Everywhere I go, people have been asking me about Buzz (and Ryan, of course) saying they miss reading about our adventures.
With the snow, ice and cold weather, the three of us have been staying close to home enjoying the winter season.Yes, I’m one of those people. I like snow and cold weather. And, you can blame it on my dogs. Every one of them has embraced winter with a special gusto, I think finding it refreshing.
I don’t enter dog shows during December, January or February as there is always the chance of bad weather. No dog show is worth risking our safety and in years past I wound up blowing off a lot of dog show entries because of bad weather so … we now spend the winter training inside. And, we’ve been working on perfecting a few Rally exercises that have cost us points in the past.
But, there is a little dog show news — Buzz got mail. I had to wait until the creases in them were smoothed out to take a photo, though, so now I can share his latest accomplishments with all of you.
In November, he earned two new American Kennel Club titles, pictured above and below. He is now a Rally Master 3 dog, which means he has qualified 30 times in the Master Class, which is the highest class level. He is also a Rally Advanced Excellent 3 dog, which means he qualified 30 times in both the Advanced and Excellent classes.
However, Buzz isn’t as big a fan of the cold and snow as Ryan is. He tolerates it, trots around in it, but comes back inside pretty quickly. He’d rather train than gaze out onto the snowy horizon. Personally, I think his toes get colder faster than Ryan’s do. Even when it’s snowing heavily, Buzz rarely has much white stuff stuck to his fur. He goes out on a mission and comes back in mission accomplished.
Ryan, on the other hand, savors the arctic temperatures and frozen tundra. He will stand there taking it all in and I swear I see a smile on his face. He usually returns inside totally covered — like a snow dog. Keep in mind that he also has a much thicker coat than Buzz does.
Ryan, more so than any other dog I’ve owned, really loves snow. So, he and I have spend a lot of time out in it. He trots, sometimes canters, around the large fenced dog yard, periodically stopping to enjoy several good, long full-on rolls in the white stuff. He’s a big fan of snow. And I love watching his joy in tromping around in it.
And, yes, he’s also been learning some new skills this winter. For fun. Even though he officially retired from the show ring last year, he still likes to be part of the training group. And just like humans, older dogs like to learn new things. And, did I mention the cheese rewards used to teach these new skills? Yeah, there’s that, too. Ryan’s a big fan of cheese.
So that’s the latest dog news for readers. But, I expect to announce something big next month.
