Adios, 2009

What a year. Plans made, some executed, some abandoned.

A son sent off to college, now home for the holidays and easily mistaken for a man. I'm flabbergasted by how much more him he is - his good characteristics are even stronger.

The dogs had another banner year. Dot and Jake were retired, and Gin entered the field. Many trials were attended, the hounds earned some titles and national rankings, and much fun was had by all. I'm proud of them.

This time last year Bugg arrived, it's been a pleasurable education overall, having her here. We lost Mac and Junior this year, but have been joined by puppy Trek. Our pack is a compatible if diverse lot.

And although we lost my Uncle Doug in the spring, overall the family is happy and healthy and everyone's on affectionate speaking terms - a blessing.

Deepest appreciation to my many friends for a wonderful year. May 2010 be even better.

Hide and Seek

I have a client that is looking for a puppy, their elderly dog having recently passed away. They are willing to pay good money to an ethical breeder for the "right" puppy, and I applaud their approach: health testing, temperament testing, contract.

But of course when asking the local dog community for referrals (I'm not an expert in their breed of choice) I got one person who insists a shelter dog or rescue is the only way to go. Many people responded with references to local breeders (in the time-zone and adjacent states being our definition of local around here), all of which I passed along. But the "only good dog is a rescue dog" mentality irritates me.

Found a great line today:

The majority of purebreds are produced by family pets and commercial breeders, their puppies as far removed from the show ring as a second-hand pickup from the Formula One track.

It's from this article, and while I don't agree with the author's position on cropping and docking, much of it is sensible.

Wascally Wabbits

The NM jacks are very hard to find this year, so I've stepped my efforts to learn more about them.

I've published the link to Dutch Salmon's article several times, and I figure once more won't hurt.

Thanks to falconer Paul for the tip that black-tailed jackrabbits are protected in Washington state, I found two more articles:

This first piece was referenced in several places, I finally found what looks like the original site. The second one has information on rabbits around the globe; very interesting. And finally a historical view on jacks, which reminds me of why not all deaths are equal.

If anyone knows of other authoritative sources or scientific research, please let me know about it in Comments. Thanks.

Coming to a Screen Near You

If you get BBCA, watch this week: Pedigreed Dogs Exposed.

If you don't, try the link in this blog post and see if you can watch on-line.

Either way, breed clubs and breeders need to be prepared for the US reaction.

Winter terror-land

It hasn't been above 30 in a few days, but some people insist on driving like it's a warm summer day.

Seen on my way home from town:
Incredibly, the driver walked away.

We've gotten 6" of snow since daybreak, it should stop sometime tomorrow. Good thing we've laid in some firewood!

Raison d’être

We've all heard - either as advice we give our children or perhaps directed to ourselves - to follow your bliss. This isn't insipid advice from a 99 cent greeting card - it is actually a profound and fundamental truth.

Years ago my father, an orchestra conductor, advised Anthony (then an aspiring cello player), not to pursue a career in professional music unless he couldn't live without it. Being a musician is a tough way to make a living, much less in classical music. But if one is a musician (or an artist of any sort), life without that art is hell itself.

I've come to believe that is true, on some level, of all productive activity. Be it work or hobby, there's a self-fullfilling cycle: If you enjoy your work, you will be good at your work. If you are good at something, you're more likely to want to do it. In training, we call this a self-reinforcing behavior. There are lots of examples, food and sex being the most profound. If it feels good, do more of it, right? Think about comfort foods and masturbation, and the truth of this becomes obvious.

Some things are obvious only after first-hand experience, and I was reminded of this again yesterday. I took Gin open field coursing, and her unrestrained ecstasy at discovering why she exists gave me joy, as well. She loves plastic games (lure coursing and racing), really loves them. They are fun fun fun and Gin is always happy to go play. But yesterday she found her purpose for being: chasing live game over rough terrain in cold weather. This is what borzoi were developed to do, this is what they do better than any other breed. (Yes, some are faster and some have more endurance, but none other hits that trifecta out of the park.) Gin thought cotton-tails looked like fun and should be chased, but once loosed on the jackrabbit, she transformed.

I have seen this before, Py and Ren and Day all learned the same lesson about themselves - the why of their being. It's just like a border collie when they "turn on" at herding: OH!! I make the sheep move by doing THIS. And they become their true selves.

Hundreds of generations of DNA can not be denied. The truth is it feels good to do that at which we are best. Basically, "do what you love, love what you do."

And perhaps this is why we humans - as a species - have so much trouble figuring out what to do with our lives. We have hundreds of generations of DNA for... nothing in particular. So Anthony has a love and appreciation of music that only a musician can have, but it is not his raison d’être. His opportunities to discover other interests have led him in a different direction, one that is easy for him simply because he loves it so much.

The hard part is to find what you love. The easy part is, just do it.

Training is Playing

We say it all the time:

Train like you compete; compete like you train.

And the best training resembles play - and this is a wonderful example. Enjoy!