Teddy the Poo's Blustery Week

As you can see from the title, it's been an odd and extremely windy week. On Tuesday, we had extreme winds, which is really unusual for us. It was so strong, that I was looking around for the funnel cloud. I had an afternoon meeting, and when I got out of the car, I could barely walk into the building. I could have sworn I was in Chicago. When I walked Teddy later, I was afraid he was going to blow away. Good thing he's not a toy poodle, or I could have flown him like a kite! There was damage all over town: trees in the roads, limbs everywhere, billboards and signs down, shingles blown off of roofs, and power poles down. Thousands of people were without electricity all over the state, including our dog training club.

This could not have come at a worse time. We have our first obedience trial in months this weekend, and we really needed some ring time to do some last minute proofing. Classes were canceled last night, so we could not practice or do put thrus. I was beginning to panic, thinking that we would not get a chance to enter a ring until it was for real at the trial. I planned on meeting a couple of people at the club this morning, even though the weather was predicted to be bad. Dedicated? Stupid? Perhaps both. We were going to open the doors for light, however, the sun did not come out at all, so we had to cancel.

Luckily, I got a phone call that the power had been turned back on. Actually, the call said that they drove by the building and they thought the power was back on- why if they drove by didn't they go inside to check is beyond me. So with that concrete information, I decided to run down there at lunch to see how much I had to worry about for this weekend's trial.

I warmed Teddy up with some power walking, then my instructor showed up and called a put thru for us. Teddy did a lot better than our last put thru. His heeling wasn't bad, his recall was fast, he had good retrieves, and he did his broadjump happily. Overall, I was very pleased. He did about as good as he can do. We only had one issue: he broke his stays. This is something he hasn't done in a long time. I think the difference is that he was only lined up with only one other dog and the club building was basically empty and very quiet. He does better when there is a lot going on for him to watch. I'm hoping this won't be an issue this weekend. I have a feeling that if we mess up, it will be on something stupid that we've never done before. I just hope I can keep my big mouth shut, so that I don't praise him before the exercise is over or give an unnecessary second command.

Tomorrow is bath and haircut day, that is if the roads aren't iced over. I always make sure that my dog is well groomed for an obedience trial. I know it doesn't make a difference, but I think dogs should get pretty points!

Poodle Kitsch

Like all dedicated poodle owners, I have my fair share of poodle stuff, and I usually get something poodle related for my birthday. This year I got some fun poodle socks (always needed) and a cute new pin. After going to dinner with my family last night, my brother gave me something unexpected. He gave me two cute black ceramic poodles circa 1950's, a great flea market find.

Birthday Blog

This is my birthday blog! I'm trying to hurry up and write this and get to bed before it is no longer my birthday. I'm now to the age to where it's just another year. I love birthdays, but I don't see why we have to get another year older every time one rolls around. But, whatever, I don't feel like I am my age. I'm having too much fun. :)

So today, I goofed off at work for a while and left early. I had an early dinner with my parents, and then went to my dog training center to help teach an intro agility class and then had utility obedience class with Teddy. It was my choice to delay dinner with my extended family until tomorrow. I know it must sound really boring, but I enjoyed it. So, one more year flies by.....

Puppy Picking

After losing our almost 14 year old Yorkshire Terrier just after Christmas, my parents' house has been very empty. We've always had dogs, so even though we still miss her terribly, we cannot live without a four-legged friend running around the house.

My parents went on the search for a good breeder. Today I went with them for an in-depth interview with the breeder and to meet the 7 week old puppies. We decided that it would take two puppies to help heal our hearts.

After our long drive, we entered the small house to find three very active female pups playing together in an ex-pen. They were too cute jumping all over each other and nipping at each other's ears. We took turns holding each squirmy pup and checking them out. It's hard not to instantly fall in love as they wrap their sharp puppy teeth around your fingers. The largest will make the best show prospect, and will look most like the mom. Since we aren't going to show them, we decided that we wanted the smaller two pups, who will be around 5 pounds when they are fully grown. Here are a few pictures that we took today:
Puppy #1

Puppy #2, the largest

Puppy #3, the smallest and most active

How can we break up a matched set? :) Well, my parents are crazy enough for getting two puppies, and three would be insane. I'm just glad I don't have to potty train them. I can play with them and then go home. So now we wait another month and count down the days until we can bring them home.

Below is some video that I shot today. The two that are climbing my mom will be ours, and some of the other video is my hand playing with the pups while I am filming with the other hand. Enjoy the puppy madness:

Things That Make You Go ARGH!!!

I was going to include this video in the recent post about haircuts to show how much my dog enjoys the cold weather, but just trying to work on this video to get it ready to post deserves a topic all on its own.

Why is everything so difficult? You can't just push the button on the camera, record the video, and upload the video to whatever website you want. No, it is not that easy. For some reason, I can only upload my video from my camera in one file format, the very one that my editing software cannot read. So I had to use some freeware to convert the file to a different format before the editing can begin.

I had the exact same problem with the music I used. I had downloaded the music months earlier, and of course, the file type was not compatable either. I had to change the file format of the song and use different freeware to edit the music to the portion I wanted to use, and then upload it to the video editing software. Only then could I piece video and music together and export it as a format that is allowed on the blog site.

I'm ashamed to say that this 20 second piece of video took me a couple of hours and consultations with a computer expert to produce. So, I hope you enjoy it!

The spinning move that Teddy does here is what I call his bucking bronco. A lot of mornings after our first potty outing, he runs back to the backdoor and does this on the back porch. I love it, it's trademark Teddy. And my camera kind of freaked out with the white balance trying to film a black dog on the very white snow. The look takes me back to my childhood and our super 8 home movies. And for those of you who know about competitive obedience- these are the kinds of figure 8's that Teddy loves!

Put [me] Thru [the ringer]

I decided to video more of my training. For one thing, I have an outlet for the videos now, but mainly I'm doing this for my own information to see where we need work (it would be easier to see where we don't) and maybe why something went wrong.

We do put thrus every Wednesday night at my training club. For those who may not know, a put thru is chance to get in the ring and do all of the exercises that you would as if you were at a competitive trial. They really help you see where you stand before you enter the ring for real.

I wish I had filmed our put thru from the Wednesday night before because you would have seen a totally different dog. Teddy was on and up and as near perfect as he can get. This week, however, was a different story. In his defense, there were 3 times the distractions in the building this week. There was an agility class going on in the ring next door because of the cold/wet weather, and I think that is where he left his brain when we did a couple of sequences before being called over for the put thru. There were also a lot more people standing around waiting their turn for put thrus because of the upcoming trial in a week, and the energy in the air was noticeably more tense.

We have one leg towards our open title. We got that about 8 months ago. Due to the lack of trials in our area, we don't trial much. Teddy was very sick in the fall, which really messed up our fall trials.

So, here's what went wrong. In the heeling, we had a lot of lagging, especially in the figure 8. And for the first time ever, he just sat there when I called him on the recall, I guess he was just day dreaming of agility. I was happy with his retrieves, though. Yea! I'm glad some of the hard work has paid off. And then there is the broadjump. Ugh! It's like I asked him to jump a pit of alligators. He was totally lost on what to do. We've only been doing these for a year and a half! So, now that I've pumped this video up, here it is. Warning!-It is a tad on the long side.

I spent the next thirty minutes in the back ring making friends with the broad jump. I used his floppy frisbee to motivate him to jump and then as a reward for jumping. It really helped, but we have a lot of work to do in one week. Of course, next week could be a whole new problem!

He's Not Fat, He's Fluffy- REALLY!

So it's that time of year again. The time when I get the inevitable question- "Has Teddy put on weight?" Of course these questions almost always come from the owners of the lesser quaffed breeds that probably don't remember where they last left their brush. They think that Teddy has over indulged during the holidays, taking long naps in front of the fire after polishing off the leftovers of the family meal.

Well, they couldn't be more wrong. Most of the year, I keep Teddy's hair cut in a modified sporting clip, more professionally known as a Miami cut. Basically, it's a sporting cut all over with bracelets. I let Teddy's coat grow when it starts getting colder outside, which in the south is not until December or January. His dense, curly coat really fluffs out as it gets longer, making him look more rotund.

Well, it happened last night. We walk into our training building, and like clockwork, hear, "Teddy's gained weight!" It must be January. So, I try to explain that no, I promise, it's just hair. They never believe me. So in a spiritual fashion, I make them lay hands on my dog to prove to them that he is still the same sleek poodle under all of that hair. In fact, I even went to the trouble of weighing him just to make sure that he has not gained. The scales don't lie, as I have sadly learned for myself, he still comes in at a light 37 pounds. I only wish that my extra weight could be taken off with clippers as easily.

Here is some photographic evidence on how drastic Teddy's appearance can change, just with the length of his hair:

Teddy Shaved Down (and yes, it was a very bad haircut)
And much cuter:

And this is what he looks like filled out with hair:

And one more for good measure:

It is hard to believe he is the same dog. But it just goes to show that seeing is not believing, believing is feeling.

Brand/Breed Specific

Most all of us have a favorite and a hated brand of soda (and being from the south, I literally cringe to use the word "soda"). We will defend it to the end, and no clever or flashy marketing campaign can change our mind and make us cross over to the other side. We roll our eyes and sigh in a disgruntled fashion when a waitress in a restaurant tells us they only have the "other" brand.

The same thing can be said of dog lovers. There is only a small percentage of dog people who really appreciate all 150+ breeds, and even these people have their favorites. The vast majority of us are devoted to one or two specific breeds. Loyalty in dog breeds runs deep; we will defend our breeds to the end. And don't let some random person sitting in the vet's waiting room say something slightly derrogatory about your breed of choice. Them's fightin' words!

I'm sure you've heard all of the breed bragging that people do, especially if you have spent any amount of time around dog training facilities. Well, my breed is fast and tops in agility, my breed is good at hunting, my breed is the smartest, my breed is the most obedient. Yes, I've heard it all, but I really can top them. My breed can do all of that and more. I have a poodle! They hunt, herd, swim, dance, do agility, obedience, therapy work, and I swear if I had enough food and patientce he could do my taxes as well. That is my breed of choice, and one of the poodle's assests is its amazing versatility. It can do anything that the owner wants to do and with gusto and exhuberance.

Now, I can appreciate many other breeds, and of course, I have met dogs that were exceptions to their breed stereotype as well. I love Yorkshire Terriers for their bigger than life personality, their compactness, and obviously their cute factor. I owned one, or should I say it owned me for almost 14 years. She was a very special girl, who will always be in my heart. And I am currently looking into a very different breed as well. But I will always have a poodle in my life, whether it is of the standard variety, the miniature, or even the toy. And give me my Dr. Pepper!

Muffy 1994-2007

Teddy, retrieving at an obedience trial

Christmas '07

Since I did not begin this blog until January, I still wanted to share some Christmas pictures. Here is how you keep a poodle busy so you can finish wrapping the Christmas presents. It's funny because he did not try to eat the paper, like I thought. Instead, he wanted to make his own confetti by tearing off a small piece and throwing it up in the air. I guess he got his holidays mixed up.

This picture was taken outside of where Teddy gets groomed. I had to set him up for a photo-op:
And this one was taken at my parents' house. We've done a Disney themed tree for several years. Since Teddy was Mickey Mouse for Halloween a couple of years ago, I thought he should try on his costume one more time in front of the tree:

And here are a couple of pictures of my poodle tree. What self-respecting poodle owner doesn't have a poodle ornament or two?

Welcome!

Today is the first day of the rest of my life- I have now entered the blogging world. There's something I thought I would never do. This blog will mainly be about my life with my Standard Poodle, Teddy, although I will take poetic license and include anything else I feel like including, like my travels, friends, and family. For now, this is a better option for me as opposed to a complete web page.