My Dog Has Issues

Rowan is the love of my life, my soul dog, and best friend and I think it's his "issues" that make me love him the most. He does the strangest shit but I think it's the cutest thing on the planet. Other people, more sane people, would be annoyed but not me.

His list of strange behavors is long, but I did manage to get two of his most promenate features on film (aka my digital camera) yesterday.

First we have the "I HAVE to walk between your legs and stop for a butt scratch every time you come back into a room" maneuver:

Now, I know what to expect when my 80lb Rhodesian Ridgeback comes barreling towards my crotch (sorry, no other way to put it) but this gesture can be very off putting for visitors. Most the time they stand up straight with their legs close together, which in turn makes the whole situation worse. Rowan will insist you let him through by a nice bonk on the crotch with his nose, and when you jump from the molestation, between the legs he goes! Then he will patiently wag his tail and await a nice butt scratch, right where his tail attaches is his favorite. Occasionally he'll come from behind and give you a nice butt crack poke, and go for a shoulder scratch. Now that one still gets me from time to time. So if you happen to be visiting me and my fine hound dog anytime soon, no your crotch/butt doesn't smell any more than everyone else's, my dog just wants some affection...you have been warned.

Next we have Rowan's inability to willingly SIT on anything but the top of a set of stairs:

Now Ridgebacks in general, are "non-biddable" dogs. Which is to say that they are not easy to train, and once trained rarely listen anyway. It's a hound thing. They're bred to be independent, in Rowan's case, to run off find a lion and keep it bayed until you can come shoot it (haha yeah right!). Well when it comes to sitting, Rowan's biddable-ness, is completely non-existent. I swear he loves the frustration I produce after saying "Rowan SIT" 76 times. I have come to the conclusion that he doesn't like putting his "boys" on questionable surfaces, such as cold concrete, splintery wood, tickily grass etc. BUT when there are stairs involved he is more than willing to plunk his booty down no matter what the surface texture. I told you he had issues. Any men out there who can enlighten me??

Now, I may seem frustrated with this whole behavior, but I secretly love it. Rowan's odd "balls on-the-floor" phobia is easily remedied. If you yourself take a seat on the floor he will rush over to you, turn around, backs that ass up, and sit in your lap, a gesture I find absolutely adorable! I love snuggling my pup. Ahh....I can see us now in the rally ring, "Good morning judge, oh don't mind the guy by the "sit" sign, he's just my dogs testicle cushion."

Tune in next week, maybe I'll get a good shot of his "fruit roll up" ears or his "I drink like a baby hippo" face.

My Attempt at Common Photoshop Edits

When you are an amateur-teaching-yourself kind of photographer such as myself (and MANY others), your keeper to shit ratio is not very good. I think I actually LIKE about 1 out of 100 pictures...that ain't so good. But I'm learning and I'll give myself a little slack.

So naturally when I do get a decent shot, I go a little nuts and see just how many different ways I can screw it up. I got a decent shot of my friends horse and decided it was my next photoshop victim. I have noticed "trends" among different photoshop actions and people's blogs and stuff, so I thought I'd be really unoriginal and do my own take on some of them.

The SOOC (straight out of camera, oh yeah I'm down with the lingo!) Shot

This handsome devil is Dawn. He is my friends OTTB (off the track thoroughbred) No I am not one of those annoying people who abbreviates everything, like tmrw, ppl, and srsly. But do use WTF, POS, MOFO, and SOB often, maybe that's my way of making my dirty mouth a little more acceptable? ANYWAY. This is Dawn and he is a 10 year old GORGEOUS bay Thoroughbred. I love him and want to steal him. He is sweet, sweet, sweet, and a talented jumper to boot. I could go all day talking about how awesome he is, but this post is dedicated to photoshop and different ways I edited the picture, so I'll try to stay on topic.

Just a little color boost

I wanted a little more life to the blue sky, but somehow his face got more shiny and blown out and I don't like that. Have to fix it....

Black and White...sorta.

I have begun to loath b+w, I can never seem to get it right! So this is my most acceptable rendition so far, and I still kinda hate it. I don't know what it is I hate yet, I'll let you know when I figure it out.

Cliché 70's Picture

Let's take a perfectly good picture and make it look old and cheap! I don't understand it, but I like it. Although it reminds me of pictures of my sister and I as kids, and that was back in the 80's early 90's so really this is a Cliché 70-90's picture...wow I'm rambling ok next!

Texture!

I love texture in other peoples photos, but like b+w I'm having a hard time coming up with my own that I actually like. So far this is as close to "liking" as I've come. Maybe it's just too distracting?

Seabiscut a.k.a. Vintage

Again take a nice picture and make it look like shit, and whadaya get? ART! I like it! But what happened to his eyeball?? Help please.

Let me know what you think. How do you feel about all the different edits? Do you prefer more natural leave it be kind of edits, or do you like the obvious alterations?

-N

Prepare yourself people. I have figured out how to use brushes and to make cards in photoshop. Are you ready for some cheesy unoriginal "art?"

Welp, here is its....

I call this one The Gay Cat

And this one is Cow Dog, I'm as original as they come, what can I say.

I hope you feel inspired....

- N

Holy long time no post!! I had to google my own blog to find it, because I forgot the web address...talk about SLACKIN. Thanks Blogger.com for not deleting my stuff!

Well I have good reason. I have since: gone back to school full time at Metro, work full time for a law firm downtown, show TWO dogs, autocross my car as much as possible, have a new found obsession with photography and photoshop, found the love of my life Josh who moved in with me a while back, supporting (i.e. watching and asking dumb questions) Josh build a Frankenstein of a 1987 VW Westfalia Camper Van in my two car garage, found a new roommate on Craigslist who's dog DOESN'T eat my house, become a much improved snowboarder (but still suck), have decided to revamp the blog and take up more of my precious time, and the list goes on....

Yeah, yeah, excuses, excuses. But I now need a place to vent, show off my terrible photography and photoshop skillz, and to continue on with the telling of the amazing adventures of Nadia and Rowan....and Caleb...and Josh...and school....and the car....and the van... You can't wait, can you??

Love Always,

N-Dog

p.s. here is a small sample of my photoshop attemps, keep in mind I'm teaching myself through free online tutorials and such, I owe all I know to PW and MCP. I JUST figured out how to properly crop a picture...baby steps people, baby steps. I'll have many more, mostly of dogs here shortly.

So I was just being nostalgic and reading back through all the old posts of my blog. Its funny how many times I talk about Rowan being naughty. Now when I think back all I can seem to remember was how flippin cute he was, and none of the hair-ripping-out frustration, and often catch myself daydreaming about another puppy, especially one from Nona's latest beautiful litter! Selective memory I guess. But guess what? All the hard work has paid off. Rowan is such an amazing dog. He listens (for the most part), is smart, and I can trust him to hang out in the house alone while I work all day and know that I'll come home to a fully intact trash can. He seems to be lacking in the destructo gene that often comes with Ridgebacks, that or I somehow managed to pull off a miracle and train him properly ;)

I take Rowan with me everywhere. Most of my weekends are spent about 50 miles north of where I live, in Fort Collins. That's where all my closest friends live. They are my family, so I go as much as I can. I stay with my friends Lauren and Matt who have a gigantic Golden Retriever who resembles a bear, a pit bull lab mix that Rowan is 100% madly in love with, and a sweet old man Golden who is deaf and barks incessantly. Its funny because your initial reaction is to yell "Austin, SHUT UP!" but hey! guess what!? HE CAN'T HEAR YOU!! Its really quite humbling and I can really see the benefits of being deaf sometimes when I'm around him. He is just so damn happy all the time. Anyway, I've totally forgotten where I was going with this story....Oh yeah, Rowan's behavior. Well when I go up there he is just so well behaved and is the life of the party. He is loved by all and I guess the point of me telling you this is that, I love my dog and that I'm so so so proud of what he has become!


I will be going to France for 10 days on August 20th. I've never been away from Rowan for longer than 5 days. This is going to be tough. But he will be staying with Lauren and Matt, where he is comfortable, safe and has a ton of fun. So I know he will be fine, its me I'm worried about.

A couple of pics of the gang:

This little bugger is Caleb. An Australian Cattle Dog that my friend Josh just got. I know the breeder, she used to work for the dog food store I go to, and she is almost as cool as Julie and Sarah. He is from her first litter and is SUCH an incredible pup! He also frequents Matt and Laurens house.

Here we have bear dog a.k.a. Ryliee. He is an old fart at heart and keeps the little whipper snappers in line:

Sweet ol Austin, Rowan, and Caleb hangin out:

Been a while!

So. Life has thrown me for a loop or two and I've let this blog completely die. Sorry!


Rowan is doing wonderful and growing up beautifully! He is the love of my life and I really don't know what I'd do with out him! We've done a few shows and a little bit of coursing, but nothing really huge to report. Just kinda have been layin low, just having fun being a dog. We do have new roommates though! Sadly Nikki and Ty move out, but my friend Royce and his dog, Roxie moved in! She is the pretty husky on the dog house. Loki is well and as bossy as ever. He could care less about the dogs, and is often found strutting through the living room just DARING the dogs to do something about it.


Couple of recent pictures:

Happy Fall!!

The kids were sunbathing and I couldn't resist...

Dog days...

SO. Here I am on a Tuesday morning sitting at home writing in my blog. Why you ask? Because I got laid off on Friday. Crap economy+mortgage underwriting job=unemployment for Nadia. But have no fear in the two days I've been unemployed I've had two interviews. One at a bar and one at a company that goes after predatory lenders, a booming business these days. So I'm not too worried.

The past two days have left me here at home with all the children wondering what the hell I was doing home all day. However I have noticed a big flaw in our seating arrangements lately. See below:

Notice how despite the fact our couch is actually a couch and love seat pushed together making an abnormally LONG couch, there still isn't a spot available pour MOI!? That's ok, I just sit on top of one of them and they scootch over and snuggle up with me. Its getting colder everyday, so having a 70lb heater laying on your feet while reading a good book, is really quite the luxury.

In other news, Rowan has entered into a very naughty "terrible two" like stage of his adolescence and has taken up pillaging the recycling bin, attempting counter surfing, chewing the insulation off the copper pipes connected to the a/c, digging giant holes in the yard, pulling pieces of privacy fence off, and other undesirable traits. All while he is outside for a matter of minutes. Needless to say he is constantly damp from ambushes with the squirt bottle. Speaking of which I should go check on the little bugger.

BIG surprise. In the 3 minutes its taken me to type the last paragraph Rowan has managed to find and dig up an aspen root and is sporting a nice snout full of mud....see:

*sigh* I'm going to go call the agility and obedience trainer again then give Rowan something positive to put his creative naughty-ness towards. Oh Jesus Christ now he is eating the sliding glass door moulding...gotta go....

Getting down with my homies

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The Loot

So when you win at a dog show you have to get a "win picture". Well you don't HAVE to, but you have to. You know what I mean. It also helps keep track of points in case the AKC screws something up. I didn't get points though, so that doesn't apply. ANYWAY, here is our win picture from the National Specialty!

Sweeps is a non-regular class. Its only for puppies, unless its Veteran Sweeps (for dogs older than 7), and is a good excuse to get in the ring again. You don't get points, but its a different judge and usually you are up against the same dogs as the regular class. Most the time there are fun trophy's and prizes. I won a fun leash, $17 (WHOOOO HOOO!), and a perdy silver ribbon. This picture cracks me up because Rowan looks so serious, but in reality he is the biggest dweeb that ever lived. I'm so proud of my dorkus-a-morkus....

Photo Shoot

Just a few amazing pictures taken by Claire Bow, at www.denverdogphotography.com/blog.





See all of them here: http://flickr.com/search/?q=Rowan&w=15174618%40N02

New Friends

So, a few months back I was going to look at a 9 year old Swedish Warmblood stallion that was by the old grey stallion I ride now. (I've posted about him here: http://adventuresofrowan.blogspot.com/2008/07/my-other-love.html) He was also bred and foaled by my trainer, so she knew him well. But things didn't work out and I never actually got to see him, and really couldn't afford him anyway.\

Well about 2 weeks before Nationals my trainer calls me telling me that the owner of said stallion was willing to GIVE him away to the right home! Now I'm in the mortgage industry, so you can imagine how tight my budget is right now. There was no way I could afford to pay board and all that jazz, but I went to look at him anyway. BIG mistake. I fell in love at first sight. He was the spitting image of his father, and you all know how much I ADORE Gig.

So there I was trying to figure out how the hell I was going to pay for this horse, because there were no if, ands, or buts about it, he was coming home with me! I had been toying around with the idea of getting a roommate, so I posted an add on CraigsList. Knowing I'd get all kinds of wackos, I had NO expectations. Well not even a day later I get an email from a girl who seemed to be the PERFECT fit. A PE school teacher with a 2 year old boxer. Rowan desperately needed a house mate, so I was all for someone with a dog, but figured everyone would have naughty non-trained maniacs. So I met with the girl and we hit it off. Next step was to see how Rowan and Tyson got along. We met at a dog park and what do you know THEY hit it off.

It was 1 week before I left for 2 weeks of Nationals and I had a new roommate who I barely knew and a freaking HORSE that I knew NOTHING about, other than the fact that he was gorgeous and very naughty. I took a giant leap of faith and just went for it. My trainer kept telling me that I only live once and that life wasn't a dress rehearsal, and she was so right!

Now I'm back and things are perfect, for the time being. I've got a clean quite roommate with a clean quite dog, whose rent pays for my dirty loud rotten horse! No, he is actually really really wonderful. He hasn't been ridden in a few years and from the looks of it not touched in that long too. But after only two days of being groomed and worked on the lunge line is making progress by HUGE leaps and bounds. He just needed to be understood and have some serious TLC and consistency. So without further ado, here are pictures of my new family members Tyson the boxer and Peter the Swedish Warmblood.

Rhodesian Ridgeback National Specialty

Well I've been putting this post off because it was going to take so long to write it all out. But now I'm bored out of my mind and am feeling somewhat motivated, so here we go.

Wednesday September 17, 2008:

I woke up around 6 am and finished packing up the last minute items and loaded up the Subaru. Rowan was being a lazy ass and would NOT get out of bed. Finally got him up fed him and said my goodbyes to Justin, Francie (our rat), and Loki (our cat). It was bitter sweet. I was SO excited to spend a week and a half surrounded by dogs, but was going to miss Justin and the "kids" so so much.

Anyway, I got in the car and started my drive to Nebraska. It was very uneventful and I had a good book on tape so it went pretty quickly. Finlay arrived at Sarah's and was greeted by Rowan's very energetic sister Hershey literally jumping for joy. We had a few glasses of vino and some grub while watching Rowan have the time of his life reuniting with his sister, brother, and mother.

Thursday September 18, 2008:

Sarah and I woke up fairly early get the van all packed up and ready to go. We loaded up the pups and eager old Dempsey, her 11 year old RR, and hit the road! We had another uneventful drive filled with corn, soybeans, and XM Comedy Radio. We had to make a minor detour and head south a bit. Apparently I-80 was closed at the Illinois/Indiana border due to flooding. We made it all the way to Indianapolis before calling it quits. We stopped at what we thought was a decent hotel, not exactly, but were to exhausted to find something else. We slept safely with our 3 dogs and hit the road early the next morning.

Friday September 19, 2008:

Again it was an uneventful drive, and thanks to Mapquest, we got to take the "scenic" route through Pennsylvania making a 60 mile drive take over 3 hours. It really was beautiful, but by the third day of driving, I would have been happy with highway views. ANYWAY, we arrive at the hotel to find that our room had been "given away" and the one we were getting in exchange was a tiny ass, hole in the wall with one king size bed, and were told that was our only option. UM DON'T THINK SO LADY. So after a few words with the manager, miraculously a room with all our original specs appeared and we got what we wanted. Phew. Pups had the time of their lives playing in the room/jungle gym

Saturday September 20, 2008:

Poor Sarah had to sit in a board meeting ALL DAY, and lucky me got to play in the agility rings ALL DAY. I learned a ton and had a blast watching all the Ridgebacks ignore their handlers commands :) Can't wait to be embarrassed by Rowan myself. No there were some very impressive runs and it gave me hope. Had a dinner in the hotel with Julie, Benton's owner, Sarah, and Nicole, a fellow Ridgelea (Benton's breeder) dog owner.

Sunday September 21, 2008:

I can't remember what we did that day. Oh yeah, more agility including Valentine, Rowan's half sister, kick some serious ass in agility. Two first places!

Sunday night we watched the "Over 50 Competition". That was a little scary, some of those handlers were a bit rickety....but then again some very agile and great! The judge was a 14 year old girl and took her job very seriously. It was adorable.

Monday September 22, 2008:

D DAY. Rowan and I are the first up. We were in a class with 17 other dogs. I thought I'd be holding back the urge to hurl the whole time, but was surprisingly calm. Up until the judge asked me to do a triangle. I freak and totally forget what a triangle is. Not sure why, because I know exactly what it is. Anyway, to clarify I ask the judge and he nicely reminds me what to do, I do it and relax. Then a miracle happens, we make the CUT. For you non-dog show people that means the judge picks out about half that he doesn't like and asks them to leave the ring, and the ones he likes stay in for further judging. So there we are going around again and then the judge starts to pick out the top four. He pulls out the first boy, not us, dang. The second boy, not us, crap. The third boy, not us, shit. Then he points to me, NO FREAKIN WAY! Me?! You sure?! I looked around for a half second to make sure he wasn't messing around and no BS he WAS pointing at us! I was shaking I was so ecstatic!

Then you have to stand there so they can write down your number and such. Little did I know that the judge also does a critique. So there I was yammering on and on to Rowan, doing tricks and smooshing his face and telling him how proud I was, all while the judge is recording his comments on TAPE. I was wondering why all the other winners had their boys quietly stacked. OOPS! So we got our picture taken with the judge and then it was Hershey's turn.

The judge selected her for the cut of 9 or so from a class of 23. AWESOME. But then didn't place :( She showed well and had fun and that's the most important part. Oh and did I mention that Sarah goofed and entered her in the Bred by Exhibitor class!? So Hershey was up against girls that were WAY more mature than her, so she did really really well!

Monday night was the annual meeting. Not nearly as painful as I expected, but then again it was called early because there weren't enough members to vote anymore, SCORE!

Tuesday September 23, 2008:

Rowan and I second class. We go in and the judge puts one hand on Rowan, looks at his bite quickly and moves on. He watches our go around for about 1/4 of the way and turns his back to look at the next dog. Welp, its over. Didn't make the cut, didn't get a ribbon :( Oh well! Every dog has his day!

My mom and step dad came to see me too! We went into Gettysburg, strolled around a bit, then had dinner at a pub. Food sucked, but the atmosphere was nice. Then I came back caught a bit of the Veteran Sweeps class and called it a night.

Wednesday September 24, 2008:

Hershey's attempt to impress the Speedy Gonzales judge. NOPE. Nothing. Not cuts made, no ribbons. Oh well maybe next time!

Went out to lunch with mom again. We found a really cool old tavern in the basement of the first house built in Gettysburg, in 1776. Food sucked, the joys of being a chefs daughter, but the atmosphere was AWESOME.

Then that night mom and step dad came to watch the top 20. Its fully equipped with bad music and an obnoxious spot light, so it was pretty fun! Everyone is dressed fancy and the handlers are as fun to look at as the dogs!

Thursday September 25, 2008:

Thursday was the Best of Breed competition. There were a million dogs entered but miraculously we were done in 3 hours or so. The dog that won was really cute and I was actually happy with the judges picks.

Thursday night was the awards banquet. Food sucked but the company was great :) Julie won a ton of ribbons and we had a really good time.

Friday September 26, 2008

We went to watch lure coursing in the morning. Valentine kicked ASS. She ended up in the final for best of breed, but got beat out, DAMN. Pups got a taste of what its all about and went nuts over the "bunnies", plastic bags on a pulley.

Then we headed out. Made it all the way back to Indianapolis and splurged and got a NICE hotel room this time around.

Saturday September 27, 2008:

FINALLY back to Nebraska! Shawn makes us a wonderful steak dinner, best food I had had all WEEK!

Sunday September 28, 2008:

Pack up the Subaru and head HOME! Finish my book on tape, not as good as I thought it would be, but passed the time. I make it home in under 7 hours with only two stops. I was a little eager to get home :)

THE END.
*pretty sure I left out a bunch of important details but I'll add those in in future posts or something.