Fun Run News

A very nice Fun Run (Straight Racing practice) on Sunday June 14.
We had everything from a 13 week old puppy, to a near full start box (5) of experienced racing whippets. There was a golden who almost brought the lure all the way back to the start box. I almost hired him for the job. His owner will work on that retrieve a little more. We had a Boston terrier, Border collie, several hot rod Greys,Whippets, Ridgebacks, Silkens, and Borzois. We had several new faces, and many returning friends. Kim Plache' brought some antelope stir fry and Melissa Pearce brought a good potato salad for us all to enjoy. People from as far away as Toronto,Canada and Taos, New Mexico were there along with folks from as close as my neighbors. We finished cleanup less than an hour before the afternoon storms. A good day I hope for all. We had at one point over 20 cars and 40 plus dogs.We look forward to seeing you all again. Keep a watch on the calendar on our yahoo group, http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ZoiBoyz/ for up-coming events.
Our next event here at the ZoiBoyz Ranch will be a sanctioned racing weekend, June 20 & 21; LGRA (Large Gazehound Racing Association), hosted by CLCA combined with NAWRA (Whippet racing) and ISWS (Silkens). Our next Fun Run (coursing practice) will be Saturday, July 18 and hope to have ASFA certification runs for folks wanting to have an opportunity to run at CLCA's annual Grand National September 11, 12, & 13. The 11th is also the ASFA Region 3 Invitational.

Interesting Alpha Dog research

2 June 2009

Using 'dominance' to explain dog behavior is old hat

A new study shows how the behaviour of dogs has been misunderstood for generations: in fact using misplaced ideas about dog behaviour and training is likely to cause rather than cure unwanted behaviour. The findings challenge many of the dominance related interpretations of behaviour and training techniques suggested by current TV dog trainers. Contrary to popular belief, aggressive dogs are NOT trying to assert their dominance over their canine or human “pack”, according to research published by academics at the University of Bristol’s Department of Clinical Veterinary Sciences in the Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research. The researchers spent six months studying dogs freely interacting at a Dogs Trust rehoming centre, and reanalysing data from studies of feral dogs, before concluding that individual relationships between dogs are learnt through experience rather than motivated by a desire to assert “dominance”.

The study shows that dogs are not motivated by maintaining their place in the pecking order of their pack, as many well-known dog trainers preach. Far from being helpful, the academics say, training approaches aimed at “dominance reduction” vary from being worthless in treatment to being actually dangerous and likely to make behaviours worse. Instructing owners to eat before their dog or go through doors first will not influence the dog’s overall perception of the relationship – merely teach them what to expect in these specific situations. Much worse, techniques such as pinning the dog to the floor, grabbing jowls, or blasting hooters at dogs will make dogs anxious, often about their owner, and potentially lead to an escalation of aggression. Dr Rachel Casey, Senior Lecturer in Companion Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Bristol University, said: “The blanket assumption that every dog is motivated by some innate desire to control people and other dogs is frankly ridiculous. It hugely underestimates the complex communicative and learning abilities of dogs. It also leads to the use of coercive training techniques, which compromise welfare, and actually cause problem behaviours.

“In our referral clinic we very often see dogs which have learnt to show aggression to avoid anticipated punishment. Owners are often horrified when we explain that their dog is terrified of them, and is showing aggression because of the techniques they have used – but its not their fault when they have been advised to do so, or watched unqualified ‘behaviourists’ recommending such techniques on TV.” At Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest dog welfare charity, rehoming centre staff see the results of misguided dog training all the time. Veterinary Director Chris Laurence MBE, added: “We can tell when a dog comes in to us which has been subjected to the ‘dominance reduction technique’ so beloved of TV dog trainers. They can be very fearful, which can lead to aggression towards people. “Sadly, many techniques used to teach a dog that his owner is leader of the pack is counter-productive; you won’t get a better behaved dog, but you will either end up with a dog so fearful it has suppressed all its natural behaviours and will just do nothing, or one so aggressive it’s dangerous to be around.”

Science Daily

June 2, 2009

Colorado Springs Shows

Saturday:

Comet and Jazz were suppose to show. Comet in Bred By Dogs and Jazz in 9-12 month puppy dog. When KC brought Jazz out of the kennel for bathing he was lame in the right rear leg. Nothing serious but enough to limit activities for a few days and definetly too lame to show. Comet placed 2nd in a class of 2. I was not there so cannot make comment.

Sunday:

Comet entered in Bred By Dogs and Durango in 6-9 puppy dog. These shows were both  Comet's Durango's first exposureto the show ring. In the puppy class there were 3 entered. Durango placed 2nd and looked very good for his first appearance. A nice up and back, a solid stack and very confident. Afterwards KC asked the judge what he thought of him and he stated that all three in the ring were top notch puppies. Comet again took 2nd in a 2 dog class.

The handling classes KC has been taking are paying off because I thought she did a beautiful job of handling Comet. We had help by Judy Pasbrig in handling Durango.

The outcomes were predicted and not a surprise. I am still very proud of my hounds, how they look and how they function. KC looked great in the ring and we look forward to challenging the odds in future shows.

June at the Ranch

It is hard to believe that this is June 1 already. We knew May would be an aggressive month and it flew by like a low level flight of the Thunderbirds.

May began with the ASFA mudding spectacular in Boswell, OK at that wonderful piece of earth called Windyglen.

The following weekend we put on RMBC's annual Mother's Day AKC trials here at the ranch.

Before the next weekend I was off to the Borzoi Nationals in Frankenmuth, MI with Nitro and son, Summer Jazz. While I was there we had great friends from Germany (Alex & Silke) arrive at the ranch for a prenuptial vacation.

We finished off the month with a Fun Run, on May 30, that was highlighted with very nice runs from some first time greys and whippets.

Now all of a sudden it is June.

In June we have scheduled:

June 6 & 7 - Colorado Springs kennel Club Shows (Comet, Jazz, Durango)

June 5 - 8 - KC's mother and sister (Dee) visiting.

June 12 - 15 - KC in Seattle (Graduation Ceremonies)

June 14 - Fun Run at the Ranch (straight racing practice)

June 20 & 21 - CLCA LGRA, NAWRA, ISWS meet at the ranch

June 24 - Nikole's Birthday

June 26 - Sandra's Birthday

June 27 & 28 - Buckhorn shows (Comet, Jazz, Durango)

2009 Borzoi Nationals

Immediately after our Mother's Day AKC trial I switched attention to my planned travel to the borzoi nationals in Frankenmuth, MI. I was looking forward to this for several reasons and all in all had a good time. Reason 1 was of course - it is the Borzoi Nationals - and at this annual event one gets a chance to put faces to names, renew old friendships, and make new ones. I got to see many beautiful hounds and delighted in meeting their owners/handlers. 2nd - friends from my navy days lived close enough (Detroit) to visit. I have not seen them since my wedding 16 years ago and it was a true highlight to pick up where we had left off way back then. Gary and i met 40 years ago at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center and we have been like brothers ever since. 3rd - since KC & I lived for 10 years in Germany I was looking forward to having our Nationals at the Bavarian Inn Resort. Well, from the outside it looked German, but the wait staff and worker bees there knew very little about German customs. Also they had little in the way of German cuisine and drink but I made the most of what they had to offer. It was also disappointing that the resort had no laundry facilities. All in all however the grounds were very nice, the hotel rooms were small for the price but clean and the wait staff courteous. The grooming area was adequate and well thought out. the bathing facilities left a little to be desired. Fortunately we were blessed with wonderful weather and the facilities were just fine. Had the weather turned south I think there would have been difficulties. There were a few folks doing a tremendous amount of work. Especially the Steele's. My hat is off to them. Lyn from the local coursing group brought several folks to help at the LGRA meet and that was a huge help. It was nice having a set of dedicated foul and finish line judges.

The hotel sat adjacent to a large pasture which turned out to the the FAV walking area for several of us. We had one incident with PETA but nothing bad happened. The impromptu gatherings were a lot of fun and I got to meet more folks than I can remember names of.

Our hounds did pretty good but there was some disappointment. In the first run of the ASFA trial Nitro injured a rear leg. Not enough to cause lameness but enough to take him out of running 100%. It was really evident during the LGRA meet as he was not running his normal self. He still completed all of the meets and got a couple days rest before he had to enter the conformation ring. His son Jazz took 4th in Futurity 9-12 dog and 3rd in 9-12 sweeps. He did not place in the puppy class on day 3. Nitro took 4th in Am Bred Dog Class. I was very happy with the way both Nitro and Jazz presented themselves. They both have a good potential in conformation. Shannon Hall groomed and handled them both for me and she did an excellent job with them. There is no way I could have experienced the successes without her expertise.

So another national is under the belt and I find myself looking forward to Ft Mitchell, KY in 2010.

If it can go wrong it will

Well, we got through the AKC LC Trial weekend. It can be a lot of fun planning, preparing, and executing a running event. It is especially nice when everything runs as planned. This weekend was not to be one of those. Being an organizer of sorts I had worked each day for a week leading up to the trial on the field making sure  the equipment was maintained and in good shape, new string, field safe, equipment placement for the best visibility of the field, parking planned, gas for tractor & gator, trash cans, porta potty placement, etc etc etc. Friday afternoon I started to set up Saturday's course. I took off the old string from the take up reel and broke out the brand new roll that I had purchased last year. I got the last pully in place and when I put tension on it, snap. I tried again, snap. The string must have been old. I jump in the car and go to Home Depot, then Lowes looking for rolls of string. The best they had were 1000 foot rolls so I got 3. Got it home and noticed that it was not as thick as what had been on it so I did not even try. I called the equipment person from CLCA and asked if they had a roll I could purchase. I'm in luck, they have a new roll just come on over and get it. I did just that and went home. Daylight is gone now so I decide that the field is laid out all I'll have to do is sting the line in the morning, add a couple of hold downs, and we'd be in business. Morning came and people started showing up and final details needed worked out. I gathered some help and out we went to finish the field. Two people were holding the new roll of string on a makeshift axle while I started transfering the string to the take up reel using the motor. Things were sailing along just beautifully....I thought. Just as the confidence built up that this was going to work the reel with the new string came apart (the ad says indestructable reel) and left us with a large tangle. After a few minutes it was clear the untangling process was not going to go well so I had the brillant idea, Cut out the tangle, find the end and be back in operation in minutes. I cut the tangle and what we found after was endless 3 foot lengths. The more that was undone the more that the remaining tangled. Panic was creeping in. I have no string nor the ability to get more string on such short notice. I ask for volunteers to continue to work on the tangled mess while I decide to use the lesser strength new string. After stringing the field and putting tension on the first thing that happend - snap. Oh no - what now. It turned out to have been an improperly tied knot. So we got tension and we were able to run it around with a bag. Now try 3 bags. Now the test dog - no breakage so finally we got the trial underway and the rest went well - until Sunday. A day of running was a bit much for that string because Sunday we were troubled with multiple breaks but all in all people kept a good humor and hung in there. A few restarts were required but all in all we faired better than expected based on the quality of the string used. Lots of lessons learned  and no damage done. 

I'm Tired!!!!

Overload

Sometimes it is hard to keep things going in the order they are meant to be. I should be getting ready for the RMBC Mother's Day AKC LC Trial this weekend since it is on the ZoiBoyz Ranch but first: the drive home from the ASFA I.I. held in Oklahoma, otherwise known as the mud bowl. The I.I.s are fun even with adverse conditions. We get to visit with old friends, watch good dogs run, learn new things, watch good dogs run, make new friends, watch good dogs run, learn how to keep new digital camera's dry, watch good dogs run, process thousands of photos, watch good dogs run, party with strangers, watch good dogs run, try to keep the inside of an RV livable at the same time it has become an office, watch good dogs run, eat and drink like no-one is watching their waistline, cholesterol, etc, watch good dogs run, meet challenges of adverse weather conditions, and did I mention, watch good dogs run. 

The Best of II runs were exciting to watch and for once I actually agree with the final decision. Sally and Don's afghan Yousha was just amazing to watch. The hound closest in skill to this great afghan was the brilliant borzoi, Iris. What a hound she is. I liked her more each time she ran. I was very proud of our two entered hounds, Charger (2nd both days) and Nitro (3rd and 4th). Each gave their all and I cannot ask anything else from them. We got to see a couple relatives, Capsicum and Shelby, compete and they were exciting to watch. I think Shelby got the short end of the stick a couple of times but ran true and made her owner proud. It is always fun watching the youngsters perform. Leo's Py made one of his patented takes in the field and then after the restart ran very good but got overlooked by the judges. So it goes. The run off for Sunday's 3rd 4th and NBQ was tight.

So the I.I. is over and we push home. Once home we learn that the some crud is running through the pack. Now most of the youngsters just go off their food for a day and everything returns to normal. But our oldsters get hit pretty hard with this stuff. Ambassador worried us but is on the rebound now.

So then I start reviewing emails and list(s) news. I start seeing a post on the lists from someone that they have taken bunches of photos at the I.I. and anyone can have them free. Isn't that generous. But wait a minute, there were two official photographers engaged by the ASFA to shoot the event. These professional go to great expense and expend many many hours trying to do the best job they can. There is nothing wrong with people taking photos for personal use but this is akin to robbery. So when I voice my opinion on these lists I get reprimanded by the list moderator and post removed for my attacks. My attack - I wrote that it is bad form and wrong to do such a thing. This was, I think, outrageous.

So now I will go back to prepping for the Mother's Day Trial. I need a drink.