A Very Snowy Weekend!

As I posted last week, we were in Des Moines this past weekend for a dog show. There was a major for the boys both days, but no such luck. Jack is so close to getting finished, we just have to keep trying! I was so proud of him though. It was definitely his best show so far. He looked beautiful and showed wonderfully! I wish I had some pictures of the show, but here is Hilga being cute/anxious in the front seat of the moho during a stop on the trip there:

More excitement came from the non-show parts of the weekend. We hit bad weather on the way to Des Moines. I guess up north on I-35 when the weather gets bad they don't allow tow trucks to come in. That means as we were driving, every few miles we would pass wrecked cars, cars that had run off the road, cars upside down in the median. Very bizzare to see, and very spooky! Lemon gets a tad clingy to Hilga when we get anxious:

We made it to Des Moines safely, although with a ton of snow! It was a pretty cold weekend in the moty hoty, but the dogs were loving it!

On the way home, we hit more bad weather. I set up all the crates in the back for extra safety for the dogs, but they could still feel my anxiety on the trip home. Hilga threw up twice. We had a very scary incident where we hit a patch of ice on I-35 and didn't think we were going to get stopped in time to avoid an accident. After that, we decided to call it quits for the night, and we pulled over at a truck stop in Cameron, MO.

After that, things got better. We went and got dinner and drinks at the truckstop bar, "Bar" as you can see from the sign. We were able to plug a space heater into the big sign, but got pretty cold as Chris wanted to save the propane for a "real emergency." But, we ended up having a lot of fun hanging out in Cameron. By Monday, the roads were fine and we made it home without a problem (except for frozen poop, which I won't go into.)

She's My Shi-poo-pi!

I guess it is a bit of a blogging night, but I was just thinking I should post this. Chris and I saw this on Family Guy (although I think it is actually from Music Man), and we'll sing it to the dogs to get them riled up. Well, one day I was actually wondering what the song actually means, looked up the lyrics and realized that Hilga is in fact our Shipoopi:

Now a woman who'll kiss on the very first date is usually a hussy

And a woman who'll kiss on the second time out is anything but fussy

But a woman who'll wait til the third time around

Head in the clouds, feet on the ground

She's the girl he's glad he's found

She's his Shipoopi

Shipoopi, Shipoopi, Shipoopi The girl who's hard to get

Shipoopi, Shipoopi, Shipoopi But you can win her yet

Walk her once just to raise the curtain

Walk around twice and you've made certain

Once more in the flower garden

She will never get sore if you beg her pardon

Doremefasolasi, dosilasolfamiredo

Squeeze her once when she isn't lookin'

If you get a squeeze back, that's fancy cookin'

Once more for a pepper-upper

She will never get sore on her way to supper

Doremefasollasido, sido

No little ol' Sal was a no-gal, as anyone could see

Lookit her now, she's a go-gal, who only goes for me

Squeeze her once when she isn't lookin'

If you get a squeeze back, that's fancy cookin'

Once more for a pepper-upper

She will never get sore on her way to supper

Doremefasollasido, si do

Shipoopi, Shipoopi, Shipoopi The girl who's hard to get

Shipoppi, Shipoopi, Shipoopi but you can win her yet

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjazkgtcrms

Just a Dog

Someone recently posted this on the Berner-L, and I love it so thought I would share:



It's Just a Dog



From time to time, people tell me, "lighten up, it's just a dog," or, "that's a lot of money for just a dog." They don't understand the distance traveled, the time spent, or the costs involved for "just a dog."



Some of my proudest moments have come about with "just a dog." Many hours have passed and my only company was "just a dog," but I did not once feel slighted.



Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by "just a dog," and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of "just a dog" gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.



If you, too, think it's "just a dog," then you will probably understand phrases like "just a friend," "just a sunrise," or "just a promise."



"Just a dog" brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy. "Just a dog" brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.



Because of "just a dog," I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.



So for me and folks like me, it's not "just a dog" but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future, the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.



"Just a dog" brings out what's good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.



I hope that someday they can understand that it's not "just a dog," but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being "just a man or woman."



So the next time you hear the phrase "just a dog" just smile... because they "just don't understand."



-Author Unknown

Des Moines

Headed to Des Moines this weekend for a major! Its going to be a cold weekend in the moho!!! Wish us luck!!!

St. Joseph Show

This weekend was the St. Joseph show. It was my first show without Chris, as he was getting his scuba diving certification this weekend. The conflict was due to bad planning and bad communication! Luckily my parents were able to make it out both days to help with grooming, carrying, and cheering, and Kate was able to make it out on Saturday to watch some as well. Thanks to all three for coming out to St. Jo!

I was only showing Lemon this weekend, so that made the whole thing quite a bit easier than it would have been otherwise. It may not seem like it, but Jack can be a bit of a handful sometimes. :) Anyways, Lemon didn't win anything this weekend, not even a second place. But, she had fun and she didn't know she lost, so all in all a fun weekend. On the way home today I stopped at the Legends to run into a store really quickly. Of course my fear about the dogs getting stolen kicked in, so I was really hurrying to get back to the car. Lemon ALWAYS sits in the front drivers seat when left in the car by herself. I was walking back to the car and she wasn't there! Unheard of for her to stay in the back when no one is making her, I had a bit of a panic. When I got to the window of the drivers side, I saw she was curled up in a little ball in the drivers seat asleep. How cute is that?

Along those lines, the fact that a Berner can curl up in a seat of a car deserves mentioning... I'm a little concerned that she is going to start struggling in shows now for two reasons. She just graduated to the 3rd older puppy class, 12-18 monthes. Technically, it isn't a puppy class anymore, but just 12-18 months. I call it a puppy class because it makes me feel better. First of all, the judges now know there is no way she is 6 months, or even 9 months, either of which could explain her small size or crazy temperment. She is a teeny little thing, but very well proportioned and has very nice bone. With other smaller bitches, she doesn't seem undersized, but if we end up at a show with a lot of tall or doggy bitches, she seems teeny tiny (which was the case this weekend). The other problem is she is still cooky, although getting better. But not getting better in proportion to how old she is getting. Judges don't tolerate "silly puppy" behavior quite as much when they are over 1 year. Unfortunately, Lem is still very much in the "silly puppy" stage. Part of her problem is just how happy she is and how much she loves people, which I'm so grateful for that it is difficult to complain about. But she is definitely still a wiggle worm as that tail gets started going when the judge approaches.

On the positive side, Jack got his CGC on Saturday. I drove Lemon home after she showed and then went back on with him. We got there two hours early, and did obedience heeling, halting, down, etc... for about an hour off and on to wear him down a little bit. He did a great job, passed with flying colors. Now to get ready for real obedience!!! It is so much fun, so I can't wait!

We'll be in Des Moines in two weeks. There is a 4 point major in dogs (11 dogs), so if Jack were to take winners dog one day out there he will be a champion! Of course, that would be a REALLY big win! There are only 5 girls, so a possibility of a crossover. That would be a really big win for Lemon as well. So, on the to do list for the next 2 weeks is get the motor home up and running, get the dogs beautiful (which they already are of course!) and get everyone trained up! No more silly puppy routines!

Animals in Haiti

The animals in Haiti are also suffering from the results of the earthquake. If you want to donate in order to help Haiti animals, go to this webpage:

https://www.bestfriends.org/donate/Haiti.cfm

Breed Specific Legislation

At KU Law, I am the vice president of the animal law club. Last week, we had a speaker in regarding breed specific legislation. While it doesn't necessarily apply to Bernese Mountain Dogs, it was a very interesting topic. And as my dad quoted to me when I was telling him about this, "...then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak out." So, it is an issue that concerns all of us dog owners.

A VERY short summary of some of the more interesting points... Breed specific legislation doesn't work. Statistics coming back from places such as the UK, Spain and the Netherlands that have enacted breed specific legislation are showing that bite counts are not down, but rather still rising. Like many of us have always suspected, bites are more related to living circumstances than a particular breed of dog.

A few reasons why breed specific legislation doesn't work: it doesn't improve safety/reduce bite numbers because bites are more related to living environments, its a really expensive solution for a really small problem (dog bites aren't even on the same radar as car accidents), breed identification is very difficult (see below).

A few ideas that would actually work towards reducing dog bites and injuries/deaths caused by dogs: containment laws, no-tethering laws, abuse prevention (one of the highest related factors to dog bites was domestic violence), spaying/neutering pets.

One of the reasons why Pitbulls are all over the news is due to breed misidentification. The term Pitbull encompasses a handful of AKC recognized breeds, as well as some mixed breeds. Go to the webpage and see if you can pick out which breed is the Pitbull:

http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

Not easy to do...