Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

When you’re a Republican, they let you do it.

White supremacy is terrorism.

It is possible to do the right thing without the promise of a cookie.

Let the trolls come, and then ignore them. that’s the worst thing you can do to a troll.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

Following reporting rules is only for the little people, apparently.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

Good lord, these people are nuts.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

I’m more Christian than these people and I’m an atheist.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Jack Smith: “Why did you start campaigning in the middle of my investigation?!”

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

The revolution will be supervised.

If you still can’t see these things even now, maybe politics isn’t your forte and you should stop writing about it.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / A Star is Born

A Star is Born

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Here is my brother running his dog, Boghan, a wire-haired pointing griffon, through agility drills:

He won two blue ribbons and qualified. It’s kind of funny, because Boghan is such a hot mess when he comes over here- easily the most undisciplined dog on the planet. But give him something to do, and he rocks.

Reader Interactions

64Comments

  3. 3.

    RosiesDad

    I have many friends and clients who run agility with their dogs. The ones who stick with it do so because the dogs love it. Love having a job, love competing, love flying through the various pieces of apparatus.

  5. 5.

    jl

    Thanks. That is some skillful athlete dog there, that Boghan. Seems to me your brother did a good job, but then I know exactly squat about dog shows.

    I want Cole to enter Rosie in one of those. That would be fun.

    Or, to be honest, watching Rosie, in a casual off-hand almost forgetful manner, physically dismantle and shred the course into canine agility trial confetti and as a final gesture figure out a way to bring down the big tent on everyone’s heads, while Cole melts into a pool of pants pissing panic, that would be fun.

    I hope Cole enters Rosie the next time they have this thing near his place.

  6. 6.

    WaterGirl

    I signed up for an agility class with my dog Bailey after our beloved cocker spaniel died. Bailey was lost without Murphy, didn’t want to be in the yard alone, just depressed and struggling.

    The agility class was his happy time, he was nervous but he loved it, and it helped him be in the world without Murphy. Alas, Bailey is gone now, too.

    We did a little of this in my puppy training class with Tucker this year, but he is such a maniac that he couldn’t bear to sit thee when it was the other dog’s turn to do the stuff, so agility for Tucker will have to wait until he’s a little older.

    P.S. Looks like a good workout for your brother, too! Thanks for the video.

  9. 9.

    Schlemizel

    I used to course my afghan – seeing a doggy that loves to run & chase, really work at it and so obviously enjoy it is entertainment I can’t explain. You get such a sense of joy – its almost like when your kid knows real joy.

    I swear that stupid mutt would smile & laugh – damn I didn’t need to think of that tonight

  11. 11.

    JWL

    Did winning the medals change Boghan? Lord knows some handle that type of success at a young age better than others.

  12. 12.

    marindenver

    Definitely a tribute to your brother’s training skills! I enrolled my sheltie in an agility class a couple of years ago. We got kicked out because I was such a lousy trainer. :-( Oh well. But at least my dogs are friendly if poorly trained.

  13. 13.

    runningonfumes

    What a fun video! Boghan is a great runner.

    We enrolled my 15 yr old daughter and her Lab-Springer Spaniel mix into an agility class and they loved it. Mickey is a natural jumper, runner, bush-wacker and Maria loves working with and training animals. Labs and Springer type dogs love to work and Mickey took to it like a duck to water. I loved watching them work. So much joy.

  18. 18.

    Beauzeaux

    I’ve done agility with two dogs. Believe me, any success is due to the handler. Almost all dogs want to please you. You just have to be able to convey what you want — consistently — at just the right time, while more or less running in all directions. It’s a lot of fun for the dogs. My guys liked it. I found it quite difficult.

    One of the best agility dogs in our area is a 4-pound Pomeranian fluffball. Just watching her compete is both hilarious and impressive.

  19. 19.

    jl

    @J. Michael Neal: I was going to ask if (not ‘whether’ but ‘if’) duh Raidahs had lost yet, but was traveling end of last week and missed it.

    But looks like 9ers will win.

    Edit: in my mind ‘whether’ suggest too much that that there is a possibility they do not lose.

  21. 21.

    Ash Can

    What a good doggie! Face it, Cole, Boghan is a hot mess at your joint because your pets are a corrupting influence on him.

  22. 22.

    gogol's wife

    @Schlemizel:

    Years ago I knew a couple with an Airedale that was trained to a fare-thee-well, but when he was off duty in company he was ridiculously badly behaved. It was weird!

  24. 24.

    jibeaux

    While we’re on pets, if you’re shopping for a dog lover in your life, why not an auction to benefit a couple of puppy mill rescues with expensive health problems? Facebook.com/pawfectmatch will get you there.

  26. 26.

    schrodinger's cat

    @JPL: Well instead of an obstacle course, we will have to use sushi grade tuna and other such inducements for the great white one.

  27. 27.

    Raven

    @jibeaux: Ha! We’re pretty sure our Lil Bit was a puppy mill refugee. Dumped in a box in the middle of the night on the steps of our vet. Her eyes were awful, she was peeing blood from bladder stones and has immune-mediated hemolytic anemia. She’s a money pit but what a sweetheart.

  28. 28.

    Schlemizel

    @J. Michael Neal:

    I doubt anyone here but you & I know what that melt down looks like. I felt bad last spring because it made me so happy to see the way they took advantage of those two in the WCHA & NCAA playoffs. Wonder if daddy still thinks he ran a genius coup up there when they ran the old coach out & got his snowflakes to transfer?

  30. 30.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Schlemizel: We think alike, except that I didn’t feel bad at all. Watching Kessel make MLam’s life miserable at the point brought me nothing but sheer enjoyment. She racks up a ton of points from the blue line against weak teams but she really isn’t a very good defenseman.

    In some ways UND will be better off without them next year but I have no idea where the points will come from. Then again, I thought the same thing about Spooner and McIntosh leaving OSU, absent thinking that there was any way in which they’d be better off.

    Edited for clarity.

  33. 33.

    J. Michael Neal

    @Schlemizel: Don’t look now, but UNH is up to 17th in the RPI once you toss out Holy Cross and St. Anselm. At least that’s where they are in the cobbled together bastardization USCHO is using to calculate RPI at the moment. It seems that the Gophers’ perfect record broke their algorithm and so what they show now don’t have wins against weak opponents removed.

    So there’s another team that might become a TUC to make our Pairwise even better.

  34. 34.

    raven

    @jibeaux: Well, the way we deal with it is to say that at least they gave her a chance. Lot’s of people just dump them on the road and let them get run over. It’s funny, she certainly appeared neglected but we don’t think she was abused because she just loves people. We may be wrong but it doesn’t matter.

  36. 36.

    Schlemizel

    @gogol’s wife:

    My honey was very well behaved. I have mentioned this before – she was much more like a cat. In addition to being aloof she did not feel the need for your attention unless she like you. When I came home she would stand up & put her paws on my shoulders & pull me in for a ‘hug’. But she never misbehaved, she was incredibly patient.

    But get her out in the field with something to chase and it was almost as if she had wings. Sight hounds can turn on a dime and put on a burst of speed that is stunning. When its an afghan that golden fur just makes them look like they are floating.

  37. 37.

    Schlemizel

    @J. Michael Neal:

    Please do not mention Holy Cow when talking about NCAA hockey I’m still traumatized!

    I noticed also that the men have fallen to 12th. They better figure this out in the second half of the season & not pull that 3 good periods a weekend crap or they will end up out East against a good team & risk not making the finals.

  38. 38.

    hamletta

    Miss Sophia, a kitty, decided to leave the room, I guess because of the barks.

    She’s old, so it wasn’t a fear-based response. More like I would do if a bar had Fox News on: “I choose not to listen to that crap.”

    She’s 13(?) years old, and has survived many more years than an urban kitty’s supposed to.

    Because she is awesome.

  40. 40.

    Lee

    A veterinary school classmate of my wife runs agility.

    This will be her second year going to nationals.

  42. 42.

    TaMara (BHF)

    Love that Boghan. And his sister is a cutie, too. Could probably use some pix of both. You know, for those newbies here who don’t know their history. Them. All for them.

  47. 47.

    vickijean

    It’s kind of funny, because Boghan is such a hot mess when he comes over here- easily the most undisciplined dog on the planet. But give him something to do, and he rocks.

    Sounds like his human uncle.

  49. 49.

    PurpleGirl

    Obama being barefoot is what will be hit on as the anti-American thing he did on this trip. Barefoot at another religion’s place of worship… what could be more unAmerican than that.

  51. 51.

    Gus

    My next door neighbor when I was a kid had a griffon named Heather. She would play fetch as long as you were willing to. Sweet, smart dog.

  53. 53.

    RedKitten

    @gogol’s wife:

    Years ago I knew a couple with an Airedale that was trained to a fare-thee-well, but when he was off duty in company he was ridiculously badly behaved. It was weird!

    That doesn’t surprise me. Airedales can be trained, and trained well — they were traditionally used as police dogs. But there’s still that terrier mischief in them that is just waiting to be let loose. So if that energy is channeled, they’re fine.

    Sort of like working dogs — give them lots to do and keep them busy, and they’ll do everything but your taxes. But when bored? They’ll utterly destroy your home.

  55. 55.

    muddy

    My dog would love this. His favorite game is competition, any game. It doesn’t matter what the game involves, he will leave all other dogs and kids in his wake, as he herds/shoulders them out of his way. He thinks it’s ridiculous if I throw the ball or whatever just for him, he won’t waste his time. There’s no game to be played if there is no competition.

  57. 57.

    Schlemizel

    @raven:

    Buddhist, Muslim, whats the difference – they both wear turbans, right?

    tomorrows FAUX Nation headlines today!

  63. 63.

    JoyceH

    I take Maggie to agility classes. She loves it and by now she’s the best agility dog in the group. We don’t compete, but that’s because I’m the one slowing us down. Maybe some day, when I get some new knees. Just recently, I taught her to jump through a hula hoop. She caught on right away and looks so cute! Ka-boing!

  64. 64.

    Lojasmo

    Ugh. We put our best cat down a couple months ago, now our suisse blanc is pissing blood. Hopefully just a UTI, but more likely bladder cancer.

    She’s old, too. Probably not long for this world one way or another.

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