Babs’ bunch getting bigger
Babs’ puppies are four weeks old! They all have their eyes open. They also are able to stand at eat which they do voraciously. Some of them already have a little personality showing through. One of the males is particularly precocious and vocal. Every time you pick him up he will howl for a few seconds making the cutest O with his little mouth. They all rivet their heads when you walk into the bedroom and watch in unison, especially if you have a bowl in your hands. They learn fast!
Heidi’s Ho-Ho’s Arrived
Heidi had her puppies on Jan. 19. Regrettably we lost four of the six puppies. Our vet was reassuring that there was nothing that could be done but it stings nonetheless. This has been a true reminder of no matter how responsible you are, sometimes things happen beyond your control. All of that aside, Heidi is ok and the two remaining puppies are enormously fat. Heidi took the nanny roll with Babs’ puppies to ease some of her depression. At this point she is more patient with them than their own mother. The puppies do have teeth at this point. Ow.
Getting ready for Denver and the show season
It has been a long, cold winter here in Colorado and the dogs are showing it. When I returned from Las Vegas in December several of my show dogs were chubby. It is challenging getting exercise in the winter but I have been doing my best. Katie, who needs one major, compounded this difficulty by coming into season. We have both been getting much needed exercise. Katie runs next to my bike and sometimes chases the ball. I think dog will be more fit than me when the show kicks off next week. She does not sit behind a desk all day. I thought in the spirit of not getting burnt out this year, I would only enter one dog in the Rocky Mountain Cluster. My friends know better. There are four dogs entered and I even bought a new suit. Dog show people have a sickness. I am well afflicted.
House training du jour
I’ve been getting up at 2:45 a.m. almost every night for the last four months trying to get Piper and Sully house trained. Piper (also known as Sunshine) gets the point a little too well. I have to go out into the front yard at 3 a.m. and retrieve her. I wore boots, a coat and pajamas on a 5 degree night. The stupid rabbits were everywhere, and so was the puppy. The boy, on the other hand, pooped his bed before he started crying which is what got me up in the first place. I calmly explained to him the errors of his way, more for my benefit than his.
I took the two them in for rabies vaccination and micro-chipping last week. The tech asked the standard question, “Are both puppies, healthy, do you have any concerns?” My response was, “Their problem is they are six-month-old Weimaraner puppies, time will cure that”. Piper proceeded to goose the vet and nibble on the tech with her front teeth. Sully just stood by and let her sister steal the show. He squealed like we were killing him when the vet injected the chip.
Bracco Capers
Gina is still mildly dysfunctional. She has finally got the point that we prefer our dogs to stay in the yard. I think the neighbor’s donkey is going to push her over the edge one of these days. Gina clears 5’ with barely a run at the fence. The Weimaraners are really miffed at her when she goes over. My biggest fear was they would emulate her. Instead they scold her severely when she jumps back in the yard. The Weimaraners really want her to be part of the pack but she can be a snob. She butters up to everyone who comes to the house like we don’t love her at all. Tisk. Fickle dog! I am wondering if hypnosis would work?
If you worked for me, you’d be fired
Finding homes for puppies is the most difficult aspect of raising them. I have met a lot of great people who bought puppies from us, some who have become good friends. However, there are times when my professionalism is challenged. Recently I have received phone messages to my cell phone that were obviously meant for other another breeder. Someone had written down the phone numbers and got them quite confused. My name is included in my “sorry I can’t take your call right now” message which meant they did not listen to the greeting at all. This gives me a very bad attitude when it comes to dealing with the public.
In my “real world” job, if I call the wrong person and leave a detailed personal message, I am subject to a fair amount of scrutiny. If a person cannot get the basic details of contact information correct, how are they going to listen properly when I tell them not to take their not-immune-to-anything puppy to the dog park, or how spaying and neutering too early can compromise the health of their dog? I feel like my time and effort is being disrespected on some level.
February 6, 2010
January 13, 2010
January 12, News & Notes
Puppies are here!
The biggest news of the last week was the arrival of Babs’ 8 puppies. She delivered all of them handily in three hours during the morning of Thursday, Jan. 7. There are 6 boys and 2 girls. We have puppies available, namely males. Being an eternal optimist, I would like to find some show homes for a few of them but qualified pet homes are also welcome to apply. The delivery could not have gone smoother.
A quick note on numbers
Jan.7 also happened to be Dana Massey’s birthday. Dana co-owns Rio, the sire of Babs’ puppies. Happy Birthday Dana! We have had puppies born on Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day and President’s Day. Gabby came along one day short of St.Patrick’s Day. We’ll still drink in Gabby’s honor on March 17th if she doesn’t knock the beer bottle out of my hand and run off with it. The apple does not fall far from the “crazy-dog” tree.
The birth date of the puppies was not the first odd number coincidence concerning this litter. Babs was born on Dec. 12, 2006. Rio was collected on the exact same date before leaving for his new home with Pip Simmons in New Zealand. The vet tech thought this coincidence was so odd, she brought out the straws and showed me the date scribbled on the side of them in permanent ink.
The next odd numerical coincidence I would like to have: Money, dogs, and calendar dates lining up so I can make it to two Futurities in 2011. I’d better go water my money tree because the interest on my savings account is not going to get us there.
My thoughts about the Amateur Owner-Handler class
On behalf of my many friends who are new to the sport, I’ve been contemplating the pros and cons of the “new” Amateur Owner-Handler class offered by the American Kennel Club.
Anyone who knows me realizes I’ve been long opposed to classes who “label” people instead of dogs. I don’t show in the Bred-By Exhibitor class for this reason. Even though I have been showing dogs for 20 years, many of my own breeding, the BBE class seems to be a great way for me to take Reserve with a dog I’d easily win with out of Open. It is also difficult when you’re competing in BBE with breeders who are also professional handlers. If you’re not a recognizable face, the undefined nature of the Open class has its advantages.
I am making these observations from a seasoned competitor’s point of view. There are not very many things I remember from the first few times I showed a dog at 13 years old. The negative things stick with me more than anything. I remember getting mowed down by a few professional handlers on the go-around. I remember people shoving their dog up the back of my dog just to see if I was too polite to tell them to back up. I remember feeling humiliated on a number of occasions. At that point I did have the “kid” excuse. Being young can insulate you from a lot of the negativity associated with learning or growing into something. I think kids are conditioned that way to a certain extent. Learning to compete takes time and patience. Or, in the case of showing dogs, growing a very thick skin.
The AKC must have recognized a lot of people have been turned off by the sport because they've been treated poorly by other exhibitors, mowed down by professional handlers, or had a judge act very impatient towards them. Professionals, breeders and hobbyists who’ve been involved in showing dogs for a long time deal with these things as they come. After thousands of shows, one really bad day will not keep you from coming back the next. For a new exhibitor, one bad day might be the only day you see them at the show.
The Amateur Owner-Handler class gives people the opportunity to show a dog without be harassed, hurried or bothered by judges or exhibitors who find themselves less-than sportsmanlike towards newcomers. While this does single a new handler out, it also protects them to certain extent. No one wants to be accused of acting poorly towards a newcomer, especially in these lean economic times when entry fees are up and entries are down. While the majority of exhibitors and professionals are good at self-policing, extra attention towards encouraging sportsmanlike conduct can be good for everyone involved.
On a non-dog related note
I am back in school for more computer science (code code code) . If I can get an A in my C++ programming class, there’s a round on me some time in April. As usual, you can show your support through Jelly Bellies, Starbucks and Jamba Juice donations.
The biggest news of the last week was the arrival of Babs’ 8 puppies. She delivered all of them handily in three hours during the morning of Thursday, Jan. 7. There are 6 boys and 2 girls. We have puppies available, namely males. Being an eternal optimist, I would like to find some show homes for a few of them but qualified pet homes are also welcome to apply. The delivery could not have gone smoother.
A quick note on numbers
Jan.7 also happened to be Dana Massey’s birthday. Dana co-owns Rio, the sire of Babs’ puppies. Happy Birthday Dana! We have had puppies born on Easter, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Memorial Day and President’s Day. Gabby came along one day short of St.Patrick’s Day. We’ll still drink in Gabby’s honor on March 17th if she doesn’t knock the beer bottle out of my hand and run off with it. The apple does not fall far from the “crazy-dog” tree.
The birth date of the puppies was not the first odd number coincidence concerning this litter. Babs was born on Dec. 12, 2006. Rio was collected on the exact same date before leaving for his new home with Pip Simmons in New Zealand. The vet tech thought this coincidence was so odd, she brought out the straws and showed me the date scribbled on the side of them in permanent ink.
The next odd numerical coincidence I would like to have: Money, dogs, and calendar dates lining up so I can make it to two Futurities in 2011. I’d better go water my money tree because the interest on my savings account is not going to get us there.
My thoughts about the Amateur Owner-Handler class
On behalf of my many friends who are new to the sport, I’ve been contemplating the pros and cons of the “new” Amateur Owner-Handler class offered by the American Kennel Club.
Anyone who knows me realizes I’ve been long opposed to classes who “label” people instead of dogs. I don’t show in the Bred-By Exhibitor class for this reason. Even though I have been showing dogs for 20 years, many of my own breeding, the BBE class seems to be a great way for me to take Reserve with a dog I’d easily win with out of Open. It is also difficult when you’re competing in BBE with breeders who are also professional handlers. If you’re not a recognizable face, the undefined nature of the Open class has its advantages.
I am making these observations from a seasoned competitor’s point of view. There are not very many things I remember from the first few times I showed a dog at 13 years old. The negative things stick with me more than anything. I remember getting mowed down by a few professional handlers on the go-around. I remember people shoving their dog up the back of my dog just to see if I was too polite to tell them to back up. I remember feeling humiliated on a number of occasions. At that point I did have the “kid” excuse. Being young can insulate you from a lot of the negativity associated with learning or growing into something. I think kids are conditioned that way to a certain extent. Learning to compete takes time and patience. Or, in the case of showing dogs, growing a very thick skin.
The AKC must have recognized a lot of people have been turned off by the sport because they've been treated poorly by other exhibitors, mowed down by professional handlers, or had a judge act very impatient towards them. Professionals, breeders and hobbyists who’ve been involved in showing dogs for a long time deal with these things as they come. After thousands of shows, one really bad day will not keep you from coming back the next. For a new exhibitor, one bad day might be the only day you see them at the show.
The Amateur Owner-Handler class gives people the opportunity to show a dog without be harassed, hurried or bothered by judges or exhibitors who find themselves less-than sportsmanlike towards newcomers. While this does single a new handler out, it also protects them to certain extent. No one wants to be accused of acting poorly towards a newcomer, especially in these lean economic times when entry fees are up and entries are down. While the majority of exhibitors and professionals are good at self-policing, extra attention towards encouraging sportsmanlike conduct can be good for everyone involved.
On a non-dog related note
I am back in school for more computer science (code code code) . If I can get an A in my C++ programming class, there’s a round on me some time in April. As usual, you can show your support through Jelly Bellies, Starbucks and Jamba Juice donations.
December 28, 2009
A New Year, A New Resolution
I need to resolve to write more. I think I'll hook this up to my Facebook page and see if the RSS export works.
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