Wire Fox and Poodle

Since Westminster was on for the past couple of days, I wrote two posts on the amazing dog show. But, I haven’t had time to update everyone on the progress I’ve seen with Lola on her walks. For the past 3 days, we have had the most AMAZING and cooperative and tranquil walks! No lunging (even when other people and dogs are around), very minimal pulling that is easily corrected, and just a general sense of ease and enjoyment. It has been wonderful.

Lola seems to really be enjoying her walks more. And in addition to enjoying them more, she has been much less headstrong while walking. And, I think the explanation for this is that I am now holding the leash differently. I have a retractable leash, and I used to wrap part of the leash around my right hand and hold the handle part with my left hand. But now, I just lock the leash and carry it handle and all in my right hand. I think Lola feels less restrained this way and now there’s usually a lot of slack in the leash as she stays right beside me.

Hopefully, this will be how we walk from now on. A vast improvement with minor change.

Tonight was the Best in Show competition at Westminster. The contenders included a black Standard Poodle named Yes, a beautiful black Giant Schnauzer, a Scottish Deerhound, a Scottish Terrier, a corded Puli, a Sussex Spaniel, and a Brussels Griffon. I was expecting either the Giant Schnauzer or the the Brussels Griffon to win since they were spectacular specimens of the breeds. The judge had been sequestered for the past 2 days, so she knew nothing about the breeds that had won Best in Breed. And the dog she picked tonight was … (drum roll please)… the Sussex Spaniel!! This is one of the rarest breeds with little popularity in the past decades. In fact, I checked the records, and this is the first time the Sussex has won in Westminster. What’s more, tonight’s Sussex Spaniel named Stump was 10 years old–the oldest dog to win in the show’s history! Stump has seriously broken some records.

So, as so often happens, I’m sure there will be a renewed interest in this rare breed, the Sussex Spaniel. Not to take anything away from the Sussex, but I’m still convinced that the two best breeds in the world are the Standard Poodle and the Wire Fox!

[for more info on the Sussex Spaniel, click here ]

Tonight is the first night of Westminster. Even though I should be reading 3 articles for class tomorrow, I couldn’t help but turn on the TV to watch all the beautiful dogs strut their stuff. Fortunately, tonight they showed both the terrier and the non-sporting groups, the two groups that interest me most of course. Tomorrow they’ll be showing 3 other groups and best in show!

This year, unfortunately the scotty won the terrier group. I was really impressed by the wire fox. He had beautiful markings, an excellent presence, and a wonderful wire fox gait. Surprisingly, he didn’t even make it to the final 5 or 6 selected. This was a disappointment.

However, the standard poodle won the non-sporting group!  He was a beautiful black standard named Yes. I first saw him at the Eukanuba Invitational where he won best in group. He definitely deserved it. I loved his gait and presence. You could tell Yes loved being a show dog.

I will definitely be watching tomorrow. I wonder who will make best in show!

Unfortunately at the apartment complex that I live at, there is a tendency for people who own dogs to let their dogs do their business outside and NOT clean up after them. It’s really quite disgusting and irresponsible if you ask me. Lately, I’ve noticed it even more because there has been a thick layer of snow on the ground. See, when it snows, those little (or big) piles of poop stand out like, well, big piles of poop. I’ve always been big on picking up after Lola, mainly because I would hate to contribute to the poop problem.

I’ve also noticed that there is a family that lives in the townhomes across the street that brings their dog over to our apartment building and lets it poop. And, they don’t pick up after it (it is also a large dog that poops A LOT). I think next time I see them over here, I’m going to say something.

If you haven’t guessed, I’m pretty perturbed by the poop situation at our apartment complex. See, today I stepped in a pile of poop without knowing it until I entered my apartment. Not a good surprise.

Today I was gone from the apartment for hours–11 hours to be precise–and Lola was by herself. This is how Tuesdays are this semester. I have my first class at 8.30 am and my last class doesn’t let out until 6.00 pm. Obviously, I feel terrible about leaving Lola alone for so long.

So, today after I got home I was exhausted and freezing but I decided to take Lola out for a walk. I thought poor Lola definitely deserved a good romp in the snow since she had been inside all day. Just a side note - walking right now is not so easy because in the past two weeks it has snowed A LOT and some of the sidewalks are still not shoveled. But, usually we can find an alternate route as to avoid all of the unshoveled sidewalks. So, Lola and I went out for a walk. A couple of minutes before we got home I noticed Lola started limping a bit. I start to wonder whether she stepped on something (we did pass by some salt that had been thrown on the street). But, I think her feet were just really cold. This was confirmed as soon as she realized that we were at our apartment complex. She jumped up on the curb and started running for our building. Poor thing wanted back in the apartment even though she had spent the past 11 hours in their by herself! I guess cold feet will make you want to go back to what makes you comfortable… which in this case was a warm apartment.