Himself and the Comet

I've been getting a lot of new followers recently, so heads up, unless you are some kind of petblr and/or have a petblr sideblog clearly marked in your header, I will probably be blocking you.

(This does not pertain to longterm followers.)

Nothing personal; I just want to keep my follower count down.

Maybe I'll have to roadtrip out there someday LOL.

Usual Friday request for asks while I slog through emails at work. I have dachshunds, confo, and tracking on the brain.

Thank you!

Went to a new confo class last night. I know the trainer from another sport, and I dislike him as a person (he is an asshole and a braggart), but he is a very competent handler. Like, wins stuff at the national level in the show ring competent.

So I learned some good stuff, like how to free stack, which I have been struggling with. He also gave me good advice on my down-and-back.

Zaku still was squirrely for having his balls groped. Trainer had me stand in front of him and shove food in his mouth and Zaku continued squirming and twirling to the side.

The best best advice I've gotten so far is the professional handler who reached underneath Zaku's stomach for the ball check. Bub was the most relaxed for that. Next best advice was from a terv person to hold a spot on his leg that keeps him from crouching. All other advice is some variant of "shove food in mouth and make him hold still", which has yet to work, and he doesn't like it. Zaku just doesn't like strangers leaning over his rear end to grope his nuts.

At the end of the class trainer had a free stacking contest, which I did miserably at. He took Zaku from me as an example to the class on how to do it correctly. Then he pretended this was a dog show and had us show our dogs to the best of our abilities. He had just spent some time talking about how AKC judges will pick type over function (by which he meant good conformation + good gaiting). Anyway, he arranged us from best to last and Zaku only "beat" the dogs that wouldn't gait or stand for exam. So that was disheartening!

I know he's a WL Belgian and doesn't match the type that wins in the AKC ring, but damn. This was a class and it just didn't feel good as a student.

Anyway, I definitely need better bait. I switched between a squeaky toy (first time trying it), my usual string cheese, and some jerky another student gave me. Zaku did best when I alternated squeaky and jerky to keep his attention.

Any recs on good confo bait for a dog that isn't super excited by food? I'd prefer something I don't have to cook/bake/prepare myself, that is dry so I can put it in my pocket.

Went tracking again! We finished up just as the rain hit.

Kermit is super into it. We passed a couple critter trails and he started to leave the track then was like, wait no that is not my job, and immediately returned to pulling me. I let him eat out of the treat bag, which is his highest reward. He then wanted to follow the trail I took back to the road.

Zaku had zoomies for his first track and was thinkin' about critters instead of hot dogs. Lots of waiting for him to stop being a goober and get his head in the game. When we finally reached the glove I tossed his bally and he was like "eh" so I tossed the glove and he was into it. We played tuggie and fetch with it and he was super happy. Second track he dragged me to the glove.

Pretty sure letting your dog play with the glove isn't kosher, but I figure we can build enthusiasm first and control later. I'll talk with my tracking buddy about it next time I see her.

The goal for this winter is to get Kermit's TD. So I met up with a friend who's an experienced tracker and we did a bit of training this morning.

Kermit got an easy straight track to remind him what to do, then we laid a track with a turn. He nailed both, dragging me at a dead run. Didn't super care about the hot dogs, just wanted to follow the track. He hasn't tracked in two years but we immediately got back to where we'd left off.

Zaku took to it a lot better than I thought he would-- he isn't a huge fan of activities that require tons of brainpower, like nosework. He prefers to zoom. But he did two straight baby tracks pulling me like a motherfucker. I tossed his bally for him at the end for a reward. I can tell that crittering is going to be our biggest obstacle, but it is for everything we do, so, lol.

Very proud of both of them! Might go back tomorrow for some solo training.

The jagdterrier is one of my two least favorite dog breeds and two separate friends just got puppies. Let’s see if that changes my opinion on the breed.

It is currently 48F (8.8C). We don't have the heat on to save money.

Zaku is outside alternating between laying on the kurunda bed and chasing squirrels.

Kermit is inside on my bed, wrapped in my yarn blanket and my coat.

Da boys, whom I love.

Day 1 of dog show and the boys cleaned up!

Kermit took Group 2 in Scenthounds, got a leg towards his Grand, and got his third Total Dog! The judge is a dobe person, which just fuels my theory that working breed people like his temperament and everyone else hates it. I had him entered in Novice Containers to rebuild confidence and he was pretty enthusiastic about it, which is what I want.

Zaku was entered in the fun match because the show's judge isn't licensed for Belgians. He took Group 2 after being quite squirrely in the breed ring. He knows the fun match judge so he about launched himself at her while she was examining him. He has fun. XD

Maybe someday this will stop making me shriek-laugh, but today is not that day.