Seth
Posted: February 6, 2009 Filed under: FFT Lhasa Apsos 4 CommentsCaroline sent the latest on Seth…as we know him.
Dear Debbie,
Your new web site is very impressive and I was surprised that you still have all the information on “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere”, our wonderful Samson. He is a great addition to the house and we are very proud of him. He is such a good traveler and our trips back and forth from Ohio to Florida are taken in stride. He isn’t upset by the changes in the life style – has friends in both places. He is always friendly with other dogs, eager to greet them and I have never worried about it. There are so many different breeds down here and all of them on leashes. I do wish there was a place nearby where he could be let loose to run with other dogs but I haven’t found one yet. Anyway he doesn’t seem to mind. When we are near our condo I let him go with me (without leash) to get the mail and he always knows when it is time and seems to look forward to that little jaunt.
Hope all is well with you and your many puppies. I’m sure you are still producing beautiful champions.
Caroline
Hi, Debbie, (again)
Samson has a habit that I intended to tell you about in my last e-mail. He was certainly given an appropriate name. ” It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere” was perfect and he is true to his name. Around 5:00pm almost every day Don and I have a cocktail or a glass of wine before dinner while we watch the news. Samson is fed at 4:00pm and you could set your clock to that time. After he eats and we go for a walk he is content until 5:00 and then………….he knows it is cocktail time. Obviously he doesn’t get a cocktail but he gets a little ramekin which I fill with Cheerios! Why Cheerios? Don has been a volunteer at Hospice in Toledo for several years. They havre a dog who lives at the facility and is a great favorite with the patients. They found that everyone was giving the dog food and he was getting too fat so they started giving him a few Cheerios instead of other fattening food. The dog loved the Cheerios and didn’t put on any more weight. So that is why Samson is now fed them at cocktail time at our house. When they are all gone I show him the container and tell him they are “all gone” and he seems to accept the answer. He would still like some of our goodies but “oh,well” that’s just too bad. So you see, you couldn’t have given him a more appropriate name!
Recognize this face?? Portrait by Julia Warner in England.
Kunza at FleetFire Timbers 
Caroline, I have one of Samson’s puppies, Roman. A suggestion for “play groups” are local dog training facilities, where they train for obedience, agility, etc. They may offer “small dog play group” or “large dog play group”. There are of course some ground rules for behavior.. . I have friends who travel south for the winters and they have done this. Or there may be a local AKC Lhasa Apso Breed Club; they may have suggestions/group play or get togethers where Lhasas can play together; and you can brag about your Samson! Mary, Roman, Taz
Mary, I received the Twin Cities Lhasa Apso Club’s newsletter and say the news about Roman’s win and his agility title. Congratulations! I’ve got a couple of questions…His name is listed as Ch. FFT Veni Vidi Vici RN NJP, with additional letters underneath. CPE, CL2-R, CL2-F, CL2-H. His new agility title was for Novice Jumpers Preferred, which is indicated by the NJP following his name, right? Does the RN stand for Rally Novice? What do the other letters mean?
Edie and I started a basic obedience class in January. We’re signed up for a Rally course in April. She’s doing great and I’m having fun! Takes me back to my roots. I grew up in northeast Nebraska. The closest obedience classes were two hours away, in Omaha. Mom drove there weekly with her brown Miniature Poodle, Hershey. He earned his C.D.X. (Companion Dog Excellent) and had moved up to Utility before he meant an untimely death. At that time the only performance event was obedience; Novice, Open and Utility. I exhibited in obedience, piloting several dogs to titles.
Just last week I discovered an experienced trainer has rented a large room in Evergreen and is offering basic classes on Thursdays. Currently I drive ‘down the hill’ as we locals say. Several of the classes are perfect time-wise for me. Whisper is enrolled in a basic class the instructor calls Family Dog which starts in March. Margo is signed up for Puppy Socialization and Manners. And Norma is signed up in a later session.
I’m looking forward to this year – The Year of Training The Dog. The performance options these days are numerous, so I’m re-educating myself about the ‘letters’. Your help is appreciated!
Hi Debbie: I have to admit, I had to look the initials up–Melissa, help me if I’m not correct!! You have the AKC initials correct; Roman has a Rally Novice (RN) . He has a jumppers title, novice, preferred. I choose the preferred to have his jumps at 8 in. vs. 12. We train at 8 and some of the other organizations only require he jumps 8. He has a long back, and does not clear the 8 in. jump by much. The other titles are in Canine Performance Events (CPE). This is an organization that has agility events, mixed breed and purebreds. AKC requires the dog be a purebred. CPE is, in my view, more relaxed, we are able to meet run criteria better, and you can do more than 2 types of runs. They have some fun “game” runs that really allow beginners to learn and skilled to excell. The initials CL2-R means we completed the Level 2, regular requirements (standard agility runs). CL2-H means we completed the requirements requiring “handler” skills, or the runs called Colors, Wildcard. Those runs are standard runs with some “handler” decision which obstacles are needed to be successful in the run. CL2-F, Level 2 “FUN” runs, means we completed the runs called Jumpers and Fullhouse. The jumpers runs are jumps and tunnels. The Fullhouse is a handler choice of obstacles with a required point accumulation. There is another group/title called CL-S for strategy, Snooker and Jackpot–runs based on points. Currently we are at Level 3 in CPE, and I believe have met the title requiredment for CL3-R and CL3-H. I have choose not to advance Roman as fast as we get the titles as I need improvement, and the higher the level–the tougher the runs. I want it to be fun, and don’t want my handling to discourage Roman. We will be starting to compete for Rally Advanced also, which is OFF leash work. Hope that helps. And I feel pretty proud to have them put pics of my guys in the newletter. And………loved the picture of Iris and her “best friend”……….I think she is Roman’s granddaughter …….I see his features in her face. Mary, Roman, Taz
Mary, you’re right. Iris is Roman’s granddaughter. Hey Shelley, what do you think about training Iris for agility? I’m having a great time training Edie. She graduates from Beginning Novice next Thursday and starts a course on Rally the end of March. I had Whisper signed up for a beginning course titled Family Dog with a nearby instructor, but think I’m going to substitute Anna instead. Seen on the bumpers of cars at the training center I use “A balanced dog has a title on both ends.” Let’s get some titles behindmore of these FFT dogs!