Posts from — September 2007

Even though I had to drive three hours one way to take the puppies to have their puppy aptitude tests conducted, it was well worth the time. It was fascinating to the puppies’ reactions to a new person in a very scary environment. The testing was conducted at the Bon Clyde Learning Center in Sanford, NC. We used the obedience room which is in a huge warehouse-type building. There were thick rubber mats on the floor (a surface the puppies have not experienced before) with mirrors all around the building.

We tested Inferno first (only because she was the first one out of the x-pen when I opened it). She shocked me. Inferno normally is the most outgoing and gregarious of the puppies. She would have little to do with the tester and in fact went and hid a few times. That wasn’t going to change the fact that she was staying with me. After a while she warmed up and stopped hiding.

We used the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test but did not do the Restraint, Social Dominance or Touch Sensitivity sections of the test, which I was glad of. We added in the umbrella test where the tester, within view of the puppy, opens up an umbrella and then immediately places it on the floor. Like all the puppies, Inferno passed the noise sensitivity (a large group of keys placed in a metal can which was banged around by the testor, then the keys were dropped on the floor followed by the can) and umbrella tests.

Torch was tested next and he performed well on all the tests. Miss Pyro revealed a strong independence streak which surprised the crap out of me as I had not seen any signs of independence in her previously. She initially showed interest in everything, but got bored quickly and went off to look for her own amusement. Heatwave crawled to the evaluator when called and submissively urinated a bit.

For some reason, I thought that it would have been Heatwave who would have been independent, but I was wrong. I think I might have expected it of Heatwave because he looks so much like his father who has an independent streak a mile wide. Independence is not a bad thing in a Border Collie, in fact, they need to be independent in order to work as far away from the handler as they do while moving stock, but the dog needs to be able to listen and obey a handler when necessary. It took me a while to get that through to Gel, and we still occasionally have “words” but in general, Gel is an easy dog to work.

In the evaluator’s opinions, Scorch was the pick puppy. I’m glad she’s going to my friend in Canada. When we were through with all the puppies, I brought Inferno out to be retested and the real Inferno emerged and she passed all of the tests that she had previously failed.

Structurally, all the puppies were good. They all have good rear ends, but they could all use a little more angulation in the shoulders. The evaluators told me this was not unusual in Border Collies and that Border Collies were not known for their shoulders. Of course, the tests were done on day 47 and I understand it is during the eighth week that you can really see what the structure of the adult dog will be.

The puppies all traveled beautifully! It was a tight squeeze getting Gel, Midge and the puppies into my car (I drive a Ford Focus wagon), but I did. On the way down I stopped once at a McDonald’s, set up my x-pen to let the puppies out to potty and then continued the trip. I drove all the way home without stopping. The puppies were more lively on the way home, but not once did they cry to get out of the crate.

What really tickled me was how Midge was. I doubt she’s ever been in such a building before, but she was completely unfazed. After we completed the puppy testing, we went into the agility building for a lesson. I ran Gel first and he did well. We ran an excellent-level course and except for two sections of the course where I had a hard time pulling Gel into me in order to redirect him, he did well. The poor dog! I was shocking him whenever I asked for a nose touch! I couldn’t feel it. I couldn’t figure out why he was ducking his head and flinching whenever he came near me. We had to turn the A/C off to stop the electrical current, but Gel wasn’t happy about touching me for the rest of the lesson. Can’t say as I blame him.

Then we played around with Midge and she made huge progress in just ten minutes of work. Guess I’ll have an agility dog in her after all. I plan to do all the foundation work that I would normally do with Inferno with Midge. Midge is happy to do whatever I want her to do. She’s a great dog. They are all great dogs!

I’m giving myself a huge pat on the back. I did an excellent job rearing these puppies. I was amazed to hear that some puppies would struggle and bit the tester during the elevation portion of the test. As I said above, not one of the puppies showed any sound sensitivity and they all passed the umbrella test. Scorch, Torch and Heatwave actually got into the umbrella after it was opened and placed on the floor. Scorch retrieved the crumbled paper, as did Inferno during the second test.

Pyro went to a local fly ball home on Tuesday. Yes, I know, I do not have much good to say about fly ball, but to each their own. The couple that took her have another Border Collie that they are training to run fly ball (she’ll be ready to run in January) and were happy to take on a second trainee. According to the evaluators, Pyro was the puppy most suited for a fly ball home. Most dogs love fly ball so why begrudge something that a dog loves to do? I’m sure Gel would go berserk for fly ball, I’d go mad in a hall with that many barking dogs.

Pyro settled into her new home almost immediately which is encouraging. The new caregivers are going to try to keep her on a raw diet and agreed to minimally vaccinate her.

Scorch and Torch are scheduled to fly to Canada on Saturday to their new homes. Scorch is going to an agility/herding home and Torch is going to an agility home. That will leave me with just Inferno and Heatwave. Heatwave will stay with me until he’s nine to ten weeks old, then go to his new home where he will be a much-loved member of a family of four and when he’s old enough, running companion.

I don’t know what I’m going to do with all the free time when I have just Gel, Midge and Inferno.

I spent a good part of August and the beginning of September worrying about whether the lady from Canada was going to (1) take a puppy and (2) transport the other one or two puppies (it was up in the air whether three were going to go or not) to Canada when she returned from a disc dog competition in Atlanta. I am not sure how anyone can run a business without retrieving voice mail or e-mail, but apparently they do. It all seemed very, very suspect and in retrospect, I’m glad she didn’t show up wanting to take the puppies. While I have nothing against disc dog or fly ball competition, I can’t see any of these puppies doing either sport, nor could the evaluators. They should be working stock, doing agility, obedience, tracking or search and rescue.

I know very little about disc dog or fly ball competition, but to me, both would foster obsessive tendencies. I’m not going to say any more about this for fear of offending someone, but I am going to continue to try to get these puppies in homes doing work that I believe they are suited for.

At this point in time, I plan to keep both Inferno and Scorch. I know keeping two puppies is not recommended, but until I can find a high level performance home for Scorch, she’ll stay here with me. We’ll see what happens with Pyro and Torch. If I were to sell a dog for fly ball it would by Pyro because she’s got an independent streak; Torch is very well rounded. Heatwave is going to the local pet home. The puppy tests indicated that he was the most suited for a pet home.

So, back in the saddle. Last night I played with each puppy individually. I “loaded” the clicker with each of them, then played a game of tug and when that was done, cuddled each of them on my lap. Today I plan to teach eye contact. Back when I was actively doing agility, I purchased Susan Garrett’s Shaping Success, but it seems I lent it to someone and never got it back so I bought it again. There are lots of puppy games and training tips in this book so I’m using it as my guide for the puppies.

They will all find the homes they belong in, I’m going to have faith in that.

A woman from Canada was supposed to pick up three puppies today, one for her; two to be transported to other people in Canada. She didn’t show up. Somehow it didn’t surprise me. She had been MIA several times in the past. She didn’t come across as someone you could rely on and warning bells were going off right and left about her for the past month. For all I knew, she could have come here, taken the three puppies and then went MIA again.

I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason and this woman would not have been a good caregiver for one of the puppies. Unfortunately this now leaves three puppies available.

Good news: had the puppies temperament tested by two experienced individuals, one a National-level agility competitor and they all tested very, very well. It was a fascinating process. More on the temperament testing and the puppies’ trip there later.

I got up early this morning and had to really think to myself, is it Saturday or do I have one more day of work before a day off?

It is a good thing it’s Saturday so I can take my time getting done what I need to. The puppies trashed their pen last night. I gave them some store-bought ground chicken last night and whatever they didn’t eat, they rolled in and spread all over the floor of their pen. Lovely. They make less mess with a deer carcass (maybe!). As I was cleaning the run I thought to myself, how many other breeders do this? It surely is a lot less mess if you feed kibble, well, maybe, I’m sure there’s a lot more stool produced from puppies on kibble and I doubt they are as nicely formed as they are with puppies on raw. The puppies are using their litter box, but because I’m using Yesterday’s News, they track black gunk all over the place. I’m going to try pine shavings tonight.

I hit the jackpot again at the Goodwill Store where I bought the busy center and stuffed-turtle-on-wheels a few weeks ago. I gave the busy center to a friend of mine to give to her granddaughter, the turtle is still a bit hit so they still have that. They also love the small furniture dolly I bought for them. They have no fear of moving surfaces. Last night I stopped at the same store and found something I’ve been looking for since the puppies were about two weeks old: a toddler slide! Unfortunately it’s a bit too big for the puppies now, but it will be useful in a few weeks. I also bought a small tunnel, which of course the puppies love.

I’m off now for four days. The woman who is transporting the three puppies to Canada (Katherine) is due to arrive on Monday, stay overnight and leave on Tuesday. I’m looking forward to spending time with Katherine. It’s great when you can meet someone who shares most of your views, especially when they are your “extremist” views! I hope to get the baby dog walk put together this weekend as well as my contact trainer. Today hopefully I have an agility lesson at 3:00 and on Sunday I have an appointment to have the puppies temperament tested at 2:00. It’s going to be a busy weekend, good thing I have Monday and Tuesday off. Of course, I also need to get my house cleaned. This morning I got through the stack of dirty dishes in my sink. Too much to do, too little time.

All of the photos posted today were taken last night during our walk. It was overcast and the puppies were very active so of the almost 100 shots I took, I only got a few decent ones.

Well, I have to go and check on the puppies. They are out in the front yard with Midge. I “tie out” Midge so she has to stay with the puppies. If I don’t, she has the tendency to go on solo walkabouts, which are not allowed.

You know your mind is on little else besides the puppies when you are walking through the small mall attached to the building you work in and see a group of children on a field trip and you think to yourself, I wish I could bring the puppies here to play with the children to further their socialization.

Went for another long walk out in the fields with the puppies last night. They really seem to enjoy that. For dinner I put a whole rabbit in their pen. They did a good job consuming it, fur and all.

Just contacted the vet and the puppies have round worms so I’ll stop by on my way home and get wormer for them. While I could use Diatomaceous Earth, I just as soon get rid of the parasites now prior to their leaving for their new homes.

Inferno looks different than any of the other puppies. She has less coat and her ears are starting to come up. None of the other puppies’ ears are coming up yet. I am wondering if she isn’t going to favor Gel’s mother, Kim. That would be fine with me. Interestingly, I understand Gel was the only puppy in the litter with any coat, maybe Inferno will be the only puppy in this litter to have a smooth coat.

Last night I took the puppies for a long walk. We went all the way around a ten acre field. I wish I had brought along my camera or camcorder to capture this: Ted the cat went on the walk with us. The puppies ran along behind me in a pack. Ted ran behind the puppies until he caught up to them, then, just like a cheetah, he reached out with his front paw to trip a particular puppy up, which of course he did and the puppy would go down. It doesn’t take much to knock the puppies off their feet at this age. Then he’d run ahead of them and lie down on the ground himself until he got swarmed with puppies at which point he’d get up and run ahead again. I was rolling on the ground laughing at them!

This morning I dropped off a fecal sample at the local veterinarian’s office to check for worms. Gosh I hate going to a conventional veterinarian’s office. While I was waiting for them to fill out the paperwork, I listened to the receptionists checking in the clients. They were suggesting rabies and other shots to animals coming in for surgery. They were also pushing a new rabies vaccine for cats that apparently does not cause vaccine-induced-sarcomas. I may have heard wrong, but I believe the downfall with this vaccine is that it only lasts one year. What new vaccine will they think of next? The veterinarian’s office did not want to do the fecal test because they had not seen the mother of the puppies, but they agreed to do it. Just do the darned test and get on with it!

The puppies can now climb the five stairs leading into my house without any problems!

On my way home last night I stopped and picked up venison and caribou scraps from the local processor. I hadn’t fed caribou before and was excited to do so. It was a big hit as was the meaty venison rib cage I brought home. The puppies had as much fun with that one as they did previously. They also enjoyed wrestling with the scraps.

Before it got dark I decided to try to take a walk out into the back field with Gel, Midge and the puppies. It was very slow going. Walking with five puppies is extremely difficult. I’m surprised no one has suffered a broken leg (me or the puppies) yet. We didn’t get too far into the field when I heard the motor of an ATV and then some dog scuffling. I ran ahead concerned that it was my neighbor in the front who has five very nasty dogs, but instead it was my good neighbor, Red, and his four dogs. The puppies were a bit concerned about all these strange dogs, but all in all, they handled it well.

Every time the puppies come in contact with a new dog I worry about exposure to disease, but I guess that’s really the only way they are going to develop functioning immune systems, by slow, steady exposure.

This morning was the first time I opened the door to the puppies’ pen in the house and asked them to follow me out the door. Up until now I’ve been carrying them two by two. They are doing very well with their recalls and following me when I ask. I think the cats are quite overwhelmed by the black and white hoodlums who have invaded their house.

Over the weekend I bought a small furniture dolly and put it in the inside pen. The puppies have a great time wheeling around on it and sleeping under it. Tonight I plan to put a plastic crate in one corner of their pen so they can start sleeping in a crate at night. If she wants to, Midge can “escape” the puppies by sleeping on top of the crate. I think for the most part all of the puppies are using the litter box I placed in the inside run last week. In their outside run, they are for the most part only going in one corner. I do not think many dog breeders bother to litter train their puppies, but in a pinch, I think the early imprinting of using the box or at least going in one corner of their living quarters will be handy.

This morning I took all the dogs out into the back field again. The puppies seemed to enjoy their excursion. They surely didn’t want to go up in their run when it was time for me to go in to take a shower. I know better than to take a shower, get dressed for work and then try to put them up. I’d soon be covered in clay. As it is when I take a shower, the water runs brown for quite a while from all the clay I have on my legs and arms from the puppies. They get awfully dirty in the morning when the grass is wet.

It’s hard to believe that three puppies will be going to their new homes next Tuesday. I don’t know what I’ll do with all the extra free time! Poor Gel and Midge are getting very little work these days because the puppies are taking up so much of my time. I’ve done a good job with these puppies. They are in beautiful condition, as is Midge. One day soon I need to get a fecal done to see if they have worms, but I’m sort of thinking they do not. It will be interesting to see. Even though they are outside in a run during the day, they have no fleas on them. They are fat, sassy and healthy.

Yesterday I came across a quote that rings true in my case: “If my method of natural rearing and breeding is so far fetched then you have nothing to worry about, I will fail. But if I am right then you have much to learn, and our Cockers have so very much to gain.” Author Unknown

It is finally cooler which is a huge relief! It was in the mid 50’s this morning and now at almost 4:00 it is just 77. Now if we’d only get some rain everything would be good. I’ve given up on local hay this year and will pick-up a huge square bale of hay from Canada or out West to feed my sheep for the winter. This has been a very bad summer as far as weather goes.

This morning before I went to work I dug out my puppy dog walk. Glad I held on to it. I’ll put it together tonight and play with the puppies on it. They are so much fun!

The National Sheepdog Finals have begun and I’ve book-marked the page showing the scores to keep track of who is doing what. I note the dog currently in first place is Patrick Shannahan’s Riggs, a littermate to Midge’s mother. Not that this makes Midge any more special or valuable. I am of the opinion that while pedigrees are important, it is all about the dog’s upbringing, the ability of the handler and the relationship between the handler and the dog.

It was a busy weekend. They are always busy. Saturday AM did a few errands with Wally then came back to the house to put together the tire for my tire jump. I also invested in an x-pen for the puppies which has already proven to be worth its weight in gold. We usually take Gel with us and leave Kessie (Wally’s dog) and Midge together in my fenced-in area. They play and have a wonderful time together. Gel got to accompany us inside PetsMart, Tractor Supply and Northern Tool. He was quite thrilled with that.

Had the puppies out while we were working on the tire which wasn’t such a great idea as they were into everything! After we finished the tire we loaded the puppies up into their crate and drove down to the back pasture where I have the temporary fence set up for the sheep. We had intended to place some plastic T-posts in the areas where the sheep were pushing the fence over and escaping. When we got down there, the sheep had pushed the fence over and were not in sight. Great. We then drove up to my neighbor’s house through the back fields in search of the sheep. Gel was in the bed of the truck with me and the puppies in the crate. Midge and Kessie were in the front with Wally.

Sure enough the sheep were up at the neighbor’s. I gave Gel permission to exit the truck bed, sent him to round up the sheep and then we headed off in the truck back down to the temporary fencing. It was like the Wild West! Gel kept the sheep going behind the truck. He’s never moved sheep in this manner before, but that didn’t faze him. Got the sheep put back up, worked Midge and Kessie for a few minutes, then remembered I had to get to an agility lesson in Salisbury which is about an hour and fifteen minutes away. I had intended on leaving about quarter of one and when I remembered to ask what time it was, it was 1:30! Flew back to the house, put the puppies and Midge in the outside run, took a shower, loaded up Gel and got on the road. Unfortunately I took a wrong turn getting to the lesson which made me even more late! Finally got to the lesson about 3:30, missing the walk through and first run of the first sequence.

I thought Gel might have been tired from moving the sheep as far as he did, but by the time he arrived at the lesson, he was pumped and ready to go. I had a friend video tape the session and it was neat to watch how we worked together. Gel is so intent on me and what I want from him. My handling sucked in the first sequence. The second was easier and we did fine except the weave poles. It was a hard entry, which he got, but he didn’t start weaving. Once I got him in the weaves he stayed in and he was fast.

After the class was over I re-ran the first sequence and made headway as far as my timing goes. I can cue Gel several jumps ahead of an obstacle like the tunnel and he does it! All Gel needs is my direction and he does what I need him to do!

Got home around 7 and had to clean the inside puppy pen. While the floor was drying I went outside and played with the puppies. When it started to get dark I brought them inside. Within ten minutes they had completely trashed their clean pen. I am trying to get them to use a litter box in the corner of their pen, which, for the most part, is working. The problem is getting a type of litter or liner in there that they don’t either tug out of the box or strew all over the place. Right now I’m using Yesterday’s News litter which is working pretty well. It would be better if the puppies didn’t play in the litter box.

Sunday morning got up to drive to Statesville (about an hour away) to meet the man I get rabbits from (Roger). The plan was to bring the puppies so Roger could meet them and they could go for their first real car ride. I expected to spend an hour in the car with screaming puppies, but they were amazingly quiet! When we arrived at the designated meeting place (in front of Lowes) I set up the x-pen and Roger and I put the puppies in it. All the puppies seemed perfectly comfortable in a new (noisy) place and being handled by someone new to them. After about ten minutes I loaded the puppies back up and drove over to Lowes. I put the puppies in a shopping cart and wheeled them around Lowes. I about had to force people to pet them! If I saw someone pushing a cartful of puppies I would be right there to pet them. Many people thought I was trying to give them away! What a sad world we live in that people would think that a person would be peddling free puppies in Lowes. It was quite cool Sunday morning and bringing the puppies into a warm environment from the cold put them to sleep. They slept a good part of the time inside Lowes. I spent about an hour in the store. They were just as quiet on the way home.

One of the puppies is going to an active pet home. That family was due to come to visit Sunday afternoon. My house was a mess! I put the puppies out in their x-pen in the shade and cleaned for a few hours. The family arrived at 2:00. First they played with Gel and Midge, and then fed the sheep, and then I brought the puppies out. The boys were more interested in the pond than they were the puppies so we all moved down to the pond. I had a wonderful time! I took almost 100 photographs. The puppies were wonderful! The children were having such a good time; they didn’t pack up to leave until almost 5:00.

Next Sunday I’m scheduled to take the puppies to a very good trainer to have puppy aptitude testing done. I was on the fence as to whether I wanted to drive three hours one way to have this test done, but the puppies are all in all so even in temperament I can’t decide who should go where. I know which one I’m keeping, but she picked me. Next Tuesday three of the puppies leave to go to Canada. I didn’t want to let them go so soon, but one of the woman (Katherine) taking a puppy is coming down from Ontario to Atlanta for a disc dog competition and can hand carry all three back with her. I prefer to do that over shipping them. They will all stay with Katherine until the next weekend before they are split up again and they are all going to dog savvy homes with other appropriate dogs to learn from so they should be okay. I don’t know what I’m going to do with just two puppies.

Gel is officially entered in an AKC agility trial October 13 and 14 and an AKC herding trial November 10 and 11. After our runs on Saturday I feel more confident. All I need to do is get his weave pole performance solid and make sure he understands that knocking jumps is inappropriate. I believe that the only time he knocks jumps is if I miscue him, although I know there are some times that he gets a bit too pumped and isn’t as careful jumping as he should be. I can set a long row of jumps of varying heights and he jumps only as high as he has to for each jump so he does pay attention to his jumping. He is all in all a really nice dog.

In general Midge was good with the visitors on Sunday. I had to keep an eye on her if the children started jumping around too much because that disturbed her. She was very sweet with them when they were still. After we finished the tire jump on Saturday, I got Midge to jump through it several times. While I’ll miss the puppies, it will be good to have more time available to train my dogs.