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About 3 years ago when I was researching the Mudi breed, I came across the name Mookie and fell in love with it!  And...  it flowed...  "Mookie the Mudi" !  And then came the phrase "The Adventures of Mookie the Mudi" !  And the shortened version probably for training is Mook .  And referring to him I've heard myself say The Mookster, Mr. Mook, or SUPER MOOKER !        I discovered several definitions but choose this one:   "Something or someone who is kooky, cool, intelligent, funny, alternative, stylish, irreverent, inspired and adventurous"!           So that's it!  This blog is for me to keep track of his life, training and fun stuff we do!  And it's available for anyone else who is interested!  Click here to find out what is a Mudi anyway?  Click the following links for categories of current and upcoming posts Weekly first, now MONTHLY Progress Posts The Beginning in Hun...

Mookie's Health, Achievements and Stuff

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Bariguard Ron (aka "Mookie") and his stuff!!  Weight 28 pounds Height 17 inches Embark   (Dog DNA Test) Embark for Breeders dog DNA test includes a dog's results for health conditions, genetic coefficient of inbreeding (COI), and 35 trait tests including coat color, shedding, and more. Mookie's EMBARK  Mookie's full EMBARK report (PDF) OFA   (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) OFA's mission is to promote the health and welfare of companion animals through a reduction in the incidence of genetic disease by collating and disseminating information concerning orthopedic and genetic diseases of animals.      Mookie's OFA listing   AKC   (American Kennel Club) The American Kennel Club, a not-for-profit organization, is the nation's oldest, largest, and most esteemed purebred dog registry.  Below is Mookie's info!    AKC DNA Profile Results Bariguard Ron Hungarian Pedigree TITLES - 149 as of 6/25   (Click her...

Shed Hunting (UKC and NASDA)

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Yes .... SHED HUNTING IS A THING!   I started to do shed hunting with Jake but when his back gave out he couldn't continue.  Now I think this is something that Mookie would love to do AND the United Kennel Club (UKC) has a program called ELITE SHED DOG ! Click here for a link to info on the UKC website that explains the sport. Click here for the rules of the sport. Below is a video I found from the UKC that explains the sport. I plan to log adventures here (in reverse order) so I can keep track of Mookie's progress.  :) 2025.7 .  Again the annual UKC Shed Hunt so off we go to Cambria WI!! Day 1, he found 4 shed and took 4th place.  Day 2 again 4 (which is the number he has to find) and got another Q and just like that earned a UKC Working Shed Dog (WSD) title!!  2024-25  Finding antlers is one of Mook's favorite activities.  In the winter and bad weather I hide a 6 inch piece of one in the house and he goes crazy searching for it.  In a...

A journey to titles - June '25

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Mookie's got some accomplishments... titles you might say!!   What is a title, anyway?  For my non-dog friends, a title is evidence to me that we have spent time together, learned together and achieved goals that may not have been achieved otherwise.  Each title has requirements which I look at as a path or roadmap to follow. This is essential to keep ME focused on what is necessary to achieve those goals and not try to go too fast before a foundation is built. Mookie is ​only 3.5 years old and has earned 149 titles in 10 venues. Now, just like a pyramid with a wide foundation that gets narrower the higher it gets, we are now starting to narrowly focus on what he likes, what we have available to us and what he's good at so we can reach our goals.  When we achieve those goals, we'll choose another one perhaps in another sport to do because it is, after all, time spent with each other learning new things together.  As a youngster, Mookie has years left to exp...

Birthday Party for MOM

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Mookie and I had company this morning and we celebrated my birthday with 2 humans, 2 Aussies, and 3 English cockers!  AND the best part was that one of the cockers also was celebrating her birthday... her 14th!!  What a blessing to have an older dog like her, in reasonably good health, exploring the yard!!  Good people, food for brunch and apparently yummy treats for the dogs based on their reaction!!      The past 3 weekends have been filled with UKC Nosework, AKC Scent Work and Fast CAT!  He added 31 new Qs in the upper levels of the nosework trials and completed 4 speedy Fast Cat runs!!  Fun stuff!! We're still playing with backyard agility, practicing frisbee for our weekly league, learning more about flyball, searching for shed antlers in anticipation of the UKC 4th of July weekend trial, and making a game of rally and obedience.   That ball that Mook has is such a favorite that I have to take it away from him or he'll get over...

2024 November and December - Late FALL

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Titles and awards in November and December (8) AKC Rally Advanced (RA) NACSW  Nose Work Skills Achievement Master (NSAM) Nose Work Skills Achievement  Level 2 (NSA2) Do More With Your Dog (DMWYD) Torch Relay (O-TR) Open Stunt Dog (OSD) Doglympics 2024 title (any 5 titles) (DO-24) Triple Crown 2 (3 sports - trick stunt fitness) (TC2) Doglympics Pentathlon (5 pentathon series) (O-PS) Link to Mookie's titles   121  Titles from August 2022 through December 2024 What is a title, really?  (...a must read!) Link to NOVEMBER & DECEMBER photos!                                    Link to NOVEMBER & DECEMBER videos! It's been a fun couple months doing a lot of training. We added a few more trick titles, 2 virtual NACSW Skills Challenge titles and a Rally Advanced title to his list which now is up to 121 or so titles though the end of 2024! Not bad for a dog who's going...

2024 September and October - FALL

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Titles and awards in September and October (14) AKC Scent Work Scent Work Buried Advanced Elite Scent Work Exterior Advanced Elite Scent Work Advanced Elite Scent Work Buried Excellent Scent Work Exterior Excellent Scent Work Excellent UKC Nosework  Advance Grand Champion Master Containers Master Exterior Master Interior Master Vehicle Master Nosework AKC Fast Cat - FCAT2 Barn Hunt Open Link to Mookie's titles   110  Titles from August 2022 through October 2024 What is a title, really?  (...a must read!) Link to SEPTEMBER photos!        Link to SEPTEMBER videos!                                  Link to OCTOBER photos!        Link to OCTOBER videos ! Our fall trial season is over and Mookie is ending up exactly where we want to be!  Early October, we finished up his UKC Nosework MASTER title and continued working on the remaining (6 le...

2024.7 July/August --- The summer months!

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Titles and awards in July and August IABCA Conformation  IABCA National Championship ( Int/Nat CH)  IABCA Honors Championship ( Int/NatHnr CH) UKC Shed Hunting -  3 of 5 legs needed for the UKC Working Shed Dog title WSD   (Not a title yet but so PROUD!)   Link to Mookie's titles   95  Titles from August 2022 through August 2024 What is a title, really?  (...a must read!) Link to JULY photos!       Link to AUGUST photos                                  Link to JULY videos!       Link to AUGUST videos Since I never got the post finished for last month, I'm combining. July and August into one blog post Many fun things happen​ed this summer​! We did lots of backyard training in agility, nosework, obedience, rally and ​did some fun swimming​ in a friend's pool!  ​The ​only July trial was  ​UKC SHED  hunting...

2024.6 June

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  Titles and awards earned this month ....   AKC Scent Work Container Advanced Elite (SCAE) Scent Work Interior Advanced Elite (SIAE) Scent Work Interior Excellent (SIE) UKC  Superior Nosework Champion (SNCH) Link to Mookie's titles   96  Titles from August 2022 through June 2024 What is a title, really?  (...a must read!) Link to JUNE photos!                                             Link to JUNE videos! UKC Nosework trial at Camp Bandy and AKC Scent Work at the Fond du Lac Fairgrounds A great 2 weekends of sniffing where Mookie finished the titles listed above. We are working our way up the AKC/UKC ladder slowly at one level a year!  I think this has been a great foundation for him and will allow us to have lots of sniffing to do over the years!  A NEW carting harness that will match any decorations I may put on him for holid...

2024.5 May

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Titles and awards earned this month ....   AKC ~~~~Fetch Retriever  ( FTR )  Do More With Your Dog ~~~~Canine Conditioning Fitness 2 ( CCF2 ) ~~~~Fetch  ( O-F ) ~~~~Balance Beam ( O-BB ) Link to Mookie's titles   92  Titles from August 2022 through May 2024 What is a title, really?  (...a must read!) Link to MAY photos!                                             Link to MAY videos! We continue this month to do weekly SCENT WORK with Lynsie at various places around Oshkosh and several times a week with other people.  Occasionally we do RALLY with Jackie because I help with her classes and OBEDIENCE with Judy at the dog Club!  Also, weekly we run through AGILITY at the dog club! Of course there's always agility at home in the yard but this gives him different places to practice. We did our last AKC conformation show in Jeff...