moving on up

this week is chills last week in baby classes - next week he moves up to novice!
and cherry goes back to class this week - i took time off because she needed a month to recover from her spay/pexy, and we reworked some things with privates.
of course, they cant both be in novice so cherry is moving to a different class on a different day.

we started back with agility and foundation work too - both dogs love it (of course)
berlin may be going back to nosework in a few weeks too... (if i can afford it, ha!)

class tonight with chill was good. hes been a little off... hard to put my word on it, but quieter and tiring more than usual. i dont know if this is maturation or if something is wrong. i get this way if my dogs sleep too much ha ha ha ha ha.

anyway in class his heeling is getting super pushy. i need to remember to keep my cookie back because hes starting to heel like rah and kathy yelled at me :) hes pushing and pushing and pushing and i need to start pushing back into his space. hes so funny though for left turns he cranks his head around and i need to break that because its so obvious!!!!

worked fronts and recalls and attention with them - hes having problems when other people throw toys and he's supposed to be focused. one sounded like a db hitting the floor and his ears were ALL over the place... like mother like son. will need to work on that for his entire career im sure. worked stays (sit and down) and chill has forgotten how to stand on command so we have to visit that this week :)

on his heeling i have to remember to make eye contact. all the other dobes besides rah have never wanted eye contact and doing it pushed them back - kathy says i need to look at him and push him because hes starting to forge and get crazy. and hes also starting to anticipate and cheat even when he doesnt know whats going on.

hes such a good boy though and tries.

both baby dogs are in foundation agility and love it - we are working on contacts, flatwork, starting jump grids and boxwork. little geniuses!

videos and pics to follow! we may be going out to the schutzhund club on saturday. berlin wants to bark at people and i think chill wants to bite (i mean herd) everything.

motivations

i know it sounds silly in some ways, but on most days its really hard for me to find the motivation to train any of the dogs. for so many reasons - they aren't rah, rah's not here, rah was different/easier/more fun, rinse lather and repeat.

i know what i should be doing, but honestly most days i have the best intentions but i am not.

i need to start. but its so hard.

(even worse that this weekend, rah and i should have been at the all star tournament. and we're not).

OohRah 6/29/05 - 7/17/12

Rah is gone. It's hard to even write those words, but so many of you knew him that I have to tell everyone, share him with everyone even in his death. 

I still remember the day I met him - in the main office at DRU in NH he barged in and caused a ruckus, falling off the couch. I can't tell you why I brought him home, but he didn't kill cats and Willow didn't hate him so that was a start. I was told this blue dog, taken from a gang in CT and esconced to NH in hiding, was destined to be returned repeatedly because he was nonstop - he needed a job and he needed to be worked. They were right - after four days of no sleep at all, I was all set to return the dog that panted and circled, didn't know how to lay down, and had not slept a wink - then he curled up on the couch with me and I was hooked. 

OohRah was my party boy. It took over a year to see him lay down in the house of his own volition outside of the crate (and I thought he was sick). He was the worst pet known to man - he stole and ate so many things that he was a pro at induced vomiting. Thanksgiving turkey, 6 lbs of chili, a whole pizza, banana cream pies - he was quick, he was stealthy, and he knew how to break into the trash. The night before I lost him, he stole all the tupperware out of the sink methodically to clean them one by one.

OohRah was a big dog. Not just because he stood 32", but he filled a room. He demanded attention, he demanded to be watched, he demanded that everyone focus on him all the time. He was the class clown. If anyone laughed while he showed, he got a glint in his eye and bad things were guaranteed to happen. He was to the end, a showman. Many remember his first venture into obedience at DPCA nationals in 2007 - him biting me in the ring, running around, jumping ring gates. I still remember all the wonderful things said to me, urging me not to give up on the blue dog. He bit me in the ring the day he finished his UD too. 

 

OohRah was a first for so many things. He was my Novice A dog. He was my first CD, first CDX, first UD, first UDX leg. He was my first dog to get rankings. He was my first blue. He was my first tournament dog. He was the first dog I ever had to get an agility leg, the first to try bitework, tracking, flyball - so many things we did together. Anything I have done, he was the first. 

OohRah was NOT my first dog with DCM. At 4.5 years old, in routine screening with his cardiologist he was diagnosed with occult DCM in the arrhythmogenic form. I was devastated, but it didn't stop us. We had just finished his CDX (a success at DPCA nationals 2009 where he walked away with multiple blue ribbons) and he was preparing for utility. I decided that this diagnosis would not rule our lives - if Rah wanted to show and train we would. And we did. 

OohRah was the third dog in the nation to participate in the Stem Cell Study at University of FL vet school. I made the scariest decision of my life when I let them inject stem cells into his heart, knowing he could not wake up - but he did, and he flourished. He was the first dog to make it to the completion of the study and he did the entire time showing, having fun, and living his life. I am forever thankful for all who supported us and the time it may have given us. I am also thankful for his wonderful cardiologist, Dr. Goodwin at Garden State Veterinary Specialists in NJ - aggressive treatment gave me what time I had. Never enough, but it was time. 

OohRah was a party through and through. Every day I showed him, every time I entered the ring people watched and people laughed. There were many tears shed when we finished our UD - it took a village not because he didn't want to do it - but because he wanted to do it too much. Anyone who watched him could see that. I will forever be thankful to the Walkers for believing in us when so many others didn't and for being with me throughout the way and crying with me each time I needed to (including last night). Every morning, every night - I laughed and thanked whomever you thank for a dog like this. 

Rah was my special boy. There's an emptiness here without him, and I will spend the rest of my life looking for another dog like him. Not just because he was a great doberman, but because he was an amazing dog. He had heart and he gave everything he had and then some. Everything he did, he did for him - he loved the show ring, he loved life, and he loved living it. He was hard headed and obstinate, he ignored what he didn't want to do and ruled the house and my life. I had 6 marvelous years with him, and it will never be enough. 

Rah collapsed running in the yard of a fatal arrhythmia - he had eaten cereal with me for breakfast, barked at the neighbors, and run loose in the parking lot at work. He had almost knocked my coffee over, taking me out while running, and did his "Rah scream" while playing bitey face with his sister as I herded them both into the yard. His last moments were barking and running - He was gone before he ever hit the ground.

Keep chasing your lights Rah, and know that I will miss you more than I could ever say. You will forever be the dog that everyone else has to measure up to - and they will forever come up short. No one can ever be what you were -  my blueberry, my noodle. 

Wherever you are, I hope it's Six Flags forever. More flags, More fun. 

ARCHX Bowie's Semper Fidelis v DRU, UD ASCA-CDX CDX-H D-CD RE RL1X RL2X RL3 VC ATT WAC TT CGC 

2008 CDSP #11 Nov B

2008 APDT #17 ARCH

2009 F&F All Breed #10 Open A

2009 F&F Working Group #3 Open A

2009 F&F Doberman #2 Open A

2010 CDSP #17 Nov C

2010 CDSP #9 Open A

2010 All Star #7 Super Rally

2011 CDSP #16 Open C

Rah is gone

i dont know how else to do this, or what else to say. but rah died this morning. i still cant believe he's gone.

the littles go to a match (video proof!)

last weekend i took three new dogs to matches, and one new handler.

my boyfriends sister has the "showyourdog" bug and has her young english cocker spaniel (incidentally, my dogs very bestest friends!) in obedience classes - hes ready to start matching and has his first entry (in rally) this month.

so i took rock it!, cherrybomb and chill to the match. it was everyones first real match - cherry and chill have had one at our own training building, but this is the first time ive asked them to perform in front of others at another training building.

the dogs did spectacular! i was so concerned cherry would disconnect from me, but she was a super star! she was so attentive and focused and up and bouncy i was so pleased! chill was his super star self and while we had some issues with clapping that we had to work out he did so well ! rock it and chrissi were amazing too - i didnt want to be too forceful but i had a lot of hints for her because she's brand new to this - i wish i had someone to hold my hand when i started, and i WISH someone had told me that 5 minutes of awesome high energy fun training is better than 30 minutes of half hearted. i want my dogs 100% into me, and in the beginning i want play and fun - and she had her little english cocker spaniel heads up prancing in heeling and tugging like a doberman :)

without further adieu, i do have videos of two of the entries :)
i used a few of them in a training discussion on another forum - because i used a physical correction on chill, i use an ignore and reset on cherry with her heeling, and i have to look at see if i can find NRMs in there.

chill:

the bomb!

what these videos have taught me: i need to start really working fronts on the babies. for real.

oh. and i need to get cherry her PAL.

not really training related

i still have to go out and train the dogs sometime today but right now we're digesting a late lunch.

yesterday chill accompanied me to both sides of my family's houses for parties and get togethers. he was, as expected, a huge hit and lovable all around.

things he likes: babies
things he doesn't like: pools

he was awesomely well behaved (things i dont get with the dobermans!)

but he had fun.

played with the hose:

you know hes going in to lick the baby, right? 

baby licking is hard work

i may be biased, but i think this little thing is quite adorable

all the to-do about a blog...

we hit the big time when my blog was featured on a facebook group :)
nothing major, but its nice to be in groups where i can discuss training. hopefully we all learn something, right?

matched the baby dogs last weekend. they did great - the first run cherry was scattered and distracted, afraid of the post and her coffee mug and couldnt pull it together. her second run she was able to focus on me and work and push and heel and be a smart baby dog. i think she just needs a lot more time than any of my other dogs ahve needed to adjust to a location - even if its her training building, because everyone and everything was different. she had quite a few good SFE's with great focus, and in the end she was bouncing in heel.

chill on the other hand could care less. he's a super star and just takes everything in stride. he worked and focused on me the entire time both runs. we did heeling, attention work, db work, marking, sit/stand/down work, and just did a lot of work. he was even able to work at the ring gates with other dogs sniffing him through the gate -w hat a good boy!


time to get matching again. cherry was finally spayed so i can ILP/PAL her soon, and then id like to do beginner novice with her sometime this year. and maybe some rally?

i leave you with this:
the cuteness of my littles.