Seeing green on a blanket of white

It's been a winter-like week in central PA and some areas were surprised when they woke up Thursday morning to find five inches of snow on the ground.  Here at the Duff Farm I ended up with 1-2 inches and some drifting since the wind tends to blow down off of the fields.  Just enough to cover the ground and make the sidewalk a little slippery.  However, the roads were clear and fairly dry on Friday when I made my way to Allentown for Swing's debut in obedience.

Yes, we are following in our brother Milo's paw-steps and beginning our obedience career.  As I mentioned in my last post, it's been a few months since we lost Dodge and I am slowly getting back into training.  I entered her in the trial to give me a reason to start training again, a sort of kick start so to speak (we hit a show n go and met with our trainer Nancy a couple of times).  I felt good about all of the foundation work I did with her when she was a baby and her heeling was coming along as well as her stay work.  She isn't keen about holding a down stay in a full line up so I put her in Beginner Novice since the only stay is a sit while I walk around the perimeter of the ring.  Our first attempt was a success and here we are waiting for the judge to give out the green qualifying ribbons and our scores.

Swing, 191 in Beginner Novice, Lehigh Valley KC, Dec. 12, 2014

We lost a number of points on heeling, some of it my fault, some of it because she is a green dog.  Our friend Sallie was along so we have a recording of the test that I will analyze and learn from it so that our next attempt goes as well if not better.  My goal was to come home with a green ribbon and we accomplished that goal.  Now we'll work on those things that need addressing and try to get to some shows in late January/early February in hopes of finishing the title in February and adding a BN to her name.

Winter may be white and grey at times, our mission is to bring some green into it in the form of qualifying ribbons.  I have a sneaking suspicion we won't be the only ones earning those ribbons this winter.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to the M&M crew and their families.  Swing and I wanted to put that out there in case we do not get a chance to beforehand.

ORT Beau (aka Hank)

No, it does not stand for "OutRight Terror", hee hee.  Howard and Beau have been doing nose work training for quite some time now and two weekends ago they were in Frederick MD at a scent work test.  Here is what Howard had to say...

Beau passed his ORT with the birch scent today.  He had 3 minutes to find the scent.....did it in under 15 seconds! 

The ORT is similar to the tracking precursor test necessary to enter a tracking test.  The birch ORT allows us to enter a NW1 test (nose work 1).  Because 2 of the 4 elements in a NW test is outdoors, we will not be entering a test until the Spring.  We will be working on another scent (anise) that is tested in the NW2 ORT test in the meantime.

I am happy because his tail was wagging nonstop the whole time (before, during and after) the ORT!

Looks like they will be moving on to the next level and I look forward to hearing the results of that test next spring.  Congrats!  And for more information on Nose Work check out this link... http://www.nacsw.net/trial-calendar-information/intro-first-trial-getting-started.

Now that fall has arrived Swing and I have been meeting our friend Helen and her Samoyeds to do some tracking training.  You may remember the pictures of Ravi when all 3 pups were around 5 months old.  Anyway, Ravi is still working on his T while Swing is working on her X.  Both dogs are doing quite well, Swing is handling change of cover and obstacles very well and the age on the track doesn't seem to phase her that much.  I doubt she'll be ready for a test this year so if we aren't ready, or can't get to one before Nationals next spring, then we'll shoot for May for our first attempt at the title.  At the rate she is training I am feeling very confident that she will get her TDX.

I have not been very motivated to spend a lot of time on our obedience training, the loss of Dodge back in September really hit me hard and while life has managed to go on and we've pretty much adjusted to the void he left, it is still hard to talk or write about him without choking up.  But I'm starting to feel like training again and I know that with some effort on my part, along with consistency in training, we should be able to enter a Beginner Novice test before to long.  Now that I've said that, I'm hitting a match on Sunday to see where she is at and if it goes well we'll push forward with plans to enter a trial in December.

Speaking of obedience, I looked back over past posts and saw one where I noted that Milo was a 1 legged dog.  I know for a fact that he finished his CD so a big congrats to Art and Milo!  As a matter of fact, for those of you that get the WCA magazine, his title was published in the October issue.  Great job you two.

I know I get to see what some of the M&M pups are up to through Facebook but for those that are not on Facebook please send us a note on occasion to tell us what you've been up to.  Maybe we can all post holiday pictures of our pups since it is only 47 days until Christmas!  Seriously though, I love hearing from everyone and sharing our stories and accomplishments with this litter.  Hopefully it will not be as long between posts but just in case let me wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving (if you celebrate that day).

Operation (and no, I'm not talking about the board game)

I pulled up the blog this morning and saw that the last post was about Swing's spay and I thought it was kind of ironic that I'm sitting here keeping an eye on Dodge who had surgery on Friday to have a tooth removed.  To top off the fact that his gum still hurts (he won't eat anything that is hard) he banged his leg on the Jordan's coffee table and was 3 legged all afternoon and evening!  All I could think of was I sure hope I don't have to run him to the emergency vet less than 48 hours after the dental.  But I'm happy to report that he is bearing weight on the leg this morning and I'll limit his activity as much as I can (I think I know how he feels, I would bang my shins on a fairly regular basis when I was a kid and that would hurt for days).  It's been a rough couple of weeks with him that included lots of blood work and multiple visits to the vet.

On a brighter note, it's been a summer of moves for our crew.  Milo has been up and down the east coast as well as hitting some shows.  And sister Ella and family just moved west to Colorado to begin some new adventures.  I sure hope Ann sends us some pictures when they get settled.  Swing and the crew have enjoyed the move that we made in June.  The pond is a constant source of entertainment and I continue to get loads of pictures of everyone.  I especially like evening and early morning shots when the light is soft and everything has a feeling of calm.

 Dirk, early morning

 Swing

 Enjoying a nice romp

If she isn't running around the outside, she is in the water

We've been enjoying some very nice weather temperature-wise.  And it is kind of nice having green grass versus dry brown grass.  The corn and soybeans look really nice here on the farm.  And the skyline...

Here's looking down toward the farm from the road leading down to it.  This was one of those beautiful, cool mornings.  The "Great Grange Fair" begins this week so the weather is guaranteed to change.  I hope it is nice next weekend  when I hope to make it to the fair.

Howard and his boy Beau (aka Hank) will be competing in their first trial in a couple of weeks.  I hope we'll get a good report from them.  Swing and I will be refining some skills and hopefully getting out to do some tracking.  With Dodge on the recovery path I'm going to concentrate on her for the next 4-6 weeks.

Post op report (IOW, we made it without going bonkers)

Yep, 9 days later and the Swingster is back to her old self.  Hey, she was back to her old self by day 2 albeit a tad stiff in the mornings.  When I finally released her from the restraint of the flexi lead she immediately did two laps around the pond, kicking up her heels (and I'm not joking, she literally looked like a young horse whose been turned out in a huge field for the first time) and enjoying the fact that she was finally able to stretch those legs.  I checked the incision site before making the decision to let her loose and it looks fabulous and after she came in I did another check and there wasn't any swelling or redness or obvious discomfort.  I'm proud of the fact that I was able to keep her in check for a week let along 9 days!

Looking to the pond, the 2nd morning after her surgery

 Intently watching Dodge

 Straining to get as close as she can

Since the pond is the center of my guys attention when we are outside there will be lots of pictures of it throughout the summer.  I plan on putting a couple of chairs out there so that I can sit and lifeguard/supervise and hopefully avoid getting bit up by the myriad of bugs in the area.

Everyone is adjusting to the new place.  I have a number of outdoor projects to do, finish putting staples in the fence, trim back some branches that are blocking my view of the lane (as well as hanging so low that it is getting hard to duck under them when I'm mowing), mulching and I'm going to rototill a couple of areas with the intent of planting some flowers for color, etc.  This fall PSU will send some guys out to paint the barn, tar the roof and do some repairs on the cinder block shed and cut down some dead trees at the far end of the pond.  Since I literally chased the porcupine off of the side porch I have not had any late night visitors but I did have to relocate a snapping turtle.  Oh, and the black snake has not made an appearance since the weekend that I moved (and trust me, I scan the lower yard when I go through there on my way to the garage).  I'm sure there are more surprises to come and hopefully we will take them in stride.

I hope the M&M clan has a nice fourth of July and are not bothered by the fireworks.  Living out in the country like we are I expect to hear gunshots and a lot of hoopla on Friday night.  I wonder if I can see the State College fireworks if I drive to the top of the mountain.  I'm sure it will be a popular place.  Training will begin in earnest this week since Swing, Dodge and I will be traveling to the WCA/GSPCA agility trial in late August.  Don't ask me why I entered her, she's far from ready to be really good and depending on we progress on weave work I will just be happy keeping her focused enough to take direction from me.  We'll spend a good deal of time on focus and attention work by concentrating on obedience.  Next post will probably be a report on how we are progressing.

Changes

For Swing's third birthday I decided it was time for a change for all of us.  So I moved.  Yep, packed the crew up and moved to another county.  It was time and the opportunity was one that I could not pass up.  I think it's been a good move too.  I'm not totally settled in, but we are on a schedule of sorts and other than adjusting to the porcupine that likes to stop and visit every few days, and dealing with other creatures (black snake, snapping turtle, turkeys and deer), I feel like we are adjusting.  And the timing could not have been more perfect for our young lady, she has discovered that the pond is a great place to hang out and as you can see, it is hard to keep her out of it!

 working the boundary

 Looking for toads

 Around the corner

Going in face first

It will be a nice place to play at the height of the summer.

Tomorrow the goofy girl goes to the vet to be spayed.  That will end her conformation career and while not being able to finish her Championship is somewhat of a disappointment, not having to deal with a heat cycle makes up for it.  Performance events are more important to me anyway and now we can really move forward in those arenas.

Speaking of performance, brother Milo should be close to finishing his CD (companion dog) title in obedience, and sister Ella has been gearing up for her debut in agility.  And I heard in a round about way that our brother Hank (Beau) will also be ready to debut in agility very soon (I may have heard August).  I'm looking forward to hearing from all three of them.

Not to be forgotten, Gracie Dot continues on the path of being one spoiled girl.  Good for you G-D!

I'll do my best to post a bit more often.  We'll send out a post-op report, if we survive it.  As active as she is I think I'm going to have to take Amy's recommendation and request some tranquilizers for her while she heals.  It's going to be an adventure!

Milo, the 1 legged dog (figuratively speaking of course)

Milo and his Novice B Green Qualifying ribbon

Milo and I traveled to Timonium on Friday and Saturday to try our hand in the obedience ring.  On Friday Milo did not qualify for his first leg in Companion Dog.  Milo wants me to add that it was due to handler error.  On Saturday, Milo and I, now wiser for the experience, tried again and this time Milo qualified!  Milo got a ribbon, which he concluded was not something he could eat or play with, but was happy because I was happy. 

I plan to finish Milo’s CD as soon as I can enter more shows and I want to show him in novice rally as well.  Milo and I continue to attend agility classes, but he is not ready to show just yet, maybe in the fall. 

Milo and I continue our travels.  We just got back from Florida.  This summer, we are planning a family vacation to Deep Creek Lake and, of course, Milo is coming with us.   Milo is a seasoned traveler and joy to travel with.  He has matured a great deal in the last six months and has become a wonderful companion and friend.  Because of his better behavior, we can take him more and more places, which is just what we want. 

All the best to you and the M&M pups. 

Arthur V. Belendiuk

More snow shots from Milo!

Hello all.  Just a quick note to update you on Milo.  Attached are two pictures I took this afternoon of Milo running around the farm at the Izaak Walton League.  The snow is still deep in Maryland and it was rough going (for me at any rate).  We were out for a good couple of hours and Milo came home a tired boy.

Milo and I are still working on obedience, I can finally get him to stand for attention without melting into a pool of happiness every time a judge gets within 5 feet of him.  We are also working on agility and now that Milo is more mature that too seems to be kicking in.

Milo and I still spend all our time together and he even lets Lydia and me sleep on his bed (I don't mind, but he hogs the pillows.)

Looks like he was having a great time Art.  Swing and Dodge were out in it yesterday at my friends farm and you are right, walking in it is challenging!

Can't wait for the debut in obedience.  Maybe Swing and I will see you this spring/summer at some matches.

No, we don't know when to come in from the cold

We met up with our nordic friends today for a nice romp on the frozen tundra of Ag Progress Grounds.  I'm amazed that you do not see the dogs breath as they are running directly at me in that shot, it was 23 or so degrees out (with a slight wind so gauging by my cold tootsies I'm going to say it felt like the high teens out there).  We tried to keep the dogs to the roads where the vehicles had run, the layer of ice out there meant quite a bit of slipping and sliding once you ventured out of the tracks.

Swing and Dodge did fairly well, no one came up limping and no one got cold.  Not surprising since they were both constantly on the move for the entire half hour hike.  If the ground had not been as frozen I think we would have walked further and longer but I didn't want to chance an injury.  It was a much needed chance to stretch their legs since it's been to miserable out to do anything like tracking or agility.  I am thankful that I have a place to take my guys once a week for some obedience work so we haven't been totally cabin-bound.  Love the snow, do not care for the layer of ice.  The forecast for the majority of the week is for temps in the 20's so there is little chance of that ice melting.  I hope that when it does get warm enough to melt that layer it doesn't go crazy and melt everything at once!

Stay warm everyone!

The big chill (and the thaw that followed) ...

Did everyone make it through the frigid temps that blew in to the area last week?  I like the cold, especially if it involves snowfall, but I do not groove on biting winds.  For a good day there we had winds that made it feel like your face was freezing within a couple of minutes of venturing outside.  At least the sun was out last Tuesday when the coldest temps hit Central PA, so on my walk to and from the gym I found it bearable if the sun was beating down on my face.  As the temperature started to rise  a couple of fronts moved through and we had two days of snow which made for interesting travel in to the office.  My kind of weather, snow on the ground and temps in the 20's.  And then this weekend happened.  I think I've mentioned this before but I'll take the opportunity to say it again.  I REALLY dislike mud and specifically, I despise it when the mud is in the back yard.  I have a bank about 15 feet from the back porch and the only dog that uses the steps is Dirk.  The other two come zooming through the back yard, down the bank and skid onto the back porch.  And since they are generally moving at warp speed, the bank becomes mud (picture the fight scene from McLintock when everyone is sliding down that mud bank to the mud pit below.  And if you want to see what I'm talking about, here is the link to view it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifRKu1W1fXQ).  All of the snow that I had, which amounted to close to 2 inches, melted on Saturday and with the rain we had I pretty much had a mess outside the back door.  Yeah, bring back those frigid temps!

Hey Art, I took Swing to a show n go today to see how far along we are with getting ready to enter Beginner Novice.  I was very pleased with her offlead work (not needed in BN though), sit for exam and her recall.  I'm sure Milo is a lot further along than she is, I'm embarrassed to say that she can not stay in a down for more than 3 seconds!  She has a tendency to crab while heeling, something we are working on, but her enthusiasm and drive is awesome!  Next time I'll get a video of her to post.  Any new news on what you and Milo are doing?

Ann contacted me and said that she was going to send an update on Ella and what she's been up to.  Now that I've put it out there Ann you are on notice!  Unfortunately I haven't seen brother Beau/Hank in a while.  Training with Howard has taken a back seat to the weather and baby Leo.  I was told that Howard would be scaling back on his judging assignments this year so hopefully we'll see Hank in the agility ring at some point.   And of course we can not forget baby sister Gracie Dot.  Deb, in case you didn't know, the Weimaraner National Specialty will be in your neck of the woods in 2015.  Wouldn't it be great to have a family reunion of sorts?

It's time for some new pictures and hopefully I'll get a chance to work with my new camera in the next few weeks.  Those of you on Facebook have seen some recent ones of my little girl hogging the recliner or enjoying the sunbeam with her "boys".  I'd love to have some shots of your M&M pup so please send them my way.  It makes these posts so much more colorful and interesting.

Happy New Year everyone!