Monday, July 31, 2006

In which I'm finally shamed into returning

 

*Sigh*. What can I say? I'm a low-life, a failure, an underachiever who can't even follow through on something as simple (and as pleasant) as writing about my dogs on a regular basis. Several people have actually written to find out what's become of me--the final straw was yesterday, when somebody gently (really!) informed me that if I waited much longer to post, the "chilly scenes of winter" title that headed my last entry will be apt once more. (It's hard to imagine that it's been that long, and right now--as we get up past 100 degrees--chilly scenes of winter sound pretty damn good. But that's neither here nor there.)

So here's an update on what I've been doing, and I *promise* (but why should you believe me, after I've let you down so abysmally?) that I'll blog more regularly. But for now, here it is:

• Phyl and I have been in several trials since I last posted. We haven't placed--that is, we haven't gotten any more USBCHA points--but we're definitely in the almost-but-not-quite category much more often. The next USBCHA year starts in two days, and Phyl and I will be going to the huge (and hugely wonderful) Grass Creek Park trial in Kingston, Ontario, Canada next week to kick it off. My (way too lofty) goal is to get Phyl qualified for the 2007 Gettysburg Finals. We've never gotten enough points to qualify for *any* Finals, and this one will undoubtedly require a lot more than any of the others have in the last four years. So we have our work cut out for us. Basically, we need to get better at shedding. We're at the point right now that if sheds are easy, we can mostly get them, but they're rarely easy. The trouble is, I'm not very experienced at shedding, and Phyl isn't very keen to come in. If I were better, we could get them; if she were better, we could get them. But as a team, it's a problem. At least one of us will have to do some serious improving if we're going to start placing on a more regular basis.
• Joss has been worked for about four months, since she was nine months old. I started her, and I took her to a wonderful (and very productive) Derrick Scrimgeour clinic in Wisconsin. Derrick liked her, and she seems to me to have a great temperament for training: she's responsive but she's not so sensitive that correction crushes her. About a month ago I started to get frustrated with my sheep and general conditions, and I began worrying that I was really holding Joss back. So, rather than wait to see if I wrecked her, I sent her off to Carol Campion for a couple of months of training, and that's where she is now. Carol reports that Joss is a handful (which surprises me), and that she's a natural driving dog (which doesn't, because Phyl would rather drive than do anything). She's much more natural in giving ground to her right than to her left (which was also obvious to me), but Carol seems to be working it out with her. Needless to say, I'm dying to see her. One of Carol's students took a video of Carol working Joss, and she has promised to send it to me by snail mail. If it really arrives, and if I can rip it, I'll put it up on YouTube and let you all see what you think of her.
• My good buddy Sally has abandoned me for two weeks to take a wonderful trip with her husband and kids to London, the Scottish Nationals, and Ireland. That means that I have sole responsibility for an entire menagerie of our combined animals. Not that there's anything wrong with that! :-)
  
• I've finally realized my lifelong dream of purchasing a new 42-inch plasma television set. I'm contemplating giving up trialing and never leaving my house. So if you can't find me, it's very likely that I'm sitting on my couch in dazed stupor, slack-jawed and drooling. And with that pleasant image, I'll take my leave (hopefully not for another five months!)

posted by Heather