Skimmer’s a workin’ boy for sure – he added a new title last weekend: Draft Dog. This involved a maneuvering course and a freight haul, along with some general obedience and harnessing skills for me (the lucky handler). Skimmer passed with ease.
Skimmer does a perfect “back up” – even wags his tail too! (picture by Megan Gold)
I’ll get a pic up soon; right now it’s time to focus on Ripple, who just had her first litter of… well, whaddaya think?!… Leolets!
Last week I and the entire Leonberger world lost a great friend and advocate – Waltraut Zieher died, succumbing to the spread of cancer. I only knew Waltraut for the past 10 years or so, and only really got to know her in the last 6, but in that short time I came to understand that I’d been lucky to know one of the greatest Leonberger advocates of my time.
Waltraut was outspoken and direct; two experiences that sum up my relationship with her…
1) In 2005 I had a Leonberger that I very much wanted to breed. “Gala” was beautiful, 100% sweet, with an awesomely calm, smart, playful temperment. I had only chatted with Waltraut a few times but I knew she was a BACL examiner* and so I asked her to critique Gala. Ever so …bluntly… Waltraut said “don’t breed her – she has entropion”. No two ways about that statement, no “…but what if…”, I got the point. She must have sensed my disappointment and hurt and backed off a little, adding “…double-check with an eye specialist, I could be wrong…”. Of course, I did, and Waltraut was right so puppies were not to be.
2) by 2010 Waltraut I’d gotten to know her more and love her directness. She never ceased to make me laugh at the unflinching way she pointed out problems… no mincing words… no easing into subjects. At the Sacto, CA Leo Specialty I was showing my girl “Ripple” in the ring on a hot, hot, very hot, day – as I came out of the ring Waltraut said “Ripple did good but you didn’t show her very well”. I burst out laughing. She was absolutely 100% right, and in the midst of the usual “good job!” comments her comment stood out for it’s honesty. I smile still every time I think of that – it was pure “Waltraut”.
I find it incredibly poignant and appropriate that Waltraut died of one of biggest problems she spent the last decades fighting in Leonbergers: cancer (and specifically, it had spread to bone cancer). It made her seem to *be* a Leonbergerwhich I think is a great honor. She got lots of Leonberger community awards but I sure wish she could have gotten the Grey Muzzle award**.
Ripple will hopefully have puppies soon, continuing on Waltraut’s Von Stutensee line. I hope I am able to remember everything Waltraut taught me as this litter comes to life.
You got Best in Show, Waltraut, good girl!
*Before LCA became affiliated with the AKC, there were BACL examiners who determined the breeding quality of Leonbergers. It was a sad IMO when we lost that… but that’s another story for another day…
**Grey Muzzle awards are issued to Leos which live 12+ years, an extra long life for a breed whose typical lifespan is 8-10 years.
We didn’t have to wait all that long after all. I had forgotten that Mountain States Dog Training Club (MSDTC) holds their AKC Obedience and Rally show in early May. I wasn’t too hopeful since the weather was warming up significantly and at last year’s MSDTC show I could barely get Skimmer to move from the (cooler) floor. What an fiasco and it was only Beginner Novice; yah, he passed, but I swear it was a “gimme” from one very nice judge. I can imagine her thoughts… “Hey, it’s only Beginner Novice – if I don’t let this woman and her turtle dog pass, she may never come back!”.
So… it was hot… darn hot for a Spring day… and the first day Skimmer dragged like an August dog. Depressed, I envisioned another dismal turtle-y failure. But then I remembered that I had been able to get Skimmer’s attitude up at the last show by playing with a tennis ball beforehand. We snuck off to a little-seen corner and I bounced, tossed, spun, kicked that tennis ball around in seemingly vain effort to move the 140+ lb beast off the cool cement floor. Finally… a spark! he’s up! he’s chasing the ball! Wait, get water immediately… ok, don’t overdo it… now in to the ring, Skimmer!
Voila! Nothing spectacular, and he was getting hotter by the second, but we passed every exercise and he didn’t fall asleep and crash to the floor on his sit-stay.
My awesome little dog… even stayed awake for the celebratory picture and – true to form – crashed the photographer’s props with one upbeat tail swing. Atta boy!
On to CDX. Oh right, it’s summer, cancel that. Even better: on to Waterwork! (CDX = Fall. ). Lots to do.
In the last month and a half I have: lead a major production release at work (software) involving 16+ hour days, been evacuated for a fire, lived in a trailer in a field for a week, driven 2000+ miles to the Leo Specialty in Wisconsin, pulled nasty little ticks out of our dogs (what good are ticks? I ask you!?) and tried to keep some sense of sanity through all this.
Didn’t work. Sanity lost…
If any of you have tried to contact me during March/April I beg forgiveness. I probably haven’t replied. I’m just now slogging through emails trying to catch up. Please contact me again if I haven’t responded.
Just listening to you makes me tired, Marsha!
Sign me,
Loopy in Littleton
Big atta-boys are in order for Skimmer! He got 2 legs towards his AKC CD title at the Rocky Mtn Cluster Dog Shows in February. That’s another two-for-two: 2 trials, 2 legs. Day 1 he got a respectable 190.5 – pretty darn impressive for a big boy. I almost wished I’d put him in a 3rd show that weekend but it’s probably best that I didn’t; it was an exhausting weekend and we’d have been pushing it to try to get that 3rd leg.
Now of course we wait… and wait… there are no local shows for months and when summer hits we have no intention of spending the weekends inside, wandering around, waiting to go in the ring. Not when Water Rescue season beckons! So that obedience carrot might not get nabbed for a long time but I can still claim…
Skimmer, "smooch!". Yup, definitely obedient.
Skimmer is obedient!
I was waiting for a good pic of Ripple showing before posting but they all look goofy (after all, I am in them) so I’m gonna wing it…
Ripple took a 4-point major at the Plum Creek Dog Show in Denver, CO in February. This is pretty impressive considering she gets a little overwhelmed in crowds – or, wait, is it me that gets overwhelmed? – whatever, we both overcame our shyness and sauntered to a fun win. Ripple even had her own cheering crowd; several friends from a local social group were in the bleachers cheering her on. I think that’s why she won! Seriously. That and the extra brushings Ripple got from a friend right beforehand.
We enter about 3 shows a year. So far we’ve never competed against any other female Leos in the local shows, always having to best the boys to get points. It happens… and at this rate she might get her CH by …oh… 2015? Perhaps? or perhaps never, which is fine and dandy by me. .
Better than any ol' show pic anyway! Go Ripple!
Ripple remains my wonderful, perfect girly-girl in all things fun.
On to the National Specialty in April – only a few weeks away. Wisconsin here we come!
If it isn’t obvious already I have the awesome-est Leos ever…
The High Country Newf club held their Sept water rescue trials on Sept 17/18th, and both Ripple and Skimmer passed their water rescue tests! One day, both… that! doesn’t happen very often.
Ripple passed her Senior WRD (Water Rescue Dog) with nary a hitch and Skimmer, oh Skimmer, unbelievably, passed his Junior WD (Water Dog) title with a near perfect performance.
Just 2 weeks before the test I had tried a new method of training with Ripple for the 3-drowners exercise and, by golly, it worked. Ripple grabbed the rope w/life-ring and never looked back – one more drowning swimmer saved!
So, yes, the season is over yet again and I can cry about having to wait for 8 months
I was a good boy, wasn't I? I saved those people!
Without a doubt, the best milestone in water rescue is the boat jump! Sure, saving a drowning victim might be … practical… even heroic (if it were real)… but there is nothing better than watching a massive hairy beast take a swan dive off a boat.
My little hairy 135lb Leo boy learned to jump off the boat last week. My summer is complete; whether or not we pass any water rescue trials in the next coming weeks is irrelevant, my little boy jumped! And he’s going to be a beautiful jumper too, leaping far out from the boat with a great push.
There have been some big disappointments this summer – Ripple’s breeding didn’t go as planned, and my work schedule was so harsh that I didn’t get to train in water rescue seriously – but what I will remember from this summer is Skimmer’s first jump.
Playing pattycake with the water!
After the loss of Takoda we just didn’t feel right around the house. While the big dogs are a lot of loving, there was an open spot in our hearts to love another doggy, so Janet went in search of a dog to fill that spot.
We now have “April”, an 8yo Golden Retriever, who has stolen our hearts, a lot of toys, and 99% of the bed. She has worked her way quickly into “old girl, top girl” position with the Leos, who seem to take it in stride. We thought we might have trouble with Skimmer (a 2 yo male teenager) accepting her but it seems that we should have been more worried about her accepting him! She’s not exactly tolerant of the the young whippersnapper, but he has deferred to her in all instances, and she is learning that he’s more than just a mass of fur that moves frantically. All is calm on the homefront and April feels more and more comfortable each day.
I can’t say enough good things about Golden Retriever Rescue of the Rockies . If you’re looking for a Golden, check them out!
