Posts from — August 2007

This morning while I was getting ready for work, the puppies who are now out of the kiddy pool completely, were wrestling together and making all sorts of vocalizations, including little howls. I came over to them and started to howl myself and darned if they didn’t all tilt their heads back and howl with me! It was hysterical! I hope this weekend to make a video of them doing it.

Okay, I’ve had enough of this. There is a Border Collie breeder who advertises herself as being a Natural Rearing (”NR”) Breeder. At one time I very much respected this person. I thought she knew her stuff and was breeding nice dogs. Amazing what you find out when you hang around for a while.

I know she’s been putting me and my dogs down: for breeding a bitch too young (yep, I did that, but it was a mistake and because I am a NR breeder I chose not to use hormones to cause Midge to abort her litter or to have it surgically aborted. I honestly considered euthanizing the puppies at birth, but I couldn’t do that either, and I’m glad I didn’t. She’s also putting me down for breeding dogs without having genetic testing done. Well, all the testing that I can do at this time is done. Finally, she puts Gel down; she says she had a half sister to Gel and that she couldn’t stand her. Said the Bwlch lines are soft and sulky and so on and so forth. Well, the Bwlch lines are behind a lot of Border Collies and I live with Gel and work him and I would not call him soft or sulky. I’d call him a lot of other things, but not soft or sulky. What this person didn’t like about a half sister has absolutely nothing to do with Gel or what he might produce. She saw Gel once, at a trial, she said she liked him, she never saw him work. How can she pass judgment about this dog? I guess just because she can.

She calls herself a NR breeder, yet she openly posts on non-NR lists about feeding kibble to her dogs. In my opinion, that is one of the absolute worst things you can do to a raw-fed dog, feed it raw one day and then when it is inconvenient to feed raw, for one reason or another, you toss it kibble. The poor dog’s digestive system must be so thrown out of whack by this. Dogs evolved eating their meat raw, their digestive systems are specifically designed to do that. People and companies out to make money decided that they could make a killing on taking the leftovers from humans, throwing it altogether in a vat, cooking and processing it into 100 percent nutritionally complete food for dogs and cats. This is what most dogs and cats eat today: crap in a bag or can. This is not an ideal way to feed. I chose to feed my dogs and cats what they evolved eating. I made the commitment fifteen years ago to feed my cats and now my dogs a 100 percent home-prepared raw meat diet. I do not feed them kibble or canned food if I feel too lazy to prepare food for them. In 2002 I traveled from Massachusetts to North Carolina over three days with ten cats and I fed them a raw meat diet the entire time. It was a pain, but I was not about to subject their systems, used to digesting a raw meat diet, to cooked protein. I considered feeding canned food, I really did, but I did not.

She’s currently advertising a litter that she plans to breed as being third generation raw fed; is that third generation raw fed when it’s convenient to do so? I guess you can just call yourself a NR breeder if it’s convenient or if it suits you.

I guess I’m just a purist, or maybe I care too much about my animals.

The puppies did fine their first day loose in the run with their mother. They were pretty dirty though!

A friend of mine told me that the two Border Collies she purchased as puppies had never been otuside before she got them. Of course, she lives up north, but I couldn’t imagine not allowing the puppies to go outside at some point. Fresh air and sunshine is key to good health, not to mention all the exercise they get walking around all day.

Although I think they are all too big, I have reed fencing around my runs which will prevent the puppies from going through the chain link. The reed fencing keeps the runs shaded and also prevents the dogs from “working” during the day. Some Border Collies, if allowed to look at stock or other moving objects during the day will go into “work” mode. Talk about burn-out. Not that I think Gel or Midge would do that sort of thing, I like having the reed fence around their rounds. It makes the kennels look more attractive as well.

Midge is the most amazing mother. She’s doing an absolutely wonderful job raising these puppies. They are starting to discover toys, both real toys and turning parts of Midge into toys. I’m glad work has been slow which is enabling me to spend more time with them. Hopefully I’ll be able to take Friday off which would give me a four day weekend. Lots of time to take photos and videos!

It is finally cooling off. The Charlotte area has had 33 straight days of 90+ degree weather. Much of the area is under mandatory water restrictions now too.

Two of Gel’s favorite jobs: breaking up cat scuffles (not sure how he decided that was his job, but it is and he does a good job of it), the rotten creature will sometimes attempt to go outside in the middle of the night if he hears cats yowling outside. How he manages to squeeze through a cat-sized entry way out the back porch is beyond me. He is not a small dog. Second favorite job is pushing stock off the feed trough. I forgot how much he liked to do that until last night. My neighbor brought me over a large, free-standing feed trough to borrow. Normally I don’t feed my sheep a lot of grain, but given that they have very little grass to eat, I feel like I have to make an exception. When I was putting the grain in the trough, I used Gel to keep the sheep off me until I got out of the way. Sheep are major carbo-junkies and when grain is in the picture, they act like they haven’t eaten in 30 days and have no qualms about running me over to get to the grain. Oh, Gel is in his glory doing this job, he’s all power and authority. It’s amazing to me how quickly he grasps the concept and then remembers his job. I haven’t used him to keep stock off me when feeding since last winter, yet he went with me last night with a complete understanding of the task at hand. It sometimes takes a couple of “that’ll do’s” to get him to let the sheep eat.

There are times, however, when I wonder if I really need a dog to help me with the sheep. I often let them out when I’m home to free-graze around the property. If I see them going somewhere where they shouldn’t be, I’ll often open the door and yell out “away!” Silly sheep come to attention and immediately move away from where they were. Of course, I have to keep a hand on Gel’s collar while I’m doing this because he’d be out the door in a heart beat to move the sheep himself. Maybe the sheep know that.

Never try to understand what goes on in the mind of a sheep.

Got up early this morning so I could view the lunar eclipse. Took the dogs (and Ted the cat) down into the back fields for a walk while I was watching the moon. It was beautiful! Well worth getting up early for.

The puppies all got beauty treatments this morning. First they were brushed, then had their ears checked, then their nails trimmed with fingernail clippers. After trimming the nails, I used my Dremmel (on a slow speed) on their front claws for a couple of seconds. No one cared too much about any of this handling. I was always very negligent with kittens and nail trimming. Trimming the claws of kittens and cats can be notoriously difficult (and sometimes outright dangerous!). When I moved to the country and my cats were allowed access to the outside, I justified not trimming their claws by thinking they needed the protection of their long claws. That can’t be the case with my dogs, but I’m still bad about doing nails. I mentioned earlier that both Gel (and likely Midge, although I’ve only made a half-hearted attempt at messing with her nails) were bad about having their feet handled. I really need to crack down and start maintaining their nails, especially Gel since he’s doing agility.

Yesterday during the day, one of the puppies got out of the kiddy pool and was loose in the run. He couldn’t get back into the pool. Today I took the pool out and left them on the ground. I first sprinkled a layer of diatomaceous earth (fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae) on the ground, then put a pile of hay on top of that for bedding. Diatomaceous earth is a natural insecticide; it works by puncturing the insect’s exoskeleton and absorbing the moisture in their bodies. When I checked Midge and the puppies right before I left for work, they all seemed content with the new arrangement. The puppies are getting around quite well on all fours, especially when on a surface that isn’t slippery.

If Midge brings food near the puppies, they are trying to take it out of her mouth. I’m surprised they are interested in food so early in life. The kittens I raised usually didn’t express any interest in eating until they were about five weeks old. The puppies are getting plenty of milk and I know they are not hungry. I do not plan to actually offer them food until Midge expresses an interest in weaning them herself. I’m hoping she’ll regurgitate food for them. So far I think her natural instincts are intact and eventually that will happen. We’ll see.

Took Gel in this morning to have blood drawn for a DNA test. I need to make sure he’s really a dog and I’m sure a DNA test will give me the answer I need. This dog has no fear of the vet’s office. He enjoyed himself tremendously entertaining the vet techs. He’s such a goof ball. The DNA test is to be certain he’s CEA (Collie Eye Anomaly) Normal. Assuming he’s normal, I won’t need to have the puppies’ eyes certified. I’m glad there is a DNA test for this as I prefer to keep less-than-seven-week-old puppies out of vet’s offices.

The first puppy crawled out of the pool this morning. Now all hell will break loose!

It is finally cooling off! I hope to take more photos tonight and maybe a couple of videos as well. Since I’ve been doing agility with Gel, I’m seeing a big difference in how he works sheep - instead of running around them (which takes longer), he leap-frogs over them. Not really, I’m in a goofy mood this morning. What I am seeing is that he is more confident in his work. I think giving him a break from the seriousness of stock work to do agility (which is fun) has done him a world of good.

We really have puppies ! Not too many photos, but they are there. More to come. Enjoy!

All of my web sites went down on Tuesday night. I received no mail sent to me @blakkatz.com. I expect some people thought I took my web sites down and went to hide under a rock. Nope, not this time. We’re still here. I have switched web hosting companies so hopefully the problems will get resolved soon.

The puppies are starting to get very, very entertaining. This morning I had a hard time prying myself away from them. They are starting to bark and growl and for the first time, I noticed one have a startle response. We are through with early neurological stimulation. An interesting thing I noticed the last time I did it was that the puppies didn’t get at all upset. They must have become used to it, which I expect is a good thing.

I will do pictures this weekend! They look like puppies now, much more interesting than blobs.

While reading through the archives of the Clean Run mailing list at Yahoo Groups, I came across a message from a veterinarian who resides in North Carolina. She posted a link to her puppy log which I found quite interesting. Even more interesting is that this is a holistically-minded veterinarian.

The Clean Run Magazine ran a series written by Nancy Gyes on bringing up an agility puppy which began in January, 2007. Unfortunately, she didn’t write much on the pre-seven-week period. She did mention early neurological stimulation. I need to start driving around on the weekends looking for yard sales that might have baby slides and other outdoor jungle-gym type apparatus for sale. I want to put them in the puppy play area. I suppose if I can’t find anything at a yard sale, I can be creative and make something similar.

One suggestion contained in the puppy log I mentioned above is filing the puppies’ nails with an emory board at an early age. I had planned to beginning cutting them with fingernail clippers, but I think filing is a better option as I think most people use a Dremel to grind nails down. Gel is horrible about having his feet handled and I expect that is because he did not have his feet handled at a young age. I haven’t done anything with Midge yet, but I don’t expect she’s going to be any better about it.

The puppies’ eyes are cracking open. Heard them growling last night while jockeying for nipples. Midge is eating almost half a cow a day. Life is good!

Ha! I just figured out where I went wrong with Midge. According to Victorian British dog expert Francis Clater, fresh meat brought out the worst in unspayed females. When the animals were in heat their primal passions could be inflamed by a “primitive” - and therefore “wrong” diet, leading to disgraceful bouts of nymphomania. To head off such a crisis, ice water baths and meals of crustless bread, ground hemp seed, and milk were prescribed to calm the animal’s nerves. (from The Lost History of the Canine Race by Mary Elizabeth Thurston)

When Midge went into heat, she was eating a raw meat diet. If I had left her on kibble, possibly supplementing the kibble with ground hemp seed or soaking it in milk, she likely would not have allowed Gel to breed her.

See? Feeding raw meat really is dangerous!

I wish I had a dollar for everyone who has written to me saying they’d like one of the puppies, but they are not ready for one now. That is unfortunate because I doubt I’ll breed again. I never really intended to breed dogs. I’ve said before this litter has turned into a blessing in disguise, but would I intentionally do it again? Probably not. Unless these puppies turn into superstars, which they very well could, I likely won’t breed again.

When I was breeding cats, I often came under fire for doing things in other-than-the-conventional matter. The same thing is happening now with this litter. I try to take a very common sense approach to all that I do. If I end up wrong, I admit it. Letting Midge exercise prior to delivering her puppies ended up being something in her favor because her delivery was quick and easy. Regarding letting Midge exercise now that she’s nursing, the puppies continue to gain weight; they are not crying or acting unhappy. Midge is acting perfectly fine as well. I pay very, very close attention to Midge and the puppies and I see absolutely nothing wrong. Midge has a good head on her shoulders. I do not think she’d do more than she physically could or something that was excessively uncomfortable to her. I know some dogs would, but in my opinion, those are the ones who have vaccine-related issues. Most anything done in excess is unhealthy.

I left the dogs in today. I hate continuing to ask my neighbors to let them out during the day, but the high today is supposed to be 99 degrees. That’s just too hot for puppies to be out in, no matter how much shade they have. I suppose if I really was a hard core natural-rearing fiend, I’d say in the wild the bitch and puppies would be outside in this weather, but they’d likely be underground in a den. So as always, I am taking a common sense approach to what I do and the dogs are inside in the A/C.

I’m getting ready to pack up and move back North where its cool and green. I wonder if I’d be able to keep my sheep on the balcony of my apartment. It would make for good close work for Gel working sheep on a balcony.

Last night I put the puppies on one of the canvas dog cots I have in the living room. While they were sleeping in a pile, Gel went over to check them out. This is the first time he’s expressed any interest in them. He sniffed them, gave them a couple of licks and then lied down on the floor near the cot. I guess he’s decided the puppies are a job well done.

Okay, no photos, sorry. I really do have puppies! The weather (hot and we are suffering from an extreme drought) is killing me. I tend to be quite sensitive to extremes in weather.

On Saturday, Gel got to prove what a truly versatile dog he is. We had to help round up and load 19 sheep from my friend Wally’s house over to mine. It seems Wally and I botched the neutering (a neutered sheep is called a “wether”) of two of my ram lambs from this spring and they were trying to breed one of the adult ewes. We bought a colored Dorper ram to use as a herd sire this year and really didn’t want to use either of the “wethers” so it was time to separate them.

Gel had to cross drive at a distance (which I know is hard for him as, in general, all he wants to do is to bring the sheep to me, not drive them away) and then drive them through the gate into a different section of pasture and then into the barn. He did most of his work on whistle. Sheep are rarely cooperative, especially when they know something different is about to happen, but we managed to get them loaded up into the trailer in record time.

Later in the day I took him to an agility lesson and again, he shined. Gel can run Open (and possibly Master’s) level agility classes. He proves it whenever the instructor runs him. I can’t run anything more difficult than a Novice level class. My handling skills suck. Poor Gel, he tries hard, but this stupid handler is always giving him the wrong queues. We have another lesson next Saturday where we’ll be running full Master’s-level courses. Oh, can’t wait!!!

My agility field at home is shaping up. I now have a dog walk, five jumps, a set of 12 weave poles, a tire jump (missing the tire at this point) and a tunnel. It looks good to see it back.

The puppies are doing great. They are starting to walk on all four legs. Their eyes haven’t opened yet. Today will be their first day out in the run with Midge.

No matter what happens, these puppies are a blessing. I am incredibly happy that I am no longer struggling to break in the USBCHA trial world. I would still be there if it were not for the puppies. I’ve been reading the posts on Sheepdog-L lately and I’m really glad I am no longer attempting to be a part of that culture. Maybe training a Border Collie to do agility, AKC or AHBA herding, obedience or even, heaven-forbid, freestyle dancing (no, we don’t do that, but whoever wants to, all the more power to them) doesn’t make the USBCHA people happy, but if it makes my dog and me happy, then that’s what’s important.