Pitbulls on Parade

Yesterday Scott and I went to a special event at the Reber Ranch in Kent. The event was Pitbulls on Parade and it was super fun! I met up with a few friends from flyball and from dog rescue who were also attending.

Here is Scott and Axle. Axle is owned by my friend Julie, who I know through flyball. Axle was one of the largest dogs at yesterday's event. He is an American Bulldog. He's aged 2 and weighs 108lbs. He is still full of puppy energy, as you can see by him chewing on his leash still, but he is also quite the lover boy! Scott has met Axle before so Axle knew that he wasn't about to get away with any puppy antics around Uncle Scott. Axle is just as striking in looks as Scott, so at the event, people would either be drawn to Scotty and his beautiful eyes, or to Axle and his beautiful coat and size! Axle also got his Canine Good Citizen certificate at this event. Good Job Axle!!!!

Here is a shot of a bunch of people and their dogs hanging out at the raffle tent. The whole event was sponsored by Bullseye Rescue. The gal who organizes that rescue, Lorrie, is also the SPDR breed rep for many bully breeds. She is a wonderful person who has done a lot for the breed and the community. Overall, I would have estimated there were 150 pitbulls at this event at any given time. There were other breeds there too, including some Rotties, a few little white fluffy dogs, Shih Tzus, a couple Labradoodles and of course, Scott! In addition to a good raffle, the day offered other events like agility demonstrations, schutzhund, weight pulling, carting, and even a kissing contest! I do love the pitbull breed; they are very versatile, smart, affectionate and brave. Similar to Border Collies, they will give their owners everything they can and won't give up. They're hearts are as big as their blocky, bully heads!

I found this pit to be extremely cool looking. It had a face with half black, half white. On its neck though, it was white striped on the black face side, and black striped on the white faced side. Very strking dog! It's brindle side-kick was also very cute.
My favorite pitbull color is fawn though. During my volunteer work at the Seattle Animal Shelter (2001-2008) I worked with many pitbulls from all walks of life. Of the hundreds I handled there, I fell especially hard for the long-term / court case dogs who were there because of abuse / neglect reasons. Some of those dogs had been through hell and yet they were so forgiving and loving. My very first court-case dogs were Libby and Jesse.

You might recall, in 2001 Seattle Animal Control seized about 12-14 pitbulls from a home that was fighting them for sport. Then, after the media did a big story on that seizure, a group broke into the shelter and stole all but two dogs from this case (they left the two because they were 8 week old pups who were in a different area than the rest of the dogs). No one ever found out what happened to those stolen dogs, nor was it ever found out who stole them. To note, stealing dogs from shelters is not unheard of.

The two pups who were left/forgotten were named Jesse and Libby - we at the shelter named them. Libby was total fawn and Jesse was fawn with white and black facial markings. Those two pups were raised in the shelter and at age 18 months or so, when the court case had resolved itself, Jesse, who was a total goober, was adopted out to a family in Olympia. Libby was less fortunate and was deemed "unadoptable" by the shelter and was humanely euthanized. That was an extremely sad time for the volunteers and staff who had tried to give the dogs the most "normal" life possible while within shelter walls. That was when the shelter experience "got real" for me. I was very sad but knew I couldn't give up on the other dogs that were continually streaming into the shelter daily.

Overall, I would guess I worked with 30 or so court case / long term dogs while volunteering with SAS. All were unique, sweet and not all were able to be adopted out, and some even went back to their owners after the judge of that case ruled in favor of the defendent. Not all were pitbulls either; I worked with an Akita, a group of husky-mixes, a Lab/Beagle mix and an Aussie (those I can vividly remember). You do learn a lot about people (the public as well as other volunteers), the justice system and of course, dogs when being involved in these types of stories.

When you donate money to your local municipal animal shelter, ask if the funds you donate can go toward the dogs and cats who are housed at the shelter long term, awaiting their owners court date which could be months out. The money could be used for special training collars and leashes, bones and toys, soft beds that are just theirs, health care / surgery and even special training sessions by experts. In some cases, the dogs cannot leave the confines of the shelter walls because their owners are so dangerous! This is really where the help of volunteers is critical to the health of that dog.

Lacamas & Dogwoods

On the weekend of the 10th and 11th I was down in Camas, Washington (near Portland) for the 2009 Lacamas Valley Sheepdog Trial. This is one of the largest, most "proper" trials on the West Coast. This is the kind of trial that if you don't get your entry fee postmarked on the morning that entries open up, then you don't get in kind of trial.

I ran Scott in the ProNovice classes on Friday and Saturday. The sheep were TOUGH! 5 lambs that had only been worked by a dog once before on a different field. On Friday, Jerill's aunt and uncle showed up to cheer me on as they live close by to Camas. The were able to take some pictures of the Friday carnage before my camera's batteries went dead. That was fine though because Friday's run did not last long. I sent Scott on the away side to cover the heavy draw the sheep were feeling to the setting pen. I won't make excuses for me or my dog but we were not alone in how our run went that day. Scott lifted the sheep tight and flat and as I tried to swing him to the comeby side to cover that horrible draw back to the pen, the sheep just kept running faster. Then, 3 sheep stopped and two kept running. Then one of the three started running in the opposite direction. Basically, I had pushed too hard on the sheep with my dog - Scott is a strong dog and sheep are scared of him so having him up close trying to "cover" the setting side was making the sheep more panicked. Learned my lesson! I was able to get four sheep back together by using a look-back command to bring the two to the other two and then when trying to bring those four back to the one that took off by itself, the dog and the 4 sheep went behind a hill and things stopped - no dog and no sheep appeared. I did some blind flanks to the away side to try to get Scott to move them into sight but I was "thanked" by the judge. Like I said, this trial was a big deal, no nonsense trial and the judge doesn't want to waste time on a run that could potentially hurt the sheep - the judge needs to know what's going on, even behind hills!

Scott too close to the lambs. They took off back to the set. Scott just couldn't swing around them in time to turn them...

Here's where the sheep split into sheep-buckets. What a mess!! Scott managed to slow them down but because he was close, some panicked more than others. Panic = Sheep Splitting

On Saturday, Scott and I had an improved game plan of how to tackle the course. Because so many handlers lost their sheep to the set out, like I did, the course directors moved the sheep 25 yards up from the set out area. This helped. While our lift and fetch on Saturday was a little bumpy (lost quite a few points due to reflanking and Scotty being tight and a bit fast) we did make our fetch panels! I turned the post quite wide though and had a little bumpy/wavy first leg of the drive. I think 4 of the 5 lambs made it through my first panel, but unfortunately, I pushed Scott too quick on the turn and pushed 2 or 3 lambs back out the panels, which is a big NO NO! Lost more points doing that. The lambs got back together though and I started a the crossdrive. This crossdrive, typically one of the most difficult tasks for a dog in a trial, went beautifully. Scotty is an excellent driver and I was sure to keep him off the tails the sheep. We made our panels! And then to the pen... it was a little wavy-gravy getting to the pen and the sheep missed the ideal point-of-entry into the pen, so I had to spend a little more time getting Scott to get them back to the ideal sweet-spot. The sheep, because they didn't know people weren't receptive to "sheep sheep" calls, so thanks to a tip from Diane the day before, I didn't crowd the sheep at all. After getting the dog and the sheep and myself in the right spot, the sheep pretty much went into the pen with no issue and I got the gate closed in time. We ended up scoring somehere mid-pack of the teams that received scores. Not too shabby!


Today Jerill and I ate at the Mt Si Bar and Grill for breakfast, then went to the Mt Si Nursery to get some plants for autumn and to fill in the spaces of the plants the elk have eaten as well as those plants that didn't survive the 113 degree temperatures we had earlier this month.


The nursery was having a big sale on trees, so I bought myself the cutest dogwood tree! I love those and I have the perfect spot in our triangle garden for it - protected from elk.


Along our driveway I try to keep it pretty; there is just something nice about driving into home with nice flowers and shrubs alongside the drive. I found some small perennial ground cover plants that are supposed to bloom in November - January and then some other plants that are supposed to bloom in early spring. And, they're elk-resistant. I also replaced the dying annuals on our front door step with some fresh autumn annuals - pansies and marigolds. My freesia from May is still going strong and my Begonia is as vibrant as ever! I also decided the dogs needed something to chew on today, so I put each dog in their own little safe area (Scott in his big crate, Mattie in the kitchen, and Lucky in the family room, and each received their favorite bone or chewy. Scott prefers bully sticks (of course), Lucky likes cow hooves and Mattie LOVES these beef shanks.

My new dogwood. I can't wait to get this into the ground!

New plants along our driveway

The front door. Begonia on the right, Freesia on the left. Winter pansies and a new orange marigold for Autumn.

Mattie and her big bone. The placemat she's eating on was won in a raffle at a flyball tournament, before we even had Mattie. There is a little sheep on the corner of the mat; it was destined to be Mattie's!

Rare Dog Breed of the Month - The Mudi

Time for August's Rare Dog Breed of the Month! This month is another sheepherding breed from Hungary called the Mudi. It's a super cute little bugger too...


Excerpt from the Desmond Morris book Dogs describes the Mudi as...

The Mudi, sometimes referred to as the Hungarian Mudi or the Hungarian sheepdog. The breed's primary function is to herd sheep. It also has several secondary roles - controlling herds of cattle, destroying vermin on farms, acting as a watchdog and, on special occasions, hunting wild boar.

It's a rare breed, with probably no more than a few hundred in existence, the Mudi is hardly ever encountered outside its homeland of Hungary. Its rough, curly coat is usually solid black but may also be white or pied.

Although a valuable defence against the elements, its coarse hair gives this dog a strangely unkempt, untidy appearance. Traditionally its tail is docked to protect it when working. Interestingly, recent photographs of the breed in Hungary show specimens without docked tails.

This is the least-known of the indigenous Hungarian dogs and was not considered a separate breed until the 1930's when a careful study was made of the different types of sheepdog working in country districts. It was then given its modern name of Mudi by Dezso Fenyesi, the director of a local musum in the town of Balassagyarmat. He was the first person to take a special interst in the dog and to organize selective breeding in an attempt to stabilize it. Previously its breeding had been left entirely to shepherds and herdsmen and even today there are still some local variations in the appearance of the breed.

More Alaska

More pictures from my trip to Alaska! I went to Anchorage and Juneau with my colleage in Market Research, Jeff. Jeff was our focus group moderator in fact! The groups were a success (2 in each market) and we got some time in between flights to tour the cities.

Jeff's favorite store in Anchorage, Once in a Blue Moose...

Me and a resident teddy bear.

The Duck Fart is a delicious shot of Bailey's Irish Cream, Kahlua and Crown Royal. We went to the bar, The Peanut Farm, where the Duck Fart was originally created...

Here's our receipt. See the 4 Duck Fart - sheesh... $5.25 a shot!

Juneau is a Cruise Ship port - this is a Holland America Line ship (The Rotterdam or something like that)

Downtown Juneau. It's inundated with "cruisers"

In Anchorage, we went to this one HUGE bar/club thing called Chilkoot Charlie's. One of the bars/rooms in this drinking facility was COVERED in underwear. Of course, this is where we drank our Coors Lights.

I'm pretty happy about my Duck Fart here...

Jeff is getting friendly with some of the local wildlife in Anchorage; a dead, stuffed wolf. On the right is a flippin' dead, stuffed wolverine. Too crazy. I couldn't find that these "specimens" were actually for sale but I'm sure EVERYTHING in Anchorage has a price.

If furs and taxidermy freak you out, then you do NOT want to go to Anchorage. I don't mind it all that much. Seeing dead wolves is a little disturbing though, especially grey ones.

We drove about 20 minutes out of Anchorage toward the scenic Seward Highway. This is Jeff and Nicole looking for whales. Note, the wind was blowing at 35mph and it was raining.

Shopping district of downtown Anchorage.

More of downtown Anchorage. Note: this trolley goes only one place - the Ulu Factory. Ulus are traditional Alaskan knives (great for cheese slicing). The gift I bought at the Ulu Factory (some Moose snacks - chocolate pretzels - was forgotten in the hotel room in Juneau).

Heather, Nicole and Jeff outside The Peanut Farm bar and restaraunt. World Famous apparently... and Jeff WAS touching this Harley against our advice to not touch it.

Alaska Trip

Pictures from my business trip to Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska...

The Governor's Mansion in Juneau, AK. Yep; Sarah Palin lived here.

Here is my colleague, Jeff, holding up the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor's Center!


Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska


Close-up of Mendenhall Glacier Waterfall

Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau, Alaska

Beaver Dam & Spawning Sockeye

Sockeye Spawning

Glacier - Ice Bergs!

Mendenhall Glacier

Mendenhall Glacier

My colleague Jeff at the Mendenhall Glacier

Me and the icebergs!

Me and the icebergs

Mendenhall Glaciers icebergs

A bear creek at Mendenhall Glacier