alternative medicine?

Although I have great respect for the conventional veterinary clinic where I take the dogs and rely on them to provide the dogs with excellent care, I have also explored alternative measures where I think it will benefit. The dogs are fed a raw diet, visit a chiropractor on a somewhat routine basis and have had acupuncture treatments to help with healing from injury. I found this article particularly interesting because I think Ecko and Decker are both battling a mild yeast infection right now. I have been using tea tree and neem to treat the areas topically and have added some coconut oil to their diet. While they seem to be improving, they may be getting a few other spicy additions to their meals until things are completely cleared up.

Merry Christmas

Christmas morning dawned peacefully here with the sound of melting snow dripping off the eaves. Although the blanket of snow we've experienced over the last week has been beautiful, it will be nice to have bare roads to commute to work on once it's gone.

Here are some photos of Eckos brother Cooper enjoying his birthday ice cream. I hope Tsuzi got to have some too, Julie!

And thanks to the O'Reilly family for these photos of Ecko's sister Chloe enjoying the winter snow with her family...

Snow Day 2008

When we lived in Alaska, almost every day was a snow day in the winter. Here in Beaverton we don't get much snow, so it really gets everyone's attention. Here are some photos of the dogs out enjoying the snow.

Happy Birthday Chili!

Yesterday was Chili's 7th birthday! It seems like just yesterday that Chili was the tiniest little slip of a PWD puppy coming into our lives. I remember the woman that did the temperament test for the litter commenting that Chili and several of her smaller siblings looked more like kittens than puppies because they were so small.

I entered a photo of Chili in a cover contest for the Courier magazine once and here is what I said about her: "This petite PWD goes from performance powerhouse to pillow princess in the blink of an eye." The photo of Chili to the right captures her in "performance powerhouse" mode, blasting up an Oregon beach. The photo below is of Chili as a puppy at around 12 weeks old.

We love you Chili and look forward to many more years of fun and games and cuddles on the couch with you!

BTW, my friend's Dennis and Cheryl at Pics of the Litter took the adorable puppy photo of Chili.

Luke

I got to see Kilo's son Luke at the shows in Salem last weekend. Luke just turned 2 in August and hasn't had much success in the show ring yet. His Mom Kathy has done an awesome job conditioning him and raising him up to be a nice boy and Alyssa does a good job showing him. Alyssa's mom and dad Stacey and Lance Chart are Luke's breeders. Luke is a high-spirited boy, and is extremely confident and sweet. It really gets to me seeing Kilo reflected in his kids and grand-kids...

Puppies in January?

First off, let me tell you that my husband is a really great guy! Oh, he can be ornery and tells REALLY bad jokes, but he is very supportive when I need his help. He spent the vast majority of his day off on Friday running the dogs from one repro specialist to another trying to get Rebel collected so we could breed Stoker. Apparently the "vibe" was right at ICSB at 4:00 PM in the afternoon and the deed was done. We did one more breeding on Saturday for good measure and now we will keep our fingers crossed for a nice litter of pups due in early January.

On Saturday we went to a dog show in Salem and Rebel proved his mettle by earning Winners Dog and Best of Winners for two more points towards his championship. A slow-maturer like most of the dogs in his pedigree, Rebel is really starting to hit his stride in the show ring. He is more than half-way to his Championship now and has already earned one of the two majors he needs.

Yup, that is baby Ecko in the photo. She is just 10-1/2 months old and, although maybe I am a bit biased, I think she looks pretty nice. It's even a decent photo of me for a change!

Show Report

This weekend saw Stoker and Ecko entered in the Vancouver Kennel Club show. I was very pleased with the girl's performance over the two days.

On Saturday, Stoker placed 4th in a competitive open bitch class while 10 month old Ecko won best Bred-by and went on to represent the breed in the "Bred-by" Group. My friend Janet's bitch Booty (you may remember that Booty vacationed with us earlier this summer when Janet broke her ankle) took Winner's Bitch for a 3 point major. Yay Booty! Stoker's cousin Rebel earned a major reserve from the Open Dog class and cousin Sailor took Best of Breed. Her owner Martha, breeder Mandy and I had lots of fun cheering for Jessie and Sailor in group. No group placements for either Sailor or Ecko.

On Sunday, Stoker showed very well, taking a 2nd in the Open bitch class. Despite some puppy shenanigans on Ecko's part (I don't think levitation is part of the down and back...), Ecko earned her fourth major reserve in her short career. Once again, no points for the little parti-girl but she sure does get a lot of attention!

In the performance ring, my friends Evan and Carley's Cocker Twister (that's Twister's photo to the right) earned Rally legs both days to finish his Rally Novice title. Carley and Evan came by the conformation ring both days and were super helpful in holding the girls when I needed extra hands at ringside. Ecko's brother Cooper's mom Julie earned a Rally leg on Saturday with Cooper's housemate Tsuzi and then took Sunday off to do things with her family. Stoker's Aunt Bella worked nicely in Open obedience both days, but didn't manage a "Q" either day.

Cooper

Cooper came for grooming yesterday and I stalked him in the back yard for a bit with the camera to try to get some good photos. I swear the dogs always seem to know when I am trying to take photos of them and do everything they can to thwart my efforts!

After a long day of grooming and playing with Ecko and visiting cousin Mimi, Cooper went to handling class to practice being a show dog. I bet he was REALLY tired when he got home.

Go DUCKS!

Chloe's "mom" Joan sent me this photo and e-mail about Chloe: Chloe is geared up for DUCK football season! Thought you might enjoy these!
She is such a great pup! We love her to death and thankfully she seems to think that we are acceptable humans!

Any of you Beaver fans out there are welcome to send photos of your pups sporting the Beaver's colors...

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

Supposedly this David Bowie song is a commentary on the compulsive nature of artistic reinvention, however it seemed an appropriate caption to head this blog entry too! I haven't posted in a long time because there have big changes afoot in my life.

Effective October 1, I am no longer a part-owner or employee at Pup-A-Razzi. The business was the center of my life for 8+ years and had a major impact on Jan as well. I had lots of good times there, met some amazing people over the years and learned an incredible amount about dogs, training, human psychology and other things. Being a part-owner and founder of Pup-A-Razzi was a life altering experience for me, but the stress of being a small business owner and the time restrictions the business imposed on my personal life just got to be too much.

I'm currently enjoying working part time at Charlton Kennels on Sauvie Island and offering in-home private dog training and PWD grooming on the days I don't work there. Lookout Dog Services is the name for my new low-key business endeavor. Hopefully these two activities will generate enough income to support the PWD pack in the style to which they've become accustomed.

My Mom and Dad came to visit in the end of September and we had a wonderful week with them. We don't get to see them nearly enough. Jan and Dad had fun golfing several times and we took a trip to the Evergreen Aviation Museum and took the dogs walking and swimming a few times while they were here. Mom and Dad are great with the dogs and even Stoker warmed up to them right away.

The photo to the right is my sister-in-law Kim with my Dad and Mom in Alaska.

Water Trials, Agility and House Painting

Last weekend was a busy one for dogs and humans alike.

While Jan played a golf tournament with his buddies, I travelled to Snohomish, WA for the weekend to attend the PNWPWDC's annual fall water trial. We've been going every year for as long as I can remember. Stoker went with me to keep me company, but none of the dogs were entered this year. Chili and Decker already have the most advanced water titles they can achieve, Stoker isn't ready for Courier yet and Jan hopes to trial with Ecko next summer. I worked as Chief Steward on Saturday and completed my final Provisional judging assignment on Sunday. Assuming I did an adequate job, I should receive notification from the PWDCA water trial committee that I am an approved judge. Imagine that!

Kilo's Grand-dog, Rebel qualified for his Junior Water Dog certificate on Sunday and photographer Nancy Gaffney took this awesome photo of him. Click HERE for Nancy's website to see more of her water trial photos.

Decker travelled with CJ and her dogs Journey and Seeker to an agility trial in Eugene. Decker and Seeker were entered four days in a row. Decker had a fantastic weekend, earning an Open Standard Q (to complete his title), an Excellent Standard Q (his first time out in Excellent) and an Open Jumpers Q. Every time he qualified he got either a 1st or 2nd class placement. Who knew that Deckie would turn into such a good agility dog! CJ has done a super job with him.

Ecko, Chili and their friend Tory (Jessie P's Golden) stayed home to mind the house with my friend Jessi M. Jessi takes fantastic care of the dogs and took them to work with her at Pup-A-Razzi on Saturday and to the river to swim on Sunday. Ecko showed off her swimming prowess - much improved since the beginning of the summer.

After we all returned home from our busy weekends, we tackled a major project - painting the house. We purchased supplies and chose a color (Lexington Blue), then spent some time taping windows etc. Jan rented a paint sprayer today and is busy spraying away as I type.

We finally got around to painting the dining room too. We've had the paint for months, but kept finding reasons to put the project off. It's still a work in progress (need the ladder to do the finish work along the high ceilings) but the room is now a warm "Cashew" color instead of it's previous chilly white.

The Journey

A link to this was posted on an e-mail list that I am on. It was presented by noted agility competitor and instructor Susan Garrett prior to a Championship Agility competition, but the sentiment applies to all our pets and the many valuable lessons we can learn from them.

Longview Kelso show

Rebel made a good showing this weekend, taking Winner's Dog and Best of Winners both Saturday and Sunday for two more points. Way to go Rebel!

Cooper took Reserve Winners Dog on his very first time in the ring on Saturday. I wasn't able to attend, but had several reports that he did a very nice job, gaiting smoothly and tolerating the judges exam fairly well. Cooper's housemate Tsuzi made her debut in the ring in Rally obedience on Saturday and she and Julie earned their first Rally leg. There was no Rally offered on Sunday, and unfortunately Julie and Cooper did not fare as well as Saturday. Whether it was the grumpy and impatient judge or the fact that the puppy ahead of him was nervous for his own exam, Cooper would not stand for the judges exam and was excused. He moved well again and his attitude was good, so this is nothing a little training and practice won't fix.

Ecko was happy in the ring and stayed reasonably white despite some rain showers, but didn't garner much attention from the judge. Stoker showed quite well and earned Reserve Winners Bitch.

Captain Jack Sparrow

Life has been busy lately and I feel like I am racing to keep up. I saw this photo in Groomer to Groomer magazine recently (you can read the magazine on-line at their website) and had to share it. This was the winning dog from a grooming contest and is a parti-colored Standard Poodle that belongs to the groomer. Can't you just picture this 'do on a Parti or Irish marked PWD?


We've had lots of visitor dogs staying with us recently as friends are going out of town on trips. Gibson the big, brown PWD came for a week while his family was in Maine. The day he left, Cooper (Stoker's son) and his housemate Tsuzi arrived while their family left for Sun River. Jet arrived on Monday evening, bringing the total of PWDs in the house up to seven! Cooper and Tsuzi went home last night and Kaia and her housemate Hobie came to stay this morning. Jan thinks it's a bit crazy having this many dogs around, but it is a good reminder that four PWDs is enough!

There's a dog show this weekend in St. Helens and Stoker and Ecko are entered on Sunday. Stoker's brother Cooper and uncle Rebel will be showing both days and Cooper's housemate Tsuzi is entered in Rally on Saturday. Fingers crossed for good weather and good results!

Looking Back

Cleaning out some boxes of craft items and paperwork the other day, I came across some old photos to sort through. I plan to upload some photos of the dogs to the PWD pedigree study group and thought I would post a few of them here.

The photos are of Kilo's brothers Leo and Seeker. This was the first litter of PWDs we bred and they were co-bred with Barbara Schmit of Sunnyhill, from whom we purchased our bitch Tango. Three pups from the litter finished their championships: Kilo, Leo and Seeker and three of the pups (Kilo, Seeker and Simon) earned performance titles. Four of the pups from this litter of nine lived to 13+ years, with Leo passing away shortly before his 13th birthday.

CH Sunnyhill White Crown Leo
"Leo"

CH Lookout Sunnyhill Seaquest NA NAJ WWD BROM
"Seeker"

Poor Chili-roo and Ecko's Big Weekend

Jan tried to scoop Chili up on his lap when we got home from agility class on Monday and she screamed. We knew she was a bit tired and sore from the weekend, but had assumed it was her legs or shoulders or.... When Jan scoops her up, he picks her up from under her chest and holds her upside down on his lap. She usually relaxes into it and sprawls out for a tummy rub. We are guessing that all the muscles in her stomach/truck are really sore and strained. We've been giving her some mild pain medication for the last two days, which seems to help, and encouraging her to move around enough to keep from stiffening up too much. She was very sore when I got home from work yesterday, because she had likely been sleeping all day. She's not been jumping on and off the furniture like usual and has been slow to go up and down the larger steps around the house and yard too. She is wagging and happy as always and is eating fine and even playing with toys. She seems less sore today and I always used to find that the second day after a running race was the most painful for me, so hopefully she is on the road to recovery.

Since I was gone all weekend and Jan golfed for most of the day on several of the days, Ecko got to go on adventures with friends Jessi M and Leah. Here is Jessi's fun report:

So I thought I would let you know what little Ecko got to do while she was with me Friday to Saturday.

We came home from Pup and she ran the Bassets around the backyard. Chasing them and barking up a storm, having a blast. They think she is just the most exciting pup they have ever met. They obviously remembered her from when she came to stay before, however they seemed surprised at how much bigger she is. She can now stand right over the top of them, which she seemed to enjoy doing. Ecko and I played some fetch with the tennis ball in the backyard and then went in the house for a few minutes to relax and wait for it too cool off a bit.
She then proceeded to raid the doggy toy box, taking out all of the toys and then taking them one by one and hiding them around the house. She put one under each pillow on the love seat and on the couch. She stuck a couple under the coffee table, and took one and put it under the desk. Then hid one under one of the rugs in the kitchen. I don't know if she does this at home but it was quite amusing to watch, if only I had the video camera handy.

Once it cooled off we went on a walk around the neighborhood. She was very alert the whole time we were walking, looking at me often to make sure she would be ok and receiving praise, as she did seem a little nervous of the new surroundings. She sat nicely at the intersections while we waited for cars. We walked past the community center where the square dancers were playing loud music with the doors open. A couple people were standing and sitting outside, creating sort of a tunnel of people she had to walk through. She was obviously concerned about it and wasn't sure if she should continue walking. So cookies in hand we proceeded to walk towards the tunnel of people and stopped to talk to them for a few minutes because they were asking questions about her. She visited with the ladies sitting on the ground and received lots of yummy salmon treats from them, and soon thought they were great! They were fascinated with her markings and "lovely curls". She visited with the others who were outside and then we continued on our way. We passed by the fire station and she received a nice scratching from a cute fireman who mistakenly thought she was a "doodle-something". So we educated him and continued on our way.

We walked through the park where some nice younger children asked to pet her so I gave them some cookies and Ecko made friends quickly with the kids once she realized they had food and lots of hands to pet her. We left the park and headed home, meeting nobody else on the way, as the park is half a block from my house.

We got home and she had a big drink of water and took a nap by the fan in the living room. Apparently as we were walking through the park she picked up some sticky leaves and tree debris on her legs. So I brushed her and she looked nice and fluffy, quite cute in my opinion. Soon after we went to bed.

Ecko entertained my mom during breakfast as she just chomped down on her thawed chicken wings. My mom was impressed by Ecko being able to just crunch the bones. After breakfast I loaded the crate back in the car and Ecko and headed back to Pup. We stopped to get gas in my car before leaving Newberg and the guy at the gas station amazed me, because he took one look at her and said, "Oh a Portuguese Water Dog! Don't see many of them around here." I was impressed, never thinking that this guy would have known what kind of dog she was, since there are none that I have seen in Newberg and most people often mistake the breed. He said she was gorgeous, so I bragged about her being a show dog. (I couldn't resist)

So she seemed to have a great time. Meeting about 20 new people, and romping around with the Bassets.

Ecko stayed with Leah on Saturday night and 'til Sunday afternoon. Ecko played nicely with PWD Gibson as always and enjoyed following Leah around, but was a bit naughty barking in her kennel during the night. She is used to sleeping in the kennel right next to our bed and apparently thought that being kenneled downstairs while humans were sleeping upstairs was not acceptable. It was a good learning experience for her and Leah was great to not let her out while she barked. She settled down for the night at some point. This is a good indicator for us that we should work on crating Ecko in situations other than she is used to, so she learns to be comfortable when kenneled "no matter what".

Hood River Agility Weekend

This is a photo of Decker taken sometime last year, but it seemed only fair that his photo should be included in this entry. Decker competed in Open Standard and Open Jumpers agility for the first time this weekend and he and CJ came away with two Open Standard "Qs" and two first place ribbons. He didn't suceed as well in his Jumpers runs, but still had some really nice runs that were SO close to qualifying...

Chili, Stoker and I just couldn't seem to get things in synch and ended up with just one 3rd place Novice Standard Q for Stoker and one 1st place Open Jumpers Q for Chili all weekend. Chili did get her weave poles on most of her classes, which is really an accomplishment for us as that has been her most challenging obstacle. She stayed really happy and enthusiastic for the entire three day weekend too, perhaps celebrating a little TOO much with a bit of a "touch and go/trampoline" effect on her pause table the last two days. She knocked quite a few bars during the weekend, perhaps due to her being a bit overweight despite our best dieting efforts or because she is running faster than ever and not judging her take-off points as well. We've gotta work on our contacts too. I realize I am always running them the exact same way in class and if I do it at all differently in a trial, both girls spring off. Always something to train!

The weather was great all weekend and we were able to stay at the fairgrounds in Hood River in CJ's new RV. How relaxing to wake up, take the dogs on a nice potty walk on the grounds and then just head on over to the ring to walk the course.

Water Fun

Photos from top to bottom:
Ginny and Reef soaking in the sun.

Dick earned the nickname "cart man" from Jan in helping ferry hospitality items and gear from the parking area to the site.

Cooper, Ecko and Reef at the end of the weekend.

Cooper, Ecko, Stoker and Reef. The kids are as big, if not bigger, than their mom now!

This weekend we headed up I5 to Auburn for a water workshop and trial at Nolte State Park. We attended the water workshop on Saturday and I worked Janet's dog Booty who has been staying with us for several weeks. Janet is sidelined with a broken ankle, but is getting around well enough now that she took Booty home with her at the end of the day. Booty was very happy to be reunited with Janet, but still managed to go a great job working with me while Janet looked on.

On Sunday, there was a one-day water trial and Stoker's baby Cooper passed at the Junior level to earn his JWD (Junior Water Dog) certificate. We are SO proud of Cooper and Julie. Julie credits her husband Roger for getting Cooper swimming and retrieving so confidently and hopes to tackle Apprentice with Cooper next summer. Click HERE for a Photoshow of Cooper and Julie's performance.

We entered Chili in Versatility on Sunday just for fun. Versatility isn't a titling level, but provides a place to "show off" for PWDs that have already earned their CWDX (Courier Water Dog Excellent) title. With little training this summer, Chili came through for us with an enthusiastic pass in Versatility and brought home a lovely rosette and embroidered towel.

Weekend at "Camp"

Every July I get to enjoy a long weekend of water play at the lake at Sandy Overton and Jim Smith's place in Port Orchard, WA. The last two years, we've shared our weekend fun with Kathy Simmons and Kathleen Jose and their spouses. This weekend was as enjoyable as anticipated with a litter of 7-week old pups to visit with, beautiful weather, warm water, excellent food and good friends.

Stoker made excellent progress on her Courier exercises. We worked on a "go boat" cue and retrieving an item from someone on another boat, as well as sending to the marker and a secondary target. Stoker really enjoys the send to the marker and past more in the water than on land. We don't have the time and resources to make getting her Courier title this year a reasonable goal, but starting to introduce some of these tasks will make next summer's training even easier.

Puppy Ecko finally did a "big girl" swim for the first time. She's been enjoying bounding and splashing in her flashy orange preserver and has even swum a few strokes here and there. This weekend I finally got in the water with her with some treats and she came zipping in right after me like she had been doing it all her life. She did several 25 or so foot retrieves each day, swam to the marker and back with me and recalled from shore to the boat. She loves to train and is going to be a blast to work with.

Chili came along to see where she was at with all her water skills. We practiced a few exercises from each of the levels each day. We practiced the buoy ball drop every day, since that had fallen apart a bit last fall. Chili is such a joy to work with at the water - super motivated and biddable. On the final day we were there she did one of her "recreational swims" and spent about 20 minutes just cruising around in the lake enjoying the water as several of us watched from the dock. I think Chili may have spoiled me for all future PWDs when it comes to water work.

It was great to see how all the other dogs (Cha-Cha, Jazz, Kota, Sabrina and Tramper) had progressed since I saw them last summer and what a great rapport they all have with their handlers. Jim's new little spitfire Galley (the same Galley that went on our trip to the Montana dog shows) is going to be an excellent water dog and is already certified to enter a tracking test at under a year of age. Wow!

Workin' Dog

Chili is a real daddy's girl and loves to hang out with Jan. Jan is a surveyor and sometimes when he is on a job away from the hustle and bustle of busy roadways, Chili gets to go to work with him. I had a talented friend of mine embroider a vest for her for Jan as a Christmas present. Clever Jill took my idea of embroidering the vest with the simple words "work crew" and expanded it to include Chili's name, a little black PWD sporting a hardhat and the words "PWD Crew" on it.

Chili looks to be all business in these photos with her vest pockets full of survey flagging, but I have a feeling that the fact of the matter is that she spends the majority of the day getting spoiled and fed doggy junk food. I heard tell that today's menu included Beggin' Strips, french fries and dog biscuits.

A Horse (or in this case a PWD) of a Different Color

We have a visitor dog staying with us for a bit and she is a "dog of a different color", a brown PWD. In PWDs they aren't referred to as liver or chocolate but just plain brown.

Brown PWDs tend to have a reputation in the PWD community for being just a bit "different" than their black relatives, but since I've never owned one, I can't answer to that. I can say that Booty is being a good visitor and is getting along well with all the other dogs. Booty has a reputation for being a bit of an escape artist, so we make sure the place is well fortified when we leave her home.

Here are some photos of Booty looking sweet and innocent, playing with Ecko and eating a stick (yes we ARE feeding her real food and maybe this is what they mean by brown dogs being different?).

Ecko's First Show Photo

At just a few days over 6 months of age, Ecko went to her first shows. She was shown in the Bred-by class and earned three Reserve Winners Bitch awards. This means that she was the runner-up to the best non-champion female PWD that was entered. A Reserve does not, unfortunately, earn any points. There were majors (large numbers of points) in PWDs at these shows, so Ecko's accomplishments are known in dog show slang as "major reserves". We're pretty proud of our sweet pup and thankful to judges Ronald Spritzer, Larry Mackai and Janet Sinclair for her Reserve awards.

Naughty Ecko

Jessie caught these photos of naughty Ecko trying to find a way out through the bedroom window. Ecko was jealous because we were training weave poles with Chili in the front yard. She managed to climb most of the way through the blinds and then extricate herself without damaging either herself or the blinds...

Like Father, Like Son

Wow!
Jan got the photo of son Reef (right) in our yard a couple of weeks ago. The photo of daddy Kilo (left) was taken about four or five years ago. Can you see a resemblance?

Montana Shows - the final report

Staying in cut-rate hotels, we were not fortunate enough to have access to computers for the duration of the trip, so the blog did not get updated as planned. Here is a quick report on the rest of the trip.

As often happens in dog shows, things didn’t necessarily go the way we had hoped, but we still had fun and the dogs were good travelers!

We came back with a whopping six points (I think) and two majors – one on Mandy’s India and the other on Mandy and Jessie’s Rebel (both India and Rebel are grand-pups of Ecko's dad Kilo). I entered six-month old Ecko in Bred-by, because I am hoping to finish her from that class and was amazed at how well she showed, ending the circuit with 3 major reserves.

Galley is one of the most irrepressible PWDs I have ever seen! Her energy is unflagging and that tail never stops.

India showed well for the majority of the trip. She is super easy to travel with and basically turned into a big couch potato each evening when we hit the hotel. She adores Jessie and would try to drag me around after her any time we had them all out on leash together.

Rebel showed well but obviously prefers agility to conformation. He is happy but not over-the-top enthusiastic in the conformation ring, whereas in agility he is a real fireball.

I am ever so proud of our Stokie. She got several class placements along the way and lots of looks from the judges, but never made it past the other girls for the points. Lack of time, money and patience probably mean that Stoker, like her mama Chili, will not finish her AKC CH, but she is still a winner in our eyes.

It is always encouraging when the next generation is better than the preceding one, and I am very encouraged with our chances with Ecko. Hopefully she continues to fulfill the potential that several of the judges saw in her.

Yesterday was spent unloading the van, washing crate pads and laundry and giving puppy Ecko a shorter trim for the near future. Tomorrow morning will see Galley getting a new short 'do before hitting the road for the return trip to Sandy and Jim.

Montana Shows - Day 2

We hung out in the hotel all afternoon yesterday, reading our books and watching TV. When it cooled off in the evening, we found a park to run the dogs in and then hit a drive-through for dinner.

Still no points for our contingent today. There were three males showing today, but no luck for Rebel. We are going to try changing his grooming a bit for tomorrow and change his pre-ring ritual to see if we can get his attitude up. He's happy, but not as intense and showy as the other males. In bitches, Galley is showing really well out of the 9-12 Puppy Class. She's a bit silly, and rowdy but has great attitude. Ecko won Bred-by again today. India finished 2nd in the Open Bitch class and Stoker was 4th out of 4 (ugh!). Here are today's results:
WD/BOW: Galamar's Hydro Dynamic Edo
RWD: Floodtide Midnight Rambler
WB: Fishbay's El Sea Da Alto Mare
RWB: Lookout's FV Ocean Fury
BOB: CH Roseknoll's Perfect Storm
BOS: CH Blackjack Roughy Rain Dawg

Although I would love to be getting points, or at least placements on Stoker, I am really pleased with how Ecko is doing. To win major Reserve with her a six months and a couple of days is just amazing to me!

We are giving Rebel and Stoker a pep talk tonight and will hope for a more successful day tomorrow.

Montana Dog Show Circuit - Day 1

Jessie and I had an uneventful day of driving yesterday. The drive took about 13+ hours with a few minimal stops for essentials like rest stops for dogs and humans, filling up the gas tank (luckily gas is cheaper in Montana) and finding coffee! We ate lunch on the fly with sandwich fixings from the cooler. The dogs all travelled pretty well with only a little minor whining. All five dogs settled quietly into our hotel room for the evening.

Today saw our first day of showing and no points for our contingent, although the entire crew showed quite well. The Winners Dog (owner handled) took BOW also and will be moving up tomorrow. The Winners Bitch also supposedly finished today and may not be showing tomorrow (we should still have 7 bitches and a major, though).

Ecko had competition in her Bred-By class - a mature bitch that only needs one more major to finish. I was quite tickled that Ecko showed very nicely her first time out and won the class over this other bitch. Way to go baby dog! Here are the results:
Winners Dog/BOW (new champion): Nobreza Kimlyn Champagne N Kisses
RWD: Galamar's Hydro Dynamic Edo
Winners Bitch: Iron Thanks for the Memorys Em Voga
RWB: Fishbay's El Sea Da Alto Mare
BOB: CH Roseknoll's Perfect Storm
BOS: CH Blackjack Roughy Rain Dawg RA

More tomorrow...

Memorial Day Photos and Doggy Dentist

Doggy Dentist: First, the less exciting news: Ecko had to go to the vet yesterday to have a retained puppy tooth extracted. Her adult canines are coming in just fine, and all puppy canines but one had fallen out on their own. Despite our best efforts giving her bones to chew on and even trying to wiggle that stubborn tooth, it wasn't even budging. When I picked Ecko up in the PM, it became apparent that we had made the right decision in having the tooth removed. The root on the tooth was very healthy and long, with no signs of letting loose any time soon. Ecko seems none the worse for wear and will likely be quite happy that we are no longer obsessed with her teeth!

Memorial Day Photos: Jan and I (with Chili, Stoker and Ecko) enjoyed a relaxing Memorial Day weekend in Florence with Dick and Ginny (Reef owners). Jan got some super shots of the PWDs playing on the beach, along with some photos of the surrounding area and Old Town Florence. A slideshow of the photos should appear below.

Old Dummies, New Dummies

Some girls collect shoes or purses, I collect dog "stuff". Since water training is my absolute favorite thing to do with the dogs, it stands to reason that a great deal of the training gear I have is related to retrieving and water training. I have a sizeable collection of retrieving dummies.

Some of my stash of old dummies is in the first photo. The closed cell foam canvas dummies with the orange throwing ropes (Winchester brand) are among Chili and Decker's favorites, but they both like to play tug with them and "pop" the foam with their teeth. The dummies look the worse for wear pretty quickly. A friend died a batch of these purple for me, because this is a color dogs are supposed to be able to see well in most light conditions. The black/white striped dummies have been favorites for years. These are old style Katies Bumpers dummies. Their newer style dummies are riddled with holes after one throw for Decker, but I think you can still request the old style dummies. They hold up well even against Decker's abusive jaws and are heavy enough to throw accurately and far. The striped pattern makes them easy for the dogs to locate. Less enthusiastic retrievers that don't like retrieving hard dummies often don't care for these dummies initially, although they can learn to like them with lots of positive reinforcement.

A friend of mine recently turned me on to a new supplier for dummies and with their amazing prices, I was compelled to place an immediate order! The camo puppy dummy at the left (on sale for $1.99 each) and firehouse dummy in the center (3.95 each) should be perfect smaller dummies for Ecko as she gains confidence in the water and I am hoping the B/W dummies ($3.99 each) may be tough enough to hold up to Decker. The camo dummy came with a throwing rope and I ordered ropes (75 cents each) for the other dummies.

Here is where I placed my recent order (thanks Janet for turning me on to this place!):
Lion Country Supply Inc

And here are some other neat water websites:

Katies Bumpers - Check out the article on canine color vision about half-way down the homepage on the right.

Canine Water Sports - Check out the "splash and learn" section for good articles etc.

Ecko Posing

Shark Teeth and Timid Little Shark

Ecko has been losing some of her baby teeth lately and we actually found two of them in the last few days. I found an informative article that talks about canine teeth/teething/types of bites etc and you can read it HERE.

Two comments on the article:

1. Retained puppy teeth - these are not uncommon in PWDs so keep an eye on your pup's teeth in the next month or so. In my experience, it is usually the canine teeth that are retained and may need to be extracted by your vet. Before you make an appointment to have your vet look at your pups retained canines, try giving him some heavy duty chewing for a few days in a row. Raw beef knuckle bones or other similar bones will often help loosen and knock puppy teeth out. Make sure your pup is always supervised when he is chewing on a bone.
2. In one place in the article it talks about shaking your pup lightly by the scruff if he resists having his teeth looked at. Scruff shaking is never a technique I would recommend.

Ecko's confidence with strangers has fallen off a bit recently and her confidence in general is a bit lower than usual. It seems like this sometimes happens in conjunction with teething.

I took Ecko on a walk around our neighborhood after dusk the other evening and made a note to myself that I need to walk through our neighborhood more. She was out in front of me trotting along on the leash, but her tail was lower than I like (denoting lack of confidence) and she was doing lots of looking from side to side (to check for scary things).

I took her on another walk yesterday during daylight and she was much more confident - about most stuff anyway. We walked behind the school where a track meet and softball game were taking place and she seemed to take the loudspeaker, starter's pistol and other noises in stride. A lady walked past on the sidewalk, looked directly at her, reached out her hand and said "cute puppy" and all "heck" broke loose. Ecko hit the dirt, dove behind me and got as far away from that "scary" lady as possible. "Scary" lady continued on up the sidewalk and I continued on also, hopefully making this little episode almost a non-issue in Ecko's mind. We subsequently passed several people who ignored her and she got treats and "atta girls" for checking them out without panic.

I took Ecko back to work with me later in the evening and asked our admin. person to socialize her with as many new people as possible and she did fine with that. She got lots of tasty treats for every new person she met and was mugging strangers for cookies by the end of the evening.

If your pup acts worried about strangers, Sarah Wilson, nationally known dog trainer and best selling author (Good Owners, Great Dogs and My Smart Puppy) recommends:

* "If your puppy is frightened of someone, tell that person to ignore the puppy. Go stand near that person and act relaxed. Shy puppies are always more comfortable approaching rather than being approached. Chat for a few minutes and allow the puppy to investigate if he wants. If he is hanging way back, try tossing a treat his way. Remember to stay upbeat! When he takes the treat, drop one closer to you, then closer and closer. Ignore the dog. Let him get it if he feels like it. Instruct the person to squat down, sideways to the puppy. Direct eye contact will frighten the pup, so have them look at the floor. Be verbally supportive, "What a dog! Say hello!" and walk over to the person. Don't allow the person to reach for the pup. When the pup finally does approach, have the person reach under his chin and scratch his chest. Reaching over his head will spook him. If he is too frightened to come all the way over, don't press it. Be happy with the success you got and move on."

The Springer

No, not a Springer Spaniel, a Springer bike attachment for exercising the PWDs... I had a chance to try this device out years ago with a friends big male Bouvier, Marc. It was pretty amazing how little you could feel when Marc tried to pull to duck into a driveway or visit with a person on the sidewalk. I've been wanting to get the dogs more exercise, but with three adults and a puppy needing exercise and training, I needed a more efficient way to get the job done.

I took Chili and Stoker out with the bike last week once and tonight, after the temperature cooled down, I took each of the big dogs out one at a home to let them stretch their legs. Chili (the endurance queen) went for 20 minutes and Decker and Stoker each did 15 minutes. When I got finished with that, Ecko and I took a walk around the block to give her a little exercise and entertain ment too.

April Showers bring.....Puppies?

How do you get to enjoy the excitement of a litter of new PWD puppies without breeding a litter of your own? Share the excitement of friends that have litters, of course!

I'm working on getting Mother's Day off so I can do a Sunday/Monday visit to my friend Janet's house to visit her litter of pups. Her babies are around five weeks old this weekend (I think) and should be six weeks old if I go visit Mother's Day weekend. That's a super cute age for a visit, so I hope I get to go. You can see Janet's litter by clicking on the "puppy blog" link on her website. Click HERE for the litter page on her website.

Chili and Stoker are also anticipating the imminent arrival of some little nieces and cousins, as Chili's sister Bella is due to whelp this weekend. Bella is owned by my friend Mandy Ford and Stoker is in the same agility class as Sailor and Rebel, two of the pups from Bella's previous litter. To stay updated on Bella's litter click HERE to check in on Mandy's blog. Click on "Spencer-Bella Litter" to see all blog entries in the category.

Fun Day with the Dogs

Although I'm a member of the Sherwood Dog Training Club, I don't get to attend many of their functions. Today, the club held an obedience match that completes a step needed before becoming an AKC santioned club. I had a great day visiting with friends and assisting in the ring as a steward while the dogs napped outside on their cushy dog beds in their ex-pen. Ecko got lots of socialization, as everyone thought she was just darling and wanted to visit with her.

A caricature artist was invited to the event and I purchased drawings of each of the dogs. I was pretty pleased with the way they turned out. What do you think?

The River

Yesterday I made a trip to the meat distributor to fill the freezer for the dogs. Since the weather was nice and I was down in Portland anyway, I decided to make a trip to Kelley Point with Stoker and Ecko so they could frolic by the river. Stoker wanted to swim despite the cold water temperatures and seemed none the worse for it when I gave in to her demands.

Click HERE for a photoshow with photos from our visit to the river.

"Blondie" makes good

Stoker's agility instructor and I lovingly refer to her as "Blondie" sometimes. She has such a high energy level and when she isn't focused and on task she really acts like a bit of a dingbat, albeit a beautiful and loveable dingbat! Several things have made me proud of Stoker in the last week:

First, I got to see both Subi and Cooper this week and I am really pleased with how the pups are doing. I know it has a lot to do with the wonderful homes they all live in, but I know Stoker made a major contribution too. They really are lovely pups, but then, perhaps I am a bit biased....

Stoker's next special moment this week was when she prevented my wedding ring from going missing. I wear my engagement and wedding rings on a gold chain around my neck. I was sitting behind the desk at work on Wednesday and Stoker was keeping me company. I bent over the desk and heard a tiny metalllic sound. Stoker immediately investigated to see what had hit the concrete floor, wedging her nose between the cable keeper and the desk surround. When I bent to see what she was looking at, there was my wedding ring on the floor. Good girl Stokie! Thanks to Stoker, I also recovered my gold chain before it fell off and was lost somewhere and will be able to take it in to the jeweler for repair.

Avast Mateys! A funny photo and some updates.

A friend of mine sent me a link to a "pimp your pooch" website and I couldn't resist turning Ecko into a pirate.

Subi

Joe and Nichole sent an update on Subi.

Swimming - We have taken Subi to George Rogers Park several times. The last time we went Subi accidentally fell into the water and found out she can swim just fine. We have not been back since.

School - Subi has finished puppy preschool. She is now able to sit, stand, down, stay, and poison (play dead). She walks well on a leash. She is doing well with staying out of trouble at home (staying off the couch and not chewing shoes). Next week she will start Puppy Agility class, which should be great fun.

Haircut - Subi got her first haircut 2 weeks ago. She is losing a lot of her white and it looks like she will look a lot like grandma Chili. We just cut her body—however it looks like she will loose most of the white on her legs, head and tail. She was not squirmy—seemed like she thought she was getting a massage.

Nail trimming - We have chosen to use the dremel method to trim Subi’s nails. She does not like the dremel but seems to tolerate it long enough to get the job done.

Vet - Subi only has her rabies vaccination remaining for her puppy shots. The Dr. has given her a clean bill of health. We will be giving Subi her heart worm preventative medicine soon. She is 21.5 pounds as of last week.

Trip to California - We went on a 3 day weekend to the bay area to visit with Nichole’s family. Subi got to meet the whole clan including niece (~1.5 years old). They played nicely together. She had her first experience of travelling that long of a distance in a car,staying in a hotel, staying in Nichole’s mothers house and watching Nichole’s dad ready his garden with a tractor. Meeting Nichole’s mothers German Sheppard Duchess. She played will with Duchess. She also met Nichole’s mothers Cat Puma. Puma did not take well to the new visitor so they never got to know each other. She got to meet grandmother with a walker and Oxygen tank. Amazingly she did not have any car sickness (she has had a few troubles with riding in the car). Everyone loved her. They were amazed at how good she was.

Her home - Well we are still working on her puppy mansion. It now has all the walls up and doors to the largest portion of the run. We are working on the doors to the smaller section this weekend and installing hardware. After this weekend, the run should be complete enough for Subi to safely stay in her run during the day. This is a good thing, since earlier this week she wanted to go outside and it wasn’t happening fast enough so she reached up and pulled on the handle.

Reef

Dick and Ginny sent some photos of Reef enjoying the snow last weekend too. You can check Reef's photos out here.

busy puppies

The photos along the right side of this post are of Reef before and after his haircut this weekend. Dick and Ginny were in town and asked if I could give him a trim while he was here. He was MUCH better and less wiggly for his grooming than sister Ecko, but you can see by his humped up back in his "after" photo that he was pretty sulky and sick of being fussed at by the time we were done.

It appears that my post about living with a "vertical" dog, struck home with several of you. Here is a comment, along with an additional update on Chloe from her mom Joan:

I just read the update on the website and I had to laugh! I found Chloe on top of her crate in the laundry room the other day! How she got there is beyond me since she has yet to master loading up in the car! And while she was on the crate, it was obvious that she did some counter surfing while she was up there! Luckily, there was no great damage.

Chloe has now moved onto spring soccer season and baseball. (Lots of baseball.) She has done very well at meeting new kids and parents alike in a busy setting as well as a few other dogs, some goldens and labs as well as a 2 ½ pound little ball of fur she almost ate for lunch! She does her best at being cordial, but still gets very excited to meet some people. We will keep working on it! One man this weekend came up to me and asked me to leave the field, because if his kids saw the “walking” teddy bear that they would want one for sure!

Ecko had a busy weekend.

On Saturday, a friend picked her up at my work and took her on a couple hour outing. She went to Home Depot, Lowes and the vets office for a visit. She got to meet 50 new people, 10 of whom were kids. She got to meet the resident cat at the vet clinic. She got an excellent "report card" from her adventures. Thanks Dean, for taking Ecko out and about.

On Sunday my friend and I loaded all four PWDs in her van, along with her German Shepherd and Malinois and headed to Rickreall for a practice match and handling class. Chili, Decker and my friends dogs were entered in obedience in the morning. Chili let it be known that divas don't work and was quite pathetic in her class, but Decker, Journey and Seeker did well in their respective classes. Chili will be getting a little taste of a "nothing in life is free" program in upcoming weeks to overcome her diva-ness! You can find a good write-up explaining what a "NILIF" program is all about here.

Stoker and Ecko did quite well in the handling class. There was a small turn-out so CJ played with Ecko so I could concentrate on Stoker. Ecko seems to be a natural at gaiting and tolerated the judge's examination pretty well too. Stoker was great - happy and confident, gaiting with her tail up and wagging. I was very pleased.