mr. wednesday

mondio ring is one of the toughest dog sports out there. it is a protection sport that tests the ability of the dog to protect both himself and his handler, even through extreme distractions. the sport trials are similar to the work performed by police dogs and the competition consists of obedience, jumps, and protection.

10 kilos of pure deadweight

i remember when i was still living near broadway centrum. my apartment was just in front of one of the country's most reputable canine training facilities. every tuesday and thursday nights, i would take my then 3 month old rottweiler to the training sessions. odin didn't like going out too much back then. he just wouldn't budge when i took him outside, so i had to carry him all the way to the training grounds. he was only 3 months old but he was almost 10 kilos - i almost always have asthma attacks during those days. but it didn't matter. the people there were so friendly and encouraging, even to a noob in mondio like me. they would each in turn give me tips on how to raise odin properly - from feeding him, exercising him, and to motivating him - all for free! we all prepared him for the upcat of the sport - but when the time came for him to take the test, he...um...ah...failed.

yes, he failed. why? he was too darn nice - and lazy. he didn't seem to see the point on why he had to attack a defenseless piece of sack. we tried changing it to his favorite rag, but it just didn't work. he would just stare at it for a few moments and then space out the other way, oblivious to the whole group egging him to just attack the freakin piece of cloth. they all told me not to lose hope, and for us to try again the next training session - which we did again and again and again. hell, 2 month old mals were out killing arm sleeves, for chrissakes! why couldn't he just take a darn bite out of a sodding sack?

then, i got promoted and got transferred to another account at a different site and i moved to an apartment that was nearer to my new office. needless to say, i had erratic working hours, and i couldn't just carry odin to the training grounds any longer. and so, odin lived the life of a pampered house pet. but i still had dreams that one day, even if odin wouldn't be able to participate in mondio ring competition, he would still be a fairly competent protection dog.

summer pet fair at the city

when i found out last week that there was going to be a mondio ring fun match at the summer pet fair at the sm north edsa, i tried to think of way of how i would be able to bring him so we would both be able to watch great dogs in action. i don't have a car and i've never taken him to places that we wouldn't be able to walk to. i decided to just try my luck and see if any taxi drivers would let me bring a big dog (he is now 48 kilos). good thing i was able to flag down a cab. the driver was a nice old chap, and he didn't mind odin drooling all over the backseat. (if bychance you're reading this, i'm so sorry! you have my eternal gratitude!)

but alas! when we got to the venue, they were already awarding the winners of the fun match. nonetheless, i was able to speak with eugene reyes and he told me to bring odin back to check if he finally has the drive fit for the sport.

since we were already there, we decided to see the other activities lined up for the afternoon. while waiting for the big, burly men to set up the equipment needed for the weight pulling contest, i took odin to the grooming station and asked the gentleman to clean his ears. as he was about to put the cotton swab inside his ears, odin suddenly pulled away and faced the other way, rubbing his butt against the poor guy's face. i was laughing so hard when i saw a guy from one of the major networks was filming us. i tried to move away from the direction of the camera so he could focus on odin's antics, but odin seemed to sense what was going on and just dragged me to the other side of the venue.

we went to watch the circus dogs perform their tricks. the two rival networks were covering the dancing poodles and the counting labs, so odin and i moved a wee bit to the side to where the petting zoo was. (i was watching a morning show earlier, and i saw the two of us pass by in the background, when they were featuring the basketball playing yellow labrador) inside the playpen were all sorts of toy dogs and kids were playing with them. i didn't want him to step on the tiny dogs, so we moved to near the entrance.

then, people started appraoching us and asking if they could pet odin. now, i know full well that in the wrong hands, rottweilers are a very dangerous breed and they have the strongest bite force amongst all domesticated animals. but i have been handling dogs for quite a long time, and i know his temperament. the worst that he could do is sniff your crotch and slobber you all over with goo. so i told them yes, they could pet odin; and no, i didn't mind if they took a photo with him. i moved so i wouldn't be a part of their pictures. babies rode him like a horse and one even kicked him in the face; nervous teenaged girls patted him nervously; big men patted him enthusiastically; and matronas, with all their fancy jewelry and make-up, hugged him tightly. and his reaction to all of these? he just stared at them and snorted and looked as if nothing interesting was happening!

oblivious to it all

it was about 5 in the afternoon when we decided to close shop and head home. i knew that i would have a difficult time in finding a cab if it was already evening. as we were driving back home with odin panting heavily in my lap, i couldn't help myself thinking, "poof! what just happened is proof that my dream of having him as a good protection dog is now kaput!"