Gone to the Danes

Jimmy needs a new home!

2011-10-02T19:11:00.003-05:00

Hi all,
I'm sorry I've been so scarce lately. Just wanted to post this flyer about Jimmy, a lovely Harlequin Dane currently in foster care at the Dane Angel Network. Jimmy is healthy now, and really needs to find a forever home!

The Dane Angel Network does NOT adopt out of the North Texas/Dallas-Fort Worth area. If you know anyone who might be interested in Jimmy, pass this information along and have them contact Midge.

If you are in another area but are thinking of adopting a Great Dane, go to the Rescue page at the GDCA website for information about a Rescue in your area!

She is really EXCELLENT now!

2010-11-30T18:31:00.002-06:00

Hi all, I've been so remiss about posting lately.

But we've been busy and have good news! We had a great time at the 2010 GDCA National Specialty in October, and the best news of all was that Kinsey qualified in Excellent B Jumpers with Weaves for her Masters Excellent Jumpers title!! This title requires 10 qualifying scores in the Excellent B Jumper with Weaves class. No faults at all are allowed for a qualifying score, the run must be clean and under time to count. Kinsey got her 10th qualifying run at the National, at 8 1/2 years young! I'm so proud of her and also my hubby Ronnie who is her agility partner.

I'll get some pictures up soon!

You know you've got a big dog when....

2010-06-14T15:45:00.003-05:00

... you're brushing your teeth and your dog wants you to move over so she can get a drink!*

Dakota is 10 months old now, and just started doing this. Her uncle Teddy will sometimes drink out of the sink, but she's the only Dane we have who wants to do it all the time. Her father Keeper does it too, and so did his dad Hammer.

Hammer used to go stand in the guest bathroom and look out the door at his owner, waiting for her to come turn the water on for him!

*Credit goes to Ginnie Saunders of DaDane - check out The Dane Owner's Checklist!

Oops!

2010-04-29T00:44:00.003-05:00

Correction... Teddy finished his Novice FAST title last weekend, not his Standard title.

Which is still great - the FAST class in AKC agility requires the dog to complete some obstacles at a distance from the handler. Which is difficult for an inexperienced dog!

Way to go, Teddy! (And Ronnie too!)

More Agility News!

2010-04-26T19:48:00.004-05:00

Last weekend in Wichita Falls, Teddy finished his Novice Standard title! He finished his Novice Jumpers title a few months ago, and has 2 legs toward his Novice FAST title, so we are very pleased with his progress!

And his mom Kinsey (8 years young, thankyouverymuch) got 2 legs toward her Open FAST title!

Ronnie handled them both - way to go!!

Only her hairdresser knows for sure...

2010-04-23T19:33:00.000-05:00

More Show Biz news!

Not the dog-show-type "biz", but the "Lights - Camera - Action!" type biz. Kinsey was tapped to star in another commercial! The kicker was they needed a fawn Great Dane small enough to fit into the front bucket seat of a car - which leaves Teddy right out - but they wanted one with a black mask.

Which 8 year old Kinsey is lacking these days:

So with some mild hair dye, black chalk and lots and lots of mascara around her eyes, this was the final result:

I know it looks fake - and yes, I absolutely DO prefer her lovely grey face. But it won't harm Kinsey at all, and it worked for the commercial which was a LOT of fun. It was pretty easy - she had to sit in the car a lot but it was a nice cool day and the takes were short. There was one scene where she had to jump out of the car and run off camera, and she had to bark on cue. Which is her very, very favorite trick!

It was great fun, and I'll post a video here as soon as I can get one.

But I'll be glad when all the dye wears off and she's back to her naturally beautiful face!

Agility news

2010-03-14T23:47:00.004-05:00

Due to some family (human family) plans we just showed Friday this weekend and had to skip the trials on Sat & Sunday.

But it was very worthwhile!!

Kinsey qualified in Excellent B for her 8th leg toward her Masters title (10 legs are required).

Kinsey really likes the Jumpers classes!

And Teddy got his second leg in Novice FAST which is a relatively new AKC class which requires the dog to work some obstacles at a distance from the handler.

Teddy going through the tire jump

This was also Topper's first trial since the National last fall - at which time we knew she wasn't really ready but we entered her anyway. She didn't qualify but really worked very well - we'll enter her again in a month or two and she should be ready to rock by then!

...And thank you all for all the well wishes about Teddy's injury last fall! Obviously, he is all better now! :-)

WARNING: Cuteness overload

2010-03-08T16:06:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I went to Vicki's to see Dakota's little brother and sisters. This is a repeat of the breeding that produced Dakota and as you might expect they are ADORABLE!

There are just 4 of them and they sure haven't been lacking for groceries because they are huge! They turn 4 weeks old today and as they are gradually switching from Mom to mush they actually will slim down a bit. Plus they are mastering this walking thing - they're starting to play actually - and that will burn calories too.

There are more photos on our website at http://symmetrydanes.freeservers.com/Litterbox2.html
- for now, just inhale the puppy breath!

And thanks to my friend Karen for the puppy modeling duty... it's a tough job but someone has to do it!

Light brindle girl

Fawn girl

Brindle boy

Dark brindle girl

Say hello to my little friend

2010-03-06T14:40:00.005-06:00

Here is a video of Dakota's brother Ty playing with his friend Pib:
(Ty had a case of hives when this was taken. She doesn't know what he got into, but he was fine the next day).

Obviously it takes some close supervision to let such a big dog play with such a little dog... especially when the big one is a puppy and maybe not entirely aware of his strength or where his feet are!

But he is so gentle with her!

Military families, deployment, and dogs

2010-03-05T19:27:00.003-06:00

I got this email a couple of days ago:

"... had gone to the shelter to donate food and bedding as she regularly does and she heard loud crying and whining coming from the back kennel. She reluctantly headed in that direction only to find a grief stricken black Great Dane. His (hysterically upset) owners had left him two days ago because they are both in the military and were being dispatched abroad. He is a one year old, neutered, black Great Dane who is house broken and heart broken.

PLEASE....if you can take him, consider it."

Needless to say, a lot of us in our local Dane Rescue community have been scrambling to find a place for him - I was even all set to pull him from the shelter myself in the morning and transport him down toward central Texas to another rescue that had a foster home for him. But fortunately another local rescue stepped in and pulled him out so he is safe now, and hopefully getting a lot of TLC from his foster family. And soon will have a new, permanent family of his own.

But even though this particular dog is safe now, this is still a heartbreaking story all around. It is not an uncommon story, unfortunately. And it illustrates why so many reputable breeders and rescues are so very unwilling to place a dog into a military family.

I can see it from the point of view of the military families too... my brother is an Iraq war vet, I have other family members in the service and more than a few friends in the military. Most of them are real dog lovers and aren't willing to deny themselves and their children the joy of a dog for 5 or 10 years or more until they get out.

But how to avoid tragedies like the one described in the email above? Especially if the military folk are NOT able to get a dog from a reputable breeder or rescue that would help them out if they are deployed to some location where they cannot (or should not) take the family dog? All too often the only source these families have for getting a pet is an irresponsible breeder who asks no questions, and doesn't care what happens to the dog once they've cashed the check.

This leaves the family with no one to turn to if they are facing deployment - they usually don't have the resources to find a safe placement for their dog at short notice. Unless they have family members or close friends who are able and willing to take the dog for an extended period of time they rapidly run out of options.

The answer lies in the strategies that are employed by reputable breeders or rescues that ARE willing to place a dog with a military family. Usually the agreement is that when the military family hears even a whisper or rumor of future deployment to some remote and non-pet friendly part of the world that they MUST notify the breeder or rescue. They don't have to give up the pet at that point, but the "heads up" gives the breeder or rescue time to make some tentative plans. Specific deployment orders often come at short notice, but they are almost never unexpected - you do have some advance notice, sometimes many months.

If tentative plans are in place, then when the specific orders come the dog can be safely placed in a new home or a foster home (pending adoption) fairly quickly. The military family still has to stay good-bye to the dog - it is almost impossible to find a long-term temporary home - but at least they have the comfort of knowing the dog is in good hands.

But if they have gotten the dog from some fly-by-night breeder, what then? My advice is that at the first rumor of deployment, they reach out to family and friends for options. If no one can take the dog then they should reach out to rescue groups. It is not uncommon for rescue groups to fill up and not be able to take a dog at very short notice, but if you stay in touch with them over a period of weeks or months then they are more likely to be able to take your dog when crunch time comes. Finding a rescue group has never been easier - all you have to do is Google the name of your breed of dog + Rescue, and you'll get lots of options. You can also talk to your vet for advice - he or she may know of someone looking for a dog like yours. The trick is to NOT wait until the last minute - "plan for the worst".

And finally, a responsible military family will do what ANY responsible dog-owning family will do - take the dog to some training classes to make him more enjoyable to live with!! This is a huge benefit to the original family plus if they must find the dog a new home it will make it much, MUCH easier to find someone to take him.

UPDATE - One of my readers left a comment about a program called the Military Pets Foster Project. (Thanks Kathie!!) This is a program that helps people in the military locate foster homes for their pets when they are deployed.
The website is https://www.netpets.org/netp/foster.php

What a GOOD boy!!

2010-03-03T17:19:00.003-06:00

Gus's owners sent me this photo of Gus working (quite successfully, I might add) on "Leave It". She said the limiting factor was the drool - they released him to gobble his treats before he soaked everything in sight! Don't be taken in by the sad puppy eyes - Gus has it pretty good!

Gus is one of Kinsey's pups - he is Teddy and Topper's brother.

In case you are new to this blog and wonder why his owners send us photos even though he is almost 5 years old, you should know that reputable breeders always try to stay in touch with their puppy buyers. Not in a controlling way, but to provide support and answer questions and in general to do everything in their power to ensure that both the dog and the family stay happy with each other. And if worse comes to worse and the owners can't keep the dog for some reason - and catastrophic things can happen to the best homes - then the responsible breeder will either take the dog back, or help to find him a new home. We do this because we LOVE every single puppy we ever produce, and we truly care about them and will move Heaven and earth to keep them out of shelters, or out of bad situations.

The promise I make to every newborn puppy is this: "You will be loved for your entire life. You won't always get your way, but you will ALWAYS be loved". And I will do everything in my power to keep that promise.

So if you are in the market for a puppy and encounter a breeder who asks lots of personal questions about your family situation and they also want (or require) you to stay in touch with them after you take the puppy home - that is a great sign that you have found a responsible breeder. And chances are they will be a help to you for the life of that dog.

Talented Teddy!

2010-02-20T20:18:00.001-06:00

I am remiss.... Teddy finished his Novice Agility title last month!! He's just one leg away from his Novice Jumpers and FAST titles too. Now that he's "got it" he and Ronnie are turning into a fab team!!

Going over the A-frame

The dogwalk

The weave poles

Finally getting to run and JUMP!!

Dad's home!

2010-02-18T20:15:00.000-06:00

This doesn't need much of a caption, does it?? ;-)

Happy Birthday!!

2010-02-02T23:10:00.002-06:00

Today is Number Eight for Kinsey and her sister Aeryn!!

They had a quiet celebration at home with some ice cream...

Thoughts on spaying my dog

2009-12-19T22:28:00.004-06:00

Topper is doing absolutely great, and thank you for everyone who sent good wishes. The surgery was uneventful, as they say. If you are in the D/FW area, I can't recommend Drs Patty and Gregg Weber of All Care Veterinary Hospital enough. They have cared for my pets for almost 25 years now, and they are the best!!

But at 4 years old, Topper definitely had a more difficult time post-surgery than a younger dog would have. We are fortunate nowadays that we have a lot of excellent medications available to control pain in our animals, and between the Metacam and the Tramadol I don't think my girl was too uncomfortable those first few days.

But it did make me think...

In the past, I often got my female dogs spayed quite young - usually around 6 months of age. This is still a commonly recommended age for a spay and one of the reasons for that must be that pups DO heal a lot faster. A "spay" (i.e. ovariohysterectomy) is a major surgery after all. A 6 or 7 month old bitch often acts nearly normal the day after her spay. Whereas with Topper and her mother Kinsey (who was also 4 when she was spayed) it took a lot longer. They weren't incapacitated - they were able to walk within a few hours after the surgery, and were drinking water that night and eating by the next morning. But it was about 3 -4 days before they showed any real interest in playing or engaging in "normal" activity. Such as, in Topper's case, barking at the neighbors. *Sigh*

Obviously, if a bitch has the potential to be good enough to breed and her owner is willing to go through all the expense and hard work of raising a litter of puppies then there is no doubt that spaying her must be delayed - if it is done at all.

But for the bitch who won't or shouldn't be bred - should she be spayed at a young age? Some research indicates that spaying before she reaches maturity may not be the healthiest option and may even shorten her life. Here is the original article. This of course, is in contrast to evidence that spaying at an earlier age is best because it prevents certain cancers.

This position statement from the Society for Theriogenology (vets who are reproductive specialists) lays out both the pros and cons pretty well.

In my experience, there hasn't been a lot of difference. The two oldest Danes I've had to date (both died during their 11th year) were both spayed females. One was spayed at about 6 or 7 months, but I think she may have had a heat cycle - she was my first Dane and that was in 1976 so I don't remember the details. The other was spayed when she was about 18 months old.

Of course, there are some situations where I believe early spaying is always definitely indicated - such as when the puppy belongs to an owner who is unwilling or unable to responsibly care for an intact bitch. I believe that ALL female dogs adopted out of shelters or rescues should be spayed before going to their new homes - assuming they are healthy enough. If they aren't healthy enough and spaying must be delayed, those new homes should be screened extra carefully. Keeping an intact bitch from becoming accidentally impregnated isn't really that difficult, but it DOES require more knowledge than many pet owners possess.

But for knowledgeable pet owners there is no clear answer. Research into long-term negative effects of surgical sterilization is a relatively new field in veterinary medicine and it is possible that we are on the cusp of an upheaval no less dramatic than the uproar over vaccination protocols a few years ago. But there is also no doubt that there are negative aspects to delaying a major surgical procedure at least as regards recovery time and patient comfort.

If I had a puppy girl that I knew I wasn't ever going to be breeding, I'm not sure what I would do. One possible solution that I think is pretty exciting is having an ovariectomy done instead - this doesn't solve the problem of the removal of the hormones if they are needed for normal growth & development, but it is a less risky and possibly a less painful surgery. It might be a great choice for an older bitch - but I elected not to have this done with Topper because of her inherited risk of pyometra.

Ultimately, I hope that more responsible pet owners just do a little thinking, a little research before getting their pets spayed and neutered and make the most educated decision they can as to when to get these procedures done.

Lapful of Stripes!

2009-12-12T09:18:00.003-06:00

I love this picture:
It's Dakota's daddy Keeper sitting on a friend's lap. The camera perspective is hilarious - he's a big dog but not THAT big!! But this is a very typical Dane behavior - they are tall enough that they can just sit on a chair or couch while the front feet stay on the ground.

Our dogs do this sort of thing all the time... so much so that I have thought about changing our answering machine message to "Barb and Ronnie are home, but have giant dogs in their laps right now and can't get up to get the phone. We will call you back when the dogs decide to move."

Snip, Snip

2009-12-07T22:14:00.004-06:00

Well, Topper is going under the knife tomorrow morning. I am a little sad about it...she is a WONDERFUL dog - smart and friendly. She's beautiful too, although that is somewhat less important than other factors.

When we bred her mother Kinsey, my main hope was that we would get a nice brindle girl. And we did! Topper is a lovely girl. But we have decided not to breed her.

I know that no dog is perfect... but it has become evident that there are too many reproductive problems with the females in this family. Kinsey had to have a C-section to have her puppies - although thanks to careful monitoring we were alerted to that fact long before either Kinsey or her puppies were in any distress, so everyone survived just fine. Later Kinsey had an open pyometra which was successfully treated, but then after she recovered from that we had her spayed.

Since then, Topper's grandmother, aunt and a couple of other female relatives have had pyometra, and some of them died. Although any intact female can develop a uterine infection, it is actually not that common and most intact bitches live their whole lives without any problems. But it seems to be more common than the norm with this family. A LOT more common. And pyometra can be a killer.

So although Topper herself has never had pyo, she is getting spayed in the morning. I am a little sad that we won't be breeding her... but I will be relieved that I won't have to worry about her developing a dangerous infection.

This is what responsible breeders do - we try to only breed the very best dogs that we can. Getting titles and championships, and getting health clearances is only part (although a very important part) of the puzzle. You also have to do some detective work to see what problems there are in the pedigree - and there will always be something. It might be something "fixable" by carefully selecting future mates. Or it might be something so catastrophic that the only solution is to scrap your entire breeding program. This is somewhere in between - important enough to decide to never breed Topper.

But the males in the bloodline produce daughters that do NOT have these problems, which is why we got Dakota. She is the daughter of Topper's brother Keeper. I don't want to make it sound like we got Dakota just to breed her... we got her because it was time for us to start the next generation and we needed to have a puppy in training. Besides, it is too early to tell if she will be worthy of being bred. It all depends on how she grows up, if she passes all the health tests, etc. etc. etc.

But we are hopeful!

And in the meantime, send good thoughts for Topper. She's gonna need a LOT of TLC in the next few days! Poor baby...

Ebony and Ivory

2009-12-05T22:23:00.005-06:00

Well, maybe not... but these two Danes of a different color sure get along swell.

The Harlequin is Riddle, an 8 month old pup who belongs to a friend of ours. Riddle stayed here this evening because she's going with us to a show in the morning.

Her owner will pick her up tomorrow, and I know one brindle puppy who is going to be very sad to see her go! They have had a wonderful day.

Getting acquainted.

Shall we dance?

And so it began...

And into the night...

They actually are still playing now at 10:30 pm. I am going to have to put them to bed in their crates if any of us is going to get some sleep!!

Hooey

2009-12-02T10:00:00.005-06:00

I started leaving this response in the comments section, but then decided to make a new post so maybe more people would see it.

Anonymous wrote:

I just don't understand the human concept or mindset of butchering dogs ears, not necessary folks. And I will hope that these pups are from highly responsible breeders. As one that has rescued/fosterd many Great Danes, there are too many waiting for homes, they may not be the puppy stage, but they have paid their dues and deserve a real life. Go Rescue and Shelter folks and save a life.

Well Anonymous (from Huntington Beach, CA >:-)) I wish you had the guts to sign your post. I could remove your comment - and maybe I should since it just reflects the kind of unthinking knee-jerk rhetoric found with people who... well, with people who don't have the guts to sign their posts!

But I'm going to respond because this sort of rhetoric is catchy, and I do know people who are normally smart and thoughtful who get caught up in it anyway just because they don't take the time to do a little research or critical thinking.

First, as to the "butchery" - give me a huge break. We use a great vet to do our ear crops, very safe anesthetic protocols, and excellent pain management afterward. The pups recover almost instantly - and since puppies are not exactly known for being stoic, I can only assume that a puppy who is bouncing and playing and acting like a little devil within hours of waking up from the surgery is NOT suffering! Once the ears are healed, the process of taping to brace them erect is not uncomfortable (or should not be, I'm working on a post about ear taping) and is just another grooming activity that the pup learns is actually an OK thing. Like being brushed, having feet and mouth handled, etc, etc.

Maybe not everyone takes as much care to be sure their puppy doesn't suffer during the process but that doesn't mean the procedure itself is cruel. That would be like saying that just because some people use cruel training methods that no one should train a dog, or just because some owners are negligent or abusive then no one should own a pet.

But mostly I want to address your reference to the "don't breed or buy while shelter pets die" type hooey.

First, if you had read some of my other posts or looked at my web site, you would know that A) yes these pups DO come from a very ethical breeder who brought them into the world with great care and planning and who will be responsible for them forever.

And B) you would know that I have volunteered for Rescue for 25+ years, have fostered more than 70 Danes in my home during that time and donated thousands of hours on the phone, hundreds of transportation miles, and God only knows how many dollars toward the effort of finding homes for needy dogs. I don't do this because I feel "guilty" about having bred a litter or about buying puppies from responsible breeders - I do it for the same reasons that responsible breeders have been doing rescue all along (did you know that the modern concept of "rescue" was INVENTED by responsible breeders??) - I do it because I love this breed so much that I don't want to see any of them suffer, even those that I am in no way responsible for.

There are two reasons I say the "don't buy" mantra is hooey - one is partly because I DO believe there ARE enough homes for all the adoptable dogs in shelters, IF we just try a little bit harder to reach more people. Too many communities (including poor/rural ones) have reached very low kill status to deny this. I'm not going to provide links - Google "no kill" and you'll get all the proof you need IF you are willing to open up your mind. I ALWAYS suggest adopting from rescue when I talk to someone who is thinking about adding a new dog to their household - but that is just not the best option for everyone. There really are good reasons for wanting to buy a puppy from a responsible breeder.

The second reason is, whether or not there are enough homes for all the homeless dogs - who do you want to be producing the next generation of our pets? Fact is, the irresponsible breeders will always be with us as long as there are people buying their puppies. No amount of legislation or slogans or even peer pressure will stop that.

But the responsible breeders ARE sensitive to both peer/popular pressure and to legislation. If people like you convince them to stop breeding then the only pets available will have come from the other kind of breeder. I, for one, love this breed MUCH too much to leave its future in the hands of people who breed only for profit or out of carelessness. Our ONLY hope of improving the overall health and longevity of this beautiful breed - while keeping their sweet nature - is to let the responsible breeders work at it.

Puppy Play Day - 4 months old

2009-11-29T12:31:00.017-06:00

Yesterday we took Dakota to my friend Karen's house for a play date with her litter brother Finder. The owner of another littermate was able to come over too, so I got to see her brother Traveler again.

The pups had a wonderful time, of course! And as expected, Dakota did her energizer bunny bit and wore everybody out.

But she did sleep after we got home, and is still a bit quiet today. So we have discovered what it takes to tire her out...

Four and a half solid hours of this:

All 3 pups are brindle so it can be hard to tell them apart: Traveler is the darker brindle with the blue collar and natural ears. Dakota has a pink collar and no tape on her ears*. Finder's ears are taped up and he has a purple collar.

With some of this:

And more of this:

Then things would slow down a little:

This one completely cracks me up!! I think Dakota is holding Finder down until he says "Uncle"!

Then they would pick up again:
There were a few breaks for visiting with the humans present:

The two boys eventually settled down:

- you may notice that Dakota is in all of the play photos even though usually only one of the boys is involved - they took turns resting but she was always ready to go! This was the only still photo I got of her all afternoon:
A good time was had by all, as they say.

*I'll write a post soon on ear taping since a lot of people ask me how I do it. The reason Dakota's weren't taped is that this fell on a "rest" day - normally the ears stay taped up for a week or so, then the tapes are removed for a day or two, repeat. Her ears are standing very well, but start to droop after a few days so they still need to be taped. I think she should be done in another few weeks though.
And yes, Traveler's ears are taped down. There is no sticky against his throat, there are 2 pieces of tape sticky side to sticky side attached to the ear tips. One of his ears had started to go wonky (sticking up and twisting) which can happen when a puppy is teething. This is a simple and comfortable way to correct that. If natural ears have to be taped it usually only has to be done once - you just leave the tape on until it starts to come off, usually a couple of weeks.

Playing With Fire

2009-11-25T22:33:00.005-06:00

We have a lounge chair on our deck that Kinsey really likes to lay on. She can survey her territory in perfect comfort. It is, for all intents and purposes, her lounge chair.

Not even Topper gets on it.

So the other day, who did I see on the lounge chair?

This looks nice!

What?! I don't see anyone's name on it!

I will sit here if I feel like it!! I will also bark at you!!

I think I'll just settle down for a nice nap...

So now she lays on it every morning. So far Kinsey is being very gracious about sharing. We will see if that lasts...

Quickies

2009-11-21T10:41:00.002-06:00

Teddy is much, much, MUCH better! Thanks for all the well wishes. Now he is mostly bored because he's not allowed to do any full-contact play (or much of anything that is too lively).

Things I Have Removed From Dakota's Mouth This Morning:
- a rock
- a bolt clip
- a small ziploc baggie, empty
- another small rock
- a cable tie (zip tie)
- a dirt clod
- a leather leash
- a sock
- toy stuffing. She didn't pull it out, she's really not destructive with her toys. I think her Uncle Teddy pulled it out for her - he is DEATH on toys!!

I have no idea where she found most of this stuff. Well, she brought the rocks and the dirt in from outdoors, she ran into the closet to get the sock when I went in the bedroom for something, and pulled the leash off the dining room table... but I don't know where she found the other things.

Maybe I should just sit here and let her de-clutter my house for me!! She seems to be very good at finding stray items!

I just heard a *thump*, and she's come trotting very self-importantly into the den. Gotta go see what she's found NOW.

Good thoughts for Teddy!

2009-11-16T23:46:00.000-06:00

We are taking a break from the puppy cuteness - Teddy hurt his neck somehow either last night or this morning. It rapidly got worse, as these things do when the muscle spasms set in and overshadow the original source of pain.

I don't know how he did it, but I suspect that there was too much hilarity yesterday evening when he and Kinsey got back (with my hubby Ronnie) from an agility trial in Arkansas. At which he did great by the way - got another leg toward his Standard title with a first place!

But anyway, Teddy had some excess energy from the trip - and his sister Topper was REALLY excited to see him and they played pretty hard for a while. I think Ted just landed wrong, or maybe zigged when he should have zagged... either way, by this morning he was one unhappy pup.

So he got an adjustment, and is on anti-inflammatories and feels somewhat better already. Still very sad though - here he is with his ice pack:

He'll have to be quiet for a few days, and will have to miss the agility trial this weekend. But hopefully he will be back to normal in a couple of weeks.

But no more of this for a long time:

Dakota 14 weeks

2009-11-16T00:01:00.004-06:00

These photos were taken the end of October/beginning November.

First, she is on a completely raw diet now. Even though she's getting bigger she's still got those little (and sharp!) baby teeth, so she just gets small RMBs like chicken wings. And boy does she like them!!

Crunch, crunch, crunch

Things seemed to be happening quickly that week - she hit a few small milestones at the same time:

I got into this chair all by myself...

...But I still can't quite get on the couch!

The next day after I took the picture above, I saw that she wasn't able to fit through the gap in the kitchen baby gate - at least not without a LOT of wiggling!

What the... This gate seems to have shrunk!

But there were compensations... that same evening she achieved her goal!

Taaaa-daaaa!! Finally, I made it up on the couch!
Now put that damn camera away and let me sleep.

Dakota 10 - 12 weeks

2009-11-15T14:32:00.004-06:00

One of her first goals was to get on the couch. Here she is at 10 weeks, still can't quite make it:

A little help here, maybe?

However, there were compensations for being small. We have a baby gate across our kitchen door which has a gap to allow our little dog Sport to pass through. I had a lot of trouble keeping fresh water out for him otherwise - there is apparently nothing a Dane likes better than drinking water out of a tiny bowl! So his water is in the kitchen where only he has access to it. Until Dakota came along, that is... She's about 12 weeks old here.

La la la, I can go in, and I can come out...

One day in mid October we had a repairman out for our AC (here in Texas it is still warm in October!) I put up a baby gate - can NOT live without baby gates!! - otherwise the dogs would all be sticking their heads in the middle of whatever the repairman was trying to do. Some of us have learned to do things - like tying shoes!! - with one or more big Dane noses in the way, but not everyone has developed those skills. After talking to the repairman, I walked back toward the den to check on the dogs - this is what I saw:

Later I found Dakota trying to escape:

Just.... a.....little....farther

Finally, THIS is a very typical picture - I've learned to keep the camera strap out of the way:

Dakota 9 weeks

2009-11-15T13:59:00.005-06:00

Dakota turned 16 weeks old a few days ago!! My how time flies... and my how negligent I've been about posting news and photos of her!!

I'll start catching up, in more or less chronological order so you can see how she's grown.

Remember how freaked out her uncle Teddy was when she first came here? He's gotten over it, and they play sometimes. He tends to get too rough, so their play is very supervised but sometimes it works out great - Dakota was about 9 weeks old here:

Yes, we got her ears cropped - and yes I know it's an unnecessary surgery.

But you know what? Most of the surgeries we impose on our pets are not medically necessary - I'm including 99% of all spaying & neutering. Doing a surgery to reduce the future possibility of illness that may or may not occur does NOT make it medically necessary, or even always a good idea.

At least the ear crop isn't a major surgery, nor will it have any impact on her growth and development. With the anesthetics and pain medications we have now, it is possible to keep the pups very, very comfortable after the surgery. The photos above were taken the next day after her ear crop. It didn't slow her down at all!

Oh, the Cuteness!

2009-10-15T03:49:00.008-05:00

I am so far behind on posting pictures of our new little girl! She is rapidly becoming "not so little" of course...

Here are photos from the first couple of weeks after we brought her home, when she was 8 and 9 weeks old. She just turned 12 weeks, and has changed a lot! Fear not, I take pictures of her practically every day - just haven't downloaded them yet.

We are getting ready to go to the Dane National Specialty so I may not get a chance to post again for a few weeks, but in the meantime enjoy the precious cuteness!!

Look at that FACE!! She was 8 weeks old here.

Crazy puppy

I think she already knows what a camera is for... it's for HER!!

Trying to get into the chair... can't quite do it yet.

Pretty sit. She is 9 weeks old here, look how different she looks already than she did just a week earlier!

Kisses for Aunt Topper

I took this photo of Dakota and Ronnie mostly just to show how tiny she is. It looks like she is heeling with him!!

But when you look more closely you can see that she's just trying to bite his leg!!
Puppy attack!!

More puppy pics

2009-09-20T12:37:00.005-05:00

... or maybe not! Blogger isn't letting me upload more photos right now. More to come soon!

In the meantime, let me just say that Dakota is a hoot! We are having a great time with her, and she is such a good puppy!

The other dogs aren't quite so enthusiastic however. Aeryn likes her the best, but since Aeryn has some balance issues we have to be careful she doesn't step on or fall on the puppy.

Kinsey, Topper and little Sport are tolerant but avoid her as much as possible. ZB (the cat) was absolutely appalled at first but has now realized that Dakota will back off when she hisses and raises her paw ready to smack.

And Teddy? Big ol, 150-pounds-of-solid-muscle Teddy?

He was scared of her!!

Not a total shocker there, actually ZB has him buffaloed and regularly chases him around the house. He is calming down about Dakota, getting better every day and even made some play moves yesterday but he plays rough so he won't be allowed real access to her until she's quite a bit older and bigger.

But a funny story - a few days ago the puppy was outside and I wanted to bring her back in. Teddy was in the den, just on the other side of the patio door and rather than try to get him out or sneak her past him, I just put him in the crate by the door where she has been sleeping.

He's been in this crate literally thousands of times - it's where he stayed when he was little, and we have kept it up since he (or one of the other dogs) often likes to go in it to nap.

So I expected him to go in and lie down like he always does.

He went in just fine, but stood there. In a few minutes I noticed and looked to see what was wrong. The bedding was clean, there wasn't anything in the way but he was now plastered against the side of the crate, still standing and looking very, very sad.

Then I realized what it was:

Puppy Cooties!!

He didn't want to lie on the bed that smelled like the puppy!!

Sorry to say this Teddy boy... but you are a wuss!!

Grandpuppers

2009-09-20T12:15:00.004-05:00

Well of course we got one of the "grandpuppies" - how could we not?

I've been a very regular visitor since they were born. I've taken tons of pictures, but haven't been good about keeping up with the blog here.

So let's have some puppy pictures, shall we?

Here is one of the brindle boys at 14 days.

The two fawn girls, 14 days.

I LOVE this picture... this is not their mother, but their Grandma Cami!! She sneaked into the box when their mama Jazz was taking a break! The best thing of all? Both Cami and Jazz are so mellow that there was no fighting, no jealousy, no stress - they both enjoyed taking care of the puppies. That is HUGE - with most mother dogs, if any other dog (even her mother or some other dog she knew very well) came near the pups there would be bloodshed. Or, sometimes another female will try to steal puppies from a nursing mother - that can also lead to serious fighting.

This is our little girl, 21 days old and just getting a hang of this walking business.

24 days old, and you can see how much more confident they are on their feet in just a few days. This is one of the brindle boys on the right, with a fawn girl in the foreground left and Dakota in the background left.

New kid in town

2009-09-20T12:11:00.004-05:00

Where has the time gone? It's been 6 weeks since my last post!

Oh, I think this is why:

Meet Dakota!!

I'm a Grandma!!

2009-07-30T16:16:00.005-05:00

... at least in the sense that one of my "puppies" has become a Father!!

Keeper was chosen by Kinsey's breeder Vicki to sire a litter for her lovely girl Jazz - you can see photos and other details of both parents (including health information) on our web site.

Keeper is pretty pleased with himself!!

But for now, puppy pictures!!
They were born July 22. 3 brindle boys, 1 fawn boy, 2 fawn girls and 1 brindle girl.

Here they are 4 days old - the fawn boy is on the left next to his two fawn sisters and a brindle boy. If you look very closely you can see another brindle puppy under the pig rail* on the far left - you can just see his or her leg sticking out.

Here are 3 of the brindles - the girl is at the bottom of the picture and two of the brindle boys are in the top part of the photo.

*A "pig rail" is a shelf built into the sides of a whelping box used for large breeds - the puppies are so small in relation to the size of the mother that it would be easy for her to squash one so the rail gives the pups a safe space around the edges.

Mirror image Monday

2009-06-01T01:35:00.003-05:00

Aren't they handsome boys (If I say so myself) (And I do, every chance I get!!)?

That is Gus on the left, and Teddy on the right. This was taken a few weeks ago when Gus was spending the weekend with us. They are waiting for cookies as you've probably guessed.

I also think it's cool that two intact, 3.5 year old males who don't see each other all that often get along so well.

These are the two boys that Ronnie showed in Brace in Tulsa a couple of years ago, and pretty much clobbered the competition - I wrote about it here and here.

This is not a Great Dane!!

2009-05-23T12:15:00.011-05:00

Not A Great Dane

I will take a break from HSUS-bashing (no matter how richly deserved) for a little canine news.

While my brother and his family are out of town, we're taking care of their two Border Collies Sean and Allie.

We've done this many times over the years so we're used to the ~~insanity~~ activity of the typical BC. At first, the BCs figured that the Danes must be some sort of livestock, so they attempted to herd them. That usually didn't work so well and now they've pretty much given up on Daneherding and the pack gets along very well.

But Sean has a new obsession: ZB the cat. When Sean was a youngster, he ~~got his ass beat by~~ had a couple of run-ins with an old cat I had at the time and the result was that he is convinced that cats are EVIL. So now that we have ZB he spends all his time giving her the eye.

If I take my eyes off the cat she will do something!

Oh My God! She's in the house!

Watch out - she's right out there!*

*No cats were harmed in the making of this blog. If Sean is loose when ZB is in the same room, he's on a leash to be sure he doesn't get carried away and tries to nip her. Most of the time they are separated so that they both can relax.

The only thing that really takes Sean's mind off of the evil cat is his big purple ball.

He loooooves his big purple ball!!

Allie's obsession is simpler: FOOD. When she's outside, she spends a lot of time searching for crumbs on the deck near where the Danes eat.

Snarf snarf snarf

When she's inside she spends a lot of time trying to get into our kitchen (the gap in the baby gate is for little Sport, so he has access to water that the big dogs don't constantly suck dry. What is it about water in little bowls, that is so irresistible to big dogs? The water in their big buckets is just as fresh, it gets changed once or twice a day just like Sport's water. But the "little" water is always better.)

So close... I can almost fit through...

Let me in pleeeeeease? I'm old and I need food!

Just another weekend at Camp Symmetry!

WATCH THIS VIDEO QUICK!!

2009-05-22T22:59:00.004-05:00

Since I am a techno-dweeb and don't know how to embed video, go to this link to watch this video:

http://foryourentertainment.blogspot.com/2009/05/more-on-hsus.html

and then come back.

It's a short video. I'll wait.

Lalalalalalalalalalaaaa...

All done? Hopefully you got to see it.* If you did, and you've been paying attention to things that I and other animal welfare types have written, it won't surprise you. The multi-million HSUS, the "Humane Society of the UNITED STATES", does not in fact run, operate or even support one single actual animal shelter in the entire United States.

Not. One.

This WILL, however, be news to most of the well-meaning people who donate to HSUS. Who maybe don't read animal welfare blogs but who DO watch the evening news. And who thought all their hard-earned dollars were going to actually help feed and shelter animals in need.

*But you might not have gotten to see the video. See, this was a story broadcast by ABC Channel 2 in Atlanta over a week ago. After broadcast, the video was up on the station's web site and also on YouTube.

A few days later, the video was mysteriously pulled from both the station's web site and from YouTube. Other web sites (here's another one) which had the video or a transcript posted were contacted by the station and asked to remove them.

However, in none of these communications did the station indicate that there was any mistake. They didn't issue a retraction or a correction or an apology, which is the normal course of events if a mistake is made.

HSUS hasn't denied any of the allegations made in the video.

But perhaps they have managed to intimidate the station into removing the video anyway?

Today I got this email from PetPac:

Today the ABC Atlanta news story exposing the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) questionable fundraising practices became even more controversial when the station contacted PetPAC demanding we take down the transcript of the story.

The story appeared on Channel 2 in Atlanta over a week ago and soon after HSUS apparently initiated a campaign to cover up the story from being told.

The video of the news story was mysteriously taken down from the station’s archives and You Tube, most likely the result of HSUS demands.

Why the cover up? The investigative report exposed how HSUS raises hundreds of millions of dollars but contributes virtually nothing to help support local animal shelters as their solicitations often seem to imply.

Here’s a transcript of the news story sent to us by a member. We believe the United States Constitution guarantees our freedom of political speech to send this to you.

The power of an organization which raises hundreds of millions of dollars like HSUS is immense. If they are trying to cover up this story, we simply would like to know why. We look forward to hearing their side of the story, but to date they have not issued a denial of the investigative report exposing their suspect fundraising practices.

We will continue to keep you informed.

Sincerely,

Bill Hemby
Chairman

The plot grows ever thicker. But they can't come after us all - although I don't know how to embed the video, here is a transcript I made so you can see what all the fuss is about in case the video gets pulled from the link above:

Where Humane Society Donations Really Go

Posted: 4:03 pm EDT May 14, 2009Updated: 4:20 pm EDT May 14, 2009

ATLANTA --

ANCHOR: "A Channel 2 investigation is looking into millions of dollars in donations given to the Humane Society of the United States.

A national consumer organization says HSUS solicits pet-lovers for money, but little to none of that money ever goes to help local shelters.

Channel 2's Amanda Rosseter is here now with more."

ROSSETER: "Well John, HSUS admits the majority of its money does not go to shelters but says it does a lot more to help animals in other ways around the world.

Critics say HSUS intentionally misleads consumers just to get donations."

Narration from HSUS ad: "These dogs survived the wretched conditions of a puppy mill."

David Marposko of the Center for Consumer Freedom:"It's very deceptive."

HSUS Ad Narration: We are the voice for those who don't have one of their own."

Rosseter over the ad narration: This is the HSUS, the Humane Society of the Untied States, reaching out for donations from animal lovers.

HSUS Ad: "For just 19 dollars a month, you can..."

Trey Burley of PAWS Atlanta: “They do their marketing very well, that's for sure.”

Rosseter: "But you might be surprised to learn there's virtually no connection with your local humane society.

Critics say the national organization takes advantage of people who think they are giving to local shelters. DeKalb's PAWS shelter says there is certainly no regular funding help from the $100 million HSUS budget."

Burley: “I think that some of the folks who donate to the national organizations may be under the false pretense - by no fault of their own - they may be under the false pretense that that money is going to a local cause.”

Rosseter: "And while the HSUS does work to stop puppy mills like this one in Tennessee, it also gets media coverage and donations doing it; but the puppies then go to local shelters who then have to pay and care for them."

Richard Rice, GM of the Atlanta Humane Society:“They may have the resources to initialize a rescue, but again the animals go into a local shelter somewhere in the country.”

Rosseter: "Critics say HSUS also takes advantage of high-profile events. After hurricane Katrina, HSUS CEO Wayne Pacelle promised on national television to reunite pets with their owners—and raised $34 million for the cause; but public disclosures of where that money went add up to less than $7 million.

The Louisiana attorney general launched an 18-month-long investigation, and then ended it when HSUS offered to build the state a new shelter.

The HSUS annual report for 2007 showed $120 million in revenue, including $5.4 million just from online donors.

Then there's $112 million in expenses -- most of which appears to have gone to legislation for animal rights bills. Here's that list as well, it includes raccoons, mice, wild horses, burros and primates.

So where does all the money go?"

Marposko: “It goes to lobbying, it goes to political contributions, it goes to pay huge staff salaries and benefits."

Rosseter: "So we went to a local HSUS meeting to find out, and the two hour discussion was about activist plans and lobbying. The Georgia director for the HSUS agrees that’s mostly what she does."

Cheryl McAuliffe, Georgia Director for HSUS: “I think that in all of our literature, it is very explicit as to what our campaigns are and what we are doing. We help where we can and focus on our programs, which are national and international.”

Rasseter: "McAuliffe said there are just too many local shelters to help."

McAuliffe: “I always tell people, contribute to your local shelter first.”

Rosseter: "Now late this morning we received an email from HSUS pointing out that it has donated $6 million to shelters nationwide. However, a few weeks ago we called more than two dozen shelters here in metro Atlanta and we were told that the only time they get money from HSUS is for reimbursement for rescuing animals during a natural disaster."

Makes you wanna go "hmmmmmmm....."

More about HSUS - the Hypocrisy Society of the US

2009-02-20T00:38:00.004-06:00

Here's a press release from Best Friends about the killing of the dogs in North Carolina, which explains the role of the HSUS in this matter even more clearly. (Thanks to Fred at One Bark at a Time for the link).

"Ledy VanKavage, an attorney with Best Friends Animal Society, said, 'We are disheartened and shocked that HSUS, a leader in the animal welfare community, would testify in court for the automatic destruction of puppies and dogs who had NOT [emphasis mine] been given the opportunity to be evaluated as individuals, based on [HSUS’s] policy. The Michael Vick dogs have proven how antiquated this approach is.' ”

To add insult to injury, the HSUS has been caught before using dogfighting busts as fundraising events, insinuating that they are actually helping to care for the dogs, rather than campaigning to have them killed. Here is a screen cap of a page from their web site that was put up after the Vick dogs were seized, asking for money to "help care for the dogs". This page was quickly pulled when it was proven that the HSUS was in no way helping to care for any of the Vick dogs.

My advice? Don't donate your money to any of these huge, wealthy animal rights organizations... not if you are interested in actually protecting or caring for any actual animals. Donate to your local shelter or rescue instead! And you don't have to donate cash if you don't have it... donations of things like old blankets and towels are usually appreciated. Better yet, donate your time and offer to help out!

But don't send a dime to HSUS or PETA.

HSUS Exposed

2009-02-19T23:01:00.006-06:00

Dig the cool widget in my sidebar that I just got from FrogDog - it references the latest and possibly most shameful case of the HSUS successfully pushing for the killing of all dogs seized in a dogfighting bust without giving any of them a chance...can you say "blame the victims"? We're not proposing that anyone starts adopting truly dangerous dogs into the community - what we want is to have each dog FAIRLY evaluated and - when appropriate - placed with a knowledgeable rescue.

But on many occasions the HSUS - the very organization that most people associate with animal protection - has pushed to kill every dog seized from a dogfighting bust. Even though the Michael Vick dogs have proven that even dogs "bred to fight" can be rehabilitated.

When it comes to killing dogs, Michael Vick doesn't have anything on the HSUS.
(Or PETA, for that matter. But that's another story.)

What was so particularly disturbing about this case was that there were several litters of puppies born after the dogs were seized, and even those babies were killed. Never mind that EVERYONE who knows ANYTHING about dogs understands that a dog's upbringing, early socialization and training are the most important predictors of that dog's behavior as an adult. Since these dogs had several knowledgeable groups offering to take them, evaluate them, and rehabilitate them - free of charge to the Wilkes Co. Animal control - those puppies had a shot at a GREAT start in life. But it didn't happen that way.

Selma at Caveat has a superb outline here of what the HSUS is really all about:
Time to Take the 'Humane' Out of HSUS

I know this post is turning out to be a blogger's equivalent of a clip show - but there are so many people out there who have done a really excellent job of uncovering and explaining the facts that I can't possibly do it better.

I'll leave you with a short article written by someone who - unlike John Goodwin of the HSUS - really IS an expert on evaluating and training pit bulls, even those with a fighting background:
The High Cost of Being a Victim

Regarding the Dewclaw

2009-02-08T23:18:00.006-06:00

I have had many dogs with front dewclaws (the "thumbs") and many who had their dewclaws removed in infancy. I've never really noticed much difference one way or another. During my tenure as a vet tech we'd see dogs with broken or torn dewclaws every now and then although it wasn't a common injury. But they were difficult to treat, mostly because of the difficulty in preventing the dog from licking the area compulsively.

One advantage of having a dog with no dewclaws is that it means two fewer nails to trim - and although my crew is good about that, it still saves a bit of time on each dog.

Kinsey and her sister Aeryn had their dewclaws removed shortly after they were born, so I really wasn't concerned about having the dewclaws removed from Kinsey's pups when they were two days old.

However, since then (that litter turned 3 last summer) I've learned about some of the cons of dewclaw removal in performance dogs. Chris Zink, DVM is a veterinarian and consultant about canine sports medicine and she is a big proponent of leaving front dewclaws where they are.

She says they are important to prevent torque on the foreleg, and to maintain the integrity of the carpal joint. Specifically in her article With a Flick of the Wrist she says: "In the canter, there is a moment during each stride when the dog's accessory carpal pad (on the back of the carpus) of the lead front leg touches the ground and the rear legs and other front leg swing forward to prepare for the next stride. At this point, the dewclaw is in contact with the ground and if the dog turns, the dewclaw can dig in for extra traction to prevent unnecessary torque on the front leg. Without the gripping action of the dog's 'thumbs’ there is more stress on the ligaments of the carpus. This may cause the ligaments to stretch and tear over time, resulting in joint laxity and ultimately, arthritis."

I have actually been a little skeptical about this. Of course, I understand that at speed and/or when turning, a dog's pasterns extend just like a horse's do and will drop low to the ground to absorb shock. But I photograph and film my dogs a lot, and have never seen anything near to the degree of pastern extension she's talking about. The thought of that dewclaw actually touching the ground seems sort of unlikely.

And then I ran across this photo from a bunch I took of Kinsey at an agility trial a few months ago:It's not a great photo and I was about to discard it when I took another look:

The red circle is about where her dewclaw would be if she had one. And, yes, it does look like it would be contacting the ground if it were there.

I'm still not totally convinced... "touching" the ground isn't the same thing as "digging in" and it doesn't look to me like her pastern is THAT extended.

But it sure gives me something to think about.

Brotherly love

2009-02-02T20:09:00.002-06:00

I'm finally getting around to downloading and organizing some photos and found this one of Buck (littermate to our Teddy and Topper) and his little "brother" Doc at our house last fall. Buck's owners are the GREATEST and they rarely travel anywhere that they can't take their dogs - but when they do we get to babysit :-) Fortunately all the dogs get along very well - they really are a mellow bunch for all the trouble they seem to be able to get into!

Doc was probably about 4 months old here... he's a LOT bigger now but still awfully cute! :-)

Happy New Year! I'm Tagged!

2009-01-01T20:45:00.004-06:00

Happy 2009, everybody!

And to start the year off with something fun, I've been tagged by Never Say Never Greyhounds (which is a wonderful blog by an awesome woman who competes at the highest levels in obedience and agility with her Greyhounds) to find the sixth picture in the sixth album of my picture folders and post it. Then tag six other blogs after explaining what is in the picture.

So here's the sixth picture from the sixth photo album:

How appropriate is that? And what are the odds that it would be a photo of... say, a Great Dane?? :-)

This is Topper, and was taken last summer. We were doing a lot of remodeling, hence the painter's tape on the window and the missing wall panel. Actually that panel was pulled to experiment with stain since we had to replace about 8 of those boards and then try to match the old with the new.

I do love this photo - complete with all the upside-down snarly goodness!

Now, I'll tag:
A Peach Livin' In the Evergreens
Dogs Deserve Freedom
One Bark At A Time
Smartdogs' Weblog
Splash's Training Diary
Strawberry Cup-Kate

The Feline Purrsuasion

2008-12-27T17:30:00.008-06:00

Posting photos of your cat is supposed to be the blogging equivalent of jumping the shark... but I'm doing it anyway since we actually adopted ZB last spring and although I've written a little about her I just noticed that I hadn't ever posted any pictures of her.

It's been so lovely to have a cat again!! She gets along great with all the dogs - and I'm very, very proud of our dogs for how well they've adapted to her. She does get a lot of the credit, because she's just fearless. If a cat doesn't hiss and run when a dog approaches, the dog is much less likely to try to chase the cat!

This is the first photo I took of her after we started letting her into the house.

Here she is sleeping on the bed with Kinsey

Here's a closeup - I told you she was comfortable with the dogs!!

Flat cat

This is a pretty typical scene at feeding time. Except she's not always this patient, and will sometimes start knocking things off the counter if the food doesn't start appearing quickly enough.

She's even taken well to eating a raw diet! Although I've been feeding a raw diet to our dogs for about 10 years, I didn't switch my cats over back then. They were old, and healthy and it was partly a case of "if it's not broke, don't fix it" and partly that they were totally not interested in raw food. From what I've been told and have read, this is very common - switching dogs to raw food is usually pretty easy but switching cats can be very difficult.

But not ZB - she will eat pretty much anything. I started out feeding her pretty much the same thing I was feeding the dogs, but just adding more heart since that is a good source of the taurine that is so important for cats. And about one meal a day - or every other day - she got some grain-free canned cat food just to cover the bases. But now I've found a good recipe for homemade cat food, and she's getting that and is doing fabulously well.

The only thing that really has been a challenge has been making her into an "inside only" cat. She enjoys being outside - and admittedly she survived out there for at least 3 or 4 months while we were teaching the dogs that she was not to be chased - but it's just not worth the risk unless we're watching her. I'd like to build her an enclosure - well, to be honest, I'd like Ronnie to build her an enclosure - but that hasn't happened yet. So we occasionally let her outside while we supervise, and occasionally she escapes but we get her back inside pretty quickly.

I love having a cat again!

Good Old Days

2008-12-23T22:22:00.002-06:00

I got a GPS navigator for an early Christmas present. And I love it!! Even though I didn't think I needed one...

I am a home health therapist so I'm in the car pretty much all day long. But even though my schedule changes almost daily - it's a very common occurrence that when I'm on my way to a patient's home, I am coming from a different direction than I have before - I've never really had any trouble finding my way around.

That statement may shock people who know me because there is no doubt that I am directionally challenged. I can easily get turned around inside a home or store and forget how I came in. I can also get lost in a parking lot and have trouble figuring out how to get back on the road I came in on.

But on the road it's different. I know where I am and where I'm going, and since I'm very familiar with my area I don't have much trouble figuring out how to get from here to there. Of course I use a map to look up the address prior to the first time I go to a patient's home, but other than that I have always done fine on my own.

But having a GPS makes things SO much easier!! It takes me from one patient's home to another sometimes via routes that I wouldn't have thought of, and so far it's always worked out really well and seems very efficient. And I've set it so that it will automatically re-route me around severe traffic congestion, which is a BIG help since I'm seeing a lot of patients in Dallas lately.

It's a Navigon 2100 Max, and I really like it. I had never heard of Navigon before - I'd only heard of the Big Three brands - but it's not a no-name generic and seems to have a lot of features for the price. Text to Speech (and the speaker pronounces street names quite accurately), live traffic updates (which really was the main reason I got it in the first place), free map upgrades 4 times a year etc.

It's definitely got a "new toy" vibe and I enjoy playing with it, but it actually is making my life a bit easier. Since it's the only GPS system I've ever used, I have no idea if it's really one of the better ones on the market or not - what matters is that it's so much better than what I'm used to.

Which got me to thinking - this is like the Word Processor revolution. Remember your first word processor? If you are too young to remember a world without word processors or computers, just hush. Your first word processor could have been an absolute POS - and certainly it was much inferior to the programs we've got now - but you were absolutely thrilled with it. Because no matter how clunky or slow it was, it was a freaking miracle compared to a typewriter.

Remember making corrections on a typewriter? It's not just that there was no Spell Check (other than your faithful dictionary) - if you made a typo you had to manually fix it somehow. There were several options, all of them awful. Many typewriters had a correction ribbon that was just like a regular typewriter ribbon except it held white ink. You would type over your mistake which didn't really erase it and then when you typed the correct letter it would look a little different. Or you could paint on some Liquid Paper, blow on it until it dried and hope you hadn't daubed it on too thickly - in which case it would crack and flake off your page. They even made special erasers that were supposed to actually erase typing errors - they didn't work so great either and usually ended up smudging the paper and/or rubbing a hole in it.

And don't even talk about revisions... back when I was in high school if you were writing an essay or a report you'd write it out longhand first. If you wanted to change around words, sentences or paragraphs you'd draw a circle around them and then draw an arrow to the place you wanted to put them. If you made a lot of changes it would quickly become very difficult to read the paper at all and keep all the changes straight so you'd re-write the whole thing to see how it looked. Most of our papers could be turned in handwritten, but there were always a few "formal" papers that had to be typed. Oh, the Horror!!

Now, if you could afford it you'd hire someone to type it for you. Some people put themselves through college or made a nice second income on the money they made typing papers for students.

But if you had to type it yourself and you weren't a really accomplished typist, it was a nerve wracking experience because you were trying so hard to make as few typos as possible. And Heaven help you if, after it was all typed, you realized that you needed another revision. Or had made some major mistake. Because then you'd have to type the whole damn thing all over again.

My first word processor was just that - it wasn't a computer. I could store documents on floppy discs but it was really just a glorified typewriter. There was no mouse, you just used keyboard shortcuts to highlight, cut and paste. There were about 5 or 6 different fonts to choose from, a few different text sizes and you could italicize, bold and underline. The screen was maybe 5 or 6 inches high and 10 or 12 inches wide, and showed about a half page at a time.

And how I loved that little machine!! The unbridled joy of being able to just press a button and erase a mistake!! The thrill of moving words and sentences around without having to re-type the entire thing!! Maybe you had to be there, but believe me when I say that it was so awesome.

So although I'm sure that someday I'll look back on my Navigon and think "how quaint" - for now it ROCKS!

Daily Grind

2008-12-21T16:27:00.010-06:00

Yesterday I made about 160# of dog food.

As you may or may not know, we feed our dogs a raw homemade diet. It's really not too much trouble normally - once you learn the basic rules and also learn what works for your particular pets it's fairly easy.

A lot of people who feed raw diets don't grind anything. After all, dogs and cats come well equipped with excellent meat and bone grinders as standard equipment.

In my case, I've got several reasons for grinding meat and bones for the dogs. One is, we've got a little Shih-Tzu cross dog we inherited who is about 14 years old and missing some teeth. While he LOVES to eat meaty bones and I occasionally give him small ones, I am worried about him breaking/losing what teeth he's got left. And before you ask, yes he has had a dental and dental X-rays etc. The teeth he has are fairly sound but I tend to err on the side of caution.

Another reason - probably the main reason - is that Teddy and Topper are hopeless pansies when it comes to eating raw food. It is totally my fault: I'm their breeder, I raised them, I weaned them to raw food. That's pretty much all they've eaten their entire lives... and in the 10 years I've been feeding raw food to dogs, they are by far the PICKIEST eaters I've ever had. Teddy will eat turkey necks, and pork neck bones. Period. Topper will eat ONLY pork neck bones. Neither one of them will touch a whole piece of chicken (say a leg quarter) but they like chicken if it's ground up. They'll also eat hamburger but won't touch raw liver unless it's ground up and mixed with something they like. *Sigh*

I have nearly the opposite problem with their mother Kinsey - she's a classic gulper. She'll eat anything I give her, but I have to be careful that the pieces are big enough that she can't just swallow them down and choke.

So although they all do get whole meaty bones on a regular basis - which I believe is important to them for the psychological satisfaction and the physical exercise, not to mention the teeth cleaning - because there are so many limitations on what my crew will eat and on what I can safely give them that I grind food so I can get a bigger variety of things into them.

I used to have a little electric meat grinder from Northern Tool that is popular with people who grind food for their pets.

It worked great for a couple of years, but then finally died. I have no complaints - it's a light duty grinder made for grinding meat only (there is a sticker on it that says you're supposed to remove not only the bones before grinding, but even the skin!) and I routinely ran 40 to 50 lbs. of various chicken parts through it at a time. It was hard on the grinder, but hard on me too - there was a lot of preparation because I had to cut or chop the chicken into smallish bits so they would A) fit through the hopper, and B) not bog the machine down too much. It usually took longer to do that, than it did to grind everything up.

So when it finally perished I decided I didn't want to go through all that again. I wanted a grinder that was bigger, stronger, and - most importantly - with a strong enough motor and a large enough hopper that I didn't have to cut a chicken leg quarter into 4 or 5 pieces to get it to go through.

After some searching, we settled on the 3/4 horsepower grinder from Cabela's:

So yesterday I decided to christen the thing and went to the grocery wholesalers and got a 40# case of chicken leg quarters, and a 40# case of chicken backs. Then I went to Fiesta for a bunch of beef heart and chicken liver - and since they were having a great sale I picked up 20 more lbs. of chicken leg quarters.

Now, chicken leg quarters have a nearly perfect ratio of meat to bone naturally. Chicken backs, on the other hand, are mostly bone and some fat with the skin. But I'm fortunate enough to have a lot of Nilgai meat in the freezer courtesy of some very generous friends who are hunters.

This is a Nilgai - they have become popular as game animals in Texas

Nilgai, like most game meats, is very lean. So the fatty, bony chicken backs are a perfect addition to it as a calcium source and a fat source.

Normally, I am not this ambitious when I'm grinding food for the dogs. I think the most I've done at one time in the past was about 50 lbs. And that took about 3 hours, using my little meat grinder from Northern Tool.

So I was really, really hoping that my new grinder would do the trick. Nothing like jumping in with both feet. I unpacked it, washed the parts that come into contact with the meat, put it together and turned it on.

First surprise - it's a lot quieter than my old grinder! It's still not exactly what I'd call a stealth machine, but when I turned it off my ears weren't ringing.

So far, so good.

Let's see what it does with a chicken leg quarter.

I picked up a small one, and fed it into the hopper drumstick first.

The grinder sucked the whole thing down, and the motor didn't even change pitch.

This calls for a Tim Allen "more power" grunt: HOH, hoh, HOH, HOH, HOH!

It was so awesome! It took everything without any effort at all - there were a few giant chicken leg quarters that wouldn't quite fit, but all I had to do was cut through the thigh so they'd straighten out a bit. It took me about the same amount of time to go through that 160+ lbs. as it used to take me to go through 40 lbs. - and my hands weren't hurting at the end from using the poultry shears.

100 lbs of raw meaty bones = $ 40
40 lbs Nilgai = free
16 lbs liver and heart = $ 20
Most excellent new grinder = $275*
Having a couple of month's
worth of food for 4 Danes
in the freezer = PRICELESS

*A lot of money, yes - but this sucker will pay for itself pretty quickly!
Not to mention keeping ME happy...

Sophie

2008-12-16T23:35:00.003-06:00

Over the past 15 years, I've probably fostered 50 or 60 Great Danes in my home. These are/were dogs who were either lost and their owners couldn't be found, or they were surrendered by their owners for various reasons. I worked with established Dane rescue organizations that were responsible for taking in the dogs, finding temporary (foster) housing for them, paying the medical expenses to get them healthy and get them spayed or neutered, and for finding new permanent homes for the dogs.

My responsibility - as the temporary or foster home - was to teach the dog how to live with people as a member of the family (if it didn't know this already and many of them didn't) and to assess the dog in an attempt to decide which sort of family would be the best fit for the dog in the long run. And sometimes I also had to help nurse the dog back to health before they could even be put up for adoption.

Sometimes this was a big job - I got many dogs who had obviously not had ANY training at all, and once they reached adolescence they could be a handful. Think of a hyper, untrained "puppy" who weighs over a hundred pounds and you get the picture. But fortunately Danes are usually pretty quick to figure out what is in their best interest, and once they realized that unacceptable behavior resulted in undesirable consequences then it all became just a matter of teaching the dog what WAS acceptable. I called it "boot camp" but it wasn't really harsh - just a set of simple rules that were enforced with great consistency.

But many times it was actually an easy job. I had lots of foster dogs who were quite mellow and not interested in testing the limits at all, but were just thrilled to get some TLC, and having plenty to eat and a comfortable place to sleep were just icing on the cake.

Most of them were really nice dogs, who were destined to be beloved pets - but while I loved them all I didn't fall in love with them. I didn't think of them as being "my" dogs - which isn't such a good idea anyway if you are fostering, it is hard on the person and can be confusing for the dog - but rather I thought of them as "someone else's dog" that I was just taking care of for awhile. Which was the truth, in a way. So when they got adopted, it really wasn't all that hard to say good-bye to them. I stayed in touch with their new owners, and it was satisfying to see how happy they were. But that was about it.

A few of them weren't so nice - dogs who were so damaged by a disastrous mix of bad genetics and bad upbringing that we soon realized they could be dangerous. Danes are SO big and SO strong that no reputable Dane rescue will try to place such dogs with members of the public. The potential for catastrophic damage is too great. Sometimes an experienced Dane owner comes along who can handle such a dog safely, but most of the time we have to put them down. It's a very difficult decision, and we do our best to make it a peaceful event by feeding the dog treats or letting him have a special toy, sedating him if he doesn't tolerate handling or restraint (so his last moments won't be full of struggle or panic) and generally comforting the dog the best we can. Fortunately this was very rare - in my experience only two dogs I fostered had to be put down.

But there were others - also just a few, but memorable - who really captured my heart. I only succumbed to one and adopted her - that was Patience and it wouldn't have mattered at the time whether or not it was a "good" time to acquire a new dog. Fortunately it was, but I would have kept her regardless because I realized very quickly that she was "my" dog. There is more about her on her memorial page on our web site and also on our info page.

There were 4 or 5 other really, really special ones that I was sorely tempted to keep, but in the end realized that - to be fair to the dog - either I just didn't have the time to do right by them, or for some other reason they would be a better fit for another family. Those were the ones that although it nearly broke my heart to let them go, I later was glad that I had when I saw how happy they were, and how happy their new families were with them. Actually, now that I think about it, it was very good training for being a breeder and being able to let puppies go to their new homes! That is hard to do, too.

Anyway, one of those super special dogs was an adorable puppy bitch named Sophie. She was a fawnaquin, which although it isn't one of the recognized (i.e. showable) colors for Danes is still very pretty and flashy. She was not only friendly and outgoing and confident, but was smart as a whip, and I happened to have her about the time I first learned about clicker training. I experimented shamelessly on her and the results were nothing less than spectacular. I could teach her a new behavior, or a new trick in about 10 minutes, tops - and her retention was perfect.

Sophie coming home with me - is she adorable or what?

What a face!!

I had her for only a few weeks, but have a lot of happy memories from that time because I was able to do a lot with her. We went to training classes, we went on walks and outings, and on one memorable occasion we got kicked out of an AKC show.

You usually aren't allowed to bring dogs who aren't entered in a show onto the show grounds, although exceptions are made for various reasons. And it is strictly prohibited to bring in a puppy less than 6 months old - which is the minimum age for showing a dog in AKC conformation classes. Sophie at the time was about 4 months old - she'd had all her vaccinations so it wouldn't hurt her to bring her, but she was obviously too young. I was showing Patience in obedience, but we didn't have any of our dogs entered in conformation that weekend, and after Patience and I were done I wanted to go watch the judging and see some people I knew. It was a local show, so I decided to bring Sophie along. We had a great time, and Sophie did not disappoint. She walked boldly into that huge building, echoing with the (not so) subdued roar of hundreds of people talking and a couple thousand dogs barking. All the sights and smells and sounds can be overwhelming even to worldly-wise adult dogs - never mind a puppy. But her tail was wagging and she was absolutely thrilled by it all. We watched the Dane judging and talked to LOTS of people, and Sophie got petted and fussed over and got her picture taken dozens of times.

Sophie at the show

Sophie and Patience doing a Sit - Stay for pictures at the show

Then one of the members of the Kennel Club that was hosting the show walked up to me and asked, "How old is that puppy?" I knew the jig was up but lied anyway, in a most half-assed way: "Six months?" I asked. It was such a bad lie it was kind of funny and he almost smiled, but just said "I don't think so. Please take her out of the building". So I got kicked out of an AKC show for the first and (hopefully) last time. I'm such a troublemaker.

I really, really was tempted to keep her, but I do believe that things often work out the way they are meant to. And when this absolutely fabulous family asked about adopting her, the writing was on the wall. It would be best for all if she became their dog. It damn near killed me to let her go, but I've never regretted it. Her owners stay in touch, and Sophie has developed into the amazing dog we knew she would be. She's had lots of adventures but has remained that happy, sweet smart girl that I knew all those years ago.

Today her owner emailed me to say that they had to say good-bye to Sophie yesterday. She was healthy and happy up until the last few days, when it sounds like a cascade of things started going wrong despite everyone's best efforts. Euthanizing her was obviously the right thing to do, and she was with the people she loved at the end, just as they had been with her for all these years. But I know how hard it was on them, and my prayers and good wishes are with them tonight.

Sophie in her new home

Farewell, Sophie. You were one of the Special Ones.

Sorting things out

2008-12-16T21:13:00.003-06:00

I just added some photos of our "kids" to the sidebar, hopefully to help you all sort out who is who, and so when I write about one or another of our dogs I won't have to re-explain the relationships each time. They don't all live with us, of course - Gus, Keeper and Buck all have marvelous, wonderful homes with terrific people. But we are fortunate enough to see them all pretty regularly, and I write about them often enough that they needed to be listed here, too.

Shameless bragging

2008-12-16T18:48:00.007-06:00

I still get a kick out of seeing Gus's picture on a dog bed package at the pet supply store. I've never seen the crate package that supposedly used Kinsey's picture, nor did I ever get a copy of the JCPenney catalog with Teddy in it.

But I get to see Gus's claim to fame all the time! :-)

Here he is - this was taken at PetsMart. And no, we don't get any royalties or residuals or anything on the sale of the beds. We did get a free bed for his "acting fee", so that wasn't too shabby:

He's a handsome boy, if I say so myself (patting self on the back).

But I like this picture that the photographer sent us better than the one they ended up using on the package:

Happy Camper

2008-12-15T20:47:00.001-06:00

Mood: Delighted!!

Yesterday afternoon (Sunday) it hit 80 degrees. When I got up this morning, the outside thermometer said 29 degrees. Now THAT'S more like it!!

I didn't actually wear a jacket today, but did wear a long sleeved T-shirt and my Christmas vest*. It felt maaaaavehlous. I do love me some winter-type weather. It even stayed cold (for us) all day - only got up to 33 or 34, now down to 28 - which is unusual here. We got some sprinkles late in the afternoon, which made some icy patches and immediately, as always when we get any wintery precipitation, 3 things happened simultaneously:

1. All television broadcasts are interrupted by Weather Alerts with sedate titles like ARCTIC BLAST!!!! or WINTER STORM WARNING!!!! - these are repeated every 15 minutes or so until we get about a quarter inch of sleet/snow whatever, in which case all programming is pre-empted and we get 8 or 9 straight hours (or until it all melts, whichever comes first) of breathless coverage of the WINTER STORM, complete with live shots of reporters standing up to their shoelaces in white stuff, talking about How Dangerous It Is, and Everyone Should Stay The Hell Home.

2. Everyone panics, and figures they'd better make a run for the grocery store for provisions in case - *gasp* - we get snowed in for an hour or two.

3. Half the drivers believe that "gunning it" is the best option for dealing with slick patches, whether or not they actually exist. The other half believe they will crash and die if their speed ever gets over 5 mph, even if they're on the Interstate. Much hilarity ensues.

Sorry about all the weather talk, but - even though I've lived in the South all my life - I still find the local reaction to cold weather pretty darn hilarious. To be fair, many of my fellow Southerners also find it hilarious. Me, I'm just glad it's cool!!

*WHY don't they make warm weather Christmas clothing?? In at least a third of the US, maybe more, December is a fairly warm month. I usually only find sweatshirts in Christmas themes and I wear a sweatshirt - oh, maybe 1 or 2 days a year. Maybe. I need to find some Christmas T-shirts. Or make 'em, if I can't find 'em!

It's beginning to feel like Christmas...

2008-12-14T23:23:00.004-06:00

I've been in a horrible mood all day. It was EIGHTY F***KING DEGREES today!! On December the f***king fourteenth!!

For those of you who do not know me well, I am - shall we say - a warm-blooded individual. As in, I hate hot weather. I don't like warm weather. I'm not really all that fond of mild weather. I loooove cold weather, and snow makes me smile all over my face. I've been like this all my life but as I've gotten older and fatter and menopausal it has gotten - *ahem* - rather more pronounced.

Of course, I live in Texas, which is just an inch or two from the fires of Hell. Go figure.

Anyway, it was all I could do to restrain myself from turning the AC back on in the house today. I did turn it on in the car while running some errands, and it felt great. Only my desire to avoid contributing to Global Warming any more than necessary kept me from sitting in the car, in the driveway, with the engine running and the AC on high.

But tonight... tonight... a blessed Cold Norther has come to my rescue. The temp outside is already in the low '40s, and is going to fall into the '30s before morning and stay there. The wind chill tomorrow is predicted to be in the teens.

I can't wait!!!! (Rubbing my hands in glee). I may actually get to wear a jacket!!

Quick Update

2008-12-02T09:36:00.003-06:00

Topper is MUCH better this morning!! Still not 100%, and I'm not convinced that constipation is/was the whole problem. If indeed that was the problem at all.

But she's up and around! I'm on my way to the acupuncture vet with Aeryn (Kinsey's sister) and I'll ask him about her symptoms. And yes, sometimes it does feel that all I do is shuttle dogs to one vet or another. But actually - other than Aeryn who has a lot of issues related to birth trauma which I'll write about one day soon - they are a very healthy bunch.

Really! :-)

This is getting old

2008-12-01T22:46:00.006-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I was out at work (I'm a home health therapist, so I drive around all day) and Ronnie was working from home as he usually does. This is a GREAT arrangement for many reasons - not the least of which is that his office is 50 miles away. And needless to say, the dogs LOVE having him there all day.

Anyway, I had overslept that morning so had rushed out and left Ronnie to feed the dogs their breakfast. He sort of forgot - I'm really surprised that they let him forget, but they do cut us some slack sometimes - and didn't feed them until nearly noon. Which is no biggie, since with training classes and other things the dog's meals often are delayed until late morning, or late evening.

But I got a phone call: "Teddy isn't feeling well. He didn't want to eat his breakfast, and now he's just laying around." I was immediately worried, since normally Teddy is a chow hound. I asked him to take Teddy's temp, and call me back. It was a little high, so Teddy obviously needed to go to the vet ASAP. Unfortunately Ronnie had an important conference call soon, so even though I was across town it would be me taking him to the vet that day. Which actually is fine, since although Ronnie is an absolutely sterling human being in every way, he's a bit deficient in the Giving of Details department. I can usually drag the relevant information out of him when he returns from a vet appointment or training class or whatever, but it can be exhausting.

I get home, and find a very, very sad Great Dane. Teddy wasn't just laying around, he was seriously lame. Not putting any weight at all on his left front leg, and actually seemed to be favoring his right hind leg too. He didn't want to eat anything, even treats. He was very depressed, and panting, and obviously in pain. I'm thinking that this must be a serious injury, or infection. I didn't waste much time trying to palpate his leg, we just put him in my car and I took off for my vet.

Once there, things seemed a bit more mysterious. Although he was still very, very lame they couldn't find anything wrong on palpation. His neck and back also seemed fine. Since they couldn't feel anything amiss, we decided to hold off on X-rays. Especially since it would take several films to cover his whole shoulder assembly/front leg/foot. His blood work was OK except he did have a mildly elevated white count.

So, we opted to treat the symptoms: antibiotics (Cipro) and pain meds (Metacam). I normally do NOT give my dogs antibiotics "just in case", and my vet doesn't normally recommend them. But with the fever and white count and pain, we felt it was justified. They gave him a shot of Metacam to get the ball rolling, and we headed for home.

By then the rush hour traffic was starting to pick up, and since my vet is a good distance away from us it took nearly an hour to get home and Teddy was actually feeling better by then. He was willing to eat some hamburger, and I gave him the Cipro. Later that evening he was feeling MUCH better, although still rather lame but he ate a good dinner and seemed to be more himself.

The next morning, he had a swollen paw on that left front leg. A light bulb dawned... over the past couple of years, Kinsey has twice turned up with a fat foot, apparently the victim of some sort of stinging insect. And Topper (Teddy's sister) had the same thing happen last year. In each of those instances, the dog was fairly lame but not really distressed. I gave them Benadryl for a few days, and they were fine. I think maybe we've got some sort of ground dwelling bees or something. I've never seen a wound, or stinger or anything like that - they just present with a swollen paw. It's always been a front foot, which makes me suspect that the dog may be pawing at something when it gets stung.

So apparently that was what had happened to Teddy... but unlike his mom and sister, he quite obviously thought he was going to CURL UP AND DIE after getting his foot stung. What a wuss!! I still don't know why he'd have the elevated white count and/or temp with the bee sting, but I added Benadryl to his Cipro and Metacam. After that second day he didn't need the Metacam anymore, and I'm happy to say that the big baby recovered completely in just a couple of days.

Fast forward to this morning. I didn't have any patients lined up to see because I'd originally had a private agility lesson scheduled for this morning with Topper, but it was too windy. Way too windy, as in "it could blow the dog off of the dogwalk" windy. So I was out running a few errands, and got a call from Ronnie. This time it was Topper who was sick. WTF? She'd been fine earlier, had eaten a good breakfast and been her usual bouncy self.

I came home and found her acting like she was in severe pain - she was trembling and panting, arch-backed, reluctant to move. Not exactly lame, but very stiff. Danes can get a life threatening emergency condition called Bloat, or more correctly Gastric Dilatation-Volvulus (click here for an article on GDV - must read stuff especially if you have a large, deep chested dog) (here is a useful chart of the cascade of events that occurs during GDV) and that is ALWAYS in the back of my mind. But this didn't really look like bloat to me, she was too alert. She wasn't trying to vomit, in fact she was willing to eat treats. If I thought she had been bloating, I would have taken her to a 24 hour clinic near us for emergency treatment since it takes over half an hour to get to my regular vet. With bloat, every minute counts. But I have learned to trust my instincts, and I figured we could safely take the time to get to my regular vet.

When we get there, she's still very uncomfortable. And very clingy - some dogs get clingy when they don't feel well, and she is DEFINITELY one of those. Not just leaning against me, but practically wrapping around me. Wanting to be in physical contact all the time. Usually when she's at the vet, she is so busy greeting everyone I could probably leave her and she wouldn't notice, not for a while anyway. But not today.

As with Teddy, there didn't seem to be much wrong clinically. Although she was obviously tense and painful, nothing really stood out. Her color was fine, her lab work was "perfect". So we decided to take some X-rays to rule out a really atypical bloat, or an equally atypical pyometra. She had her last season in early August, so although technically an intact bitch can develop this life-threatening uterine infection at any time, it's most common about 2 months after they are in season.

So we X-ray her, and what we see is: Poop! Her colon was full of poop, with some gas behind it.

Hmmm. I have been cutting back on her food lately, since she was getting a little pudgy. And it's very possible that as a result she's been getting a little too much bone and not enough meat which can certainly be constipating. She's kind of picky, and the ONLY kind of bones she'll eat are pork neck bones. Which is fine, that's a great source of calcium - but they aren't really the "meaty" bones you want to emphasize with a raw diet. So I do feed her extra meat, usually with some veggies when she gets the pork necks. But maybe I haven't been giving her enough meat.

Anywho, they gave her an enema (outside!!) and she passed a pretty decent amount of feces. With a raw diet, the dog doesn't produce a lot of poop anyway since the food is so darn digestible. Just in case, we gave her a second enema and then I walked her (and walked her, and walked her, and trotted her, and practiced recalls, and walked her some more) but she didn't pass anything else. She seemed to feel a LOT better. Not totally normal, but better.

So we came home. I am REALLY HOPING that this is just another case of a very wussie Great Dane overreacting to a relatively minor problem.

But she's still looking pretty sad:

Sorry for the crappy photo.

I suck at taking pics with my camera phone, and was too lazy to go get the Canon.

She ate a good dinner (no bones, and I added some canned pumpkin for some extra fiber) but still is not acting quite right. Unlike Teddy, she's not bouncing back. She doesn't want to go outside, although she will when we insist. But when she's out there all she does is just stand there looking pathetic.

She's much better than she was earlier today, not panting or trembling. But something ain't quite right.

This is all she wants to do:

So say a little prayer for my baby girl, will ya? I'll keep ya'll posted.

Gratitude

2008-11-27T23:01:00.002-06:00

Little things sometimes get me down. Like today - usually on Thanksgiving evening I start at least thinking about getting out the Christmas decorations. But we store those in a part of the attic over the garage, and this year the garage is still full of things we moved out of the house last spring in order to get the floors refinished, walls painted, windows replaced and all that big stuff.

There are still several smaller jobs left to be done because we took some time off from the home repair this summer since we were going to so many shows. Then our contractor got busy with other clients, and we just haven't gotten around to getting ourselves back on his calendar. Plus, unfortunately the roof apparently is still leaking and the bedroom ceiling will probably need to be replaced/repaired. Again. Before that, more roof repair or even replacement.

Which is why I can't get to my Christmas decorations so may not be able to put anything up this year. Which is seriously bumming me out. I do love me a pity party.

So a little self therapy is in order. I believe that gratitude is good for the soul, so at the risk of giving my readers diabetes I am going all syrupy today and here goes with my list of what I'm grateful for:

A wonderful husband who is smart and kind and funny and shares my values - the most important of which of course is a complete and unfailing devotion to our dogs. The fact that he ALSO shares my interest in training and competing with them is just icing on the cake! I often wonder why I got so lucky - but I am endlessly grateful for him.
Great Danes. I often say "there is no perfect breed of dog, but there IS a perfect breed for most people". You just gotta do a little research. I am so grateful that Great Danes exist, and that I found them. There are many different breeds and types of dogs that I love, have lived with and wouldn't mind living with again. There are even more that I admire although I might not want to actually live with them. But to me, "There is nothing like a Dane" (apologies to Rodgers & Hammerstein). I just seem to "get" them like no other kind of dog.
My Great Danes. I am so grateful to all the responsible breeders who developed these bloodlines, so that I have dogs who are healthy and smart and sweet and gentle and just a joy to be with every day. Of course we can take some credit for them too, the way we raise and train them and manage them as a pack. But you have to have good raw materials to get a good product.
My job. I don't talk about it a lot here, but I'm an Occupational Therapist and do home health visits. Most - in fact the vast majority - of my patients are elderly. This isn't everyone's cup o' tea but I love it. I set my own hours, I really get to know my patients and am able to help them work on goals that are meaningful to them, and yes, even though they're old they usually do get better. I get to drive a lot which fortunately I like. The job security is excellent and so is the pay. Oh, and did I mention that I can set my own hours? :-)
My friends and family. I have wonderful friends that I take for granted all too often, and a wonderful, loving family (including in-laws) that I also take for granted too often. But I love every one of them, and am grateful to have them in my life.

Now then... I have to say I feel better!

Notes from Agility class

2008-11-26T01:53:00.006-06:00

Tuesday night is Agility class night, at least it has been lately. I love, love, love our agility instructor (Debbie Spence, PAWSative Agility Working School - if you're in the north Texas area near D/FW I can't recommend her highly enough) but it is a bit of a drive to get out there, so lately we've been able to consolidate things and take all 3 dogs to class on the same night.

At PAWS, once you and your dog are through with the carefully structured Beginner class which takes about 12 weeks, you enter classes that are ongoing but organized into five or six different "levels". As the dog and the handler progress in skill and knowledge you get promoted to the next level. At each level the courses and exercises become progressively more difficult - but even at Level 2 (the first one after Beginner) we get instruction and practice on courses that are short, but have elements that are technically difficult. For the handlers, that is.

In the Level 2 class, Ronnie runs Teddy and I run Topper. (She's the brindle girl in my avatar). With Topper, to say I "run" her is an exaggeration. Not only am I not exactly built for speed, but she - as I knew she would - demands a lot of reinforcement for everything. She's not unwilling, or scared (except of the dogwalk, more on that later). She's sweet, and cooperative, and very food motivated... but also must be convinced that anything we expect her to do is in her best interest.

In other words, "What's in it for me?" should be tattooed across her stripey forehead. That would save a lot of time. Either that, or I should let her wear her "I'm a Princess" tiara more often.

So I'm still reinforcing everything - even the easiest and most basic elements like jumping and the start line - stay very heavily. Which tends to slow things down a LOT because I keep stopping to reward her with a treat and lots of ego stroking. But it's working - she's offering more and more things every day. Tonight she actually "sucked" (meaning she chose to enter even though that wasn't part of the plan) to a curved tunnel and then also the chute which - although technically a mistake - is GREAT to see. Let's face it, those obstacles are not easy for a Dane who has to get waaaay down and crawl through them and I'm thrilled that she's deciding that they are fun after all. Her "Go!" (as in "on ahead of me") is improving and I got a couple of nice rear crosses (meaning the handler changes sides for a change of direction behind the dog).

I think she's doing great, and we're having a ton of fun. She is still scared of the dogwalk - she had a pretty bad fall off of it a while ago which was ENTIRELY my fault. But climbing on things is something she's loved to do since she could crawl - she's not called "Topper" for nothing. We are taking the dogwalk slowly - just taking a few steps up the ramp and then letting her hop off - and she's very wiling to keep trying so I'm confident we'll fix that in time.

Teddy is so different. His attitude is "What do you want me to do?" All you have to do is show him what you want and he'll do his best. And he is so FAST. I think he developed the speed as a survival mechanism: his mother and sister chase him all the time and they are merciless! The main challenge Ronnie has with Ted is just planning ahead - so often Teddy lands farther out from a jump than Ronnie anticipated and it's really hard to signal early enough that Teddy has time to respond. But they're getting their act together and really starting to understand each other. Teddy is a lot more advanced in his training than his sister, and is entered in his first agility trial the first weekend of December - I don't think he's quite ready but it won't hurt anything to give it a try. He'll be fun to watch - I'll try to get some video of it.

Their mother Kinsey, who is in a more advanced class later in the evening, is doing great. She and Ronnie are a pretty well-oiled team by now. She loves the running and jumping part, and doesn't mind doing tunnels or the dogwalk or anything else... except the damn Table. That is what has kept her from qualifying in Standard - she still doesn't even have her Open title in Standard - even though in the Jumpers with Weaves class (which has no Table) she is halfway to her Masters title. She'll hop on the table OK, but then at a trial she knows that Ronnie can't touch her, and doesn't have any food on him so she seems to make a game of seeing how high she can push his blood pressure. Her expression ranges from "What is this 'Down' you speak of??? I've never heard that command before!" (picture a charmingly cocked head) to a very simple "I don't wanna, and you can't make me!" A few weekends ago she had a near perfect run in Open Standard, except it took Ronnie about 30 seconds to get her to lie down on the Table. Which of course ran them over time and they didn't qualify.

Again.

"People food"

2008-11-21T01:23:00.002-06:00

I haven't been able to download any photos lately so I'm feeling lazy and uninspired when it comes to blogging...

BUT I'm not above glomming onto another writer's brilliance when I'm in need of blogger fodder.

This is one of the best, clearest explanations I've ever read that gives common sense guidelines to sharing a few goodies with your pets this Holiday season while still keeping them healthy. It's really not rocket science!

Thank you, YesBiscuit!

It goes back to the odd notion that there is "pet food" and then there is "people food"*. Food is food. Sure, different species have different nutritional requirements but that just boils down to different proportions of different kinds of FOOD.

We feed our dogs (and now our cat!) a homemade diet of mostly raw foods - I'll write more about that one day. But for now, remember that - in general - it's perfectly OK to give your pet a bit of whatever you're eating as long as it's a wholesome sort of food to start with.

But go read YesBiscuit!'s article. She does a better job of explaining all this.

*OK, in one way there IS a big difference between "pet food" and "people food" - pet food is mostly made from the waste products of the human food supply. Foods that are either unfit for human consumption for some reason, or are the by products or waste products or leftovers from some sort of processing. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for recycling... I just don't want to use my dogs to do it.

More bitchy talk!

2008-10-25T16:42:00.004-05:00

Dogsdeservefreedom left a good comment on my last post, and reminded me of several things I forgot to add about managing an intact female dog.

The first, and most obvious, is that although I emphasized how important it is to keep an intact male dog at home I didn't specifically mention that about an intact female. Probably everyone reading this is already knowledgeable enough to know this already... but if not:

KEEP HER HOME TOO!!!
All the time, even if you think she's not in season. Sometimes it can be difficult to tell for sure. And basically, if your dogs run loose sometimes - for whatever reason - you absolutely MUST have them all sterilized. It's not only the responsible thing to do, but will save you lots of headaches and even lots of money in the long run!

Other points to consider:
If she is in season - if you even THINK she might be in season - then it's not just a matter of keeping male dogs away from her, but also being considerate and not taking her places where she will be an undue distraction for any male dogs. The example of taking your girl to be groomed is a good one.

Also, most training classes don't allow bitches in season to attend class - if necessary, talk to your instructor about having a private lesson or two so that you don't lose too much ground for the weeks your girl is in confinement. Or, just go to the class without your dog. That may sound weird, but that way you'll see the lessons being covered and then you can practice those same things at home. Training classes are more for teaching the PEOPLE anyway - you learn how to teach your dog to do something, but your dog actually learns that lesson best at home in a quieter environment.

At the very least, if you think she may be in season talk to your groomer or your instructor and follow their advice about if or when to bring her to them. If they say it's OK to bring her, then be sure to put diapers on her so she doesn't drip on their floor or in the class area. Be sure to keep her away from other dogs if at all possible, or at least warn other dogs' handlers that she is in season - if they have an intact male, you SURE don't want her getting too close and enticing him! And remember that SHE may be abnormally cranky toward other dogs, and even if she's normally a sweetheart she may snap at inquisitive dogs when she's in season. So keep your distance.

As for showing - bitches in season are NOT allowed to compete in any performance events. That includes obedience, agility, tracking, herding, field trials, lure coursing etc. The only AKC event that does allow a bitch in season to participate is conformation. Even though she's allowed at the show, again be considerate of other handlers while you are waiting to go in the ring. Keep her diapers on her until just before her class is called, keep her to one side and away from other dogs as much as possible, and tell other handlers that she's in season so they know to keep their dogs away. Once you're in the ring, it's a good idea to tell the judge she's in season also. Some bitches show just fine when they're in season, but some won't. She may be abnormally fearful or resistant, or not want the judge to touch her hindquarters or tail. If she "acts up", remember that in this case it really isn't a training issue. Don't scold or punish her - if she seems really unhappy just ask to be excused from the ring and keep her home until she goes out of season again. She'll be back to her normal self once she's out of season.

Is your bitch in season?

2008-10-18T14:43:00.004-05:00

Well, is she? If you have an intact (that is, unspayed) female dog, you'd better be able to tell! I have NO problem with people who don't want to spay their female dog or neuter their male dog. Managing an intact dog really isn't THAT difficult. But if you're debating whether or not to spay or neuter your dog you should realize that there ARE some inconveniences involved in responsibly keeping an intact pet.

And I've talked to a lot of intelligent people lately who have had basically no idea how to properly manage an intact male or female dog.

So let's cover a few of the basics. This is doggy sex ed 101. (THAT should get a few interesting search results!!! Ha!)

Let's talk about the boys first since they really are easier. The most important thing to know about keeping an intact male dog is:

KEEP HIM HOME!!!

If he's an escape artist and digs or jumps out of your yard every now and then, or if he successfully manages to bolt out of your front door... or if you just think that it's "good" for dogs to roam free now and then - you definitely SHOULD sterilize your boy!! Even if he's just 4 or 5 months old - that is the age of puberty for many dogs!!

If you don't want to castrate him, you can have a vasectomy done on him. That way if he's really young he'll still have his testosterone for normal growth and development, but he won't be siring litters all over your neighborhood. He'll still want to roam in search of a lady friend, but at least he'll be shooting blanks.

Now, if your dog escapes or bolts out the door or runs away you ALSO need to do some training! Neutering alone won't stop all those problems. But this post is about preventing accidental breeding which is part of the responsibility of owning a pet.

Now for the girls...

Although bitches do have a bloody discharge when they're in estrus (in season or in heat) it's a completely different type of cycle from a human female's menstrual cycle.

On average, a young bitch will come into estrus the first time when she's about 5 or 6 months old, and stay in estrus for 3 weeks (about 21 days). She will repeat this approximately every six months for her entire life - bitches do NOT go through menopause.

Just like in humans, there can be a huge variation in the schedule from one dog to another. Some will have their first heat cycle as young as 4 months - others won't have their first one until they're about 18 months old. Some will have 3 estrus periods in a year, others will only have one. If you have a puppy bitch, the best predictor of when she'll first come into season and how often she'll do it thereafter is to know what her mother/aunt/grandmother's cycles were like. If you can't talk to her breeder to find out, then plan for the worst. Be ready for her to come into season the first time at about 4 months of age, and be ever vigilant after that time.

The first symptom of a bitch coming into heat is usually some swelling of her vulva. She may lick it more than usual. Then a bloody discharge will start - in some bitches this can be a heavy flow, in others it is hardly noticeable. If you think your girl might be coming into season, fold a clean paper tower or kleenex and dab her vulva. If you see pink, then she's starting to come in. Some bitches also have personality changes at this time - she may be more affectionate, or more cranky. She may not tolerate other dogs very well. Your other dogs - even females or neutered males - will be more interested in her and want to sniff her rear. She may get tired of this and start to get snippy - you may have to separate her from all other dogs while she's in season to prevent fighting.

After a few days - up to a week or so - the bloody discharge will taper off and you'll see a clear or pinkish discharge.

This does NOT mean that she's going out of season!! Rather, she's probably about to ovulate and is entering the most fertile time of her cycle.

BUT - and I cannot emphasize this enough - unless you do hormone testing you CANNOT predict exactly when during her cycle the female is fertile.

YOU MUST KEEP HER STRICTLY AWAY FROM ALL INTACT MALE DOGS DURING HER ENTIRE HEAT CYCLE.

This means no contact from the INSTANT you even THINK she might be coming into season.

This means no contact at all - dogs CAN and HAVE managed to copulate through a chain link fence, baby gate, or during a 3 minute phone call when the owner wasn't paying attention.

This means ANY male dog - even her father, her brother, her uncle, her son. Dogs do not have sexual taboos, and do not recognize or understand the concept of "incest".

This means keep her on a leash when you take her out to potty. Only let her off lead in an absolutely securely fenced area, and even then only after you've checked to be sure no male dog has managed to get into the area. Even then, keep your eyes on her. Don't leave her unattended outside AT ALL.

This means you must keep her in the house even if she's normally an outside dog. It IS possible to build a kennel secure enough to keep out an amorous dog trying to get to a bitch in season, but it's expensive and difficult. It's much easier to just keep her inside.

This means separating her from male dogs for at least 3 weeks - she may still be able to get pregnant just when you think she's going out of season.

You can teach her to wear a dog diaper (Seasonals are a good brand, there are lots of others) to keep her from dripping all over your house. I start teaching female puppies to wear diapers when they're 3 or 4 months old, I just put them on for a few minutes at a time when they're about to eat a meal which will distract them. Gradually increase the time they wear them, and by the time they have their first estrus cycle they won't mind wearing their "panties". Get several pairs, and wash them frequently. If your girl has a heavy flow, you'll need to put an adhesive menstrual pad inside the diaper - but be watchful that she doesn't remove it and try to eat it!! The absorbent materials in sanitary napkins can cause an intestinal blockage. Usually I find that the diaper itself provides enough protection. I change them at least twice a day.

I know this sounds like a lot, but even managing an intact bitch really isn't THAT difficult. Keep her inside and away from male dogs is really what it boils down to when it comes to preventing accidental breeding.

Do you think you're up to it?

Responsible pet ownership

2008-10-12T10:48:00.002-05:00

There has been so much discussion lately about this everywhere, it seems. And many attempts by municipalities to legislate responsibility. But sometimes the definitions are a bit vague.

My definition of responsible pet ownership may be different from yours... here is what I believe:

A responsible pet owner

1. ...takes good care of his/her animals.
This includes all the basics like plenty of wholesome food and fresh water; appropriate medical care; plenty of exercise and socialization and clean living quarters.

2. ...is a good neighbor.
This means not letting your pets annoy, frighten or inconvenience other people and includes not letting your dogs bark excessively (and like it or not, the person who best defines "excessively" isn't you, but rather the neighbor who is trying to get some sleep); not letting your dogs or cats run loose; keeping pet waste picked up in your yard so it doesn't smell or attract flies; not letting your dogs rush the fence and bark at your neighbors when they are walking by just a few feet away.

3. ...doesn't expect the community to help take care of his/her animals.
This means planning ahead so that - barring something really catastrophic - you never have to surrender your pets to the local pound, shelter or rescue; not letting your pets breed accidentally or indiscriminately; not breeding at all unless A. you already have good homes lined up for all the offspring, B. you can give plenty of support to the new owners so the placement will be successful, and C. you can take back any offspring at any time if the home doesn't work out.

4. ...doesn't ever have so many pets that he/she can't meet the above requirements.

Notice that I DIDN'T include "a responsible pet owner spays/neuters his or her pets". That has become a major part of the responsible pet owner creed for many people but it isn't absolutely necessary. There is no doubt that it is much, much more convenient and easier for a pet owner to keep sterilized pets - especially where the requirements listed in #3 above are concerned. But if a pet owner can meet those requirements without spaying or neutering, more power to them. It IS possible, it just takes more effort and more knowledge.

Having listened to so many pet owners over the years who are totally clueless about animal reproduction ("But she's his SISTER/MOTHER, they won't mate, will they??") I do believe that the vast majority of pet owners are better off if they do spay or neuter their pets. Especially if they have pets of both genders in their home. And ANYONE who lets their pets run loose at any time MUST spay or neuter that pet, period.

But it is totally possible for a responsible pet owner to keep intact pets. That's my take on things anyway - what do you think?

Fighting Breed-Specific Legislation

2008-09-30T21:38:00.005-05:00

"Breed-Specific Legislation" - or BSL - for those of you who don't know, refers to legislation which targets and punishes certain breeds of dogs based solely on the fact that they ARE a certain breed or look like a certain breed. It is based on the misguided notion that certain types of dogs are inherently more dangerous than any others, and so those types must be suppressed or eliminated.

And misguided it is. Yes, of course there are certain types of dogs who are more dangerous than others... large dogs for instance do usually cause more damage when they attack than small dogs do, because they are stronger. Adolescent, intact dogs are involved in more attacks on humans than puppies or old dogs, for the same reasons (youthful strength and energy, lack of life experience and raging hormones, combined with a lack of discipline) that adolescent and young adult men commit more violent crime than children or older adults. The most dangerous dogs of all, of course, are those owned by people who WANT to have a dangerous dog but are too irresponsible to be willing or able to properly manage their dogs.

But a particular breed being more dangerous? The only way to determine if a particular breed really IS more dangerous than others - based on reports of attacks on humans - is if you know the number of dogs of all the different breeds or mixes that are in a community. Then you could figure the percentage of dogs of each breed or type that are involved in serious attacks each year.

An article on dog bite prevention on the Centers for Disease Control web site states: "A CDC study on fatal dog bites lists the breeds involved in fatal attacks over 20 years (Breeds of dogs involved in fatal human attacks in the United States between 1979 and 1998). It does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, [emphasis mine -B] and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic. Each year, 4.7 million Americans are bitten by dogs. These bites result in approximately 16 fatalities; about 0.0002 percent of the total number of people bitten. These relatively few fatalities offer the only available information about breeds involved in dog bites. There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill."

A commonly given example of this is that if a study indicates that there are five bites by golden retrievers and 10 bites by pit bulls, but there are 100 retrievers in the community and 500 pit bulls, then statistically the retrievers are the breed more likely to bite.

There are many many articles on the Internet and many books out now about this. A great article I just found is on the Caveat blog. Please go read it.

Why do I care about this so much? After all, I don't own a pit bull. I care mostly because BSL is just unfair, and WRONG, and unAmerican in the most essential way possible - it is absolutely and unashamedly willing to punish the majority of innocent pet owners in order to catch a few guilty parties.

And, of course, I also care because I'm scared. I know that all it would take would be for the media to decide that Great Danes are DANGEROUS and then my dogs would be next on the chopping block. Despite their having never done anything wrong.

And that is something I cannot even bear to think about.

Breeding for Fun and Profit

2008-09-27T13:40:00.012-05:00

A recent comment brought this topic to mind - thanks Abz!

I think this is something that all owners of purebred dogs encounter at some point, but since some dogs attract more attention than others some of us run into it more than most.

I'm talking about when you're out in public with your dog, and someone walks up to you and says something like "I've got a Great Dane [or whatever breed you have] too!! I've been looking to breed my dog - would you consider breeding your dog to mine?" Or words to that effect.

So what do you say? What should you say? You can of course just say "No" or "Sorry, my girl is spayed". You could lie and say that your intact male has had a vasectomy (don't laugh - that procedure IS done on dogs, and may be a good alternative for sterilizing large or giant breed dogs before they are mature) (more on that later).

Ideally however, this sort of situation can be used as an educational opportunity. True, much of the time - probably most of time - your words will fall on deaf ears. But if you can educate even 1 out of 10, that's a good thing. And you never know when you may be planting seeds of doubt in one or more of those other 9.

You can talk about all the big reasons that they shouldn't breed their dog - especially if they have thoughts of creating the latest new "designer" mix. How difficult it can be to find really good homes. How many dogs of this breed turn up in shelters and rescues every year, and how likely it is - ESPECIALLY if the pups aren't registered purebreds - that their pups will also wind up in a shelter or rescue.

However, you will probably see that their eyes start to glaze over as soon as you start talking about "The Big Picture".

So make it personal. Figure out the motivation of the wanna-be breeder and address that, specifically. The motivation is usually either sentiment or profit.

Is it sentiment? They think their dog is absolutely the greatest thing EVER and want to have another just like him/her? Or "all our friends want a pup out of our dog"?

These can actually be the most difficult to talk out of breeding their dog. You can tell them that siblings are usually more similar to one another than parents are to offspring, so if they want another dog like the one they've got the best thing to do might be to go back to the breeder and get a sibling or half sibling.

As for friends wanting a puppy - the same recommendation would hold true. Getting a sibling to your dog will be more likely to be similar to your dog than a puppy from it would be. But also tell them that friends who want a puppy have a way of evaporating once the litter is actually here. Maybe they've lost a job, or are having to move. Maybe they didn't wait, and got another puppy already somewhere else. Or maybe they've just changed their mind. And what if you've got, say, 4 friends who want a puppy but you have a litter of 10?

Appeal to their sentiment, to their love for their dog - they wouldn't want to see any of their dog's babies in a shelter if something like that happened and they couldn't find homes for all the pups, would they?

If you can tell you aren't making an impression with this argument, the next best thing you can do is talk about health. Start with keeping their own dog safe - males can catch venereal diseases, and can be seriously injured by a female who decides she's not "in the mood" or just takes a dislike to the guy. And of course, there is a whole list of awful things that can happen to the female. If the breeder isn't well informed and knows what signs of trouble to watch for, tragedy can strike and you can lose not only all the puppies but the mother too.

If they still want to breed their dog, they will want to be sure they produce healthy puppies of course! Especially if all their friends get one - imagine the trouble if you sold puppies to all your friends and the pups turn out to have some sort of genetic disorder that crops up in a few years.

You can talk to them about health testing, to try to prevent this sort of disaster. Sometimes once they understand all the possible health issues it will give them pause, and start them re-thinking the whole "Oh boy, let's have puppies" scenario.

Explain that Brucellosis is a nasty venereal disease that CAN be picked up in dog parks and other places where dogs congregate - so even if both dogs are virgins they still need to be tested for it. Hip X-rays are necessary to rule out hip dysplasia with almost all breeds. Many breeds have heart issues and need cardiac screenings. There are other tests that are recommended for various breeds of dog - you can check the parent club web site (that will usually be The [insert breed name] Club of America or something similar) or the web site for the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals to see what is recommended for any particular breed. For Great Danes, the recommendation - at minimum - is to check hips, heart, eyes and thyroid.

But what if the motivation is making a few bucks? These people can sometimes actually be easier to dissuade. Because the truth is, if you do the health testing you SHOULD do, and provide all the care that the mother and the pups will need until the pups are 8 weeks old, it's damn hard to break even, much less make a profit.

You can start by explaining the same health testing recommendations. OFA hip screenings; thyroid, heart and eye screenings; and a Brucellosis test can all easily come to $500 or more. $250 or $300 minimum if you get a deal from your vet, and get some screenings done at dog shows where they often offer a discount on these things. (They can do screenings at a discount at shows because the kennel club hosting the show will get a specialist to come in for a whole day, and he/she will sit there and check eyes or hearts or whatever all day long.)

The health tests need to be done on both parents, obviously. And for the stud owner, the cost of the health testing will take a whopping chunk out of the stud fee.

For the bitch owner, the expenses are just beginning. You'll have the stud fee - this can range from half the cost of one puppy (typical with unproven sires) to the whole cost of a puppy, or even the pick of the litter. Or more.

If the mother has trouble whelping (giving birth) she may need a C-section. This is an expensive surgery anyway - add to the cost the fact that it almost ALWAYS happens in the middle of the night requiring a visit to an expensive emergency clinic, and that C-section surgery can easily cost $1000 or more for a large dog.

But the real kicker - especially with large or giant breed puppies - is FOOD!! With a large litter, the mother may double or even triple her food intake for the first 2 or 3 weeks until the pups start eating some mush on their own. And it is absolutely shocking how much puppies will eat from the time they are 3 or 4 weeks old, until you sell them at 8 weeks. By the time they are 6 or 7 weeks old, each PUPPY will be eating at least as much as a sedentary adult dog. This is why many uneducated breeders - whether they produced the litter accidentally, or did so with the thought of making some money - become absolutely desperate to get rid of the pups. Every day they keep the little monsters, they see their profit margin shrinking and going into the red.

This is also why some breeders try to sell pups at 5 or 6 weeks old - fortunately this is actually illegal in many places. Even though pups at that age are usually eating "solid" food they still need their mother and littermates to teach them manners, bite inhibition, how to relate normally with other dogs, and other vital life lessons. So NEVER EVER take home a pup who is less than 7 weeks old, MINIMUM!!

Just as an example of the costs involved, here's the breakdown from our last litter. I am NOT including show expenses in this, since showing is a hobby for us and we do it whether or not we're planning to breed the dog someday. But on the other hand, we WOULDN'T breed a dog who wasn't good enough to at least be competitive in the show/obedience/agility ring. And, of course, "show quality" puppies are worth more (or should be worth more, keep reading) than pups from parents who haven't been shown or can't be shown. So if I really wanted to horrify you, I could include those expenses! Ha!

- Health testing $500
OFA, thyroid, heart, eye, Brucellosis
- Breeding costs $750
Progesterone tests (to pinpoint ovulation) and stud fee
- Whelping costs $1250
Whelpwise service and C-section
I need to write a post on Whelpwise, they are AMAZING and are the main reason ALL of Kinsey's puppies arrived safe and healthy. And as for the C-section, fortunately this was done by my trusted regular vet, and not after hours
- Extra dog food $500
This is for the lactating bitch and 5 growing pups to 9 weeks of age. This is a pure guess, and is probably REALLY low. Honestly I have no idea how much it was. It was easily double the normal food bill for our crew for those 2 months or so. We didn't sell Gus until he was 4 or 5 months old, so if you include HIS extra food bill, it would be a lot more than that!!
- Deworming, puppy exams and vaccinations $300
- Ear crops $1000
Obviously this is optional, and controversial. But very common with show puppies.
- Taking 2+ weeks unpaid leave from work $1300
Theoretically this is optional too. There are LOTS of very responsible breeders who don't (because they can't) take off more than a day or two when they have a litter. And of course, someone who works from home or at home wouldn't have a pay cut for being there. At the time I was just working part time, but I couldn't bear to NOT stay home with them. So I did!

I've forgotten lots of things, and had to guess on others. I actually DID keep excellent records but a disastrous and total hard drive crash about a year after the pups were born lost all of that. It's a hard lesson: MAKE BACK UPS!

But the total of the expenses above is $5600.

Now this may shock some of you, but with many breeds an actual, "bona fide" show quality puppy - i.e. one or both parents are actually show Champions or at least have show points, and the puppy gives every indication of maturing into an individual who will also be able to win in shows - actually isn't that expensive. No more expensive than puppies sold at pet stores who come from puppy mills, or puppies sold on anonymous web sites from kennels who don't show their dogs, and may or may not be puppy mills. It's more DIFFICULT to get a puppy from a reputable breeder because they CARE about their pups, but that's a different story. But the truth is that supply and demand control the price of show puppies just like everything else. In our area, fawn and brindle show pups sold at that time for about $1200. But that still sounds like a lot, right?

So, sale of 3 pups: $3600

Our net loss was at least $2000. All of a sudden, that $1200 for a puppy doesn't sound like so much, does it? And bear in mind that - other than needing a C-section - this was an "easy" litter. The mother had no health problems during pregnancy, and all the pups not only survived but were robustly healthy.

But so many things can go wrong, and if your goal is making a profit you can easily wind up in the hole, financially. If the mother gets an infection at some point, or if you have a sick puppy you can easily spend additional hundreds or thousands of dollars in veterinary care. Worst case scenario is when most or all of the pups die - maybe the mother too - and you have absolutely nothing to show for the experience.

In our case, if we'd sold all 5 pups we would have made a "profit" of $400. For several months of hard work and sleepless nights. Woo-hoo. But of course the whole plan for us all along was to keep at least one pup for ourselves.

Sure, we could have made more if Kinsey had had more than 5 pups that we could have sold, or if she hadn't needed a C-section... if, if, if. It IS possible to break even or even make a decent profit on a litter WITHOUT cutting corners if you're lucky. That is, if you don't pay yourself for your time - raising a litter properly is unbelievably time consuming and if we "paid" ourselves for that time there would never be a way to break even.

Of course, we don't look at it that way. We got 5 wonderful, wonderful dogs from this litter. They just turned 3. Three of them have finished their AKC Championships, and one only needs her major points. Two of them have obedience titles. Two are in agility training and will start showing in agility soon. We've made some wonderful new friends because of them. And ALL of them are sweet, and stable, and funny and smart and beautiful and totally loved by their owners.

So by all the standards that really matter, we hit the frickin' MULTI STATE LOTTO JACKPOT with this litter. And we'll try to do it again as soon as we can afford to :-)

But anyway, back to the original topic - I hope this gives you all some talking points the next time someone approaches you and asks you about breeding their dog to your dog.

Assuming you want to expend your time and energy on what may be a waste of your time, what will YOU say?

Poop happens!

2008-09-18T12:28:00.002-05:00

I don't know why I was thinking about this today - fortunately none of our crew is having any gastrointestinal issues - but a common issue with dogs is some variety of loose stools. This can be caused by stress, a change in routine, or a change in diet as well as by parasites or illness.

For mild cases, sometimes the best remedy is to skip a meal. Let the GI tract rest and recuperate. Don't do this with puppies under 6 months, elderly dogs, dogs with chronic severe illness, or pregnant/lactating bitches.

Adding plain canned pumpkin to the dog's food (not pumpkin pie filling which contains spices and sugar) can help - the fiber tends to "clean out" the digestive tract and may help sweep away irritants. A plain baked or boiled potato often works to settle an upset system. The latest and greatest remedy is Activia yogurt - you can find this plain, in large tubs.

If the diarrhea is severe, if it persists more than a day or two despite the above remedies, or if the dog seems to not feel well - take him/her to your vet! Something serious may be going on. Diarrhea in puppies and elderly dogs is always a cause for immediate action - they can become dehydrated quickly and this can be life threatening situation.

As for clean up in your yard when Fido has the cow pattie poops, try sprinkling some clumping cat litter on the mess. After a few minutes you should be able to pick most of it up. While just using the hose and washing it into the ground is tempting, make sure your dog doesn't have any parasites before you do this. You don't want to infest your yard!!

Speaking of poop pick up, Dr. Khuly at Dolittler has an interesting article today. She's always interesting, and has one of my favorite pet blogs.

Great Dane Fun Day!

2008-09-16T22:32:00.003-05:00

I know I don't have very many readers here, and you all are scattered all over the country. But - for anyone in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, here is an announcement for a Great Dane Fun Day this Sunday, sponsored by the Great Dane Club of Greater Dallas:
-----------------
You (and your Dane!) are invited to a Great Dane Fun Day! It is this Sunday, at Bob Woodruff park in Plano. This is not only an opportunity to get out with your dog or puppy and have a fun day, but also you'll have a chance to find out about and try out various fun events with your dog!

We'll have information about all sorts of Dane topics and health issues; demonstrations and run throughs for all levels of Obedience; demonstrations and practice for Rally obedience; a CGC test; a conformation handling seminar; a conformation match; a great Raffle of Dane-related items; and last but not least GREAT FOOD!!

**Your Dane does NOT have to be registered to participate!**

The flyer info is copied below - feel free to print it out and distribute it if you wish. Please feel free to cross post this message to anyone interested in Great Danes.

We hope to see you all there!! If you have any questions, please let me know.

Barb
--------------------------
Great Dane Fun Day

Sunday, September 21, 2008
9:00am

Sponsored by the Great Dane Club of Greater Dallas

Are you interested in learning about fun activities and events you can enjoy with your Dane? Do you have a puppy that you want to socialize? Or do you just want to come out with your Dane, meet other Dane lovers and their dogs, and have a GREAT Dane Day!!

We are having:

- An Obedience Demo and Show & Go
- A Rally Obedience Demo & Practice
- A Canine Good Citizen Test (For the CGC only, dogs must be 6 months old, and must have proof of Rabies vaccination.)
- A Handling seminar by Steve Arnold
- A Sanctioned B AKC Conformation Match (Great Danes Only)
- A Pot Luck Picnic following the Match
- A RAFFLE with Dane-appropriate gifts!!

Community Park Bob Woodruff Park
2601 San Gabriel Drive
Plano TX, 75074
Directions to the Fun Day TX 75 to E Parker Rd (east)
South (right) on San Gabriel to Park

Conformation Match entries: $5.00 (entries taken day of Match. Match starts at 11:00)

CGC Test: $5.00 (must have current Rabies vaccination certificate with you day of test, and the dog must be at least 6 months old)

Come and enjoy all the Great Dane Activities!!!

Teddy the cuddly

2008-09-04T23:38:00.003-05:00

Ronnie just mentioned that he might have trouble getting to sleep tonight. I hadn't gone to bed yet so looked in the bedroom to see what he was talking about. Teddy is curled up next to him, with his head on Ronnie's arm. I mean, curled up CLOSE so if Ronnie moves or rolls over he'll probably fall out of bed. It's very touching (no pun intended) but uncomfortable.

But that's the way a lot of Danes are - they really, REALLY like to be near their people. That doesn't necessarily mean they have to sleep in your bed - in fact, I'll cold heartedly make Teddy get off the bed when I go in there. (I'm such a bitch!)

But they DO need to feel that they're part of the family. If you've ever tried to buy a Dane puppy from a reputable breeder, or tried to adopt one from a reputable Rescue and wondered "why am I getting the third degree here?" - that's why. They know what it takes to keep a Dane healthy and happy, and go to great lengths to be sure that they get put with families who will not only love the dog, but really spend a lot of time with it.

A lonely Dane is a neurotic Dane!

Random shots

2008-08-03T16:20:00.005-05:00

Since the planets have aligned, and our computer AND external hard drive AND scanners are all working and talking to each other, I thought I'd better take the opportunity to post some photos that have been taken over the past few months. Enjoy!

First, some photos of our stripey girl Topper since she's had to take a back seat to her brothers lately:

Here she is in the ring last March. The lovely fawn girl behind her is "Jazz", aka Calypso's Born to Hand Jive, owned and handled by our mentor Vicki Monson.

Here's a side view:

On the more casual side, here's a photo of Gus relaxing at his home - Topper does this same thing, lying on her right hip but with the left side of her head on the bed, or vice versa.

Here Ronnie is getting some sugar from Teddy while they wait with Gus for their Brace class in Tulsa last fall.

And here are some pictures of Keeper...

Front,

Side,

... and airborne! This is a still from my video camera. I have no idea what he was looking at, but he is a very springy dog!

Runs in the family

2008-07-31T22:45:00.008-05:00

I'm going to try to get some updates done while I can... our new laptop will have to go to the Computer Doctor in a few days but for once it's not the machine's fault... the poor laptop got stepped on! The screen is cracked but the computer still works, so for now the laptop is a desktop - hooked up to a monitor.

But I do have pictures! First off, some big news... Teddy finished his AKC Championship weekend before last. Once he got going, he won every weekend we had him out in June/July and finished in a hurry! There is a photo collage taken by Jax Show Pix (new venture started by the son of a friend of ours) on the "2008 Updates" page of the web site.

But Teddy also has some non-show news... last spring he was selected to do a photo for JCPenney! His mother and brother have both done some commercial work, hence the title of this entry. I think it was just a sale circular but we still had fun, and Teddy was sooooo good! Even though it was a VERY long day - the first model called in sick that morning and the second model they found couldn't come until afternoon. So we just hung around until he showed up and watched the set decorators and photographer and director and all do their thing. But since it was at a house in a very swanky part of Dallas it wasn't too rough! At one point I put Teddy up on the porch where he'd have to be for the photo just to get him used to it, and I took the opportunity to take some pictures of him:

He got lots of attention:

He was very calm...

Even when the crew members were moving big screens all around him (I was about 15 feet away all this time):

He did perk up when some of the crew started playing basketball on the private court - but he still stayed! I love this picture:

Catching up

2008-06-27T23:40:00.007-05:00

The house remodeling continues, but I think we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I think it's time for another pet-related post!! Enough of the stupid house (except... House, if you're listening, I am just kidding! Hahahaha).

We're focusing on Agility with the dogs this summer - which may not be the most brilliant thing to do this time of year, given our blistering Texas summers. But Teddy and Kinsey's classes are at night, and Topper's is early in the morning so we're all good. Topper has just finished Beginner Agility and she's doing great. And - as I fully expected - she LOVES loves loves climbing on things. The A-frame, the dogwalk... we haven't trained on the big teeter yet but she's eyeing it too. Actually, when they were little bitty I set a tiny teeter out for the pups to play on, and they loved to just walk down the length of it and make it tip - then they'd turn around and walk to the other end. Back and forth - the therapist in me was thinking "that vestibular stimulation must be good for them!" But Topper has always been a climber.

On the other hand, her brother Teddy is a RUNNER. By Golly that dog is fast... he probably honed his speed trying to get away from his mom and his sister who pick on him constantly. He's got a really long stride too. Ronnie is working with him - no way I can keep up with THAT! - and even he is having to really think 2 or 3 obstacles ahead or else Teddy just gets past him. Teddy seems to really enjoy Agility - but then again he's always been a happy boy.

Speaking of Teddy, he tried to follow in his big brother Keeper's footsteps by injuring himself the day we were leaving for the Oklahoma City shows (see this). Nothing nearly so drastic though - but it was equally puzzling. He was outside for literally no more than 10 or 15 minutes, and came in with a small puncture/tear just behind his right shoulder. It looked like he caught himself on a nail somewhere, but we don't have any protruding nails out there. Anyway, a quick trip to the vet, some surgical glue and antibiotics and he was good to go. Hopefully anyway - there was always the possibility that he'd be a bit sore there and wouldn't be able to be shown. But he's doing fine! In fact, today he went Winner's Dog for his first Major!

And last but not least, it appears that our catless days are over. I have had cats literally all my life, even before my first dog. But my last cat passed away a few years ago at the age of 20 or so, and since then we've just been really busy with the dogs. I knew the right cat would come along at some point - and I knew Ronnie would have to really be in on it too. He will tell you that he's not really a cat person but he can sure fall in love with "the right cat". So a month or so ago he started making friends with a pretty little black and white cat outside. I hadn't seen her before, and she's in very good shape and very friendly - I wouldn't be surprised if someone had moved away and abandoned her. She obviously hasn't been a stray for long. We're introducing her to the dogs slowly - they're doing OK but Teddy and Topper in particular have never lived with a cat, and they are FASCINATED. Fortunately she is very calm around the dogs. She's still living mostly outside, but as soon as we're sure we can keep her safely away from the dogs when we're not here to supervise we'll move her permanently indoors.

Oh, and her name? Ronnie started calling her "Zeebee" and I asked what that meant. He said "what animal is black and white?" I said, "a zebra". He grinned sheepishly and said, well, "Z.B. stands for zebra". For some reason I think that's hilarious. It probably loses something in the translation though. But anyway, I'll post some pics of the Danes and Zeebee (ZB? ZiBi? How the hell do I spell that?) soon.

Is there a light in this tunnel?

2008-06-06T01:53:00.005-05:00

The Good News: Our new windows are installed, the hardwood floors are all refinished, the interior painting is aaaaaaaalmost finished, and they finally managed to find a stain for the new wood panels in our den to match the old panels. Oh, and we've been showing Teddy and he's gotten a few more points toward his Championship!
The Bad News: Maybe 10% of the crap we have is in its rightful place... most of it is still piled on the floor or in the garage or out on the deck. Since the new windows are bigger than the old ones there isn't a window treatment in sight and we're relying on the ever-so-tasteful Hanging Bedsheet collection to avoid flashing the neighbors. And this week, the workers have been working in our only bathroom so the shower curtain is down and I'm really, really tired of washing my hair in the tub! That, and tired of not being able to find ANYTHING. Also, I sprained my ankle a few weeks ago and then nearly ripped my big toenail off (same foot).
Excuse the pity party - things are really going quite well. But this is why I've been so absent lately. Hope things are going well with all of you!

Casa Symmetry getting a facelift - Part II

2008-04-29T19:50:00.003-05:00

Things are continuing to progress around here... or degress, (is that even a word?? I'm not sure). I haven't posted any more pics because we've emptied out the office and only have one computer (the one Ronnie uses for work) hooked up and all my pics are on the other hard drive. Or still on the camera, but I don't want to put them on Ronnie's work machine. AND it just took me forever to log onto Blogger for some reason...

But they've about finished painting the hall and both bedrooms - there is some touch up that will be done after the floors are done. They'll start on the floors tomorrow... NO MORE CARPET Hoooooorrrrraaaaayyyyyy!!

There was an unbelievable amount of CRAP in the middle bedroom/office!! The dining room (where I'm typing this now) and the living room are completely full of the stuff we cleared out of there! The only thing still in our bedroom is our bed, we'll take that out early tomorrow morning before the flooring guys come and I have no idea where we'll put it. We've already got some clothes hanging out on the deck, perhaps we'll complete the white trash effect by putting the bed out there!! LOL
They're also starting on the windows - they tore out the big front windows and the big ones in the den today, and put up plywood for the night. High living, indeed!! But don't worry, I'm taking pics of EVERYTHING... It's absolutely horrible right now, but it sure will be nice when it's done!!
I gotta say... if I was going to go through something like this with anyone, I'm sure glad it's Ronnie!! He's been so wonderful, easy going and just nice to be around with all this. Now if I can just get him to get rid of some of his stuff... But I did hear him say that he liked the way the rooms look empty, and wants to get a more clean or spare look. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll remember that, and clear some s*** outta here!!

I'm going to stay with our friend Karen for a few days while they finish the bedroom floors - and am taking two of the girls with me. Teddy will go to stay at his brother Buck's house for a few days - this will make things a lot easier at home, with just Aeryn and little Sport and Ronnie. They'll be pretty cramped for space since they won't be able to get into either bedroom at all while the stain and sealant are drying.

Casa Symmetry getting a facelift - Part I

2008-04-22T17:14:00.008-05:00

I may (or may not) have mentioned this before, but we are doing some much-needed repairs on the ol' homestead. We've got a good contractor and things are rolling along pretty smoothly but, as anyone who has gone through this knows, it's still been an upheaval. And part of my excuse for still not posting as often as I'd like to. (The other part being that I'm lazy but the "too busy because of all the home repair" thing sounds SO much better, doncha think??)

We're in Week 4 or 5 now - I've sort of lost track. So far, we've had the foundation repaired but I didn't get any pictures of that. BUT - taaaaaa daaaaaaa - I have downloaded the pics from our new camera! So have lots and lots of catching up photos to do, and I assure you most of them are of the dogs. But we'll stick to one topic for now (HA) and I'll show you some of the changes around here so far (WARNING this will probably be really really boring for those of you who don't actually know us, or haven't been to our house before):

We've got a tiny little garage, but knowing that we'd have to be storing some furniture in there for a few weeks, the first step was to clean it out!! Very Spring Cleaning-esque, I think.

It is just amazing how much crap you can get into a "tiny" garage! And I was able to park my car in there, too!! Sort of... it looked a bit like those Public Storage commercials where the car is shoehorned in amongst the "stuff".

And LOOK!! It's EMPTY!! Remember this, as you'll see soon this only lasted a few days. Can't park in there now! But as God is my witness, I'll park inside my garage again one day!

After the foundation work, they painted the exterior and we got a new garage door!!

And it IS exciting, when you consider what our old garage door looked like:

Meanwhile, we had scheduled repairs to the wall in our den. There was some old water damage from several years ago but the contractor we had at that time was an idiot and the work never got done. We thought it would be a fairly minor repair, just replacing a few of the panels...

WARNING - the following images may be disturbing to sensitive viewers!

Here's what they found when they started pulling the panels off the wall:

The damage went straight down into the floor - good thing we were planning to replace the flooring anyway!
But by the next day the cleanup was finished, the floor was patched:
And the new boards were going up - they did a great job matching wood panels that are probably 25 years old. Once they're stained no one will ever know the difference! Well, except for ya'll!

More to come....

Too smart, or....

2008-04-07T16:48:00.004-05:00

I have come to realize that since I'm not a very good writer, I tend to rely pretty heavily (OK, very heavily) on pictures for this blog. And although the new computer is up and running and doing great, neither of our scanners will work - hopefully it's not a Windows Vista incompatibility issue but something simple. And although we've got a lovely new camera (Canon digital Rebel xti - LOVE, love, love it!! And it uses the lenses from our old 35mm Rebel) and it has several hundred pictures on it from the last few months I haven't downloaded any of them yet. Also (details details) haven't downloaded the software needed to download the pictures.

So I'm pretty photoless at the moment and THAT is my excuse for not making any entries in so long. Even though there has been lots of stuff to write about - once I start catching up, watch out!

But I had a good news/bad news experience today and was thinking it would make a good story so here goes.

To start off, I have a new car!! Actually it's just new to me - a 2007 Toyota Rav4. I never buy new cars, it just seems to make so much more sense to buy well maintained used ones. And then I keep them forever. In over 30 years of driving, this is only the 5th car I've had. It's the 3rd Toyota and the other 2 were Hondas, and this probably explains why I've been able to put over 240,000 miles on each one and enjoyed every minute of it.

Anyway, I've had this car for about 2 weeks and it's fabulous. I can't recommend one highly enough, if you're looking for a combination good dog car/good city car. I am a home health therapist which means I drive to my patient's homes so I drive a LOT for work. And at least twice a week I am taking one or more Great Danes to a class, or a vet appointment or something so I need a good dog car too. Plus it's really comfy and well, just cool.

Until this morning... I left the house and was headed to my first patient, and was planning to stop and get some gas since I was running on fumes. Then as I'm tooling down the highway the Check Engine light came on!! And the Traction Control light!! And some other damn light, I think it had something to do with the anti-lock brakes but I'm not sure... and the Cruise Control quit working!!

WTF!!!!!!!!!!!

I was freaking out - this would be an alarming situation anyway but in a car you've just bought it's really scary. I got the car "vetted" at a mechanic before I bought it but what if they'd missed something?? I've always had wonderful luck with used cars - what if my luck has run out???

ARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(sidebar: oh look... instead of pictures apparently I'm inserting capitalized exclamations).

The car seemed to be running OK otherwise. My brain started to function again and I remembered that my brother had recommended the service department of a Toyota dealership which happened to be not too far from where I was.

I remembered this mostly because I was so surprised at the time... you see, my brother hates car dealers.

Hates them.

HATES, hates, hates hates them. You have NO idea if you don't know him. He's been buying and selling cars since he was 16 and long before the days of Edmunds.com (my personal Bible for researching and pricing cars) has been a ruthless negotiator and feels that all car dealers are scum. So for him to actually recommend a dealer is high praise indeed.

Problem was, I didn't remember the name of the dealer or exactly where it was. I called my brother's cell phone but had to leave a message. But I did reach my sister in law and asked her about it without going into details (I was still driving at the time and didn't want to start crying or something) and she told me. (It's Don Davis Toyota in Arlington TX if you're interested).

So I found it, and pulled into the service department. By now I'm really driving on fumes but had been afraid to pull into a gas station in case the car wouldn't start again!

The guy I talked to was great. The very first thing he mentioned when I told him my tale of woe was to ask if the gas cap was on tight. It was. Apparently a loose gas cap can freak out the computer and cause this sort of thing.

(Now we're finally getting to the title of this post... it's a Smart Car, get it?)

Fortunately it's still under warranty, so he said they'd check it out and would I have a seat in the waiting room.

Also fortunately, they had a couple of fairly recent issues of Time magazine there so I am now MUCH more up on current events than I was, say, this morning. For example, I now know where Darfur is (just south of Egypt, next to Sudan which is also just south of Egypt.)

I feel I'm ready for Jeopardy! Or Cash Cab, at least.

Anyway, fast forward TWO PLUS HOURS while I'm expanding my knowledge. The service guy comes in and asks me to come into his office.

Oh-oh. Oh crap.

But it's OK! Apparently, sometimes when the vehicle is really REALLY low on gas it can trigger the same kind of fit that a loose gas cap does. But although they'd heard of it, they hadn't ever actually seen that happen before so they had done a complete diagnostic. Top to bottom, inside and out and upside and down. And they found NOTHING WRONG. His exact words were "Your car is in great shape".

His next words were "You need to put some gas in it". and then they didn't charge me a dime.

So, bad news: A scary start to the day, and a shot schedule...
But, good news: My car is in GREAT SHAPE!!

I am willing to take the good news! Wheeeeeeeeeee!

And yes, I did put gas in it and will resist the urge to let it run on fumes in the future!

But as Ronnie said when I told him about this "It doesn't sound so smart to me!"

Still here....

2008-02-26T00:25:00.003-06:00

I do apologize... the new computer is working just swell but neither of our TWO scanners is working! I haven't had time to mess with it, so still no show pics to share. We did get a lovely new camera - finally got a digital SLR, a Canon Rebel XTi which can use all the lenses from our old 35 mm Canon Rebel. As soon as I get through the instruction manual I'll start downloading pictures from it... I know, excuses excuses!! Having to earn a living is really cutting into my photo sharing and blogging time! It's a bitch!

But, speaking of bitches... Kinsey is still rockin' She just turned 6 years old - well into middle age for a Dane - and to celebrate she got her second "leg" (qualifying score) in Excellent Agility Jumpers With Weaves last weekend! A first place in her class to boot, with a blazing time 11 seconds under the Course time!!

Pictures will, eventually, appear. I do promise!

Where has the time gone?

2008-01-23T20:50:00.000-06:00

Aaaaak! I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted here! Between the computer finally, well and truly, turning-its-toes-up-and-REALLY dying and a lot of work related stuff I've just been away too long.

But boy oh boy do I have NEWS!! We have our first two home-bred AKC Champions! Keeper finished his Championship on January 5 and his brother Gus finished his just a week later, on January 13. It's amazing to finish two dogs in one year - but for it to happen within a few days of each other, and to LITTERMATES is just overwhelming.

I'm still grinning from ear to ear, as you can imagine... photos will appear ASAP.

More brace pics

2007-11-29T15:31:00.001-06:00

I've been playing with some of the other video I took in Tulsa a few weeks ago, and here are a couple of stills I clipped out of Gus, Teddy and Ronnie showing in Brace. I guess - since Teddy and Gus are very, very similar in size and angles and overall build - that it shouldn't be surprising that they move together so nicely.
But I still think this looks very, very cool! You have to look closely to even see that there are two dogs in the shot above.I don't usually post photos taken of show wins on this blog, but I'm posting this one because I really like the expressions on both dogs. Pretty boys, if I say so myself!

I've got some catching up to do!

2007-11-27T18:08:00.000-06:00

I'm still here! In fact, we're doing great and have had a very good time for the past few week. Show result updates are on our web site. We had several canine visitors last week while their owners (friends of ours) were out of town for Thanksgiving. Liam is a lovely "little" yellow Lab who enjoyed bringing in the mail and the paper every day.

As Ronnie said, "Everyone should have a dog like that!"

Gus was here for a few days too. He - along with his 3 brothers - is turning into such an affectionate dog. His owner really misses him when he's gone - even though she knows he has a good time at our house - and that just makes me feel good.

I mean- I'm not glad that she's missing him, but I am SO glad that she loves him so much! That is absolutely the very BEST thing that a breeder could ever hope for, and it's the #1 thing that I'm thankful for at this season of thanks.

Great Danes, Retrievers, and Babies - Oh, My!

2007-11-16T21:50:00.000-06:00

Just got back from a wonderful trip to Pennsylvania to visit Chantel & Stacey, our longtime friends. They used to live just down the street from us, but moved to PA last January. We've missed them terribly... they're not only terrific people, but we have so many interests in common. Primarily, of course, Great Danes and showing dogs. They used to come over to visit with their dogs all the time as I described in this post and this one.

But I finally got a chance to go visit them in their new digs, and best of all FINALLY got to meet their newest family member, a beautiful little girl born last spring!

Now, I am not a "baby" person. Meaning, I'm not one of those women who coos over every baby she sees, and I've never had any desire to have one of my own. But this little girl had me charmed from the start - she's just as friendly as her parents, and they've obviously done a great job of socializing her (hahaha) because she's really game for anything.

Here are a few pics of me with this little two-legged pup, and her four-legged family members:

Their Dane, Tiger, really likes her, and seems to see himself as her guardian. He likes to be nearby wherever she is. The Flat Coat Retriever, Oakley, is her buddy and they absolutely love each other. The Golden, Jack, thinks it's all a lot of nonsense PLUS he doesn't really like having his picture taken so he's practically rolling his eyes in all the photos.

We had a lovely time - Pennsylvania is a gorgeous state and we did some sightseeing. We went to the Lehigh Valley Zoo of which Stacey is the Executive Director ... it's a small but lovely zoo, and if you're in the area I highly recommend it. We went into Philly for some sightseeing too - I'll post more about that next.

Brace Group One video!

2007-11-07T20:53:00.000-06:00

This will be my last post for a few days, so I wanted to get some of the video I took in Tulsa up before I leave. I apologize for the lack of editing - when I get back I'll trim it and put up some other video that I like even better. But this is a good start!

This was taken on Friday, November 2 for the Brace Working Group competition. As you can see, Gus and Teddy were absolutely wonderful but it's still a challenge for Ronnie to steer them! Left turns are especially tricky :-)

And I think the boys deserve extra special kudos because we found out later that the Akita brace behind them were both bitches... who were both in season!!

Tulsa!!

2007-11-06T10:42:00.000-06:00

We got back from a 3-day show weekend in Tulsa late Sunday night, and I'm still playing catch-up.

But what a weekend it was!! We took our two "pups" Topper and Teddy, along with their brother Gus who belongs to some dear friends of ours. And their other brother Keeper was there with his owner. All 4 were entered in conformation classes all 3 days, plus Keeper was entered in obedience. PLUS, Gus and Teddy (who are practically identical fawn boys) were entered in a special Brace class that was offered all 3 days. In Brace, you have 2 dogs with one handler - the dogs should work side by side, on the handler's left. I thought my hubby was pretty brave to attempt this with two young male Danes - who together weigh over 300 lbs. and could probably pull a beer wagon.

But it all worked out great! Keeper was the star, he got his second Major win on Saturday and a Reserve (no points, it's basically a runner-up thing) on Sunday. Best of all, he finished his Companion Dog obedience title! Now he is:

Symmetry's No Vrroom At the Inn, RN, CD

Topper didn't get any points, but got two Reserves. Her turn will come soon, I'm sure.

And Gus and Ted were a HUGE hit!! It is very impressive to see a Great Dane brace - they were a crowd favorite for sure. One day the judge even applauded them as they came into the ring! And all the judges had funny comments along the line of "You are a brave man" or "It's sure a good thing they get along!" :-) And they won BEST BRACE IN SHOW Friday and Saturday!! (And yes, they did have competition for it!)

I did get lots of photos and videos, fear not. But I'm leaving town again Thursday to visit some dear-but-far-away friends and I may not have time to upload them before I leave. If not, I'll have lots to post when I get back!

Promises, Promises

2007-10-30T13:57:00.001-05:00

I won't be posting anything for a few days since we'll be at a show... but I PROMISE I'll have some good stuff when we get back. Hoping for a win of course, but the main thing I'm looking forward to is Ronnie showing Gus and Teddy in Brace.

This is where you have two dogs with one handler...

Two. happy. young. Great. Danes. with. ONE. handler.

I can't wait (especially since I'M not the handler!!)

Don't worry, I'm taking the new video camera! :-)

In the meantime, bear with me while I show you how cute Kinsey is:

She's not scratching her ears, she just sleeps like that.

"Why did you wake me up?"

But sometimes she is more regal, like when she's on the lounge chair on the deck watching the younger dogs play:

I think her son Teddy does "cute" very well also:

More photos from the National!

2007-10-28T21:09:00.000-05:00

The GDCA National Specialty is over for another year, but for those of you (like me!!) who didn't get to go and who are ~~in a snit~~ sad about that... here is another web site with great photos!

The Heart of Minnesota Great Dane Club web site has a lot of great photos up, and more will be posted over the next several days, thanks to the efforts of a couple of terrific people (Zeli Schulte and Mary Ann Land).

Also, Sandy Hann at Von Shrado Great Danes has several pages of great photos that make you feel like you're there!

Enjoy!

I've got a new toy!

2007-10-28T13:36:00.000-05:00

Slowly but surely we (meaning me) are entering the DIGITAL AGE, and I got me a new camcorder! Do I hear collective groans from the audience? Well, you probably should be groaning because...

TAA-DAA!

Here is my first attempt at posting a video:

This is Keeper opening our patio door.

Breathtaking video, isn't it? :-)

He learned this trick from his mother Kinsey (or possibly he learned it the same way she did, from watching us open it). But whereas Kinsey gently noses it just far enough open to let her through, Keeper opens it much faster and he usually gives the door a giant push that opens it about halfway. The only reason he's more cautious here is that I'm standing right there, telling him not to come out!

Another visitor!

2007-10-27T15:50:00.000-05:00

I can't believe I'm posting twice in one day!

This is Aslan, an 11 or 12 week old Dane pup who belongs to a friend of ours. She brought him over today to get some help re-taping his ears. Isn't he a cutie?

You have to admit, those are some ears!!

And here is another view of handsome Aslan:

Isn't he a doll?

Brindle snobs

2007-10-27T12:58:00.001-05:00

Have you ever noticed that dogs that look alike, tend to want to hang out together? For example, if you're out with your dog and you meet another dog of the same breed, your dog is likely to be more attracted to that dog than to a dog of another breed. This holds true (in my experience at least) even if you don't have other dogs of that same breed at home. Which has always made me wonder, how do they know? I mean, it's not like they spend a lot of time looking at themselves in the mirror.

With our crew, it goes beyond that into - I'm ashamed to admit - color prejudice. When Gus or Buck (both are fawn colored) are here they play with Teddy all the time:

But when Keeper is here, after a while he and Topper start playing together (they're both brindle) and they leave poor Teddy to his own devices:

Teddy wants to play with them...

"Look guys, I've got a big ball!"

Poor Ted gives up - you can see him behind Keeper chewing on a bully stick.

Leaving Topper and Keeper to play to their hearts' content!

Visitor!

2007-10-26T23:55:00.000-05:00

See? I told you, five Danes. Because Keeper is back to visit! He's #4 in the picture (in case you're wondering, #1 is Kinsey, #2 is Aeryn, #3 is Teddy and #5 is Topper).

Everything is fine this time - his owner is out of town for a few days so he's here at Camp Symmetry. We are always glad to see the big goober - and as I've said before, we firmly believe that having frequent visitors is good for our crew. I really think that is one of the reasons they get along with other dogs so well. For example, remember that both Teddy and Keeper are intact males - and although I still think of them as "puppies", they are over two years old so are fully mature sexually. We're careful about introducing them when they haven't seen each other in a while, and we do keep an eye on them to prevent minor incidents from escalating into anything major - but really everything is very peaceful.

Well, "peaceful" in between all the running around:

But you gotta admit, they are having a good time!

The National!! At a distance...

2007-10-25T23:46:00.000-05:00

Alas, we weren't able to go to the Great Dane Club of America National Specialty (aka "The National") this year. Last year we had a blast there - and as I wrote in that post, if you like Danes or are even just interested in them and you are ever within visiting distance then for Pete's sake GO!! It's simply awesome - you'll see more wonderful dogs and meet more knowledgeable people than anywhere else on earth.

This year it's in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the trip just didn't work out for us. But I was going into withdrawals (yes, despite having ~~four~~ five - I'll explain tomorrow - Danes snoring around my feet as I type this, just hush) and really feeling the pain of missing the National this year...

...and then to the rescue come Scot Billings and Ginnie Saunders! With lots and lots and LOTS of wonderful pictures!! Scot has been documenting the National for many, many years - you can see pictures from this year's festivities here, and on the home page for his Rokadane web site you can find links for previous years.

Ginnie's DaDane web site is one of the best all-around Dane web sites anyway - she has written weekly articles for many years about Danes and also has a wonderful and HUGE links directory on her site.

But her photography is breathtaking - go look at her photos and you'll swear you can just reach out and touch the dogs! It absolutely is the next best thing to being there!

Like mother, like son, like mother

2007-10-23T15:07:00.000-05:00

I just got back from taking Kinsey for a photo shoot. She's done commercial work before, and so has her son Gus. This is the first "job" she's had in over a year, and it was probably the easiest photo shoot I've ever done*. She just had to pose with a big folding crate, and it took maybe 15 minutes...not counting, of course, the hour or so we waited while they set things up! But she was an angel as always, very patient and sweet. They wanted her to sit half in and half out of the crate, which of course is not a natural position for a dog - normally they're either in or out, they don't usually stop halfway. But she willingly stayed, and if the photographer wanted her angled differently ("Could you shift her rear this way a little?... a little more? Now scoot her rear forward.... Perfect!") I just crawled partway into the crate with her and pushed her around or moved her feet, and she stayed perfectly wherever I placed her. As one of the onlookers - there are always lots of people present at these things, assistants and clients and who know what else - said, "She's very malleable!" :-)

Her picture will be used on the box... so if you see a Pet Mate Giant-sized brand black wire folding crate, with two doors (one in the side as well as the one in the end) and a Great Dane on the box, you'll know who it is!

It's a nice crate by the way - very stable for a folding crate, and wider than most crates that size which makes it more comfortable for a dog to turn around. I was hoping to get one for our payment for the day, but no such luck.

In case you're wondering, these things do not pay well - often not enough to compensate you for taking a half day off work. And there are no royalties. It's different of course if the animal is a professional actor on a sitcom or in a major movie or something, but for this type of thing it's all about vanity - it's just a lot of fun to see your dog in an ad, or on TV!

*I'll tell you later about some other commercials I've done with our dogs that weren't so easy!

Celebrations

2007-10-22T18:31:00.000-05:00

Do you do something special for your dog when he/she does something especially good? Or for a birthday or such?

I started thinking about this when I reviewed the post I wrote yesterday about Teddy finishing his RN title. The caption to his picture there (it's a photo of him that doesn't have a thing to do with Rally but it's one I really like) said "give me a cookie" but in truth he got not only several handfuls of treats after we came out of the ring at the show but also got a double cheeseburger on the way home. That's our tradition - on the way home from a show the dogs get a burger if they did well.

Now, I totally understand that this has nothing to do with being a training reward - the dog doesn't associate the burger with whatever they did some time before back at the show site. It's just our way of celebrating. And you have to understand - for a Great Dane, a plain double cheeseburger is just a little snack. Not something big enough or rich enough to upset the dog's stomach!

For their birthdays, I usually bake them some treats. When I have an elderly dog, I make more of a fuss over birthdays and try to make it a special day. Maybe not so many special treats since an older dog's digestion may not handle it well, but we'll take a fun trip to Petsmart or some other place they enjoy.

Speaking of Rally...

2007-10-21T15:41:00.000-05:00

...Teddy finished his Rally Novice title today!! He was so good! Admittedly, the Novice level in Rally is not terribly difficult... but it does require teamwork between dog and handler, and the ability to perform various basic Obedience exercises and parts of more advanced exercises.

Teddy has the potential to do very well in Obedience and Agility, if his owner (moi) can get busy and work with him more regularly. His attitude is "What do you want me to do?"* - which you have to admit is a great one for a dog to have!

*Unlike his sister Topper, whose attitude is more along the lines of "What have you done for me, lately?"

Teddy says: "Now give me a cookie!"

To give you an idea of what a Rally course is like, here is the map of the course we had today in the Novice class:

The first exercise consisted of the dog & handler weaving in & out of 4 cones. The second exercise requires the dog to drop into a Down next to the handler - the handler gives this command while the team is still moving forward. Next, the handler calls the dog to sit in Front. Then the dog moves around behind the handler and sits in Heel position at the handler's left side.

The 4th sign is for a Left turn. The exercise after that requires the team to make a small circle to their Left. Exercise #6 is a 270 degree turn - it's called a "270 Right Turn" because the team turns to their Right as they make this turn... but it's actually a Left turn.

Exercise #7 requires the handler to call the dog to sit in Front, then move to the handler's Left side to get back into Heel position. But this time, the handler begins moving forward before the dog sits. Exercise #8 is a Spiral Left - meaning the team turns toward their Left, into the dog. Spirals in Rally are a series of concentric ovals - you do the largest one first. Exercise #9 is the Left About Turn - the handler makes a quick Left turn toward the dog, and the dog meanwhile circles behind the handler and winds up back on the Left side. I really enjoy this particular turn, but it can be confusing for some people to learn. It reminds me of a square dancing move! (I'm probably sounding really old here - do they still teach square dancing in elementary schools?? Somehow I think not! But they did when I was there.)

The next exercise calls for a Fast pace - the handler should break into a trot, and the dog should keep up. At the "Normal Pace" sign, the team slows to their normal (should be brisk) walking pace. Exercise #12 is a Right About Turn - the team makes a tight 180 degree turn to the right. The last exercise sign calls for a Slow pace - the handler should noticeably slow down and again, the dog should adjust to stay in position. I tell my students that the Fast should be the sort of quick trot you'd do to catch an elevator. The Slow should be a window-shopping stroll, and the "Normal" pace should be a brisk but comfortable walk. As the team passes the Finish sign, they're done!

Through all the exercises on a Novice course like this, the handler is free to talk to the dog, give multiple commands and/or hand signals, even pat his/her leg or clap hands. The dog is on lead throughout. It's a lot of fun, and like I said above, not too difficult. Hopefully as you are reading this you are thinking that maybe this is something you could do with YOUR dog!!

More Rally

2007-10-16T14:19:00.004-05:00

As I mentioned in my previous post, Rally Obedience can be a great option for a veteran dog who just can't compete in regular Agility or Obedience any more, but who is still healthy and active and hates to be left at home.

Patience was a perfect example of that. We had competed in regular obedience when she was younger and she finished her UD (Utility Dog title). We also dabbled in Agility but didn't ever compete in that. In 2005 when the AKC made Rally a titling event, Patience was 10 years old - she certainly qualified as a Veteran dog! But she was still very healthy and active and loved to go to shows. In the fall of 2004 she had won the Veteran's Obedience class at the Great Dane National, and did so in fabulous style. So I figured she would probably like Rally.

Boy did she! Starting the first weekend in January, we went to every Rally trial we could find within a reasonable driving distance. It takes 3 qualifying scores to get a Rally Novice title; 3 to get a Rally Advanced title; 3 to get a Rally Excellent title (Novice, Advanced and Excellent are three tiers of competition, with each a little more difficult than the last) and to get a Rally Advanced Excellent title you have to qualify in both the Excellent class and the Advanced class at the same trial for one leg... and it takes 10 of those legs to finish the RAE title! That is a minimum of 29 qualifying scores.

Patience dove right in, and got those 29 qualifying scores in a row - not only never had a non-qualifying score but she had several perfect scores and lots of class placements. She finished the RAE title just 6 months after starting in Rally Novice, and was the first Great Dane in the US to finish the RAE title. In fact, she was the 8th dog of any breed in the whole country to finish it, and the first dog of any breed in Texas.

All for a Dane nearly 11 years old (her birthday was in July). I believe that keeping older dogs active -within reason - helps them live longer and healthier. I do think this return to the show ring really revived Patience. She lived to be nearly 12, and I miss her every day.

Rally On!

2007-10-16T12:34:00.001-05:00

First, let me just say... I love Rally Obedience! Love, love, Love It!

What is Rally, you may ask? (and you may!)

It's an event that has been described as a cross between Agility and regular Obedience. The handler and dog navigate a course (like Agility) but instead of tunnels and weave poles and such, the "obstacles" on the course consist of Obedience exercises. Signs on the course tell the handler what exercise is required. The signs are numbered in the order the handler and dog are to perform them, and (as in Agility) the handler has the opportunity to walk the course before the class starts without the dog, in order to become familiar with the course.

For example, this sign directs the handler to come to a halt with the dog sitting in Heel position. Then the handler directs the dog to lay Down (still in Heel position). The handler tells the dog to Stay, and walks completely around the dog and back to Heel position. Once back in Heel position, the handler pauses to release the dog from the Stay and they proceed to the next exercise.

Also like Agility, throughout the course the handler is permitted to talk to the dog, give hand signals, use body language etc. in order to communicate what the handler wants the dog to do. This is one of the reasons Rally has become so popular, because in regular Obedience the handler is strictly limited in what you can say to the dog during the exercises, or what hand signals you can use.

The ability to talk freely to your dog during a Rally course makes it easier to keep the dog "up" and also is more relaxing for the handler!

I've been teaching Rally classes since the summer of 2004, and in 2005 Rally became an AKC titling event. I love how Rally is at once a great option for novice dogs and handlers just coming out of a basic Beginner obedience class; and at the same time is a fun option and stress reliever for advanced dogs and handlers. Since it is easier than regular obedience - and although some jumping is required at the Advanced and Excellent level, it is minimal - Rally is also a terrific option for a veteran dog who can't compete any longer in regular Obedience or Agility but who is too healthy to be happy just sitting at home.

For more information, go to RallyObedience.com or to the AKC Rally Regulations

Pain control for dogs

2007-10-14T17:02:00.000-05:00

Read this:

What the FDA Wants Your Vet to Tell You

It's an article on Pet Connection about pain treatments for dogs. It contains a link to a new brochure from the FDA for dog owners, but the article contains a lot of other great information. Share this with your vet, and other dog owners.

This information could save a lot of dogs' lives, and also help improve the quality of life for many dogs living with painful conditions. There are so many great options available to us now that are safer and more effective than those available in the past. There is no need to let a dog suffer from a chronic ailment like arthritis - or to euthanize such a dog when new pain treatments may really help.

Agility!

2007-10-06T14:34:00.001-05:00

Yes, in case you were wondering, Great Danes CAN do Agility. That is the dog event based on equine jumper courses where the dogs run and jump, crawl through tunnels, and climb over various obstacles.
The obstacles are really sized for medium to large dogs, but the Giant sized dogs seem to enjoy it too. You do have to be careful when training Giant breed puppies to do agility. Since they grow so fast and so much, it is possible to injure them.
Some basic rules are:

Keep jump heights low with a young dog. My rule of thumb is ankle height until 6 months of age, then elbow height until at least 18 months old.

Introduce tunnels while the puppy is still short enough to run through the tunnel without crouching, if possible. Once he gets taller than the tunnel, practice having him go through a tunnel only once a month or so until he's mostly grown. Don't overdo the tunnels even with a mature dog - it can be really tiring.

Be careful teaching weave poles. The back & forth movement can put a strain on the dog's shoulders. You can practice these with young Giant breed dogs, but not to excess. 5 or 10 minutes a week is plenty.

There are lots of other great ideas on the ChromaDane web site.

Here are some pictures (courtesy 2MC Designs) of Kinsey from a recent agility trial - there are more on our web site. I finally updated it!

Spots Before My Eyes

2007-10-01T12:51:00.000-05:00

This weekend we had a visitor of a different stripe... er, spot. Thatcher, a lovely 9 month old Harlequin boy who belongs to a friend of ours, came to spend a few days for some general socialization and a little extra training to prepare for his first show in another couple of weeks.

Now, don't think that Thatcher isn't already well socialized - he is! But it's a very good idea for puppies to occasionally spend a night or two away from home. Even if you never plan on showing your dog, this will make any future trips to a vet or boarding kennel MUCH less stressful. Dogs are pack animals and will always be most comfortable and most happy at home - but they do need to learn that they will still be safe and loved and OK in other places, and with other people.

Everyone enjoying their bully sticks

Note that the other dogs have moved around, but not Thatcher!

This photo cracks me up - that's a bully stick sticking out of the side of his mouth!
What a cutie!

Dangerous Politicians

2007-09-24T00:27:00.000-05:00

There is a wonderful article here: The National Ledger

If all you know about "Pit Bulls" is what you've been fed by the media, you are sorely misinformed. Breed specific legislation is becoming a national tragedy that tears apart families and murders good dogs - all so that the politicians can say they are "doing something" about a made up problem... and the criminals stay underground and aren't affected at all.

Sorry this isn't a funny post, but BSL is just too sad...

Dane totem

2007-09-16T17:58:00.000-05:00

As we were preparing to leave the show in Monroe a couple of weeks ago, we had once again to deal with the logistics of traveling with a lot of big dogs. Once you take the crates down, you have to have somewhere to put the dogs while you're packing them into the van. In our van, it's MUCH easier to load stuff like that while the dogs are not present. Keeper's owner had come to the show too, and had her own van which CAN be loaded with dogs inside. So now we've got a system - since we had 4 Danes there between us, we put Keeper and his sister Topper in her van, and I held Teddy and Gus while she and Ronnie loaded the vans. Don't worry - she had her AC running so Topper and Keeper were comfortable.

Anyway, she went to the side door of her van and opened it to get something, and the two dogs poked their heads out as she started to open the door with Keeper's head on top.

My favorite part of the story is, she had the presence of mind to shut the door, go get her camera and then open the door again to take the picture! And it was worth it:

Doesn't Topper look pleased????

The prodigal son

2007-09-14T04:45:00.000-05:00

Buck is back for a visit. He's not really a prodigal, he's always been a good boy! He's the "fifth pup", the one who isn't being shown and I don't write about him often enough. He belongs to a wonderful family who spoil him rotten and love him dearly. And he loves them! They usually are able (and willing!) to take him with them when they go out of town but when they can't he usually comes here to stay for a few days. We are so fortunate that all the dogs get along - otherwise this probably wouldn't work and we SO love seeing him.

As you can see, he's a very handsome boy!

He and his brother Teddy particularly love playing with each other. The girls (their sister Topper, mother Kinsey and aunt Aeryn) pretty much ignore them.

And then after all the playing, it's nap time:

Newsflash, more show dog abuse!!

2007-09-13T08:47:00.000-05:00

I'm still catching up on emails and such since the computer was down for so long... and realize that Keeper's owner had sent us some expose' photos she took in the Houston hotel that reveal more of the dark, tormented world of the typical show dog.

Oh, the horror!! (the silver thing is the bandage on his foot, that we replaced each afternoon to be sure he didn't hurt it again. There is normal bandage material underneath, but - you guessed it - good ol' duct tape works best to save the bandage from wearing through, and resists minor removal attempts.)

I can't bear to watch...make it stop!!

I will blast you with my laser eyes if you try to make me get off the bed.

Mmmmmmmm baby poop

2007-09-12T13:12:00.000-05:00

One thing I did do for the pups' second birthday was make treats for them all. This is a wonderful and VERY easy treat recipe that dogs love.
Although, as one friend observed, they do look a bit like baby poop!

BABY FOOD TREATS

Ingredients:
- 4 small jars baby food (any pureed meat type)
- 1/3 cup Cream of Wheat (you can substitute any kind of flour, but the texture won't be quite so fine)
- 1 beaten egg

Optional: flavorings like garlic powder, grated cheese etc.

For example, I made two flavors in this last batch:
1. Ham & Turkey with grated cheese, and
2. Veal & Lamb with garlic.

Mix all ingredients. If the batter is too runny, add some more Cream of Wheat or flour but it doesn't have to be really thick - just thick enough that when you drop a little spoonful onto the baking sheet it won't completely flatten out.

I usually cook these in the microwave - drop by small spoonfuls onto waxed paper or parchment paper, or a greased microwave safe plate.
For chewy treats, cook on High for 2- 3 minutes, until set.
If you want crunchy treats, cook them longer.

If you want to bake them in the oven, drop by spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 8 minutes for chewy treats, longer for crunchy treats.

Cool and store covered in the fridge for up to one week, or freeze for longer storage.

Why bother, you may ask? Aside from any warm fuzzy feelings arising from making something for a pet you love, your choice of treats to use when training your dog can make or break a training session.

Remember that some treats have more value to the dog than others. Think of it as pay for your dog - and just as we don't demand high pay for a job that is easy and/or enjoyable, your dog will be perfectly satisfied with "low value" treats like his regular dog biscuits, Cheerios, even pieces of his regular food when you are practicing in a low-distraction environment (like at home) or practicing exercises he already knows and enjoys. But move him to a high-distraction environment like a training class, or try teaching him something difficult and if you want his undivided attention he's going to want higher pay for that.
You may have to experiment to find treats that really drive your dog crazy. Some favorites are:
cheese
hot dogs
boiled chicken, liver, etc - especially with a sprinkle of garlic powder

But a variety of treats for training is important, and that's where homemade treats come in handy. And of course, they're lovely as occasional special treats just to do something nice for your dog.

Bake up a batch of these and freeze for future use - your dog will thank you! I'll post other treat recipes here from time to time.

Now We Are Two!

2007-09-11T16:11:00.001-05:00

And once again, I'm late with the birthday wishes for our pups - I'm such a bad "grandma". They were two on August 27. And it also goes to show what a bad blogger I am, that their first birthday post was just a few messages ago. I'm going to try to post regularly here, and also try to NOT just post about show results. I'll put those on our web site at http://symmetrydanes.freeservers.com/index.html

But this is a better venue for stories, opinions, and just the funny stuff that happens pretty regularly when you live with Danes.

Last year I posted a birthday picture of Keeper that his owner sent me. She sent me a very similar picture this year:

Keeper Age 2

He's wearing the same hat, look how much smaller the hat looks this year than it did last year:

Keeper Age 1

And Buck's owner sent me a birthday picture too:

She said he was waiting for his birthday doughnut!

So happy, happy birthday to Topper, Teddy, Keeper, Gus and Buck - we love you all!

But where will I sleep?

2007-09-10T00:42:00.000-05:00

Every now and then you hear or read some piece of nonsense from PETA talking about how poorly show dogs are treated. The truth is, people who show dogs are like most pet owners - or rather, like a slice from the top two-thirds or so of the general pet owning population. Some will inevitably care more than others, some will be more personally invested in the dog's welfare than others.

But what I meant by that "top two-thirds" crack is that you really don't see the TOTAL deadbeats in the dog show world. Whether you truly love your show dogs or mostly see them as a means to an end, the bottom line is that the dog has to be reasonably healthy, in a good weight, good coat etc. or you are wasting a LOT of money going to dog shows.

But many of us regard our show dogs first and foremost as family members.

I know Ronnie and I do. Our dogs live with us in our home, and when we travel with them to shows they get pretty good accommodations.

As a result, our dogs rather enjoy going to shows.

Teddy certainly does.

(This was taken Memorial Day weekend 2007 in Monroe Louisiana with my cell phone - excuse the poor photo. Teddy didn't win anything other than a ginormous share of the bed. But his brothers Gus and Keeper each won one day!)

Da Feet

2007-09-09T17:49:00.000-05:00

No, I'm not defeated -- or dead or anything. Although our computer has been dead 3 or 4 times in the past few months. Seems like forever! Needless to say, emachines is not my very most favorite company right now although I will give them credit for honoring the warranty. We haven't been out of pocket for any of the repairs (3 or 4 motherboards, for starters -- heck, I've lost count!) Fortunately neither my hubby nor I need this computer for our work so no lost revenue either. Just one heck of a lot of inconvenience! And frustration!!

But enough about that -- the title of this post refers to one of my pet peeves about pets: overgrown toenails!!

I know, I know... many dogs are very unwilling to have people handle their feet. All dogs have very sensitive feet -- their feet are essentially as sensitive as ours, with lots of nerve endings and pressure points. Some dogs' feet are very ticklish, or very hypersensitive. Dogs who have neck or back or hip problems may have tingling sensations in their feet. Add to that the fact that most dogs have dark nails so that you can't see the "quick" (the fleshy core which contains the nerves and blood vessels) and it's easy to understand why so many pet owners don't keep up with their dog's nails.

But this isn't optional, people!! Nails that grow too long are a horrible thing for a dog to have to endure. Try taping or gluing popsicle sticks to your toes and walking around like that for a day. Overgrown nails can cause toe and foot malformations. They can predispose the dog to toe injuries. And in extreme cases the nail can actually curve under and pierce the pad.

With a little persistence, most dogs can be trained to allow their nails to be shortened without a struggle. This always begins with basic handling. You should be able to touch and handle any part of your dog's body but this takes training and patience. Anytime you are having a cuddle with your dog, take a few moments and gently stroke the dog's muzzle, ears, legs and/or feet. If any of these areas are sensitive, go VERY slowly. Start petting or scratching areas that the dog enjoys having you touch, and just make a few of your strokes venture toward the "forbidden" area. Watch your dog and if she tenses up then you know you've gone a little too far. Back off and pet her in a way she enjoys. Next time, don't go quite so far and try to keep her relaxed. A minute or two of this a day, or even just a few days a week will work wonders - before you know it, you'll be able to handle your dog's feet, ears etc. easily.

I use a LOT of treats when I'm doing this kind of desensitization. The treats are not only a reward for letting me touch the dog's feet, but also a reassurance and a positive reinforcement that will help the dog remain more relaxed in the future.

Even if you are fortunate enough to have a dog who's nails naturally stay short (these are rare creatures but do exist!) you should teach your dog to let you check her feet on a regular basis anyway. Dogs don't always limp when they have a foot injury - if it doesn't hurt any more when they put weight on the foot than when they don't put weight on it, they may not limp noticeably. And as dogs get older, their nails have a tendency to get longer even if they were always naturally short in the past. Last but not least, if the dewclaws (the fifth toe up on the inside of the leg, where a thumb would be) are present those will need to be trimmed even on the lucky dogs with naturally short nails.

**Now is a good time for a disclaimer: First of all, I am NOT a vet and am not presenting anything as "medical advice". Secondly, always be very careful when trying to desensitize a dog so you can handle sensitive areas like its feet. If you have ANY doubts about your dog's willingness to tolerate this, or if you have ANY reason to think your dog might even CONSIDER biting you, then consult a professional trainer or behaviorist before proceeding. Don't get bitten!!**

There is another reason so many dogs hate having their nails trimmed: nail clippers pinch!! If you use nail clippers on your dog, first of all always be sure that they are super sharp. The scissor type clipper can be sharpened, and you can get replacement blades for the guillotine type. I prefer the scissor type clipper because you have blades cutting from both sides of the nail. With the guillotine type, a lot of squeezing takes place before the blade actually cuts - and if you've ever gotten your finger pinched in a door, you know how very much that HURTS!! But even the scissor type squeezes the nail as it is cutting.

You can minimize this by beveling the nail as you cut it: Instead of cutting straight across the nail, cut a little at an angle from one side, then the other side and sort of whittle the nail down. This will greatly reduce the pressure on the nail, and has two added benefits: 1. You are less likely to cut into the quick and if you do, it probably won't be so bad (or bloody), and 2. this method reduces the razor-sharp cut nail edges.

This drawing demonstrates a straight-across cut which pinches (seen from above the dog's foot):

And this one demonstrates the beveling or whittling technique:

But the best method of all for shortening nails doesn't involve cutting them at all. A Dremel or other handheld rotary sanding tool works amazingly well. You do have to desensitize the dog to the noise of the tool, and you can't hold the tool on one spot on the nail for too long (more than 2 or 3 seconds) or it will get too hot and hurt the dog. You have to take care that long hair (yours OR the dog's!!) doesn't get caught in the rotating head. But a rotary sander gives you incredible control on how close you can get to the quick without injuring it, and you always finish with lovely smooth nails.

There is a FABULOUS web page that gives detailed instructions on exactly how to use a rotary sander to shorten a dog's nails. Go to www.doberdawn.com/ and click on "How to Dremel Dog Nails" on the left side of the page.

Here are some pictures that show how a dog's nails SHOULD look:

Danes are one of the breeds that have "cat" feet, meaning that the foot is round and compact. With this type of foot it is especially important to keep the nails very short - otherwise the nails on the outer toes of the foot can wear sores on the sides of the inner toes.

Once someone told me that their vet told them that their puppy's nails were TOO short! This was a perfectly healthy pup with nice short nails. I have never heard of any other vet saying anything like this, and it amazed me!! And upset me - the last thing we need is some vet discouraging responsible owners from keeping their dog's nails nice and short! The only thing I could think of was that maybe the vet thought the nails had been "quicked back". This means intentionally cutting the nail very short, into the quick. It is cruel unless done under anesthesia - and even then the risk of infection can be high. But this puppy's nails had never been quicked, they had just been kept short.

Last thought on the subject: if all else fails take your dog to your vet or to a groomer regularly (that means at LEAST once a month) and have the professionals trim his nails. It's an inconvenience and an expense but if you can't or won't trim your dog's nails yourself, or if your dog might bite you if you try then it's your only choice.

Remember - taking care of your dog's nails is NOT optional!! It is a basic requirement, just as important as keeping the dog's coat free of mats and his skin free of parasites.

Can't stop smiling!

2007-07-26T19:52:00.000-05:00

Well I guess the crossed fingers worked!

The show last weekend was in Houston. We drove down pretty late Thursday evening, and our show time was first thing Friday morning. Keeper's foot was still bandaged - we left it on to protect the pad. Half an hour before we were due to show, we were taking the bandage off and cleaning the tape residue off his leg.

Or trying to - thank Goodness he's a stripey boy and the stripes hide a LOT of stuff!! Like, specifically, tape residue.

This was Keeper's first show since February - he was going through a growth spurt and just needed to mature a little. WE thought he was ready to show now, and ready to do well but, then... we're predjudiced.

Guess what?

He WON!! His foot was fine, he absolutely floated around the ring! And got not only Winner's Dog but also Best of Winners - which gave him his first Major! (In the AKC, dogs need at least 2 wins at Major shows - which are 3 to 5 points each depending on how many dogs are exhibited - with a total of 15 points to become a Champion. Smaller shows might award just one or two points.)

And then the next day he won again!! Didn't get Best of Winners that time, so he "only" got 2 points.

But 5 points for 2 days!! Woooooo-hoooooooo!! Hooray Keeper!

And we didn't have to pay for his owner's hotel room after all :-P

PS: Here's the win photo:

Bad Timing

2007-07-18T18:48:00.000-05:00

Keeper was entered in a show the last weekend in June. Just as his owner, K., was packing up to leave for the show she let him out one more time. When he came back in, there was blood ALL OVER THE FLOOR.

He had badly cut his foot on something.

Which knocked him out of showing not only those 3 days, but 4 days of shows the following weekend - including our home club specialty.

SEVEN DAYS of entries - some of which were not only entries in conformation classes, but also obedience classes since she is MUCH MUCH better than I have been lately about getting to classes and really working with her dog.

It wasn't a life-threatening injury, or even a career threatening one... Keeper will be fine.

But boy did his timing suck! Those were the first shows he's been entered in for MONTHS since he's had a lot of growing to do. It just means it's one of the most expensive pad cuts I've ever heard of!

To make matters worse, then he started taking the bandage off while she was at work and licking the foot, which hinders the healing. So we decided to keep him here for a few weeks since either Ronnie or I can usually manage to be home to keep an eye on him. He's entered in 3 more days of shows this weekend, and we all would REALLY like for him not to miss those too!

But we knew K would miss the big goober! However we had a great plan...
Keeper would do fine here with all the other dogs - he's been here before and they all get along. But Teddy, who has always had a tendency to be a bit clingy, was getting worse (sometimes destructive when both Ronnie and I leave the house) and needed to go stay with someone else for a while. So he could get a refresher that the big, wide world is NOT a scary place, and that he'll be fine no matter who he is with.

So we traded. Keeper came here, and Teddy went there.

It's worked out great - Keeper has kept his bandage on, the foot is healing well and he enjoys playing with his sister Topper:

And Teddy has done just fine at Auntie K's house.

The tricky part will be if Keeper's foot is, indeed, well enough healed for him to show this weekend. It's looking good but he is one BIG dog and we don't want it to tear open or anything while he's trotting along in the ring.

I told her tonight on the phone that he'd be fine and we were good to go (crossing my fingers all the while). She's already paid the entry fees, those are gone whether he shows or not. But this is an out-of-town show so there isn't any point in her paying for a hotel room if she can't show her dog.

After I hung up, I turned to my husband and said "We may be paying for her hotel room!" If Keeper isn't sound enough to show despite my optimism that he will be fine, that's the least we can do to make it up to her.

Keep those fingers crossed...