Schutzhund kid

Samantha Jimenez, age 7, shows us how it's done in national competition. Nice job, kiddo.

Birthday Party!

It was Togey's 17th birthday, so there was a barbecue and long walks and swimming in the lake and birthday cake!

Some dogs got muddy!


Jubilee spent most of the 2 mile walk looking for me to THROW SOMETHING.


The birthday cake


Togey shares well


MaiTai the orphan lamb also enjoyed the party


Musket was willing to pose, at first


But became skeptical when the ball did not come his way fast enough


I took advantage of the gorgeous day to get some beauty shots.

This is Jedi, who is Jubilee's brother. He's working towards his SAR (live find) certification and has his Junior Herding Dog title.


Kiva and Jubilee


Rest of party pictures

On the way home, I picked up two border collies. One of them is a rescue of sorts and will be looking for a nice pet home. One of them will be staying with my friend Molly, who wants to work her on her sheep and have her live as a house dog. So, if you know anyone who wants a lovely BC rescue bitch, about 2 years old, in good health, spayed, let me know!

This is Clare and Bella


Bella is a real beauty


I'll be driving them up to Pennsylvania and dropping them off with their new person this evening. I was just a taxi driver.

Who gets to go?

I think that deciding who gets to go is the hardest part of having multiple dogs. Today I am headed toward Eastern Virginia to go herding and then to celebrate the 17th birthday of Togey, a very special Border Terrier. Seriously, he's having a party and we're going! There will be sheep and agility and swimming and off-leash walks!

In honor of Togey, I would like to bring 11 yr old Nike and my two terriers as well. But I also want to bring Musket for socialization, and then I have to bring my herding girls (Jubilee, Hunter, Kiva) so they can play with sheep. That makes for a very full truck! But it's doable.

Until you add in the fact that I'm coming home with 2 Border Collies...

Gotta make sure I bring my camera...

SOMEpuppy...

Somepuppy crouched over the edge of the pool today and looked in. Somepuppy thought carefully about it. And then SOMEpuppy dove in. Somepuppy then calmly swam to the nearby stairs and got out.

Somepuppy now has the hoohaws and is terrorizing his elders and fellow terriorists.

Very Vet Tuesday

Dubious Flint Is Dubious
Flint rode with me to Richmond today to the veterinary dermatologist. They ended up doing skin testing on 75 allergens--he reacted to 25 of them: dust mites (2 types), house fly, mosquito, 3 types of mold, Birch, Willow, Walnut, Cottonwood, Cypress, Oak, Sycamore, Pine, Cedar, Mulberry, Sweet Gum, Alder, yeast, 2 more types of mite, and Kapok (used in furniture stuffing).

Scratch the White Spot

So, basically, he's allergic to the world. He's going to be starting a shot regimen designed to desensitize him. It can take 8+ months to work and it works about 75% of the time, and he'll have to get shots 1-2 times a week for the rest of his life. But for him, it could change his life--he's been scratching himself bloody for most of the last two years, unless he was on steroids and antihistamines or covered by sweater or jacket that protected his skin.

Flint's been blind in his left eye for about 3 years, and since Christmas, he's become blind in his right eye. He can still see something around the edges of the collapsed lens in his left eye, but his vision is very poor. He'll be 6 this winter--not an old man yet!


Then this afternoon, I took Hunter in for a brucellosis test and Musket and Macha for their 12 week vaccinations. Musket and Macha had a blast wrestling in the exam room and mock growling and snarling and barking. They gave great eye contact to the vet and techs and had no concerns about the new building or flooring or the moving table or being poked and prodded. Such good puppies.

Macha continues to claim that I belong to her. She recognizes my truck and me from across the parking lot, and when I loaded Hunter and Musket back in the truck, she jumped on my leg and let me know that she was next. But, no, I sent her back home with Wanda, Puppy Raiser Extraordinaire (Macha is very happy there and is learning to watch TV with Wanda's husband and is doing things like picking up Wanda's aluminum cane and carrying it out of the room). Macha will be coming back to live with me, but this period of outside socialization is incredibly important for both her and for Musket. It allows them to grow up without each other and to gain more self-confidence and also to develop more of a one-on-one relationship with a person, which is very important for future training and the ability to form a strong bond.

Musket's still looking for a working home--he's actually pretty good in the house, but he's got enough drive and attitude that he definitely needs someone who is going to train him and teach him to channel his drive into constructive activities.

Macha... I suppose she's technically for sale, but I'm in no hurry to see her go. But if the absolute right home came along, I might let her go. (Of course I've been saying that about Lynx for a year now, and I don't see him going anywhere....)

Hunter just came in heat--sooner than I had hoped, so I'm making the final decisions on who the papa dog will be. I'm considering a cross into German showlines--I'm looking at a couple of very nice dogs who have proven not only their beauty in the show ring but also their solid working ability. It's a big change in bloodlines for me, but I think this type of breeding holds a lot of promise for the future of the breed--working toward the important goal of creating dogs who can work and who are excellent examples of the breed standard.

Right now, Hunter just wants me to throw the ball again...

Puppy Ears

7 Weeks



"When will my puppy's ears stand up?" Half the fun of having a GSD puppy is watching the ears stand, fall, tilt, stand, fall.... As illustrated by these pictures of Musket over the last 4 or so weeks.


Many times puppy owners will begin to panic as the ears do their up and down dances. When should a puppy owner start to worry?

8 Weeks

General things to look for are lift from the base (which Musket shows throughout in the following pictures). Also, if the ears are ever standing, even if they fall, they will almost certainly stand up again. As puppy molars start moving around, the muscles around the jaw and head are affected--which also affects the puppy's inclination to hold his or her ears up. So, seeing ears flop between 8-14 weeks is normal.







10 Weeks



But if the puppy's ears aren't mostly upright by 16 weeks, you should examine the degree of lift from the base and also the thickness of the cartilage in the ears. You might need to think about whether you want to assist the ears with taping. At the very least, encourage the puppy to "exercise" those jaw and head muscles by chewing on toys and knuckle bones--and make sure they have lots to watch and be interested in--give them a reason to hold those ears up.

10.5 Weeks

Adult Ears!

Musket at 12 months

At one year...

(Updated August 2011.)

Entertainment!Puppy Goes to Work on Coal