Owner: Border Wars: A Border Collie Blog URL:http://borderwars.blogspot.com Join Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 06:04:57 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Analysis of hot topics in the dog world, especially border collies. Critique of movies, books, politics, religion, language, music from a libertarian perspective. Agility, Frisbee, Obedience, Conformation, Sheep Herding, Flyball, and more. Site statistics:Click here
How David Slew Goliath, or GO STANFORD! 2007-10-06 21:39:00 STANFORD! STANFORD! STANFORD! STANFORD! The pundits gave us a 0.0457 chance to beat the number one ranked USC, who hasn't lost at home since the September 2001 (also STANFORD!!!!) and whose coach had only lost 12 total games at USC. Make that un-Lucky 13 now.Stanford won 1 (one) game last year. Our quarterback this year is out with a brain virus.And WE JUST TOOK DOWN THE #1 team in College football lead by a sophomore quarterback in his debut start!"Trojans have little to gain against the Cardinal, except rest for some injured players."USC coaches and players refuse to acknowledge it.The record of the opponent, the gargantuan point spread and upcoming games against other struggling teams draw nary a reaction from the second-ranked Trojans.But today's Pacific 10 Conference game against Stanford is the start of a three-game stretch that should allow USC to regain its form, nurse some key players back to health and audition others for what figures to be a difficult five-g Read more:David
, Goliath
, STANFORD
McCaig's Dog Wars: The Bad 2007-10-06 01:43:00 Donald McCaig's The Dog Wars is an important book to me, and it should be to anyone who reads this blog as well. I mean, come on, the Dog Wars and the Border Wars.... both about Border Collies... McCaig and I are soooo clever.The pages of insight into the workings of dog registries and the philosophies of the people who run them, both the AKC and the ABCA, are fascinating and informative. The theories presented on why the two camps are so different in their views is also compelling.But as much as I enjoyed the tongue lashing that McCaig gave the conformation cult of the AKC, I must say that the picture he paints of the motivation and beliefs of the trialing community paint a troubling picture for the Third Estate as well.The plight of the Third Estate is to be continually marginalized in philosophical importance by the spin-meisters of the first two estates while they try and sell us (and the Fourth Estate) their numerous culled puppies demonstrating our practical importance to them.T
McCaig's Dog Wars: The Good 2007-10-02 12:03:00 With a name like "The Dog Wars" and content that documents the battle between the First Estate and the AKC, how could I not immediately order, devour, excrete and then roll in it over and over and over again like my Border Collies do with anything smelly and gross? Well, that's just what I did. It is not that the book is smelly and gross, it's just very appealing to dive into.I've been sprinkling some of the most interesting quotes from Donald McCaig (author of such Sheep Trialer hagiographies as Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men and Nop's Trials) into my recent posts, and on my second read through I retyped long passages I found worthy of discussing, and there are many.By the time I'm done mining the book for inspiration there will hardly be a passage I haven't quoted and discussed on this blog and you could probably reassemble the book piecemeal.The book is the first and currently only work released by the ad hoc publishers Outrun Press, started by two Directors of the USBCC, Sally M
It's Hard To Be Humble 2007-10-30 00:34:00 I just ran across this hilarious take on an unnamed Canadian sheeple (or would the singular be sheeperson?) and their bumper stickers. The full post is here. R-rated excerpt below.I'm in my car, sitting in traffic, and I notice the rig in front of me was covered in bumper stickers. Strange, strange bumper stickers....The final one was my favorite. It's off the crazy scale. It reads as such:What? Border collies? You fucking idiot. It doesn't even make sense. Any fucking shmuck on Earf can buy a fucking border collie. You might as well make the bumper sticker say, "It's hard to be humble when you own toothpaste." Makes as much sense. Now if it said, "It's hard to be humble when you own the greatest tits on the planet," well, yeah, I would imagine it would be hard to be humble in that spot. Otherwise it's weird."Hey, I saw you talking to that girl with the great tits. How did it go?""Awesome! She blew me in the bathroom. It was like she had no self-worth at all!""Hey, I saw you talk Read more:Humble
Where Are They Now? Pt.1 2007-11-06 00:24:00 Using the great uber-brain of google (and it can be oh so wrong some times), I managed to track down many of the people (or their google doppelgangers) who signed the AKC: Hands Off the Border Collie! petition that is featured in Donald McCaig's book, The Dog Wars.Although McCaig uses the petition to demonstrate the general consensus against AKC recognition back in 1994, the current political affiliation of many of the people on the list is an interesting story that is not detailed in McCaig's book.There are significant defections in both directions: former AKC superstars are now novice sheep handlers and others who were vehemently opposed to AKC recognition because of the ills of conformation now have a resume of Border Collies with show titles.Arthur Allen, President, North American Sheepdog SocietyDeceased.Arthur N. Allen, 92, of McLeansboro, died at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 24th, 1996, at Deaconess Hospital in Evansville, Indiana.Mr. Allen was born May 4, 1904 in Hamilton
A Dog Named Jeff 2007-11-03 21:40:00 The winner of the 2004 DogHero.com heroic dog story contest was a piece by Wayne McDowell about a Border Collie mix named Jeff. Tissues required.A Dog Named JeffBy Wayne H. McDowellLike a lot of the young men of my generation, I spent time in the Armyand slightly less than a year of that time was spent in the Vietnam War.For part of that period I was stationed a small "firecamp," roughly 200of us or so, and there was also a "camp mutt" called Jeff. Jeff was ofindeterminate breed, a medium sized dog, about 30 to 40 pounds or so. Hewas a black and white dog that always put me in mind of a miniature BorderCollie, but with floppy hound dog ears. He had a single toy, a tennis ball,the old off-white kind. When he wanted to play fetch, he would carry theball around until he found his chosen playmate, then drop the ball at theperson's feet and bark until these slow-witted humans got the idea to throwit for him.Jeff was sort of a camp mascot for us. It was good luck to give Jeff aquick pet bef
An hour of your time 2007-11-12 01:17:00 If you want to know what it's like to experience a first rate lecture, but not feel like you're being lectured, watch this video.If you want a good reason to be motivated and do just one more thing to improve your life or someone else's life, watch this video.If you remember that there are 24 hours in every day and you probably didn't do much in any one of them today that you'd be proud to tell someone else about or perhaps you didn't experience something that you will one day have a fond memory of, watch this video.If you want to feel a little less sad for yourself and a little more happy that not everyone out there is a !@#&*^~, watch this video.It has nothing to do with dogs, or wars, or me being overly self righteous and smug. That should be reason enough.Take an hour and watch this video:Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams1 hr 25 min 21 sec - Sep 24, 2007Description: Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch, who is dying from pancreatic cancer, gave his last lecture at
Dogs and Razvodit 2007-11-11 09:14:00 Sexual reproduction is a union that results in increasing genetic diversity of the offspring. It is characterized by two processes: meiosis, involving the halving of the number of chromosomes; and fertilization, involving the fusion of two gametes and the restoration of the original number of chromosomes. Sexual reproduction (as opposed to asexual reproduction) is necessarily a dilution and a combination because mammalian genetics are a zero sum game (baring rare and disastrous defects): two haploid cells containing half the required genes (a dilution) come together in the offspring to form a single organism that contains the same number of genes as the parents do (a combination).Despite numerous jokes to the contrary, sexual reproduction is not by its nature a degenerative process. Some of the oldest texts from Egypt (as long as we've been keeping records of civilization) decry "kids these days" as sufficient evidence that the end is neigh and all is lost. But we've managed well eno
Dog Sports on TV 2007-11-10 19:37:00 Animal Planet is going to be featuring Dog Sport over the next five weeks. Sundays at 10 AM.Be sure to catch these amazing athletes and their trainers. Several members of my local Colorado Disc Dogs club will be appearing during the two Frisbee dog shows.The link above has a page with "Remind Me" buttons so you won't forget. First show is tomorrow, Sunday, at 10 AM on Animal Planet.Nov 11, 10:00 am(60 minutes) Ultimate Dog ChampionshipsDisc Dog Extreme Games TV-G, CCThe discs and the dogs are flying in Stockton, California. Canines and their handlers compete in a variety of events that show off their speed, accuracy, and style both on the ground and in the air.Nov 18, 10:00 am(60 minutes) Ultimate Dog ChampionshipsFlyball Las Vegas TV-G, CCStraight from Las Vegas this lightning-fast competition features dogs of various breeds and sizes as they team up in a race unlike any other. Flyball is the fastest paced and fastest growing canine sports today.Dec 02, 10:00 am(60 minu Read more:Sports
Dilution and Reproduction 2007-11-10 15:53:00 "Dilution drives culture." by Ted ByrneThe semantic implication of breeding being a "dilution" of some sort is not limited to the Russian language. "Reproduction
" in English is also carries some of the same connotations. Of course it means the sexual act of conceiving and bearing offspring, but when used as a noun it can also mean a knock-off: "a copy--not an original," "a reasonable facsimile in appearance and construction," "made to appear as an older form," or "made to look like an original."Some definitions lean away from the pejorative sense of the word, emphasizing "with no intention to deceive" or "especially when it is significantly faithful in its resemblance to the form and elements of the original," but we all know that reproduction means you can't have or can't afford the genuine article.I'm sure the breed-dogs-for-working-ability-only people would make the argument that if you only know the reproduction, you'll never appreciate the true beauty of the original (working)
Vodka and Dogs 2007-11-10 02:17:00 So why all the talk about Vodka if Patrick is really looking for a discussion of dogs? Neither he nor I drink (ok, every now and then...but I was voted "most likely to be sober" by my freshman dorm). Well, I think the discussion about Vodka speaks to the dog breeding issue.The diffusion of Vodka from a regional and cultural meme to a global consumable is one example of a product that fits the "Diffusion of Innovations" theory presented by Everett Rogers in his 1962 book of the same name. Rogers' work is based on the "technology adoption life-cycle," which is a sociological model developed by researchers Bohlen and Beal to track the adoption of hybrid seed corn by farmers in Iowa. The technology adoption life-cycle model describes the diffusion of a new technology as influenced by the demographic and psychological characteristics of five defined adopter groups:Innovators -> Early Adopters -> Early Majority -> Late Majority -> Laggards"Fire water" started out as a localized innovation
Dog Eats Typos 2007-11-09 03:46:00 And for the final question on the Grammar Nazi Level 1 proficiency exam, can you overlook the cute puppy and baby to find the error in this published cartoon:Hint: You're not proof-reading very carefully. Perhaps your editor needs to be fired.YAY, you win the game of life!Your well deserved prize is to enjoy the splendor that is DogEatDoug.
Read more:Typos
Don't Eat the Dog 2007-11-17 04:07:00 Thanks to my new friend over at the Anti Eating Dog blog, I bring you this sad, sad show: Don't eat dog. Come on now, say it with me.... DON'T EAT MY DOG!
Lucky Jack Update 2007-11-16 22:23:00 Lucky Jack, the unfortunate dog who was shot in the head with a blade tipped hunting arrow is on the mend and scheduled for surgery:Here are photos taken of "Lucky Jack" on November 13, 2007 at Dr. Bob's clinic. Thanks to all of you who gave so generously to help Lucky Jack, he has been scheduled for surgery at Louisiana State University's School of Veterinary Medicine where they will perform this delicate and complicated surgery to remove the arrow from Jack's head. The sad part is, the arrow in the head isn't Lucky Jack's only issue:Jack's surgery has been further complicated by the fact that he has Heartworms and suffers from Ehrlichia (tick disease) that can affect his reaction to anesthesia. The medical team at LSU will perform an echo scan of Jack's heart to see if anesthesia can be administered, or if his Heartworm and Ehrlichia must first be treated before the surgery can be performed. The emergency room veterinarians at LSU have treated many dogs who have these condi Read more:Update
Japanese Jumping Dogs 2007-11-16 01:15:00 Ok, so not everything the Japanese
do with their dogs involves bizarre breeding practices and unprotected sexual interactions of kitsch electronics (see last post). Sometimes they get dressed up like Mario and Luigi and put on mini dog circus acts. Both the dogs and the circuses are mini, and so are the Japanese for that matter.
Read more:Jumping
Japanese Humping Dogs 2007-11-16 00:51:00 The Japanese
are electronic gurus, famed perverts eccentrics, and if you believe what is said on the Border Collie chat groups, they are also very irresponsible when it comes to pet care, breeding, and dog sports.It seems they have found a way to combine those, erm, talents... into a single product that will surely be making its way into japanophile/techie/dog people's stockings this Christmas.Remember to have your USB Ramdrives spayed and neutered.
Read more:Humping
Unequivocal Spin 2007-11-15 13:53:00 Bias in the blogosphere is pretty obvious, and most bloggers wear it like a badge. Most readers seek to find content they are prone to agree with. It's easier to adopt a religion and follow its teachings than it is to constantly consider how each new event or situation fits into your homemade belief system. "I mostly agree with you, so tell me how to think and act."Despite being libertarian and agnostic, I can't say that I am always above this particular coping mechanism. When it comes time to vote, especially on local issues where a bill might sound good but the details are possibly antithetical to my beliefs, I do rely on pundits of known bias to inform my voting choices. If you go right to the high profile conservatives and liberals and see what they are harping over, it's usually easy to discern what is actually in the bill and decide from there.While we expect and allow bias from sources where such bias is evident and advertised, we don't support it from supposedly neutral sou
Don't Shoot the Dog 2007-11-12 19:07:00 That's what happens when you shoot an innocent dog in the head with a blade tipped hunting arrow.Amazingly, the arrow missed all the vital nerves, the brain, and the meat of the eye meaning that "Lucky Jack" the dog can make a full and complete recovery if the remainder (read: barbed and bladed arrow head) of the arrow can be removed during surgery.The arrow is currently impairing Lucky Jack's ability to open and close his mouth and is dangerously close to the eye where it still has the possibility of doing permanent damage if left untreated.There is a Lucky Jack Surgery fund that is raising money for his treatment. The cost of treatment at the specialty Vet center at LSU is $5,000.I just gave $(my lucky number) to the surgery fund because it is worth at least that much to me to see this happy and resilient dog get well enough to grow old and fat and loved. Consider donating your lucky number, you just might get it back in good karma. Just look at him in this video and see if you do Read more:Shoot
Make My Day or Make Fido Pay? 2007-11-21 17:50:00 I feel a change in the air, and it's not just that lovely autumn breeze bringing the first snow of the season. It's a mood change, a political change, a rethinking of basic "rights." People around the country are becoming more hostile to each other and towards each other's pets."Good fences make good neighbors" is a time honored cliché and it's almost gospel in the dog owning world. Fences protect us, our dogs, and our neighbors from ourselves and each other. Even better than fences is land. Enough land where you don't have to listen to the neighbor's teenager with horrible music taste, enough land so you aren't a party to domestic disputes, the sex crazed newlyweds with the creaky bed in the unit directly overhead, and enough land where you and your pets are buffered from unwanted confrontation.There have been newsworthy neighbor-dog disputes in the past, but high profile incidents like the mauling death of Dianne Whipple are easy to dismiss for suburbanites outside of the or
Third Estate of the Border Collie 2007-11-20 04:07:00 reprint from 9/16/07The First Estate
of the BorderCollie
is as a working stock dog.The Second Estate of the Border Collie is as a conformation show dog.The Third Estate of the Border Collie is as a dog sport athlete.The Fourth Estate of the Border Collie is as a house pet.Purists in the first estate will be pleased with their ranking, but this list is not judgmental, nor preferential. It does not extend from most important to least important, but rather from monolithic to democratic, from specific and narrow to diverse and broad. Fundamentally, the list documents the history of formal organization. You might argue that conformation showing is the most monolithic and the most specific, and you'd be right, but it is far behind trialing in history and in moral ownership of the breed.I firmly believe that the Third Estate of the Border Collie is a significant player in the future of the Border Collie, unadorned with romantic history and unbound by a rigid and arbitrary "breed standard."
The Modern Language of Dog 2007-11-19 14:07:00 reprint from this blog 8/24/07The Ancient, Modern
, and Future Language of "Dog."Part 1. The Ancient. Wherein the Author describes the Border War between Linguists on the history of the proto-word for "Dog."Part 2. The Modern. Wherein the Author describes Dog's omnipresence in modern language.Part 3. The Future. Wherein the Author describes Dog's presence in the babble and first words of children. The primordial connection we feel towards dogs is more than the superficial replacement for meaningful human contact that cat people claim we are experiencing. In fact, recent research shows that owning a pet is actually a catalyst towards greater social contact. But the human-canine bond is deeper than simple coexistence and date-bait. Our relationship with dogs has influenced the very formation of human language. Our growth from vine swinging apes to blog spinning humans has been shepherded by dogs.In the first part of this series I got around to discuss dogs at the end. The takeaway
Cruze is cute. 2007-11-17 12:13:00 Ok, that last post was depressing, so before you go jump off a bridge just look at this cute puppy picture and all will be well:That's "Cruz," owned by Holly Elliot from Facebook.
No Border Collie Left Behind 2007-11-25 20:58:00 You know I jest with my "Border
Wars" rhetoric, but there is a real war going on with real guns and grenades and casualties, and apparently there are real Border Collie
s in the middle of that war. Border Collies in Baghdad of all places; who would have thought?One such pup is Charlie and this is his story:One night, while on guard duty with the US Armed Forces in Iraq, Sgt. Watson’s squadron returned from patrol with a new buddy. Weak, malnourished, and at death’s door, a black and white puppy had decided to adopt the soldiers of the unit known as Charlie Company. Sgt. Watson wrapped the shivering puppy in a blanket, gave it some clean water, a portion of his own rations, and provided what refuge and comfort he could for a poor life he expected would sadly end in a few days – another innocent life cut short in a harsh and unforgiving environment.But the puppy rallied back, thriving on the care, attention and affection of Sgt. Watson and the members of his platoon. A real survivor
Sheeple Admit They're Hobbyists 2007-11-23 22:16:00 Wed Aug 22, 2007 12:15 am But on the serious side of all af this, if mr kensmuir will allow, my take on all of this point earning, title seeking, usbcha presidential wantings,akc titles, best cowdog, greatest stockman, novice ribbons earning, sheepdogs are the best, usbcha finals are the ultimate thing, is,,,,,, goddamn everyone it all if it is not all about a border collie dog that can do an honest days work. And that my fine friends is an official position,- Herbert M. HolmesWed Aug 22, 2007 7:26 am"...goddamn everyone it all if it is not all about a border collie dog that can do an honest days work..."I don't think, Hub, that you'll find anyone on this forum disagreeing with that at all.What matters to many of us is how we define an "honest days work".Whether we like the responsibility or not - whether we can make money with them or not - whether we want to isolate certain populations or not - the definition of what our dogs are is currently in our hands. The future of the dogs, a Read more:Sheeple
Too many working dogs, too little work 2007-11-23 22:03:00 From Donald McCaig's The Dog Wars, you'd swear that there were too few working
dogs and too much work to do, thus the dire need to "save" the entire breed (all 35,000 new puppies per year) to preserve the working ability only.But it's not really so, McCaig admits. In fact, it's the opposite.Donald McCaig sings a different tune when he's talking to fellow sheeple than when he's pleading the case for his cadre's supremacy. This is not a new tactic, one story to the ignorant public, another for the in-the-know hobbyists. Notice how his Dog Wars book talks all about the evils of conformation vs. sheep trials, since it's easy to belittle
the pageantry of conformation and it's clearly not work. But he fails to demonize dog sport in the same manner (at least in the book). Dismiss, yes; belittle, certainly; demonize, no.Why? Because it's a hard case to make that Agility is not work. It requires smarts, training, and drive, the only thing missing is the sheep.... and that's not a bad
McCaig Visits Border Wars 2007-11-23 21:11:00 Donald McCaig paid Border
Wars a visit recently, but he left his comment on my very first post where no one is likely to read it. So here it is: donald mccaig said... Dear Readers,While I am disinclined to respond to adverse reviews (I had a long time to write the book, it's your turn to take a shot) this blogger wrote: "What Donald McCaig says is a lie. He himself (along with two-thirds of the field) was beaten by a full fledged AKC conformation dog who is the product of two AKC conformation champions at the USBCHA National Finals last year. "A lie? Shame. While I believe that throwbacks occur and that it takes - best guess -three generations to make show bred sheepdogs useless for sheepwork - only one AKC reg dog (Rose Anderson's) ran in the 2006 finals (wreck-as were mine) and that dog didn't enter the 2007 finals. Will, occasionally such dogs turn up? Yep. But over time the merciless laws o
Mike Rowe Sells KatKrap 2007-11-23 02:52:00 I hate cats. I hate QVC. I quite enjoy Mike Rowe. Here he is in his first really dirty job: trying to sell a plastic crinkle bag with a cat on it for $24.95 on QVC.Most entrepreneurs, inventors, designers, and marketers would KILL for a 3 minute spot on QVC especially for an item that is selling for $25 and couldn't cost 5 cents to make. Knowing that, just imagine the series of really stupid decisions that needed to happen for THIS product to make the cut.Someone had to:think it upcreate prototypesdecide it was a product that American cat owners needed to buyredevelop it for manufacturemarket it to retailers and professional product agentsget a pitch meeting with QVCconvince buyers at QVC to buy a batch of this crapdecide it deserved a whopping 3 minutes on air video tape a cat supposedly enjoying it since they are unable to actually demonstrate this stupid thing in the studio livenotice that the cat doesn't play with it at all or seem to enjoy its crinkle in any waytry and save the
On Thin Ice 2007-12-03 01:32:00 This is the time of year when thin sheets of ice are forming over the ponds near our favorite neighborhood dog walks. The same ponds Fido loves to jump in right after you've given him a bath, collecting untold sulfurous bacteria and slime in his coat, just so he can run over and shake off right next to you.The sad thing is, dogs don't understand ice on ponds, and it seems neither do humans once Fido ventures out on the ice. At least two different people followed their dogs out onto the ice this weekend in Colorado, and one of them is now dead. All the dogs survived.Nineteen-year-old Laura Mae Wallace ventured out on to the ice of a golf course pond after one of her two dogs fell through the ice into the 30 degree water.She went out to save the first dog and fell in herself. It wasn't until a couple that lives on the golf course noticed the second dog out on the ice that they rushed to help only to discover that Wallace and her other dog were already in the water.Wallace was alive an Read more:Thin Ice
Schadenfreude 2007-12-02 00:50:00 scha·den·freu·de[n. SHAW-den-froy-duh] Taking malicious satisfaction in another person's troubles
Get a Grip! 2007-12-01 22:15:00 Does anyone else get a rather loner-geek, perverted, self-stimulatory vibe from Wired's list of most popular articles? I wonder what that says about the readership. Or, since offense and perversion and unintentional interpretation of innuendo are all in the eye of the beholder, I wonder what that says about me.Come back here Lucy Liubot!
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