Debbie Crowder-BaaramuLuke

There is usually a Jack Knox clinic in Leesburg VA, sometime in April (?), at Fleetwood Farm, hosted by the wonderful Walt Feasel (sp). In May, he visits Debbie and Steve Collison's farm in Davidsonville MD. These clinics are usually filled, but that brings me to my main point: can't get your dog in? Go Anyway! If you are just getting started, auditing a clinic is invaluable and less expensive. I have had to pull back from taking working spots at clinics, but would gladly pay to audit a good clinician's day. I will learn from each and every dog who is worked and not have the anxiety of working my own. Now my trouble is getting the time off to get to the clinics I can attend. I hope to have more clinics soon in the VBCA calendar, if a host is willing to let us post them, the information would alert newbies to opportunities to come watch and maybe make contacts with folks who can help them.

That was sweet. Trust is a two-way. Where I work grooming dogs, I get the ones who have been booted from the facilities for stuff like biting. I may have to muzzle them at first, but it's always my goal to get them out of it, even though they have shown me they will bite. I feel like once they know me, know what'll happen (nothing), I have to give it back to them to show I trust them. No better enjoyment than getting through the whole shebang and no muzzles. Good girl, Fly! Hugs to you, Donald. See you down the road.

October 4, 2012 marks the 36th State Fair Sheepdog Trial. As many Virginians know, our State Fair has fallen into some rough times, culminating in it's bankrupcy and auction of the real estate and property of the Fair. When the Fair announced its fate, it also regretfully announced there would be no fair in 2012. The new property owners (Universal Fairs of TN), and our Virginia Farm Bureau Federation have sprung into action to assure us that we WILL have a fair this year, and a short few weeks ago, they contacted Karen Thompson about hosting the SDT again this year. She called me, and I said YES!, as this is a tradition in agricultural exposition we want to see continued. Sadly, they contacted us past time when we could have any trial sanctioned by USBCHA or VBCA, so the trial we are hosting is not going to be for the points handlers. We explained that to the FAir folks, but they ordered us four sets of six ribbons, and we hired a judge. We have the privilege and obligation to showcase working Border Collies in the big equine arena (same one American Cowgirl Chicks had last year!) from 10am til 4pm. We have entries, but not a whole lot. It is on a Thursday and there is no payout. T What we propose to do is run classes with the entries we have, and in between classes, we will have demonstrations of non-competing dogs, and those who have finished competions. Our Judge, Julie Poudrier of Oxford NC, will be available for critique and an informal judging clinic of the classes was we work through the day. We have even proposed a jackpot Open (as in, anyone can enter) skills class with farm and trial elements. We are open to suggestion, we want the folks at the fair to succeed this year, and have us back next year, all sanctioned and payback if possible. This year could be critical, and we ask you for your support, if you can come, contact Karen (www.thompsonsbordercollies.com) for more information. Thanks for taking the time to read... Debbie Crowder (since 1992, a State Fair participant and volunteer)

I was told about this thread a couple of weeks ago, but stayed away til now. Donald, my heart is with you and Anne (and June's other beloved handler), I hate that you had to lose her. I appreciate what you both did when you found out about her condition, and I have to say I would easily do the same thing. Our dogs are with us until we let them go or God takes them. I think they accept what we decide, trusting that we need them. For me, it's hard to let go, but I feel like I step out of my body and that middle-aged person in it makes the call, while my heart is screaming like an infant. It's the hardest thing I ever do, deciding when my beloved companion will die. My first euthanasia decision came when my lab mix Carly was found to have lung cancer at 9. I found out in May and cried clear til July when I saw the light go out of her eyes and that other woman drove her to the VEC and told them to let her go. I was with her and it was so peaceful. All of the actual procedures went smoothly, and I have had others die before we could decide, but each time I learned more. Having horses is tougher, with them, the logistics of death take far more planning and practicallity, but that same other woman makes the call. I have to say, she is calm, determined and seems at peace when she speaks to the person who she arranges it with. For the animal, be it horse or dog (or kitty), I join up with her and take a calm, loving attitude, begging them to trust me and to know they are the love of my life, and I pray for them to know it. As for a "natural" death, I don't know if it is as peaceful. I have seen far too many to know it might not be. I pray for owners who cannot bring themselves (or that strong person they could call on from within) to chose euthanasia. They suffer so much, and those of us who serve them suffer too, but I have to believe their bond is unique to them, and no God would let anyone suffer but so much, not really. I kept the dog after Carly (Calvin, my first Border Collie) alive for an extra year when he was found to have immune mediated hemolytic anemia, and I think I made a mistake that time, and worried over it immensely afterwards. Regrets. The next dog I lost, Luke, I wholely believe God stepped in and took from me, not as punishment, but just because, maybe because we both might have suffered more than we needed too over what might have come, had he not been killed in that accident. I was able to hold him and tell him he was perfect and wonderful, and I still wonder what I would do now, if Simon meets up with an serious illness. He almost died in October, and I cherish every day I have with him, even if it means taking him out of what he loves to do. Is that fair? I am struggling now with an aged pony who is possibly faced with a terminal condition, and I have struggled with this same thing for the past few weeks. My oldest dog is 15 and a half, my oldest kitty is older. Each euthansia is hard, each situation difficult. Each one I pray I make the decision in time to lessen the chance they leave life hurting and too sick to want to stay. I never regret it when it's done, but it's with me forever. Worst thing my equine vet said recently hit me hard: "I doubt anyone would view you judgementally for deciding to let him go at his age". Does that mean I have to pass muster with them if I pass on further diagnostics for a 38 year old pony with a respiratory rate of 40-60 resting? Pass a tube down to his lungs to see if he has a neoplasia? Really? He won't know there's going to be no tomorrow, but we will sure know he's gone from ours if I put him down. His pain in living gone, mine for a while longer, I have to have the strength, for them, to take that on.

Check with Derrick, he's good and in VA. I've used him for our rowdy 4-H sheep. He's a nice young man and knows his stuff. http://lordwillinshearin.com/

Ditto that info, also goes for any DVM product you may be fond of, including their shampoos, Malaseb shampoo being prominent for lots of skin yeast and bacterial issues. I use a LOT of NuSal-T, malaseb, Ectokyl (flea) and Chlorhexaderm (use all these at work), a really good ear flush, T8 Keto, and the Synovi-G3, and the equine equivalent. We stocked up when we heard about the sale and the FDA issues, our distributor's stock is all there will be for a while. If you like the products, get what you can but be looking for substitutes just in case.

OH...I gotta add, one of the coolest things I've seen is finding birdnests that have blown down, lined with fluff or horse hairs, I find them all over my place, what a miracle. Let that fluff blow!

I groom dogs (and cats) and I would hate to wear what I throw away. No matter how clean you got it, the thing is, it is dog/cat, and even really clean, it smells like it. Sheep smells like sheep, alpaca smells like alpaca and angora rabbit smells like rabbit. Those scents are pretty innocuous, and I actually love sheep-scent. The best use for dog clippings is in the garden, to ward off those animals who are afraid of dog, and even that is debatable. I would wonder why a collie or another full coated dog would be wanting to give us it's coat for someone to spin into yarn, unless it's just the fuzzy undercoat they use. If we used every ounce of wool produced for processing into useful rovings and yarn, I would guess it would be an enormous amount. So many folks I know just toss it, burn it, or use it for erosion control. THAT"S an eco-shame.

We are making preparations for the State Fair SDT coming up in two days (Oct 1), and I am now familiar with the arena it will be in. It feels smaller to me than last year, maybe because it has no "cover" like last year, and it is definately smaller than those years it was held in the Grandstand Arena at the old Strawberry Hill facility. This is the first year it will be at the Meadow Event Park, and we are happy they included the trial in their plans for the new park. That wasn't a certaintly, even though the trial has been at the fair for almost thirty years! Karen has fielded some questions about the "arena" aspect of it, from some folks maybe not familiar with the trial, those who have been in the past know what to expect (no 300 yard outruns here!) Our judge is Carol Campion, and she has been to and judged these trials before, and she is helping us adapt to our new facility. These things are geared to showcasing our dogs for a fair audience, so the whole thing is up close and for that reason, our dogs need to be in control and the sheep have to be kept quiet and happy. Actually the same situation, in a more traditional setting, is true of Montpelier, another spectator event we host in a few days (!!!!!). If anyone has any questions, please put them forward, and those who know about the experience of an arena trial, help me to get them answered. I can tell you that the park is fabulous, but spread all the heck out, and our venue is on the opposite side of the highway as the Midway and excitement of the fair. We are in a small arena, which sits beside another one, both two-rail fences and ours is lined in contruction netting, which I think the sheep could go through if pushed and I am calling today to see if we can double-line it. I also need to find out if there is another horse event in that next-door arena, I personally would not want to be riding a few of my horses in it while a SDT is next door. There's no shade, so plan for it, but likely no hassle from the public with our open vehicles, but everyone needs to keep open eyes for that kind of stuff at any event like this (thievery, etc). Getting nervous, but looking forward to it.

There was a little confusion on the date, it is definately NEXT Thursday (not tomorrow, Sept. 24) October 1. The second Thursday of the fair, as is traditional. Day off to travel to Montpelier Station for the Fiber Festival and Sheepdog Trials NEXT weekend (not this one). See everyone there, hope you like the new fair location. It is gorgeous, they've done a good job.

Yeah, we rule at the top. I understand we get to work some nice woolies. I think this trial is going to be one of the special ones. Lets hope for some nice early fall weather now! Sue, Julie is right. The thing with me is that being around so many dogs, I would tend to lean toward vaccinating when ordinarily I would not. I would think us all being out in the open, we won't have much chance of spreading any airborne stuff. If we did have any cases in here, I would likely stay away from trials. I have not vaccinated yet, and he's not compelling me to do so yet, so I'm wondering how much of this is really urgent or a wee bit o' hype. CAn't believe I said that, yes, I love my job.

To clarify, we have not seen any cases, but there was an article that a client read from the Washington Post that told about CIV causing some problems for clinics and shelters up there. My DVM/practice owner got the vaccine, and we have started to offer it to clients and those who travel, board, that kind of thing. As an employee, I take a dog to work every day, sometimes a couple, and I do travel with my dogs to trials pretty frequently. I think I will go ahead and vaccinate for it. We have gotten the AVMA info on it, and listened to a teleconference from a DVM in Atlanta who got it in her kennel, and it was awful to eradicate. The trouble with it is dogs who develop pneumonia, that is also quite difficult to treat. Thanks for any advice, having had a dog with IMHA, I don't vaccinate lightly, but working, playing, and living with a number of dogs, just wanted to be sure.

Has anyone experienced any canine influenza in their area? I understand Northern VA and PA, Atlanta, and other places have had some real problems with it, and my practice owner (DVM) has gotten the vaccine and has sent out an email to our clients about getting the vaccine now before it gets to our area (Central VA). Tell me more, listening to the CDC phone conference at a staff meeting gave me the feeling that I should vaccinate, but I also worry that it's marketing. Any real experience out there with this one?

I thought I updated this, but when I hit send, it must have not sent. The officer came out again, Long Story Short, I passed, end of story (to her). She was pleased with the arrangements, asked me if this is where they're living now and I said yes. "Now" was yes, today, not so much. I will leave the set-up, but if I want to leave them in the house, I will. If I take them to the barn, so be it. I spent at least an hour picking her brain on this whole thing, hard to tell if this was her need to see it through or her department's. I did learn she is not staying in this job, apparently having trouble with the higher up's, and I didn't press. Her current assignment of doing these inspections was due to an injury that made her unable to do routine calls. She said they hadn't been doing them as needed before due ot lack of manpower, but they were necessary to ensure the health of those dogs kept in numbers. My back porch (clutter), my refusal to let her in the house, and a current cat hoarder case that included a number of BC's made her suspicious of me, thus the extreme follow-up. I know of this situation, last year a friend of mine told me about a woman who was living in her car since the house was so trashed, she and another friend had convinced this woman to give up a couple of dogs to them. No idea it was in the same county, so I was guilty by breed-association. I do plan to go to BofS, I simply want to say that the county AC department has duites that I feel are necessary for a governmental agency to perform, and that having eight healthy, legal dogs does not warrant three visits, and that the bigger government gets, the less freedom we have to enjoy our dogs. Community of friends, family, breed clubs and fellow enthusiasts can educate us on how we should keep our dogs. If we have pride in them, they will look good and be happy dogs. If not, we will police ourselves. If that fails, okay, then call AC. As for the vet that does what Raven L is suggesting, don't know what to say there, but I would ask the questions you have about the legality of it, how he mixes a breeder business with a medical service one. If he's accredited with AAHA, he will be inspected, books, records, kennels, the whole thing, this is not government, but there's those folks too. I'd have trouble working for him. I will update on my BofS appaearance, it is going to happen.

Vicki, do what gives you the satisfaction of knowing you are NOT a gutless wonder, no matter what the outcome. I just have to watch my emotions, not get sidetracked by my outrage/annoyance with the whole thing and keep it to basics. I feel I can't get any more basic on this than my initial concern that this is overstepping government's usefulness and taking my privacy away, and privacy makes me happy. Update: no one called yesterday, so I called AC. Round one, was put on hold for a few minutes. I dropped the phone which caused a hang up on my part, so I called again. The poor woman at the pound apologized, she said is was really busy and she was the only one there. I told her I understood, no big deal. Told her my concern, no visit, she said she couldn't answer for that, could get someone to call me. Told her the Chief never called me from a couple weeks back. She said she could put me on with him, he was there. Well, alrightythen! Long story short, Chief said he never got the message to call me. My friend was on training this week, he'd ask her about it, I said no big deal, she talked with me and helped me come up with the questions I needed to ask him. As for why officer Bland did not come yesterday, he said he did not know why, but today (yesterday) she was off and he'd ask her about it when she returned. He was nice, gave me a long explanation of why they do inspections, and I gave him my story. He stuck by the assertion that they needed to see where the animals were kept to be sure they were in fit quarters, even if they seemed in good flesh. As for why the three visits needed, I think he protected his interests by not dismissing me on that, he obviously needs to ask her why. It could easily be because the house, and barn, from the outside looks cluttery, and obviously, I didn't have the tackroom outfitted for a kennel in the five minutes I had to do it the day she came. It is now. His basic story is that the department does inspections to oversee the keepers of large groups of dogs, and to be a PUBLIC SERVICE (I wrote that one down) to use kennel people, in case we needed help with how to do it properly. I said I did not feel that it was government's job to teach me how to keep dogs, and that I didn't think it was appropriate use of time and funds in our caounty. He kept going on and on about how large the county is, and how small their staff was, which seemed kind of contrary to his argument for offering a service to kennel keepers to educate them on dog care. I told him flat out I felt it was harrassment and more of an foot in the door to look for violations (more dogs than reported, paperwork out of order). I told him about my predicament as a pet professional, a breed enthusiast (and a representative for the State club), and a 4-H leader of over 15 years, in that I will have caused the department three visits (if she comes) to have AC assured I properly maintain my eight dogs. "How embarrassing!"...I told him. He said, "not to worry, I'm sure you will be just fine" Only when you say so, sir. Until then, I lose sleep and get angrier. Arghhhhhhh....