Gale -- you're not thinking of touching this ball, are you?

Jetta

Jetta has been a phenomenal addition to our family. We cannot thank you enough.

She is 26 inches at her "withers" not sure if that is also how you measure dogs? Around 70 plus pounds.

Smart girl with a very strong drive to please, quite sensitive to any correction or discord. I discovered that at a LaCrosse game when we sat by a family and two of their children had a loud disagreement.

She loves her soccer balls and playing fetch with them however I can take her to the boys soccer games without any worry that she would chase a game ball or person running.

She is crazy about boating and will dive for her rubber rockets-I really would prefer she didn't as I am concerned about her hears. She is trying to figure out the boat latter and has attempted it once herself. I will see if I can get a video of her underwater.

She still meets strangers nicely but I can tell she is reserved, when we meet folks she knows and likes she shows how happy she is to see them. We still take her everywhere, she even stayed in a hotel and came to a funeral with us. Jetta LOVES my mom.

I am home full time now and I hope to get back to obedience class after school resumes for the kids. The underground fence has worked out well, it beeps a warning that she has no desire to challenge however she is quick to figure out if it's off. We walk 3.5 miles daily weather permitting.

She is rarely crated, sleeps with us. I crate her if I will be gone for several hours as she has a good time entertaining herself if I don't. I have had far more destructive Bull Terriers.

Here she is walking by the Lake tonight with a nice short summer haircut.

We are all just crazy about her she really is amazing!

Blade is doing well but I would have to say he also is a bit slow to mature emotionally and mentally. He just thinks things should be his way and not mine so we have a battle of the wills at times. If he really likes doing something(like agility) he has amazing focus and picks up really quick what I want from him. I think he would have been a great herding candidate and if there had been somewhere here that offered it I may have tried him at it.

I took him to an obedience seminar in Gold Beach and he didn't do bad. I really liked the trainer, Forrest, and he gave me some helpful hints. The biggest problem I have with him is his overreaction to movement-he just wants to run it down, and other dogs. It's not that he's really aggressive with other dogs as he is overbearing with them. And yet, he can show a lot of common sense and restraint at times, so I really think it's just his age.

I still bike him a couple of times a week and I take him down to the beach a couple of times a week. he's really turning into quite the swimmer. I feel it's a good exercise as it's easy on the joints. And of course we still do agility.

Blade also is a big boned, roughed out bouvier. He's pretty lanky right now, about 76 pounds but my other two dogs were also pretty lean as one year olds so I don't worry much about that. I really love his look. I've decided let his coat alone and just strip out the undercoat; I really like the texture of his coat and though he gets very dirty at time it doesn't take that long to comb him out.

Hi from Wisconsin!

We are having rain this morning, it has actually been a wet couple of weeks and the crops are growing well unlike in western Minnesota and eastern Wisconsin where the drought seems to continue unabated.

I wanted to check in to see how your pup is coming along ~ Gail (or Gale or Gael, it seems to change!) is great, she goes in to the vet today to have her thyroid and heart OFA certified, this after training this morning.  I have sent in entries for September herding trials, she will only be in the beginning levels of course but we're getting her trial career started ~ she will work sheep.  I am also toying with the idea of entering her in the August obedience trials for the Beginner Novice exercises.  She can do them fine and it is a good opportunity to start getting her used to a trial environment.  She is a big, rough looking Bouvier - not so tall, about 24.5" and weighs 68# but with very big bones.  And teeth.  She has been a dog slow to mature mentally and emotionally so I'm happy to see that she's finally coming together.  I had my doubts for a while this winter!

She's probably the most destructive dog I"ve ever owned when it come to the jolly balls!  Even Solo doesn't just rip them apart like she does! 

And she's fearless ~ absolutely nothing fazes her.  Having said that, she does not like to be wrong and is easy to train once she understands what is being asked of her.  She's fairly active, not hyperactive but 'active' although she has excellent house manners thank goodness.  I keep her coat all cut off but it looks to me as though she doesn't have as much undercoat as some Bouviers which is great because it makes life easy for me but it isn't really a correct coat.

I'd love to hear how your youngster is coming along and as always, a picture would be terrific!

Solo and Gail

I had Solo to the vet yesterday for his Lyme titer ~ he was on doxycycline most of last summer for Lymes disease and we're following up now. I figured it would be a good opportunity to check Gail's weight while we were there - she weighs 71lbs at 9 months. I'm very pleased at how compact she is ~ she's very sturdy yet agile, with a lovely head and good teeth. She does have a lot of coat for my taste and my hope is that as she matures and her adult coat comes in there will be less of it!

We had Solo entered in obedience trials over the weekend but pulled him since he was just too obsessed with Trouble being in season. I thought it was too much to ask of him to breed and trial at the same time. We've entered him in a trial in Lubbock, Texas while we're in the southwest ~ very adventurous for us!

Jetta and her boy!

Gale and her Dad

Oh that Gale!

Stormy

Stormy is doing well. He does a pretty good heal and sit. I am having trouble with the wait/stay, but we are working on it. I have not made puppy class very often this last month. We are working on the down when healing, and he is getting that also. I think that he is finally over the water spilling stage - thank goodness. He is a busy little boy. My nursing home people keep asking me to bring him back in to both of them. Will do it at Christmas for sure. When I
get my butt back up to St. Cloud we will do obedience 1. It doesn't
start until 7:15, and then it is 11 when I get home. I have not heard very good things about the obedience in Spicer. We use "that'll" do all the time. He loves attention and to be petted.

They had Bouvier's on Dogs 101 on Sat. night. They were the end of the show. Did a good job, and really stressed the fact that they are not for first time owners, and need obedience training.

Spike update

Egads, Sunny...I've allowed a month to go by! Living at 7,000', it's a long trip, down to any """quality"""puppy classes...so must stick to what's available, up here. If you know a web-site, for a highly respected puppy class, in S.CAL....I'd like to review it. I'd be very interested to know what skills your classes taught.

Meanwhile, I enrolled Spike and me (3rd time for me), into our local class....which was cancelled, due to an early winter.

So....Spike does some things very well: sit, stay (he'll sit and allow me to stop car, open gate, drive through, then close gate), doesn't eat until I give the command, come (usually), and the biggie: Don't bite...my command for any licking, at all, or nipping.

He pees and poops on command. He's much larger, already, than our adult, Kate. Kate, at once, began teaching him how to defend himself against coyotes. That's what started Spike's habit of wanting to play with me, like he's nipping at coyotes. SO...that's why I'm pleased he now responds to no bite, which includes his love of licking my hands.

He's very, very bright.

Has tried to challenge Kate for Alpha....but she'll have none of it....and now he's reluctant to enter their shared kennel (a smallish room), unless he feels he has her permission.

His color I find most fascinating....looks like a black dog who has been lightly sprayed with rust paint. Or a man whose wife has given him a bad hair-dye job....that looks burgandy/rust in the sun. I'm so curious to see how his coat evolves. I quite like it. Didn't have his ears docked.....perhaps putting him at risk, with coyotes.

Just last week, we began allowing him to roam the entire 24 acres, with Kate. She's very protective, and won't allow him to get too far away from her. She's always scanning the horizon. He's a comical fellow. Very affectionate. And cocks his head, with one ear up, and one flopping down.

I'll get a weight on him, soon. A close friend has become our local, VCA vet/surgeon, and now, 34 yr. old head of the clinic. I asked him if Spike is over-weight. John laughed, and said, if you have to ask, the answer is probably yes. But, he came out to the car, and declared, "He's fine. He's just having a growth spurt."

We all feel he's one of our best dogs, ever. We love him, so!!!

End of the year report!

First, here is a picture of Birdie I discovered on my son Seth's computer! I think it is from sometime last summer based on the looks of things. Second, thanks to everyone for keeping me updated on your pup's progress ~ I very much appreciate the notes and pictures and hope they keep coming as this litter matures!
Third, you'll all be proud to know that Solo, your pup's Dad, went High in Trial at an obedience trial on December 26 with a score of 197.5 out of 200 points. Very nice!

*******

Here is a note which arrived a little bit ago from Mary Lou:

Here are some current pictures of Blade; he's becoming quite a big, handsome boy.

He is doing quite well in agility and if I can come up with video of him doing it I'll send one.

Gail

A happy face to greet me in the morning!

Spaying and Neutering

Because I know many of you will be contemplating this in the near future, here is some information. I do have a lengthy article if you would like me to send it to you.

On the positive side, neutering male dogs
• eliminates the small risk (probably <1%) of dying from testicular cancer
• reduces the risk of non-cancerous prostate disorders
• reduces the risk of perianal fistulas
• may possibly reduce the risk of diabetes (data inconclusive)

On the negative side, neutering male dogs
• if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a common cancer in medium/large and larger breeds with a poor prognosis.
• increases the risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 1.6
• triples the risk of hypothyroidism
• increases the risk of progressive geriatric cognitive impairment
• triples the risk of obesity, a common health problem in dogs with many associated health problems
• quadruples the small risk (<0.6%) of prostate cancer
• doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract cancers
• increases the risk of orthopedic disorders
• increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations
For female dogs, the situation is more complex. The number of health benefits associated with spaying may exceed the associated health problems in some (not all) cases. On balance, whether spaying improves the odds of overall good health or degrades them probably depends on the age of the female dog and the relative risk of various diseases in the different breeds.

On the positive side, spaying female dogs
• if done before 2.5 years of age, greatly reduces the risk of mammary tumors, the most common
malignant tumors in female dogs
• nearly eliminates the risk of pyometra, which otherwise would affect about 23% of intact female dogs; pyometra kills about 1% of intact female dogs
• reduces the risk of perianal fistulas
• removes the very small risk ( 0.5%) from uterine, cervical, and ovarian tumors

On the negative side, spaying female dogs
• if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a common cancer in larger breeds with a poor prognosis
• increases the risk of splenic hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 2.2 and cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 5; this is a common cancer and major cause of death in some breeds
• triples the risk of hypothyroidism
• increases the risk of obesity by a factor of 1.6-2, a common health problem in dogs with many
associated health problems
• causes urinary “spay incontinence” in 4-20% of female dogs
• increases the risk of persistent or recurring urinary tract infections by a factor of 3-4
• increases the risk of recessed vulva, vaginal dermatitis, and vaginitis, especially for female dogs
spayed before puberty
• doubles the small risk (<1%) of urinary tract tumors
• increases the risk of orthopedic disorders
• increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations

One thing is clear – much of the spay/neuter information that is available to the public is unbalanced and contains claims that are exaggerated or unsupported by evidence.

Here is Jetta working on hand signals with one of her favorite people helping her.

Stormy:

Well, I have been using one of my herding sticks on Stormy, and he is bettter about watching out for me. He is very different than the other two. I still have him in the crate at night, as I don't trust him. He knows "crate, but it takes a few minutes before he finally gets into it.

He and Jazz had the best time playing together, and once in a while Cutter will join. I love watching them play.

Jetta is fabulous, we can hardly believe how wonderful she is. She is never crated anymore. Jets sleeps with one of the family, her choice. I also noticed that if she is hot she sleeps on the bathroom floor. She is very reliable with listening even in highly distracted situations. She loves kids, although when I first took her to school dismissal she did give me a look that said, "You sure about this?" It was funny, now she does not bat an eye lash. We took her to a 3K walk around Lake Harriet called The Monster Dash, she dressed up as a witch and did great. She talks to me a lot. I know when she sounds like Chewbacca she really wants something. She loves to run silently up to you and snatch whatever is in your hands and bolt off with it. I think she also enjoys keeping a leery eye on the neighbors.


Right now we are working on "bring it" which is fetch, she loves to run and bring the ball back, just not right to us. We are also teaching her to say, "I love you" She is a bit mouthy at times, nothing unusual for her age. My husband has issues with her jumping on him-I keep having to remind him to give her the signal for sit before he touches her. He is just over the moon in love with her.


She is always with us, loves water, she will get right in the shower with you if you let her. She also adores yogurt and Kifer.


We had an underground fence installed so she has run of the yard and is safely contained. Jetta takes her job seriously and has a stern "I mean business bark" We had family stay overnight and she read my uncle the riot act when he got up in the middle of the night for water before she realized who he was.


Jets weighs 53 pounds as of today.


Thanks for the wonderful pup, we love her so.

Hi Liz and thanks - it sounds like the litter is consistent overall.

Are you continuing to take her to class? I would really encourage you to do so since from now on until she's about 2 she'll be going through a lot of changes (like kids do) I'd love to see a little video of her with her tricks!

Blade is doing very nicely. He finished his first 6 weeks of obedience and did very well. The instructor is gone until January but I still work with him on my own. I think he is going to start up Rally when he gets back which sounds like a lot of fun. We are still doing agility and I'm amazed at how well he does at it; he is a natural. I have just started him at biking(slow and short sessions) but he will also be a natural at that. I also get together with a couple of other people and there dogs and we take them over to the dog park so all the dogs get alot of socialization with other people and dogs. I measured him the other day and he stands at around 24 inches and weighs about 55 pounds; he will be a big boy. I will get some current pictures of him and send them off sometime this month. The only problem I'm having with him is he wants to chase cars. Even as a baby he would try to go after them. I've always discouraged the behavior but with limited success. My agility instructor gave me a couple of suggestions that I will be trying. He is a great dog and I'm looking forward to many years with him.

Rally would be great for a young dog as is agility...I would think that Rally would help get him started toward obedience also.

I did google 'dogs chasing cars' and found this good link: http://aspcabehavior.org/articles/59/Dogs-Chasing-Cars-.aspx which you might find helpful. I don't tend to have the problem since we're so rural that 10 cars a day is a traffic event here and when the dogs aren't physically with me they are confined.

I'm doing some focus heeling with Gail so that when the time comes to compete she can pay attention to me better...it's fun but hard. I have a GREAT video from Mike Ellis on teaching the focus heel ~ it can be ordered through his website if you're interested. I tried to get some video of her this afternoon on the sheep but wasn't successful --- too much to video and train at the same time. She works very nicely ~ not too wild but still with drive and instinct.

Yes, I'd love to see pictures and I'm glad to hear that you're keeping him socialized ~ please keep in touch!

Thanks Sunny,

The info in the article is pretty much what my agility instructor told me. I guess the good thing is he has never had the opportunity to flat out chase a car as he is always on leash at this time except at the beach. Blade's recall is good but I know from experience with my other dog that once they reach that excited stage and start the run they aren't coming back no matter how much I call. I'll keep you posted on the progress of this.

--------------- continued.....

I just wanted to let you know that I tried the exercise that was in the website you sent and that it is working wonderfully. In fact, after 4 days of working with him you wouldn't really know he had a problem with car chasing.

I think it worked so fast with him because, one, he is a puppy and didn't have alot of time to develop the habit; two,

because he never really got the enjoyment of chasing a car; and three, he is a puppy that picks up really fast what I'm asking of him.

I've never been too interested in clicker training but I have to say it works quite well. When ever I decide to use the clicker to train something to Blade he picks it up much quicker then when I don't use it. It is a handy little device.

Thanks again for website.

That's good news - I'd continue to reinforce the training though. Regarding the clicker -- I don't actually use a 'clicker' but I do use marker words which is the same concept -- a 'Yes!' when the dog is correct, an 'un, uh' (or however that's spelled) when he's wrong. On another topic, I found a 4 week rally class to take Gail to which starts this Wednesday which will be more for socialization than anything else. I can't maintain any kind of a focus heel in a group class because they tend to have heeling for so long and she's just not mature enough but rally shouldn't degrade my training. I'll let you know how it goes.

Creed

OK - now we are going through teen age years, Has decided that he has a mind of his own. He loves to work and we continue with obedience and focus work. He and Spice love to play with each other to the point that we have to do timeouts for our sake!!!.

He and the cat are now playing with each other and the cat is doing his best to get Creed in trouble!!

We are giving thought to renting Creed & Spice out as ditch diggers!! We might be able to off set their food costs.

Let me know how that works out! Maybe we can form a company :)

Creed is growing like a weed. Last Monday his weight was 41.5 lbs. He had a great time at the Vet's office playing with new and old friends. He still gets himself in trouble with Spice when he thinks he is going to be first through the door or first when running up the hall etc. He wants to be in front of her and she is having none of it. Starting to show an independent streak and a little self thinker. But, such a little love when he is watching you and doing his puppy work.

I'll try to get a weight on Gail - she's now finished with Advanced Puppy class - I am doing focus and attention work at home and will take her to classes for continued socialization.

He is a joy and he and Spice get along so well. Thanks!!!

Here's Gail again - she is great in the house, can sleep in or out of her crate, gets along well with the other dogs in the house and is, in general, a good puppy.

Gail and I went out to the sheep both yesterday and today to continue imprinting and obedience. I have her on a long line just in case I think she need help but hardly have been using it. She is learning to 'stop' - to 'down' - and to 'that'll do' - which means to come to me. I also am having her walk up to the sheep to hold them to the fence; which means she walks up to about 15 feet or so then I have her stop. She is so much more relaxed than Trouble that it makes it possible to accomplish more - and more quickly - than I'd expected. I set up the session so that she will be successful of course, always keeping in mind that she's young and we don't want her to be frightened or hurt by the sheep.