace... Sace for short.

Thanks, Maggie and Renee for the suggestions!

Introducing puppy "no name"

My first official bred-by shiba litter produced this stunning little girl (and two boys). A big thanks to John & Carol Calder and Diana Smiley for making this happen for me. I'm really excited about her.

Right now, "No name" is staying with my friend Renee. So also a big thank you to Renee and Yuki (her American Eskimo) for their unending dedication of socializing shiba after shiba even when they really "don't like" the breed. Even Renee will admit that this puppy is hard not to like!

OFFICIAL CONTEST: Name the puppy. Email me names for the puppy and if you win, I'll name the puppy with that name. OK, not much of a prize, but I would really like a good name for this puppy and I'm just not good at coming up with ones.

Suggestions so far - call name in ( ):
Kishi's Mischief Maker (Mystik)
Kishi's Born to Shop (Versace, Sace for short)
Kishi's Kokapelli (Koko)

Kishi-ism

I kept hearing whining coming from the other room so I went to investigate it. I thought maybe Kishi needed to go outside. It's cold here. Today it's 40 degrees. So I doubted seriously this was the reason since she hates cold, wet, rainy weather so passionately.

This fall we bought a new propane heater for the downstairs. It is set on a thermostat so it turns the fire on an off as it heats up the downstairs. I found Kishi staring into the blackened fire box waiting for the fire to come back on - whining. Then once she saw me she ran to her bed, bit at it, ran back to the fire, back to the bed, a couple of whines, she made a lame attempt to pull the bed, back to the fire. Now, it doesn't take much to read what Kishi was asking... move the bed closer to the fire... and after a few barks, a couple more times between the bed and the fire (for my own amusement, and because I knew it was making her mad that I just wasn't "getting" what she wanted), I moved the bed next to the heater.

A true Kishi-ism: reflections of a spoiled shiba princess.

Getting along OK...

Jazz is fitting in better with the rest of the pack. There is still a potential for a shiba discussion between Kishi and Jazz, so they are kept separated. And Don Juan was off playing with his favorite girl, Kishi, during this picture so both Kishi and Don Juan are missing from the photo...

CH Tibbs Don Juan, NA NAJ

Don Juan had a good agility trial this weekend. He finished his jumpers title with a qualifying run of 100 (perfect score) and a big blue first place ribbon. That shows all those shelties in his class...Shiba Inu's CAN do agility!

Overall, Don Juan even ran better than a certain border collie that had 6 off courses in his excellent standard run. Dakota - what were you thinking! It's nice to see you happy on the course finally, and I love your new enthusiasm and speed, but what happened to that accuracy you are famous for?

A day at the beach

Two of Farley's favorite things are playing frisbee and going to the beach. It's a doggy dream day if we are playing frisbee at the beach...even if it is overcast and cold. If a frisbee isn't available, the common stick will do just fine. And he'll pick one out himself, and bring it to you over... and over... and over.

Milestone, continued

Well, Kishi and Jazz seem to be fine together unless I'm in the room. Anyone else can be around them, and they could care less about each other, but as soon as I walk in, they start vying for my attention, and that usually means a shiba discussion to follow. So, they are back to being separated for now.

Update on Chelsea

Well, the old dog seems to be back to her old tricks. She pretends not to hear us, yet if you say "treat" she sure comes running fast. Chelsea still has a slight head tilt, but overall she's doing much better. She can walk and run just fine. And plays with the younger dogs. Not bad for 13-1/2 years old.

Milestone

Bringing a new dog into the household is always difficult with the variety of personalities that live in my household. Introducing a new dog to Kishi, our self-appointed ALPHA, can be nearly impossible. Today, after over a month of Jazz living with us, we have reached a milestone. Kishi and Jazz can co-exist in a room without a snarl, growl or fight. I'm still really careful with them because I definately don't want a problem, but so far so good.

Jazz has learned her place in our pack... and Kishi has accepted her. Now we just have to get Jazz over her issues with Farley, the aussie.

I said down...

Looks like Jazz and Jared are both learning how to "down". When Jazz didn't lay down on the first time Jared told her, Jared had to show her what to do!

Meet Jazz!

A dog with a true heart of a rowdy rover. This one year old shiba has the most unusual shiba personality that I've ever seen. She has DRIVE, and a willingness to work. She is outgoing and loves people, especially if they are attached to treats or toys.

And to top it off, the girl loves the rain, making living in the Northwest a very fitting place for her. And the bigger the puddle the better for her to splash through. If the sun ever comes out again we'll try an afternoon at the beach and see what she thinks of the really big puddle surrounding us.

So please welcome Mogollon's All That Jazz to the Rowdy Rover DOG BLOG.

Chelsea's getting old

Aauugghh. I wish they could all stay 5 years old. One morning last week, we woke up and Chelsea, the chow, couldn't walk. She had a severe head tilt and her eyes were darting back and forth. So I panicked thinking it was a seizure or a stroke and rushed her to the vet. The vet said it wasn't serious - a disease of old age. Chelsea is 13 years old. It's called Canine Peripheral Vestibular Syndrome and is treated by using a motion sickness medicine.

I'm very thankful that it wasn't something worse. It was really hard for us to see her unable to walk and when she tried, she would fall down or go in a circle. There is a good website that describes this problem... Canine Peripheral Vestibular Syndrome

A week later, she's doing better and with the help of over-the-counter motion sickness medicine she has compensated and is able to walk in a semi-straight line. She's not as stable as she used to be, but she is very much improved.

Halloween

How can you resist a child with a cute dog? Jared and Tama won a halloween dog costume contest put on by some local pet businesses... They were "a girl and her dog" (Jared's the dog). Included in the prize basket were a bunch of dog treats, shampoo and a month's worth of a pooper scooper company coming out to our house to pick up the "leftovers". I like that!!!!

And Tama really digs dressing up. She strutted herself like she was on a cat walk. Maybe I just needed to dress her up in the show ring? And she wore the sunglasses longer than Jared wore his entire costume. She has the makings of a pet star!