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Ironically, the Labradoodle is a Therapy dog looking for recertification with his current owners; I don’t have the full story as yet, but it looks like they are getting their son into handling the dog who was previously trained, but the people weren’t and they’re looking to learn how to get the best with their dog. (Kudos to them! 8) )
The Shepard’s story I haven’t gotten yet, but the owners were careful to sit in a spot where there weren’t other chairs to ensure relative isolation. And I believe they were already using a prong collar on Buddy. He’s a *gorgeous* dog; nice deep coloring, good bone, etc. I just cautioned my husband about paying attention to him when he was handling Maggie because of the way he came in–his posture/attitude suggested he just wasn’t in a friendly state of mind, and since I know my husband doesn’t read the dogs that well, I felt it would be safer and less stress for Maggie and George to just kind of avoid the GSD until we get further into the classes. I love my hubby dearly for being so game to take on another training mission, but he’d be the first to admit cluelessness, so for safety’s sake…. 😉
I don’t know about showing Mags just yet; we’ll see what the training brings. And then if she does well, the cost of showing her towards her obedience title isn’t all that bad–I think it was like $25-$30 per day at a 2 day show. I was lucky with Flurry–she got her title in just 3 shows. And that was 9 years ago. 😮 (Yowza! Where *has* the time gone??)
I did try to persue the title idea with Cocoa, our rescue Aussie, but as intelligent as she was, she was like an ADD child; nearly impossible to keep focused for more than 30 seconds on any one thing. Add to that one rampant canine sense of humor, and well……I guess y’all can see the picture. 😳 She was also very ring-savvy and knew damned well that if she was off leash and in a show ring all b ets were off. She got me twice that way. 😀 I “settled” for her getting her CGC–Canine Good Citizens title. Considering the people she came from couldn’t even get her to “sit” for them on command, I was happy enough with that CGC.
…..So we went ahead and enrolled Maggie in obedience class, and today was her first class. It’s been 9 years since George and I were in “official” school with a dog, and neither of us realized just how much we missed the fellowship and structure of school.
This should prove to be a rather interesting class; there are 2 different Old English Sheepdogs–one of which was rather (extremely) vocal. 2 baying Beagles, a rescued Greyhound, a “Labradoodle”, a Poodle/Bichon Frise mix that was a puppymill rescue, a Yorkie, and one great, big and apparently agressive German Shepard that came through the door in “wolf mode”–hackles raised from the backs of his ears to the base of his tail, head down and ears up, glaring at every other dog in the room. (no offense to the wolf fanciers; but he *looked* like a wolf) The 1 OES was “singing counterpoint” with the baying Beagles, the Greyhound was looking at Maggie like he couldn’t make up his mind whether he wanted to play with Maggie or eat her, and the Labradoodle went after one of the Beagles. (couldn’t say that I blamed it; after the first 30 seconds of non-stop baying, *I* wanted to go after the Beagle, too. 😀 ) The poor Bichon spent the entire lecture part of the class cowering behind her owner’s chair. 🙁
Given that Corgis can be a bit vocal, I was pretty surprised that Maggie did not make one sound for that whole class…..okay, I admit it; I was VERY surprised…. She behaved wonderfully, like she’d done this before, although I kind of doubt that from what the breeder told us; she said Maggie has had show ring handling, no obedience. She catches on pretty quickly for a dog with no obedience background! 8)
She was even good for my husband, who is a total pushover sometimes. 😀
So she now has “homework” in the form of doing a sit/stay, down/stay, and stand/stay. I’m glad she’s small enough to work with indoors–it’s freakin’ COLD outside! :nea:I’m wondering if the other cat is responding like this because the older cat’s urine would smell different because of the medicine. Add to that the thought that the old cat went to the vet, and if they did anything to him, that would alter his smell, too. Whenever any of mine go to the vet, they usually get a not so welcome home greeting with hissing and dirty looks for a few days.
Just a thought…..What kind of terms are you on with your vacationing manager? Is there a way you can talk with her prior to your meeting?
On the tape recorder, it’s generally not allowed as evidence in court unless the tape was made with prior knowledge of being recorded–you’d have to set it on the table, and then he most assuredly won’t say the same things he’d otherwise feel free to say.And I wouldn’t bring up the ambulance call event at that meeting, since that wasn’t connected with you; and they are aware of his being reported for it. If she brings it up in context, fine, but don’t you do it first. It’s just another nail in his career coffin. Stick to your issue, and try to keep your cool. If you lose it, you will be branded an “emotional B*tch” which will not help your case. Be calm, cool, collected and above all polite and “respectful”. Yeah, I KNOW that’s a tall order, but you MUST stay focused. I have been working in a “non-traditional field” now for over 25 years. (when I am working, that is…. 😳 )
If you work in a male dominated field, there will ALWAYS be some amount of latent sexism. You just need to pick what you’ll be totally offended by and what you can more or less let slide. Sad, but true.In all my years, there have only been 2 guys that got me SO very pissed off that in one case I walked out of the room and slammed the door hard enough to crack wired safety glass, and in the other case I was furious to the point of tears and left the room to go compose myself. And I have one *very* bad temper; always have. But I’ve learned how to pick my battles, and how to practice diplomacy, even if it damn near kills me. Hard lesson, but a necessary one. I’ve chewed the insides of my cheeks to bloody shreds more than once trying to hang on to my patience and temper.
This guy is obviously a member of the….*cough*….”Richard Cranium” family…..(think about nicknames on that, and you’ll get it; I’m being more or less…ummm…pg rated here. 😀 ) Just keep saying that to yourself and try not to smile. 😉If I had to keep it to a coast, I’d probably say East. I’ve been to 28 out of 50 states, and there are at least 25 of those that I’d rather live in than NJ. I’ve been in every eastern coastal state from Maine to Florida, driven out to Illinois, down to Arkansas–lived there for 2 years, hit Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana and flew to California right after high school and spent about a month out there starting in the San Francisco area then down to Santa Barbara. Too many things go on in California; wildfires, mudslides, earthquakes……
Of course where I live in NJ would still be subjected to hurricanes, since I’m only 20 miles inland, and technically ditto for wildfires with the Pine Barrens literally right in my backyard. 😕
But the one place we’ve gone that was to me like Frozen’s comment on England and coming home, was Kentucky. When we went down there for the first time 2 yeas ago, it was like going to Heaven–there are mountains (bigger than here in NJ), rivers in deep gorges, rolling hills covered in lush green grass and of course horse farms in every direction! We’ve been down there in the late spring and in early summer, and their summer wasn’t as humid as it is here. I’m hoping to go this year in the fall.Yeah, the furkids ARE good listeners. With me the one who used to always have me cry on his shoulders, though is my old gelding, Shah–he’s the Pinto on my website. He just turned 32 on Jan. 3, and I’ve had him since he was 4. Gods, where has the time gone? 😕
Maggie is funny; she’s afraid that the cats are going to steal her toys, so if a cat even *looks* like it’s interested in a toy, she goes and gets it, and moves it out of their reach. I don’t care if she does that as long as there’s no lifted lip to go along with it. She’s crate possessive, too, which I’ve also been working on. She was kenneled with a bunch of other dogs, so I’m guessing it was always a challenge to get and keep something for herself. If she’s in her crate with the door open, and a cat comes too close, she just barely lifts a lip–no sound, just a nose/whisker twitch, which means I need to be watching her to be able to correct her. Luckily I’m pretty good at reading her body language.
When I had her outside with me yesterday back by the horses, my 9 month old filly came running over to the fence. She’s fascinated by Maggie, because the only other dog she’s seen was Flurry, who was a total opposite of Maggie. So she comes prancing over to the fence, snorting, then she’d go running away bucking, only to come back and do it all again. And Maggie was running up and down the fence with her, then she started doing circles around me (she’s on a long flexi-lead until we’re sure that she won’t spook and run off) as fast as she could go, which is surprisingly fast. I wish I had the video camera with me for that one.
There is a t-shirt I just saw the other night that’s part of the “funny friends” collection that was for the Corgis that said “Corgi–in search of leg extensions”. They really *do* look like someone sawed them off at the knees. 😀 Between that and her ears, which I swear she can hear Tokyo with, she’s been a lot of fun to play with. I just got a whole bunch of different dog toys for her to pick from. I’m trying to find the types she likes best. We also got her her own little seat belt harness and a seat cover for the car, along with a portable water bottle/dish. So now there’s no good excuse for NOT bringing her with us when we go somewhere. 8)
This being on crutches thing has gotten really old, especially since it’s got me more or less confined to quarters which I’m not used to. Normally we go do stuff on the weekends, like go visit a lighthouse, or some craft village or whatnot. But that means walking. I can’t really do that on the crutches for more than a little while before I’m wiped out. Grrrrrrrrrrr 👿 That’s bad enough, but now it’s keeping me from enjoying my dog (and getting more exercise in the bargain 😳 )
Drag0n, you need to DOCUMENT EVERY WORD HE SAYS TO YOU. Keep a small note pad handy and write every little thing down. What he says, day/time/date, what YOU say, were there witnesses or not, what THEY said, circumstances surrounding the conversation, etc. then get yourself a bound notebook with numbered pages, and keep the transcribed stuff in there. Because if this head case decides to keep making disparaging remarks, if you have evidence in writing, and he doesn’t, it’s a lot easier to defend your case should it get to that point. Keep the bound book in your car or locked securely away somewhere. Should you need to talk to a lawyer about being harassed, it’s always better to have written evidence, especially if you enemy does not. Trust me on this one; been there, done that. Got the trophy and went home. 8)
Here are some shots of Maggie.
Okay….I FINALLY got my act together, I think. 😳 Here’s the link for the Blue Ribbon Curlie and friends album. Let me know if this worked. It’s been forever since I posted pics.
And apologies in advance for the so-so pics; I am NOT a photographer anymore! 😆
And a MILLION thanks to Machineguts again!!Good for you, Darjeb! I know how much you loved Tristen. The best cure for a broken heart is puppy breath, even if the “puppy” is an older dog. 😀 You can’t replace them when they leave, but you can fill up the hole in your heart with another furbaby to love. I’m glad to hear you’re thinking of a new baby. George and I have been so much happier with Maggie here. The house isn’t quite so empty or quiet any more.
On another note, I saw the doctor yesterday morning, and he decided I needed to stay in the hard cast for another 2 weeks, dammit! 🙄 🙄 He promised that the next visit would see me out of the cast and into a walking boot. So, 2 more weeks of crutches. 😈 I’m beginning to feel like a groundhog; instead of 8 more weeks of winter, it’s 2 more weeks of cast and crutches. Phooey!
Ah well…..better to play it safe and “behave” than to screw up the leg worse, end up needing surgery and being on crutches for a much longer time, I guess. *SIGH*Isn’t that just such a *wonderful* feeling, knowing something’s up? (VERY heavy sarcasm here) It’s like the bottom falls out of your stomach. I know how you feel, LFB–went through it myself back in August. 🙄 Here’s to hoping for something better down the road; “one door closes, another opens up” as the saying goes. *passes the bottle of Bailey’s*
