The Blog of the Frog

Last summer when I took Solei’s Bronze Good Citizen award I thought about doing it with Elton as well, but decided not to as there was no hurry and I had enough to think about at the time. I’ve been waiting for the obedience club I’m a member of to hold a test (to my knowledge the last one was January 2010) intending for Elton to do it then, and they haven’t! So Elton still hadn’t taken it.

Last week I was sorting out some schedules, and suddenly had an “oh sh!t” moment! – entries for the first heat of the Pre-Beginner Stakes I want to enter close on 23rd March…by which time Elton needs to have passed his Bronze. There was no test coming up at club, and the earliest he could take it was at UK Toy – 26th March. Uh oh!

Thinking if they were holding tests it was more likely to be at the end or beginning of a month, I frantically started emailing round all the clubs within a 35ish mile radius! Twelve in all. I had some helpful replies, and one said they were holding a test on 1st March and I would be welcome to come along…yes, result!

I was so nervous, although everything he had to do should have been well within his capabilities I can count the number of times he’s been to an obedience class on one hand (the last time not good at all) and we were going to a venue neither of us had ever been to before, with dogs neither of us had never met before – having not specifically practiced either!

So last night off we went. Arrived nice and early, because I wanted to give us both plenty of time to settle – just as well, we needed it! On the whole he was a very good boy, though a long way off what he is capable of which is entirely my fault…I haven’t done enough practice with the chair (partly because I was holding out, expecting my new chair to have been ready ages ago and thus avoiding having to retrain him to another chair yet again!) and I haven’t done enough practice away from home.

Never the less, although not good looking at him from a competitive point of view, as a pet he was fine 😉 and we passed! So Elton now holds his Bronze Good Citizen Award, and panic is over 🙂 I’m so relieved to have to that out of the way. Yay Elton!

In other news, Solei is going back to agility 🙂 I’m so excited, I just hope he enjoys it as much! We started two years ago and then it fizzled out, I’ve been desperate to get back to it ever since. I oked it with the chiropractor, so we’ll have to see how he goes. Fingers crossed.

It seems as if it was meant to be – last week I was looking for something totally unrelated to agility, that I knew I’d seen on a website somewhere but couldn’t remember where. I thought it might have been on an agility website I’d been looking at a couple of days previously, so I went back to see. I didn’t find what I was looking for, but upon looking for that I discovered a notice posted two weeks previously advertising spaces at the club I’d intended to go and have a look at – starting the next week!

So I rang up the number, and after we’d chatted briefly we discovered we actually knew each other….and not only did we know each other, but she’d even given me a lesson once. So that was rather fun! Also awesome because A) I know I like her methods so I feel ok going along next week without having been to look at the club beforehand (no opportunity to go and look before next week), and B) the wheelchair is ok 🙂

First lesson is tomorrow! He’s going as if he’d never done it before, which means it won’t be any more strenuous than a walk, so he’s ok to do that – because I think he’s put his back out a bit again – he’s going back to the chiro on Friday, which’ll be 6 weeks since his last treatment.

What a week!

It’s been such a weird couple of months. Apologies for slightly fragmented post – lots of separate bits to catch up on over the last couple of weeks.

Until last weekend Elton and I had had a lousy time in the show ring so far this year. At the start of the year when the judges were good he messed around and threw opportunities away, then as his behaviour (sort of) improved he wasn’t to the judges tastes. Phalenes and open shows are rather a crap shot anyway, it often doesn’t turn out well!

At the end of January we had the indignity of the judge stopping at the dog before Elton and not bothering to look, moving every single dog in the class for a second time – except Elton – and then finally when placing as he got down to the last two dogs, having difficulty deciding if he should place Elton above the other (Pap) with her tail down. Hmm….! (In the end he decided even he couldn’t put a Pap with their tail down above Elton.)

Two weeks later we had a similar situation – Elton was on the end of the line again and the judge stopped looking at the dog before him. This time he was actually thrown out, which is so unusual and really shouldn’t have happened.

I’m still struggling with him (especially on the move) at times, but he’s not as horrendous as he was at the end of last year/beginning of this!

Two and a half weeks ago I thought my face felt a bit funny….I ended up with the most enormous abscess and I was really poorly for a bit. I even missed a show – that’s how bad it was! 😆 The antibiotics the doctor gave me made me sick, and I almost ended up in hospital. I’m still recovering but feeling much better and almost back to normal activity levels now!

Fern is settling down….she’s been here three weeks now. I’ve had my doubts at times, but things are better than when Darwin was here. The main problem is Elton is still determined to rape her 😛 Urgh, teenagers! He will settle down eventually, I just hope it’s soon! Solei is fine, not bothered – just Solei!

On Saturday we went up to Solihull for the Papillon Club’s open show. I had mixed feelings about this – I’d decided to enter, but for me it’s one of “those” shows. The show where dogs beat my dogs that never beat them anywhere else (and shouldn’t) and where I never seem to do anything. We all seem to have them, the parent breed club is mine!

Upon waking on Saturday morning I didn’t feel great and I was so tempted to just not go, but as well as Elton I had Fern and S had entered Sarah for me, and I’d also said I’d help her – so thought I had to go, really!

Fern had a 2nd in Puppy Bitch, she actually went much better than I thought she would so I was pleased with her. Sarah is very out of practice having not shown for about a year, but didn’t go badly – however, not to the judge’s taste and was thrown out!

Elton was in Post Graduate Dog – I’d decided against Yearling and then wondered if I’d done the right thing! – and Open Phalene Dog, plus the Special Open Dog welfare class at the end of the day. He went in that ring and wow….I can’t remember the last time he showed that well! He went really beautifully, and he won the Post Graduate Dog class! Back in the ring a bit later for Phalene Dog, and he won that as well! He let himself down rather in the challenge for Best Dog, but I’m very happy with winning both his classes! After that I opted not to take him in for the welfare class, because I didn’t want to risk spoiling a good day.

At the end they do a Best Fringes in Show which I decided to enter Elton for because he’s growing lovely fringing….and he won it! So hopefully that’s the jinx lifted and the Papillon Club and I now have a better relationship 😉

Thanks to this show, I’ve also worked out what our problem is – bitches! At an all breed open show the classes are mixed sex and so there have been lots of bitches in the ring, but at the club show with dogs on first when he did the classes, as I say he was brilliant. Then they did the dog challenge after all the bitches, and he was a nightmare, I totally lost him.

So that’s our problem – teenage hormones! Hopefully he’ll exchange them back for his brain at some point before too long 😛 Good news is hopefully that means he’ll be better at champ shows….bad news is Crufts is carpeted rings and there are three days worth of bitches before us!

Yes, Crufts – less than two weeks to go now. Eep!

Went to Darwin’s last show on Saturday. It was a little limit show, so you can go in the AV classes without being in a breed class. I’d put Elton in the only Papillon class (Open) and Darwin in AV Toy Graduate.

It was an enjoyable day, though taking the dogs out to exercise them was fun – they almost got blown away! It was spitting with rain most of the day as well.

Elton was in a class of 3 which was interesting…the dogs that were entered are often in the same class, and they often change positions – one week one beats Elton, the next week he beats them…etc. Though I have to say when Elton is beaten it is often because the judge is anti-Phalene! (Or he just doesn’t behave!). Anyway, on this particular occasion Elton came 2nd. They’re very different, so it comes down to what you like – b/w Phalene V r/s/w Papillon, both of totally different types!

Darwin I was expecting to be a nightmare 😆 He hasn’t been in the ring since last November, and he was absolutely horrendous then! He was in a class of four dogs, and as we started he was very un-Darwin like – quite calm and seemingly not that happy. All was revealed when (just before he was due to go on the table) he squatted and pooed! I was less than impressed as I’d taken him out just before he went in the ring 😆 Thankfully he didn’t get it on him, so we were able to resume as normal – and then he was much more the Darwin I know and love! He actually showed very, very well. He moved beautifully, and didn’t stand too badly – albeit with vertical take offs 5 feet in the air every few seconds! He won his class 🙂 So that was bittersweet – it was a lovely note to end on, but I enjoyed it so much I didn’t want it to be the last time 🙁 I mean I know I’ll still be able to borrow him if I wish, but it won’t be the same.

It was worse because when I first had him I was just winding up Solei’s career (Darwin started showing in February 2009, I stopped showing Solei properly that May) and although Darwin was difficult in those early days, we established a raport and he turned into a dog that was so much fun to show – and did very well as well! Over that summer it was just him and I, and we had an awful lot of fun, but once Elton started showing (November 09) I cut back on what I did with Darwin, and as he came out of Puppy in May 2010 Darwin was hardly shown at all. Over the summer it was so full of championship shows he didn’t have the opportunities he’d had the previous year, and Elton was so…Eltonish, that I started to find Darwin not much fun to show in comparison.

Last weekend it was like turning the clock back – Darwin was on form and just as he used to be when I really enjoyed showing him…which made it so much harder, dammit 😆

Then came Monday 🙁 Oh sheesh that was hard. We arranged it for the afternoon, so I spent the morning trying – and failing – to get some good photos! That and trying not to think about what was about to happen 😛 Not a lot else to say really….I took him over, told myself I was only leaving him overnight (as often happens the night before a champ show), picked up Fern, got back to the car and burst into tears 😆

My bed is down the middle of the room and my kitchen is the whole area between bed and wall. Elton has been in my kitchen penned off whenever they can’t be properly supervised, because he and Darwin just didn’t “gel” – not aggressive, just not a good combination – playing that went totally OTT..etc. It gives him a decent space to move around in, and he also has access to me because of being next to the bed. The main point of Darwin going was to get Elton out of the kitchen all the time!

So we arrived home late on Friday afternoon, I let the boys out and put Fern down….for the whole of the rest of the day both boys were trying to mount her and being obnoxious, this continued through the whole of Tuesday morning….and then they finally settled! Elton has only been in the kitchen once for about half an hour since Darwin went – and that was because of the mounting. The atmosphere here is totally different….it feels much calmer and quieter, but I haven’t had Fern 48 hours yet so it could all change as they settle down 😛

I just hope I’ve done the right thing….I’m very tired and it’s been a very hard time so I suppose I’ve got to give it time. Elton doesn’t seem “right” either, but then it’s a big change for him to have free run of my room all the time (and without getting leapt on by Darwin!) and I’ve also totally changed the dynamics by losing a 2½ year old dog (less than 9 months age gap between Darwin & Elton) and bringing in a 9 month old bitch.

I know Fern isn’t a dog that tends to hold her tail right up over her back, which I wasn’t very happy about…but she does wag it frantically, so I thought she’d get away with it as a puppy. I took her to ringcraft last night and she was so nervous, wouldn’t even think about putting her tail up – that is the side I really didn’t need to see, especially given how I’m feeling about it all at present! There weren’t any other toy dogs there, so I’m hoping she’ll be fine at shows again once she’s in with other Paps or at least other toy breeds.

As for the puppy part of this post, this is the on going three plus year saga! I think I gave up mentioning every time it almost went right, and then went wrong, so I can’t remember the last time I mentioned puppies. Probably about 15 months ago!

At the start of the year I had a phone call to say that the bitch was confirmed in whelp, with 4 or 5 puppies. Due on 30th January. I was hoping for puppies born on the 28th, 29th or 30th but they “had” to be born no later than the 1st to be old enough for a show I reeeeeeally wanted them to be old enough for. I’d been getting twitchier and twitchier, and late afternoon on the 1st I finally decided I couldn’t wait any longer and rang the breeder to see how things were going….major fail, they were born on the 26th! I was a little taken aback 🙂 because on previous occasions she’d always rung me within a couple of days.

Anyway, there are four puppies. One is not marked well enough, and of the other three I’m not sure about two of them, so we’ll have to see what happens as they get older. I’m not going to get too excited yet, we’ve been here too many times before! But every time I start planning shows and other stuff 😉 just can’t help myself.

As I think everybody knows by now, Elton goes hand in hand with overenthusiasm and over excitement! After Solei it’s so refreshing and so wonderful to have a dog that enjoys it so much I’m wary of discipling him for it when it’s not appropriate (even by ignoring..etc), for fear of losing the wonderful enthusiasm for everything that is Elton!

However, about 3 weeks ago I decided enough was enough 😉 It was escalating to the point when he knew a retrieve was coming he would stand wagging his tail and barking at me, bark as he came into position beside me (which wasn’t a great position because of that!), not be able to hold a sit stay whilst I threw it (stood up), whine and/or bark until I released him and then make noises until he had the dumbbell in his mouth and couldn’t!

So we’ve been working on impulse control in those extra exciting situations! I got a good sit/wait quite quickly by telling him to sit if he stood up, then going to pick the dumbbell up myself and recommanding before I threw it – if he stood up, I did the same thing again. If his bum stayed on the floor he was allowed to go and get it!

And then my biggest fear came true – he was doing beautiful retrieves for a couple of days (still not sitting with it in his mouth – though he did do it once! – but the duration of his hold was increasing and he would lie down (on command) and keep hold of it) and then he decided he was bored. He lost the excitement and enthusiasm and wouldn’t pick it up. If he did deign to, he would bring it a couple of steps, spit it out and then come back to me!

Deep breath, don’t panic…obviously now I’ve spoilt his “game” it’s boring. So the dumbbell is now away for a couple of weeks, and I have my fingers incredibly tightly crossed that a break from it will do the trick and I’ll be able to get the enthusiasm and excitement back, whilst keeping the self control he’s learnt.

All the obedience has gone a bit pear shaped really….I have the most gorgeous heelwork with the manual chair, but I’m not at all happy about the power chair, which of course is the chair I have to use. I can’t decide how close he should work and I can’t see him properly. I love the way he feels in the manual chair. I feel amazing when I’m working with him and it’s all just so much fun….swapping to the powered I just don’t feel as connected, more stressed, less in control and just not as fun. I expect (hope) it’ll get better and I don’t doubt he’s capable, it just frustrated/upset me to feel the way I did, I really wasn’t expecting it to be so different. I’m usually ok, but that was one of those moments where I was cursing how much harder the way I am makes everything!

On top of that I took him to obedience for the first time in ages last night (it’s been closed cos a pipe burst and they had to relay the floor) and he was like I’ve never seen him before. He was actually scared of the chair, didn’t want to come near it and was just not enjoying it at all….which is so not Elton. As I say, I’ve never, ever seen him remotely like that.

And this is before I (and they) have to get used to a new chair!!

Ok, maybe not quite new year as I’ve been brooding on Darwin for weeks, since 2010….I’d been thinking about it when I wrote my last post, but was in denial! He has always had some “issues”….mainly I think due to lack of certain kinds of socialization as a baby…and he’s quite a difficult dog. These days him and Elton aren’t really working either. I’d kinda decided he was going to have to go back, but if he was mine he wouldn’t, I’d have to try and work through it all….it’s because he’s not, which makes me feel guilty. I feel guilty about “giving up” on him and after nearly two years I do feel I have a certain amount of responsibility….but I don’t feel it’s fair to my own dogs who I obviously have the ultimate responsibility….and the main thing that’s pushing it over the edge is Elton.

So all that said, I made the decision a couple weeks ago, and told T the weekend before the one just gone. I think we’ll all be happier. However, I asked if I could swap for Sarah – T said she was ok with it but she had actually spoken to S the day before about me having Sarah (psychic link win!) and S wasn’t keen. But she’d talk to her again. Anyway, upshot was they said I could show her but they wanted to keep her with them (semi-long story involving her being leased to someone, coming back to be mated and it not working).

A few days later I had a phone call from T and she offered me a nearly 9 month old puppy as a “replacement”. I said to her I’d need to think about it (wanted to make sure I was having her for the right reasons, if you know what I mean) but after sleeping on it still felt the same, so rang her back the next day and said yes, I’d like her. Spooky thing? She’s half sister to Sarah (same father) and half sister to Darwin (same mother).

So that’s been really hard. We haven’t done anything at the moment because I didn’t want her whilst I still had Darwin (thought that would cause too many headaches given the headaches Darwin causes on his own anyway!) and I have Darwin entered in a show this coming weekend, so didn’t think it was fair on him for him to go and then see me a week or so later to take him to a show. So this is Darwin’s last week with me 🙁 Plan is for him to go on Monday…urgh, I’m gonna be in pieces 😆 In some ways it’s harder that he’s only going back to them rather than being sold, even though I can still see him (and no doubt borrow him for shows if I wanted!)

Then there’s Solei. As I’ve been having problems with him for ages…on and off, mental, physical or a combination who knows…well I’ve been wanting to get him to a chiro for a while, and I finally managed it on the 19th. She found a few things out, one of them quite badly.

He does seem a little better, he’d got worse again and was doing a lot of bowing which has all but stopped. However, he still doesn’t seem quite “right” and mentally he’s still screwy – I’m not sure if that’s due to him being in pain for so long or not, and whether it’ll get better or not. I’m sure he’s still not right, so will be making another appointment for him soon (hasn’t yet been 2 weeks since he went so I want to make sure everything has settled down as much as it’s going to)

I’d been having trouble keeping him quiet and a couple of days after the treatment he was really bad – diarrhoea, so miserable, almost constantly in his bow position and I was panicking thinking he’d either done something really bad or put everything back out again.

He improved and when I spoke to chiro she said it was a reaction to the treatment, usually happens withing 24 hours or so, but of course he has to wait 48+!

I miss the Solei I had briefly for those couple of weeks early last summer 🙁

Even Elton isn’t without his problems! He’s been playing me up something awful in the show ring. Fine on the stand, when it comes to moving….ack! He was pulling to get his head down on the ground, fighting me and just generally being a little sod. He threw away any chance of doing well at multiple shows.

We’ve now come to a vague compromise 😉 A bit of bribary and although he’s not going as well as I would hope, he is now much better than he was a couple of weeks ago. He even won his class on the 22nd.

I don’t think I can dispute that 2010 was quite a year! So here’s a look back….

Darwin featured heavily in 2009, in 2010 he hasn’t really had the opportunity to – I’ve only shown him a handful of times, there are a couple of things about him I’m not particularly happy with and I’ve also been concentrating on Elton. However, he has had one BOB and a Group 2, and also a RBIS at a companion show. Later this month he’ll have been here 22 months(!!)

Solei, I think, is actually missing the shows! Back in March he went to Crufts and got a fourth in a large, strong class. That was his one and only conformation show of 2010! The agility fizzled out and I’m now looking for another class, but we had an interesting year with the obedience side of things. I finally gave up on taking his Bronze Good Citizen award through our club, so I took him to an outside test and he passed with flying colours. Now awaiting the chance to take his Silver! His first small obedience show of the year he won his class, then in May we jumped in at the deep end with a two day “proper” big obedience show. The first day he was in one class and ended up just out of the top 10 (47 dogs entered), but got a Certificate of Merit for losing less than 10 marks. The second day he was 13th out for 47, and in the higher class 7th/49 😀 Another Certificate of Merit and also a rosette as they were placing to 10th. Not bad for his first weekend of big shows 🙂

He had a couple more placings in the smaller shows, and then for some inexplicable reason went totally stupid. I think something must have happened, but I have no idea what – and I’ve been trying to bring him back since! This was the beginning of July, and knowing we had our second big show just three weeks away, I spent that time trying to build his confidence back up. Went to the show not quite sure what he’d do, and he worked the round of his life to eventually come 2nd (again, in a large class). Then he went stupid again, and he’s still not the same dog he was. I have one obedience show I want to do with him in March, and depending on what happens there I may retire him….he’ll be back in the conf ring in just over 6 months, so at least we’ll still have something to do. (Solei has always been slightly odd, btw 😉 and he’s super, super sensitive). Despite losing half the year, he was doing so well prior to that I’m hoping he’ll still finish the year within the top three obedience paps, would love him to win it because if he doesn’t do it now he never will. (Won’t know til March/April)

Then of course, there is rocket man 🙂 What can I say?

At the start of the year Elton was a very raw puppy of 7 months old, now I can’t believe he’s grown into a gorgeous boy of 19 months and I can look back on the year we’ve had with utter disbelief! Will keep this to the real highlights, or we’ll be here all night 😉

It started just 16 days into the year, when at 8 months and 2 days Elton was Best of Breed (& BP/PG4) over an entry of 14, including a CC winner. He had a few more Best Puppy in Breeds and Puppy Group placings over the next few months, then at 11 months old (at his last open show as a puppy) was Best Puppy in Breed and Puppy Group 1! Over the next few months nothing amazing but he was consistantly placed, including many class wins.

In July he did his first baby obedience show and won the class (he had the judge walking behind him making noises & comments she was so impressed :lol:) and he also had his first Best Phalene Dog, then in August he was Best Phalene in Show at a club championship show.

Moving on, who could forget September! We attended an open show where Elton was Best of Breed, Group 1 and Reserve Best in Show – also gaining the last points for his Junior Warrant, making him the first male Phalene (and second Phalene ever) to hold this title. He’s also got his Stud Book Number – lifetime qualification to Crufts.

Over that July-September period he was basically unstoppable – from 16 classes he had 13 1sts, 2 2nds and 1 3rd.

He’s continued to be consistantly placed, and in November picked up another Best of Breed, this time following it up with Group 2.

In my wildest dreams I could never have hoped for a year like this, and although I think everybody knows about my “feeling” I never expected it to turn out quite this way…:lol: People are talking about him, both to myself and to his breeders 🙂 I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say he’s changing the way some people think of Phalenes – he’s not like anything that’s been shown in this country before.

Elton’s achievements for 2010 include – 6x Best Puppy, 3x Best of Breed, 11x champ show 1sts, 1x Puppy Group 1, 1x Puppy Group 3, 2x Puppy Group 4, 3x Best Phalene Dog, 1x Best Phalene in Show, 1x Group 2, 1x Group 1 and 1x Reserve Best in Show!

So, as we go forward into 2011 I can only hope it will be as good at 2010! Darwin will still be shown lightly, Solei will dictate whether he wants to continue with the obedience and will resume conf (lightly) as a veteran in July, and Elton…well, I hope for 2011 to be at least as good as 2010, and the judges to fall right 🙂 He’ll also be starting the obedience shows this year, but I’m not planning to really do anything in the way of competing with him until 2012.