Laura L

We are hosting another Patrick Shannahan clinic October 17-19, 2014 at the McLeish Farm in Portage, Wisconsin. If you're interested please email me for an entry form LauraLWentz at aol.com Thanks! Laura

What a beautiful tribute to Tex. It's obvious how much you both meant to each other. I've got tears in my eyes too. I'm glad that you had so many years together and it sounds like you met someone special because of him, what a wonderful thing! Laura

From the breeder's website: **Starting in 2011 I have switched our dogs and cats to an All Natural RAW (Prey model) diet.. I understand that this is not an option/decision for everyone. I will need to know ahead of time if you would *NOT* like your puppy exposed to a RAW diet. In the past I have had puppies raised on Blue Buffalo Wilderness/mixed with the puppy formula. This is my second choice and it is usually widely available at most Big Box Petstores** It does not say that she is only feeding chicken thighs and pumpkin. Lots of red flags though with colors of puppies and that "our dogs can do it all" bullsh!t without any proof that backs it up. Please take your puppy into the vet for a full check up and blood tests. eta: At almost 5 months your puppy should be a bundle of energy. Hopefully it's something that's easy to fix and good luck! Laura

Gloria, this is not at all odd. You're in good company. I've had old dogs do this too. I just figure it's one of those indignities of aging and it's always been easy to pick up & flush. It has always been the dogs who are getting weaker in the back end. I'd much rather have this poop problem than the incontinence, although that's been an easy fix so far with medication. Laura

You do the right thing, apologize and offer to pay the vet bill. If it happened the other way around and it was your dog on the receiving end isn't that what you would like? I have to agree with Mary & Bullet 87. If you know your dog is like this, don't keep putting him in this kind of situation. You may not get off so easily the next time. Laura

Zoe has gone 35 mph with the 4 wheeler at home too. Not for long periods of time, but on the straight, flat part of the field to get some of the zoomies out after chores. She leaves all my others in the dust. Laura

I am sorry for your loss too. Kati, run free and say hello to mine who have passed on. Laura

Double post

I'd think about changing from a self feeder to actually going out and feeding every day just what they will eat. By the time it gets to where the weather will be 10 below, your new girl should be fine with getting fed once a day. I've got to stick around for about 10 minutes otherwise when I feed the oldest dog who wolfs down his food will chase the other 2 out of theirs. Laura

Marjorie Reinke, 70, of 3501 Ver Bunker Avenue, Port Edwards, died Wednesday July 14, 2010, at her home. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Port Edwards. Friends may call from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday at the church. Feldner/Ritchay Funeral Home is assisting the family. A complete obituary will run in the Friday edition of the Daily Tribune. She was diagnosed with the cancer in December and was feeling pretty good up until May. Then it was up and down & even though her appearance changed, she always sounded like Marge when we were talking. She came home from her last hospital stay last week and all 5 of her kids were there and had a small party for her. I saw her Saturday and it was a wonderful visit with lots of family and friends there. She was teasing, laughing and having a good time with all the attention from everyone. More of her friends were there Sunday and that was a pretty good day too. Marge will be sorely missed by many people. I can't imagine how hard it's going to be to host clinics and trials without her. Laura

Marge Reinke of Port Edwards, Wisconsin passed away Tuesday afternoon after battling biliary cancer. Marge was a long time member of the Wisconsin Working Stock Dog Association. She was a tireless volunteer, working where ever she was needed at the club trials. She will be missed by many people. This picture was taken in May at the 3 Sisters trial after she had finished her run with Kit. Laura

Melanie thanks for the good topic. I've got Jaax who is 13 years old, other than being deaf now is physically still in good shape. He would help with moving sheep and cattle, but it would be on his terms since he usually isn't looking for direction. He barks more than he used to but I think that's because he can't hear himself. No problems with eating weird things like mud or counter surfing, but he does get some table scraps in his dinners. His teeth are in amazing shape and he has all of them except one little one in the front which gives him a charming gap when he smiles. Then I've got two 12 year olds. Hope is bothered a bit more by her arthritis and stands and whines at times but that doesn't seem to be from pain, it's just a statement. She will eat dirt in the summer, but seems happy eating sheep & cow poop now while it's cold. She did lose a canine last summer, but she's still eating fine. She's also still the fun monitor. She definitely doesn't want Wilbur to play with Zoe, but she can grab her by the scruff and tug. She'll also bounce around and bark at the others. Bear is in the worst shape, but still better than when we got him 3 years ago from the shelter. He had a rough life before with a bad diet (his teeth are really worn down and in bad shape) and the shelter knew he had been hit by a car at least twice when he was younger and he's bothered by arthritis. Pain meds, vitamin E, fish oil and glucosamine are given to the 3 older ones regularly. Bear does stand and look off into space sometimes like he doesn't know why he got up. He's also the worst about counter surfing and several times he's shredded everything in the bag of paper recyclables (no food stuff in there). He also wakes up barking for no real reason. All 3 of them go thru times of needing to go out in the middle of the night. It's painful sometimes to watch them and there are times when I'd really just like to roll over and go back to sleep but then I think that they won't be around forever and I just get up. I'm surprised that so many of the "odd" things mine do are the same as other people's dogs. Laura

And speaking of sheep and dogs, the big guy is Jean Bass' ram. Nice looking sheep and they were nice to work. Paul Henning with Ken, Amy Armstrong with her mom's (Jean) Zuri and Janet Henning with Bob. The 3 Tess x Tweed siblings. Laura

Lola Chaffin gave him gloves at the beginning which he stuffed in his pocket and never used and Rose Anderson was giving him a hard time about it. She touched his hand once and confirmed that yes, they were warm. It's a lot easier to be warm moving around. We poor schmucks who were sitting in chairs were the cold ones. Laura

I spent part of the weekend at the Jack Knox clinic in Fitchburg, Wisconsin (it was in an indoor riding arena). This is probably the 12th or 13th clinic of Jack's I've been too, and if you throw in Kathy Knox and Patrick Shannahan, you could add in another 10 or 12. I'm always surprised at how much you can learn at a clinic even without a dog in, there's always some little gem that I seem to come away with. And it's certainly nice to have a dog related event to go to in the middle of the winter to keep you inspired. So thank you to the people who host clinics, help set up for them and take things down, provide the food, provide the sheep, the people who enter and especially the clinicians themselves. Wisconsin has a great stock dog club and a lot of fun things to do throughout the year! Some of the people in the clinic. There was a round pen for inside dogs and by unhooking one gate and pulling panels around, we also had a big open area for outside dogs. And even though it was about 20 degrees out, Jack never wore gloves and had warm hands the whole time! The big area. Laura

Maybe crate your son the next time he's over? And yes, that's said with just a bit of sarcasm. Really though, he's an adult human and should have known better. Laura

I know that it's been talked about a couple of times already, but I finished it this week. Wow is it a great book. I had bought a couple of books for myself as Christmas presents and this was one of them. I did a book review for our newsletter and this is part of what I wrote: This book is hard to put down and when you are finished with it you wish it had been longer. Tea does an excellent job writing about shepherding and farming. Thru stories like “Pioneer” you understand that the enjoyment you get from a job well done and your mental well-being will likely far outweigh the financial riches you could get. Some of the stories bring tears to your eyes like “The Story of Ta Two”. Some of them like “Kippy” or “Slow Food” will make you laugh out loud. And ones like “Ettrick Shepherding” are just interesting. If you are looking for a gift for a special friend or just something as a treat for yourself, I’d like to recommend that you get this book. I enjoyed it very much. Laura

Mark at our house it's called "road blocking". It's a technical term that applies to any dog who wants attention. Laura

They've found out that the flakes of bedding are launching pads. Laura

This is Splash. She's a little stinker already, she's not shy at all and will walk up to you and nibble on gloves, twine, whatever you've got sticking out of your pockets. Her brother isn't quite so friendly, but that's ok cause I like the ewes better. Laura

Which started some more racing. Laura

Then we put out bedding. Laura

There seems to be several lambs who have figured out the warmest place to be is on mom. Lamb races were going on after we fed hay. Laura

The clinic is February 6 and 7, 2010 in the indoor Conzemius Horse Arena in sunny, warm Fitchburg, Wisconsin. There are still a few open spots. If you have any questions, contact Jean Bass (608) 845-6996 or jean.bass@parkprinting.com Laura

I like Stella just fine, she's a good worker, but I don't love her like I love the others. She drives me nuts with her need to eat inedible objects-corn cobs, silicone inflations, socks, gloves, sticks, clumps of wool...I feel sometimes like I need to put a muzzle on her because if I try to get her to spit whatever it is out she just scarfs it down faster. I feel bad about it sometimes, but she's fine when we're working, she gets along with the other dogs and is pretty happy in general. I'm sure that some of it was how she was raised, I didn't get her until she was 5. Laura