Friday Friends

Hello Pals,

I am going to continue on with the Earthdog practice, and introduce you to some of the new pals I met. They were all great sports, and although some did not enjoy Earthdog as much as I, we all loved sniffing and meeting up with each other!

Here were a few pups we met right off. I didn't catch their names, but we were all getting to know each other.



This was Bean. She REALLY liked going into that tunnel after Mr. Rat.



Here is my new friend Tavish. He wasn't sure about Earthdog. Although he liked Mr. Rat, he was not too keen on going into the tunnel. Silly boy. I showed him how, but he would rather find another way to talk to Mr. Rat.



I met my new pal, Willie, here. He just retired from the show ring, and now he could do all sorts of fun stuff, like Earthdog. I was questioning him about the care of his coat, but he said no more worries about that now. He can get dirty and doesn't have to go through that nasty stripping process any longer. Hurray for him.



There was absolutely no way Willie wanted to be separated from Mr. Rat. He was saying how much he enjoyed Mr. Rat's company. His mom and the Earthdog Man were trying to reason with him, as you can see.



Shadow, a Manchester Terrier, is our long-time agility buddy and he told us about the Earthdog Practice. Here he is with Mr. Rat. He brought his cousin Aries and aunt Lilly.



Aries is a Min Pin and Lilly is an All American girl dog. She did NOT care for getting near the rat, nor getting dirty.



We had such a good time there. We can't wait to try it again. We are going to try to figure out how to get the video up and running so you can see me go into the tunnel.

Now, we are off to read what you guys have been up to. We are WAY OUT OF TOUCH!

Earthdog Dog Primer I

Hello everydoggie,

Again, I must apologize for our absence. Our mother will NOT relinquish her computer for any amount of time, and I fear that Katherine, Zorra, and I will need to hold a bark treat sale so we may purchase our own!

At any rate, some of you were asking about my experience with Earthdog and what exactly it is. Well, here is the "official description" of this sport:

The purpose of non-competitive Earthdog tests is to offer breeders and owners of small Terriers and Dachshunds a standardized gauge to measure their dogs' natural aptitude and trained hunting and working behaviors when exposed to an underground hunting situation. The noncompetitive program begins with a basic introduction to den work and quarry and progresses through gradual steps to require the dog to demonstrate that it is willing to perform the required tasks including seeking its quarry, locating and working it underground.

- AKC

Quarry for EArthdog is a typically a rat. Here, you can see I am getting acquainted with Mr. Rat. We became fast friends, of course. I wanted to follow him everywhere.



Hello, Mr. Rat. I find you very interesting and very intriguing!!


Mr. Rat... I am not sure you should go into this tunnel-like thing. I should try to stop you.



You are just insistent on going in there, aren't you. Well, I shall follow....



Here I come, my new pal! It is a little snug, but I can crawl in right behind.




THERE you are, my good friend. That was fun chasing you through the tunnel.



I certainly had a good time, didn't you?



(note: No rats were harmed in this practice. In fact, they could care less if the dogs were barking and chasing them at all).

Enough for today. I have much more to tell you, including how I went down in the ground tunnel for my new pal!

Rats!!

Our good pal, Thor gave us this wonderful award. Thank you so much, Thor.

To try to stay out of trouble today (it is a mudpit in the backyard), we were crusing the net. We suddenly relized that we were one day late with Chinese New Year. This year, 2008, is known as the Year of the RAT. OMD. Sammie is about ready to go NUTS on that. He thinks RATS will be everywhere, and he wants to get them ALL!!

In Earthdog competitions (A + A know all about those), they use a RAT in a cage to get WFTs and other Earth doggies into the tunnels and the doggies should act like they are going to get the RAT. Sammie is very good at mousing home and digging to get the moles, etc in the yard.....

So, this will be a busy year for Sammie. He has a whole year to get as many RATS as possible.

Mommi HATES HATES HATES rats, mice and other vermin... So, she may just have a fit with all this talk about RATS. BOL. BOL.