Siena & Kathleen

What a great website. Thanks for that. We get our bloodwork back today. I hope that gives us a clue. Siena seems to be back to normal now, except that she seems to have forgotton some things. We went to play tennis ball yesterday and she kind of forgot what she was supposed to do. She remembered quickly, but it was weird. Siena, Rolly & Kathleen.

Last night at around 4:30 am, Siena had a grand mal seizure. It was her first. It was terrifying. It lasted about 3 minutes, then she just laid in my husband's arms limp & panting for about 5 minutes before she snapped out of it. (Our new rescue, Rolly, woke us up with barking.) The afternoon before, she had peed in her crate while I was gone for only 4 hours. Siena has a super bladder, so this was really unusual. I thought that maybe she was just sick or something. It must have been a pre-cursor of the seizure to come. I know that others here have posted this same news. Could some of you who've had seizures let me know how your dogs are now? Did more seizures follow, or was it a single incident? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. There's a really sad book that I read about a year ago called "For the love of a dog" or something like that. The woman's BC had terrible seizures. Read it for a good cry. Kathleen, Siena & Rolly

Siena & I went on a new hike this weekend and ran across a huge field with horse jumping equipment in it. Wow! Siena had just taken one agility class, but that was all it took. She was off across the field, jumping over these HUGE barriers. It was like being a Liliputian! What fun! Siena & Kathleen.

Good luck and let us know how you do at the trials! Siena & Kathleen PS...maybe doggie diapers???

Siena's a car chaser too. Here's what we've done. Step 1: I got a Gentle Leader head collar. With that collar, she can't pull as hard so it's easier for me to control her when she lunges at cars. Step 2: Whenever a car comes by I give her a command she knows well (like sit) so that she's focused on me instead of the car. It'll be slow going, but little by little you'll gain control. Step 3: Teach a rock solid "stop" command so that when you BC is off leash and a car comes by, you can stop her in her tracks. None of these things will stop your dog from wanting to chase cars, but will give you the control you need to protect her. Good luck.

BC's are just too smart for their own good sometimes. I have different collars for Siena. She behaves differently on each one. We use a head collar when we run. She can't pull me with that so there's less chance of me falling if she goes after something. We use a pinch collar for obedience class type stuff...tight heeling, etc. I don't even have to attach the leash, she just know's it's a different collar. We use a regular leash & collar for general walking where it's okay to be "imprecise" with heeling. We use an "extendo" leash (we call it a yo-yo leash) when she can be wild and I don't care. She really does follow protocol on each type. If your BC's not heeling well in class, try using a special type of collar just for those occassions. It's a job. Siena & Kathleen.

Hi Ivy. Siena stands to eat, but when we've worked hard, she'll lay down to slurp up her water. She'll just lay there with her head in the water bowl. It's so funny looking. I guess they want to be comfortable, huh! Siena & Kathleen.

Well, our first canoe experiment was a success! We started out on the bank with water familiarization. Siena's okay in shallow water, but doesn't want to go in deep yet. We had a water frisbee (on a long rope) that she was supposed to chase. She'd go halfway to get it, but wouldn't take the plunge. We'll give her time to get used to it. For the canoe part, she sat pretty well. She preferred to stand which was really okay as long as she was still. We kept her leash tied to her life jacket and kept a fairly tight reign. We'll definately do this again. Thanks for all the tips. Siena & Kathleen.

I just hope that Siena's calmer in a moving canoe than she is in a moving car. The fast moving car world causes much drool and panting. Thanks for the advice about the life jacket. We'll buy one today and start getting her used to it for this weekend. S&K

We're going on a canoe trip later this summer and Siena will go too. Our neighbors have a canoe and I just started teaching Siena to do sit/stay in the canoe. Any advice and experience with this type of thing? She's never been in deep water, so until I know she can swim we'll probably use a life jacket.

Once I get her attention, I use an arm signal and then start running the opposite direction. That gets her coming (most times). The hardest part is drawing her attention away from the fun thing in the first place. BC's have selective hearing, you know!

Juli, Siena has learned to chase things and that includes coming off the thing and returning to home base. It took awhile, but we have a command and a hand signal (when she's looking) for give up and come back. By teaching her to chase things, it's easier to get her back when she chases on her own volition. We've taken some lessons from the working dogs on the boards too. A whistle gets her attention better than me yelling my head off when she's a few blocks away. Then she is startled, looks and me and sees the return signal...and usually comes back...unless that rabbit is just too tempting!

Fast downs are lifesavers. If your dog is car chaser, an immediate response is important. Siena never mastered the fast down ("aw do I have to go down?"), but will stop on a dime (standing) with a "wait" command. Keep working on the fast down.

The training's got to be fun and fast for Siena to enjoy it. I put a baggie of freeze dried liver (or some smelly thing) in my left jeans pocket. Then I run though figure 8's, about faces, spins in both directions and all out sprints/stops. Siena is right there, hugging my left side like she's stuck with glue. I try to trip her up and she tries to keep up with the liver and not lose it! It's not precise, but when you do slower precision heeling, she knows what to do. And she remembers that this exercise is usually fun.

I vote for one command, but have also blown it in training. Before Siena gets to chase geese, she has to sit. I give the command and she squats with her little rear about 1 inch off the ground...ready to go. She knows that the geese come next. So I have to tell her "all the way" then that little rear goes all the way down and we're off!