Terrier trial this weekend. Two days of racing, go-to-ground, barn hunts,
and agility courses.

My little Bear won some ribbons, earned a Q, and had a wonderful time.

The telling point was that after two days of having following me around
having wonderful things happen to him, when we got home he wouldn't let me
out of his sight. Everywhere I went, he'd be right there. And every time
I sat down, he'd fall asleep.

Seems we've finally worn him out.

So I've spent the last 16 hours in the constant company of a sleeping dog.

--
On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr.
Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers
come out?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of
ideas that could provoke such a question.
-- Babbage, Charles (1792-1871)

In article ,
Jeff Dege wrote:

when we got home he wouldn't let me
out of his sight. Everywhere I went, he'd be right there. And every time
I sat down, he'd fall asleep.

Seems we've finally worn him out.

So I've spent the last 16 hours in the constant company of a sleeping dog.

Heh - this is a daily occurrence here! I have a little parade in my
house. 3 retrievers following me up, down, around and then flopping at
my feet when I sit down. Or on the bed if I nap too ;-D Heaven, isn't
it?

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

On Mon, 07 May 2007 09:17:20 -0400, Janet Boss wrote:

In article ,
Jeff Dege wrote:

when we got home he wouldn't let me
out of his sight. Everywhere I went, he'd be right there. And every
time I sat down, he'd fall asleep.

Seems we've finally worn him out.

Heh - this is a daily occurrence here! I have a little parade in my
house. 3 retrievers following me up, down, around and then flopping at
my feet when I sit down. Or on the bed if I nap too ;-D Heaven, isn't
it?

Actually, Bear is pretty easy, when it comes to making friends. My
roommate went on a low-carb diet, which involved munching on jerky instead
of on granola bars. She'd periodically throw Bear a small piece. It took
him almost no time to recognize her as "when I'm close to her, food falls
from the skies".

But sleeping is something else. At least for a JRT. He has two different
kinds of sleep. There's the "nothing interesting is going on, and he
won't let me kill the squirrels" kind of sleep, and the "life is good"
kind of sleep.

I get him following me around, waiting for me to do anything at all,
followed by "life is dull" naps all the time. Following me around,
followed by "life is good" naps doesn't happen often enough.

--
As he backed away from Maryann, away from his rope, away from his
intentions to harm her, and, hopefully, away from his image of himself
as a big, bad dude who could have any "fun" he wanted with a woman,
he started muttering, "Bitches with guns. Bitches with guns. Bitches
with guns." He kept saying it over and over, as his own surprise gave
way to impotent anger, "Bitches with guns. Bitches with guns."
- Lyn Bates, "Bitches with Guns: A Lesson in Reality"

In article ,
Jeff Dege wrote:


I get him following me around, waiting for me to do anything at all,
followed by "life is dull" naps all the time. Following me around,
followed by "life is good" naps doesn't happen often enough.

Ah yes, there is a difference. I strive for the latter myself. Boredom
is not healthy!

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

On May 7, 10:04 am, Janet Boss
wrote:
In article ,
Jeff Dege wrote:

I get him following me around, waiting for me to do anything at all,
followed by "life is dull" naps all the time. Following me around,
followed by "life is good" naps doesn't happen often enough.

Ah yes, there is a difference. I strive for the latter myself. Boredom
is not healthy!

The problem is that there is so much more going on in my life that I
don't have time enough to make my dog's life as fulfilling as I would
wish. But I do what I can.

The important thing is to realize that the dog doesn't need or expect
16 hours of stiimulation every weekend. A twenty minute walk or five
minutes on the agility course in the backyard is nothing to be sneezed
at.

Even a half-an-hour of being tethered outside in the sun where he can
watch and listen and smell is more interesting that lying on my bed
waiting for me to finish futzing around on the computer.

In article .com,
wrote:


The important thing is to realize that the dog doesn't need or expect
16 hours of stiimulation every weekend. A twenty minute walk or five
minutes on the agility course in the backyard is nothing to be sneezed
at.

Even a half-an-hour of being tethered outside in the sun where he can
watch and listen and smell is more interesting that lying on my bed
waiting for me to finish futzing around on the computer.

You bet! While my dogs can enjoy and benefit from a full day off doing
"work", they can also benefit from some chuck-it in the yard, or just
changing up what we do, I wish more people realized that. A lot of
people seem to think it's "I don't have time for a ton of exercise, so I
won't bother with any at all". happens with JUST people too!

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

[]
So, Jeff, do you think that I ought to try to diminish the
pleasure you take in your dog and its accomplishments the
way you took a shot at my dogs and the rats? Or do you
think I should be a mensch and appreciate your weekend, too?
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

On Mon, 07 May 2007 15:35:33 -0400, Melinda Shore wrote:

[]
So, Jeff, do you think that I ought to try to diminish the pleasure you
take in your dog and its accomplishments the way you took a shot at my
dogs and the rats? Or do you think I should be a mensch and appreciate
your weekend, too?

The only post of yours I can find on Google Groups about your dogs and the
rats is:

Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs.behavior
From: (Melinda Shore)
Date: 16 Apr 2007 10:02:06 -0400
Local: Mon, Apr 16 2007 9:02 am
Subject: gun use - can't find post

[...]

obDog: Rats moved into my kitchen a couple of weeks ago. I
won't use poison (duh) and so far the traps haven't worked,
so three nights ago I started leaving the bedroom door open
at night, leaving the dogs free to run around the house
while I'm sleeping^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^Htrying to sleep. Three
mornings, three dead rats. I have awesome dogs.

To which I made no direct reply. A few people did reply, and I made two
replies to them:

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:44:25 -0500, Lynne wrote:
So did they eat any part of the rats? When Roxy got her mouse, she
just chewed on it a bit, but didn't consume any of it. I've had cats that
completely consume their prey, and others that don't even completely
kill it. I've never had a dog who was a mouser, so I'm curious what
is typical behavior once they catch it. If there is typical behavior, that
is.

From what I've seen, among working terriers after one kill it's find and
kill the next one. There's only very rarely just one rat.

And:

On Mon, 16 Apr 2007 10:37:44 -0400, montana wildhack wrote:
On 2007-04-16 10:02:06 -0400, (Melinda Shore) said:

Three
mornings, three dead rats. I have awesome dogs.

I am totally impressed by the killer dogs.

I have a Jack. I find that having a dog that can and will kill rats
entirely ordinary.

I had a boxer, though, when I was a kid, that managed to catch and kill
a flying crow.

Neither of which I can see as being reasonably interpreted as having taken
a shot at you.

--
Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist,
fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria.
The human race divides politically into those who want people to be
controlled and those who have no such desire.
- Robert Heinlein

In article ,
Jeff Dege wrote:
Neither of which I can see as being reasonably interpreted as having taken
a shot at you.

At my dogs. To wit: "I find having a dog that has a great
outing and sleeps soundly afterwards to be totally
ordinary." But, you know, I don't. My dogs do, but I know
most dogs do not and I wouldn't try to diminish your
enjoyment by suggesting there's anything ordinary or typical
about what my dogs do or your dog does. Most dogs do not
have the opportunity to work and play hard, just as most
dogs do not take it upon themselves to rid the house of
vermin. Don't be small.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

On Mon, 07 May 2007 20:18:52 -0400, Melinda Shore wrote:

In article , Jeff Dege
wrote:
Neither of which I can see as being reasonably interpreted as having
taken a shot at you.

At my dogs. To wit: "I find having a dog that has a great outing and
sleeps soundly afterwards to be totally ordinary."

And it is. And were you to point that out wouldn't diminish my joy in it
in any way.

He earned his second Q, which isn't extraordinary, but does indicate
progress. And he took the championship in racing for adults under 12
1/2", which would mean more to people had all of the adult bitches
under 12 1/2" not scratched. But to him, that the under bitches scratched
meant that, since he'd won both of the qualifying races among the under
dogs, he didn't get to run a third race. Which he was eager to do.

He likes to race, he cares beans about ribbons. We had fun, I care beans
about how ordinary it is.

Jacks killing rats is perfectly ordinary. In fact, Jacks killing any
small furry critters they have the opportunity to is more often a problem
than a joy. Keeping the cats safe was a constant worry, when I lived in a
house with cats.

Your dogs? I don't know your dogs. I have no idea how special or unique
or whatever rat killing is in your life or your world. Or how proud you
might be of it. All I said was that in my world, dogs killing rats is
ordinary. Which it is.

--
Conservatives never seem to fully appreciate the fact that the issues are
never the issue where liberals are concerned. For liberals the issue is
power. Whatever serves their need for power is right; whatever frustrates
it is wrong.
- David Horowitz