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!!!