juliepoudrier

They are. And not only that, but because they don't often speak English and don't understand the laws here, there are at least some unscrupulous ranchers who take advantage of them, sometimes to the point of abuse. I actually looked into doing that job for a short period of time (i.e., not permanently), just for the experience, but the conditions really are pretty deplorable. J.

Nancy, Those dogs whose owners you think are crazy may have perfectly nice dogs but just don't want to be bothered by other people and their dogs. How many times have we read here of owners who, even when asked to call their dog, will simply say, "Oh he's friendly!" or "Oh, he only wants to play!" or something similar and never bother to honor the requestor's perfectly reasonable request to keep their dog back? No matter how hard one tries to get through to these people, sometimes the ONLY thing that will stop them (and thus their dog) is to say that one's own dog is unfriendly. I would say the same thing if I saw someone coming toward me and mine with a dog I had no wish for mine to interact with. Sometimes the only way to stop people is to warn them away from your dog by saying it's not nice. So before you judge these folks consider that they are simply going to extremes to get other people and their dogs to just leave them alone. And remember that they are reacting to their own experiences, and even though I know you and Fergie were perfectly nice, people who don't know you don't know that. I'll just say it. I like my own dogs. I don't always like or want to interact with the dogs of perfect strangers. I'm sure I'm not alone in that sentiment. J.

I don't go to dog parks because I don't need to and also because of the general cluelessness of many owners, but I assume that some people use them because it's the ONLY place their dog can be legally off leash. Why assume that if they are playing fetch with THEIR dog that they don't mind if someone else's dog butts in? They may have NO choice but to be in that place if they want off leash play with THEIR dog. I would find it extremely rude of someone to just let their dog get in the middle of my dog(s) and my play without at least asking first. I'd understand if the dog ran over once and snatched the ball, but after that I'd certainly expect the other dog's owner to call their dog back and let me continue my play with MY dog. After all, if your dog really wants to play fetch, why aren't YOU actively playing fetch with him? Why let him interfere with other people's play with their dogs? Not trying to be mean here, but just because they are in a shared space doesn't mean they automatically want to interact with you or your dog (any more than you want to interact with them). J.

I used to have a list of organizations that helped with things like this. I will dig around and see if I can find it. I'm so sorry for the prognosis and cost of surgery. I hope you can work things out to save her. J.

I will be traveling to a student's farm in the near future to give a lesson there largely because the issues she's having with her dog are directly related to her stock. In my case, I won't charge mileage, but instead I will be taking dogs to work (45 acre pasture, largely non-broke stock) because that will be a benefit to me and them. If not for that special case, I probably would charge mileage, but it's something to consider. That is, if you can get something out of it (besides the lesson fee) that's good or useful for you, then you can always do that instead of charging mileage, but it should be one or the other (mileage or some other perquisite). J.

Wow, did the cat survive the encounter? I can't for the life of me imagine why someone would continue to foster a dog that had attacked one of their own pets. And I'd have to wonder how the dog came to be running loose in the first place. Doesn't speak well of the foster home. I'm sure the shelter is desperate for fosters, but a foster that (apparently) lacking in common sense just doesn't sound like someone who needs to be fostering in the first place. And I think I'd ask the shelter how they plan to adopt out a dog with a known dog attack/bite history? Especially given that this isn't the first time (e.g., the cat)? That's a big ol' lawsuit just waiting to happen. IOW, it's not enough to get him off your street--he needs to be off the adoptable dog list all together. J.

Interesting conversation. When I work a brace I don't require them to stay on their own side, especially when moving large groups, where there's a strong draw, or when it's a large group that wants to break in one direction. In all those cases, I find it useful for both dogs to have a presence at that pressure point (for example, when putting the Bluegrass lambs into the set out pens--it's a place they don't want to go and there's typically a direction they will break toward, and that's where I will move both dogs to apply pressure). I can see where keeping dogs on their own sides makes sense in a trial situation, and there are times, even with the above mentioned example, where I'd have one dog pushing from behind and the other covering the expected attempted escape route(s), so they'd be on their own side, but I won't hesitate to put both in the same spot if the stock require it. I'd love to do a buddy brace. I think that would be fun. Then again, although my dogs work well together, I might have trouble getting them to work with someone else's dog on the field because of all the set out we do and the fact that my dogs will honor the other dog because that's what they do at set out. J.

I'm sorry this happened. Have you spoken with the pit bull's owners? Are they paying your vet bill? Did you report the incident to animal control? J.

Well now I'll have to go look for both books! The Once and Future King was a childhood favorite (may need to read--or at least listen to if it's in audio form--again); I didn't even know about The Goshawk though. J.

Sure. They'll just raise the costs on other life saving drugs astronomically and then claim that they have to do that to fund new drugs. I would like to see additional federal funding for this kind of research with the caveat that federal dollars mean that when you finally do develop a usable, useful product you have to sell it at a price that doesn't bankrupt people (or make it only truly available to the wealthy). Dreams.... J.

I would not count on him thinking that he needs to get back to shore before he's too tired to make it. What you're experiencing is the incredible focus that this breed has. And when they're focused and determined they will do things to their own detriment. I've had a bunch who like to swim, but one in particular who scared me more than once, and she had an excellent recall. Once was in winter, swimming in the bay after ducks. I had visions of having to go in after her, but fortunately I finally was able to get her to hear me over the sound of the surf and she came back. Another time I was out with a friend who has a goose control business. Again it was winter and she went out in the pond to scare the geese off. She didn't want to come out. I was worried about hypothermia, which is a real concern with folks who swim dogs in goose control jobs. You can buy a dog life vest and if you think this is going to continue to be an issue, I'd certainly put a vest on him whenever you're taking him to/near water. I have mixed feelings about a long line, though I did have one on one of my youngsters when we were out a county ag fair doing demos right next to the James River. Her recall isn't the best, but while she was swimming I had visions of her snagging it on something in the river and having to go in to untangle her. Anyway, those are the options I'd consider while also working on his recall and perhaps teaching him that geese and other waterbirds are simply off limits. J.

Blue dog, It was not clear that you weren't taking you pup running with you on a regular basis. What you describe in your second post is more reasonable, but having to say "whoa" yourself isn't a good measure of whether he's had enough (or too much) for the reasons others have described. My youngsters certainly sprint around when I talk them on long walks in the back pastures, but most of the sprinting is quite short lived, and the ambling, sniffing, jogging, etc., is more sustained. At any rate, no young dog is fully grown at 9-10 months. They continue growing (growth plates, especially) until 18 or so months. Any high-impact, repetitive exercise can harm them, more so before the growth plates have closed, but after as well. That's not to say that your youngster, when finally mature, can't go on long runs with you, but be cognizant of the fact that even then, he's likely to go till collapse if you aren't careful about regulating him. J.

I don't think you're overly cautious at all. I want my dogs to stay sound for work for a good long time, so we don't do any high-impact repetitive exercise when they're young. I have had and do have older dogs who are arthritic. It's not fun to watch them moving painfully, and if there's anything I can do to help avoid that I will. J.

It is mostly a disease of show dogs because of the line/inbreeding (which of course concentrates both good and bad genes), but since those dogs came from working stockdogs at some point, the show folks have always said that the working population must carry it. And in fact, it has been found in working bred dogs, just at an extremely low rate of incidence. The best way to keep that incidence low is to make sure that inbreeding is also kept low. And if you're someone who tests for it, you wouldn't want to make a carrier x carrier mating. If I had to pay for extra testing, I wouldn't automatically test for it in working stock, but because there are now combination DNA tests available in which the gene for TNS is included, it's certainly easy enough to test. If I were in the conformation dog world, I would definitely test. J.

I would think it could be one of two possibilities. Either the trainer has gotten pissed off at the dog and is doing the wrong thing by "crawling" all over the dog to make a point (we've all done it at some point) or the trainer is working with a dog who fully well understands what "lie down" means and is seriously trying to make a point. For example, with the youngsters I'm training now, I pretty much ask while releasing pressure. Sometimes I have to take a step toward them to remind them, "Hey, listen to me." If, on the other hand, my 9 y.o. fully trained (open trial level) dog were seriously blowing me off on a lie down then I might well continue putting pressure on after he complies just to make a point. That's something that would happen only rarely, at best, but it could happen, especially if his noncompliance was causing a problem with the stock. In other words, that should be a last choice for a dog who fully understands what's being asked of it--it shouldn't be a tool of a novice at all, in my opinion, because it could be misused, but of course as with all training there are nuances and subtleties that depend entirely on the dog and situation. Regarding the pressure of a round pen, the space can be too small for some youngsters, and honestly no one should really need to stay in the round pen for an extended period of time (there will be exceptions, of course), but if a round pen is too much pressure, there's nothing wrong with moving a youngster to a larger area if you can keep things under control. At the last place I lived in NC before moving back to VA I had no round pen, but I did have a couple of small pastures (~ an acre or slightly less). I started all youngsters/beginner dogs there using a trained dog as a "perimeter dog." The trained dog's job was simply to keep the sheep contained in a smaller space within the larger pasture so that they couldn't outrun the youngster or create chase situations. The trained dog doesn't interfere with the work in any way--just helps by peeling the sheep off the fence if needed or preventing them from bolting for the opposite corner of the little pasture. But at some point all of my dogs are expected to work in tight, high pressure situations, so although I might move a youngster out of a smaller space if the pressure it too great and causing problems, eventually they will go back to small spaces and have to learn to deal with that pressure. J.

Blue Dog, Please talk to your vet or a knowledgeable sports/rehab vet about the amount of running you're doing with your baby dog. Just because he is able to keep up with or outpace you doesn't mean he's not damaging his still growing bones/joints. These dogs will do anything we ask them to do, often to their own detriment. You don't want a dog who's at best arthritic long before he should be, or at worst a cripple, so please do some research on what is safe for a dog that age. J.

There was someone (Colin Cleer for any of you who might know him) who used to set sheep here in the east who always worked his dogs as a brace for that job. It was amazing to watch. I often work two of mine at the same time, especially when moving flocks from pasture to pasture, where one dog pushes and the other covers and prevents sheep breaking away (say, up the driveway) as we move across open areas. Mine are on the same whistles, and I generally call a name first to alert the dog who I'm commanding. Mine work well together most of the time, though the competitiveness thing does sometimes rear its head. But they do generally take a job (Pip pushes; Lark covers) and stick to it. That said, if I truly wanted to work a brace at a high (or competitive) level, I'd probably put them on different whistles. It's just easier. The hard part would be remember whose whistles were whose. I have to say, though, that I had one dog who was on a different set of whistles, and as I walked to the post I'd run through her whistle set in my head as a reminder. Only one time early on in our partnership (at Seclusival) did I ever give her the wrong whistles (blowing her recall, which was all of my other dogs' right flank--oops, it took me a few tries to realize WHY she kept coming back toward me when I was asking for a flank!) Anyway, maybe I'll put Kiss on a different set of whistles just so I could easily work her and Birdie together in the future should I want to. But I've never seen a brace competition here in the US. J.

Sounds as if you're making good progress with her! Just keep reminding yourself that the difficult ones help us to grow as trainers. J.

I often eat my cull ewes since I sell my lambs for others to eat. At least for the breeds of sheep I raise(d) I have never noticed the mutton to have a particularly strong flavor. Just my experience with my own product.... J.

I find this rather shocking. I would expect my vet to recognize that a border collie should not exhibit dwarfism. If I took a corgi puppy in, sure, tell me it's fine, but a dog breed that's not normally dwarfed? I would be rather unhappy with my vet at that point. What I would expect is that the vet would note the defect and then tell me that it shouldn't affect the dog's quality of life, but calling a dog normal when it's clearly not, given the breed, is indefensible in my opinion. J.

^Yep. J.

Oh happy day for Chance! I hope it works out. He's cute and deserves to have a happy life! J.

^^Agreed. J.

^^Exactly. Kat's feet slid on every surface. I was going to make some sort of frame for her to stand in, then someone suggested using the bottom half of a crate. At that time in her life, Kat would not tolerate being in a crate at all, but she ate fine in the bottom half of one. But the point really is to just be creative to try to come up with solutions that help the individual old dog in question.... J.

I've never been to a clinic of his, but would love to. I have his book and videos and found them quite helpful. J.