So excited *bounces*

CoyoteChris said:

Congrats! But it Seems like you do have some interesting K-9s up there. My wife does dog agility and I have never seen that kind of behavior...maybe you could shoot some dog shows for a bit of cash....?

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Toni-sounds like an opportunity you've been looking for, if for nothing other than it's something you enjoy!

Chris-Your wife does dog agility? Not only do I skate, but my husband and I BOTH do dog agility (we have 2 dogs). What venue does she run in?

I loved developing my photographs, but the odor from the chemicals caused very strong migranes (stuff actually causes cancer, truth be told) so once I was done with my college courses I stopped (that and it was expensive and I didn't have my own darkroom though I have most if not all of the supplies). I miss that joy of watching a picture appear on paper.

http://www.agilityevents.net/index.php?page=Events

Toni - here are the dog agility events around your state. Kenai has a few coming up. Maybe they need a photographer?

Great news Toni! It is always nice to be recognized for what we do well. I can't wait to hear
all about the race and to see your wonderful photos.

mskater93 said:

http://www.agilityevents.net/index.php?page=Events

Toni - here are the dog agility events around your state. Kenai has a few coming up. Maybe they need a photographer?

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while they're being hosted by teh Kenai Kennel Club, they're taking place in cities about four to five hours away, at least the ones I can see. The only time it's actually on hte peninsula, it seems, is in the summer

Hey mskater93. My wife won the National Agility championship in 1996 (AKC) and got a free trip to Switzerland in 1995 to represent the US on the World Team . She does AKC and maybe three or four other organizations.
She runs Malinois. My job is to spoil the dogs rotten!

I went to the meeting tonight. I'm even more stoked than before. Everyone's really excited and supportive of my role so now it's just getting in the right mindset and pin down what we all want to forsure be documented by me.

Really exciting to hear about, Toni. Can't wait to see the results.

CoyoteChris said:

Hey mskater93. My wife won the National Agility championship in 1996 (AKC) and got a free trip to Switzerland in 1995 to represent the US on the World Team . She does AKC and maybe three or four other organizations.
She runs Malinois. My job is to spoil the dogs rotten!

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Wow! Impressive!
Mals are known in NADAC to be notoriously stubborn and headstrong (at least many of the ones that we see run here and what we hear from their team mates). I like your job, because running the dogs can be a headache at times. You never know what mood their going to be in (my team mate either turns on the after burners or looks at me like he's never seen a dog walk or weave polls before depending how he's feeling).

Toni-
I didn't realize that the kennel club would host something so far from their city! Our club's agility trials are within 20 minutes of where our class is.

Glad you are even more stoked!

At least Toni is getting some snow! Quit hoggin' it, Toni....
Most Mals are anything but headstrong...but yes, I have seen a few "independant" ones for sure, but there is a reason all the military services and police depts are going to them. They will kill for a frisbee. They have a very high prey drive and will do anything you want for a toy. I will say that I have never seen one that changes moods. I would have to wonder if that dog were to have some mental or physical issues....or is too independant for service work.
For fun, Go to Google, hit the "Images" tab, and type in to the search box "Military working dogs malinois"

Chris who so far cant be trainned!

Not getting too much snow, just wind. Homer (an hour and a half away) is getting the snow... and Cordova/Valdez are 4-5 hours away and they're the one with the national state of emergency statuses.

CoyoteChris said:

At least Toni is getting some snow! Quit hoggin' it, Toni....
Most Mals are anything but headstrong...but yes, I have seen a few "independant" ones for sure, but there is a reason all the military services and police depts are going to them. They will kill for a frisbee. They have a very high prey drive and will do anything you want for a toy. I will say that I have never seen one that changes moods. I would have to wonder if that dog were to have some mental or physical issues....or is too independant for service work.
For fun, Go to Google, hit the "Images" tab, and type in to the search box "Military working dogs malinois"

Chris who so far cant be trained!

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Oh, no, the mood thing is MY dogs. I run a border collie and my husband runs an Aussie who gets in "moods" from time to time - the BC sometimes seems to be upset with me (especially if he got chastised over something - he has a couple things he just hates doing such as weaving and hoops and will sometimes screw them up almost intentionally and I will get frustrated with him and walk him off the course - you don't want to pay attention, you're done!) and he will just trot or stop and look at me instead of full out running the next time! It's gotten better as we haven't been trialing that long. My Aussie doesn't like running distance (she's older) and so anything that requires about 20' or more distance, she stops and turns around and looks at you. She also hates hot weather and will pee on a course after the first obstacle just to be done if it's above 85 degrees. My BC also has a wicked sense of humor and will do things just to be funny. He tends to LOVE tunnels but one time, I was sending him to a tunnel and he took the A frame - repeatedly. Like 8 times back and forth. I couldn't be mad at him because he hit his contacts each time and he had this wicked little gleam in his eye. I just cracked up at him - what else can you do?

Maybe independent is the right word for some of the Mals I've seen in trial and a couple really DO seem headstrong, but it could be the handler as it's the same handler with multiple dogs (2 Mals, a GS, and a BC) which all seem to have issues as opposed to multiple handlers, same breed. It really came to mind for me because she ran her Mal right before me in a trial and told me NOT to go in the ring/to the start line until she had her dog leashed AND then I was told not to leash run for her other Mal because he didn't know me and can be quite leash aggressive with strangers (!!!). But, as with any dog, if you work with them correctly from the get go, this shouldn't be an issue.

Toni - thanks for sharing the snow - we're supposed to get 6" today!

Sometimes I think agility must be very frustrating for those that do it. What part of the country do you run in? Well, if it were easy, they would call it golf! We have a friend named Carol who runs Aussies and a friend, Barb DAvis, who always seems to make the world team, who runs a very sweet border collie....

meh, no snow for us, just rain today... really hope it doesn't screw up the trails down here too bad!