Spots Before My Eyes

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

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

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

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!!

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

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!

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?

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

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!

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

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...

I am smack out of words for this

This is Teddy's new favorite place to sit - the problem is, it isn't actally a seat per se... just the corner section of our couch. With a compartment for storing books or papers.

The National!

The Great Dane National Specialty. All Great Danes, All the time for 8 days.

Heaven!! :-)

My very favorite part of this is spending an entire week with hundreds of other people who all think that living with giant dogs is perfectly normal. You never once hear witticisms like "Gotta saddle for that thing?"

It's part dog show, part exhibition, part pomp & pageantry, part reunion (seeing friends from other parts of the country that you only see at the National).

It's fun and sometimes breathtaking and sometimes sad and often hilarious and very tiring!

Our kids did GREAT!!
They all made the cut or placed in their classes - but more importantly they handled the whole thing very well. This was by far the longest trip any of them have made and they all traveled well and seemed to enjoy the whole experience. We were on the 9th floor in our hotel so there were a lot of elevator rides every day and other new things. They became quite accustomed to hearing someone shriek when the elevator doors opened - you learn quickly to not let the dog charge out of the elevator when the doors open or you'll give the housekeeping staff heart attacks.

And they ATE!! I feed a raw diet to my dogs - I'll talk about this more in a future post. But just before we left for the National, Gus and his brother Teddy both went through a growth spurt and were looking a little thin. Not unhealthy, but you obviously want your dogs looking their best for something like your National. They were eating well so I fed them a LOT and by the end of the week they'd each put on a few pounds and looked great. This is one of the things I love about a raw diet - what goes in the dog, stays in the dog. The boys were eating probably 5 or 6 lbs of meat a day EACH and yet when it came time to walk them, you could pick up the poop with one hand in a baggie easily.

Here are some photos from the National - these were taken by our dear friends Chantel & Stacey Johnson, Mary Ann Land or Zeli Schulte.





This was the logo and theme for the 2006 National. I love this logo.

This is Ronnie with our girl Topper:

Ronnie and Topper's brother Gus - he's always wagging his tail. Gus, that is - not Ronnie!



Ronnie with their brother Teddy. It may look like Teddy is getting a lecture, but Ronnie is just getting him to focus his attention.



Here are a couple more pictures of Our Boy Teddy:

Here's their brother Keeper with Chantel - he placed third in the huge 12-15 month Futurity class!

The classes at the National can be QUITE large:

Keeping the dogs cool - the square cloths are chamois that when soaked in cold water will stay cold for a long time. Many show dogs learn to drink out of spray bottles - that's what the dog closest to the camera is doing. It's an easy way for the handler to have and carry water at ringside for the dogs. Misting water on their coats also helps keep them cool. This convention center was climate controlled of course, but it got a little warm in the afternoons.

Everyone loves watching the 3 to 5 month class in Futurity. The first entries for these babies are sent in before the litter is even born! Here is Mike Holle with a beautiful little brindle girl:

Kinsey (mother of Topper, Gus, Teddy and Keeper) and Ronnie watching some classes. Well, Ronnie is watching - Kinsey is pouting because he's not allowing her to work the crowd for treats.

Here are two GORGEOUS Black Danes. The one on the right is Tiger who belongs to Chantel. I'm not sure who the pretty girl on the left is.

It's not all just about looking good at the National - there are performance events too. We didn't get any shots of Kinsey in Agility (she won her Novice Jumpers class!) but here is the Sit Stay portion of the Novice Obedience class. Chantel's boy Tiger is second in line (second closest to the camera). Kinsey is on the other side of him.

This lovely picture of Tiger during the Down Stay portion of the Novice Obedience class was taken by Zeli Schulte. Tiger finished his Novice Obedience title at the National! But this picture pretty well sums up how we all felt by the end of the week:

If there is a particular breed of dog you love, chances are that the national club for that breed hosts a National Specialty somewhere in the country each year. I highly recommend attending when you can - even if you aren't especially interested in showing there is NO better place to meet people who love and are knowledgeable about your breed! Plus you get to see dogs from all over the country and even the vendors carry supplies and gifts geared toward that breed. The web site for the national club for each breed will have information about the National Specialties.

Home Again

Seems like we've been gone forever! Actually, we've just been gone to a few shows but that included the Great Dane National Specialty in Topeka, Kansas last month. Eight days of Great Danes!! It was wonderful but exhausting. We took four dogs - Kinsey and three of her pups (Topper, Teddy and Gus). A fourth pup - Keeper - was there with his owner. The logistics of traveling for over a week with that many giant breed dogs is mind boggling! We ended up taking two cars - we have a big van we use for dog shows and normally it has more than enough room, but we were taking so many crates and X-pens (exercise pens, which are collapsible wire fences that can be set up in many different ways) for the kids - not to mention food and luggage for Ronnie and I - that it wouldn't all fit! We discussed renting a U-haul trailer to tow behind the van to carry all the crates but the van doesn't have a hitch, and we figured by the time we got that put on and rented the trailer it would be cheaper for me to drive separately in my little Toyota wagon. So I took one dog and some stuff, and the other three dogs and all the other stuff went in the van with Ronnie. Fortunately it was "only" an eight hour drive for us!! More later...

Following in his Mother's Footsteps?

Gus did his first advertising work this morning!
Doskocil has come out with a new giant sized dog bed and he'll be on the package! His owners have had Danes for many years, and several of their other Danes have been in Doskocil ads so they got a call when the company needed another Dane for an ad.

She (Gus's owner) had to work, so asked me to take him to the photo session. He was SO GOOD!! They have had him in training classes but let's face it - he's still basically a puppy and can get pretty darned silly. It did take him a while to settle down - I had been hoping for an afternoon time so I could bring him over here to my house and let him play with his siblings for a while and get him worn out first but it didn't happen that way. But it didn't seem to matter - he strolled into the studio and met everyone, wagging and happy. And he was very willing to lay down where they wanted him to, but he wouldn't stay. Fortunately the photographer and the other people (I assume from Doskocil) were VERY patient. The set was really small and I thought he was feeling a little crowded, so I had them take a little break and I worked with him, let him get used to the bed and the close quarters and settle down a little. The breakthrough came when it occurred to me to toss treats to him - then instead of wanting to come to me for a reward, he'd lie there and look alert. Then we were able to get a LOT of good shots in different positions, by the end we were even able to squeak a toy and make meowing sounds and Gus stayed!! And looked gorgeous!!
They were kind enough to send me this photo to use on my personal web sites - it's not the one they ended up using for the package but I really like it!

Now We Are One!

Happy birthday to Kinsey's puppies!!
Actually I'm a little late, they were born Aug. 27, 2005. You could hold them in one hand - seriously!! You could.
Of course, by the next day it took both hands, and by this time last year they were already 4 or 5 pounds each.
But they WERE little at one time!!


This is Keeper - his owner sent me this picture of him with his birthday hat on. Keeper probably weighs over 150 lbs. now - good thing we don't have to buy clothing for these guys, as fast as they grow! They'd need new outfits every week!

Hot, hot, hot!

103 today... that's about 39 for those of you on Celsius. Mostly we stay indoors with the A/C and the fans and try to move around as little as possible.

But last week we took two of the dogs to a local lake with some friends - Kinsey enjoyed chasing her own splashes!



Topper wasn't too sure about it at first - here she's apparently trying to climb onto Ronnie's head (or at least asking for sympathy):



But she got over it and soon had a good time:



And Kinsey had to do some posing - either that, or she's just waiting for more splashes:


It was fun, but I'll take cold & snowy over hot & sticky any day!!

One in a million...

Remember the local car dealership chain that Kinsey has done a few commercials for?

Last weekend there was a huge 4th of July festival and they are the fireworks sponsor for it. And they wanted the mascot (aka Kinsey) to make an appearance and "press the flesh" so to speak.

We weren't there all day - they just wanted her to visit with the public for a few hours in the afternoon then make a quick appearance on stage.

It may not sound like much, but there were a lot of difficult bits to it and let me tell you that Kinsey was freaking AWESOME!!
First of all, they picked us up in the parking lot in a gas powered golf cart - she's never even seen one before and barely had room and it was like riding a bumpy noisy lawn mower. But no sweat - she climbed on board like a champ. As we rode through the crowd toward their booth (this was a HUGE festival/concert and it was on a huge property) she practically waved to the crowd! :-)
They had a pop-up tent so we had shade and were cool enough, but I'm not kidding about a zillion people stopped by and petted her - fortuanely she thoroughly enjoyed it!
About the time I figured her hair would all be rubbed off they took us back (another golf cart ride) to the "green room" and then to the big stage.
I've never been behind the scenes at a big concert and have never seen a big stage set up. It was HUGE and the only way up onto it was - apparently - via very steep, open backed metal stairs. More like a ladder than a staircase. I about had an attack when I saw it... I was thinking "how are we going to carry this 100 lb. dog up those stairs" but I shouldn't have worried. Kinsey didn't even give the stairs a second glance - just went right up without hesitation.

If you don't have dogs - especially big dogs - you may not realize how significant that was in itself. She'd been great all day but there are lots of friendly, very well socialized dogs who can handle big crowds with aplomb. But those stairs!! Open backed stairs are usually pretty scary for dogs, and these had narrow metal treads and were very, very steep. Even with her agility background (which I'm sure really helped her confidence with something like this) it was absolutely amazing that she'd climb them so calmly.

And it wasn't over, not by a long shot! Once on the stage we waited in the wings while a band finished playing. As they went into their finale it was UNBELIEVABLY loud - worse than any loud nightclub I've ever been to. Forget about screaming into someone's ear to make yourself heard, you just had to rely on lip reading and sign language. The whole structure was vibrating with the sound of it. It hurt my ears, I figured it had to hurt Kinsey's. I held my hands over her ears but she was howling - I've never heard her howl before!! But fortunately it was soon over. And although she didn't like the loud noise, she wasn't freaked out at all - very calm and still greeting anyone who paid her any attention.

When they introduced her the crowd made a lot of noise too!! Over 200,000 people they said. Again, she acted like she did this sort of thing every day and trotted out on stage, did her little speak thing (there's a little routine the mascot does), and it was over. Back down the scary metal stair which actually bothered me a lot more than her - dang it was steep!! But again she didn't hesitate, just went right down like she did it every day. What a trouper!! What a GOOD girl!!
What a one in a million dog!!

Queen Kinsey

I'm gorgeous and I know it!



Except when I'm feeling sorry for myself. Woe is meeeee!

Cut & Paste

I'm not sure if this title is appropo - but the Queen (Kinsey) would think so! She got cut big time last week - spayed and had her stomach tacked. This is not a plastic surgery procedure but rather a means to protect her from a very fatal and fairly common complication of gastric bloat called gastric torsion. Which basically means, sometimes a dog's stomach fills with air and then flips over or rotates (torsion) which in turn cuts off the circulation to the stomach, intestines and even sometimes the spleen. The stomach tack procedure fastens her stomach in place - it can't prevent the bloat (the filling with air part) but hopefully will prevent the flipping over part.
So anyway she's been milking this post-surgical recovery phase for all it's worth and it's working - she's getting pampered big time. She does the "Oh woe is me" bit very well anyway, but I was really worried. For some reason, a significant percentage of Danes die during or after surgery - including so-called "routine" surgeries like a spay. I'm sure it's still a small percentage, after all people don't normally email everyone they know to say "my dog got spayed and she's fine" but it's a large enough percentage that the parent club Great Dane Club of America has seen fit to form special surgical guidelines for Great Danes.

The other part of the "cut and paste" topic that applies is me coping with the fact that our hard drive went toes up last month and I'm trying to recover or reassemble the documents that weren't properly backed up (shame, shame!!). I'm teaching a Rally class this summer for the third year and I'm having to recreate some of the handouts for that. Oh, joy!!

On a more fun topic, we went to a Dane specialty near Austin over Memorial Day weekend and it went very well. We took 4 dogs which makes it sort of a trial run for the National specialty this October. We had 3 of Kinsey's pups with us, and a fourth pup was there too so we got some family pictures. It was the pups' first stay in a hotel and they did great!! It's always exciting traveling with puppies...especially when they each weigh over 100 pounds!!

Left to right: Keeper, Teddy, Gus and Topper.

Catching up

Our computer committed suicide a few weeks ago, and although I did find that without it I was:
1. getting to bed WAY earlier
2. getting more done around the house! (not that you can really tell, but I so WAS!)
But I really missed it! So here's the news you missed:
May 14, 2006:
At just her third show, Topper won Winners Bitch/Best Of Winners for her first point!! Now she's REALLY going to be full of herself!!
May 23:
Her mom Kinsey filmed a commercial for a local (North central Texas) car dealership - they have had Danes as their mascots for many, many years. She did one for this same company last year but this one is more involved. She had to hold a football (partly deflated so she could hang on to it), a baseball, a baseball bat, a hockey stick, a referee's whistle, and a hockey puck in her mouth (the hockey puck was hilarious - you couldn't even see it in her mouth until she spit it out!!). She had to pose with one paw on a football, a soccer ball, and a basketball - tricky since they tended to roll. She had to push a soccer ball around with her nose. She had to jump up like she was shooting a basket, spin around, gallop all over a green set which wasn't very large, wear a referee's shirt and a goalie's helmet!! And of course, do the trademark mascot bark. She was really, really good!
And now she's going to be even MORE full of herself than her daughter... when it comes to being a Princess Kinsey is an expert. Of course, I don't mind living with a celebrity but it can be rather taxing... all this fetching & carrying and fluffing her pillows and rubbing her feet and feeding her bon-bons (you know how HARD it is to find bon-bons this time of year!!??) is very tiring!!