You know, I need to make a new “note to self.” Whenever I think I “know” something, I really out to see that as a signal that I probably know w-a-a-ay less than I thought. This has happened so many times. In the case of Irish Water Spaniels, I know I wrote about this before, [...]
Archive for October, 2009
Two dogs is a whole ‘nother thing
Posted in dog behavior, dog training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged dog, dogs, having two dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, managing two dogs, puppy, two dogs on October 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Proposed study of squirrel “telepathic” ability
Posted in dog behavior, life with dog, tagged dog, dog humor, dogs, dogs and squirrels, dogs chase squirrels, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, pets on October 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Observation has led to a theory that squirrels have developed a telepathic-type ability to “single-track” the mind of a dog. Through a currently unidentified mechanism, when a squirrel sights a dog, that squirrel sends a pulse or signal directly to the dog’s brain. The result for the dog is that conscious brain functions are turned [...]
Tooey and the male judge
Posted in dog art and photos, dog shows / conformation, dog training, life with dog, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged conformation, dog, dog show, dog shows, dogs, dogs afraid of men, fearful dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on October 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
OK, I’ll admit it. After yesterday, I was really hoping that Tooey would win Best of Breed again today. She is certainly (IMHO) beautiful enough. But instead, I was able to take pleasure in another goal that I had going into this show. Like a lot of dogs, Tooey has been a bit shy with [...]
Tooey blossoms in the show ring
Posted in dog art and photos, dog shows / conformation, life with dog, puppy, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged conformation, dog, dog photos, dog show, dog show ring, dog shows, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, Russ Dodd photography on October 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Tooey wins Best of Breed
Posted in dog grooming, dog shows / conformation, friendship, life with dog, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged conformation, dog, dog show, dog shows, dogs, grooming, Irish Water Spaniel grooming, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, IWS grooming, puppy, puppy class, Vancouver Kennel Club dog show on October 25, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Tooey and I went into the ring at the Vancouver Kennel Club show today, and did amazingly well. In fact, this 10 month old puppy won Best of Breed. (With a little help from me and my very generous friends.) Having won Best of Breed, Tooey and I also competed for a placement in the [...]
Colleen brings out Tooey’s beauty
Posted in dog behavior, dog grooming, dog training, friendship, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged dog, dog behavior, dog training, dog treats, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, IWS grooming, Natural Balance Dog Food Rolls on October 23, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Yesterday evening, Colleen shaped Tooey’s former “rags in the wind” style into a more refined look. You can actually see some movement and structure now under all that fur. (Thank you, Colleen.) Unfortunately, I don’t have pictures. While Colleen was wielding the scissors, I was feeding a steady stream of pinkie-fingernail sized treats into Tooey’s [...]
So much easier when they bring birds to the house
Posted in dog behavior, friendship, life with dog, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged African Grey Parrot, bird dog, birdiness, birdy, dog, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on October 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
When our friend Kurt came over for a chat and a cup of tea this afternoon, Kurt’s African Grey parrot, Zane, came along for the ride. Tooey was fascinated. She briefly considered jumping up, but we managed to change her mind. We didn’t want Tooey to lose her cute little nose to the parrot’s beak. [...]
Beauty must protect her face
Posted in dog healthcare, dog shows / conformation, life with dog, puppy, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged dog, dog show, dog shows, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, minor injury, puppies, puppy, Vancouver Kennel Club dog show on October 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Especially when it’s just a week before a dog show. But puppies don’t necessarily know exactly where their faces (and other body parts) are in space. Or, at least, this puppy didn’t. Tooey and Russ were in the back yard, playing fetch, when Tooey returned to Russ with this injury just under her eye. She’d [...]
Cooper advances to double retrieves
Posted in dog training, hunting / hunt training, Realta Rosario Cooper, tagged bird dog, bog dogs, Catskin Kennels, dog, dog sports, dogs, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, WaterDog Kennel, WaterDog Kennels on October 15, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Today’s training session with Cooper was yet another milestone. Last week he executed multiple single water retrieves back to back, all under verbal control. So this week we moved into double retrieves. At the water’s edge and guided by the shotgun muzzle, he marked the launch and landing of the first duck dummy. Then we [...]
Tooey slides off the dock
Posted in dock diving, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, water dog, tagged Cascade Dock Dogs, dock diving, dock dogs, dock jumping, dockdogs, dog, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, puppy dock, Wubba toy on October 10, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Thank goodness for Cooper. He’s taught us so many things, including that a dock-diving natural doesn’t necessarily start off with a bang. Cooper started dock diving by falling off the dock. That scared him, and put him off the sport for a year. So mindful of that, we decided that whatever Tooey did her first [...]
Family snapshot
Posted in dog art and photos, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged dog photos, dog snapshots, dogs, family photos, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on October 4, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Cooper goes back to hunt school today. We’ll miss him! But he’s doing so well that we can’t help being glad that he gets to go back for the next six weeks. So to seal the memory of today, we took a family snapshot. Well, actually, we took about a dozen pictures, hoping to get [...]
Trice gets a shot at it (so to speak)
Posted in dog training, hunting / hunt training, life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, tagged dog, dog sports, dogs, gun dog training, gun dogs, hunt commands, hunt training, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, training bumpers on October 3, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Russ is a very generous guy — all his friends know that. So it’s only natural that he’d share his new-found hunt trialing education with me. Here I have just released Cooper to go get the dummy that Russ has thrown out. Cooper was good here — I didn’t have to hold onto him too [...]
Cooper comes home for a weekend visit
Posted in life with dog, Realta Rosario Cooper, Stanegate Second Thoughts, tagged dog, dog parks, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS, new dog meets old dog on October 2, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
After Russ got Cooper’s x-rays done, he brought Cooper home for the weekend. First we went to a local dog park so we could all get reacquainted.
Cooper’s next step to becoming a Stud
Posted in dog healthcare, friendship, Realta Rosario Cooper, tagged dog, dog elbows, dog hips, dog pelvis, dog photos, dog x-rays, dogs, Irish Water Spaniels, IWS on October 2, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Cooper may be a hunk and think of himself as a stud but we have to prove a few things to the (owners of the) waiting babes before anything can happen. Now that he is over the age two and has reached his adult stature, it is time to check out the health of those [...]
