Just, like, wow.

I couldn't figure out how to get the video player to work here. Turn up your speakers and watch this video....click the Lorenzo link below.
And I thought agility was difficult.
This is amazing.

Lorenzo the horseman.

Gem City trial photos.

Trial photos by Virgil Sweeden (Paw Prints), who took many great photos, here's just a few.
Could Cooper be having any less fun?!
And we got our very first CH points at this trial - 24 of 'em. :)

I opened a present....

And this is my new, favouritest t-shirt!
With Cooper being longhaired & all, being in public with him means a constant barrage of questions, mostly along the lines of "What is he mixed with?"
It's really bad when we go someplace like the Ren Fest where he wears pearls, a studded harness and fairy wings. I keep saying I should hang a sign on him.
So - here's the first Christmas present I've opened this year and I just LOVE it!

Christmas gift tag!

I was tagged by Sharon.
The Rules:
The player of this game starts with "3 things he/ she would love to get for Christmas" and also has to list "3 things he/ she definitely does not want to get for Christmas". Then he/she tags 5 friends and list their names. The ones who get tagged need to write on their blogs about their Christmas wishes, as well as state this rule clearly, then tag 5 more victims. And the one who tags need to leave a comment that says "you've been Christmas tagged!" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

Santa please may I have:

1: World peace and no more religious fundamentalism, ever again.
2: A billion dollars. I will spend most of it doing Good Works and buying nice things for friends. I'll save a couple million for myself, buy a large tract of land and have an animal sanctuary. I'll also buy lots of cute clothes and expensive furniture. And a Porsche Cayman. Red. And a brand new Isuzu Trooper, with a manual transmission. (I don't like automatics.) Silver blue.
3: Can I have back the body I got when I was about 25, please?

Santa, please no:

1: Earthquakes, tsunamis or tornados unless they only touch down on unihabited, boring landscapes.
2: Mosquitos.
3. Daytime television.

Tagged: Sharon, Lauren, Tabor, Diana, Karen.

State Mottos (not official).

A while back, Jill thought of matching up dog breeds with flowers. I thought this list of state mottos was hysterical, so I assigned breeds to each state.

Alabama: Hell Yeah, We Have Electricity Treeing Feist
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Alaska : 11,623 Eskimos Can't Be Wrong! Malamute
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Arizona : But It's A Dry Heat Chihuahua.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Arkansas : Literacy Ain't Everything Redbone Coohhound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
California : By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda AMBOR.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Colorado : If You Don't Ski, Don't Bother Flatcoat Retriever.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Connecticut : Like Massachusetts , Only The Kennedy's Don't Own It Yet Italian Greyhound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Delaware : We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water Chinese Crested.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Florida : Ask Us About Our Grandkids Toy poodle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Georgia : We Put The "Fun" In Fundamentalist Extremism Cur
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Hawaii : Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru (Death To Mainland Scum, Leave Your Money) Hawaiian Poi Dog
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Idaho : More Than Just Potatoes ...Well OK, We're Not, But The Potatoes Are Real Good
Affenpinscher
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Illinois : Please Don't Pronounce the "S" German Shepherd
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Indiana : 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free Maltese
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Iowa : We Do Amazing Things With Corn Golden Retriever
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Kansas : First Of The Rectangle States Greyhound
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Kentucky : Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names Beagle
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Louisiana : We're Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That's Our Tourism Campaign Pitbull
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Maine : We're Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster Norwegian Elkhound
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Mary land : If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It Samoyed
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Massachusetts : Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden 's (For Most Tax Brackets) Boston Terrier
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Michigan : First Line Of Defense From The Canadians Rottweiler
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Minnesota : 10,000 Lakes... And 10,000,000,000, 000 Mosquitoes Malamute
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Mississippi : Come And Feel Better About Your Own State Cocker Spaniel
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Missouri : Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At Work Fila Brasiliero
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
Montana : Land Of The Big Sky , The Unabomber, Right-wing Crazies, and Little Else Wolf hybrid
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
Nebraska : Ask About Our State Motto Contest Border Collie
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Nevada : Hookers and Poker! English Bull Terrier
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
New Hampshire : Go Away And Leave Us Alone Lurcher
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
New Jersey : You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right Here! Bulldog
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
New Mexico : Lizards Make Excellent Pets Whippet
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
New York : You Have The Right To Remain Silent, You Have The Right To an Attorney Pomeranian
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
North Carolina : Tobacco Is A Vegetable Briard
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
North Dakota : We Really Are One Of The 50 States! Siberian Husky
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Ohio : At Least We're Not Michigan Sheltie
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Oklahoma : Like The Play, Only No Singing English Pointer
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Oregon : Spotted Owl... It's What's For Dinner Amstaff
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Pennsylvania : Cook With Coal Bouvier
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Rhode Island : We're Not REALLY An Island Doberman
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~
South Carolina : Remember The Civil War? We Didn't Actually Surrender Rat terrier
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
South Dakota : Closer Than North Dakota Dachshund
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Tennessee : The Educashun State Treeing Walker
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
Texas : Si' Hablo Ing'les (Yes, I Speak English) Minpin
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
Utah : Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus Bloodhound
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Vermont : Yep Basenji
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Virginia : Who Says Government Stiffs And Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix? Bluetick
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~
Washington : Help! We're Overrun By Nerds And Slackers! Malinois
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Washington , D.C. : Wanna Be Mayor? Bedlington Terrier
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
West Virginia : One Big Happy Family... Really! Vizsla
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~
Wisconsin : Come Cut The Cheese Great Dane
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
Wyoming : Where Men Are Men .. And The Sheep Are Nervous! Labrador Retriever

What happens in Dayton, stays in Dayton.

The Michigan Crew at the Dayton OH agility trial this weekend. One Rottweiler, one BCx, two Jack Russel Terrorists, I mean terriers, and a Briard. The Red Roof Inn on Miller Lane was a happening den of iniquity on Saturday night! Har, har. OK, I lie. It wasn't really but I'm still not going to share photos (Erica! No boobie shots published, see!?)



Mega congratulations to Erica's daughter Amanda and Phlash, the highest titled UKC agility Briard ever, with her brand new UGRACH title!!

Humilating my dog.

First, here is a photo of my two BAD dogs. They came in from outside and when I was out of the room, climbed onto the People Couch. They are not allowed! And Cooper knows it. He opened his eyes just as I was taking the photo, then climbed off, looking a bit put out. Daphne is camera shy and turns her head away looking nervous if she gets a camera pointed at her....that's why I don't have as many photos of her.



This is one of a ton of photos I took of Cooper being humiliated. In most of them he looked grumpy, but I really wanted a good one for a Christmas card to send my clients.
You can see the finished card here.

So many magazines, so little time.

BARK. This is a literary dog magazine - slick, glossy and way fun to read. Great photography, very well written articles and stories. Sort of the Atlantic Monthly of dog magazines, not at all like Dog World and Dog Fancy. I used to subscribe to those, but they get a bit boring after a while.
BARK website.



DOGSPORT. Excellent instructional and inspirational articles on all manner of working dog sports - agility, obedience, rally-o, etc.
Dogsport website.



Intelligence Report. The magazine of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Really, really interesting reporting on all manner of civil rights issues, mostly dealing with white supremacist and racist groups both in the USA and abroad. Unabashedly liberal! SPLC was founded in the early 1970s to go after organised racist groups in the courts.
Fabulous in-depth reporting on militias, supremacists and the scarier, militant religious groups.
SPLC website.



Oprah! I don't think most womens' magazines are very interesting, I find them silly. Oprah is intelligent, quality writing, frou-frou girly stuff on fashion and beauty as well as thoughtful articles on everything from books to relationships.
Oprah mag site.

There's so many interesting magazines! Others I buy as the covers catch my eye, but these are the four I subscribe to because I always read them and it's way cheaper to subscribe. I'd read more if I had the time.

Guns, knives and dogs. Oh my.

Man Attacked With Bizarre Weapon.

This is a Flint TV news station, but knife incident happened in Grand Blanc, not Flint. Grand Blanc is considered a "oh, you live there, ooh lala," snobby, tres upscale town, about 15 miles south of Flint.
I looked that knife up online. It's made by some guy who is into doing props and weapons for people into fantasy stuff and is supposed to be "for display only." Yah right. That's why it's REALLY SHARP. Can anyone spell "d i s i n g e n u o u s."
It's been around for some years; I found references from 2003. I don't think it should be illegal though. Any more than I don't think properly registered and handled firearms should be illegal. Or any more than I think properly cared for and trained pitbulls and Rottweilers and mastiffs should be illegal.
This doesn't mean I don't think weapons of this sort aren't stupid! I think they are. For the record I don't own anything that was designed specifically as a weapon - no big-ass kinives, no firearms. Well, I do have a can of mace by the front door, but that is it.



Guns don't kill people, people kill people. (Actually cars kill more people than guns, if you want to follow this line of reasoning. Yes, I realise this is a flawed analogy. Just saying.)
Knives don't kill people, people kill people.
Ban the deed, not the breed.



Do you think my dogs, or those pictured above, should be taken from their owners' homes and killed because various municipalities have deemed them inherently vicious?
I don't either. This is happening in several cities in the US though.

When are we going to start properly enforcing existing laws, demanding personal responsibility and stop making silly nanny laws that acheive nothing?
This isn't a political blog so I'll stop there. But really.