Three House Nooks

THE MUD ROOM is a nice feature of this house.  Shoes and boots are in the grey cabinet and the bottom of the brown cubbies. Grey bins hold batteries, collars, and the like. Top left has e-bike chargers, a spare leash, and a hat or two, while top right has game cameras and a small drone.  Behind me are a washer and dryer and a big farm sink. There is a laundry chute which feeds invisibly into a cabinet above the sink. The padded chair is a nice place to sit while lacing up shoes or loafing with a book while the laundry takes a spin. The coat rack to the left of the chair is always overloaded this time of year, and the chair takes the overage going in and out. At night, one of the house dogs sleeps in a crate in this room, generally lulled to sleep by the dryer.

THE BREAKFAST NOOK, below, is right off the kitchen and the living room. Big bay windows look out on 8 bird feeders and an over-story of 80-90 foot oaks. The fused-glass piece hanging in the window was picked up in Shepherdstown, Maryland. The left side of the bay window looks out on a large deck, accessible from both the living room and a spare bedroom.  This deck has over-sized outdoor furniture on it, a sliding shade awning, and a hot tub. From the hot tub, I can see the bee hives as well as the owl nest box installed high in a tree over the garden shed.

THE READING NOOK, below, houses one of three bookcases holding natural history and other exotica.  Next to the  bookcase is an antique Chinese butter churn, which holds a few utilitarian walking sticks. On top of the chest of drawers are skulls of various types, most jumbled into a large glass canister.  I have some African art (masks) to hang up, but sloth has stalked me. The bit of tapestry above the chest of drawers is a bag face collected in Turkey. The red rug us Tunisian, and has been in the family for over 60 years.  The wooden twig rocker was picked up in a big antique emporium in Emmitsburgh, Maryland.  In this room, in addition to the padded reading chair in the pictured corner is another identical chair in the opposite corner.  Unseen are two large wall pieces — a 5-foot tall Dogon Mask from the border of Mali and Burkina Faso, and an ornate wooden ceiling panel from Morocco. Large sand roses (rose de sable) from Algeria, and cross sections of fossilized tree trunks from the American southwest, are on the floor.  A wooden screen hides a small desk and chair against the same wall as the window.  The window looks out on the small orchard (18 trees) that I planted below the house.

Einstein Wrote It Down

Inbred Thinking Without End

Pictured is the 2021 Westminster Dog Show winner, a Pekingese named Wasabi.  

Wasabi's grandfather was Malachy, who won the Westminster Dog Show in 2012.

Wasabi's great-grandfather was Malachy, who won the Westminster Dog Show in 2012.

And Wasabi's great-great-grandfather was also Malachy, who won the Westminster Dog Show in 2012.

There’s a family tree that looks like a cable-knit sweater!

Some 20 years back, I wrote a piece called “Inbred Thinking,” about the closed-loop, self-reinforcing back-patting and back-scratching that goes on within the Kennel Clubs.

I was reminded of that with this picture, which shows Wasabi owner David Fitzpatrick with his dog.

Guess who was the “best in show” judge at Westminster who selected Penny the Doberman as top dog just last week?

None other than David Fitzpatrick!

Twenty years ago I wrote:

“The Kennel Club is a huge money-making bureaucracy dependent upon selling people on the ‘exclusivity’ of a closed registry and a scrap of paper that says a dog is a ‘pure breed’.  So long as people are willing to buy Kennel Club registered dogs that have predictably higher chances of serious physical impairments than cross-bred dogs, the Kennel Club (and Kennel Club breeders) have little motivation to change the way they do business.

“Let me hasten to say that the Kennel Club is not filled with evil people intent on doing harm to dogs. It is, in fact, filled with regular people who are different from the rest of the world only in the degree (and the way) they seek ego-gratification and are status-seeking.

“This last point is import: the Kennel Club is not primarily about dogs. Dogs do not care about ribbons, pedigrees, titles, and points. These are human obsessions. The reason a human will drive several hundred miles and stand around all day waiting for 10 minutes in the ring is not because of the dog, but because the human needs that ribbon, that title, and that little bit of extra status that comes from a win.

“Each to his own, but let us be honest about what dog shows are about -- they are about ribbons for people. The dogs themselves could not give a damn.

“It is unfair to fault individual breeders and breed clubs for the failures of the Kennel Club, as these smaller units are powerless to change the larger whole.

“Breed clubs are small and largely impotent by design. Because the Kennel Club does not require breeders, pet owners, or even show ring ribbon-chasers to join a breed club as a condition of registration, these entities remain small, underfunded, and unrepresentative.

“Breed clubs, like dog shows themselves, are also steeped in internecine politics and dominated by big breeders and people who over-value ‘conformation.’

“It is only by conforming to the AKC system for decades that anyone can hope to move up in the AKC hierarchy -- a situation that guarantees intellectual and bureaucratic inbreeding.

“In the end, the AKC is a closed registry in every sense of that word. It continues to embrace the failed genetic theories of Victorian England because it is incapable of serious reform within the Club itself.”

What was true then, is true now.

So am I surprised that the breeder of the very inbred Pekingese Wasabi was also the Westminster judge who tapped a Doberman as top dog last week?

Not a bit.

And, to be clear, this post is not about David Fitzpatrick, who is, by all accounts, a wonderful person. 

This post is about something larger; inbred thinking.  

Which is to say **of course** a top AKC show judge would inbreed the hell out of hist own dogs, and **of course** the Westminster Kennel Club would assume that someone who engages in that level of inbreeding would be just the sort of expert they’d want to select their top dog at Westminster.

Inbred thinking?   Yes indeed.

Why Holding Hounds Hostage Is a Weak Hand

Over in Britain, conservative Member of Parliament Mark Pritchard has said the “Trail hunt ban will result in 300 dog deaths in one county” alone.

Oof.

These kinds of arguments are why foxhunting is on a back leg in the UK.

“Let us continue as before, or we'll kill our dogs" is not as good an argument as some folks in the mounted fox-hunting world seem to think it is.

For starters, it sounds like the argument of a sociopath, which adds fuel to the caricature painted by the “antis”.

It does not help that argument has been tried before, most notably when the Greyhound tracks closed.

The problem with the Greyhound argument was that the racing industry had spent 70 years shooting dogs and burying them in ditches, and this was both widely know and well-documented. 

The “adopt a racing Greyhound” program was only created *after* that exposé.

Now that same argument is being trotted out by the mounted hunts, but again there’s a problem; 200 years of so many mounted hunts shooting old foxhounds in the head at around age 7 or 8.  Again, this is well-documented, and well-known.

Are some old foxhounds adopted out?  Sure, but a dog that has been pack-housed in a kennel and never been housebroken and which likely has only a few more years to live, is not seen by most as a perfect pet.  

That said, I have no doubt that a stronger push will be made to rehome some old foxhounds, if only for the optics.

But, to be honest, it’s unlikely there will be a rush to the guns.

The reality that most hunt hounds will continue as hunt hounds, only now they will be following a drag scented with something like aniseed oil, rather than a trail that has been scented with fox urine.

Yep, that’s it.  The difference between “trail hunting” and drag hunting really is that small — the scent on the bumper being dragged by a runner, horse, or quad bike.

Will most trail hunt hounds simply switch over to drag hunting?

I think you can count in it.  

The mounted hunts are mostly about riding horses, dressing up, and socializing. Dogs are part of it, of course, but the fox has always been a bit player.

https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/country-and-farming/trail-hunt-ban-will-result-in-300-dog-deaths-in-one-county-5498297?

A Type of Dog As Old As Rome

 

The Pit Bull is a type of dog (not a breed) created in middle Europe as a catch and drover’s dog used on cattle and pigs.  

Some form of this dog is at least a thousand years old, was fought in Rome against both men, dogs, and wild animals .

Imported to the UK with the Romans, the dogs were fought, based on size, against everything from rats to monkeys, men to lions, and bears to bulls. And, of course, they were matched against other dogs.

Terriers, of course, were created in the UK, at least 600 years later.  Despite the name, there is no terrier in a Pit Bull, and why would there be?  You do not create a 30-80 pound fighting dog with a 12-18 pound working terrier who is bred to not fight with packs of hounds!

This Land Was Lost to Townhouses

Only I remember who lived, loved, and moved on this little bit of waste land.

This glory was killed by the vandalism that is human population growth.

We can’t grow on like this. 

Pavlov Trained Himself

Oblivion Is Under-valued

A Fictional Dog

Let’s start at the beginning….

The "Dandie Dinmont" (first picture) is a terrier named after a character in a Walter Scott novel (Guy Mannering), which was first published in 1815.  

Dandie Dinmont was a border farmer from Liddesdale who was said to have terriers by the name of "Mustard" and "Pepper" which he trained for work the same as dogs are still trained today:

“I had them a’ regularly entered, first wi’ rottens — then wi’ stots or weasels — and then wi’ the tods and brocks— and now they fear naething that ever cam wi’ a hairy skin on ’t.’”

The novel itself is a very bad romantic tale supposedly taking place between 1760 and 1780 in Scotland, but it *does* mention fox hunting -- the first real mention in British literature, and the timing is not a coincidence, as the Enclosure Movement, which did so much to drive the rise of fox hunting and the development of dogs, was starting to roar along at this time.

So, to begin, we start with a fictional dog.

How fictional?

Nearly 20 years ago, I challenged anyone to show a picture of ANY Dandie Dinmont, ANYWHERE, that had actually been worked to ground by ANYONE in the preceding 50 years.  

That post is here, and worth a read >> https://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2006/11/more-on-dandie-dinmonts-and-small.html?

Guess what?  No takers.  

So now we have 70 years of … nothing.

In fact, I can find scant evidence that a Dandie Dinmont has ever worked anything underground EVER.  

This is, well and truly, a dog created by fiction.

Why do I bring this up?

Well, it seems the Dandie Dinmont breeders think the sway back and short legs of their strange-looking and unpopular dog is necessary for work (see appended sign-on form letter being circulated in the UK)

They are?  

That’s news to me and everyone else who has dug a thousand holes over hundreds of animals over several decades.

And, of course, it’s complete nonsense and pure fantasy untempered by actual experience with shovel in hand and locator collar on dog.

As for the rest of the letter, I have no idea what it means, and I suspect the author does not either.  

What is incontestable is that Dandies have health issues and a very small gene pool.

Is continuing to breed this exaggerated and non-working dog, with fairly serious morphological issues, in a small, closed gene pool a good idea?

Nope.  The good news is that, whatever happens next with this dog, the world has voted with its feet and its pocketbook.  

Or, as I once wrote about this and several other rare breeds:  DANGER — Market Forces at Work.

The Mate of the Nesting Bald Eagles

Tales From An Afghan War

This is the cover of one of the 16 $5 books I purchased the other day.

Published in 1906 or 1907, “With Roberts to Candahar: A Tale of the Third Afghan War,” is a historical fiction adventure novel by Captain F.S. Brereton, published by Blackie and Son Limited, and illustrated by William Rainey. The book is set during the period between the Second and Third Afghan Wars, detailing a young protagonist's adventures during the British campaign. The title refers to the historic 1880 forced march by British General Frederick Roberts, who moved approximately 10,000 troops 300 miles from Kabul to Kandahar in 23 days to relieve besieged forces, defeating Ayub Khan on September 1, 1880.

The Second Afghan War shows up several times in British fiction; it was the political and historical subplot in Rudyard Kipling’s “Kim,” as well as the conflict in which Dr. John Watson served as a medical officer before making the acquaintance of Sherlock Holmes.   

The author of “With Roberts to Candahar,”Captain F.S. Brereton, CBE, was a prolific writer (over 36 books!) of boy's adventure fiction in the early 20th century, most of which celebrated heroic acts done in the name of British imperialism.

Brereton was commissioned into the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) as a surgeon-lieutenant in January 1896, and was attached as a medical officer to the Scots Guards during the Second Boer War (1899-1902) in South Africa between the British Empire and the dutch-speaking Boer republics.

William Rainey was a prolific illustrator of both books and magazines, as well as an exhibited oil painter and water colorist.  Rainey illustrated about 200 books during his career.

The Wire Fox Terrier With a Wikipedia Page

From Wikipedia: 

“Ch. Matford Vic (1912–??), a Wire Fox Terrier, was best known for being one of only five dogs to have won the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on more than one occasion.  She was originally purchased for the sum of £2 before changing hands twice prior to winning Best in Show at Westminster for the first time in 1915.

“Vic was purchased from an English barnyard for the sum of £2.  Upon bringing the dog home, her first owner tried to give it to each of his two sons, who told him that they did not want that kind of dog.

“Vic was brought along to a dog show where her owner was showing his Cocker Spaniels. A terrier fancier happened to catch sight of the dog and said to him ‘That is a fine dog that you have there. Why don't you exhibit it here?’ He entered the dog in the classes, and Vic would end up winning her classes. An offer of $500 was made for Vic, which was turned down but eventually a higher offer of $1,000 was made, and the dog changed hands, being sold to Mr. H Trimble. George W. Quintard's agent then purchased the dog, along with another named Ruby Dazzler for the sum of $5,000 which brought them to the United States

“The first show of the Wire Fox Terrier Association of the United Kingdom was held at the Corn Exchange, Leicester, England on 28 October 1913. The prize for "Best Exhibit in Show" was won by Matford Vic, being handled by her second owner, Mr H. Trimble. She was sold shortly afterwards.

“Vic travelled to America several months before the Westminster competition in 1914. She had an unbeaten record and had won a major competition at Boston. Following a win in the Wire Fox Terrier Bitch class, she was paired with the winner of the Dog class, Vickery Fast Freight, and was eliminated. Vickery Fast Freight would end up placing third, with former champion Bulldog Strathtay Prince Albert placing second to new champion best in show Slumber, an Old English Sheepdog. 

“In June 1914, she became best in show at the annual Ladies' Kennel Association of America at the Mineola Fair Grounds. However her 1914 would end in defeat in late December as she was beaten into reserve by a Japanese Spaniel named Omija at the annual show of the Toy Spaniel Club of America. It caused a considerable amount of surprise as Vic was much favoured for the win as earlier in the year at a show in Albany, she had beaten Omija. An impression was made that the judges were influenced in their choice as while a part of the show, Fox Terriers don't come under the designation of a toy dog.

“In 1915, Vic was entered in the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. She was first judged best Fox Terrier before going on to become Best in Show for her owner George W. Quintard. Quintard would also win ‘Best Reserve’ with Wireboy of Paignton. Wireboy and Vic also won the ‘Brace Special’ before teaming with Ruby Dazzler and Holmbury Reve to win the "Best Team Special".

“Following her victory at Westminster, she was expected to be entered at the show in Devon, however she was held back so that Wireboy of Paignton would have the opportunity of gaining the honor. In the end, Wireboy placed best in show, with Holmbury Reve placing in reserve. The show was noted for the members of the Sealyham Terrier Club withdrawing their entries following the election of Mrs. Marie Willets as a judge, even though Mrs. Willets was the first person in America to own a Sealyham Terrier. She lost at the Ladies' Kennel Association of America show to another Fox Terrier, Vickery Gypsy Moth, and even lost in her own breed class to Vickery Greenbank Selection.  

“For her victory in 1916, Vic's breed was judged by Winthrop Rutherford. Rutherford was the owner of Warren's Remedy, a Smooth Fox Terrier who won the Westminster on three occasions previously. Vic repeated her successes of 1915, taking the ‘Brace Special’ again with Wireboy of Paignton again and with Wireboy, Ruby Dazzler and Holmbury Reve for the ‘Best Team Special’.”

A Rabid Local Groundhog

“A groundhog found near a busy Maryland roadway has tested positive for rabies, triggering a public health alert for anyone who may have come into contact with the animal.

“The Frederick County Health Department said it was notified on Tuesday, Jan. 13, that the groundhog recovered near the intersection of West Patrick Street and McCain Drive tested positive for the rabies virus, according to the department.”

More >> https://dailyvoice.com/md/elkton/rabies-positive-groundhog-found-near-maryland-intersection-health-officials-say/

Solar-Powered Flashtags to Deter Predation

FlashTags are motion-activated, solar-powered ear tags developed by Utah State University to protect sheep and cattle from predators like wolves, coyotes, and grizzly bears. They emit random light patterns at night to mimic human presence, significantly reducing livestock mortality. Trials show reduced attacks. 

Notice that red fox are not even mentioned as sheep predators.  Guess why?

More information here >> https://shorturl.at/Wcq1p

Theory vs Practice

"I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land" 

— Frederick Douglass

The Face of Mystery

Pictured is the cover of one of the 16 $5 books I purchased earlier this week.

Published in 1899, Mystery of the Pacific, by William Henry Oliphant Smeaton, is an adventure novel about a British schooner crew that discovers a mysterious, uncharted island inhabited by a lost, technologically advanced civilization with Roman-like customs, forcing the sailors to confront cultural clashes and unravel the island's secrets while dealing with internal mutiny. It's a work of adventure fiction, considered an early example of science fiction, and “is known for its exploration themes, vivid descriptions, and cultural misunderstandings”. 

Mystery of the Pacific was illustrated by Walter Paget, who was a popular illustrator of serialized novels, and there’s an interesting story here.  It seems Walter Paget was the original choice of publisher George Newnes to illustrate Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories in The Strand Magazine, but through a misunderstanding the commission went to his brother, Sidney.When Sidney came to draw Sherlock Holmes, he is said to have used Walter as his model.  Photo of Walter Paget, below, and Sidney Paget’s illustration of Sherlock Holmes.

Bald Eagle Eggs Under the Snow

Last week, this Bald Eagle was buried under snow, but she’s cleared that off since then

I missed the mate both days; he flies off as soon as I show up, even though I’m a long way off..

Before Indiana Jones

THE COVER of one of the 16 $5 books I purchased yesterday.

Published in 1910, "The Rival Treasure Hunters: A Tale of the Debatable Frontier of British Guiana" by Robert M. MacDonald is a classic adventure tale.  Its general plot centers on:

▪️Exploration and Discovery: The story follows a journey into the wild, "debatable" frontier regions of British Guiana (modern-day Guyana).

▪️Lost Race Fiction: As a notable entry in the Lost Race genre, the characters encounter hidden civilizations or ancient, isolated peoples while searching for treasure.

▪️Rivalry: The narrative features a dramatic competition between opposing groups of treasure hunters as they navigate the perils of the South American jungle. 

Does that sound like the beginning of “Indiana Jones and the Lost Ark”?  That not an accident; in the Indiana Jones trilogy, George Lucas was trying to recreate and modernize the serial films of the early 20th century which drew heavily on books like “The Rival Treasure Hunters”.

The price for this book on Abebooks:  $226.

Sixteen Books Bought At Once

I walked into a book store in Mount Airy, Maryland, and walked out with 16 books. They cost $5 each, and were bought for their cover art and spines — books from an era of adventure, romance, and gold leaf.  Fronts later.

Daughter and Wee Men

A Very Small Drone With an Excellent Camera

The DJI Neo drone, pictured, is far smaller than my Nikon P90 point and shoot camera, and it not only flies, follows, and has five or six programmed flight patterns, it can fly free and be steered with my iPhone.

The video, below, was done with the “follow” function on the DJI Neo, with the drone on “flat” flight due to the ceiling height of the covered bridge.  Even though a car met me on the bridge exit, the drone followed close and, with object detection, easily avoided the vehicle.

Loy’s Station Covered Bridge spans Owens Creek, which is frozen over. Owens Creek, which originates in Catoctin Mountain National Park, a few miles away, has both wild and hatchery brook trout as well as hatchery rainbow and brown trout.

There Are Only Three Kinds of Neighbors

:

▪️Those that would turn you in.

▪️Those who would watch and do nothing.

▪️Those who will fight for you.

What side are you on, brother?  What side are you on? 

Designer Dogs You Say?

Complete with blue prints.