Cooper missed his herding lesson

Poor Cooper missed his herding lesson a couple of weeks ago.  It could have been worse.

Friday, June 8, 2012, Cooper turned one year old.  In keeping with our tradition, we went down to "No Bones About It" so he could pick out a birthday cookie.  They also have doggy cakes that are frozen, but I didn't show him those.  He picked out a nice little birthday cake shaped cookie and we also got some of the soft cookie for him and Sadie to share when we got home.  We decided to walk up and down the street and do some window shopping in the little stores of Midtown.  We noticed some smoke up by the ski area and immediately knew there was a fire!  It looked pretty small at the time, but because of where it was burning, I figured that there might some problems heading out for the herding clinic the next day.  They will sometimes close various roads because of smoke, so I decided we would leave a little bit earlier just in case we couldn't take the short cut and had to go the longer route.

I got everything ready to go on Friday night.  I brushed Cooper (no bath since he would be playing in the dirt).  The things that could be loaded into the Jeep were loaded (water, umbrella, chairs, bowl and treats for Cooper, sunscreen for me, etc.) and we went to bed early.  We got up very early and left the house at 5:00 Saturday morning.  I figured it would take a little over 2 hours to get there and it started at 8, so I had plenty of time.

It was really smoky.  Still, we live in a resort area that has had more than its share of forest fires in the past years.  Smoke doesn't necessarily mean that the fire is close.  So, off we went.  We got to the intersection at highway 48 and the police had a roadblock.  They said we couldn't go that way.  I never thought they would close that road, I thought they might close the road at the next turnoff.  Talking to another driver at the road block, I discovered that he had been evacuated from his home about 30 minutes before and he said that he thought homes had burned already.  I "could" have turned around and gone a different way around the fire area, but that would have taken at least an hour longer, maybe more.   Plus, there was no way of knowing at the time exactly how large the fire was, where it was or how close to the house.  So, I just went home.

We had no phone or cell service that first day.  The smoke was very thick.  The flames looked to be over 100 ft tall and you tell it was moving fast.  We had winds of over 50 mph on both Saturday and Sunday which made fighting the fire even harder.

To date over 38,000 acres have burned and the fire is 60% contained.  254 structures have burned (242 commercial and residential buildings and 12 outbuildings).  They are still fighting the fire with air tankers and helicopters and on the ground.  We had over 2,000 personnel fighting as well as over 200 National Guard members.  Most of the people that were evacuated have been allowed to return home.  The Red Cross and other organizations are helping those in need.

Fire is very fickle.  It will burn one house to the ground, leaving nothing behind but ashes and leave the house next door untouched.  This has been a year for records here in New Mexico.  We have one fire that has been burning for over a month now that has burned almost 300,000 acres.  It is the largest fire in New Mexico history.  Our fire here has burned 254 structures, the most in New Mexico history.  These are records you don't want to have.

Cooper is a Herding Dog?!

When I got to Albuquerque for the dog show, I parked in the back.  It is pretty close to the building and usually gets shade at some point during the day.  I noticed when I parked that there was title sign with an arrow near where I was parked.  After we showed, I was returning to my car and decided to check out what the sign was for.  It said "Herding" and had an arrow to the building I was parked in front of.  I thought it would be a herding demonstration so I went in.  They were doing "Herding Instinct Tests".  The keeshond is in the Non-Sporting group in AKC so I wasn't sure if he would even qualify to take the test.  They are an accepted breed in the Herding Breed Association, so I let them talk me into having him tested.  I just thought that it would be funny to watch.

Historically speaking, the keeshond has been used for centuries as an all around dog.  Primarily in Holland, it is used as a barge dog and a farm dog.  In Germany, it is used mostly as a farm dog.  Its duties include herding the livestock, keeping rats and other vermin out of the barn, babysitting the kids and keeping the farmer  warm at night.  As a companion, the kees just did everything that the farmer did.  So, I am not sure why I was surprised at how well he did on the herding instinct test.  He evidently has generations of herding in his genes.

I did not go into the ring with Cooper.  I handed him off to the person in the ring and I hid behind the bleachers so he couldn't see me.  It didn't occur to me that I could go into the ring with him, because the ones I watched, that is how they did it.  He looked for me right at first, then the lure of the sheep was too strong and off he went!  It looked to me that he was just chasing those sheep around the ring, but, I did notice that he wanted them to be all together and when one would break away from the pack, he would go get it and bring it back to the group.  I didn't know enough about herding to know whether he passed or not, but when it was finished, they told he passed!  One person told me he was "Phenomenal."  I still wasn't sure that was a good thing until the judge talked to me and told me how well he had done.  It takes two "legs" to qualify for a Herding Instinct title, so I signed up for the next day.

On Sunday, I again parked in the same lot and Cooper was excited from the time we got there.  He wanted to get in to see those sheep!  I had to practically drag him to where he was supposed to be showing.  After he showed in conformation, I took him back to do the second day of herding.  He was soooo excited!  This time there were goats in the ring.  Again, I handed him off to the person in the ring only this time he never looked for me, he just took off.  He rounded up those goats, he changed direction when the handler told him to and kept his flock in a tight bunch.  All very good things.  Plus, he was having a blast!  Again, everyone there told me how well he had done (and how cute he is).  I think the sheep and goats were a bit confused about that little grey fluff ball bouncing around after them.

Monday came and again we parked in the same lot.  Cooper wanted to go see those sheep and goats, but they weren't there anymore :(  He looked for them for two days and couldn't understand where they went.

I think this is something we are going to pursue.  He loves it and he does need something new.  He is so smart and I think he will learn quickly.  I will take him this weekend to a clinic.  It will be his actual first time to have any instruction.  Hopefully I will get some good pictures.

Albuquerque Dog Show

Two weeks before the big show in Albuquerque, Cooper decided it was a good time to loose most of his puppy coat.  I hate the puppy coat because it is hard to comb and take care of.  It is wooly and soft.  But, I thought he was really looking good for the show until he lost it all.  But, we packed up and left at 6 am for four days of showing.  It was just Cooper and I.  We got to the fair grounds with plenty of time to spare.  I parked in the back lot near the sheep barns (more on that later).  Took out the grooming table and fluffed as much as I could considering he had no undercoat and off we went.  Cooper had to pee on every tree we passed, but that meant he wouldn't have to go once we got inside.  We had to wait a bit, but not too long.  We visited with friends and saw some people we haven't seen in a long time.  The ones from Colorado that were at the Denver shows were surprised at how much Cooper had grown.  He actually had grown about an inch or more in the last few weeks, but didn't gain any weight to go with the extra height.  So he was a bit thin.  He showed pretty good, let the judge go over him and look at his bite without too much wiggling.  He gets better at every show.  He didn't get anything (well, first in his class, but he was the only one).  We met my mom at a restaurant for dinner and then went to my brother's concert.  He sings with the Westside Concert Chorale.  It was a great concert.  Cooper would have loved it, but he had to stay in the car.

Sunday was more of the same.  We left the motel with plenty of time, got to the fair grounds, fluffed and he showed better than he did the day before.  The results were the same.  On Monday, he showed even better and got Reserve, but on Tuesday, even though I thought he showed even better than he had the other days, he didn't get anything again.  The puppy took Winners all four days.  I think it was because he was the only dog with any coat.  The other dog that was being shown had lost his coat like Cooper had.  Plus, Cooper was a bit thin because of his growth spurt.

All in all, we both had a great time.  We got to mingle with other people with the same interests, we got to visit with my Mom and my son took me out to lunch for Mother's Day.  I did some shopping which is always a good thing, even if you don't buy much.  I learned the things I need to work with Cooper on the most for him to do better at the shows.  It was good to get back home though.  Now, to find another show to go to that isn't too far away.