Dogster

return to top

The Changing Life of a Little "REBEL"

2006 -- Come On Mom

I've been trying to get Mom to write something new about me, but she's been so busy hasn't had the time. I'm hoping she will find the time REALLY SOON.

I have 11 points towards my conformation championship and we are going to begin basic obedience class in September. I just know I can embarrass Mom at class -- I'm pretty good at that.

I also asked her to add my big brother (Ch Flickwynd's Roar of Woodwynd CD RN -- "Roary") and sister (Flickwynds Calamity Jane -- "Callie") to Dogster, but they aren't cooperating in getting some photos taken.

My Latest Dog Show

Rebel here. Well, Mom and Dad took me to what is called a Specialty dog show. It was the Chicago/Suburban Cairn Terrier Club show held in conjunction with the Great Lakes All Terrier show on June 18th in Grayslake, Illinois. These shows are supposed to have the best of the best in attendance.

Mom was really nervous because she showed me at another show the day before and I was a bad boy; I kept my head down looking for all the tasty treats on the floor. She was also nervous because my mom's owner and one of the co-owners of my dad were going to be there. My dad's co-owner had never seen me so Mom wanted me to behave and do a good job.

Well, I didn't let her down. I was excellent and the judge even commented how good I was. Well, I won my age group -- I was the only one in the class. Then we came to the Winners Dog class. There were four other dogs that I competed against (only one was younger than me). The judge asked us to gait around the ring and chose the Open class dog as Winners Dog. We all lined up for her to take another look at us and she then pointed to me and said, "And Reserve goes to this lovely young boy." That was me -- Yippee! Mom got all teary eyed because judges usually seem to choose the older dogs.

When the judge chose me, the crowd started whooping and hollering; I guess they were excited too. Some people Mom didn't even know came up and told her what a beautiful guy I am. They also said they felt I should have won, but hey, Mom and Dad are thrilled I did so well. The handler that had the winner came up and want to know what my pedigree was (whatever that is). He also thought I was a lovely boy. I love all the attention I'm getting these days.

Well, two of my breeders decided I shouldn't be shown at any of the smaller shows anymore; they feel I should only go to Specialty shows. Guess I can't go to another show until October when we will travel to Pennsylvania for the Cairn Terrier National Specialty show.

Thank you for looking at my website.

My First Earthdog Test

Boy did I have a fun weekend. First of all we had conformation class on Thursday evening and I did the very best I have ever done. I actually realized we were there to work, not play. I was very, very good and got lots of treats.

On Saturday morning Mom went to my Puppy Agility orientation class (I get to go next Saturday). There are going to be a couple of Shelties in my class, but the rest of the class will be those BIG GUYS. I LOVE THOSE "BIG GUYS." Mom will give you an update on how my first class went.

Now for the BIG WEEKEND. Mom, Roary (my big brother) and I headed to Urbana, IL right after Mom got home from my agility class. We were having snow flurries when we left (after having 70 and 80 degree weather), and there were high winds. Roary and I are GREAT travelers and you would never know we are even in the car. Oh, when Mom and Dad bought me they had to get a new van so we would have room for all of us -- Roary, Callie and me and all our things. We all love our new van.

We arrived in Urbana too late for the Saturday earthdog test, but got to meet some new Cairn friends. We played and played in the backyard of one of my new friends. They have LOTS of great squirrels and birds to chase. Guess what? I went behind the big pine trees and came out with a HUGE Starling (big black bird) in my mouth. I wanted to show Mom, but I sure didn't want her to take it away. I KNOW I killed him, but they all think the high winds must have knocked that bird into something that stunned him. Boy, what do they know? I paraded around for quite awhile before Mom could talk me out of it. She tricked me. She pretended to have a bag that had goodies in it so I came up to see and she caught me. Darn!

Sunday was a very, very fun day for me. Mom entered Roary and I in what they call Intro to Quarry and Junior earthdog classes. There were a whole lot of different looking dogs -- Dachshunds, Border, Parsons Russell, Lakeland, and West Highland White Terriers; of course there were some Cairns too. Well the weather was very, very windy and cold for the humans, but we loved it. First we did the Intro class; I got my turn before Roary. Let's say I was doing really good recalls for Mom when I was younger, but as soon as the hormones kicked in I've not been real cooperative. Mom was working with me on the long line before the class, so I KNEW she wanted me to come to her when she called. Well, I had never seen a real tunnel (had run through a long cardboard one), or a rat for that matter. Boy, I could smell that critter and just insisted on finding it on top of the ground; after all, why should I go into some very dark tunnel when I can see those critters from the top. Mom kept trying to lure me into that dark place., but I won. The judge had Mom put me into the tunnel at the end by that rat thing. I was very, very excited, but just stood and stared at him with my tail happily wagging. Mom wanted to take me out of the tunnel, but the judge preferred for me to jump out. Guess what, I decided I would run around and around the whole fenced area. Mom even got some cooked liver (my favorite), but I would rather just run around. The judge got up and tried to help Mom catch me (after about 10 minutes) and he even quietly called me a bad name, but I did hear him. Finally one of Mom's friends came into the area and they cornered me. Darn, it was fun watching everyone laughing outside the area. Mom decided I shouldn’t try the Junior class because I was such a pain and the fenced area was much bigger, but the judge thought I should do it – they made me be the very last dog in the class. The judge was very, very nice. My big brother, Roary, did really well. He went into the tunnel and found the rat quickly, but he still remembers that Mom and Dan tell us not to bark at home, so Roary just whined a little. Maybe next time he tries it he will actually whine and bark the whole time. Mom keeps telling Dad that we need some tunnels in the backyard to play in. Well, FINALLY it was my turn and Mom had three other people out there to help catch me. I did finally go a little ways into the tunnel, but really didn’t like it. I came to Mom again and she put me in the end of the tunnel with the rat again. The judge was very, very nice and kept trying to get me excited. After a few minutes we decided to wait until I was a little bit older and then I can try it again. Now if that had been a rabbit running across our yard, I really yip and run. Mom tricked me by closing the tunnel top and going to get her lead. She opened the top again and slipped the lead over my head. After a couple of minutes she asked me to jump out of the hole. It was really fun, but I didn’t get to run around that fenced area – darn! After Mom ate lunch and help them take down the fences, we headed for home. The winds were really bad so it took a little longer to get home. I was exhausted when we got home and spent the evening sleeping on my towels in the kitchen. I didn’t even have the energy to play in the family room or sit on Dad’s lap.

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my fun weekend.