aBC4me

I am so sorry for your loss. You will all be in my prayers.

Thank you all for the feedback. I did place a phone call to her last night and left her a message stating that I was sorry for any miscommunication that may have occured and that I was just calling to find out about what time the new practices would start and how she would like me to handle them. (we are starting rally on a weeknight since it is getting so hot, and this will be the first one). I was very nice and pleasant with the message and am hoping that she does return the phone call. Again, thank you for the feedback.

Well I did try this and come to find out that the name of the place that she told me was hosting it... is where I went on Sunday to meet my Aunt and low and behold... they weren't there. I did not jump to conclusions. I was actually upset with my husband about all of this to begin with. What YOU do not know is that I normally DO NOT count on my husband to find these things out. BUT... have been working on trying to share responsibility and control (it's a part of my stress management therapy, not that that is any of your business, but since you have a tendency to be so rude when it doesn't call for it...) Please don't be so rude... she was simply sharing with me some of the things that she has had issues with. It was HER suggestion for me to follow them. If you read what I said... I said that I told her that I did not know where it was. Mr. Snappy - It must be nice to live in a perfect world where you are God and the only perfect person out there. Did you never here the saying that if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. I was coming here asking for opinions as to whether this seemed like a normal behavior or not, and I have received that and I do thank you for it. But adding in the insults and rudeness is just immature and not necessary. I have been coming here for months and enjoying very much all that goes along with it. Learning etc. I have never, NOT ONCE been rude or even close to rude to anyone. Do you not think that you could be decent enough to give me the same respect?

I'm sorry I must have said it wrong. I didn't mean just because he is a BC, I meant just because he is doing well. The BC part was just a side part-she was just trying to prepare me for what I may encounter in the future from other people competing. Edited cause I wanted to include a couple of pictures. I'm proud of him!

I suppose I should start with a little background first. The place and instructor for Rally for us is the place where Blaze goes once a week (cage free facility) for a fun day to play with other dogs. He has a standing Thursday all day appointment, and has been attending their facility for over a year. The instructor for Rally is the owner of the facility. She served in the air force as a k9 instructor for over 15 years and I agree with most of what she says. We also took her basic obedience class. Now, Blaze and I have only gone through 6 rally classes and these are the first rally classes that the instructor has taught. She competes with her Sheltie and the other person that practices with us is someone that works for her, and she uses her German shepherd. Last weekend she asked me if I would be interested in going to watch a rally competition that they were both participating in. (They were looking to earn their 3 leg in novice). Of course I jumped and say YES! It will be good for Blaze to walk in with his friends and see what they do and it will be good for me to see how Blaze will behave, give me a chance to see what we need to work on. I asked her to please either call me or email me as to what time they would like for me to meet them so that I could follow them to the facility holding the trial. I explained to her that I did not know where it was. Well by Thursday I still had not heard from her and I called my husband to ask him to please find out what time I should meet them Saturday morning. He asked the owners husband and the husband went inside to ask her. The husband came back out and said 8:45am Here comes Saturday, I am up and moving and there to meet them at 8:30am. I do see their vehicles so I go inside and ring the doorbell. The husband comes outside and tells me that they left at 7:45am. I explained to him that my DH had talked to him on Thursday and that he came back to me and said 8:45am was what time he was told, the husband then said "oh no, 8:45am is what time the competition started, that is when they had to be there". So.... I asked him to please have one of them call my cell phone and let me know if they would be going on Sunday and if so at what time so that I could join them. So I cried and cried some more..... And then decided that I was going to take Blaze to the dog park for a fun day instead of sulking about it. (pictures to follow in the gallery) By 6:00pm I still had not heard from either of them and decided to call them myself. I left a message which of course was not returned. So... on Sunday (not wanting to sulk) I decided to set up a play date with a couple of Blazes brothers. While at the play date, I asked my Aunt what she thought of all of this and the first thing that she asked me was "Is Blaze any good at Rally, what does your instructor say"? I explained to her that she did nothing but compliment him and tell me how she wished that her Sheltie had that kind of drive and passion and that she wouldn't be wasting any time with him, that she would be working him to master them(insert dog sport here) all. My Aunt then told me that that is what she thought and that I am going to need to grow a thick skin, to remember that I have a border collie and that no one is going to give me a leg up in anything because of it. That I need to be prepared for the judges being harder on us because they expect perfection, etc., etc., etc. Okay, now, what I want to know is... do you think that this is the case? I mean, I have given this woman probably close to 2K in the last year for my dog to continue to go to her facility. Is this right?!? Would someone be this deceitful and despicable? Please help! I am not sure what I should think about all of this, I am not even sure what I should say to her. Blaze probably still has about 10 daycare days paid for aas of right now, so I will have to see her. Or should I be pulling him out and asking her to refund me?

This is what we use. http://www.fleastoppers.com/ We are able to buy it at one of our hardware stores here. It is what we have always used. If anyone has heard anything negative about... do please let me know, because we have never had any problems with it.

Blaze's full name is Blazin' Fury! We wanted Blaze beacuse of the blaze on his face. and Fury came from how willing (passionate) he is.

Are you kidding me, I just went to Heaven for 2 minutes and 9 seconds. Plug that baby up and give me time to do the dishes in 10 minutes instead of 30. WHERE DO I GET ONE!

Now I'm Rolling, Ain't that the truth!

My Aunt sent me this from the other boards. It is so sad and sweet at the same time. I creid for 10 minutes.

Simple human error,.,., obviously very sorry.,.,. I would be FURIOUS!!!! I would be more than furious.. I can't even find the words. The family WILL be in my prayers.

I have made the decision to take Blaze in next saturday for our first observer day. I would love to go this weekend but we are going to a Rally-O trial. My question.... Blaze is rather noise sensitive, that is with high pitched sounds... Can you think of any reason why there may be a problem with the box because of this?

I just went through the same thing here. I had Blaze on Nutro Venison and when it went 6 weeks and they still didn't get any in I switched him to Canidae.

I am normally your average everyday anal retentive, uptight b*tch but every once in a while someone will come over and you think to yourself.. "I need to be on good behaviour". e.g. someone from the DH's job or a relative, etc. Well, that is what happened, someone from the DH's work came over and so desperatly wanted Blaze to like him so, I did my best to hold my tongue when he put his hand in the treat jar and when he went into the pantry for the training treats. Well, he got what he wanted, Blaze was okay with him in the end. BUT... Blaze now has an upset stomach, AGAIN!! I have since told my DH that ANYONE that comes over is to NEVER give anything to Blaze, ice cubes only. Which he is fine with and understands. I have also since moved all the treats to a difference location so that others no longer have access to them. With the way that my mind works, I am also considering typing up some rules of the house to keep on the frig for anyone that comes over, but I know that is going over the top. Please help, give me something that I can use to calmy speak to new company when they come over so that I am not being a complete... well, you know.

Blaze's main job is family pet and friend but his other jobs are Catcher of green balls and Frisbee's Mommy's alarm clock (bless him, he is VERY noise sensitive and once the alarm clock starts going off if I don't get to it right away to turn it off, he will snuggle close to me, start whining and give me a couple of kisses, it is the BEST way to wake up, I couldn't ask for more)! Cat toy and boxing bag (it still blows my mind that dogs are ok with getting punched 50 times in a 3 second match) Puppy friend and teacher Mommy's Rally-O partner and teacher Daddy's baby Lick-a-monster

Oh what a sad story. Surprisingly the only lawn equiptment that Blaze has any issue with is the Blower. Everything else only brings on a minimal response.

OMG this has been one of those topics that makes you just cry and cry... and cry... I have felt so many emotions in reading these stories that I had to stop and break for 30 minutes before putting my thoughts together. First... thank you all for sharing such beautiful stories!! I know that I will always hold a special place for Blaze even after he is gone, he is the one that I am learning with. He is my teacher as much as I am his and I feel so blessed.. everyday.. that the universe saw fit to place him in my care. He is my heart and soul, my teacher and my student, my fuel and my vigor. He is my all! And it feels so weird to say all of this, like my world revolves around him and nothing else, and I know that that is not true, BUT..I do truly feel that before him my life was incomplete somehow and from the moment that I picked him out it seemed that everything started to fall into place. I cannot imagine what my life would be without him (although I do sometimes miss being able to read a book without a ball falling into the crease and getting it all wet and sticky).

Georgia I am so happy for you two. I know you really wanted it to go smoothly. And look, NOTHING to worry about, Jedi had it all under control.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't missing something (like the capsule part being bad for him) cause Blaze will come a chargin when he hears that jar start going and will do back-o flips for them.

okay well I KNOW that I am underdosing him, I made that decision when I first started giving it to him so I feel much better now. Thank you for the information, and I am sorry but I have one more stupid question.... Why puncture the capsule?

Thank you, I will be reading over the information

You guys keep repeating the supplement with Vitamin E if giving fish oil, I need to ask why because I give Blaze an Omega 3 capsule almost daily.

Well Blaze has never really shown me this side so I am hoping that he never will, the only thing it sounds like I will have to worry about is the barking. Thank you all so much, this has helped me to make the determination that us going in for a few practices to see how he does and if he even likes it will be worth it.

OMG he is GORGEOUS!!!!

I'm so glad to hear the good news!!! Go enjoy your fur baby.