Rest in Peace my sweet sweet Kellie 96.06.04 - 09.09.20

Kellie has crossed the rainbow bridge and I miss my sweet girl so badly. Her back and hindquarters were too tired after over 13 years and within a couple of days she had a very hard time getting up and just did not want to move. Kellie left this world in a very dignified way after 13 years of friendship, a sunny day on a blanket outside the vet. She fell asleep almost instantly with comforting and encouraging words whispered in her ears by me and when the time came she calmly crossed the bridge.
I miss her so much, even if she was over 13 years and it was only a matter of time it has with no doubt been the worst day in my entire life. I cannot keep my tears from falling, my best friend is gone, I will never again be able to cuddle up next to her and bury my nose in her coat and seek comfort, I will never again laugh at her wicked sense of humour, I will miss her looking at me knowing exactely what I am thinking just then....she was the sweetest life companion anybody could ever wish for and it is unreal that I will have to continue my life without her!

They say memories are golden well maybe that is true.

I never wanted memories, I only wanted you.

A million times I needed you, a million times I cried.

If love alone could have saved you, you never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly, In death I love you still.

In my heart you hold a place, no one could ever fill.

If tears could build a stairway, and heartache make a lane,

I´d walk the path to heaven, and bring you back again.

I have to tell myself that you are someplace nice waiting for me, that grandma and Susanne are looking after you and that you are young again playing with Dunder, Dilba, Shadow and Bessie. I'll see you on the other side Kellie, where ever that may be - I will love you always my sweet sweet girl!

Folke 20 months - and some summer snapshots

... and some snapshots from the summer that was

The sea is da shit (especially waves):

Freestyle performance at Ronneby International show:

Österlen:

Boss - 6 years old:

Freestyle - LinköpingX4, July 25-26. Videos

Practising at our boarding house.

Folke and I have had a very intense weekend together with Victoria and her shapendoes Pommac and Payas. Linköping's dog club arranged 4 competitions in 2 days and I entered in all - competing in Class 1 twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday.

Freestyle competitions are not very frequent unfortunately and since I am a newbie when it comes to competing (which differs quite a lot from just watching) -I enter in everything within three hours driving distance. I need to practise, watch and learn. Since the regulations are so vague and confusing - learning by doing is pretty much the way to learn.

Waiting - in the shade - for our turn.

So what did I learn - well as mentioned before - A LOT. Apart from all the tricks I now want to learn I also found out that:

1) Folke's stamina and joy is impressive. We watched several dogs blacking out in the ring, focusing on everything but the handler or just sitting there doing nothing.

Folke never quit wagging his tail and lasted 3 competitions. Both Folke and I had a mental melt down in the last competition. I forgot to do one of the mandatory tricks which meant a huge point reduction - and Folke's brain was just very tired, but he was still a happy lad and wanted to co-operate and did his best.

It's just so much fun to have such a dog - he is still very young, there were bitches on heat around and dogs everywhere, loud music from early morning until late afternoon, no routine from before..and...he was the sweetest boy and did a great job!

Team Anatnaq - Sharing bed and food at the boarding house.

2) Where we sat we could hear handlers repeating commands several times and/or giving a command and the dog did something entirely different and they still managed to get high scores - while we got in our critics that we had double commands and some miscommunications.

Took us a little while but then we realised that the more experienced handlers did as many tricks as possible as far away from the judges as possible. So both Victoria and I followed their example and moved down in the ring, away from the judges. Part of the points is on how well you use the ring space - but you can do simple position work or tricks you know the dog will do without any problem covering the ring with those and then move down for the more critical ones.

This is one of the reasons why I cannot understand why the freestyle regulations do not state that the judges must sit on opposite sides.

We did not get any scratched over and altered points this time eventhough the judges sat next to eachother - and the points did differ so that was good.

Victoria slepping to Heel Work to Music.

3) Repetitions means reduction in points. This resulted in me taking one minute of my 2.20 minute long programme and re-thinking the entire choreograpy to fit everything in. We realised this 7.30 Sunday morning and I was first in the ring at 9.45. This also meant a whole new way of thinking as I thought it was okay to do tricks more than once to fit the music and to have a nice programme. I had totally missed the part in the written regulations saying that - and it seems again that the rules are too vague in order to guide the judges the right way as some repetitions - such as doing the same position work over and over again seemed to be okay but other repetitions not.

4) Freestyle regulation is very confusing. You need 70 points (39 in technical parts) out of 100 to qualify for Class 2, BUT in order to get your Class 1 title (FSD1) you need 80points X 3. If someone has the logical explanation to that please share - neither of us could figure it out. If you are good enough to qualify for a more advanced level one would think that you should also qualify for the title - obedience for instance work that way.

We realised this Sunday morning as we checked the rules and regulations again - a bit of a disappointment as I thought I was 2 down on the way to the title as everybody at the competition focused on qualifying for Class 2 and the speaker congratulated everyone who reached 70 points and more. Nobody put any extra attention to the ones getting over 80 points. Strange!

A very clever programme where the handler and dog illustrated a

comedy song with tricks and different items. Great entertainment.

5) That you can compete before lunch - and then judge a competition in the afternoon.

Okay - you compete against yourself really, the podium just gives it that extra touch and excitement, but still. I guess I am too much of a dog show person where people would be very upset if people responsible for the show competed or if a judge showed one day and judged the other.

6) That there is always a nice surprise and entertainment around the corner when watching freestyle. Like the 35+ handler who brought a feather boa and a golden mask in the ring (as that is what the music artist has on stage) and had an outfit showing half her belly - walking around showing herself off looking at the audience and judges through her mask but had very little contact with her dog and did a really bad programme, running around the ring having the dog chasing the flickering feather boa as some kind of a position work as the dog would never have followed her otherwise. After she finished people had to come in the ring and help her clean up all the feathers. She did this programme more than once so it was not a theory gone wrong in reality.

We quietly laughed at the programme and the costume as it was so over the top and that it was obvious that she would get bad scores using the boa to keep her dog's attention.

Well, we had to eat that laugh as she was the judge the same afternoon and of course got a good score. There were some costumes she didn't quite get - as she wrote in the critics - and thus did not give the highest score. He he he having watched freestyle pretty much from the beginning before it became an official sport I can say that she belongs to a dying freestyle generation dating back a decade or so.

Many of the real pro's did not have any outfit at all - which I quite like as I hate trying to figure out how little I can get away with but still get the highest score for costume.

7) That you can compete with a Great Dane and really capture the audience and adapt the music and movements to fit the rather slow breed and still get high scores. Truly impressive and just what the Freestyle sport needs among all the border collies and poodles. It was fun to see the diversity in breeds as well as handlers. Folke and the Great Danes were the largest breeds there with the nearest size about 25 kilos lighter than Folke, large breeds are still not very common in the freestyle ring unfortunately - but I think it is just a matter of time. Handlers ranged from young girls to ladies in their mid 50's.

The results:

Folke got 76 points both competitions the first day and 77,5 the first competition the second day - getting a qualifying score for Class 2, 3 times out of four. He was also 6 out of 29 competitors at the first competition Saturday morning and 10 out of 27 the second competition.

Video: The long programme - 76 points

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLZI-kbNDfE

Video: The shorter programme - 77,5 points

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_mu0uttnX0&NR=1

I was very happy about the results and our increase in points from our first try. I took off 1 minute of our programme the second day which gave us a slightly higher score. It was a bit frustrating to get that close to 80 points and I had to remind myself that we haven't practiced for very long and hardly competed at all - I have to rememeber to put things into perspective really.

Victoria - who competed with her shapendoes Pommac and Payas - shared the podium with herself at one of the competitions on Sunday winning gold and bronze. She scored over 80 points twice with Pommac and once with Payas (I have videos of her programmes as well but since she is a hard hitter I do not dare publishing them without her consent). Well done - the Schapendoes Mafia is on the move!

Victoria - a slightly more happy camper on the Sunday than on the Saturday

as she got to share the podium with herself.

I am already planning new tricks and I am eager to get started. Pity there are no competitions around for the rest of this year.

Video - Folke playing fetch, water work

Video - Folke playing fetch

Played with Folke last night down at lake Trummen - he loves playing fetch. Nothing particular about it really, but I was very proud after the water work as Folke went left when I told him to. Left in our world is "go" as I find it a bit hard to separate left from right -or the other way around - fast enough, I'm a bit slow there and I blame it entirely on my genes as other family members suffer from the same disability. I threw the water dummy before the ones on land but sent Folke on the land dummies first. By the time we moved over to fetch the one in the water it had floated away quite a bit. I practised left-right, that is go-fetch, on a really basic level a while back, seems like some parts hit home. Yeeey!

Show results - Tvååker July 12, 2009

6 curlies entered in Tvååker, two dogs and the rest bitches - no puppies. Folke got his second yellow ribbon, judge was Rita Kadike Skadina, Lithuania. She disliked his entire being - a strong dislike that begun when she saw his somewhat open bite. She returned and looked at it about four-five times just for the cause I guess as she saw it the first time she opened his mouth.



I don't really understand why she had to go back and go through the front of his mouth that many times - but then again not much in her judging made sense to me anyways. In a way it was very kind of her - although I have a slight feeling she didn't mean it that way - as Folke got to practice and behaved very well.

The critics were quite "interesting" as well and compared to the other critics Folke has received this does not sound like the same dog being judged:
masculine head, bite not correct, strong body, angulation should be better, very short steps, narrow in front, too straight behind.

Folke´s somewhat open bite was worth nothing more than a third price, while the same judge rewarded individuals with no curls 1st price with a CK and BOB to a curly with huge and clearly visible bald patches - where is the sense in that? I don't know and I can only shake my head in amazement at the lack of common sense.

In a working breed like a curly I would say that most people would opt for the one that could work or go with you an entire day no matter temperature or weather.

An open bite is a physical error, so is bald patches and a bad over all coat - which would last the longest in the field? I do not think I need to further explain which one I believe is more severe in a curly.

But okay - give an open bite a third price BUT - please be consistent and give the same to other severe errors like bald patches and no coat. In my opinion, judging like Rita Kadike Skadina clearly indicates a lack of commitment, common sense and breed knowledge.

We still had a great day - it's not as if I am not used to being thrown out if the ring with Folke every now and then. Lena was placed 5th out of 10 in open class and Inez behaved really well.

Stretching before entering the ring.

We also brought with us an american cocker - Lena's father's - that was trimmed down. The American Cockers were in the same ring as the Welsh Springers and we put up our tent next to that ring and walking pass with crates and a tent and initially only with a trimmed down american cocker resulted in a few lifted eye brows. Pretty amusing!

Yes - there are three dogs in the photo.

From dusk ´til dawn

Some photos from the morning walk Folke and I take each morning. I feel very lucky having this two minutes away and at the same time less than a ten minute bike ride to the city centre. We are all alone in the morning, takes about 40 minutes to walk and Folke is off leash most of the walk. Also a nice walk as the sun sets. I took the camera with me one of many days when the lake looked like a mirror.



DUSK:


DAWN:


Our house behind the trees.

Välle broar, houses built at the same time as ours.

Teleborg castle

Folke

Show results - Folke's 2nd challenge, Gränna June 14th - 09.

Folke won his 2nd challenge today under Jana Janekova, Slovakia. 3 curlies entered, one Curly Cottage puppy, one Aristocurls bitch in champion class and then Folke in intermediate. The bitch was BOB and Folke BOS - she thought he had tiny bit too much skin under his neck (??)


I was very pleased he got his 2nd challenge but it was not the greatest win so to speak. No competition and the judge - although very friendly and polite - was a bit tense and almost seemed scared of the dogs. Guess she might have been bitten. It was hard to say how much she knew about curlies but I´d say not very much.


Folke behaved well and was as happy as ever - as always - but it is much easier to get him to move now - he is just veeeeery eager.

Folke´s critics (my own translation):
18 months old, a little big, wonderful head, nice body, lovely developed body, correct angles, correct hindquarters, lovely movements.

I also got the privilege to handle my friend's flat coated Sanos as she was not able to go herself - a lovely boy with wonderful movements who showed his butt off. Folke was very happy to have a friend at the show grounds and Sanos got the taste of being worshipped by a curly - I'd say Ulrika won't have to clean Sanos ears within the nearest future.

Results - Freestyle, Växjö, June 6th

Folke and I were placed 3rd out of 10 in beginners class during yesterday's freestyle competition (10 entries, 2 pulled their entries) . We got 67 points from one judge and 62 from the other, giving us a total score of 129 points and an average score of 64,5. You need an average of 70 points to be allowed to enter in class 2 - I must say I think we passed our first competition with distinction!
We also congratulate Victoria and Pommac who came 2nd and showed the audience a neat programme to the song "Sånt är livet". They also made it to the local paper:
http://www.smp.se/nyheter/vaxjo/freestyle---forsta-danstavlingen-for-hundar(1364399).gm

Kellie came along and had a great time - watching, wagging her tail and finding a few dropped treats here and there.

Waiting

Victoria and Pommac were first in the ring followed by me and Folke.

Folke was a delight and it's so easy to tell he thinks freestyle is great fun.

The aim with our first competition was to avoid being disqualified. Second priority was Folke being completely focused on me and not everything going on around us (for instance the agility competiton) and that he would be happy in the ring.

Having this as main focus also meant that I deliberately did not prepare any choreography to talk about as I wanted to take the pressure off me and Folke having to keep track of too much choreography and tricks. He knows a couple of more tricks but I left them out.

Our performance on video uploaded on youtube since it took hours trying to do it on blogspot:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zf2jLz0F58Y

Many thanks to Margareta who helped me make our out-fit - it gave us the highest score.

Mandatory in class 1 is: dog walking around itself (360 degrees), crossing beween the handlers legs at least four times in a row, position work at least 5 metres.

Freestyle judging is a separate chapter - I guess I will learn as I go along but parts of it really does not make much sense. It is very hard to grasp what you have to do to achieve higher points (range from 1-5) - regulations are really vague on pretty much everything.

ALSO what I and other people at the competition reacted on was that the judges sat next to eachother and discussed the points - really takes away the whole point of having more than one judge. More than I had scratched over scores that were lowered to better match the other judge´s.

I seriously thought that they sat in opposite corners of the ring - both in order to see as much of the program as possible but also to show any difference in judging. Freestyle is a fairly new sport and therefore it should be even more important to have more than one judge, and most importantly that the judges do not co-judge, in order to establish a more coherent view on point values and what is required in each class.

There are - unfortunately - not all that many freestyle competitions around at the moment but next time I will have more choreopraphy prepared and also a few more tricks.

Stage fright and performance anxiety?

Naaah not at all...tomorrow is D-day but the aim is realistic - that Folke stays in the ring and that we won't get disqualified!

It's going to be great fun to see what happens in a competition situation and what we need to practice on.

HAPPY 13th BIRTHDAY KELLIE!!!!

Kellie turned teenager today and I feel very fortunate that she is still around.
The photos were taken earlier today.


A few high-lights:

June 1996 - born in a litter of 8 puppies in Ängelholm at Gerd Cullin's kennel Cornerstones. Mother Kelsmere Linnet (imp UK), father Uveds Gooseberry.

Late 90´s:
- Shares an 80cm bed with me every night, having her own pillow and I get used to falling asleep with my nose burried in curls - very addictive.
- Makes a clear statement that obedience sucks by constantly going on strike doing everything in slow-motion on obedience training and classes. During competitions walking half a metre behind me throwing big chunks of grass in the air. On what was to be our last competition - stepping things up by ignoring me turning right and instead keeps walking straight ahead into the judge´s tent peeking through behind the judge´s legs. I got used to a laughing audience and I guess they missed the entertaining curly as we moved on to tracking.
- Kellie passes the aptitude test in blood tracking. A real talent and we do a lot of tracking after that but no competitions.
- Kellie goes on a panic holiday to the NL and is mated with Caballus Inferno "Sam", which results in 5 healthy liver puppies in July 1999. One bitch is sold to Norway and one to the NL, one dog is sold to the UK - two remain in Sweden.


Beginning of the new millenium:
- Lives la dolce vita as a campus dog for 5 years and is loved and cuddled by everyone.
- Kellie becomes a Swedish Show Champion in 2003 under Guy Spagnolo after changes in regulations which means that hunting rewards are no longer needed.
- Unlocks two doors at my friend´s place and goes Michaela-hunting through the city while my friend and I enjoy a pizza down the street. Manage to survive crossing heavy roads and as I run through the city in my new high heels searching, crying and with the police on my mobile - she finds her spot at the bus-central and sits as if she had been glued to the number 7 (university) sign post watching busses come and go. People start wondering about the funny looking cross-bred that calmly watches the world go by and won't move and call the police. It was all over in less than two hours but that was the last time I ever questioned her intelligence unlocking two doors and also as observations later unveiled that she had made it through the city running to places we have been together not finding me and then opting for the central bus station - going through areas we have never been before getting there.

2006

- Is second best veteran at the show at the curly special in Mölle. The oldest dog entered and with striking critics.

2007

- Kellie is rushed to the vet, miles away, in the middle of the night with gastric torsion and survives the operation at the age of 11.

2008

- Kellie gets a great grandchild to raise, Anatnaq Dark Hawk "Folke".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETIE!

Show results - BOB in Hässleholm May 17, 2009.

Folke won the challenge and BOB, 7 entries, under Eeva Rautala in Hässleholm during the weekend.

Intermediate class

He won over 2 in his class plus the open dog that was Swedish winner earlier this year. 2 bitches were entered and since neither got a CK there was no BOB competition. There were only two who got CK and that was Folke and the Swedish winner.

Intermediate class

The judge loved Folke and said that the somewhat open bite had to be put into relation to his strengths and assets. She had a Swedish judge trainee in the ring, which was great fun as that meant that she said everything out loud and discussed it with the trainee.

Intermediate class

She went through Folke bit by bit and pointed out breed characteristics and what to be aware of in curlies - it was easy to tell she knew curlies, everything from temperament to appearance. Luckily she checked the teeth last or I would have turned cocky by all the positive comments like "this is what you should look for in a curly" "this is also perfect - this is the way it is supposed to be" , the only words that went through my mind was "bugger bugger bugger bugger, "she is going to check his mouth and all this will be worth nothing". But as earlier mentioned she commented on the bite and I was relieved she put it in perspective to all of his strengths. The tiny bit of an open bite comes and goes - I hope it will go never to come back again.

Best dog

She was also really strict on coats - finally a judge that values a good coat. I have been on dog shows watching curlies with no curls or with huge bald patches win the challenge - scary!

Best dog

Folke´s critics:
Excellent type and size, beautiful head and expression, good eye colour, excellent neck and topline, excellent chest for his age, good bone structure, well angulated. lovely coat, carries his tail a bit high when running. Moves well. Pleasing temperament. A somewhat open bite.

Yeeey! The challenge!!!

We have practised a bit on running using a command and also on following my hand at certain times while running and I am pretty happy with the result, especially the running command as Folke kept going for quite some time once he got in the right pace.

There were quite a lot of bitches on heat around - and I showed one, so by the time we got to the Group competition Folke´s thoughts where someplace else but it didn't bother me all that much. He will learn how to handle it (with a little bit of help ;) ) as he grows and he won't grow tired as quickly when he gets used to shows. He was an overly happy lad in the group finals - but happy is good!

Best Of Breed

Kellies turn to get massage

Kellie´s turn to get an hour massage by Lotta. The elevator was out of order and since Kellie no longer walks in stairs and I do not have the strength to carry 35 struggling kilos we had to be inventive and did it all on a thick mattress on the bottom floor.
Lotta thought Kellie looked really well and Kellie was still surprisingly agile in spite of her great age.
Kellie enjoyed every second and was a happy camper afterwards trotting along with a wagging tail.
Folke has an appointment next week.

Folke loves his balcony

Those of you who have been visiting probably recognize the castle tower at the horizon, that gives you a hint about where I live nowadays.