On Friday I drove up and went to a conformation show. They were also doing Rally and Obedience. I wanted to see the shelties in the ring. I was hoping to see a few breeders that are in NC and SC but they werent there. The funny thing about conformation is you are in the ring, the dog is leashed, you have food and dogs even peed in the ring, all this is allowed. This cracks me up. Since all other AKC events, none of this is allowed. While I was sitting there watching, two people in the ring picked up food and flung it out of the ring. The first one hit me and the guy didnt say anything. The lady who threw the food out, didnt hit my but was close. She did say she was sorry. It was all very weird and I felt stress for some of the people in the ring. You could definitely see which handlers were having fun and which ones were feeling stressed. This one lady who was showing tons of dogs, not just shelties, seemed stressed. She had a beautiful sheltie who was so happy in the ring. She kept yanking on his lead. I thought "geez lady, you have food. Just show it do him. He is a sheltie. That will keep him from pulling ahead". LOL
My friend was there with her yorkies. What a lot of work a yorkie is to get ready for the ring. Because the hair is so long, they braid it to keep it from matting. But then its wrinkly when you take the braids out. So then she has to flat iron it. She did well in rally. She took first place in excellent. And you didnt just get a toy. You also got a prize. I think she got a digital photo frame.
I bought some dog food while I was there. Ive tried raw dog food several times but my dogs wont eat it. The last time I tried it , Guiness picked his up and flung it out of the bowl and then finished eating the regular kibble in the bowl. I think Miley just looked at it, looked at me, looked at the bowl and looked at me. She wouldnt eat. It was like she was saying, "Something is in my bowl and I cant eat it. Please remove it so I can eat". LOL I bought Blue Ridge Beef the Natural Mix. And my dogs ate it!! They ate it first too, then ate their kibble. Im only going to add it every other day. They will still eat their regular dog food too. Because I dont really know how to balance their diet when on raw.
Ive been taking lots of pictures and reading a book on my camera. Then going out and trying again. I have a long way to go in understanding photography.
11 comments:
If you ever figure out how to get your mind to cooperate when you've rationally thought things out and come to a decision, please let me know!
I think my brain raced to every possible scenario it could this weekend with the junk going on with the boarding kennel. And like your dream, it doesn't even make sense. LOL
I hope your break gives you and Miley just what you need.
You are so funny. I don't understand conformation at all.
Enjoy your break from agility.
Enjoy your break. The two of you can still have fun, as evidenced by the pictures of the dogs running around by the river. I love the first short, and of course Miley with all her fur flowing..and you got the owl again!!
I don't get conformation at all either. There was a conformation puppy class in the next ring when Katie and I were going to obedience. They just stood around a lot and ran around with their dogs on a tight leash. I couldn't figure out what the dogs were learning, and didn't think it looked very fun. But to each his own.
I do conformation with Layla. It's much more stressful to me than any of the other events. I don't know why. You'd think agility and obedience would stress me out more, but nope! It's surprising because, like you said, the dogs can do almost anything. Oh well.
As for your dreams, I think the part about the Great Dane was referring to your feelings of inadequacy. Right away you assumed that you and Miley couldn't do it, and then she took a Great Dane - one of the most difficult breeds to do agility with at ALL, let alone going up steps and all that, did it with no issue. I think it means you feel like Meagan will be capable of doing anything with any dog, but you wouldn't be able to with Miley.
Then again, it might mean nothing and I look too much into things!
Enjoy your break from agility. The time goes by quickly. When you come back to it, Miley will be crazy for a few lessons. Layla was a psycho for the first few lessons back after my foot and shoulder incidents. They just get soooo worked up about being back.
That's a really funny observation about how conformation allows the dog to eat, pee and sometimes even spar with other dogs in the ring but we're not allowed to lead out until they say "go".
Your pictures are wonderful, what kind of camera do you have? I've been thinking about taking a digital photography course because I hate trying to learn by reading a manual.
I think it's good to take a break every once in a while. Some people say animals learn better when they take a break - like how you can struggle to teach a trick, stop trying for a few days, and then suddenly the animal performs. I think it will be good for your psyche as well as Miley's to just relax without agility for a while.
Breaks are nice they let us recharge and refresh. I have never really understood confirmation, LOL, I am out of my league there. Sorry you did not see the breeders you were looking for, that is a bummer!
BEAUTIFUL pictures, I really like them!
Yeah - you finally got that owl shot and it is awesome - so is the one of Miley running.
I just got a Canon 60d. Before I was using a rebel xs.
We've been enjoying our break from agility this summer and I'm not sure if we will go back to classes or trials at all.
Your photos are so beautiful - my favorite is the one of Miley posed on the rocks with the misty river in the background!
I think the break will really help you guys. And in the meantime, keep taking photos! They always look so gorgeous.
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