Whispers of Advanced Beginner obedience training

Did I mention I saw the Dog Whisperer himself on the streets of Victoria a couple of weeks ago? A work colleague and I were walking along Humboldt Street, across from the Empress Hotel, on our way back from lunch, to our day-long field assignment in the Capital City. We were walking into the driving rain, so we both had our hoods up. A couple was approaching from the opposite direction, and I just happened to look up in time to recognize Cesar’s impish smile from beneath his hooded Goretex. In stereo-typical Canadian politeness, I smiled back, and just barely had time to give a nod of recognition before he passed.

I describe it now because it’s just occurred to me that perhaps that recent brush with celebrity may have sub-consciously encouraged me to coach Tannah a little more diligently in the couple of weeks leading up to her 1^st place finish in Advanced Beginner obedience training this past Monday evening. I think Cesar Millan himself would be proud.

As a disclaimer up front, I have to admit I’m not so much a fan of Cesar’s that I’ve never missed an episode. Quite the contrary in fact; I’ve seldom seen an episode of his show. I’m not even sure we get the channel on which his show is broadcast. But perhaps that makes me even more a fan, that despite rarely having seen him on TV, I still instantly recognised Cesar on the street.

I did catch an episode of The Dog Whisperer on TV this past summer during our vacation in Portland. I enjoyed it, and I could really sense Cesar’s obvious enthusiasm for dogs, and his mission to teach people how to teach their dogs. In my opinion, that really is the key. In the vast majority of cases I believe that if a problem dog exists, it’s generally not the sole fault of the dog; the owner likely didn’t have a confidant grasp of the skills required to instruct his faithful companion.

And I certainly know from experience (Tannah is my 4^th), teaching a dog is not easy, but it does get easier the more you practice. The farther along I get into dog obedience training, the more I realize I’ve become a better teacher over the years; I can now see that I’m getting better quality results faster from my dog.

To tell you the truth, I was rather startled by how good it felt to hear Tannah’s name called out in winning 1^st Place. I guess I hadn’t realized how much I had wanted that distinction for us. Our previous spaniel, Shelby GT (yes, her official name on her Papers was in recognition of the classic Mustang), earned a 2^nd place ribbon in Beginner Advanced. During her short time with us Shelby participated in Beginner, Advanced Beginner and Novice. So far Tannah has completed Beginner, and she’s done Advanced Beginner twice. No, she didn’t flunk the fist time ‘round; we simply wanted Shauna to take Tannah through her paces so Tannah would be comfortable with both of us instructing her. Although, towards the end of this session’s classes, Shauna got really busy with report cards, and it was decided that I should coach Tannah the final 3 or 4 classes, which included the Grad.

Not to sound too much like a graduation convocation speech, but I want to encourage anyone out there that may be experiencing some degree of difficulty or frustration in training their dog in basic obedience commands. Don’t give up! It really is all about repetition. Conduct 2 or 3 short training session per day. I find that 10 minutes each session works well. That gives you enough time to run through the ½ dozen or so commands a couple of times each. End the session before frustration might have a chance to creep in. I try to incorporate training sessions into our morning and evening walks. I’ve also found that going for a short jog (even as little as 10 minutes) with Tannah after work has been beneficial before practicing obedience commands, especially heeling.

We’ve signed up for the Novice level which begins in late January, with possibly a Rally event in our future after that. And as with all dogs, Tannah loves the quality time spent with us that obedience training affords. It’s in her best interest as well, in terms of her being safe in the city, and guests to our home not finding her to be a nuisance. She’s a very special member of our family and we love her enough to ensure she’s fluent in People Whispering.

Movember

This year our office is participating in Movember.

For those that may think I could benefit from Spell Check, I should explain. ‘Movember’ is an initiative whereby men grow a moustache for the month of November for the purpose of raising awareness of prostate cancer detection and treatment.

I was I bit delayed in climbing on the bandwagon. I realize it’s a great cause, and many men are affected by prostate cancer annually, but I really didn’t want to ‘grow a mo’ again. I had one for years, beginning in senior high school. I recently searched through a bunch of old photos and found my high school student card from grade 11, and an old Driver’s License from 1990. Just for kicks I showed both pieces of ID to a couple of office colleagues. They both said they really couldn’t see any resemblance between the ‘young’ me and the ‘now’ me. I must say, that’s intriguing. To me, of course, it’s me in both photos.

I think another reason for my reticence to grow a mo is the amount of grey that’s currently present near my chin, not to mention temples. I got a haircut on the weekend to try to reduce the overall effect. I continue in my efforts in attempting to embrace salt and pepper.

In any event, my ‘scruff-start’ began officially on Wednesday, ‘Movember’ 3. Although I’ve bent the rules and modified the moustache to incorporate a goatee; it suits my aversion to strictly limiting facial hair to my upper lip. I’ll have to come up with another moniker, however. Something along the lines of ‘Govember’, perhaps. Goatee plus November. Or maybe Bovember; beard plus November.

Thus far, I’m 6 days into it, and I don’t know if it’s just because I’m sporting more growth than a moustache and I notice it more, or if it’s more due to genetics, but the beard is growing in quickly. Even my wife hasn’t complained about it all that much (yet), probably because she knows it’ll be short term and the event is tied to a information/ fund raising campaign for important health awareness issues.

It’s kind of fun considering about half a dozen of us in the office are doing it, and also I don’t have to raise $2500 to participate, as I have done twice now in preparation for The Ride to Conquer Cancer. I’ve signed up for the 2011 event, by the way. But I'll save that introduction for a future blog post.

RD400, RZ500 and '88 FZ750

More classic and collectable motorcycles have appeared on CL. If I’d only waited before buying that silly GS.

The first one is a truly classic Yamaha RD400. It’s air cooled and so much cooler (no pun intended) than the later model water-cooled bikes. I remember in my teens, back when I read dirt bike magazines, there were a few articles dedicated to dunes racers in Southern California. They would build custom high-powered 3 wheelers featuring RD400 engines and paddle tires. They were the first hot rod ATVs.

In the 80s, when 3 wheeled all terrain vehicles were introduced, 2-stroke gas engines were common, in dirt bikes at least. It was a logical progression to add another cylinder of 2-stroke power for added torque. I would imagine it made for quite a wild ride. Despite living nowhere near a sand dune I always wanted to build one, if only to soothe my inner grease-monkey.The appeal of the RD400 has endured for me despite never having ridden one. I’ve read test reviews of 2-stroke street bikes that say, sure they’re as fast as 4-stroke 750s of their day, but they’re engines don’t feature the benefit of engine braking.

It’s especially rare to find a low-mileage original example of an RD, and I saw 2 of them! The bike in the second photo is a clean ’77 edition featured only “sensible” modifications such as an H4 headlight bulb and an electronic ignition upgrade.

The other bike that caught my eye this week was another Yam, an ‘88 FZ750. It’s curious how some bikes catch one’s fancy for altogether different reasons. For the RD it was the allure of the “ring-ping-ping” 2-stroke for the street as opposed to trail. But in the case of the FZ, for me it’s the paint scheme. To be truthful, however, this one has 2-stroke roots as well.

Again, back when I was a teenager, I lusted for the RZ500. It was truly an exotic, in my opinion. A guy that I worked with rode a brand-new Suzuki RG500 Gamma. He was only a year older than me and we both worked part-time at the same place, so I can’t understand how he afforded it. Nonetheless, I gazed at it longingly every time I parked my trusty steed, an ’82 XS400, next to it on the sidewalk at the mall.

Both those models, the RZ and the RG, went on to achieve legendary status; they’re pretty hard to find these days. I did see an RZ500 recently on CL for around 5 grand. But I’ve already got a semi-functional GS850…I know, I know.

So the appeal of the 1988 edition of the FZ750 is its paint scheme. It’s very similar to the RZ500, and the chances of coming across an FZ, even specifically an ’88, is a lot greater than finding an RZ500.

And now I’ve seen both the RD400 and the 1988 FZ750 in the same week.

Classic Motorcycles of the '80s

I really know better. That is, I should know better than to peruse the motorcycle ads when I already have a motorcycle, albeit a project bike.

The motorcycle I really wanted back when I started looking was a 1979-80 Honda CB750F. I had one in my sights, but at the last moment the seller wouldn’t sell. I don’t know what happened, but I suspect a friend of his found out it was for sale, and the seller pulled the rug out from under me and sold it to him. And in case you think I’m being overtly cynical on the matter, it’s happened to me before.

Once upon a time, in my naïve twenties, I traded a ’71 Super Beetle for a 1940 Buick Super 4-door sedan; the worst deal I’ve ever made. Of course it was a restoration project, and I came across a seller in Seattle that had some parts I needed, among them 16” bias ply tires in new condition. He was cleaning out his garage, he said, and was transitioning into vintage bicycles. Fair enough. I made the trip and did purchase a few items, but on the very day I was there a buddy of his showed up and scooped the tires. I had made prior arrangements on the phone and it was a big reason I traveled from Vancouver to Seattle that day.

But getting back to today’s post, however, I stumbled upon no less than 5 motorcycles I’d have looked into if I was in the market for a ‘bike today, including a CB750F, a bike I haven’t seen advertised in this region in about 2-1/2 years. Oh well, them’s the breaks, I guess. I already have a motorcycle and since I located a stock exhaust system recently, things aren’t looking as bleak as they were not too long ago.

Just for interest's sake, the accused temptations are: a 1982 Yamaha 650 Maxim,

a 1985 Yamaha FZ750,

a 1981 Kawasaki GPz1100,

a 1979 Honda GL1100,

And finally, a 1980 Honda CB750F Supersport.

Now I must be strong against temptation, and continue in my original quest to put my GS850 back on the road. It’s getting there.

GS pipes

Last weekend I installed a new (used) set of exhaust pipes on the GS. Their condition turned out to be as advertised; perfect. I de-greased them and chrome-polished them before installation.

One thing I learned, however, is that these "L" model pipes are not exactly the same as my 850G, as I thought they would be. The "L" pipes are about 6" shorter. It's not a huge deal, although I like the longer look better; it just makes the bike look more 70's somehow. In any case, The 4 into 2's look a lot better, in my opinion than the rusty 4 into 1. I've also gained a lot of clearance under the exhaust pipe. With the header installed it didn't seem to matter how slowly I went over a speed bump, I'd always at least scrape the pipe, if not dent it.

And one more thing, I don't know if an age-related or not, but I'm much happier with the quieter exhaust note. I know I really irritated my Dad back when I was 17 and I insisted on running a loud exhaust pipe known as a Stinger on my VW Beetle. He hated it, and I loved it.

Here are the before and after shots:


I found a photo of a restored GS850G with correct exhaust pipes; it's even the same colour scheme as mine. Notice how much longer the pipes are.

Searching for Treasure

I seriously considered selling my motorcycle last week. But a funny thing happened. As soon as I had that thought I realized I hadn’t checked the on-line ads recently for parts I need.

In order for this project to come to fruition I need a new exhaust system. One of my major complaints recently has been that after a ride my clothes smell very strongly of exhaust fumes. I narrowed it down to an exhaust leak but I couldn’t seem to identify the exact source, so I decided to try a relatively cheap solution of replacing the exhaust gaskets between the cylinder head and the header pipe.

I bought them, installed them, and the smell persisted. But this time, prior to parking the bike in the garage, I let it idle, and I watched for tell-tale wisps of exhaust to exit in places they shouldn’t be exiting from. Bingo! The pipe is leaking from the collector beneath the bike, where the 4 pipes converge into the single exhaust canister. Unfortunately, that’s really not an area that can be fixed. Pinholes are created due to corrosion, and corroded metal can’t be successfully welded.

So that led me to another option of replacing the entire exhaust system. I’d prefer to go back to the stock 4 into 2 arrangement, but in the 2-1/2 years I’ve owned this GS850, I’ve only come across one ad for a parts bike with a complete exhaust, and it turned out to have a hole in the bottom of it the size of a fist. This was discovered after the seller told me “the pipes are good”. “Good” is a relative term if I ever heard one.

Needless to say I was skeptical, to say the least, when, upon performing a Craigslist search for “GS”, I came upon a complete parts bike, pictured with its gleaming chrome pipes. In the print ad the seller said the pipes were “mint”. When he returned my voicemail that evening he further elaborated by describing the exhaust system as “f---ing mint”. Weren’t you just swept away by the enthusiasm? Just to re-cap, that’s “f---ing mint” as opposed to simply “mint”. As you may be able to tell, I’m generally not impressed by such unnecessarily colourful descriptors.

But, as I explained at the top, I was this close to just throwing in the towel and cutting my losses, because I really thought that finding a good-condition, chrome-plated, sheetmetal assembly that has hung below a motorcycle for 3 decades, being assaulted by all manner of moisture and abrasive debris, would not be easy to locate. Especially when you narrow it down to one specific year, make and model of bike; a 1979 Suzuki GS850. I mean really, how many could there possibly be in 2010?

Well, I’m happy to report, there was at least one satisfactory set left. And I bought it! The seller had been completely on target in his judgment. I traveled to the seller’s house, complete with cash and my tool box. He assisted me and we unbolted the pipes from the donor bike right there in his driveway. As a bonus I also bought a pair of bolt-on engine protector bars. They protect the engine side covers if the bike should happen to tip over. And, much like the exhaust system, I’ve never come across another pair in my 2-1/2 years of ownership.


At this point my plan for tomorrow is to remove the old header and install this new original equipment 4 into 2 pipe. I’ll post a photo once it’s installed.

Needless to say, I’ve now changed my mind about selling.

2011 Spaniel calendar

I thought I'd put in a plug for a worthy non-profit society called the Cocker Spaniel Rescue of BC. It's the organization through which my wife and I adopted our Spaniel, Tannah.

If anyone is looking for a Chistmas gift idea for the dog lover in their family, the CSRBC has produced a 2011 calendar. And I'm proud to say that our dear Tannah is Miss May. And her sister, Emma, is featured in January.

Calendars are $20 each and are available through Paypal using this email address: csrbc@shaw.ca. Or you could mail a cheque; it'll just take longer.

"Love Shines"

Last weekend I dedicated a couple of hours to reading the VIFF movie catalogue in order to choose a couple or three movies to see. We like to go to the film festival every year to take in at least a sampling of non-Hollywood films. It’s not that we’re part of an anti-Hollywood movement or anything; we just like to keep abreast of what the rest of the world sees.

However, September is a very busy month for us, especially Shauna. She puts in many extra hours during evenings and weekends getting prepared for the new school year, and thus doesn’t generally have any time for choosing film festival movies. It’s no small task either, as I think there are over 300 to choose from.

So last weekend I settled into our comfortable living room chair, in the corner by the window, with our warm Spaniel sprawled on my lap, and cracked the cover of the 208 page 2010 Vancouver International Film Festival catalogue. It was a little overwhelming at first, but my wife suggested a strategy. Why not check the program guide first and see which movies were playing on days we had available, which made perfect sense. I narrowed it down to the Thanksgiving weekend. It still turned into a 2 hour time commitment, but in the end I chose one movie, and Shauna chose one from my list of finalists. Plus we have one in reserve that we’ll try to get rush seats for tonight after the one we’re scheduled to see.

I chose “Love Shines”, which is a documentary about one of Canada’s best, but least commercially recognized songwriters, Ron Sexsmith. Shauna was only vaguely aware of him, and admitted she couldn’t name even one of his songs. To be honest, I couldn’t name one on the spot either, although I was quite sure I’d recognize a few in the movie once I heard them.

Back in 2006 we visited friends that had just moved back to their hometown of Toronto, and I remember Oona and Nick mentioning Ron Sexsmith. The conversation had turned to music one hot, humid evening as we sat in their backyard enjoying a bottle of wine. At the time I didn’t want to admit I really didn’t know who Ron Sexsmith was; I chalked it up to me being a few years older that they were and I figured I’d just somehow missed Ron’s envelope of radio airplay. As it turns out, lack of radio airplay has been a big issue in terms of Ron remaining under the radar all these years.

But getting back to VIFF…last night we went to see “Love Shines” and, wouldn’t ya know it, it was the World Premiere of the film. And who should be seated about 3 rows behind us but Ron Sexsmith himself! There was a Q & A session after the film, and Ron and Bob Rock (“Legendary” record producer) and the film’s director were all in attendance.

At the end of the evening, as we all filed out of the theatre, I found myself standing in the aisle right behind Bob Rock. I was close enough to be able to catch the scent of his leather jacket. People seemed to making a big fuss of him, because after all, he is pretty famous. Nowadays he’s behind the scenes, but he’s very sought after to produce big names in music. As far as I’m aware he’s most famous for working with Motley Crue, Bon Jovi and Metallica.

That made for interesting irony for the movie, that a famous heavy-metal record producer would take on an unassuming, low-volume-selling, singer songwriter. Filming for this movie began eight years ago, and I would imagine that the film director was thrilled that a plot device such as this would drop into his lap. Of course I’m assuming that filming began on this movie before Bob Rock signed on to produce “Love Shines”, the album. I’m really not sure about the timeline of events.

The movie as a whole was a refreshing glimpse into the life and struggles of a man displaying a "typically Canadian" trait; modesty. There were many well-known music industry personalities in the film singing (pun intended) Ron's praises. Elvis Costello even favourably compared Ron Sexsmith's talents with Paul McCartney, and suggested that perhaps Ron was born "out of time", that being that his productive song-writing years would have gotten him a lot further ahead if he'd been writing pen-to-pen with McCartney in the 60s.

Ultimately, I think we saw that Ron is doing what he loves to do most, and making a living at it. And although he's not a household name (yet), I really can't picture him remaining Canada's best kept secret indefinitely.

Apparently the album drops, as they say, in February 2011. I'm eagerly anticipating the release of a tour date for Ron's next Vancouver visit.

Miss May

It’s now official. Tannah is Miss May in the Cocker Spaniel Rescue of BC 2011 Calendar.

I submitted 2 photos, and the one that was chosen is of Tannah seated on a large chunk of granite on the site of the Olympic Village against a sunset backdrop of Science World and the Citygate residential towers.

Reflected sunlight from the Vancity building provided a backlight to Tannah in the form of a feathered edge along her back. It almost makes her look like she was photo-shopped into the scene. She looks like a happy, well-adjusted dog in her adopted city of Vancouver.

"B4" and "In-progess" House Renovations

In this post I wanted to show a couple more major renovation projects going on in my neighbourhood. I've been following their progress for awhile now, and I again had to access Google Maps Street View to get my "before" images.

The first photo shows how the house appeared in early Spring of 2010. The owners really worked hard to transform it into the character home shown in the second shot. My wife and I toured it during an Open House just for fun. We were quite impressed.


This second property had me worried at the start because I wasn't sure if the orange mesh surrounding the boulevard trees was erected before imminent demolition of the house, or simply for a major renovation. Typically in Vancouver, protection barriers are erected around trees that are intended to remain on sites on which selected or whole demolition will take place.

I am happy to report that in this case it is a major renovation that is being performed. The second photo of this house shows it after the original roof was removed and a full 2nd storey added (or 3rd if you count the basement). It's not easy to tell this is the same house from the 2 photos, but the green stucco ties them together.

The last reno I want to show you today is a house that was brought to my attention 4 or 5 years ago just before friends of ours moved to Toronto.

They lived close to Sophia Street and E. 20th, and in strolling along nearby streets with their one year old son they happened upon a really cool, totally original old house just off Main Street.

I was sure I photographed it at that time, but I can't find the photos in my database. I really seem to be plugging Street View in this segment, but it really has come in handy for this "before and after" blog.

The house was kind of a time capsule, complete with faded paint on the old cladding shingles. It was a big house, and Nick said if they hadn't been planning to move to Toronto he would have really wanted to buy the place and renovate it (although it wasn't even for sale at that point). The property included a large 2 car garage at the lane's edge. Nick's grand plan would have been to turn that into a rentable studio.

At this stage of construction it's a bit challenging to relate the "before" condition to the "now" shot, but you can still see the same faded pink shingles on the exterior walls of the upper floor dormers. That's the common bond between all 3 photos.

It appears that the building footprint is now substantially larger, but I can't verify that quantitatively because I can't find my "b4" picture of the back yard.

Also, work is being done to the garage. Currently there is a program in Vancouver to encourage laneway housing. I wonder if the plan for this garage will be to transform it into a separate residence.