You got to love all the ups and downs in life. If not, that it's a long way down.... With that in mind, you have to pick yourself right up(or the help of someone) and move forward to the top again.
I'm constantly trying to improve myself and all the knowledge I take in everyday. Lately I've been buried in books or articles on the computer, training the dogs, conditioning the dogs, working, and dog shows. Not much time for writing, but that's a poor excuse. I do want to share some information on here before I start writing the articles for my website.
I found this amazing book called "The Complete Herbal Handbook for the Dog and Cat" by Juliette de Bairacli Levy. In my opinion, it's a must buy book. The wealth of information in this book on how to naturally rear dogs and cats is so amazing and informative, plus natural remedies for ailments. This book was first written in 1955 and has been updated to its sixth edition. If you are into natural and alternative ways, I highly recommend this book. I also found the
naturalrearing.com to be a very help website and supporter of Levy.
I have finally graduated Animal Behavior College and now have a certificate as a Dog Trainer.
\( ^ 0 ^ )/ From my research about other trainers, I've found that learning how horse trainers train horse, can also help dog trainers train dogs. So I've been looking into one in particular, Pat Parelli. He has a book called "Natural Horsemanship" and it's a great book that breaks down how to train a horse. With all these broken down steps leads to a big picture of what you are trying to achieve to teach the horse. This is very important for dog training as well. Check out this book if you are interested in training.
Now for the fun stuff... What going on with me and the Shibas! ( ^ - ^ ) So I've been showing like crazy, at least two shows a month, so give or take 4 days of showing. That means a good amount of time a day conditioning plus training and grooming here and there. Showing three dogs at once is crazy. Thanks to my man, I was able to show all of them. :)
I decided to show Kiyo again and see what would happen since she looked great during last winter to summer. At a fun match, Kiyo took Best of Breed! I was very shocked by it and was even more determine to see how she does in the ring. Again, she was at the bottom of the class.... I thought long and hard about her future. She will always be my companion and my teacher on training dogs at home. She's my cute little Shiba girl and will always be loved.
Kuma is still fighting his way to the title of Champion in the ring. He hasn't made a win since the last one in April. Since the Shiba Nationals in October and now that the girls are in season, he is all girl crazy and not eating very well. That has caused him to drop in weight and his coat does look great like last year. That lead me to the Natural Rearing books and so far that has been helping him put on weight. I'll see if it will help his coat later in the year. I also increased his exercise to tone his muscles and to stack better. So far so good. His movement in the ring has improve since then and has moved up in the ranks of the other dogs.
Kyuubi, are newest little girl, had many uncertainties about her, but we were able to get through them and persist. Now after just being in three shows so far, Kyuubi has some points on her from winning and gotten reserve winner if she didn't, nothing less. The first day I saw her I knew she had a presence and she had a natural way of being. That's one of the things I was lacking from Kiyo and Kuma. Everyday I'm always impressed by this dog. She so much different from Kiyo and Kuma. She's very bold and but yet friendly. Kyuubi is a little more stocky then Kiyo and Kuma. I some times call her my little Hokkaido girl(sometimes how she looks, she looks like a small Hokkaido Ken).
Sorry about no pictures..... ( T - T ) My fiance has been quite busy lately and has been using my camera. Once I get my camera back, I'll be able to post some much needed pictures of the Shiba gang.
