Learning to hunt by the rules

Now that Ranger is home we are working on his trained retrieve. I got a good start last weekend at a Connie Cleveland obedience seminar and things are progressing well. Since we normally don't hunt by field test rules, Ranger has had difficulty with the concept of picking up a long-dead, cold bird. To anthropomorphize for him. "It's not going anywhere, let's keep hunting and we'll come back for that one later".

Ranger has only fetched live-shot flyers and he prefers to fetch birds from the water or cripples. I've had problems with him with birds that fall on land. He finds them just fine, but only indicates where they are and waits for me or else my other dog, Sue to pick them up. So now, the long-avoided trained retrieve process is underway for my Bubbadog.

Richmond Dog Fanciers

Ranger and Mercedes were at it again. On Saturday, August 1, they pulled a Sporting Group 4, under judge Douglas Johnson at the Richmond Dog Fanciers show. This is a large show with nearly 300 dogs entered in the Sporting Group alone.

Sunday, he was stung by a bee and was limping in the ring, so no placement, and then the best news of all, Monday, I picked him up in Arizona and he is now home where, we have a working slot in an obedience seminar this weekend. Hopefully, it will get us off on the right foot for success in that venue.

Ranger's Canadian Vacation

-photo by Linda Fitzmaurice

Ranger spent the last two weekends in Canada, where he finished his Canadian championship in three straight shows, and took a Sporting group three in only his 4th Canadian show. He's having a pretty good summer in the show ring.

Ranger& Sadie Take it up a Notch -Best in Show

Today, I got some wonderful news from Oregon. Ranger, AKA Bubbalicious, AKA Ch Javahill's Backwoods Boy, RN along with his Jr. Handler, Mercedes Messer, got a Best in Show at the Mt. Bachelor Kennel Club show. The news made me so proud! He is such a special dog!

I never even dreamed of this moment, and here it is and I wasn't there to see it or take pictures. He's been away for a month now. I miss him like crazy. He's more than just a pretty boy. He's my best bud, my hunting partner, and a huge presence in my life outside of the show ring. Just watching him run around the yard sometimes takes my breath away.

Can a dog have a sense of humor? If they can then Ranger definitely does. I often find myself anthropomorphizing what I imagine his thoughts might be. When I get home from work in the evening, he greets me at the door, woo wooing his joy that I'm finally home. He loves just hanging out with me on the couch or doing anything, as long as he's getting attention. When I heard he got the group, I told a friend that he was in for a long day. Her response was, "Don't worry, he'll be fine. It's all about him and he loves that."

When I'm training him it's hard to really be serious, because he gets a twinkle in his eye that seems to say, "Come on! look at me! you know I don't need to do that!" On the other hand, he learns things really quickly and if I have trouble communicating what I want from him and then we finally get it he gets a look that says "Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?" He's happy to do just about anything you ask him...as long as it makes sense to him, that is. He is a Toller after all.