Photos from the article

Here are the "action shots" of me and Sasha from the article. A friend of mine pointed out that they put Sasha's name in quotes, like she's running under an assumed name or something. the funny thing is that shortly after the photographer left, "Sasha" and I collided and I totally wiped out. It was a pretty spectacular crash and actually, the first time we had ever done that. I zigged, she zagged and I went down like a sack of potatoes. Thank God they didn't get a picture of that!











Here's a photo of my friend Kevin's Border Collie, Fergus. What a great shot! I told Kevin it should be on the cover of Clean Run!

A Nice Article

A reporter from WauwatosaNOW came to my agility class to do a story on agility. I thought it was quite nice, although she neglected to mention how good looking and charismatic I am. Jackie and Marvin mentioned in the article are from the Beagle Blog listed under my links column. Here it is:
http://www.wauwatosanow.com/story/index.aspx?id=690974

How to keep Fido flying
Programs keep dogs active, healthy during winter
By Lori Weiss
Staff Writer
Posted: Nov. 28, 2007
Jackie Ratcliff gently pets her multi-colored beagle, Marvin, as she leans down to take a blue leash off his neck.

She points him toward a yellow cloth tunnel that gently winds around a corner.

She soon begins to run toward the tunnel with Marvin on her left side and points to it, saying "tunnel, tunnel" in a gentle voice.

Marvin's black, brown and white speckled body disappears into the tunnel and his face soon appears at the other end and he quickly looks for his owner, who is preparing him for the next obstacle - a jumping bar.

The two challenges Marvin and Ratcliff tried to conquer are part of an agility sport for dogs.

"By giving (dogs) activities using their minds, bodies, they are much happier," said Patti Muraczewski, owner of For Pet's Sake that has a branch location at Central Bark Doggy Day Care, 6442 River Parkway. "It's nice because it's positively trained. It's something dogs enjoy immensely."

Started in UK
Agility involves dog owners who direct their dogs over a course filled with jumps, tunnels, teeter-totters, dog walks, A-frames and weave poles.

Agility came to the United States from the United Kingdom in the 1980s, and For Pet's Sake began offering agility courses about eight years ago.

"It just took off like wildfire," Muraczewski said. "Agility has become a good portion of what we offer."

Muraczewski said the sport is a good outlet for dog owners, especially in the winter.

"It gives people another activity if they aren't going to the park as often," she said.

Dave Fink, an agility instructor who runs the class in Wauwatosa, agrees.

"We see a big spike in the winter because you can't take your dog outside running and it's driving their dogs crazy," he said.

Fink started his 7-year-old boxer, Sasha, in agility about five years ago.

"I needed something to do with her," he said. "I did it just to give Sasha something to do, to run around and have fun."

There are many older dogs like Sasha who take part in the sport, even thought they have arthritis.

"It's good for them to do," Muraczewski said. "It can be a low level and still keeps them active."

Any dog can participate
While it's a popular sport for border collies, any dog can do it.

Muraczewski said mixed breed dogs and even dogs as big as Great Danes are often seen in agility.

"Any dog can be motivated to do agility," Fink said.

That is the reason Laurie Wannemacher enrolled her border collie, Payton, in the beginner's agility class.

"(I enrolled Payton) because he is shy and needed some comforting, and I wanted him to be around other dogs," she said.

Wannemacher said Payton has been better with people since taking the class.

"It's a wonderful outlet for people, no matter what your occupation, to be able to enjoy something like this with your dog," Muraczewski said.

Some try competitions
While many dog owners enroll their dogs in agility classes for the fun of it, some pets move on to trials where they are judged on speed and accuracy.

Even though it takes hard work to be prepared for competition, Fink said it should remain a fun activity.

"If you're not having fun, you shouldn't be doing it," he said.


Lori Weiss can be reached at lweiss@cninow.com or (262) 446-6645.

FYI
Upcoming area agility trials

• Dec. 6 to 9 - Hounds for the Holidays at Uihlein Soccer Center, 7101 W. Good Hope Road, Milwaukee

• June 13 to 15 - United States Dog Agility Association at the Kenosha County Fairgrounds, 30820 111th St., Wilmot

• July 18 to 20 - American Kennel Club agility trial at the Kenosha County Fairgrounds

• Sept. 13 to 14 - USDAA agility trial at the Kenosha County Fairgrounds

FYI
Agility training through For Pet's Sake

• The classes are eight-weeks long, one hour each session.

• Beginners courses cost $115.

• Intermediate and advanced classes cost $95.

• Contact For Pet's Sake at (262) 363-4529 for the next available eight-week session

The Many Faces of Sasha

I caught her here in mid-shake. Pretty... pretty scary!




After drinking from the hose, it looks like her tongue got rehydrated.




Her lips and tongue flap all around when she runs.



more flapping. She's not very aerodynamic with her face like that. Maybe I should make a cone for her to wear to reduce the wind resistance.




how 'bout a kiss from that tongue? Ick.




She LOVES her purple ball!





She borders on obsession with that darn ball!


If you look closely in the photo above, you could probably see her front left canine cracking. I'm sure it happened in a situation very similar to this one. She now has to go see the dentist to get her mouth all pimped out like Flava Flav. Sasha, start looking for a job! Money and Purple Balls don't grow on trees you know!



Flava Flav can afford lots of purple balls.
And a gold grill.
And crazy sunglasses.

And a viking helmet.
And a big Knicks clock.

Whoa

Here's an actual photo - unretouched - of a Whippet. Crazy, huh? Here's the story:

Meet the Incredible Hulk of Hounds
By REBECCA CAMBER

Maybe they should call her a whoppet - after all, she's a whopper of a whippet.


This is Wendy, the dog whose appearance is a long way from the usual long, lean and sleek look of her breed.

She was born with a genetic defect which has left her looking like the Incredible Hulk of Hounds.

While her head, heart, lungs and legs are the size of those of a normal whippet, her gene defect means she is "double muscled".

She weighs 4st4lb - twice as much as she should - and has bulging neck muscles, burly shoulders and haunches like a baboon. And unlike ordinary whippets known for their lithe and narrow frame, this four-year-old pedigree doesn't just have a sixpack stomach, she has a 24-pack.

Sadly, her mixed-up genes mean she may have a shorter life expectancy than most breeds.

But while she may look oddly menacing, her doting owner Ingrid Hansen claims the giant pooch likes nothing better than clambering up on to your lap to have her back scratched.

"People have referred to her as Arnold Schwarzenegger," she said.

"She's healthy and happy. That's all that counts.

"She doesn't know she's got a genetic defect. She might give you a nasty lick, that's all."

The whippet, who lives on a farm in Victoria, Canada, has been the subject of an American genetics study. Although the dogs are customarily bred for hunting, racing and showing, Wendy enjoys a slower pace of life.

She spends her days prowling around the fields, chasing other dogs and horses and sleeping on her owner's bed.

This week the Daily Mail reported on another canine phenomenon, 19st10lb Samson. A cross between a Great Dane and a Newfoundland, the dog from Boston, Lincolnshire, is 37in at the shoulder and stands 6ft5in on his hind legs.


Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=467985&in_page_id=1770
©2007 Associated New Media

I came across a photo of the dogs owner. You know how they say people tend to resemble their dogs? Well...

OT - Interesting websites

Came across some different websites this morning:

This site makes me feel good about myself, because it makes me believe that I'm not as crazy as most of these people:

http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/


This site is based on such a weird premise I find it riveting:

http://www.runningfromcamera.blogspot.com/

Michael Vick Apology Video

Just saw this video and thought it was fascinating. I hope Jesus finds him more believable than the people who were watching (at the very end). Check it out:

Days after pleading guilty for his role in a dogfighting racket, NFL quarterback Michael Vick offered a public apology. Slate's partners at MediaCurves.com asked 300 people to rate how sincere Vick seemed. Here are their real-time responses.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid988327350/bclid1037705321/bctid1155191647

Here's what's been going on with the pooches:

Presley - We fostered him and a co-worker of mine, Ross, adopted him. He’s a really nice dog - a big fawn boy and lots of dorkyness in him. Ross is an active guy and I guess he went boating this last weekend. Presley jumped off the boat into water that was a bit too deep to stand in. He figured out that he could stand on his back legs and get his head out of the water but that required him to try and stay afloat by paddling his front legs. In practice, this “paddling” was Presley actually slapping his paws on the water, sending huge splashes of water about 3-4 feet in the air. He then was jumping at the water coming down and trying to catch all of the droplets. From how Ross described it, it sounded like uncontrolled chaos. Presley eventually let Ross get close enough to where he could put his front paws on Ross’ shoulders to gain a little more stability. They made their way back to the boat and for some reason, Presley didn’t jump in again. Hmm. I wonder why?


Mattis - A beautiful (and BIG) flashy reverse brindle. I temperament tested Mattis at MADACC and he passed with flying colors. We are taking a break from fostering so we only had Mattis for a day or two. He did great with George and Sasha and went into his crate with just a little encouragement. When I got home from work, he was still laying in his crate and looked to be happy as a clam. I ran him up to Oshkosh where his actual foster home was going to take him up to Rhinelander. He apparently busted out of his wire crate (we used a Vari-Kennel) a couple times. They then went out and bought a Vari-kennel which he busted out of also. I think that after his first success, he found that he liked the challenge of busting out of crates and saw each as a test of his skill and ability. The foster home he was with couldn’t be home more often so he was moved to another foster home who was home more. I guess he’s doing fine and just waiting for the right family to come along!

Layla on Day 1

Layla - Layla (I think her name is actually spelled Laila like Mohammed Ali’s daughter but her paperwork all read Layla) came to us from a shelter in Brookfield. She was surrendered because their child was “allergic” to her. Yeah, right. She was not spayed, and had a case of Pyometra , and was very thin. She was doing well initially but shelter life started getting to her to the point where she was reactive around other dogs and had stopped eating. Her initial weight - 31lbs - had dropped down to 26 and she wouldn’t eat anything. They tried chicken breasts, ground meat, canned cat food,... everything to no avail. So they called us and asked if we would take her in the hopes that living in a home might get her back on the road to recovery. I went and got her and wound up fostering her.

Get some meat on those bones! George says you’re making him look overweight!

I’m so little - but don’t let that fool you!



Skinny Layla at 33lbs. Imagine her weighing only 26!

She’s gaining weight, although she is still drinking tons of water, and on Sunday (Sept 2, 2007) she had a meeting with a very nice couple who have decided to adopt her! She’s a big dog in a little dogs body - she has George (who has 55 lbs on her) hiding under the dining room table. We call her The Pirate because she walks around the house going “Arrrr. Arrrr.” for no reason. It’s kinda endearing, except to George, who was probably the most excited that she found her forever home. As soon as we get her paperwork we’re going to figure out a time to take her to her home. Even though she is a bit bossy, she’s a sweet little thing with people and will be an only dog, which I think she’ll be very happy about. She doesn’t want to share her love with anybody else!