Setter Tails

I Am Three!!

2011-12-31T08:30:00.002-05:00

I turned three years old yesterday! I am a big boy now. Barbara says she has great plans for me this year and will help me to get letters after my name. As long as it involves treats and toys, I am up for it.

I celebrated my birthday by going on a nice outing with Barbara and then she gave me a slice of roast beast! Very delish. She also sang "Happy Birthday" to me which I enjoyed (Niamh does not like it when Barbara sings) and I gave her some smooches. Then we went to play with my girlfriend Scout. A very nice way to spend the day.

Happy New Year to you all from Niamh and Ambrose!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-23T13:43:00.004-05:00

Merry Christmas to all our dog blogging friends! We have been very bad about posting this year, especially lately. It is not that we haven't been doing fun things, it is just that Barbara keeps forgetting to take pictures of us doing them. It is all her fault! I have been in two holiday parades and Ambrose has been a demo dog twice. I have a new, much younger, Border Collie boyfriend and even Ambrose has found another girl dog willing to play his bashy games.

Here are some pictures from our Christmas photo shoot.

Barbara wrapped a big box for us to stand on. The idea was that she would take pictures of us with both of us up on the box but I refused to stand on the box if Ambrose was on it! Can you imagine the amount of cooties I would have gotten from him?

I wanted to be as far away from him as I possibly could be and still be in the picture.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! We will catch up on all of your blogs and promise to make Barbara post more in 2012!

The Box

2011-10-31T21:18:00.003-04:00

Remember that big box of stuff from the APDT Conference? I wanted to open it right away but Barbara said that we had to save it for a rainy day! What??? Anyway she wouldn't let us open it but kept us busy with other things. Last week we went to UNC to give a demo to the General Psychology class. I must say that I did a very nice job. I did a really fast recall before 250 students from the back of the auditorium all the way to the front. Even Ambrose behaved well and both of us worked with the students so some of them could get practice doing clicker training and operant conditioning. Of course we got lots of petting and treats. Unfortunately there are no pictures of this.

But today, Halloween, was a rainy day and we got to open the box. At first I was disappointed because all that came out were T-shirts. Who wants bits of cloth? But my nose hadn't deceived me and once Barbara removed the boring shirts we got down to the good stuff.

Look at some of this loot! There were several new toys as well as 7 different flavors of treats!!! I can't wait to do my treat palatability research. This is a heavy responsibility but anything for science.

Ambrose immediately grabbed one of the new toys and raced around with it.

Then he started to bite it and just look what he did! There are holes in the toy already and he only had it for 5 minutes!

I am not happy with Ambrose. Today I had to snap at him when he came too close to my toilet paper roll (all cardboard rolls are mine). I thought that he was maturing lately but I was wrong.

Tomorrow night Barbara is giving a talk on Coping with Canine Adolescence and Ambrose is the poster boy. Well he did take 2nd place in the Mangominster Bad Sports class.

I hope you all had a Happy Halloween and that you didn't eat any chocolate (you know it is bad for you).

APDT Conference in San Diego

2011-10-21T18:17:00.003-04:00

Barbara abandoned us for 10 whole days! Well she brought us to K9 Kindercare (which we love) while she took off in a plane for San Diego and the Association of Pet Dog Trainers Conference.

This is the premier national conference for dog trainers who come from all over the US and many other countries to learn from the best trainers, behaviorists and vets. Some of my heros spoke at the conference including Suzanne Clothier, Pam Reid, Sue Sternberg, Terry Ryan, Ian Dunbar and two of my personal friends, Teoti Anderson and Hannah Branigan. I was very jealous that I couldn't go but it is a people training conference and Barbara was very busy there since she is on the conference committee and had work to do.

San Diego looks beautiful and I would like to see a palm tree. I don't think that we have many of those in Chapel Hill.

I was a bit shocked when I saw pictures of chickens at the conference! I understand that people practice their timing by training chickens. I do not see the point in bothering to train chickens as I would prefer to eat them.

It wasn't all work and studying at the conference. Dog trainers are very into socialization and there were activities every night. The beach party looked like great fun and I was disappointed that I wasn't there to see the surfer dog.

But the thing that has caused the most commotion here is that we found out that Barbara met our blogging friend Murphy!

Murphy lives in San Diego which seems like a very cool place. If you read his blog you know that his person is always taking him to the dog beach and Great Dane meet ups and other fun dog events. What a life! Anyway, the conference committee needed demo dogs for some of the workshops and Murphy was one of them. We are sick with jealousy that Barbara got to meet him and Ambrose and I did not. He is such a big handsome guy and did very well as a demo dog.

We are glad she is home now though. The best part is that Barbara always brings us new treats and toys from the trade show at the conference. She bought so many this year that they wouldn't all fit in her suitcase and she had to ship some of the loot. This box came today and I can tell you it smells very good.

We can't wait to see what is inside and to perform our yearly research to find out which is the most delicious treat.

We're Back!

2011-09-24T19:28:00.007-04:00

I can't believe that it has been two whole months since I posted. We had much trouble with our phone lines and DSL. Our line got cut 3 times and it took the phone company many days each time to repair the wires. But they left them all over the driveway. Then they tried to bury the wire underground and brought a big noisy machine to do it. It got stuck in some rocks (Barbara tried to tell them not to dig there but they didn't listen to her) and they had to bring in a big truck to drag the machine out. What a racket! Ambrose and I couldn't stand it and we barked and barked.

Fortunately AT&T has finally fixed the wires, buried them and our phone and internet are better. I've been very busy of course doing demonstrations and helping Barbara with orientations for her dog training classes. I could do the orientation myself now. I know when I am supposed to do my demos and if Barbara talks too much I stare at her until she stops. The new students are more interested in me showing off my skills than in her boring lecture anyway.

I did a freestyle demo at the NC State College of Veterinary Medicine Dog Olympics.

I was so glad when we started back to Drill Team practice so I could hang out with my buddies. Last week we demoed at
Woof-a-palooza to benefit Chatham Animal Rescue and Education. We also had a tent for Paw in Hand Dog Training. I was a great ambassador.

Here we are under our new sign.

I am modeling my bandana in preparation for our demo with the Drill Team.

Ambrose of course stays at home when we do all this. He always cries like a baby when we leave him and of course now he wants to post.

Ambrose here. I don't really care that I don't get to go with Niamh. I have a new girlfriend and that is what I want to post about. Of course Scout is still my girlfriend but my new crush is Beatrice!

Isn't she cute?

And very flirtatious.

I am always attracted to the tomboy, sporty types of girls and Bea (I am allowed to call her that) is a very fast, bashy player. She really knows how to play bitey face too.

I was pretty tired after our romp and I can't wait to play with her again.

We are both glad to be back posting and will try to put up some more pictures from the summer that just took too long to upload when our internet was broken.

Rally Level 1 Title!

2011-07-24T13:47:00.003-04:00

We have been trying to keep cool in the hot weather. Our landline/DSL line got cut in the driveway again so our internet has been out. Ambrose and I have been doing interesting things but it has not been easy to post of get on your blogs. I sent Barbara to the library to use the wi-fi there so she could post this exciting news for me.

I earned my APDT Rally Level 1 title this weekend!

We entered 2 trials yesterday and one this morning. I qualified in all of them to earn three legs and my RL1 title. More letters after my name!

I like doing Rally. The courses are fun and your person can talk to you and praise you the entire time. It is work though and I had to have a little down time in my crate between runs.

Of course Barbara gave me lots of treats for being such a good, smart girl. I got 4 ribbons and was allowed to pick a toy from this big box. I selected a tug toy snake. I am not going to let Ambrose touch it as he will get cooties all over it if I do. He can get his own toy snake when he gets a rally title!

I hope our internet is better soon so we can read all your blogs and post more.

The Trust Experiment

2011-07-07T20:35:00.003-04:00

The nice researchers at the Duke Canine Cognition Center requested my help with another one of their experiments. Barbara says it is just because my name came up in a random sampling of their data base but I know that they really like me there and that they think I am very smart.

This experiment was to see if I would eat a treat near some one I didn't know or would prefer to eat one near some one that had been nice to me. Now I am an equal opportunity treat eater but I was very happy to participate.

The first part was wonderful. A nice Duke student named Isabella sat on the floor and petted me for 23 whole minutes!! She scratched my ears and then gave me a butt rub.

I thought this was so nice that I let her rub my belly too. She talked very sweetly to me. You can see how much I enjoyed all the petting.

She even let me rest my head on her leg! You should all try to get in this experiment if you can. 23 minutes of non-stop petting is wonderful.

After the petting marathon the students moved some screens around the room. I was very curious especially when some little trays came out from under the curtains and Mary put treats on the trays. I was tested to make sure I could take the treats off of the trays, which of course I could. Some dogs are afraid of the trays but not me.

Then Mary put more treats on the trays and a some one came out from one side of the curtain and sat near the tray. Sometimes it was Isabella and sometimes it was a student I didn't know.

When Mary said ok, I was allowed to race to one of the treats and they marked down which side that I went to. We did this 16 times so that meant I got 16 treats!

Camilla, Isabella and Mary were very nice to me and even gave me a Duke diploma!

I am always happy to advance scientific knowledge about dogs and get lots of treats at the same time.

Do You Have C.L.A.S.S.?

2011-07-04T07:37:00.006-04:00

I was so down when I heard that I was not selected for a dream date with Mango. To take my mind off of my disappointment Barbara has had me training for C.L.A.S.S. That is the new program from the Association of Pet Dog Trainers (APDT) and it stands for Canine Life and Social Skills. You can read all the details at www.mydoghasclass.com.

There are three levels, BA, MA and Ph.D. It is always good to have letters after your name. The tests are practical skills that all good dogs should know. The exercises get harder in each level.

A group of us got together at Paw In Hand to practice all the BA exercises. Next week we are going to have a "mock test" in preparation for the real thing in August.

Here I am practicing the Wait for the food bowl.

My BFF Ayla is doing a great job with the Settle on her mat.

Jade is only 7 months old but is doing well in her down stay. In the BA level you have to do a stay for 1 minute. Your person is right next to you but the evaluator talks to them. In the MA level your person is 15 feet away and other people walk around dropping things and acting as distractions while you stay.

You can do a sit stay if you prefer. My Drill Team buddy, Teddy, is demonstrating that.

There are bonus exercises so you an earn your degree "with honors". My boyfriend Trotter is saying his prayers for the bonus trick exercise.

There are several other exercises in the BA including loose leash walking, leave it, come and leash manners, give and take etc. Check out the program. Trainers in your area will be offering it soon. The APDT promotes education for trainers and reward based training which is a good thing for dogs.

I had a fun time at the practice and it took my mind off Mango for a while.

Ambrose will not be posting today because he is a very bad boy and it is doubtful that he will ever have any letters after his name! He stole some Burt's Bees soap from the bathroom counter. He ripped off the paper and ate 1/2 the bar before Barbara caught him. Disgraceful!!

Hope you and your families have a Happy Independence Day!

I Want a Dream Date with Mango!

2011-06-23T22:24:00.003-04:00

You know that I am a very social setter and that I have quite a few boyfriends. However none of them are Relentlessly Huge or brindlie handsome like Mango.

Mango is running a contest and the winner will be squired around town by the Mango himself. I couldn't resist the opportunity to spend some quality time the Relentlessly Handsome big guy.

Why should I win this contest??

1. People tell me I am gorgeous and I know Mango has an eye for pretty ladies. Barbara has said that if I win the contest she will subject me to extreme dog grooming torture so that I will look my best on the date.

2. We are both afflicted with annoying, cootie-covered little brothers who are always embarrassing us. It would be so great to leave Ambrose and Dexter in their crates and have adventures without them. While we are on our date we could plot ways to have them kidnapped and then we wouldn't pay their ransom.

3. Mango and I love to dance. Mango has some great moves and you can see a video of me dancing here.

I am sure that many lovely girl dogs will enter this contest but the Mango and I have so much in common that we are made for each other. Yes, I do have some other boyfriends, but none of them have blogs so they will never know!

My Work is Never Done!

2011-06-20T20:50:00.004-04:00

I really don't know how Barbara would get anything done without me. Recently she started a lot of new classes and of course she needed me to be her demo dog at the orientation for each class. It is a lot of work I can tell you. I had to show off all my skills to the students. Then I had to eat a lot of treats (very difficult) and then get petted by all the students (exhausting).

When it was all over I had to take a nap.

In an effort to give me a break she brought Ambrose to be the demo dog for one of the classes. What was she thinking??? He actually did alright until the mat work demo. Now to be fair, Ambrose is usually good on his mat, but not that night. Instead of lying there quietly he barked and barked at Barbara. Disgraceful.

As tired as I am she would have been better off bringing me. See how I can rest on my mat without barking.

With all my demo work I have also had to inspect the driveway. See that wire? It was our phone line until a tractor cut it. We were without phone and the internet for four days! Ugh!

Gordon Setters are known for being hard workers so I will keep on doing all I can to help Barbara with her work.

Ambrose here. In my own defense I wasn't barking on my mat to be bad. It was to encourage Barbara to be more generous with her rewards. I wanted her to set a good example to her students so they would give their dogs lots of treats!

Last week I got to go to Fearrington to see the Belted Galloway cows. Look how still I sat to try to get the cows to come to me.

They did come almost up to the gate but I got so excited that I gave the cows a big play bow and they went away.

I really wish they would be my friends.

I Finally Get My Birthday Ice Cream

2011-05-30T18:42:00.006-04:00

After several days delay I finally got to celebrate my 6th birthday with a trip to Maple View Farm to eat ice cream. We stopped on the way to pick up my boyfriend Trotter and his person. Trotter had to ride in Ambrose's kennel in the dog-crate-on-wheels. I hope he didn't get any Ambrose cooties.

We left Ambrose and Trotter's little sister Scout at home. I don't even want to think about the havoc they would have created if we brought them along. Maple View Farm would never have been the same.

We waited on the porch with Trotter's person while Barbara went in us our ice cream. It was pretty hot but we knew the ice cream would cool us off.

Barbara bought us each a cup of Honey Toasted Almond ice cream which was so delicious I can not even describe it. It was so creamy and sweet.

Look how nicely Trotter ate his ice cream. He is a very polite guy.

Here is a close-up of me making sure that I lick every delicious drop off of the spoon.

Barbara let me lick the cup when it got down to the end. I can barely get my muzzle in the little cup but don't worry, having a long tongue is very useful. I didn't leave anything in there.

You can see that I have a little bit of ice cream on my chin.

Even though it was a belated celebration it was still a great treat for my birthday. I am so glad that Trotter came with us.

Barbara says that now that I am 6, I am middle aged!! Very rude of her especially when you consider how decrepit she is!!!!

I Am Six Today

2011-05-27T18:19:00.004-04:00

Today is my birthday! I am six years old. I was supposed to celebrate by going to Maple View Farms and getting some ice cream. My boyfriend Trotter was going to come along. Unfortunately we had torrential rains all afternoon and really bad thunder and lightning so the outing was cancelled! I am so disappointed.

I don't like the rain. I don't like to get my feet wet and the rain makes my fur all frizzy. Instead of a fun outing Barbara sang "Happy Birthday" to me. You can see what I thought of that!

I hope the weather clears up so we can reschedule the birthday ice cream trip.

Yappy Hour

2011-05-21T15:42:00.005-04:00

Can you believe it has been over 5 weeks since I have blogged?? It is disgraceful! My person has been very slack and I think that I am going to advertise her in the paper "Free to a good home". Of course she has her excuses about work and her modem issues blah, blah, blah, blah. I have been doing many interesting things, training and playing and I wanted you to know about them and find out what you are doing too.

This week we went to a very fun event called "Yappy Hour". It is a fund raiser for Chatham Animal Rescue and Education. Dogs are allowed to eat and socialize on the patio at the Carolina Brewery in Pittsboro. When I say we, I mean me and Barbara. We left Ambrose at home since we didn't want to create a commotion. Of course he cried his eyes out when we went without him.

Here I am at the entrance to Yappy Hour. Barbara paid $10 and I got a big biscuit, she got a drink and chips and a Tshirt.

I sat politely next to our table waiting for some food.

She ordered a barbeque sandwich. It smelled great but Barbara wouldn't give me any because she said it was too spicy for me. I don't believe that - I think she just did not want to share. I did get most of the french fries though.

There were about 15 other dogs there, most of them very well behaved.

Look at this cute little guy under the chair.

Of course many people admired me because I was so well behaved and I did hear a couple of people refer to me as "gorgeous". I got lots of petting. One of the waitresses gave me a good ear rub.

I had a great time at Yappy Hour and of course was glad they raised money for the dogs and cats that CARE fosters. The next Yappy Hour is Monday, June 20th from 5:30-7:30. I plan to be there and if you are in the area, you should come too.

AMBROSE HERE. Yes, I was highly insulted to be left out of Yappy Hour especially when I smelled all those french fries on Niamh's breath when she got home! However I have been busy taking a tricks class and playing with my girl friend Scout.

After chasing around we always wrestle and play bitey face.

I hope Barbara will take some pictures of me doing my tricks. I have learned to beg, spin in both directions, circle around her, crawl and roll a log. It is a lot of work but I don't mind since I get bits of hot dog for doing the tricks.

Glad to be back blogging and we will check in with all of you this evening.

Your friends,
Niamh & Ambrose

Spring is Here

2011-04-13T14:53:00.005-04:00

Spring is in full bloom here in North Carolina. It is sunny and warm. Barbara thought that it would be a good idea to get some pictures of me in front of the flowers. I did not agree.

I really don't see why she wanted to ruin a perfectly good walk with shoving that flashing box in my face. I refused to do a sit stay in front of the flowers because it was interfering with my sniffing. Everything smells so good right now and I didn't want to miss a scent.

Finally she gave up and let me enjoy the smells in peace!

To celebrate spring I do have a new ruffled bandana from Jing A Ling Dog Bandanas. I like the polka dots. I think that I look quite fetching in it.

It is reversible and has dog bones on the other side.

Ambrose here. I thought you would like to see some good bitey face photos. My girlfriend Scout and I like to do this after we have had a good chase.

Of course it is all in good fun. I even throw myself to the ground so that Scout can pounce all over me.

Last night was another Puppy Kindergarten graduation at Paw In Hand. Look at the cools shoes that Lulu's mom wore to class.

I wonder if Barbara could find shoes with Gordon Setters on them??

Goat Babies and More

2011-04-02T15:24:00.006-04:00

It was bad enough last weekend when Barbara came home and had Riley smell all over her. She was invited for wine and cheese and I was very miffed since I was not. Evidently Riley (who is my boyfriend) fawned all over her and showed off his tricks.

But last night it was even worse. She came home smelling of goat babies.

One our Drill Team friends has some goats and Maggie had twins named Sugar and Spice. You can see that Barbara is cuddling Spice which is why her shirt smelled so good.

I love goats! I am always fascinated by the goats at the farm at Fearrington and I behave very nicely around them. I never try to chase them or bark at them. I just like to look at them and take in their wonderful aroma. So why wasn't I invited??

Maggie is a very good mom to the twins and keeps the other goats away from them.

Here is Thelma on top of her dog house. I had no idea that goats could sleep in dog houses!

I could not stop sniffing Barbara's clothes and shoes - they smelled wonderful. She says the next time she goes to visit them, I am invited too. I cannot wait. Of course we will not bring Ambrose for fear that he would traumatize the little goat babies.

Goat babies are cute and they would be fun to chase but I have lots of fun chasing my girlfriend Scout. Barbara filmed us chasing each other during the winter and forgot to post it on the blog! See how she neglects me.

Anyway, here it is now for your viewing pleasure. There are lots of shots of the grass because Scout and I run so fast that she couldn't keep up with us. The best part is the very end.

We always have great fun racing around together and really tires us out.

You may have noticed that there is not a single picture of me, Niamh, in this post. This is a disgrace. Barbara is always forgetting to take her camera with her to my activities. I have freestyle practice tomorrow and I hope that she will finally remember to take the camera so you can see some of my moves.

A Great Prize Package

2011-03-18T07:42:00.004-04:00

As some of you may know I took 2nd Place in the Bad Sports class at Mango Minster!

Last week a package arrived addressed to Mr. Ambrose - Gordon Setter. Notice the Mr. Ambrose, not annoying Ambrose or silly boy Ambrose but Mr. Finally I get some respect! It was from Scout and Freyja who sponsored the 2nd Place prize. There was a nice note inside.

I had to stick my head in the box right away to check out all the goodies.

Scout and Freyja put some terrific stuff in there including this great bone.

I had to play with my new Snoopy frisbee right away.

There was also a burger stuffie, treats and a Snoopy portable water dish! They even sent some nice gift tags for Barbara (which she doesn't deserve since she was so late in posting about my prize). All great stuff and I thank you, Scout and Freyja and your mom, for sponsoring this prize and sending it to me. And thanks to Judge Fiona for giving me 2nd Place in the Bad Sports class.

I will turn into a cat before I refer to my little brother Ambrose as Mister! Winning that prize has gone to his head and he actually tried to get me to play bitey face this morning before I had eaten my breakfast. What nerve!

Barbara does have some excuse for being slack with our blog. She had graduation for several of her classes last week as well as a Canine Good Citizen test and had to prepare dogs for their Therapy Dog International evaluation. Her students did very well so it was worth it.

Unfortunately Ambrose and I were subjected to all sorts of dog grooming torture last week. We both had baths. You can see how unhappy I am about that.

Then she pinned a towel on me while torturing me with the blow dryer. The towel is to prevent the dreaded fluffy butt that I sometimes get after a bath.

Ambrose is waiting on the grooming table before the bath. He doesn't seem to mind the dog grooming torture as much as I do. He is crazy.

The reason we were subjected to all this was for a trip to the University of North Carolina. Now we go for walks there all the time so I saw no need for a bath for that. However we were invited to give a demonstration of dog training to a class of General Psychology students. Their professor took a puppy class with Barbara and found that the practical application of operant conditioning is a lot harder than the theory! She asked Barbara to bring us to class to demonstrate our skills and to let the students practice with us.

It was great fun! There were almost 300 students in the auditorium and they were all looking at us!! After explaining about clicker training and showing off some of our skills, she helped students work with us on target training. We got LOTS of treats and of course many of the students wanted to pet us which we also enjoyed. Of course she forgot her camera so there are no pictures. However the professor and the class really enjoyed our work and we are invited back for next semester.

Training

2011-03-05T07:49:00.004-05:00

Ambrose here. It has been mostly sunny in NC and Barbara decided it would be a good time to take me over to Fearrington for a walk and some training.

Fearrington has nice shopping area, lots of gardens, ponds and cows and goats. While we were walking around 2 people stopped to say what a handsome dog I am. Which of course I am.

They have outdoor sculpture by local artists and Barbara thought we should look at that. I wanted to see the cows. Look at this giant metal rooster. I would have preferred a real rooster with feathers.

I practiced my sit stays by this giraffe.

And by these mushrooms.

Then we did some more by this statue. However once Barbara saw the price tag of $2400 she moved me a way from it in case I tried to practice some bad sport skills on it!

I really wanted to go see the cows in the field but none of them would come close to me at the fence so I have no pictures to show of them.

Of course the sensible cows did not come near the fence while Ambrose was there. However the cows are my friends and always come to the fence when I visit. When I go to Fearrington I will get nice photos of the cows to post.

I always enjoy hanging out with my boyfriend Trotter. We like to practice our recalls and get good treats. Here we are sitting politely in front of his person waiting for her to give us bits of cheese.

Barbara has called us to come and we raced across the yard to get to her. She had turkey sausage which was very delicious and excellent for encouraging speedy recalls.

Tomorrow I will go to freestyle practice where Barbara and I will work on some moves for a new routine.

A Shared Post

2011-03-01T08:17:00.005-05:00

Thank you all for your concern about my poor tail and ears. I am happy to tell you that both have improved greatly and I am feeling better although I still have to take medicine for another week.

You know how I have kept strict control of my blog and I rarely let Ambrose post on it. I am worried that he may get ideas above his station and try to take over the blog like some labradorks we know. Ever since Ambrose took 2nd place in the Bad Sports class at Mango Minster he has had delusions of grandeur and wants to post more.

As a compromise we are going to experiment with shared posts! I am sure it will be a train wreck but we are going to try. I will post in regular print and Ambrose will post in italics.

Ambrose here. I am still basking in the glow of taking 2nd place in Bad Sports at Mango Minster. Miss Perfect Niamh thinks that she is the only one who can win anything. I knew that all my badness would pay off some day. I was very inspired by Moose's well deserved 1st place. I will try to emulate him and be even more bad this year.

Barbara doesn't seem to think that this is a good idea. She has decided that I need more mental stimulation to keep me from doing bad things so we are doing a lot more training lately. Here I am practicing "leave it".

After my visit to Duke the nice students there sent me a box of toys to thank me for being a demo dog at Barbara's talk. Well actually the box was addressed to Barbara but I know that they sent them to me. We had to get right in there and check it out.

Of course Ambrose couldn't wait for Barbara to take the toys out of the box and grabbed one with the packaging still on it.

I waited politely to see the toys. They are excellent toys and I wanted them all for myself.

I took two of the toys and stood over them. Ambrose of course tried to get them but you can see I gave him an intense look and he turned his head away. I am very clear in my body language and as dopey as he is, Ambrose usually gets it when I am serious.

Niamh finally let me play with the toys. They are excellent and I raced around with them. I gave the raccoon a good shake.

The rabbit is good too. Barbara likes these toys because there is no stuffing in them for me to destuff and eat.

After some good playing I decided I would be a nice little brother and wash Niamh's ears for her. They had icky bacteria in them and I thought I could help her by cleaning them out.

Ambrose does like to lick my ears. Sometimes I don't mind it but at other times he just gets too enthusiastic and rough and messes up my ear fur. Then I have to tell him off.

Look how quickly he backed off when I told him to.

My Ears and My Tail

2011-02-09T16:04:00.003-05:00

I have been a bit under the weather lately and not my usual happy self.

I had to go to see my veterinarian at Colony Park Animal Hospital. Now I like to go to the vet's office because they always treat me nicely and give me treats but sometimes they have to do things to me that are not fun. Barbara had been treating my ears because they were yucky (which sometimes happens to us long eared dogs) but they weren't getting much better. They had to power wash my ears and give me new medicine to get at the disgusting yeast and bacteria.

But the worst was my poor tail. I have some sebaceous cysts on my tail that never seem to bother me but lately they got bigger and got all infected.

Close your eyes and don't look at the next photo if you get grossed out easily.

My tail fur had to be shaved, I am on antibiotics for a month and Barbara has to exfoliate my tail every day with special soap!!! Ugh!

Because of all of this I had to miss a fun event. Barbara was invited again to the Duke Canine Cognition Center to give the students some tips on dog body language and safe handling. Ambrose and I went last year and had a great time. I couldn't go and I am sick with jealousy that annoying Ambrose got to be the demo dog and I had to stay home. All the nice Duke students petted him and gave him treats.

They made a big fuss over him and now he thinks he is cool.

National Train Your Dog Month Train-a-Trick Open House

2011-01-30T15:08:00.006-05:00

The Association of Pet Dog Trainers declared January National Train Your Dog Month. The month is almost over but we did our part to encourage reward based training. To celebrate NTYDM we had a Train-a-Trick Open House at the Paw In Hand Dog Training Center on Saturday, January 15 from 1-4 PM

We invited people and dogs to come to visit, watch some trick demos, eat some snacks and learn a new trick. Barbara and her trainer friends Sandi and Jeanine helped each person teach their dog a new trick. I did some trick demos and my boyfriend Trotter came and he did one too. Barbara explained to the people why they should teach tricks to their dogs. We handed out a sheet from the APDT on 20 Uses for Dog Tricks.

We had delicious food for people and dogs. There was a fancy fruit arrangement along with cookies and homemade coffee cake. The best were the special sardine treats that Barbara baked specially for the dogs who came to train.

Twenty-eight dogs and their people stopped by to socialize and train during the 3 hours. Fortunately not all at once or we would have been a bit crowded!

Great Pyrenees Carolina learning to sit in a hoop.

Rocky and Giacomo working with their people.

Shiloh the Yorkie practices jumping up on the stool.

English Springer Spaniel Lillie tries the roll over.

Success!

Liam practicing begging.

Wilma working with her person.

Everyone seemed to have a good time and all the dogs learned at least one new trick. There is one more day in National Train Your Dog Month so get your person to work with you to learn something new. It is fun. And see if you can convince them to make the special sardine treats.

3 large eggs
1 can sardines in oil
1 packet of graham crackers (not the whole box which usually has 3 packets)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or baking dish.

Crush the graham crackers into crumbs.

Put the eggs and sardines in the blender and liquify.

Add in the graham crackers and blend. The mixture will be soupy.

Pour onto the cookie sheet and spread out to 1/4 inch thick.

Bake for 15 -20 minutes until rubbery, not crispy.

Let it cool and cut into bite sized squares.

Your house will smell heavenly! Enjoy!

My Heart is Heavy

2011-01-26T15:26:00.003-05:00

I am very sad today. Just last night we learned that Barbara's dear friend and my breeder, my Auntie Karen passed away very suddenly. She took such good care of me when I was a little puppy before Barbara became my special person. Karen socialized us very well and did everything a good breeder should do to make sure my brothers and sisters and I grew up to be healthy, well adjusted dogs. Barbara brought me to see her whenever I needed to be groomed for some special event since Karen was much better at the dog grooming torture and was very gentle and patient with me.

Auntie Karen never liked to have her picture taken so I won't put her picture up on the blog. We can't believe that she is gone and our deepest sympathies to her family. I know that my sister Tori and my brother Travis will miss her terribly.

Ambrose Enters Mango Minster 2011

2011-01-20T14:23:00.005-05:00

I am very excited to post my entry in Mango Minster's Bad Sports class. I realize that the competition is tough but I think that you will see that this is the right category for me.

While I really am a very sweet Gordon Setter boy I just can't seem to help getting into trouble. My favorite thing to do is to tear things to shreds. I can destuff a stuffie in a few seconds and all my Christmas presents were destroyed immediately and then I went to work on Niamh's presents.

Look what I did to the Christmas wrapping paper.

My table manners leave a lot to be desired.

And who can forget what I did to Flat Brutus.

Just recently I caused quite an uproar. Barbara was sick last week and made the mistake of falling asleep on the couch. I was bored so I did a bit of counter surfing and found a bag of special apple and cinnamon pancake mix that Barbara's cousin had given her for Christmas. She had planned to make the pancakes for supper that evening. I stole the bag and took it over to Niamh's bed.

When Barbara woke up she saw the mess I made. I tried to look innocent but it was hard since I was covered in pancake mix.

It was all over my face, ears and paws. I helpfully tried to lick it up.

As Barbara was trying to get Niamh's bed out the door to shake the pancake mix off of it, she managed to knock a lamp over with the bed. The lamp broke and while she was trying to sweep up the glass, I escaped out the front door which she accidently left open. Fortunately I have a pretty good recall and came right away when I saw she had string cheese but I can tell you that many HBO words were said.

I hope the Judge Fiona will consider my entry and of course I will try to score some more of the pancake mix for her. It is quite delicious.

I Spent My Birthday in the Kennel

2010-12-31T19:07:00.003-05:00

You all know how neglected I am and now I have to tell you my sad tale of even more dire neglect. Yesterday was my 2nd Birthday and instead of getting to spend it with Barbara and go on a fun outing and get special snacks, I was at K9 Kindercare.

Now don't get me wrong. I like to stay at K9 Kindercare. When Barbara dropped me and Niamh off there the week before Christmas I was happy to be there. I always make friends with the other dogs because I like to play all the time. We even had snow which was lots of fun. Here is a picture of me with Ginger and Twinkie. We are investigating something that Twinkie found under the snow.

We got our Christmas presents at the kennel (new stuffies and bones) and we expected Barbara to pick us up on Tuesday. A week is plenty of time to spend in the kennel. But there was lots of snow in NY which messed up the airports and her flight was cancelled!! She couldn't get a flight back to NC until today which meant I had to stay at the kennel for my birthday. Boo hoo! No presents, no outing, no special treats! See how neglected I am?

So we are all back home and Barbara has promised to make it up to me. I think I will try to look really pathetic so she feels very guilty about missing my birthday.

Photo Shoot Fail

2010-12-15T17:37:00.003-05:00

Well Barbara has been trying to get nice photos of us for our Christmas card and it has been a disaster. Her bright idea was to wrap a big box and have Ambrose and me sit in it together. No way am I sitting in a box with Ambrose and getting his adolescent boy cooties on me.

Then she thought we should sit on the grooming table together wearing our new scarf Santa Claus bandanas from Jing-a-ling Dog Bandanas. But I still had to sit too close to Ambrose. Do I look happy??

On a much nicer note my Golden Retriever friend Amiga came to visit me today at our training center. It is her birthday and she is 14! Even though her face has turned white she is very active and playful.

We ran around together and I let her play with all my toys. We are in the Drill Team together and Amiga still performs with great energy and enthusiasm. Her people adopted her from Golden Retriever Rescue when she was two and have done lots of training classes with her. She is a lovely, sweet and talented friend.

In other exciting news local paper ran a story about Barbara on Sunday. It is a good article but I would have liked it better if they had put my picture in it instead of Barbara working with some puppy. You can read it here.

Freestyle Photos

2010-12-02T17:00:00.004-05:00

I thought that you might like to see some pictures that Jim Poor, the dog sport photographer, took at the Canine Freestyle Federation trial. He took them with no flash since that would have distracted me while I was doing my routine.

You can see that I am paying great attention to Barbara. She was very pleased with me.

I was not allowed to get any treats during the whole routine. This is very hard but we had practiced a lot so I knew I would get treats at the end.

I really like doing my freestyle because I get to work with Barbara and do fun moves.

We got lots of applause when the routine was over which I liked very much.

We ordered the DVD of the competition and will post the routine once we get it.

Parade Practice

2010-11-27T16:11:00.006-05:00

The Paws 4Ever Drill Team, of which I am a proud member, will be marching in the Hillsborough Holiday Parade next Saturday and in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday Parade the week after that. I love the parades because our team gets lots of applause from the crowd as we march along in formation doing tricks. While we have indoor practice every Monday night, right before parade season we go into town and practice outside. We had practice this afternoon and most of us wore our new ruffled bandanas.

Royal, one of my Drill Team buddies, has a very talented grandma who makes special ruffled bandanas for dogs. They are reversible and have jingle bells inside them (important when you have a dog like Ambrose who would eat the bells if they were on the outside of the the bandana). Royal is the Australian Shepherd in the middle.

Royal's grandma made bandanas for the entire team so we can wear them in the parade. Here I am modeling my holiday bandana which has a design of stockings and mistletoe with "peace, hope and joy".

My BFF Ayla is modeling the reverse side of the bandana which is green with white bones. I think she looks quite pretty.

Casper is Jewish so she got a Chanukah bandana instead of a Christmas one.

Teddy, the newest member of our team, wanted to wear the green side so he would coordinate with his person's pants.

We had an excellent practice and I know that we will be a big hit in the parade as always. After practice we posed for a group photo. I think we dogs look pretty spiffy in our bandanas. Our people all look a bit scruffy but don't worry they will look much better in the parades because they will wear matching pants and sweatshirts. Of course all the spectators' eyes will be on the dogs and not the people anyway.

Ambrose isn't in the Drill Team (just think of the commotion he could cause in the parade) but he wanted to model his Halloween ruffled bandana so I let him.

We have new scarf bandanas with a Santa pattern that we will wear in our Christmas pictures. If you want a scarf or ruffled bandana check out Jing-a-ling Dog Bandanas. Royal's grandma makes them in all sizes with lots of different patterns.

CNN Update

2010-11-19T15:15:00.004-05:00

Awhile ago I was filmed performing experiments at the Duke Canine Cognition Center for a story on CNN. I found out today that "Animal Intelligence" is going to be on tonight at 10:00 PM EST. You can also see some of it here at CNN.com.

There are only 3 brief clips of me - the other dogs get more air time. I knew that they would show me doing one experiment that I didn't do so well on, and of course they showed that part. But there is good information in the story and it is important for people to study dogs so they will train us better. We are fascinating!

I Am So Neglected

2010-11-16T22:12:00.005-05:00

I am getting a bit sick of hearing how wonderful Niamh is. Barbara is constantly telling her that she is smart and beautiful and giving her kisses. Sure Niamh now has letters after her name but I could have some too if someone would train me. I have been completely neglected while Niamh got lots of training and attention. Barbara says that I have regressed.

Then she tells me that I look all tufty. Well if she would groom me I would look really handsome. And I actually enjoy being groomed, not like some Gordon Setters I know who get very touchy about their grooming.

If I didn't have my friend Scout to play with I just don't know what I would do with myself. At least I can run around with her and try rid of some of my excess energy.

I have been doing lots attention seeking behavior. I have gone back to my old counter surfing ways and I dug this nice hole near our patio. But the thing that got the most attention was when I found some old poop under the leaves, put it in my mouth and tried to bring it into the house. Many HBO words were said I can tell you.

Maybe I should chew up a shoe or something.

Freestyle Photos

2010-11-12T20:28:00.004-05:00

Our laptop is back from the Mac vet so now we can post about my winning weekend.

All the hard work of practicing my routine and all the dog grooming torture was worth it. Barbara is so pleased with me for earning my Canine Freestyle Federation Level II title that she is constantly telling me how smart and beautiful I am. I have been basking in the attention all week. Of course Ambrose is very jealous and has been acting out because he feels neglected. I have had to speak sharply to him a few times.

Here is a photo of us after Saturday's routine. I am wearing my 2nd place medallion as well as the patch that we got for my title. Barbara says she will sew the patch on our training bag but that will never happen because she is pathetic with a needle and thread.

I am licking my chops because each day after my routine I got an entire sausage biscuit to eat! Very delish. Of course I was famished because I was not allowed to have any treats in the ring while we were performing. But I paid great attention to Barbara and tried to follow her signals. I did anticipate her cues a couple of times but stayed right with her and worked very hard to earn my biscuit. We got lots of applause after our routine and people made a big fuss over me which I enjoyed too.

Barbara had the professional photographer take lots of pictures of us so when we get those, we will post them. Here I am modeling my first place medallion after the awards on Sunday.

We have ordered the dvd of the event so I hope to post my routines when that is available. Now that I have earned my Level II title we have to move up to Level III which is much harder. I have to start practicing all sorts of new moves. But I like to hear people clapping for me and I love those sausage biscuits so I think that I will get right to work.

Freestyle Trial

2010-11-08T08:40:00.004-05:00

We had a great weekend at the Canine Freestyle Federation trial. On Saturday I took 2nd place in my class and earned enough for my level II title . On Sunday I got 1st place!! I am now officially Stonemist Time Is On My Side CFF II. I got lots of treats and toys as well as 2 beautiful medallions. Barbara was so proud that she had our picture take by the show phoographer so I will be able to put up nice photos soon.

Unfortunately our computer got sick over the weekend and has to go to the mac vet. B is trying to blog for me from her phone and she is havingahard time so we won't be posting again until the computer is better.

I have to rest now because winning those prizes was hard work.

Extreme Makeover - Gordon Setter Edition

2010-10-31T17:17:00.004-04:00

Next weekend is my Canine Freestyle competition. We have been practicing a lot and I hope that we will get good scores. Barbara said that is important that I look particularly beautiful (probably because she will be looking spectacularly un-beautiful and she needs me to distract people from looking at her) because I will be the only Gordon Setter there and I have to be a good representative of my breed. I knew that this meant extreme dog grooming torture.

This morning Barbara drove Ambrose and me in the dog-crate-on-wheels up to VA to visit my Aunt Karen, who is my breeder, and my biological mom, Misty.

Misty is 10 years old but still quite active and playful and of course very beautiful and good. Whenever I get to see her I always give her a little kiss on the face. She is the only adult dog that I do that to. I am very respectful of my mom.

Misty is a good hostess and let us run all around her house and yard. She was very tolerant of goofy Ambrose who brought all his cooties along and left them everywhere. I noticed that she was carefully marking over all his cootiefyed pee-mail.

After some good play we went down to the special dog grooming torture chamber. Look at the array of evil implements that were laid out to be used on me.

Here is my before picture. I am all tufty and my feet are like bedroom slippers.

My Aunt Karen is quite skilled with dog grooming torture of Gordon Setters. She managed to snip or clip every hair on my body. She was very gentle with me and never let the clippers get hot and never poked me with the shears. I was pretty good through most of the torture, but I did get fussy when she worked on my back feet and when she got close to my ears. Aunt Karen gave me lots of breaks to relax and Barbara gave me liver treats when I behaved myself.

Ta-da! Here is the after photo. I think that I look pretty spiffy.

And I am very happy to have survived all the torture in one piece.

You can see where I get my good looks. That is me in the front and Misty in the back.

The APDT Conference - Atlanta

2010-10-28T22:17:00.005-04:00

Well she had a good excuse this time. Barbara has been very bad about blogging about our adventures lately but she went to the Association of Pet Dog Trainers annual conference in Atlanta so we will cut her some slack. Over 1200 dog trainers gathered for 5 days to hear lectures from the best dog trainers and behaviorists in the world.

Since Barbara is on the Board of Directors she had meetings before and after the conference so we spent 10 days at K9 Kindercare - good thing we like it there. She got to stay at the Hilton on the 24th floor of the hotel. Look at the view from her room.

Some of the speakers included Dr. Patricia McConnell, Suzanne Clothier, Dr. Alexandra Horowitz, Dr. Pam Reid and many of our dog training heroes. Barbara got to spend time with Dr. Temple Grandin which was very interesting. There is a HBO movie about Dr. Grandin's life and struggles as a person with Asperger's syndrome. She is brilliant and has great insights about animals.

Victoria Stillwell (It's Me or the Dog on Animal Planet) spoke at the conference. She and Dr. Grandin had a lot to talk about with each other.

It was a great conference and we hope Barbara learned a lot that will help her be a better trainer.

We did a lot of playing at K9 Kindercare. Ambrose made a new friend while were there.

But the best part of Barbara going to the conference is the trade show. The vendors have everything a dog could want. She bought lots of treats and toys for us. I investigated the bags carefully when she brought them home.

Of course I will do my annual treat taste testing experiment soon. I know that you want to know all about the most delicious treats.

CNN

2010-10-11T21:07:00.004-04:00

We got a very exciting call this morning. CNN is filming a series on animal learning. They are going to show lemurs, bonobos, dolphins and of course, dogs. They planned to interview Dr. Brian Hare at the Duke Canine Cognition Center and film dogs performing the research studies. Ambrose and I have participated in a few of the studies and have blogged about it here. Dr. Hare asked if Barbara could bring one of us to Duke this afternoon for the filming. Of course she said yes and of course she brought me because who knows what Ambrose would do if he was being filmed for national television?

I got to meet the reporter Randi Kaye (I was hoping for Anderson Cooper) and showed her how good I am at finding treats. She asked Dr. Hare lots of questions but I was just focused on the food. The nice camera man filmed lots of repetitions of the tests but I don't know how much of it will actually be on TV and how much will end up on the cutting room floor. The show is supposed to air on CNN sometime in November and when I know the date, I will let you know so you can see my 15 seconds of fame.

Of course Barbara forgot to bring her camera to document the filming (she really is only good at providing my transportation) so there are no photos. Boo hiss!

Here is a photo of the two of us performing at the Bark Fest.

Freestyle Demos

2010-10-04T21:41:00.005-04:00

In one month Barbara and I will compete in a Canine Freestyle Federation trial. We have a new routine, to Celtic music, that I enjoy performing because it has my favorite jumps in it as well as turns and spins which I also like to do. We have been practicing a lot to get ready for the trial.

Last Saturday we went to Yanceyville to perform our routine at the Caswell Animal Protection Society's Bark Fest. I had a good time but of course Barbara forgot to take pictures of me. A lady from the Caswell Messenger took my picture so maybe I will be in the newspaper.

A few weeks ago we went to the Woof-A-Palooza to support Chatham Animal Rescue and Education (CARE). There were many vendors selling dog treats and toys. We had a booth with lots of training information. I was on my best behavior so people could see what a good trainer Barbara is and they will sign their dogs up for her classes. We did not bring Ambrose because I know he would have disgraced us with some crazy adolescent antic.

We performed our freestyle routine for the crowd.

The audience was very impressed with my jumping abilities.

CARE raised lots of money at the Woof-A-Palooza which will help them foster and find homes for lots more dogs and cats.

Here is a movie of Barbara and I rehearsing our routine last month. We still have some work to do to polish up our performance and of course it would help if she was not so clumsy. I am always graceful but Barbara has two left feet. Well, I have two left feet as well, but I am supposed to have them.

Catching Up, Again!

2010-09-10T16:01:00.003-04:00

We've been on hiatus while Barbara went on vacation to NY. Last year we went with her in the dog-crate-on-wheels and got to visit our cousin. But this time she flew in a plane and of course since I have no intention of ever flying in the belly of a plane, Ambrose and I went to stay at K9 Kindercare. We always have fun there but I was quite jealous that Barbara spent time with Coby and Angie while she was there. I bet she gave them a lot of treats too.

Once Barbara got back she had to prepare for all her new classes at the training center and had to do boring stuff like fill folders with homework. She started 7 new classes just this week so of course we, and our blog, have been very neglected.

I saw from the video on the last post that Ambrose found my squeaky sheep at the training center and put his cooties all over it. I had to give that sheep a good shake to try to get them off.

Then I ripped some of its little feet off. I think the only way to decontaminate it is to let Barbara drown it. I am always reluctant to let her launder my stuffies but there is no help for it. Then I will have to find the sheep a much better hiding place.

I was even more miffed to find out that Ambrose is getting his own column in the Paw In Hand newsletter! What kind of advice is he going to give? I shudder to think about the poor dogs who write to him for help. Does this face give you confidence???

As busy as she has been somehow Barbara found time to perform more dog grooming torture on us. Ambrose had a bath last week and I had one today. In an effort to prevent the dreaded fluffy butt, she remembered to bring a towel to pin on me to make my fur straight. But she forgot the big diaper pins she usually uses and had to use some little safety pins from her purse.

Of course by the time we got home, I had scratched and tugged some of the pins out. Then Ambrose caught sight of me in the towel and barked his fool head off. When he finally realized it was me, he tried to help pull the towel off which I found very annoying so I had to yell at him.

Barbara said that if we continued to behave so badly she was going to trade us in for some goldfish!

I kept the towel on for a while but decided to try to shake it off. Unfortunately, while I had gotten most of the safety pins out, the towel was still pinned tightly around my neck. Barbara laughed and laughed but it was NOT funny.

I will say that my fur is now nice and straight and I will be quite beautiful when I go to the freestyle show and go tomorrow.

More Fun Time with Wallace

2010-08-18T10:30:00.006-04:00

It continues to be ridiculously hot here in NC. It is very bad for us mostly black dogs. It is hard to get enough exercise and still keep cool. Niamh does not like the heat at all and only wants to stay inside in the AC. I have been going over to Scout's house and playing with her and jumping in her pool. We get nice and wet and then shake the water off on our people!

I want Scout to get out of the pool and chase me.

My brother Wallace came back for a visit to our training center. It is nice and cool there.

We had a great time training and playing. Of course Barbara did not have her camera on when we had a really nice, bashy game. Then just as Wallace got ready to leave I decided to see if I could get him to play some more. I think he was tired so it didn't get as wild as our earlier game but you can see that we had a good time together. Wallace is the one with the striped leash. I'm the one who is barking.

After Wallace left I made a huge discovery. Niamh has been hiding her Squeaky Sheep at the training center! It is the great one with the 16 squeakers inside. Well once I found it I gave it a good shake and raced around and around with it, squeaking it like mad. Niamh will be so annoyed when she see what fun I had with her toy.

One of the reasons we haven't been posting much lately, or commenting on your blogs the way we would like to, is that Barbara has been working on making a monthly newsletter for Paw In Hand Dog Training. Not being the most creative person in the world, this has taken her some time. I would be very surprised if you hadn't heard an explosion of HBO words yesterday when she somehow managed to erase all the changes she had made and the new copy she had written for the newsletter! I know it woke me out of a sound sleep.

The most exciting part is that I am going to have my own column in the newsletter! It will be called" Ask Ambrose" and subscribers will be able to write in with questions about dog training and behavior and I will answer them in the next newsletter. I know I will do a good job since I love training and and I am an expert in dog behavior because I am a dog. Notice that Niamh did not get her own column. She will be sick with jealousy when she finds out since she thinks she knows everything.

A New Boyfriend and Freestyle Practice

2010-08-02T14:31:00.004-04:00

A girl can never have too many admirers. However, I like them to be well behaved and they must follow my signals about what is the appropriate way to play with me. I am very good at flirting with them and training them to play appropriately.

Jix is a handsome, young Retriever/Collie who was recently adopted by a nice family. They are doing a great job in training him but they told Barbara that he gets very overexcited when he sees new dogs. Barbara suggested that they come to the training center so that Jix could meet me.

He did get very excited when he saw me, lunging and barking. I am used to this reaction and it doesn't bother me. I knew Jix was just stunned by my Gordon Setter beauty. What boy wouldn't be?? So we practiced walking by each other until Jix calmed down. He got lots of good treats for passing by calmly. After awhile he realized that I was not impressed by his antics and settled nicely.

We got let off leash and of course Jix wanted to sniff me. Now I am happy to be sniffed politely, but intensive sniffing of my personal areas is quite annoying. My body is my own! I flipped around and told Jix to behave.

He stopped but then couldn't help himself (how could he resist?) and went back to trying to sniff me. I chased him off smartly!

After a few times Jix got the message. See how he is politely averting his eyes? That is how I like all my boyfriends to behave. Then we had some nice playtime together.

On Saturday we met up with our friends from the Carolina Canine Freestyle Guild for a meeting and practice. The meeting was so boring that I fell asleep. What can people talk about for an hour and a half?? Finally it was the dogs turn to get in the ring and practice. We worked on our freestyle routines and then I got to learn something new - platform pivots.

I had to learn to stand with my two front feet on a little platform while my back feet stayed on the ground. At first I thought that this was very silly and kept jumping over the platform. But Barbara kept clicking and treating me for putting my paws on the platform and after awhile it was very easy.

Then I had to learn to move my rear feet while my front ones stayed on the platform. This is harder than it looks but with clicks and treats I could do it.

Barbara was quite pleased with this. She said it will help me with my left pivots in freestyle and rally. It is also good exercise. Now she wants to teach it to Ambrose although where we will get a platform large enough for his big feet, I do not know.

More Science Experiments

2010-07-30T08:07:00.008-04:00

We got an email from the folks at the Duke Canine Cognition Center asking me, Ambrose, to participate in another research study. I was there a few months ago helping them with an experiment on true and false information. Even though Barbara says I got called because they did a random sample of the data base, I know they picked me because I did so well on the last experiment. They didn't ask Niamh back. HA!

This experiment was on spatial recognition. Barbara had to hold an occluder (fancy scientific name for a piece of cardboard) in front of me while the experimenter put a treat in one bucket and pretended to put a treat in another bucket. Then I was released to see which bucket had the treat. Hot dogs. Yum!

I quickly learned that the hot dog was always in the bucket on my right and never in the one on the left. Easy peasy! After awhile I didn't even bother checking the bucket on the left.

Then Courtney, the researcher, had me go to the other side of the room and do the experiment from the other direction. She wanted to see if I was going to the bucket based on spatial relationships in the room or response learning. My results showed that I was going to the right even when we switched directions so it is response learning. Doesn't that sound impressive?

Courtney was very nice to me. She kept saying how well I picked up the skill of finding the treat. It wasn't hard but I appreciated the compliment and of course I will do almost anything for treats. Courtney petted me a lot and said I have a sweet face.

I like going to Duke to participate in their experiments. They love dogs there. The other students made a big fuss over me too and I got to eat a ton of treats. They can call me any time they need a smart boy to help them.

Of course I do have a sweet face.

The only thing I can complain about is that when Agatha and Archie went to Harvard to participate in their studies they got a diploma. Where's my diploma?

A Two Breakfast Morning

2010-07-26T20:00:00.000-04:00

You know that I have been concerned that Barbara is now 385 in dog years. She is very decrepit but I have decided that it may work to our advantage! Yesterday Ambrose woke her up much earlier than usual because he needed to go outside. She grumbled a bit but of course took us both out for our business and then made our breakfast when we came back in. We had a good breakfast and then she looked at the clock and exclaimed that it was too early and she was going back to bed. When she woke up later, she took us out again and then made us a second breakfast. I was amazed at our good luck. Just before she put the food down, she said "Did I give you breakfast earlier?" I didn't say a word and neither did Ambrose. We just sat there looking very hungry, she shrugged and gave us our second breakfast of the day!!! If she is this forgetful now, just think how many breakfasts we will get when she is 400 in dog years.

Other than that, life has been very boring. It has been so hot, that I barely want to go outside. We did go out to the dog park very early to try to beat the heat. No one else was there yet so we had the whole 3 acre park to ourselves. Here is a short movie to show you what I did in the wet grass.

BTW I have seen Ambrose's attempt to take over the blog. That is goofy little brothers for you. I think he has been influenced by Mango's pee wee labradork brotherDexter. Don't worry, I will never allow Ambrose to have two posts in a row again!

My Brother Wallace

2010-07-22T14:23:00.003-04:00

Ambrose here! I am getting to do 2 posts in a row. Niamh will be sick with jealously when she sees the blog.

Anyway life here has been very dull. It is too hot to do anything fun and I am bored. But today Barbara said that I was going to see my littermate Wallace! His person brought him to our training center to do some practicing.

I have not seen Wallace since last November and he has grown to be bigger than I am. I am 70 lbs and he is 80 lbs! This spring he earned all of his confirmation points and is now a Champion! His fancy name is Ch. Albannach A Knight's Tale.

We were a bit unsure about each other at first but we walked around the center together, did a lot of sniffing and got lots of treats for being good boys.

Here we are together. I am the one on the left and Wallace is on the right. His feet are even bigger than mine!

We did get to run around a play a bit too but then I got a bit over excited and started to hump Wallace which Barbara thought was very rude and she made me stop!

We are going to get together again next week. I am looking forward to hanging out with my bro!

I Like Blondes!

2010-07-16T23:36:00.004-04:00

This is the 200th post on our blog! It is not my 200th post of course since Niamh hardly ever lets me have a post to myself but the 200th since Niamh started the blog. We are so glad that we have met all of you in the blogosphere.

It has been hot and humid here which means life is very boring. It is hard to get enough exercise in the heat. Fortunately my girlfriend Scout has two kiddie pools and several times a week I get together with her for some running and a dip in the pools.

Here I am standing up on a chair to try to get a treat from Scout's person.

Scout is a very athletic girl and is getting good at agility.

And now I have a new blonde friend named Ginger. Isn't she pretty?

Scout introduced us and since I have a "thing" for blondes I am trying to get Ginger to play with me. I think that she is somewhat overwhelmed with my enthusiastic style of play and Barbara says I need to be a bit more gentle with her. Scout and I are used to playing very wildly as you can see in this little movie clip.

But I am sure with time, I will win Ginger over and she will play bitey face with me the way Scout does.

Goat Babies

2010-07-07T08:22:00.005-04:00

It has gotten so hot here that we have been taking walks very early when it is only 75 degrees! Yesterday morning we went to Fearrington to see the goats. I love goats!

The goats have had little babies and they are so cute. They smell delicious. I would love to get in the pen with them but the fence is electrified and I will get a shock if I touch it. I don't know why they want to keep me out. I would be very gentle with the goat babies and lick them all over.

I would be happy to trade Ambrose in for my own little goat. Barbara says that she doesn't think they are housetrained, and for all Ambrose's faults, he is does know to do his business outside. Too bad because I think having a goat in the house would be very fun.

Since I can't have a goat, she got me this great little sheep stuffie. The best thing about it is that it has 16 squeakers! I will not let Ambrose near it.

In Memory

2010-07-05T10:07:00.002-04:00

Lots of you get very creative with your blogs and are always changing the photos in your header. You may wonder why the photo in our header is always the same. Barbara does not want to change it because it is a picture of me and my big sister Selkie wagging our tails. I was just a puppy then and had hardly any fur on my tail while Selkie, who was grown up, had a very waggy tail with luxurious fur. I still don't have as much furnishings or feathers as she had. Barbara says it would make her too sad to change the photo so it will be that same one for a long time.

Selkie had to be put to sleep three years ago today. You can read some posts about Selkie and another one here.

Here is photo of Selkie and Barbara when Selkie finished her Rally Advanced title at the Gordon Setter National Specialty in 2006.

Selkie was a great Gordon Setter. She was quite the diva and loved performing so that people would clap for her. She was very playful and flirty but she had strict rules about how boy dogs had to behave around her. While I have been developing my talents at teaching boys manners Selkie was a natural at it. All she had to do was glare at a rude dog and they would back down. If she was alive now, Ambrose would not be allowed to move!!!

Surviving Canine Adolescence

2010-07-01T21:20:00.004-04:00

I have been a busy boy this week. Niamh always gets to be Barbara's demo dog at class and events. I am very jealous of her and I whine when they leave me to go off and do fun things together. But Tuesday night was my time. She said that she needed my help for a lecture. Of course I was very excited.

I was a bit disconcerted to find out that the title of the lecture was "Surviving Canine Adolescence" and I was to be the adolescent in question! Barbara wanted to show people things they could do to help their adolescents grow up to be great dogs. She actually told people that I was the most destructive puppy she has ever had!! How demeaning! However I demoed my excellent mat work, which has definitely helped me have some self control.

Look at the nice elephant stuffie I got for helping Barbara. And I got to hear that Miss Practically Perfect Niamh wasn't always so perfect. Barbara said that Niamh was very flakey when she was a teenager!! Ha!

I went to Jordan Lake for a swim and to chase sticks.

It is fun to splash around.

Unfortunately because it has been so hot here all through June, the lake water was very warm and not really that refreshing. But I did get some good playing in and I needed the exercise.

It finally cooled off today so I got to run with my girlfriend Scout.

Don't I have a sweet face?

Scout and I play rough but then we are very sweet with each other too. We will be friends forever!

I've been a good boy this week so it is time to see what I can rip to pieces.

Dog Grooming Torture Fail

2010-06-26T12:44:00.005-04:00

On Sunday, Joan Tennille, the Founder of the Canine Freestyle Federation is coming to our freestyle guild meeting and practice to give us a presentation on scoring. She is very important in the freestyle world and Barbara wanted to make sure that I look my best when we show her our new routine.

I knew this meant dog grooming torture of a serious nature and yesterday I was attacked by all sorts of evil implements. She actually did a good job on my head.

Now I know that Mango is very concerned about his momma losing steam and I am afraid that my person is losing her mind. My Auntie Karen has taught Barbara how to put a big towel on me after my bath and to pin it down while my fur is drying. This helps to keep it nice and smooth. Well somehow she forgot to do this and you can see the result.

I have a Fluffy Butt!!

Gordon Setters are not supposed to have Fluffy Butts! Look at my tail. Some of the fur is going up instead of down! I will be a laughingstock among setters. Look at all the cowlicks. I hope my sister Tori (Ch. Stonemist Wrinkle in Time) does not see this because she will make fun of me, I know.

I think it is time to trade Barbara in for a new person. She had a birthday the week before and is now 385 dog years. That is ancient and she is becoming very forgetful.

In other news I have gotten together with some of my boyfriends. I had not seen my boyfriend Riley in quite awhile because he had a big operation on his hip and a long rehab. Fortunately it was a great success and he seems as good as new. His people brought him to see my new training center. I was very glad to see him but I played hard to get for awhile.

But Riley was persistent and we got into a good game of bitey face.

We really got going and our ears were flying. It was so good to see him again.

I also got to visit with my boyfriend Trotter. We like to practice our obedience together. Here he is practicing the trick of standing on the stool. I think this is a good one because it will make it easier for him to steal things off the counter.

It is very hot here and we haven't been playing outside very much. I am bored so I am looking forward to freestyle practice tomorrow even though I have a Fluffy Butt.

No Bitey Face Before Breakfast

2010-06-16T08:23:00.005-04:00

I am do not try to be a bad dog on purpose. I just couldn't help myself. Barbara's training bag was open and Flat Brutus looked irresistible. What can I say??

As you know from previous posts I am very good at bitey face. Niamh taught me the rules of the game when I was just a little puppy. And Niamh has a lot of rules! The most important one is no bitey face before breakfast.

While I am a morning dog, Niamh likes to take her time getting up. Then she likes to spend time looking out the sliding glass doors and contemplating the canine condition (I think she is just looking for deer). She does not like me to disturb her while she is meditating and will give me a severe correction if I do so. I learned early on that I have to leave her alone at this time.

After we have breakfast she is much more interested in playing with me. We usually get on one of the dog beds and do some good bitey face. It is a pretty restrained version but a nice way to start off the day.

Sometimes Niamh will even play a little tug of war with me with one of her toys. I also like to tug on her ears if I get the opportunity.

It is most annoying to have the camera flashing at us when we are trying to play though.

At night we play a much more active form of bitey face which can get a bit wild. There are no pictures of that though because we are usually moving too fast for Barbara to get photos plus there is a lot of crashing into furniture and Barbara trying to calm us down. What's a good game of bitey face without some furniture crashing?

Our Visit with Flat Brutus Comes to a Sad End

2010-06-10T17:32:00.003-04:00

As you saw in my post last week, Flat Brutus arrived and had a good time socializing with the puppies in the puppy kindergarten class. It rained a lot so we had to wait until the weekend to take him on an outing. The it got terribly hot and you know how black dogs suffer in the heat. So instead of an outing, I took him with me to freestyle practice where it was air-conditioned, which I know he appreciated. All my freestyle friends were happy to meet him but I don't think freestyle will be his sport. You have to trot to the beat of the music and I don't think Flat Brutus is good at that.

It cooled off Monday and Tuesday so we decided to take a trip to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. UNC is the flagship school in the university system here and was the first public university in the country, established in 1793! The campus is beautiful and it is one of my favorite places for a walk.

We walked in the oldest section of the campus where you can see the Old Well. That is the site of the only water on the campus when it first opened. Now it is a water fountain and is a symbol of the university.

Flat Brutus and I posed on the steps of the Old Well and then we had a drink.

Then we headed over to Morehead Planetarium which is where some of the Apollo astronauts trained. Of course they don't allow dogs inside (although I don't know why not) so we visited the sundial and the rose garden.

Here is Flat Brutus at the sundial.

Posing by the roses.

Then we headed toward Franklin Street which is the main road in Chapel Hill. Brutus is on the stone wall along Franklin Street in front of McCorkle Place. I am not in the picture because I was obsessing about the squirrels there. The students feed them so they are very well trained and don't run away like the dopey squirrels that live near me. Flat Brutus did not seem to be too interested in the squirrels which I thought was amazing.

I like Franklin Street because there are so many restaurants that it smells very good. We stopped at Sugarland, one of my favorite places. It is a store full of cupcakes!!! I could see that Flat Brutus approved.

We throughly enjoyed our outing but I knew that other dogs were waiting to host Flat Brutus and that we would have to send him on his way soon, Barbara thought that we should take a quick trip down to the pond this morning.

Now if you are very sensitive you may want to stop reading and not look at the graphic photo which I know you will find quite disturbing. Barbara has been keeping Flat Brutus in her training bag. She left it on the counter, unzipped (a tragic mistake) while she took a shower. While she was in the bathroom, Ambrose, the counter surfing beast, pulled the bag down and extracted Flat Brutus. Just look what the little cannibal did!!!

Barbara was horrified and very upset with Ambrose. I really don't know what we are going to do with him. Not only did he rip off Flat Brutus' legs, Ambrose ate his rear end. We are so sorry and we will be making a donation to French Bulldog Rescue in his memory. I hope that his person can clone him because I know that Moose was expecting to host him next.

Flat Brutus Has Arrived

2010-06-02T20:45:00.003-04:00

We have been waiting and waiting and finally, yesterday afternoon, Flat Brutus showed up in our mailbox. It is very exciting to have such a celebrity visit us. He got here just in time for puppy class. Now we know that Flat Brutus is very well behaved but we thought that he would enjoy some socialization with the puppies. You can never have too much socialization.

Here is Flat Brutus socializing with Ziti.

He also spent some time with Sophie.

He hung out with Luke.

Here he is with Ellie Mae.

Flat Brutus is a very friendly guy and did very well with all the pups.

We can't wait to take him all around town. Unfortunately it has been raining like crazy so we haven't been able to get out much yet.

I Am the Birthday Girl!

2010-05-27T11:32:00.006-04:00

Can you believe it? I am five years old today!!!

Because it is going to be very hot today, Barbara said that we had to start the celebration early. So off we went to Fearrington for a walk around the ponds. Then we stopped at the outdoor cafe for a birthday treat.

I got this entire poppyseed muffin all to myself. See how politely I waited for it?

Barbara fed it to me in pieces since she was afraid that I would have gulped it down in one piece, which I seriously considered.

I ate every last crumb and I can tell you that it was quite delicious.

Then I had to stand by this fountain to pose for birthday photos.

It doesn't show up too well in these pictures but I got a pretty new collar this morning. The connector on my old plaid one broke and I have been wearing a pink collar that is so not me. One of my presents was a new collar with a green pattern which I think is more my style.

We have been very busy at the new training center and I have been helping Barbara by being the demo dog for her classes. She had her website put on our dog-crate-on-wheels to get more visibility for the center. Since the name is on it she says that we have to be very well behaved when she takes us out in public. This is a lot of pressure.

I am practically perfect in every way but sometimes, especially when we go to a new place, I get a bit silly when I get out fo the dog-crate-on-wheels. It is very exciting to visit different places and sometimes I can't help myself with all the great, new smells, but I will try.

However I don't know what we are going to do about Ambrose. Just when I think he is maturing he goes and does something really, really bad. I know you will be horrified when I tell you.

Last week Royal's sister Jet came to visit us at the training center. She is a confident little puppy but minded me quite well.

Then Ambrose came in and he stood over Jet in a rude way and then, to everyone's shock, he lifted his leg and peed on her!!!! I am mortified! Poor Jet. She didn't want anything to do with Ambrose after that (and I certainly don't blame her) but then he thought he could do play bows to her to get her to play with him. He is a real dope. He will never get a girl friend if he thinks that marking them is the way to go about it.

Anyway I am going to enjoy the rest of my birthday. I heard that we are having roast beast for dinner which is one of my favorites. Now if only Barbara refrains from singing Happy Birthday to me things will be wonderful.

Our New Training Center

2010-05-18T14:23:00.002-04:00

This time Barbara has a really good excuse for not helping us blog or visit yours. She has been very busy and somewhat stressed but it has all worked out just fine.

We jumped in the dog-crate-on-wheels and went for a ride to the dog park. After a good run we made a turn and saw this sign.

What could it mean? Paw In Hand is the name of Barbara's business. She works with dogs and their people in their homes and also teaches group classes for Paws 4Ever and other places. But she wanted her own training center where she could teach lots of people positive reinforcement techniques of dog training.

We were a bit worried when we pulled up next to Max's Dog Wash for as you know, it is not my favorite place. But instead of going into Max's for dog grooming torture we went next door.

Then I saw my dog grooming torture table and got worried since I have been looking a bit tufty and I know that means that Barbara will get out the evil dog grooming torture implements to do bad things to my fur.

It is not another dog grooming torture parlor but instead it is Paw In Hand Dog Training. We now have a nice big room with excellent mats to cushion our feet. There are chairs for the people and toys for us. Ambrose and I hand to sniff it all over to make sure everything is fine.

This is going to be great. Barbara will be teaching her first classes there tonight. Of course I will help her as the demo dog.

It is very exciting to have our own training center. If you are ever near Chapel Hill stop by and visit us. And now that things have settled down we should be able to visit your blogs soon.

Ambrose Goes to Duke

2010-04-28T08:05:00.005-04:00

Niamh hogs the blog all the time but I did something very interesting yesterday so it is my turn! She always makes fun of me and says rude things about my intelligence. Well I am very smart and now I have scientific proof! I was invited to participate is a research study at the Duke Canine Cognition Center. Niamh was in a study last fall and we both went to Duke when Barbara gave a talk there in January but this was my first time as an experimental subject.

The students at Duke really like dogs and everyone was very nice to me, petted me and let me sniff everything. The experiment was to see how dogs follow signals and get information. One of the students hid a treat under one of two cups. Then another student pointed to one of the cups and I had to find the treat. Sometimes the students would try to trick me by pointing to the wrong cup. Very shocking. But I soon figured out that if she was facing me, she was pointing to the cup with the treat and if she was facing away from me, she was giving me false information. The students thought I did very well, praised me a lot and of course I got to eat the treats.

Then they tried a new study with homemade biscuits. Emily showed me treats and sometimes she pretended to eat it and sometimes she put it near her ear! Then she would put the treats on the ground and see which one I went to.

You can see that I enjoyed the treat eating part of the experiment.

Emily and Katie were very nice to me. I was happy to help them advance the knowledge of how dogs solve problems and of course I would come back any time to eat some more of their treats. I did steal two treats off the table but they did not seem to mind.

While we were walking around the Duke campus we came across these statues.

I was a bit intimidated by the big camel.

But I went right up to the man to sniff him.

Niamh thinks that she is so smart, but I am too!

Canine Freestyle Federation Retreat

2010-04-24T21:53:00.002-04:00

It has been such a long time since I have been able to blog. Barbara has been very busy making lists and phone calls. She says that she will have some exciting news soon but bits of paper with all sorts of numbers on them don't look very exciting to me. Not that Ambrose and I have been neglected or anything. We have been going to the dog park, practicing, playing and being generally good dogs and getting lots of treats.

Last weekend Barbara and I took a trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Canine Freestyle Federation Retreat (Ambrose went to K9 Kindercare). We went to it two years ago and this year it was even better. After a long, long ride in the dog-crate-on-wheels we arrived at a motel. I love motels. This one had a magic elevator room.

It is so cool to go in the magic elevator room and when the door opens you are in a completely different place!

I liked this motel room because it had a window seat. I sat up there to keep a watch on the parking lot.

There were about 40 dogs staying at the motel and we all behaved very well. The other non-dog guests were surprised to see us everywhere.

The Retreat started on Friday with a Freestyle competition. I wasn't entered because we haven't finished my routine. But my friend Lucky was entered and he and his person got their CFF Level III title. Their routine was excellent.

We had classes Friday afternoon, all day Saturday and Sunday morning. The instructors kept us very busy practicing our technical skills and helping our people to develop their artistry and creativity.

One of my favorite things to do is target to Barbara's hand.

Then I get to jump really high.

I think we make a really good team. We worked very hard together. The instructors asked us to show off some of our phrases in the show and tell part on Sunday.

There were all kinds of dogs at the Retreat. This is Segan and he is a Belgian Lakenois. I had never met a dog like him before. He is very good at Freestyle and makes lovely turns. We got to do a team routine together.

Of course I always like to find new boyfriends. Nova sat next to me during one of the classes and we did a lot of flirting. I think he is quite handsome.

I worked so hard that I was very tired when the classes were over. I needed a long nap to refresh myself.

It took me a whole day to recover from all my activities! Besides the physical activity, over course it was mentally stimulating to learn new things. That is exhausting too. But now I am back to my usual, active self.

Ambrose had a good time at K9 Kindercare. I was very happy when we left him there so I could have Barbara all to myself for a few days. As you can see he is doing very well. He is almost 16 months old and he is starting to get a bit of sense lately.

We have a busy week ahead of us but we will catch up with all your blogs. I know that you have been doing lots of fun things.

At the Dog Show

2010-03-26T13:42:00.003-04:00

There is a 5 day dog show here this week and my sister Tori is entered and so are some of Ambrose's siblings. My breeder, my Auntie Karen, brought my brother Travis along too so I got to see them both.

I was so excited to see Travis. We jumped around and got very silly together and then had a few kisses. It was good to go for a walk with him around the show grounds. He is a very handsome boy.

We both got on the dog grooming torture table for a photo.

Then I got to get together with my sister Tori. We had some good sniffs together.

Tori is on the right and I am on the left. Don't we look a lot alike? Of course she has undergone massive amounts of dog grooming torture so she can be shown. She seems to like it which makes me think she is a little crazy.

She is a very beautiful girl and I am sure that she will finish her championship soon.

I was shocked to find that after making a nice fuss over me, my Auntie Karen tortured me too! Barbara wanted her to show her how to thin out the hair on my sides and front feathers. Sometimes they get matted because they get too thick. Auntie Karen is very skilled at the dog grooming torture so I doubt that Barbara will be able to replicate this. I will probably look all lopsided after she gets through with me.

Ambrose's brother Wallace did very well at the show yesterday and today. He got Winner's Dog both days. He is a handsome boy.

It was good to see some of my littermates again. I wish we could have gone for a nice run together.

More Puppies

2010-03-17T20:51:00.004-04:00

Don't worry. We did not get another puppy! One Ambrose is quite enough for me.

My Drill Team friend, Royal, got an new puppy sister a couple of weeks ago. He seems to like her a lot (how strange?) and lets her nibble on him all the time. She is pretty cute though.

Royal's person, Jenn, thought that little Jet needed to meet a dog that would not be so besotted with her and teach her to respond to cut off signals. So Barbara brought me over to meet her. I was more interested in running around Royal's yard than playing with a silly puppy. Of course Jet was fascinated with me (who wouldn't be?) and followed me everywhere on her little puppy legs. I pretended she wasn't there. When she came too close, I glared at her or gave her a little growl. She was very respectful and backed off immediately.

I think she is a smart little thing and will turn out well. If you want to see more pictures of Jet's training you can check out Royal's blog.

Then I found out that Penny, my Airedale Terrier friend who is also in our Drill Team, has a new brother. His name is Joey. He looks like he is going to be a wild boy like Ambrose.

Since it was a beautiful day, we got some dog park time. I love the fresh, new grass. I couldn't resist doing a bit of roaching.

Here is a little video of me enjoying myself.

Look at all the foliage that I managed to get in my fur! I even had pine straw hanging from my feathers.

Ambrose had a big time running through the park. He stole another dog's squeaky toy and raced around showing it off.

Finally he wore himself out and it was time to go.

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! Hope you got some corned beef or some soda bread.

Shopping Expedition

2010-03-13T14:56:00.004-05:00

I worked very hard this week. Besides my demo to the pre-vet students I also helped Barbara with some of her clients' dogs. I specialize in working with dogs who have on-leash aggression. My body language is very clear and not at all provocative so I can help these dogs get used to passing by other dogs without being afraid. Because I have been such a good girl, Barbara took me to Phydeaux, my favorite pet supply store, and said I could pick out any toy that I wanted.

First we checked out the dog food aisle. It is stacked with all sorts of tasty and healthy food.

Then we moved on to the wall of toys.

I checked out the Kongs but since I have several of those already I decided to hold out for a new stuffie.

Phydeaux has an excellent selection of stuffies and flatties as well as tug toys.

Should I get this cat?

Good bird dog that I am, I finally decided on this ring-necked pheasant flattie. Ambrose got a stuffed skunk because he put it in his mouth and got his slimy puppy cooties all over it.

We passed by this display of treats and I just had to stop for a sniff. I was very pleased that Barbara got me some of the Norwegian salmon treats. So delish!

Ambrose, the bad boy, has chewed through another leash!

We had to get him a new one. What a waste of money that could have been spent on more salmon treats.

(Note from Barbara: Don't be so smug Niamh. You demolished a number of leashes when you were a puppy including a hand made, very expensive leather leash that I had had for 18 years)

I love going to Phydeaux. They have the best dog stuff and the staff is always very nice to me. Unfortunately Barbara made us leave when Ambrose was caught shoplifting a bully stick, the little criminal.

Some of my blogging friends have asked about my good recall. I learned the Leslie Nelson Really Reliable Recall method along with some other fun techniques. Barbara tried to get some video today but she could not seem to manage calling me to come, shooting the video and giving me praise, petting and treats all at the same time. We will try to get someone to video us next week to show you what we do.

Pre-Veterinary Medical Association

2010-03-09T16:33:00.004-05:00

Last night Barbara and I went to North Carolina State University in Raleigh to give a talk to the Pre-Veterinary Medical Association. Well, she gave the talk and I got to be the demo dog. We left Ambrose at home so he would not disgrace us in front of all the future veterinarians.

I enjoy demonstrating my skills and getting lots of attention from the audience. And of course I knew it had to be a good place to go to because the university's mascot is the wolf!

All the students were very friendly and gave me lots of attention. Of course as pre-vet students they all like dogs and so I was much admired. Many of them even gave me ear rubs which I adore.

Barbara gave a talk about humane, positive training methods and how they build the relationship between dogs and people. She talked about the ways trainers and vets can work together and all the great training information that is available now and not like in the dark ages when she started training dogs. I got to demo some of my tricks and showed off my great recall. I had to come all the way across the lecture hall, passing the table where all the people snacks were, and up the stairs to Barbara. Needless to say, I was great.

The students asked lots of good questions about training. I enjoyed meeting the students and I hope that they all become excellent vets and help lots of dogs.

Here I am posing with two of the officers of the club.

The only disappointing thing about the meeting was that the students were eating chocolate chip cookies and I wasn't able to beg for a single one. Because they are pre-vet students they all knew that chocolate is bad for dogs.

Before and After

2010-03-06T08:11:00.005-05:00

Ambrose and I were having a perfectly good game of chase in the dog park when Barbara took a look at us and decided that something had to be done.

She said that I looked "tufty and disheveled". Very rude of her I think. When she starts talking that way, I know that I am in for a session of dog grooming torture.

Then she made remarks about my "bedroom slipper feet" and I knew there was no hope that I would escape it.

Regular readers of the blog know that I hate being bathed and groomed. Barbara has desensitized me to all the evil implements of dog grooming torture but I still don't like it. Goofy boy that he is, Ambrose does not seem to mind it at all.

I find it stressful even though I get lots of treats when she tortures me.

Just look at the evil implement that she is using on my paw fur! I think that she got it from that TV show 24 when they try to make someone tell where the nuclear weapons are hidden.

Then we had to go Max's Dog Wash and Torture place for baths. I refuse to have my picture taken in the bath anymore. It is humiliating! Here are a couple of pictures of Ambrose in the bath. Even though he likes being brushed, he doesn't like the bath either.

Every time I have to suffer through this torture, Barbara tells me that it is important for my health and well being for me to be groomed and bathed. It is her responsibility to check my skin and ears for parasites and icky conditions and if my fur gets matted it will be hard for me to move properly. I think she is full of it.

So I suffered through it all and now she tells me I look lovely. Well of course I do but I am NOT happy.

Jr. Puppy Graduation

2010-03-02T19:12:00.002-05:00

Last night Barbara's Junior Puppy Class had their graduation ceremony! Junior Puppy Class is for very young puppies who are under 16 weeks of age when class starts. This is the best time to teach puppies that learning is fun and to help them get socialized to people, other pups, and new places. The old theory was that puppies couldn't learn anything, and shouldn't go to class, until they were 6 months old, which is completely ridiculous. A puppy's mind is a terrible thing to waste.

Good puppy classes balance socialization, play, management and basic skills to get puppies off to a great start. I, of course, was in puppy class almost as soon as Barbara brought me home and look how well I turned out.

The puppies showed off their tricks and then went through an obstacle course to demonstrate their skills. Sasha is rewarded for excellent attention to her person.

Sailor bravely walked over the hula hoops.

Gracie enjoyed going through the tunnel. All the puppies showed great confidence - one of the benefits of attending a class.

Here are the graduates. There were treats for dogs and people and they got nice diplomas for completing the class.

Of course 7 weeks of class is only the beginning but all of the puppies signed up for another set of classes. Soon they will be practically perfect just like me!

Chase Games

2010-02-27T17:24:00.002-05:00

We spent some time in the dog park last week. It was pretty cold and windy but Ambrose and I have warm fur so it didn't really matter. In fact I really enjoy the cold - it makes me feel all skippy.

I love a good chase game that ends in some bashing and bitey face. Ambrose is usually happy to oblige. So off we ran. You can hear the wind in the video. Of course the best part is smashing into Barbara's knees. Ha! Her camera work leaves much to be desired but you get the idea.

After a breather we were ready for another run.

I am not sure why the cocker spaniel barked at us. Maybe he thought that we were having too much fun.

A Year and a Day

2010-02-24T18:25:00.004-05:00

It has been one year and one day since I came to live with Barbara and Niamh! This is Barbara's favorite picture of me when I was a puppy. I am trying to cuddle up to Niamh. I missed my brothers and sisters a lot at first and wanted Niamh to like me. You can see pictures of my parents and siblings at Albannach Gordons.

Barbara picked me out of litter because she really liked my temperament and my sweet, mushy face.

I've grown up quite a bit since then and I am very strong and fast.

But because I have had such a lot of socialization and training, I have stayed nice and sweet. I like everyone I meet, people and dogs. I have good play skills because Barbara exposed me to nice dogs when I was little. Scout and I like to play rough but we have a good time. Today we ran around the training center before we practiced our training. It is raining out so I couldn't go to the dog park.

It has been a great year. I have learned so much. I know Niamh makes fun of me on the blog but we really do get along very well and play a lot. She does yell at me though if I annoy her before breakfast when she is watching the deer in the woods.

Barbara thinks I am the sweetest boy and I give good smoochies. She has big plans for me in training. She says that I have to live up to my name which is Albannach Almost Famous. I just want to have fun and get lots of petting, praise and treats

I hope Niamh won't be such a blog hog and will let me post some more. Other than that, life is good.

Ambrose

Training Ambrose

2010-02-18T19:27:00.003-05:00

Next week will be the 1st anniversary of Ambrose coming to live with us and be my brother. I am not sure that this is something to celebrate as it has been the longest year of my life!

He is growing up and getting to be quite a handsome boy but he is still a handful.

Fortunately Barbara makes sure he gets a lot of exercise. I like it when he goes to Scout's house so the two of them can run around like crazy and get some of their energy out. He is a lot easier to deal with if he has had enough exercise.

Of course Barbara keeps trying to train Ambrose. I have always felt that was an impossible dream but lately there are some glimmers of hope. We won't mention that he chased some deer earlier this week or that this morning he pulled Barbara down on the patio.

Ambrose is finally learning to settle on his mat.

We both have bath mats that we lie on as our special place. Barbara can take the mats with us when we go places so we can settle on them. Well, I can settle on mine because I am practically perfect. Ambrose is such a busy guy that this has been very difficult for him to do. But he is finally figuring out that he will get nice rewards the longer he lies down on his mat.

Now this may not seem like much, but what you don't see in this photo are the 5 other dogs in the class. That is very distracting for him as he is all about playing with other dogs. Ambrose is trying hard and maybe in another 7 years or so he will be trained.

More Snow!

2010-02-13T16:52:00.005-05:00

While we haven't had as much snow as our friends in Maryland, last night we got about 2 inches. We were quite excited to run around in it this morning. I'm glad we did because once the sun came out most of it melted.

Ambrose and I had a good chase game.

Then we bashed into each other and played some excellent bitey face.

We play rough but fair. All the bitey part is on the shoulders up and the play is pretty reciprocal. Sometimes I get Ambrose and sometimes he gets me.

I am embarrassed to tell you this, but I now know the reason Ambrose has snow on his nose. It is because he hunts for frozen poopsicles under the snow and then eats them!!! He is so disgusting! While I have been known to roll in lovely smelling dead things, I never eat poop. Ambrose never did either but I guess he thought it was flavored ice cubes. Barbara said many HBO words about this gross habit and even more when he threw up the poop all over his bed!

Doesn't he look so innocent? Of course I always knew he had puppy cooties and this just proves it. Barbara wanted to take a picture of us posing next to one another in the snow. You can see that I didn't not want to get close to him and risk getting his cooties on me.

Even though we had a great time in the snow, we are remembering our friends Penny, Poppy and Patches. We are so sorry for their terrible loss.

Give your person a big kiss, but not if you have eaten a poopsicle.

Train Your Dog Results

2010-02-04T18:35:00.003-05:00

We were so impressed with the quality of the entries we received for our Train Your Dog Photo Contest. All the photos showed great teamwork between you and your people. Barbara is always saying that training is something that you do with your dog, not to you dog. You guys proved that training is a fun way to spend time with your special person and build your relationship.

Ambrose and I had such a hard time making the placements. We loved all the tricks you and your people practice together. If we had a prize for the most creative use of treats, it would have had to go to Maggie and Mitch's dad for training with mini marshmallows! If we had a prize for the most dedicated team that braved the coldest weather to train it would have been a tie between Chef and Agatha and Archie. We decided that we would look for the photos that showed the best teamwork and relationship and the happiest dogs.

Those of you who voted in the Readers' Choice poll selected CODY

We love his trick and the way his person is supporting him to practice it. Congratulations Cody!

In 4th Place we chose FENWAY

He jumps with great enthusiasm and we like how his Ms. Alpha is using his frisbee as a reward in training. Notice how Fenway is focusing on her body language, the sign of great teamwork

In 3rd Place is SAMANTHA

We were blown away by the attention between Samantha and her person. It practically jumps off the page. She is working on her Novice obedience title and finds great joy in training and building the bond with her mom.

In 2nd Place we selected HONEY

Honey and her person do lots of training together. We know that freestyle requires excellent communication between dog and person and it really shines through in this photo as they work together to perfect their skills. Honey likes the training because it makes her think, keeps her from being bored and builds her partnership with her person.

And the winner is CINNAMON!

Cinnamon looks so happy as she practices with her person and even though you can't see her person's face, you can tell by her body posture that she is supporting Cinnamon in their training. Cinnamon loves to learn new tricks for her dance routines.

Thank you all for participating in our contest. We are so glad to have met many new dog blogging friends and we will follow your training and adventures with great interest. If the winners email Barbara with their mailing addresses, she will send your prizes to you for us. You can email her at pawinhand@msn.com.

And thanks again to Mango and his momma for sanctioning our event through Mango Minster 2010!

Train Your Dog Entries

2010-02-01T09:43:00.010-05:00

We are so excited that we have received 21 entries for our Train Your Dog Photo Contest which is an Official Mango Minster Sanctioned Event. Thanks to Mango and his momma for publicizing our contest. We are thrilled with the quality of the entries showing off smart and talented dogs and the relationship they have with their people.

Check out all the photos and their blogs. There are so many great entries that we've decided that we will offer a reader's choice award as well as placements for the top four training photos. You can vote for the reader's choice in the poll on the sidebar.

Agatha & Archie

Baby Rocket Dog

Buddy Black

Byron

Chef

Cinnamon

Cody

Dexter

Fenway

Frankie

Honey

Linguini

Ludo

Maggie & Mitch

Mango

Roy

Royal

Samantha

Toby

Tucker

Zena

Ambrose and I will pore over these photos looking for the best attention and relationship that you and your person show. Placements will be posted on Thursday. Thank you to all the participants. And a big thanks to Mango and his momma for doing all the work on Mango Minster 2010.

Snow - Finally!!

2010-01-30T09:27:00.006-05:00

You know how jealous we have been of all of you who have had lots of snow. Well last night all those alarmist weather people on TV finally got it right. We have two inches of snow and are going to get more.

I love snow!

You can see how much I enjoyed my run through the woods in the snow.

Ambrose has only seen snow once when he was very little, so he got very excited this morning and went completely cracker dog trying to dig a hole to China in the snow.

He likes to make a snow beard on his goofy face.

He is whining now because he wants to go back outside to play in it.

I don't know why people here in NC get in such a twist about getting snowed in. We have enough dog food, stuffies, treats and chewies to last a long time. What is the big deal?

You still have time to enter our Train Your Dog Photo Contest. I've gotten quite a few entries in the last few days and the competition is stiff. However the prizes are excellent. Both you and your person will win a prize if you are one of the top four placements. You have until Sunday, January 31st at midnight to send in a photo of you and your person training together. It doesn't have to be obedience, just any skill, trick or game that you like to do together.

Demo at Duke

2010-01-28T07:16:00.004-05:00

We have been very busy lately going to a match, practicing for the Drill Team and hanging out with friends at the dog park. The highlight of the week was going to Duke University (even though we are UNC fans).

You may remember that I participated in a research experiment at Dr. Brian Hare's Duke Canine Cognition Center last fall. It was very interesting and I enjoyed the experience. Barbara, Ambrose and I were invited back to give a talk and demonstration about dog training and handling to the students who work at the center.

The students got rewarded with chocolate for sitting in their chairs! We never get chocolate treats.

They learned about clicker training by practicing it on each other. I think that this student is being clicker trained to do a down stay.

I demoed some of my skills and then one of the students got to train me. She had me go around a cone to practice distance work. Of course I did it very well and got nice salmon treats.

Then it was Ambrose's turn. I knew that he would embarrass us and of course he did by lifting his leg on a plant in the center!! Then one of the students had to train him to go around a chair.

It took a while but he finally got it.

Then Barbara talked about canine body language and calming signals and demonstrated safe handling skills.

We were very happy to meet Dr. Hare who liked us very much and made a big fuss over us. He is doing important work on cognition and evolution. Dogs are part of that and there are lots of questions about how we think that need to be studied.

Please enter our Train Your Dog Contest.

You have until midnight on Sunday, January 31st to enter. We've had some good entries and the prizes will be great. And don't forget to check out the action at Mango Minster 2010.

Practicing

2010-01-15T16:48:00.004-05:00

We have already received several entries for my Train Your Dog Photo Contest. I know that others of you have said that you are practicing and trying to get the perfect photo to enter. Remember that entries close at midnight EST on January 31.

While Ambrose and I will not be entering, since we are judging, Ambrose has been practicing his training regularly. He is working on his attention while Barbara holds treats out to distract him. If he can do this exercise, anyone can. So I encourage you all to get to work on whatever skills you enjoy doing with you people and get those photos in. You and you person can win great prizes.

Last Saturday Barbara and I attended a great, fun workshop given by Carol Maupin and her dog Topper. They have such terrific teamwork and watching them was very inspiring. Carol taught us some heeling exercises that involved lots of playing with toys and eating treats! It was excellent fun and I learned a lot.

The people had to learn to walk in straight lines with their eyes closed!!! They were not that great at it. If they can't walk straight it is hard for them to expect us to walk in heel at their sides.

Trotter practiced precise left turns by heeling around dog crates.

I can not tell you how many hot dogs and bits of cheese I got but it was alot and I enjoyed every minute of the workshop although I was quite tired when it was over. Unfortunately Barbara forgot to give her camera to someone to take pictures of us working together. Bummer.

Here is a picture of me out in the sun today.

So practice your training and send me a photo for the contest. Don't forget to enter Mango Minster and also Biggie Z's Dog Pile Contest. I am going to see how many items that I can stack on Ambrose!

National Train Your Dog Month Photo Contest!!!

2010-01-11T12:57:00.004-05:00

To celebrate National Train Your Dog Month and as an officially sanctioned Mangominster 2010 event, Ambrose and I are sponsoring a Train Your Dog Photo Contest!

We will be giving out prizes for the best photos of a dog blogger and their person training together.

Here are the rules:

1. Send a photo of you and your person doing training. It can be basic obedience skills, tricks, any dog sport etc or any activity you like to do together.

2. The photo should be taken between January 1 and 31, 2010. Only dog bloggers and their people are eligible. One photo per dog please.

3. The photo must be natural but if your person is shy about appearing in a blog, they can blur out or photoshop their face.

4. Training method should be positive and reward based.

5. Send it to us by midnight January 31, 2010 at pawinhand@msn.com
Make sure to put your name in the subject line and your blog address in your email. You can also write a few sentences about what you and your person are doing and why you enjoy training. You can of course put the photo on your blog and link to us.

6. We will post the photos on our blog on Monday, February 1st and Ambrose and I will judge them and post the results on Thursday, February 4

7. Winners will be the photos showing the best training and relationship between the dog and their person and the top 1-4 will get prizes (a people prize and a dog prize).

Not sure what picture to select? Here is a picture of Barbara and me practicing my leaping trick for the drill team. I love to do this trick because I get to jump high!

Of course Ambrose and I won't be entering the contest (since we will be judging) but I thought I'd give you an idea.

We hope you will all want to enter and show off your skills.

National Train Your Dog Month

2010-01-01T12:13:00.003-05:00

The Association of Pet Dog Trainers has declared January to be NATIONAL TRAIN YOUR DOG MONTH!!!

This is a great opportunity for you and your people to learn new skills and brush up on old ones. I know that many of my dog blogging friends are already doing lots of training. The Happy Heelers herd, Ludo does tricks, Honey does freestyle, Big Pupi is a therapy dog and Mango's momma is always training him to stand in a cardboard box.

The better behaved you are the more places that you get to go with your person. Because I am well behaved I get to go to outdoor cafes. Barbara wouldn't take me if I went all cracker dog in public.

It doesn't have to be hard. You can incorporate training into all your daily activities. When you are on walks, practice your sit stays at every traffic light and stop sign. Even Ambrose has learned how to do that. Practice tricks while your people are watching TV. Every time a commercial comes on they can do a trick with you!

Learn a new dog sport with your person. As you know I like to do tracking.

I also practice my rally exercises.

Here is a video of me last year while we were learning our freestyle routine. Barbara rewards me as we practice. Sure, we made some mistakes but that just meant that we had to practice some more.

I love training. It is always fun, full of rewards and I have Barbara's undivided attention when we practice together. The funny thing is that the more that we practice, the more that I want to train. The training time with Barbara becomes its own reward (although I do love all the treats, praise and petting that I get).

Don't know how to get started? Get your people to sign you up for a training class or get help from a local trainer. APDT has a trainer search where you can find a trainer in your area to help you. Or get a group of your dog pals together and go for training walks around town. People will be impressed with how well behaved you are. Learn some new tricks. There are lots of training books and videos available.

Keep it positive in 2010. Training should be fun, fast and effective. No rough stuff. Reward based training is the best!

So get training and take some photos. Check back here because we will be announcing a training contest that will be an officially sanctioned Mango Minster event.

Happy New Year!!

I Am ONE!!!

2009-12-30T09:02:00.002-05:00

I am one year old today and because of that I finally get to post on the blog! It is called Settertails, which is plural so the blog shouldn't just be about Niamh (and her complaining about me).

I've put a lot of pictures in my post so you can see how I've grown from a little puppy to a big dog.

Here I am at 7 weeks old with some of my littermates. I'm the one in the red collar. This is the first time that I met Barbara. She liked me right away. She said that she wanted a "mushy male" puppy.

This is the day she came to pick me up from my breeders. I was sad to leave my siblings but little did I know that I was going to have a new sister and lots of adventures.

We had a long drive from SC to my new home. I did a little exploring and then crashed on my new bed (a bed that I eventually ripped to shreds).

You can see that Niamh was not really thrilled with me at first. I wanted to be close to her since I missed my littermates. She did not think it was a great idea for me to share her bed or her toys. She had to teach me to respect her.

I had a lot to learn. Barbara exposed me to lots of people, places and new things to socialize me properly. I love to go in the woods and explore.

My first time in the snow.

Niamh decided that I could stay and I learned to play great bitey face games with her. She was very gentle with me when I was little and taught me excellent bite inhibition. I never put my teeth on human skin and I have a soft mouth.

To help me be a well socialized pup, Barbara introduced me to dogs with good social skills. Here I am with my friend Cherie.

This is me on my first track. I love tracking. The smells are great and I get good treats too.

Of course I went to puppy class. I learned to make nice new dog and people friends. We also practiced obedience skills. My recall is great. It is all positive reward based training so I really enjoy it.

Barbara took me to interesting places so I would get exposed to lots of new things. Here I am at a garden center.

Scout is my best friend. We get together frequently for walks and for bitey face and chase games.

Niamh always says that I am goofy. Well sometimes I am. But mostly I am very sweet. Barbara says so.

Since I am a Gordon Setter, I am going to have a lot of long hair which requires quite a bit of grooming. Barbara got me used to the grooming table by putting me up on it for short periods and giving me lots of treats. It is really not that bad. I don't know why Niamh makes such a big deal about it.

You can see in this picture with Scout, that I am growing up.

We played in the pool during the hot summer.

We like to get silly together. We are puppies after all.

I get to go to the dog park and meet other dogs. Barbara is very careful about who I am allowed to play with. Here I am making friends with a Boston Terrier. I do like little dogs.

Look how big I am in this photo taken last month.

I'm still a pretty goofy boy though.

It has been an exciting year. I know that Niamh complains about me a lot and she is sometimes horrified by my behavior but I am trying hard and I am just a teenager. Barbara is my special person and I am the mushy boy that she wanted. She thinks that I will make a great therapy dog when I am older. I know that I still have a lot to learn before I am grown up. I am very glad to have all of you as blogging friends.

Since this is my first birthday, I am not sure what to expect. But I understand I may get some presents and treats. I hope so!

The Weatherman Lied!

2009-12-19T13:15:00.003-05:00

The weatherman on TV was very excited yesterday predicting all sorts of bad weather and a lot of snow. That made me excited because I love the snow and we don't get that much of it here in the Triangle of NC. We got a few flakes and then some freezing rain. Unfortunately it rained all night and there was no snow.

I looked for it all over the yard.

Ambrose did too.

Where is all the snow we were promised??

I know that our friends up north are getting a lot of it. You are welcome to send some down here to us so we can play in it and track it all over the house!

In other news, Ambrose is up to his old tricks. We had gone for quite awhile without him destroying anything. He was starting to get the hang of chewing on appropriate chew toys and leaving Barbara's stuff alone. Unfortunately the wrapping paper roll was just too much for him. She had only wrapped one present when the phone rang and she went to answer it. A huge mistake. Ambrose took the opportunity to steal the entire roll of wrapping paper!!

Several choice HBO words were said and Barbara had to go out and buy more wrapping paper!

Of course I would never do something like that. I love the cardboard rolls inside of paper towels and toilet tissue but I wait until the paper is off the roll and Barbara gives it to me. I am such a good girl.

Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday Parade

2009-12-12T21:59:00.003-05:00

After the big disappointment over last week's parade I was really glad to wake up this morning to sunshine. That meant that the Paws 4Ever Dog Drill Team would be able to march in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Holiday Parade. It was quite cold but I never mind that because my fur is quite thick and keeps me warm. Also Barbara fed me a big breakfast since I was going to have to do a lot tricks and needed my strength.

Barbara and I met up with all our Drill Team friends and lined up for the parade.

We have been practicing all fall for this event. We know how to do lots of tricks while we march along. The crowd loves us and always applauds.

Our training is all positive and reward based. We get treats (I had cheese and hot dogs), praise and petting for doing our moves and formations. None of that dominance nonsense, force training for us! You can see that we are all enjoying working with our people. From left to right you can see Penny, Amiga, Hadji, my BFF Ayla and me.

People along the parade route are always impressed when we do our long downs in the middle of the parade and want to know how we do it. Our people tell them to take their dogs to class at Paws 4Ever.

I love to march in the parade. Besides getting to eat lots of treats, I like it when people make a fuss over me. I must say that I got a lot of attention because many people are not familiar with Gordon Setters wanted to pet my soft fur. We did meet one lady who was from Scotland, who knew my breed right away and admired me very much.

I had a great time marching in the parade. After all my exertions I needed a good nap but now I am ready to go again.

Holiday Card Photo Shoot

2009-12-09T18:54:00.003-05:00

I have been so happy to get lots of email and snail mail holiday cards from DWB friends, old and new. What beautiful photos! Thank you all. Barbara has only gotten 1 card so far. Ambrose and I are much more popular than she is!

She has been very slack about getting our card ready and today we finally had our photos taken. It was an ordeal to say the least. I had to have extreme amounts of dog grooming torture performed on me. Ambrose was totally clueless and we have many shots of him drooling or with his lip stuck on his teeth or with his ears flipped back.

Here is a photo of him that will not make the card.

I think we have some good photos though so I hope we will be sending the cards out soon.

Disappointing Weekend

2009-12-06T18:18:00.002-05:00

I had a very disappointing weekend.

I was all set to march with the Paws 4Ever Dog Drill Team in the Hillsborough Holiday Parade. Our Drill Team dogs has been practicing really hard so that we could show off our skills. It is always a fun time. The crowd loves us and we get lots of applause when we do our tricks. Unfortunately it rained all day yesterday so we could not march. I am so bummed out.

Here is a picture of our team at last year's parade. I hope the sun will shine next Saturday for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Parade so we can march then.

This morning it was cold but sunny so Barbara took us to the dog park for a good run. It is always good to play chase and bitey face on a cold morning. Usually when we play chase, I am in the lead and Ambrose tries to keep up with me. He has been getting faster and faster lately and today I was horrified to find that he ran ahead of me and I had to chase him to keep up! This was quite a shock and I am glad that there is no video of this distressing development.

I think I know why he is faster than I am. It is because he gets more food than I do. How can I run fast when I am weak from starvation? I must convince Barbara to feed me more!

Ambrose

2009-11-30T14:11:00.002-05:00

It is hard to believe but Ambrose is 11 months old today. It is shocking that I have had to put up with his goofiness since he came to live with us in February. I am always saying bad things about him but, while he does drive me crazy, he does some good things. He is a sweet boy and gets along with everyone. He has good play skills and is always up for a game of chase or bitey face or tug. He minds me when tell him to leave my toys alone.

We have many photos of goofy Ambrose. Barbara decided she wanted some non-goofy photos to show that he is really growing up. I do not want to say how many shots she had to take to get these but we are grateful for digital cameras.

While Ambrose is not much in the obedience department, even I have to admit that he has learned a really good recall. When Barbara says "come", Ambrose comes fast.

So while Ambrose is a pest, a doofus and a goofball, he is our goofball and I think that we will keep him.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T14:15:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to all my dog blogging friends and to your people.

We got up early this morning to meet some friends for tracking, my favorite activity. It was very foggy when we started, but the conditions were perfect for the scent. Ambrose's friend Scout it a very enthusiastic tracker.

Ambrose likes to track too but gets very silly on the course and is easily distracted. He has no work ethic yet.

Look how serious I am about my track.

My reward for finding articles this morning was turkey sausage so you can see why my nose is so deep into the track.

After a great morning of sniffing we came home to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and the National Dog Show. The house smells great because Barbara is making pumpkin soup. I hope we get a taste before she goes off to Thanksgiving dinner at friends and abandons us.

More Good Dog Play

2009-11-22T18:37:00.003-05:00

In my mission to encourage good dog play, I thought you would like to see a short video of me and Ambrose playing chase and a bit of bitey face. Barbara was too slow to catch us running away so the video picks up as we race back in her direction. Every time you see shots of the ground it means we crashed into her knees! Ha! Amazingly, no HBO words were used in the making of this video.

You can see how well I control the play. Ambrose has learned my cut-off signals and when I decide that the play is over for a bit, he goes away. Goofy as he is, he is learning good skills. Barbara never let him play with bad companions when he was little and of course he has had me as an excellent example. This is critical in developing a good play style. If you are bullied as a puppy, you may grow up to be a bully.

Thanks for all your concern about the dog-crate-on-wheels. The insurance will pay for the repairs but there is a long wait to get it fixed. It still drives though so we can get around to all our activities. I would not want to miss out on our Drill Team practice tomorrow.

Hope all of you had a chance to play this weekend.

Good Dog Play

2009-11-18T19:10:00.000-05:00

This past weekend Barbara drove us to Concord to a big dog show. We weren't entered but Ambrose's father and some of his littermates were entered. His brother Wallace did really well and got many ribbons and even won Best of Breed. The people were meeting up to form a Gordon Setter Club in North and South Carolina so that we could all do fun Gordon Setter stuff together. I look forward to that.

I can tell you that Ambrose's litter mates are just as goofy as he is. His sister Torri is a bold little thing. Look at the way she is staring at me!

Ambrose hasn't seen his brothers and sisters since he was 8 weeks old. I think he was a bit overwhelmed by the whole thing. He got put in a big pen with all of them. At first he wanted to get out.

After awhile he got used to them and they all hung out together.

I did not have to go in the pen with all those goofy adolescents. They barked like complete idiots when they saw me. I stayed out with the people and even got some good people food like wieners with sauce and a big shrimp.

I know you saw my post about the dog park fiasco early last week. Well I wanted to show you a video of some good dog park play, the way it should be. Ambrose may be goofy but he does have good play skills (which I taught him) and can get along with almost any dog. Watch him and Cherie play in the video. You can see the nice play bows, the intention moves and the reciprocal style of play. When we dogs play this way everyone can have fun.

Ambrose and I still go to the dog park but we have changed the times we visit so that there aren't many dogs there. Barbara does not like us to be subjected to a crowd of dogs with their oblivious people.

You can see that Ambrose and I like to play fast chase games. As he is growing he is getting a little more coordinated.

Unfortunately he is still pretty goofy. Look at his big lips.

The dog-crate-on-wheels was seriously injured last night when some big tree limbs fell on top of it. We were not in it at the time. It was quite a surprise this morning.

The top is so crushed that it pushed the roof down into the inside of the car.

One of the doors got smashed.

It is all going to get repaired but they said it will take 10 days! I hope that my outings don't get curtailed because of it.

Duke Canine Cognition Center

2009-11-13T23:42:00.004-05:00

Last week I got to participate in a real scientific experiment at the Duke University Canine Cognition Center. Dr. Brian Hare studies cognition and evolution. While he mostly studies chimpanzees and bonobos, he is also very interested in us. He wants to know how dogs solve problems and how our social intelligence evolved. You can read more about his fascinating work here. Unfortunately I did not get to meet him while I was at Duke. I think anyone who walks around with a bonobo puppy on his head must be a nice guy.

Barbara had signed me and Ambrose up for the research studies and I got picked to be in one of their experiments (who knows what results they will get if they ever test Ambrose?). We arrived at the center and the students all made a big fuss over me. They let me sniff all around and get used to the room.

These students conducted the study. First they had me practice getting treats on the floor (I hardly needed to practice that!). Then one of them put a treat under one of two plastic cups and I had to find it. Sometimes Barbara would point to a cup and sometimes one of the students would point.

I thought it was a very easy test. I mean I get cookies out of treat dispensing toys all the time. It was not hard to find a treat under a plastic cup! Sometimes they would trick me though and only pretend to put a treat under a cup!

Now I will say that the treats that the students used were pretty boring. They had obviously not read my ground breaking treat palatability research study that I posted last week. If they had, I am sure that they wouldn't have used 1 paw and 2 paw level treats. Maybe I should try to get my work published in Science or Nature.

I was very pleased to be included in this important problem solving research. I hope it helps them learn more about how dogs' minds work. And of course I am always up for any opportunity to get more treats.

It has been raining a lot here lately so we haven't been able to do to many fun things to blog about. Tomorrow we are going to see some of Ambrose's brothers and sisters. I hope that they are not as goofy as he is. I won't be able to stand it.