For the past several weeks we have watched Ted Hoff of Cottonwood Ranch and Kennel work with his dogs, showing us the training techniques he uses to keep the dogs sharp and interested. Ted emphasizes that working breeds need a job to do. Doing what they were bred for keeps Labrador retrievers Athena and Mae focused. Notice how Ted maintains control while Mae and Athena retrieve the dummy on command. Without the discipline young Mae would run twelve-year-old Athena ragged. Instead, both dogs move at their preferred pace, and both have the opportunity to retrieve the dummy.
In Telluride, in fact throughout San MIguel County, the 2010 Census is still hiring – and offering great pay for the work to start immediately. Wages start at $15/hour and include 50 cents/mile. Once hired, you will be paid for training and work locally. For more information, go to www.2010censusjobs.gov or call the the toll-free jobs line, 1-866-861-2010.
East meets West at Telluride's Ah Haa School for the Arts later this month, Monday – Wednesday, March 29 – 31, 6 – 9 p.m., when Kathy Green teaches "Simply Shibori/Simply Fun."
Shibori is a cloth resist-dyeing technique that may include binding, stitching, folding, twisting, or compressing to create dye patterns on silk in Japan since the eighth century. Western civilization does not have an exact word equivalent to encompass all the techniques of shibori. The closest we get is tie-dye, but the term (and technique) simply covers the binding method of dyeing known as bound-resist.
You snooze, you lose. The winter programming at Telluride's Wilkinson Public Library continues to rock – shamrock this week.
St. Patrick's Day, Wednesday, March 17, noon:
Irish Literary traditions at the Library. Readers and listeners alike are encouraged to make their way upstairs to the Telluride Room at noon to enjoy tea, biscuits and selections from a literary menu, including Yeats, Joyce, Heaney, and any favorite songs or poems anyone wishes to bring as we gather to appreciate Irish literature.
Wednesday, March 17, 6 p.m.:
The Wilkinson Café presents “Birdie Brown, Kat Snip and Nathan" for an evening of free acoustic music, coffees, teas and cookies.
Ted Hoff always sends us some great stuff about training dogs, dogs playing, a dog's life at Cottonwood. This week's video falls into the latter two categories. But the training piece is always there in the background. Socialization (and appropriate aggressive play) is part of the training regimen.
My take on this video is that Mae's long legs are just barely able to keep up with Drake's puppy energy. Thanks, Ted; and keep it up, puppies!
[click "Play" to hear Scott Doser speaking with Susan]
Phenomenal Women's Week, an annual initiative of the San Miguel Resource Center, continues with a screening of "America the Beautiful" in the Program Room of the Wilkinson Public Library. The event takes place March 12, starting at 5 p.m. A panel discussion follows the controversial documentary.
According to an Economist survey on beauty, medieval noblewomen swallowed arsenic and dabbed on the blood of bats to improve their complexions. Forget bleaching agents, women in 18th-century America coveted the urine of young boys to erase freckles. Cher was by far not the first: Victorian women removed ribs to give themselves waspish waistlines. The desire to be conventionally beautiful dates back to the dawn of civilization.
Big doings in March uptown in Telluride's sister city, the Mountain Village: for starters the annual Telluride Medical Center Operation F.E.A.S.T. and the Telluride Rotary Red Ball Express fundraiser. The Telluride Ski Resort's operational hours change as we spring forward: starting March 14 through the end of the ski season, ski lifts will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesday, March 9:
Open Space & Recreation Advisory Board Meeting Mountain Village Town Hall; 5 p.m. Meeting Agenda.
The online auction for the Telluride Medical Center'sOperation F.E.A.S.T. (Fund for Expanding And Supporting Telluride's Medical Center) began March 1 and continues through March 11. Prizes range from get-a-ways to exotic trips to tickets to Colorado experiences, such as the destinations pictured: Australia, the Smith Fork Ranch, and half-day fly-fishing with Telluride Outside.
Local teens will be tuning in as Wilkinson Public Library celebrates the third annual Teen Tech Week March 8-12, 2010. WPL joins thousands of other libraries and schools across the country who are celebrating this year’s theme, "Learn Create Share @ Your Library.” Teen Tech Week is a national initiative of the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA). The purpose of the initiative is to ensure that teens are competent and ethical users of technologies, especially those that are offered through libraries. Teen Tech Week encourages teens to use libraries' non-print resources for education and recreation, and to recognize that librarians are qualified, trusted professionals in the field of information technology.
“Offering a variety of technologies and providing top notch education about these resources is of vital importance to the youth of our community,” says Sarah Lawton, Wilkinson Public Library’s Teen Librarian. “We are fortunate to have a great group of kids here in Telluride. They are smart, motivated and eager to engage. By providing programs that speak to their interests, we can link teens with the world of information while introducing them to the strength of community.”
(editor's note: Somehow the post that was to accompany Ted's video went adrift. I am attempting to recreate the feeling of that post days later.)
Ted Hoff of Cottonwood Ranch and Kennel is constantly working with his dogs and the dogs in his care. In his video for this week, Ted is doing some retrieve training with his young female Lab, Mae.
Check out the rapport between Ted and Mae. She never loses sight of the decoy, while still being totally aware of what Ted wants. The training is all about repetition, appropriate praise, and keeping it fun.
