The Adventures of Mookie the Mudi

       Titles and awards earned this month....    International Champion (Intl CH) (IABCA) (Best in Show and Reserve Best in Show) Parkour Dog In Training (PKD-T) Rally Novice RN (AKC) FCAT (AKC Fast Cat) Link to Mookie's titles    44 titles from August 2022 through July 2023 What is a title, really?  (...a must read!)  AUGUST photos are in this album!  AUGUST videos are added to this album! Conformation - And the highlight of the month is... TA-DA  .... BEST in SHOW and Reserve BEST in SHOW at the IABCA Conformation show held again at the Winnegamie Dog Club in Menasha.  Competitors were there from as far away as IN and MN and Mookie did great!!  Thanks to Cindy Pischke of Cima Photography, who encouraged me to get the photo taken!!    Fast CAT -  A trip to  Country Paws  for 2 runs and then 3 days in Oshkosh for the  Winnegamie Dog Club  tests and he accumulated more than enough points to get his first  FCAT !! AND in that FCAT run, he ran his  personal best at 27.081 MPH!!  A

      Titles and awards earned this month....    Barn Hunt Novice X (RATNX) Link to Mookie's titles    44 titles from August 2022 through July 2023 What is a title, really?  (...a must read!)  JULY photos are in this album!  JULY videos are added to this album! July was a month with one weekend of trialing and the rest of the month was training...lots of diverse TRAINING!  So let's just list all the sports and what we did with them! Barn Hunt - This is where the title was earned!  He got 40 more points in Crazy 8s and then 2 Qs in Novice earning him the Barn Hunt Novice X (RATNX) title!!  HOWEVER, we have had weekly private training and IS HE IMPROVING!  His problem, as I evaluate it, is there is a huge difference between finding rats in a quiet ring when he is the only dog there and the noise and activity level of a trial!  I anticipate that as soon as he gets past that hurdle, he'll be amazing because in each training session, we put out 5 rats in a master or crazy 8s c

AKC Fast CAT® – which stands for Coursing Ability Test – is a timed 100-yard dash where dogs run one at a time, chasing a lure. It’s over before you know it — and it’s nothing short of awe-inspiring to watch your dog run at top speed, ears back, eyes focused, legs strong.   Titles are earned as points are accumulated based on speed and a handicap for small dogs.  The BCAT Title is awarded when the dog reaches 150 points.  The DCAT Title is awarded when the dog reaches 500 points,  The FCAT Title is awarded for 1000 points. An FCAT Title number e.g. FCAT1 is awarded for each additional 500 points. The handicap system works like this: Handicap of 2.0 for dogs below 12 inches at the withers. Handicap of 1.5 for dogs 18 inches or greater at the withers. (Mookie) Handicap of 1.0 for dogs 18 inches or greater at the withers. This is a summer sport in this part of the country and dogs need to be a year old before participating so Mookie is just starting as of May 2023.  We plan to take our ti

     Titles and awards earned this month....    UKC Novice Nosework Champion ( (started last fall - 20 Qs) UKC Conformation Best of Breed (4) UKC Conformation Group 3 (9 total dogs) UKC Conformation Group 2 (8 total dogs) UKC Total Dog (2 group placements 2 & 3) UKC Rally 1  AKC Scent Work Buried Novice Elite (SBNE) AKC DCAT (DCAT) Link to Mookie's titles   What is a title, really?  (...a must read!)  JUNE photos are in this album!  JUNE videos are added to this album! UKC Conformation, Rally and Nosework weekend Mookie started off the month with a super weekend at Camp Bandy at a UKC trial that included, not just conformation, but nosework and rally! He earned his Novice Nosework Champion title which he started last fall when He participated in his first scent work venue. This title requires a total of 5 Q's of each of the 4 elements! In order to potentially qualify for a total dog award which is a group placement in conformation and a passing performance score, we entered

COOPERATIVE CARE  involves training an animal to not only tolerate handling and husbandry procedures, but also to be an active, willing participant in these experiences. This is a sentence from a great article in the Whole Dog Journal that can be read by clicking this link !  I can't say that any of my German Shepherds actually cooperated in their care and, for sure, they were often not a willing participant!  I thought this is going to change with Mookie..  Time will tell, it's a LONG process and I'll update here.  Below in reverse order is the progress we are making with all the things listed!   2023 June - July   Nothing new but he did take a  BATH!   Maybe "take a bath" is the wrong way to put it because he didn't realize what was about to happen after I lifted him into the tub!  Essentially what he did was hunker down and waited for it to be over.  That was followed but the shaking and the ZOOMIES around the house!  I considered it a success!   2023 May 

UKC Conformation is a competitive event open to UKC registered purebred dogs, designed to evaluate a dog’s external appearance and structure as it compares to a breed standard. The breed standards describe the ideal qualities measurable through movement, appearance, and temperament of each breed.  UKC Conformation is unique from other registries as it does not allow the use of professional handlers creating a venue in which the owner-handler can excel. Conformation is a great gateway to the other UKC events and is an important part of UKC’s Total Dog award. Total Dog is an award given to dogs that not only look good in the Conformation ring, but can also excel in UKC’s Performance Events (Agility, Obedience, Rally Obedience, Hunting Events, etc.). UKC strongly believes that the Total Dog philosophy is a great test of canine ability and strengthens the bonds between dogs and their owners. And the journey begins (in reverse order) 2023 June  Mookie had a super weekend at Camp Bandy a