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Hi friends, I just spent an hour writing all the news of the day and lost it all when I tried to publish it. I am sorry but I desperately need sleep now and will have to try and rewrite it all tomorrow. The big news from today was that Mora, Claire and Cory Blythes Black Russian Terrier, finished her championship today with her third major! Congratulations and big hugs to them all and thank you guys for letting me show her to this title! Hi Friends, Sophie has been to our house a few times so she just stepped right into the routine as soon as we got back home.  The old red beast, I still love him! Now, it’s time to do the major preparations for the Denver shows! We are excited. Since we haven’t yet found a new van yet we have resurrected the old red beast! I find I have missed driving the old box van. I’ve spent a lot of years driving it and a ton of miles have gone under those wheels too. It has tons of space but it is also a thirsty beast, thank goodness Denver isn’t all that far! It did take more than a few dollars to get it checked out and tuned up again so now I will have to drive it to at least a few shows to make that expenditure worthwhile. Sorry there aren’t any match pictures or pictures of the babies nor reports of their adventures. They will definitely be going to the shows though so we will see what they think of that! I will do my best to keep everyone posted on the shows and if I have time, some of the preparations! Talk to you all soon! Odebt
Hi friends!  It's a little cold here at the moment Sorry I haven’t written lately! I have been so busy with the dogs and getting prepared for the seminar and the upcoming shows that I haven’t had time for everything I would like to do. We are very excited about the upcoming seminar, we have passed the halfway mark for reservations and it’s always great to have interest and great participation. To me it’s a good sign that people actually want to know more and are open to learning all they can. That can only be good for dog shows and exhibitors. Bill likes to play Black Jack every so often, and he is very good at it, especially when we go to Las Vegas. He says it is always easier to play and win when you are at a table with others who really know how to play the game. A table that has novice players without a clue actually ruin his chances at winning. They disrupt the flow of the game and the odds as well. I think you could apply this to dog showing more than most people realize. I can see this affect in the classes in particular. Playing successfully at cards can be scientific as well as understanding the part of luck and the individuals ability to play and understand how the game works. But you can turn luck in your direction with knowing what you hold and what the likely hood of the next card will be as dealt by the dealer. In the dog show ring you have a definite advantage by knowing exactly what you have as well and knowing the likelihood of what the judge is going to deal out. You could look at your handling and presentation as being equal to you raising your bet and to keeping on your game face. The dealer in Vegas is controlled by the “house” and the AKC judge is ( hopefully ) controlled by the Standard for your breed. Of course in both situations there has to be honesty and integrity. In both situations we know there are dishonest factors. Still, in the big picture it is not as common as so many people fear or complain about. Sometimes the luck of the draw is with someone else too, and sometimes they just have a better hand.  Playtime is important to a show dog too I guess what I am trying to say in a round about way is that if you increase your knowledge of all factors of dog shows and their purpose you increase you chances of doing well at it. When we compete in a ring where everyone knows what they are doing and the ring goes smoothly and there is no “odd man out” we all have a better chance of winning because at that point the judge can judge dogs without frustration, delay or confusion. That is one advantage we want to enable for us and for anyone who really cares about the sport by sharing information and helping people educate themselves, and thus one reason we are willing to present a seminar, for every ones advantage. Enough of philosophy for now. We are busy right now because we are also working to get dogs ready for the Denver dog shows. We are also still staying busy with raising the two Chow Chow pups, Tank and Diamond, with the intention of making them natural show dogs. We also added Daphne this past week to the list of campers. She is a Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier and she is very very sweet. She is just a year old and still needs to build her confidence but she has a good attitude so it shouldn’t be too difficult. The Denver shows will be her first shows and the idea is to evaluate her competitiveness with the dogs who are currently out and also to see how she does as a show dog in general. Right now bonding with us is the main reason she is here, to get to know and trust us. From there we can build her confidence along with widening her realm of experiences that also contribute to her confidence and quality of life, with the hope of her being a “show ” who can finish her championship.  Jodie in the snow Tank and Diamond had an adventure this past Monday too. The got to go meet the local veterinarian for their vaccinations and for a check up. Tank at 10 1/2 weeks old weighs 21.9 pounds and Diamond weighs 17.3 pounds. The veterinarian was delighted that they showed no fear and neither of them fussed about their shots or examinations. Tank was laid back and stood very well for everything. Diamond on the other-hand wasn’t exactly bad, but her curiosity made her want to see and taste everything within her reach. Including the stethoscope, the thermometer, the Tech, the little rug they put on the exam table so they had secure footing and well….I think you get the picture, right? After the vet visit we had to go pick up more of their puppy food too so off to Petsmart we went. They of course traveled safely in a airline crate but it was up on the back seat situated so they could see out the window much to their delight! They watched everything all the way into Colorado Springs, which is over 30 miles from this vets office. When we arrived we put slip leads on them and since they are not well leash trained yet we put them in a shopping basket to take them in the store, leads still attached for safety. We didn’t get more than 10 feet into the store before we were swamped by people who wanted to see and pet them. You can’t ask for a better opportunity. Since it was a weekday and early afternoon the crowd was mostly employees. They fawned over the pups saying things like “We never see Chow Chows” and “They must be show dogs, they are so sweet and pretty” and “You can tell they are special”. Both diamond and Tank were delighted and well behaved. Of course once we were able to break away from the group we still had two hangers on who wanted to help us shop for the pups. We let them show us where everything was even though we knew already. We got the puppy food and we found and fitted two rolled leather collars that will have some room for growth. We chose rolled leather so it wouldn’t smash and break their neck coats. They had worn nylon puppy collars just so they would get used to having something around their necks in preparation for lead training. They needed something more substantial and that would be harmless to their coats. They are doing okay on their lead training but continue to be inconsistent on their feeling about who should be in charge or not. They can be stubborn but they will find I can be far more stubborn even if it’s dealt out with patience! Of course we could not leave the store before picking up a few new toys either. They are getting into the teething age and we want to be sure they have allowed chewies, besides, who can resist buying toys!  Camp Yoder meeting Besides Tank, Diamond and Daphne, we are still working with Jodie, the year old Chow Chow, Buckie, the year old Chihuahua, Lizzy who is Bill’s Pointer and of course Danny, the multiple Best in Show Kerry Blue Terrier. Yes, even though Danny was number one for 8 months last year, he is just like any athlete needs continuous work and conditioning. We still have to find a time to get Sophie, the Brittany, here too in preparation for the Denver dog shows. We have majors in several breeds we are showing there and two of the dogs could finish with just one win each! Regrettably there is no point competition for Lizzy so we have not decided if she is going to come along or not. We also hope the weather stays decent for Sunday so we can take Jodie, Tank, Diamond and Buckie to a match to work them in a show situation. Jodie and Buckie so they can work through their nervousness around strangers and Tank and Diamond for the experience with the hopes they will never have to be nervous at the shows. Another chore I have today is to try and dig out the Cavaletti poles which I left on the ground out in the yard since we like to use them everyday. However, we had a storm as many of you know several days ago. The storm covered my Cavaletti poles in a drift of over three feet and then the wind blew and froze the drift pretty solid. We have had two days now of over 30 degrees so I am hoping to be able to dig the poles out so we can get back to using them. The poor Chihauhuas haven’t been able to use their outdoor run either since it is still filled with snow over two feet deep. They don’t like the cold anyhow and are completely happy running around in the house.  Winter.....cold beauty, but hard to work dogs in to prepare for shows! It’s time for me to get back to the dogs, enough computer time for now! I hope to see everyone at the match and/or the shows! Be sure to give each of your dogs a hug! It’s good for them and for you! Odebt P.S. I have added shows to the calendar of upcoming events we are hoping to go to. Take a look if you are interested!
Hi friends, We had our first big snow storm of the year and it was a good one! The highway is closed and the snow is on average a foot deep in the front yard with drifts in the range of 2 to 6 feet. The sun came out yesterday and the dogs enjoyed playing in the snow repeatedly though we didn’t let them stay out long at any one time since the wind chill was pretty bad. Today is much better, sunny all day, and they have been outside for longer  Tank was leaping through the snow to get anywhere! That's a pretty good workout! periods. The Kerrys didn’t want to stay outside much at all, so they really needed the house time. No regular work has gotten done but it never hurts to take a day or two off for everyone. There has been plenty of house play time so no one was bored either. I am not sure we will be able to get out to the match tomorrow now. We would have to get on the road at 5:30 am and drive 146 miles. It just doesn’t sound sensible. I guess we will see how it goes. Here are a few pictures of the fun the Chow Chows had in the snow:  Diamond with a little frosting!  Breaking a trail
 Jodie really likes the snow  Who else would lay in the snow and be so relaxed
 Fun is fun, regardless of the weather! Hi Friends,  Playing in the sunshine on a winter day The weather has been pretty good lately so I have been spending a lot more time outside with the dogs than inside. They like that better too. We have been working cavalettis and taking walks and the Chihuahuas have been getting to “Zoom” around the entire front yard which makes them happy and giddy with what feels like freedom for them. Our front yard is big and to them it is huge.  Danny is a good boy with the puppies! I am wondering if Jodie was worked on cavalettis before she came here because she just loves them and took to them right away. I don’t even have to leash her up to go through them, she just follows me back and forth expecting praise and petting at each end which I am delighted to give her. Today Jodie also finally accepted our grandson Owen and even likes him now. Of course jealousy proved to be her motivation. She is however, afraid of a little visitor that we have this weekend and I can’t really blame here for it because for some reason, very few of the dogs do like this little boy. In this situation I am sure not going to push her in any way since it is not just her but most of the others. Danny doesn’t like him enough that he always goes after his legs nipping at him and Danny does like most kids. I am letting him play with the Chow puppies, for his sake and theirs since they make no judgement like the adult dogs seem to.
It will hopefully help them with their exposure to kids and maybe he will learn a little about being around dogs more. I do have to supervise  Playing around with the cavalettis since I don’t know why so many dogs just don’t like him. He never seems cruel nor does he mistreat them as far as I have seen. He just might be one of those people who have poor body language when it comes to dogs and sends the wrong messages. That could be why the pups are okay with him, they have not yet really learned to read body language from people very well yet, they are still developing that skill. The pups are coming along great too. I am anxious to get them out away from the house too, they get their second set of vaccines next week so they should be ready after that. They still have much that they are learning here too so it isn’t as if we were losing out. They are progressing well, growing fast and they are good campers! We haven’t actually worked them on the cavalettis but we leave the poles down on the ground when they are outside and we let them follow Jodie through like little ducks behind their momma duck. It is getting them used to them being there and stepping over them. Tank, especially likes walking over them and even bounding through in play.  interested in the challenge As far as the two pups go, Tank is the better student and he has much more desire to please, Diamond is in my  I got the toy, who wants to chase me? opinion, much more typical of the girls and has a mind of her own that is centered on what she wants first and what I want only if there is incentive or when she is competing with the other dogs. She is simply put….a scoundrel! She is one who runs the other way laughing when you ask her to come. She is the one who has no fear about competing with the adult dogs for toys or food. She gets mad when she is made to do what she doesn’t want to do. Thankfully she does give in once it is impressed upon her that she is not the boss and that the outcome will be good when she does as asked. For instance, her natural greeting used to be an open mouth and play biting. So we started responding with closing her mouth firmly but gently and telling her no, then quickly praising her as we rubbed her all over as long as the mouth remained off our hands and wrists. She got it real quick since we signaled to her the problem area, not the greeting, and the rubbing felt so good along with the good sounding words and tone of voice. Tank pretty much does anything you ask and is much more inclined to just hang out near you and try and do anything you ask. The one thing that both of them share is the shark behavior when it comes to good treats! If they discover they are going to get a great treat, like chicken or cheese, they come at you with teeth clicking! I must say, it’s great that they will like bait, but it’s also going to be a chore to get them to slow down and take it nicely!  Fender bender! watch out!  Tank We have a match to look forward to next weekend with Jodie and we have arrangements to also bring a couple more dogs back to Camp Yoder from the match to get them ready to compete at the upcoming Denver dog shows. I am looking forward to the shows with great anticipation. Danny and I have started going a little stir crazy even though we have been staying busy. We are not used to being home so much and both of us yearn for the show ring. It’s time to go back out with the dogs before the sun goes down and takes the temperatures down with it. The pups have had a nap and they are ready to go pester Jodie and Dan again! First the Chihuahuas get to run the yard for a few minutes. Then they come in and the pups and big dogs go out and play games of fetch, tug of war and tag while I do my job of scooping the front yard. Good times at Camp Yoder! Enjoy your day, Odebt  follow the leader is a regular game P.S. Don’t forget to look at information about our Conformation Seminar in March, you can find more about it on the menu under Seminar 2012! Hi friends, Yesterday I was grooming Danny, GCh. Tontines Chance Redemption ( Kerry Blue Terrier ) and my old lady Satie, Ch. Melbee’s Devils Are Dreaming, also a Kerry. Satie turned 11 this month and is going strong. I have been grooming for more than three and half decades so I find
With my recent post about dog shows and our up coming conformation seminar and the show season starting soon I From there my mind wandered to dog shows in general and the struggles the sport or hobby is fighting with. Fewer new people, registrations being down, fewer people participating that are truly educated about dogs and shows and the real reason to be doing all of it. I thought about the public’s concepts about dog shows, the things that animal rights groups try to use against us and the failings, yes the failings, of AKC. The thoughts about AKC also resulted from an e-mail I had gotten and read earlier in the day and then the infighting on a couple of the dog show lists I read too. Don’t misunderstand me, I think AKC is the best registry out there and I have more respect for AKC shows and championships than for any other here in the U.S.A. I also think they are struggling with the current state of affairs. As I was shampooing Satie and Danny was finishing drying in a crate nearby a thought occurred to me about a possible idea that would serve several purposes. So, I got kind of excited about it and did a lot of wondering if and how it could work. So let me pass this by you. If it seems like a good idea I may have to promote it to the AKC and the sport in general. Writing it down might help me think it out and if you think it is a good idea let me know too. Or if you have any ideas to add or also if you think it isn’t as interesting as I do I would like to hear that too. AKC is always looking for ways to add more interest to the sport ( like Grand Championships to give people more reason to keep showing ) and to support the owner handler with special classes and even special groups and give them more chances to win without going head to head with the professional handlers. I have no problem with those things, I think they are fine goals and good ideas. However, those things do nothing for the promotion of the sport really, nor do they educate or offer any reason why we show the dogs for a particular goal, except for the win and in the case of the owner handler thing they actually make it look like the only way that an owner handler can have a good win is to eliminate the pros rather than encouraging them to be better handlers or get better dogs. Yes I know there are politics, I have often been the victim of them myself since I do not have rich owners that do a lot of advertising nor do I “play the game” of trying to sway judges with favors and such. I insist on taking good dogs to the judges and doing my best to train, groom and present them and I do my share of winning and losing both. At the same time I don’t use politics as the scape goat for any losses we have and I certainly don’t think it should be cried about publicly so that possible new people are turned away with negative impressions of the hobby, the judges and the people involved. So, at the same time my thoughts were influenced by the fact that I am planning a breeding of my own and yesterday we went a looked at someone elses litter to see how they turned out. I have also been discussing health testing and how it affects our decisions on who to breed to. I thought about the way it is hard to find out about a dogs testing and if the owners of stud dogs are always honest or not. I don’t mean that they necessarily lie outright but they might mislead by omission. So, putting those thoughts together with the original purpose of dog shows ( an arena to prove the quality of our breeding stock ) and the perception of the public ( many people think pure bred dogs are less healthy than mixed breeds ) which is not really the case, we just document and track what problems we have in our purebreds so we can avoid them in our breeding while mixed breeds do no such thing. As a result nobody really knows how many things they pass on or not and it certainly isn’t a concern in their choices of who to breed to or not. After having a grooming shop and seeing all the terrible things that show up in mixed breeds I know they are just as likely to have hereditary problems, they just have no idea where they came from, sire or dam or a particular line or any such thing and they certainly don’t do any health testing before or after they have something happen. So,anyhow, put those things together in my mind and this idea occurred to me. Currently there is competition over and above the regular championship classes for “Best Bred- by-exhibitor”, ” Best Veteran”, “Best Owner Handler”, “Best Puppy” and the newest, the “Beginner Puppy” competition. All of these things are great and are fun. I love seeing and showing the puppies and the veterans especially. But, my idea is different. It is different because it serves another purpose, actually a couple of other purposes. One, it provides another arena to compete in like the aforementioned competitions, second, it gives breeders and owners a place to prove something about their dog beyond just another win and third, it would be an arena that would show something very important to John Q. Public and show them that we are doing something to better purebred dogs. Something that mixed breeds, puppy mills and back yard breeders don’t do. It would also show who in the sport is actually doing something toward the goal of healthy dogs and proving the quality of their breeding stock. Here are the requirements for this competition: The dog must be a champion of record and it must be over two years of age. Next, it must have passed at least three health screenings particular to the breed. The three required passed health tests would be determined by the breeds parent clubs and if required to be tested for annually that they be done on a fiscal calendar. They must be recorded with OFA or maybe the Canine Health Foundation, like the Chic testing but they must be all “passed tests”. We could call it the “Best Chic entry” or the “Best CHF entry”. Or maybe it could be named the “Health Merit” competition! Hmmm…… I haven’t worked out a name yet but wouldn’t that be a great offering for competition?! People would be encouraged to health test, the pubic would see that there is an effort to make the breeds healthier and that our beloved purebreds are passing those tests. AKC could use it to show why buying from a responsible breeder or a Breeder of Merit is a good idea and other breeders would have an easier time finding and seeing members of their own breed when they are out looking for a dog to breed to that will better their breed in ways not necessarily visible to the naked eye. Making sure they can win in competition and prove they also fit the standard even as they show that they are health tested with passing results! It could be a competition that would be about the dog fitting the standard AND about the health of the dog, not just how pretty the dogs is like most of the pubic thinks it is. It would take the promotion of the champion dog a step further, a step up. It would be a great opportunity to advertise your breeding stock as healthy. It would be the perfect arena for dogs offered at stud to be shown in or prove the health and quality of your bitch the year before you breed her. It would be the competition to watch if you were looking to breed your bitch or you wanted to see what lines are producing healthy offspring or get, and how they look while knowing that they have passed their basic health screenings. So, I was just thinking…..what do you think? Is it an idea worth pursuing? Odebt
Hi Friends, We have done these seminars multiple times in the past and have always had good feedback and so with each one, we improve our teaching skills as well. It is two days long, the hours are listed in the information on the page and on the flyer. We have found that two days is the shortest amount of time to really be able to impart all of the information that we want to share, to help you be the best exhibitor you can be. It is a lot of information to take in too. Of course after you get all the information, it is up to you to take it and use it to your advantage. Attendance is limited, so if you are interested be sure and reserve your spot soon! |
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