15 July 2012

Occupy Dog Show


We went to the USDAA show in Monterey on Sunday. My thought being, to eek out any last bits of dog show left in my dogs. And I bought a tiny red mini tent, made by Chinese slave labor and sold by costo, the nifty kind that folds into a little sack, pops right up and weighs as much as a chipmunk stuffed in a sock. Big enough for me and the dogs if my legs stick out the front.

Will also work as a guest room for any out of town visitors. We could also all zip ourselves in a hide out if we wanted to. I much like my new little red tent.

Otterpop, apparently upon hearing the rumor this may have been her last time in the show ring, flipped me a massive F-U and reverted to super speedy Otterpop of Awesomeness, winning Gamblers and Standard, the only 2 classes I entered her in. Go figure. Otterpop messes with my mind. This is after being pretty lame all week, not able to jump up into the car or on to the tall things she enjoys jumping up on in her daily chores of official asshole of our house and barn. She even had to walk on a LEASH at the beach one morning because I thought her hinky leg looked that crummy one day.

So whatever, Otterpop. You are are so damn mysterious, with your blinky chihuahua eyes and cattle dog tail and it sure is a good thing I really, really, really like you.

I don't know if Otterpop is retired now. You'll have to ask her if you're interested. And likely she'll lie and yell obscenities and start hollering about crawdad fishing or something. Good luck getting anything out of Otterpop.

Gustavo just ran the 2 jumpers classes. In regular masters jumpers, big disaster and that was that. So much for his amazing Masters Jumpers streak. Gustavo and his weirdness washes over me like a river of grasshoppers. In the Masters Challenge Jumpers, the interrnational flavor class, a pretty good run, just one fatal handling error by me that put him in an off course tunnel, but these are the kinds of courses we really do like to run and he was focused and just so, normal. After he ran away off the startline. Then came right back which caught me flat footed and I felt like I spent half of the run just trying to catch up.

I love Gustavo very much. Whatever he does, I am not going to sweat it. Running away off of a startline is a pretty despicable offense, but because I have no expectations of him, we just go on. Chipping away, maybe some day there is some more agility for him, and maybe not.

Also, there was an outdoor bar with various types of beer at this trial. Beer for lunch! Somehow in my scurrying around of dog show stuff, I never made it to the beer. Or got lunch. Sad but true.

And also, I irritated many people with new project I will call Sort of Dog Shopping. I am sort of shopping for a puppy. I am a very picky, all over the map browser, being the poor shopper that I am, and a creepy stalker of puppies and friends that are good at raising puppies soliciting advice about my imaginary puppy that exists in my mind.


I would like a puppy that would grow up to fit into an airplane tote bag and run in the 16" or 12" divisions. It would have long legs, short fur, and a cute face. It would be very sweet and as smart as a monkey. It would probably be a little wild and a lot fast, get along with the rest of team small dog, and have some kind of herding ancestry. It may come from a breeder, unless this makes me feel to sad for all the dogs in rescue. It may come from rescue, unless I am too nervous to get a puppy of unknown origins. In the crapshoot of dog training, me with the random selection of roadside rejects, I would like to stack my deck just a little more by getting a puppy who is a learning sponge of a clean slate, ready to learn about how awesome agility can be. And who will pee on my floor and wake me up at night and probably chew on my furniture.

Maybe I am asking for too much. But I just thought I would let you know. Because you never know.

13 comments:

Teresa said...

Our rescue papillon really isn't much hairier than Gustavo. Not exactly short hair, but not hairy. Oversize at 14", long legs. Just a thought.

Kathryn said...

Very best wishes for your Sort-Of Shopping. Anyone who knows how much a chipmunk in a sock weighs ought to have an easy time of it.

Karissa said...

They don't fit your "herding ancestry" requirement, but you should get an Alaskan Klee Kai. :o) We need more awesome agility handlers to suffer through, errr.... I mean ENJOY and SHOWCASE this breed. :o) You seem like you are tenacious enough to take one on. They are not for the faint of heart (can you say "Northern Breed?"), but once you have them on board they are awesome, awesome little dogs.

I run Kaiser in NADAC and USDAA (well, he's done like three trials there so far). He won every class he ran clean at NADAC Championships last year, one of them by five seconds! There is a handler (Steffi) in the TN region that runs two AKK -- Nari recently was the first Klee Kai to earn the ADCH.

The breeder I would recommend most for a "sporting" Klee Kai would be Del Mar Klee Kai -- and lucky you, they are somewhere in your basic region: http://www.delmarkleekai.com/index.html Be sure to check out the agility pages for information on Nari & Starbuck.

Basically you'd have to be crazy to take on a project like a Klee Kai, but they are super fun little dogs and you will spend hours per day just taking in their cuteness.

You'd be looking at getting a mini (13" - 15" tall). They tend to be the best agility dogs, too. The toys are a little spacey and the standards risk putting you over the 16" class.

Just look how cute they are when they run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YI4IrhW-cIc (Kaiser at home) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMb--1y-n8E (Kaiser at NADAC Championships)

BTW, the breeder at Del Mar Klee Kai drools over proven agility handlers taking her dogs and has been known to give steep discounts....

*end sales pitch ;o)

Anonymous said...

Shopping can be fun!~ and I certainly don't think you're asking too much.

Enjoy.

team small dog said...

The klee kais are precious, I have never seen them before! I have a friend who rescued northern breeds. She was even able to do agility with one! Then she had to move to oregon to buy a house close to dog sledding. I think she has a whole dog sled team of her own now. I think anyone doing agility with a husky of any size totally wins the award of awesome dog trainer and my hats off to you and I would never, ever be at this level of dog training awesomeness!

Anonymous said...

We found Boss in rescue who is a Border/Jack. She is a great dog being fun loving, wicked fast and smart as a whip. The only bad thing is she went a tiny bit over 16", so runs 16" performance, but because of her wicked fastness, holds her own. http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff74/sclmarm/100_1005.jpg http://youtu.be/IOmg7UAYedU

For some reason you seem to have an aversion to Jacks, but these can be wicked fast, cuddly and have great senses of humor, but requires that the owner has a sense of humor too:) I recommend getting Jacks older as I can't imagine trying to raise one from the get go. They do fit in sherpa bags. Boss, not so much.

Elf said...

I believe that I am looking for the same dog that you are looking for. So if you find one and he has a sister, do let me know.

team small dog said...

Boss looks awesome! I would not rule out a border jack! I think I would enjoy some border with my jack. I would really like some herding dog! I love terriers, Ruby is a terrier, I suspect Gustavo has some terrier. I am feeling more herding dog this time around! Also, Otterpop has never met a jack russell that she can get along with, something about them and her is not a great fit. But a border jack, maybe yes.

Anonymous said...

Jacks can rub some dogs the wrong way:) To fast, unpredictable and in your face for some dogs.

Boss is from That'll Do Border Collie rescue in Canada. You know the Food Lady's blog, Wootube http://www.wootube.net/ Her Spring looks Border/Jackish to me but she thinks she's Jack/Whippet.

You can also find her rescue dogs on FB and here http://pnwbcrescue.org/ Maybe drop her a line and she'll keep an eye out for you or steer you in the right direction. If you are interested in a Border/Jack Canada might be a good place to look. I've been told that they like the Border/Jacks for flyball up there.

I did get a little BC who has a very smooth coat from the above rescue website. She's a bit over 18" and 32lbs, which is probably bigger than you want, but she is a nice size. Here's a picture that kind of compares the size of Boss with Poppet. Poppet is on the left and Boss on the right. http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff74/sclmarm/Park%20Trips/Park%20Trips%202012/100_5496.jpg

Have fun searching!

Jenn said...

I already own the dog you seek, but she has dopplegangers all over the place. I think she's chi/min pin.

Very drivy, loves agility. Black with a little lighting bolt on her chest (her coloring looks like a patterdale terrier)

GOOD LUCK! Hope you find one just like Cricket. She is pure joy.

Jenn said...

Now I'm off and running...

This dog looks like a sib to my Cricket:

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/23621012

And some other similar dogs

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/20400396

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/22524274

Oh, look, a terrier:
http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/23571355

This one has a sharp gaze, too bad the photo's so blurry (you're looking for fast?)

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/23555083

This one's just cute (I have a real weakness for rose ears!)

http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/21983827

This one looks pretty forward going!
http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/23271217


I dunno about this one, but he makes my heart melt:
http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/23312741

Anyway. thanks for a lovely little diversion for today. Hope you have fun browsing the links.

Jenn

Bailey (chi/rat terrier, agility dog)
Cricket (chi/min pin or something, agility wiz!)
Sargent Brownie Hoggle (chi, protector of the house)

team small dog said...

Thanks Jenn for the links.
Yes, we have no shortage of cute little dogs in rescue and shelters around here! I could probably get a new one every week, just from the side of the road. My hopes are to find a 7-8 week old puppy of a herding breed that is also small. A challenge from rescue!

Jenn said...

Good luck. I know they are out there.

One of my agility classes had a mini aussie who came out of rescue. He was 8 pounds of drive. Loved agility.

Can't wait to see the story evolving.