Baker finds a new home

Changes in a family's life can result in a homeless Welsh Springer Spaniel, which is what happened to Baker, the WSS from Indiana. 

Shannon Gandee of Heatherstone Welsh Spring Spaniels and her many, many volunteers at WSSCA Rescue perform the herculean effort of finding foster and permanent homes for unwanted dogs.

We were honored to have played a small role in one placement on Thanksgiving weekend.

We were traveling from Cleveland to Atlanta.  Suddenly, WSSCA Rescue needed someone to drive a dog along the Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati-Lexington-Knoxville route.

Can do!  We picked up little Baker, a six-year-old Welshie in Lebanon, Ohio and dropped him off with his new owner, Laurel, in Knoxville.  Baker will have a new home in beautiful Asheville, North Carolina with another WSS, Alex.

Get it?  A happy ending for Puppy A and Puppy B.

 Marrielle introduces us to Puppy B.

Larsen gives the eyeball to sweet little Baker.

Frank does his best to manage two active and curious spaniels.

Larsen and Baker pose, in a manner, along the road to Knoxville.

Time of giving thanks

Mayflower.

Thanksgiving.

George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to

"recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.

(Credit to: wilstar.com/holidays/wash_thanks.html)
(set by Washington and revitalized in 1863 by Lincoln)

Why Rally

Years ago I poo-poo'd the idea of rally, but I really believe it is an excellent intro to communicating/developing a language with your dog.

Susan R., an accomplished trainer, breeder, and owner of WSSs.

I thought I'd give a novice's insight as to the value of Rally. 

Compared to many of the other activities - - conformation, obedience, agility, tracking, HT - - Rally seems to have a more forgiving on-ramp for someone new.  The difficulty levels may be non-linear.  Entry is easy but finishing a "Rally Excellent" is a genuine accomplishment.

By giving the novice handler a forgiving on-ramp, Rally gets dog & handler into the ring and in a "competition" without the looming prospect of an automatic and discouraging NQ waiting at the finish, as would be the case with some of the other activities. 

In RN and RA, you get used to working with your dog in front of people and under a type of competitive pressure.  You get through the feeling of complete amnesia that you can get the moment you step into the ring in a real, non-practice situation. 

Rally gives you a chance to learn focus and timing in a competitive situation, which I guess is communication, since you have to give a command when the dog is ready for it.

There's also the matter of practice, since nothing gets you into the back yard for some work around the orange cones faster than thinking about an upcoming event you've signed up for. 

As for the HT crossover, I'll sometimes take 2 of my Rally cones to the field near the house.  We stand at one cone.  I flip the dummy toward the other, which is all of six feet away.  Then I tell Larsen  to fetch.  The cones are there for nothing.  But I think Larsen thinks "I know how to do this" since it is just another cone-type exercise.  He is able to fetch the dummy without getting distracted by what is going on in the big field.  

Those of you who breed WSSs may find families asking for suggestions of what to do with the little dog.  Rally is a wonderful entry point for a kid who wants to do something with his or her new dog.

Autumn in the south

The Circle W Hunting Preserve in Heflin Alabama showed its natural beauty at last week's Hunt Test.  The weather was cool enough for the dogs, and invitingly warm for the participants and spectators.

We also take this moment to thank MaryAnne for her great work planting chukars in the field during the entire two-day run.  Many, many thanks, MaryAnne. 

MaryAnne plants a chukar for the Hunt Dead test at the Circle W Hunting Preserve.

 MaryAnne disappears into the loblolly pine thicket on a beautiful fall day in Alabama.

Have gun, will travel

Many thanks to Shoni, Bill, Roger, Allan, Al, and Gary for working last weekend's hunt test.  It's hard work.  People come from many miles away and want their dogs to have a fair shot at earning a ribbon.  Every shot is on display.  Our Dogwood club is fortunate to have these safe, sure shooters in the field.    

Shoni approves of the dog work.  

Al watches Lizzie B retrieve a chukar. 

It's camp day as Allan and Bill demonstrate the finer points of john boat navigation. 

Bill watches a retrieve.

Allan quacks like a duck during the water retrieve.

Rags gets some tips from Tim as Gary (background) looks on.  

Roger adds to the camaraderie of the day on and off the field.

More from the weekend HT

Felix.

Adara.

Larsen.

Puppy kiss.

Exuberance

Endurance?  Pluck?  Those aren't quite the right words for the dogs in this weekend's Hunt Test, but it's a start.  Here is a small tribute to the little dogs that are all heart.

(You can find these and many, many other photos here.)

Tatum sets a new standard for style.

 On the hunt.

Sly still hasn't come down. 

Mazie comes in.

 Bingo.

Humphrey has his own sense of exuberance.

 Rags flushes a chukar.

Tuff is on a mission.

Larsen, you are cleared for landing.

Skip heads home with a prize.

Spud-nik.

Ashley heads out to sea.

Good boy, Felix.

Armistice day

In Flanders Fields, John McCrae 1915
(courtesy of Unofficial Website of Arlington National Cemetary)

Arlington National Cemetary in the fall.
( courtesy of Nelson Photo)

Hero shots

After practice last Sunday, we took some photos of the dogs holding the beautiful male pheasant that Cathy brought for practice with Zelda and Humphrey.  For us, it was staged, and just fun at the end of a successful day.  For a spaniel, nothing in life is ever really staged. 

Graham concentrates on the pheasant.

Getting ready

It's a unique concept in athletic preparation.

Larsen readies himself for this weekend's contest.

Hunt Test this weekend

We are ready.

Costco

A Costco warehouse store opened up near our house.  We joined and took a Saturday morning walk around the warehouse.  You already know that these stores sell groceries and housewares in a way that would re-write the 10-days of Christmas, but it is still pretty neat to see in person the vats of peanut butter and M&Ms by the barrel.

The Costco shelves are piled to the ceiling with groceries and housewares.

A shopper walks from the frozen foods toward the soft drinks.

Interceptor and Frontline

Larsen normally got his doses of Interceptor and Frontline on the first of the month. 

For a while now, I had been noticing that Larsen would get sick periodically.  It seemed to be around the first of the month and I was starting to form the thought that it was from the punch of those medications.  Dr. Tilghman's own thoughts on this (see blog 10/28/2010) provided me with the initiative to split the two.  This is called succumbing to confirmation bias. 

Since Larsen's only been alive for 43 months, I don't have a split/non-split set of months to work with.  I just noticed that after splitting his Interceptor and Frontline by 5 days Larsen's appetite was off for the first week (Interceptor only).  He wasn't interested in eating much despite a lot of hard field work.  However, his appetite seems to be unaffected by the application of Frontline, although he's been enjoying a mix of chicken & rice (which he loves) instead of pure kibble, as we ease back into the usual menu.  If I had to hazard a guess right now, I'd say that the Interceptor is more potent to him than is the Frontline.  (based on an n of 1.)  

All of this may affect your dog not in the least, but I thought I'd report my own observation on this.

Slo mo

Here's the story at normal speed: a dog chased a squirrel.

Nothing more to it than that.

In slow-motion, the story is considerably different.

Larsen nosed through the bushes in the back yard, and quick as a wink, a gray squirrel shot out of the garden, streaked across the lawn, and disappeared through the fence to the neighbor's sideyard.  Even in slo-mo, the squirrel was an absolute linear streak from point A to point B. 

Larsen sprang out in pursuit.   He quartered.  Now let me slow it down to super-slo-mo.  Each time Larsen crossed the squirrel's still-hot path in the yard I swear that I saw something register in Larsen's noggin.

Here in super-slo-mo, you can see a nano-second catch or spark each time Larsen crosses the squirrel's path.  It's like the path of the squirrel magnetically snaps Larsen's head toward the line of flight before Larsen catches himself and continues with his quartering.  This little catch occurs with each crossing until Larsen gets to the fence and faces the squirrel's last known (to me) position.

This whole thing took a second or two and was nowhere near as obvious as my description makes it seem.  It was very cool because you could see how quartering works on a neutral backdrop (a plain lawn).  It showed that the dog is not lost when he goes past the scent in a way that seems inefficient if you had an eye mark on the path.  It is more like he is reducing uncertainty about the path of the prey (since not every critter takes a straight line) and that he is tracking with his nose not his eyes.   

We return you now to normal speed.

Make your voice heard

Ch Mazie Morning Dew JH SH. Next stop is MH

Larsen's mom, Mazie, picked up her second and third legs in Mazie's quest for the title of Master Hunter three weeks ago in a Pennsylvania Hunt Test.  Mazie's owner, Susan W. ran her. Let's let Susan tell her story:

Mazie and I are home from a long weekend trip to Chester Springs, PA for a hunt test entered in master. It was 3 days. I was hoping we'd start off strong on Friday with a qualifying run, but it was not to be. Land went great, but Mazie refused the water blind. Thankfully friends who were watching gave me a few handling tips that came into play on Saturday. We passed land after a long heart stopping retrieve from the woods where I could not see what was going on, but seemed like an eternity until Mazie finally popped out of the woods happily carrying a bird. Advice from Friday came into play on the water blind, and we finished our water work with Q's!!

Then on Sunday, again adversity came our way as Mazie flushed another bird on her way back with her second retrieve. I hupped her and we watched the bird fly off, then she came in with her bird....and water work was good again.

So...all that to say that we came home with 2 qualfiying runs for master hunting legs. That makes 3, so we have 2 more to go.

We've been a while in getting here, but it is a great feeling. She is one happy hunting dog with a happy hunting handler.

Susan and Mazie team up on this hunt dead test.
(photo courtesy of Ivywild Welsh Springers)

Thoughts on caring for your dog

On Friday evening Michelle Tilghman DVM, CVA, CCRP provided the Dogwood Welsh Springer Spaniel Club with a lecture on care for the older dog.  The talk was very well attended, lively, and interesting as Dr. Tilghman provided advice that applied to any dog.  Some high points of the talk:

Overall health indicators for the WSS

• Ranks 25 of 413 (top decile) in terms of epilepsy (2006 study)
• Ranks 77 of 719 (just outside of top decile) in OFA Hips (12.2% dysplastic versus 14.8% excellent)
• Ranks 8 of 437 (top decile) in thyroid
• Autoimmune is good.  Autoimmune problems (e.g., cancers) mostly affects the big blonde dogs (e.g., Goldens) but not Welshies. Melanoma hits the mouth, tongue, and footpads.  This means that for any dog, do good oral checks.  

In my non-professional view, these are very good rankings for the Welshies.

Spay & Neutering
In Dr. Tilghman's opinion, don't spay until after the first heat.  Don't neuter until about 18 months (until the dog clearly looks like a boy).  She wanted the benefits of those hormones to develop the body, especially on the male dog testosterone plays a role in the closing of the bone plates.

Diet
Dr. Tilghman was refreshingly open to different diets, recognizing that every dog is different and owners themselves may face some constraints.

Vitamin B-12 is important.  B-12 deficiency can hit an older dog and make them lethargic.  B-12 is found in egg, fish, meat, poultry. Some cottage cheese in the diet is good, if the dog can tolerate.   A cooked egg 3x per week can help nurse the kidney of an older dog.  Cook it, but not too much.  Organ meat is a good source of B-12.  These sources aside, Dr. Tilghman noted that B-12 deficiency usually requires supplemental shots.  Oral treatment for deficiency is not always effective.

She noted that a high-fat diet keeps dogs cooler [ed note: not sure why.]

A dog that eats crazy things may have heartburn and eats just to put the fire out.  Eating temporarily calms the tummy, putting the dog in a vicious and compulsive eating cycle. Indiscriminate eating might be solved by changing diet or it might indicate a thyroid problem which requires vet assistance.

Antibiotics and probiotics
Antibiotics are wonder drugs, no doubt about it, but they can kill bacteria indiscrimintorily.  A probiotic can help.  Dr. Tilghman thought that Activia was good.  Yogurt, too, but probably not as much as Activia.  She said to look for probiotics that list acidophilus.  This can help the good bacteria in the gut.  Lactobacillus acidophilus (acid-loving milk bacterium) can help too.

If you are giving a dog antibiotics, don't give probiotics at the same time.  Wait a half-hour or so.

When buying a probiotic, look for a brand that contains a mix of cultures.

Teeth
If the eyes are the window to the soul, then the mouth is the gateway to the body.  Good oral health is essential to the spaniel.

Wrap some gauze around your finger to wipe teeth down.  Dr. Tilghman did not give an opinion regarding canine toothpaste (wasn't asked the question).  She said to be sure to get way back to the molars.  These teeth have glands above them that secrete saliva and so are prone to tarter.  Healthy teeth & gums are essential for a healthy dog of any age. 

Fleas & Heartworm
Don't give the Frontline and Interceptor on the same day.  It puts too much stress on the liver.  Stagger them.  

Heartworm has a 45-day cycle.  30 day treatments are optimal, but you have a little window in giving the heartworm medication.  In many northern areas, people back off the flea meds during the winter.

Eyes
Antioxidants can help.  Colorful foods (blueberies, carrots, green pepper, sweet potato). 

Coat
The sweet potato is good for eyes and coat.  Sardines are wonderful for coat.

Skeleton
The older dog may develop arthritis.  Keep the dog a little thinner.  Keep the dog active.  Glucosemene and antler are good additives for joints and skeleton.

Field day

(Our report from Monday, Oct 25.)  The blow dryers have cooled and the scissors are quiet.  The WSSCA Regional conformation show in Atlanta is over.

Today is field day.

Susan W. organized Field Day after the close of the WSSCA Regional for those who wanted to see what their puppies were placed here on earth to do.  It was a red & white circus for everyone.

The dogs showed up ones and by twos.

So what do we do out here?

After a brief orientation, the group gets down to work.



Meghen reviews chukar placement while Ron reaches for another bird.

This bobwhite quail appears to be plotting a gettaway on a nearby car door.   

Donna and Meghan teach Logan to quarter.

Now I get it!

My first bird.

I found one too.

This is the happiest day of my life.

Josie brings in a chukar.

Susan and Anne soothe Josie before commanding Josie to "give it."

This owner wisely does not snatch the bird away from a panting and excited dog.  Instead, he gently settles and soothes his dog and lets his dog hold the trophy a while longer.

Another example of patience and soothing talk to the excited dog.  You can take the bird in due time.   

John introduces his pup to "shake-a-bird".
 

Mary gives a convincing seminar on quartering. 

Is there a more beautiful sight on a clear October day?