Sunday, September 26, 2010

Red at the Renaissance Festival 2010

Hi all, its been awhile since I've posted pics! Thought this would be a good time though... Redders accompanied us to the Michigan Renaissance Festival today :)

As usual, it was like walking with a movie star... every few feet we either got stopped for people to pet him, or you could hear someone make a comment about him. And he was really good, as usual - and as always, a good sport about wearing his dragon wings ;)

I took all the pics (and video) with my iPhone, so sorry if the quality isn't the best. Click thumbnails to enlarge.


Posing like a good boy

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Me and Redders

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After awhile, we stopped to hang out at a pub.

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"This is boring, can we keep walking?"

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"Wait a minute... do I smell what I think I smell?"

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"It is! Turkey leg!!" *drools*

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"But I wants it!" *pouts*

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So dad offered him the rest of his Guinness instead lol

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"aww thanks, dad!"

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"ok I'm good now, let's go!"

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Walking along, we came across a small paddock with some animals for a petting zoo...

"OH! What's this? Must get a better look!"

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"Peep hole not big enough..."

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"Why hello little fella"

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After the goat wandered away, a llama (or alpaca?) spotted Red and came over to investigate.

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"Hello weird animal! Come closer!"

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Turns out the llama-thing loves dogs, LOL!

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Even let Red give him kisses :)

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And after that, we finished up with the grand finale... Red got to share a turkey leg with dad :)

"TURKEY" *eyes bulge out of head*

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"I will sit very nice and straight for you, dad!"

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*Drool*

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"ok seriously, give it up!" (lol you can see the dog in the background doing the same thing for some turkey!)

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"Finally!"

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Facebook users click here for video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4l1UvAlo6k




And after all that... time to relax and people watch :)

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Monday, August 9, 2010

WAE 2010

The Working Aptitude Evaluation (for Dobermans only!) for Michigan was held yesterday at Island Lake Park in Brighton. It's only about a 45 minute drive for us, so not bad at all... however for some reason I took 2 wrong turns so it ended up taking us about an hour, lol...

Mom and Mike met us there - coming all the way from Grand Rapids - which was really cool. Mom came with me last year and made it a lot more enjoyable considering the weather was horrendous... But much nicer weather this year =) No rain, warm but not hot, slight breeze... very good day.

Got there and signed in, paid my money, and chatted with a few people, including Craig from the Doberman forum and got to meet his puppy, Sig - who is an extremely handsome 6 month old black/tan guy =)

We didn't have much time to relax since the judge was ready to go. He took us on a walkthrough of the course and answered any questions anyone had. After that, they got everyone in position, and did some practice shots with the cap gun for the gunshot portion of the test.

Red heard the first shot and immediately went into pitiful dog mode. Tucked his nub and tried to hide behind my lawn chair, but couldn't so tried to wedge in between James and I. They kept firing shots and he was clearly stressed. Red is not afraid of thunderstorms or far-off fireworks, or loud noises, but does get scared when they are close to him.

Then they called the first dog. Apparently they put us in order this time, whereas last year they just took volunteers however they wanted to go. But this year was different, and we were scheduled to go next. Meanwhile, my dog is standing with his ears down and nub tucked... great.

So we go out onto the course when we are called, and start the process. He still seemed somewhat stressed but was doing well. The neutral and friendly strangers went fine, the can rattling was great. After that was the gunshots, which I was really nervous for, but he seemed to tolerate it ok and recovered pretty quickly. The umbrella was great, and the uneven footing was surprisingly good - better than last year. Then the aggressive stranger...

We get up to the van and the guy started shuffling out from behind it. Red heard him, then turned around and sat at my right side with his back to the guy. But when the guy came at us, Red did go out in front between us.

At that moment, I honestly thought we had passed - or at least I was happy he didn't turn around and run like last year! But the judge made it clear right away that he didn't like Red's reaction. He explained that he was exhibiting avoidance behavior at first at the stranger's first appearance, which is essentially what failed him.

He kind of made me feel a little bad afterwards - said I need to work with him more, kinda implying he is under-socialized or something. Being an obedience and therapy dog, he is very socialized to a variety of situations - just not "dangerous" ones. I guess that sort of upset me more than actually failing the test... being told I haven't worked with my dog enough...

Anyway, there's always next year. To be honest, I think he would've done a lot better had we been further back in line, because after we were finished and were watching other dogs, he stopped caring about the cap gun altogether. I think he would've been less stressed had we been able to go nearer to last. oh well. Maybe it wouldn't have made any difference at all, but that was just my thoughts about it.

Here's the video:


Sunday, June 27, 2010

5 Things I Can Do on Vacation that I Can't Do at Home

(Even though he is exhausted from his fun-filled weekend up north at the cabin, Red has compiled at list of things he can do on vacation that he can't do at home ;))

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Dear Followers,

Here are all the cool things I get to do at the cabin!


1. Beg at the table and eat people food.

"Just a little bite..?" *drools*

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"om nom nom"

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"ok... the alcohol is for mom, but it looks good, doesn't it?"

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2. Play with another dog in the water.

An old chocolate lab wandered over from next door to get in on the fun of wave chasing and stick retrieving with me :)

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jw6b5npXcX8




3. Wear my lifejacket, go on the boat, and swim in the lake!

I LOVE wearing my lifejacket... it means boat-time and swimming!

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And I'm not shy about hopping into the boat...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giCyXhk1QxA



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Time for a swim!

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




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4. Being allowed on the furniture and bed.

"See? I'm a perfect lap dog"

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5. Playing with the 4 wheeler (all new experience, lol)

"Grandpa, are you sure about this?"

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"Being on it by myself is not much better..."

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"I want down now!'

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"Running beside it with mom is a lot more fun!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv9z38mQslQ




And when I'm not doing all these things, I'm hanging out...

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...being a watchdog...

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...and enjoying my vacation :)

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The End.

Love, Redders

Thursday, June 17, 2010

Random Redders Videos

Since I've been slacking on my weekly random Redders videos, here are some to make up for the last month :biggrin55


When we go for walks on hot days, he speeds up in the sun and sloooows down in the shade lol

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffBtJdw9IPY]YouTube - Red likes the shade[/url]



Just random weirdness

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ1_p_O1oOc]YouTube - Silly Redders[/url]



Dobermans like cat toys too!

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVUahItrXmM]YouTube - Cat or Doberman?[/url]



Strange things happen to Red sometimes... not sure how he gets himself into these predicaments...

[url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eIT7DgG700]YouTube - Help there's something on my nose[/url]

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Red the Babysitter

Hubby, Red and I went to my mom's house for a night, and my sister, brother-in-law, and 18 month old nephew was there too. Red has always been a lot of dog for the baby - considering he doesn't seem to know his own strength and the amount of space he occupies lol... but this time, was different.

Red followed Bradley around, stood still while Bradley "petted" him, gave him constant kisses, and even stood at the top of the stairs and whined when the toddler was crying after waking up from his naps. The two were almost inseparable. It was a whole different side of Red I've never seen - it was really cool :)

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Sure you can pet me... I'll hold extra still...

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I'll clean your hands for you

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Red stayed close to the high chair for obvious reasons, lol

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Grandma spoiling him a bit...

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Whatcha see down there?

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Grandma and Bradley taking a walk, and Red staying close behind

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Keeping a close eye on him by the fire pit (and that's me in the chair)

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A very close eye

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This babysitting business is hard work!

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