MaggieDog

The sad thing is that she would make a fabulous home for a 'real' BC or a rescued one. I've showed her Z's work in the agility ring and talked about her SAR work endlessly but she still doesn't see why she should consider a rescue. She's a lost cause and you all have wise words - she and I will continue to agree to disagree on the breeding issue and I'll keep bragging on my rescue dogs and we'll see how her pup turns out. But I'm still gonna sigh about it darn it!

I had a friend tell me today that she's anticipating getting a puppy in the fall from a recent breeding between two show line BCs. She knows how I feel about show and sport line dogs and was very hesitant to tell me because of that, but she still is planning on this pup. Her main goal is AKC agility with this pup. I had a looong discussion with her about the why behind her decision, especially since the sire and dam don't really have much in the way of agility experience and there's nothing above an AXJ in the lines, but plenty of Ch. dogs. Her thought is that she's seen the sire run in agility on video and likes what she sees, the breeder does do all the needed health certs, puppies will go through some great prep exercises while at the breeders (ENS, etc.), and she likes the fact that the dam has various herding titles and that the breeder "does a little bit of everything" with their dogs. **sigh** She's not going to a sport breeder because sport line dogs are "crazy" with no off switch (at least she sees that...). I feel like I'm beating my head against the wall - she's even proud of the barbie collie moniker and plans to make herself a bumper sticker to that effect!! If we can't get through to people that we KNOW how can we *ever* hope to get through to strangers about the problems inherent in breeding for anything other than herding ability/skill??

Most people who are serious about titling go for Championship, but there are still good numbers of dogs in Performance, just not quite as many (like 12 vs 24 in the 16"/22" height class at one trial I went to). I run Maggie in Performance because she needs the extra time (USDAA course times are FAST) and because she's 9yo. Ziva runs in Championship because I am shooting for a MAD title with her and she's young and speedy (2yo, generally well under course time). Z's also right on the edge of a height class so the jumping isn't as extreme as it would be if she were bumped up. She's 15.75" and jumps 16".

What about putting the rough side of a carpet square up against the bottom of the crate with the soft pile in contact with the floor? The it would slide nicely when you needed to move it without the risk of scratching at all.

Yup Vet asap for urinalysis.

They do still make them, but the manufacturer ran into some delays in production a few weeks back. Things should be restocked by mid-month. I highly recommend the Squirrel Dude to most of my training students and it's received rave reviews from many. It's as durable as a red kong ime. For lighter chewers I also like the Twist n Treat, and for the tougher guys I like the Bristle Bone from the same line. The Bristle Bone even withstands my boss' American Bulldog who kills pretty much any other toy in minutes save for the Bristle Bone and blue Kongs. The Treatstik also gets two paws up, but is made by another company.

"After you get your Puppy" is now available free with no end in sight!

Get yourself a can of Direct Stop/Spray Shield citronella spray and carry it with you whenever you're working with multiple dogs - it's a great product. It's supposed to be as powerful as pepper spray but with no worries about blowback and increased aggression.

If I were you I'd book an appointment with a vet that specializes in behavioral meds, most are "veterinary behaviorists". There are so many developments in the field that you really should be working with someone who knows all the ins and outs of what's available to ensure you find the right fit for your dog. Prozac seems to be the go to choice for a lot of vets since they just came out with a version specifically for dogs, but it's not a cure all, and it's not the only drug available.

Keep in mind too that SAR is not just "something to do with your dog", it's a full time commitment where you can be called out in all weather and at all times of day to go find someone, sometimes successfully, sometimes not. It's not something to do just because your dog can't see sheep regularly - people's lives depend on you. I started working my little mixed breed girl in SAR in August 2008; we're still a long way from certifying and I'm currently worried about her washing out due to some issues with wildlife, but we're working through it. The support of our team has been very helpful and if she doesn't make it you can bet I'll be getting another dog to work in SAR because I enjoy the work, the special connection to the dog, and the ability to serve others. My blog has some info on our training that you might find interesting, though I'm not the best at updating it at times. www.zthesardog.blogspot.com .

Dogs can experience a broad range of seizure types, just like people. My parents' dog Oreo had epilepsy and had grand mal seizures - they looked different than the movement in the video which is why it didn't really jive as seizure behavior for me, but has for others. I know some seizure activity can look like fly biting, just once muscle twitching, etc.

There's actually a sleep disorder in dogs that has to do with the body not doing it's normal "semi paralyzed state" thing during sleep, so you see big movements like that. One comment said that the dog's been doing it for all 14 of her years, so I bet it's a sleep disorder vs. seizures. Either way it's disturbing that people find it amusing; just like the dog that attacks his own feet.

Maggie really hates the hold Carlasl described. She much prefers being picked up with an arm in the front of her chest under her neck and my other arm behind her back legs at about knee height. Here's a link that has some pics - Carlasl is talking about the "one person - medium dog" #1 pic and I'm talking about the "one person - medium dog" #2 or large dog pics. Ziva is 10lbs smaller than Maggie and I can pick her up using all the holds on the above website, but often use the small dog one. She , too, prefers holds other than the one that has an arm under the belly. I accustom all my dogs to being picked up for future needs. I start small - just accustoming them to the hold with all feet grounded - and then build up in height off the ground and length of time held slowly as they are comfortable. As for petting, each dog is different. Maggie LOVES scritches with fingers on her hips and behind her ears, Ziva likes long, slow, smooth strokes on her topline and sides and fur fluffing on her belly. TTouch might be something to look into for ideas of what to try - a google search should give you some basic stuff to start with. A general guideline: slow strokes = calming, fast, light scritches = energizing in most cases.

I was going to suggest a blanket or rug where she lies on the floor; that or keep her on the furniture.

Purely dog-related, I like "The Other End of the Leash" and "Bones Would Rain from the Sky". "Culture Clash" is also a good one, but kind of hard to follow at times. I've heard great things about "For the Love of a Dog". I believe Patricia McConnell has several BCs and a pyr herself, don't know about the other authors. Donald McCaig has some great books on sheepdogs, etc. - not sure if they are fiction or not.

Have you considered asking the vet about Canine Cognitive Disorder? It's like doggie alzheimers and can manifest as anxiety, disorientation, and disturbances in the sleep/wake cycle. There is a drug for it - Anipryl I think.

Ace is awful for dogs with anxiety/fear/aggression issues because it is a paralytic with no anxiolytic properties, i.e. the dog can't react as quickly to stimuli but they are just as freaked out/anxious as they would be without meds so they often end up with worsening vet issues because of the now even more traumatic experience.

Interesting story from work the other day: Dog is picked up by animal control and scanned for a microchip (he has a chain collar on but no tags). Microchip is found and owners called. What's so odd about this? Well the owners we called hadn't seen the dog in *10 MONTHS*. They suspect that someone stole the dog, subsequently dumped him when they realized he was neutered, and someone else found him and decided to keep the "stray" dog. It's a story with a happy ending, and yes a collar likely wouldn't have stayed on during the ordeal, BUT the second "owners" never bothered to scan for a chip, just assumed the dog was a stray. That's why my animals wear collars 24/7 unless crated.

The dogs on our SAR team use Astro GPS units in the field, mostly just for comparing victim paths to the dog's trail in training.

Collared but the one at most risk for getting caught by it wears a safety collar (breakaway by premier or the old knot-a-collar from Ruffwear) - it's the best of both worlds.

Ziva has teeter issues as well and her toy really helped as well; not because desire for it overrode the fear but because I could use it to get her driving *past* the end of the teeter and she's much more comfortable with that goal than stopping at the very pivot point and bottom to eat food. With the food she tended to come off the sides, but the toy has her running straight again. Congrats on your new found success!

Last time I talked to Mike Neary he wasn't giving lessons. He's also pretty hard to catch in terms of getting info ime.

For rehab you might want to look into swimming if you get the all clear from your vet. I know that underwater treadmill and lap pool work can be great for dogs recovering from ortho work, can't see it being bad for neuro rehab either.

I took lessons at Dogwood and they are VERY AKC oriented. Heck they let a sheltie come to walk around a pen with sheep in it for 2 YEARS to see if he would show any instinct for pete's sake! The all breed people are great if you have a mix like I do and just wanted to see what she was capable of, but not great if you're looking to trial outside of the AKC type stuff. That being said, I had a TOUGH time finding people within a 2 hour drive of Lafayette when I was at school there and that's why I went to Dogwood vs. a USBCHA person. eta: I do have to add that Mary Lou is good about respecting the animals she works with and works hard to avoid over stressing or mishandling them and she teaches students to read them and to respect them as well. She had a flock of about 40 sheep last time I was there - about 2 years ago now.

Yea she went to the vet yesterday at the end of her rope, worried that she was "waiting too long" in terms of his quality of life and the vet said that they needed to give the dog at least 2 more weeks to recover before thinking that way. He's lost 5lbs because he's not eating so I'll ask her if perhaps they've considered dramamine. I've had vertigo before so I explained to her that once he finds a comfy place he's not likely really having to much of an issue, it's just when you move that things get really topsy tervy. her dog is blind, so I don't know whether that helps or hurts, but my vertigo was always better in the dark, so hopefully that's the case with dogs too.