At the Dog Show

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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.