Tessa at 1 yr

Brandi,      Tessa is 28 1/2 inches tall and 81.5 lbs. I took her to the vet Monday, she had a big bump by her right dew claw, probably a sliver from running in the field or bean field stubble. We decided to put her on antibiotics for a week and see if she gets better instead of surgery. I've been putting peroxide on it and the bump is going away, if I can just keep her from trying to lick it. She completed her obedience class on Dec.15th and got her certificate and a toy. The instructors made a game they timed us on, it was a baseball game, we had to run the bases and do things as fast as we could. 1st base was a sit, then down, then back to sit. 2nd base was just a sit, and 3rd base was just a down, Tessa did them all with just hand commands, no words, I was showing out a little. Tessa completed the task in the quickest time between not only our class, but another class that trains the same time we do. I was very proud of her. We did it twice and our class won both events because of Tessa's and my quickness completing it. Her biting has gotten better but, some days she still nips us a lot, it's just not as often as it use to be.  When I put her pinch collar on she's like a different dog, she heels almost perfectly. We practice that about everyday outside. Maybe someday soon I'll try her off leash. She barks a lot, she doesn't like to see anything different outside or like if something is out of place, like Christmas decorations or snow piles from plows, stuff like that. She doesn't like for you to have things in your hand, like cleaning bottle, camera, or shovel, things like that. I will write more when I have more time.                                               Rick & Debby

Happy Birthday Babies!

My "A" litter is now a year old!  I sent out birthday wishes to all my girls this morning and here is a letter I recieved from "Rain"-   Thank  you for the Birthday wishes Mama Brandi.    Mama Gail said to tell you I was a big girl now but some days I still feel like a puppy wuppy and do something Mama Gail calls the "Zoomies".  She laughs at me when I do those Zoomies but I think it is fun.  I did that this morning out in the dog yard when I went out to potty.    I also taught myself a new trick for in the house, when I want to take a nap I pick up my blanket and pull it over my head (to keep the light out) and snuggle down to nap.  Mama Gail thinks that is very cute and has promised to try hard to get a picture of it one of these days.   My real work is going very well.  I am a very smart Dober Girl and have done a good job learning how to find those dead humans for Mom.  She tells me how great I am all the time.  I like working because it means that when I find something Mama Gail plays with me with my favorite Wubba toy and we have lots of fun.   Take care and while I do hope all my Dober siblings are doing well I happen to know that I am doing best of all.   Miss Rain

Skunked!

I had a call from Rick a couple days ago.  Tessa got skunked!  He is still trying to air everything out.  The tomato juice remedy didn't work so well.  He looked up online and found a formula containing peroxide to use.  He said it worked well, but they were having problems getting the smell out of the house and their clothes etc.  Tessa is doing ok.  She now weighs 80 lbs!  She started obedience school on Tuesday.  I haven't heard anything, but hopefully they enjoyed themselves.  Tessa has been having some problems with nipping.  She is a high drive dog and when she gets excited she expresses herself with her mouth.  Unfortunately, human skin is not as tough as dog skin and she has been leaving some bruises and marks in her excitement.  They have tried many things and hopefully this obedience class will help. I have been trying to offer advice, but its difficult with out being able to actually see her do this.  Rain is still doing really good.  I have been promised some new photos soon.  I will post them here or on her webpage when I get them. Porsche is doing really good.  She weighed 68lbs on her 10 month b-day.  She got to go to work with me Tuesday.  She was really good and we got to do a couple short obedience lessons.  We also went to the park for a walk after work.  We walked down by they river and she jumped off the dock into the water.  I had to pull her out, but she had fun! We took pictures of her and Cinders last weekend.  The new picture are up on the website.

New Schutzhund 3!!

Date: Monday, October 19, 2009, 7:58 AM   Cinders is now Swift Run's Volcan Masaya Sch3, IPO2, WD1, CD, RN, WAC, CGC!  Cinders earned her Schutzhund 3 yesterday in IL.  She was high Sch3 and high Protection overall!  I am so proud of my girl!  Cinders is my first schutzhund dog and to have accomplished this with her being only 3yrs old is amazing to me.  We have had some wonderful help along our journey and met some great people.  It doesn't hurt that I started with such an awesome pup!  Thanks to everyone who has been a part of this journey!    Cinders is going to take some time off this winter to have another wonderful litter.  I am sure we will still work (she will insist!), but I also need to spend some more time working with Porsche (she is way too nice of a puppy to neglect).  Hopefully. after some polishing you will see Cinders back on the field next year.   Also, I have video of her trial yesterday.  I haven't looked to see what the quality is like, but I should have it uploaded to her webpage in a couple days.   Brandi www.masayadobermans .com __._,_.___ Messages in this topic (1) Reply (via web post) | Start a new topic Messages | Files | Photos | Links | Database | Members | Calendar (c)2009 - Doberman Pinscher Club Of Nashville - All Rights Reserved Permission must be obtained from the owners/authors for any redistribution of this forum. If permission is given to redistribute the post, the post must be sent in it's entirety and not in bits and pieces and with the author's name included on the post. Digests are the exclusive property of the DPCN. This is not a moderated list. If you send it, it does go to the list. Each author is responsible for their own posts. This list WILL NOT be used to harass, threaten, embarrass or cause distress, unwanted attention or discomfort upon any person, Doberman or entity. The expressed opinions and/or views of the author, may not necessarily be the opinion and/or views of the owner(s) of DPCN. More info may be found on the website at: http://www.geocities.com/dpcn. To contact the list owner of DPCN e-mail at: terradell@aol.com Yahoo! Groups Links MARKETPLACE Mom Power: Discover the community of moms doing more for their families, for the world and for each other Change settings via the Web (Yahoo! ID required) Change settings via email: Switch delivery to Daily Digest | Switch format to Traditional Visit Your Group | Yahoo! Groups Terms of Use | Unsubscribe Recent Activity Visit Your Group Drive Traffic Sponsored Search can help increase your site traffic. Yahoo! Groups Auto Enthusiast Zone Auto Enthusiast Zone Discover auto groups Support Group Lose lbs together Share your weight- loss successes. . __,_._,___

Training with Meridian Working Dog Club

Cinders, Porsche, and I spent last weekend in Decatur, IL training with Anne Rammelsburg and Jose.  We started out bright and early, well not so bright as we left at 5am Saturday morning.  We arrived at the community college to track at 9amCST.  Anne laid a Sch3 track in the alfalfa for Cinders.  I laid a puppy track for Porsche.  Porsche did pretty well on her puppy track.  She still moves quickly and initially misses a lot of the bait.  She settles into the track towards the end.  Her tracks are still really short as this is only about the 5th time I have tracked her.  She is starting to understand and her nose is naturally deep. Cinders did awesome on about the first 2 legs of her track.  The track was 1 1/2hrs old and she didn't have any problems with the age of the track.  She seemed to have issues with the left turns, so we are now working on that.  I got some good ideas for practice tracks to lay for her, so hopefully by trial time she will V rate. Obedience was good.  I am still having some problems with Cinders' stays, but she is improving.  Everything else was really good.  Still trying to improve her stand out of the run.  I would like to see her lock up faster.  Porsche did well in obedience too.  I didn't do a lot with her, but she was able to concentrate easily despite the different environment and sights and sounds. Protection went well.  The blind search is looking good.  We are loading the blinds and I think it will work come trial day. Jose and Anne said her control was much better than the last time they saw her (UDC Natls).  We are mostly working on me and how I handle her.  They want me to be calmer and it seems to work.  I think right now we are training for points.  She has a tendency to look back at me as I walk up and we are fixing that.  I think her protection  at the trial is going to be really nice.  When she is calm and focused she is awesome! Porsche's protection went well.  Both Anne and Jose said she was a really nice puppy with full natural grips.  We have to work on keeping her calm.  Jose compared her to a Malinois.  He said we need to train her to be calm and not thrash.  He said that is what will make her more powerful than most dogs.  Focus all her energy into the grip.  She has more energy than Cinders and overall is a more sporty dog.  Cinders tends to be more serious.  However, Porsche may grow into that.  She is only 9 mos.   She is catching on to Jose's training very quickly.  She is very smart and learns very quickly. Overall, it was a very successful weekend.  The trial is Oct 18.  We will be training the next 2 weekends with Meridian.  I did take video.  You will have to check out the website www.masayadobermans.com to see it.  It should be posted by the end of the week.

Porsche's Heeling

Porsche has such a natural healing ability. Unfortunately, I have been concentrating on Cinders so much that I haven't trained Porsche as much as I should. I just love Porsche's healing. She has such nice natural position and her drives are phenomenal! She is truly a joy to train. She is still very gangly and at times I think her legs get in the way. She sits nice and true and straight. However, she seems uncomfortably in a precise down, so I am going to wait on the down stays until she grows into herself some more. Her sit out of motion is coming along nicely. I think I will be able to get a very quick and precise response from her. Her about turns are very tight and her change of pace is already really smooth. Her energy is just amazing. She has a lot of food drive and I use it a lot to train her with. Her ball drive is off the charts and as she gets older I will start incorporating it more and more into training. She hasn't gotten to do bite work in a couple weeks, but the last time she did it was very impressive. She has already started biting a real sleeve. Her grips are naturally full and hard. Its funny because she has the sleeve stuffed so far back in her mouth and then she holds on as tight as she can and moans a little like her you can pick her up or do whatever you want and she won't let go. She does not out, yet. She LOVES to bite! She is going to be a very nice worker and hopefully will live up to mom and dad.

Its a Beautiful Thing!

Just finished running Cinders on a Sch 3 track.  AWESOME!  It was varying grass with weeds sometimes short and sometimes taller than my head.  BEAUTIFUL!  She nailed it! My little girl can track!  I am just so pleased with Cinders right now.  Everything is falling into place and I think she will do very well at her next trial.   I took her last Sat to train with the Greater Cincinnati Schutzhund Club .  I want to see how her control would be with a different helper and I need to get her on a real field with blinds so we can practice.  Brian was the helper and its been over a year since he lasted worked Cinders.  She did a beautiful routine!  I had to use electric on her a little on the back transport as she was foraging terribly and really wanted another go at Brian.  He Grips were PERFECT (as always)!  After we did the routine Brian turned to me with a huge grin and said- "I remember this dog: I didn't remember her until she came around the blind with that powerful masculine bark"  He was all excited and said that whatever we have been doing with her to keep it up.  He said she was awesome and with a little polishing I could take her to some big shows and "kick a**"  I was so proud of my girl and all the wonderful compliments that I received.  I often find when I take her places that most Schutzhund people have never seen a Doberman as powerful as her- especially a female.   I got a note from Rick- Tessa is now 72lbs (at 8 mos) and doing very well.  I weighed Porsche a few days ago and she was 62lbs.  Porsche deserves her own blog post and as soon as I get a little more time I am going to write about her more.  She is amazing!  I thought her mom was easy to train, but Porsche is extremely intellegent and learns quicker than I can teach.

Rain Training at Atterbury

Here is a new picture of Rain working at Atterbury.  She just found buried stuff in the gravel pile and is letting Gail know about it.   I love this dog!  I always loved the attitutde and personality on Rain.  She had a rough time of it when she was a pup, but she has always been a fighter and will always be one of my favorite pups.   Brandi

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Saturday Training

We had an excellent training session last Saturday.   I got to work some with Porsche on her obedience.  He heeling is beautiful.  She has excellent position and focus.  We are still building and I am providing lots of treats, but I love what I am seeing so far.  I am also working on her stays and her out of motion exercises.   I had someone we train with lay a track for Cinders.  Do to space contraints it was about the size of a schutzhund 2 track. Meanwhile while it aged I took Cinders over and worked on her stand and down out of a run.  Her down is excellent but her stand needs some work as she does not lock up as quickly as I would like, but I have started using a toy as motivation and releasing her to go get it when she is correct.  It seems to be working and I am sure I will be very pleased with the results.  This is a very difficult exercise.   After her track had aged about 45 minutes I took her over to run it.  I had the tracklayer be my "judge" and Cinders did a very nice check in.  Her tracking was beautiful.  She overshot the second corner a little but immediately went back to the track.  Article indication was perfect and then we checked out.  It would have easily been a 98-99 at a trial.    I did not have Cinders e collar with me so I decided to run her through the protection routine as if it were a trial and only had her show collar on her.  We only had the one blind up so there was no blind search.  Her hold and bark and call out where excellent.  It was an awesome routine.  Her grips were full and hard (as always) and her control was excellent.  Everyone agreed she would have easily scored a 98-99.  Its always nice to here your trainer and fellow schutzhund people say that Cinders is a dog who has the ability to score in the upper 90's in all phases.    Overall, it was an excellent training session.  I intend to take Cinders out to a different club with in the next few weeks and make sure that the control is still there on a different field with a different helper.

Porsche's Adventures in MN

Porsche has been enjoyed having her human mama to herself these last couple weeks. She got to go with me to work in Minnesota for 2 weeks. I am very pleased with my not so little girl. All this travel hasn't upset her at all. She hasn't missed a beat. She had no problem navigating the busy sidewalks in Minneapolis and wasn't phased by all the traffic and noises. She was very good in the hotel and showed no problems with her first adventure in the elevator. We got to work some on her obedience and she is doing better. We spent one Sunday visiting Lake Superior. Porsche found a dead seagull which she immediately claimed as a trophy. She got to play in the water and even considered jumping in the lake. We got lots of pictures which was nice. Today Porsche is having her first experience boarding. I had to go to a conference in OH and I couldn't take her. I miss my ornery brat. I get to go back and get her Thursday. Then we head to Arkansas to see the new bulldog pups and to pick up Cinders and Maddy. I miss my girls. Maddy I know is doing great. She loves to be out on the farm. She takes care of everything. Mom has chickens that run around and Madison protects them and everyone else. She also loves to chase my brother on the four wheeler and swim in the pond. She grew up there so to her it is home. Cinders misses me. She has been trying to follow my mom everywhere, but that drives mom a little crazy. I know she will be glad to get home and back to work. We need to start preparing for the DPCA nationals and her schutzhund 3. She really just needs some more brushing up and more work on the stays. Then I need to finalize my decision on a stud dog.

Microchips

Rick called and Tessa's microchip has migrated down near her ribcage.  She is fine.  Avid is going to send a new chip to his vets office and Tessa will just have 2 microchips.  Tessa is still around 60lbs.  Her ears are standing now.  She just recently got spayed and is not enjoying her forced inactivity.  We did post her new pictures on the website www.masayadobermans.com

Updates, Updates, Updates

Lots of news. I wish I had kept up the blog better. Cinders got her IPO2 at the UDC Nationals in May. She did pretty good. We got high tracking and high IPO2. She broke her down stay again. This cost us 10pts and HIT (she missed HIT by 5pts). We have been working on it though, so hopefully we won't have that problem again. I wish it wasn't so hot. I think it would be awesome to have her Sch 3 before she was 3yrs old. She is ready, but it is just too hot to trial. She also got her Rally Novice title. She got 99pts for her last leg in Corydon, IN.

Porsche is doing good. Her grips are AWESOME! She has tons of energy and drive. So far I haven't spent much time training her so she is a little on the wild side. However, that hopefully will change. Maddy and Cinders are going to go stay with mom and Porsche is going to live in a hotel with me for 2 wks in Minnesota where hopefully, I can spend some much needed one an one time with her.

Rain is doing GREAT! Here are some excerpts from recent progress reports from Gail:

"Well, the little miss Rain is catching on. She had her first "independent" find of training material this past weekend.

I was walking her on Saturday night and had taken her out of the van to walk back over to the agility equipment, intending to run her on a little agility and just give her a nice long walk since she had been crated a lot during the day.

As we passed the end of the sidewalk in front of the building we passed a crate sitting on the ground. Seems they had taken the training aids we were using in the water and put them in a baggie inside the crate so we could use them the next day. Miss Rain got just past the box and got into scent. She whirled around on her own, went back and stuck her nose into the baggie and then slammed the crate with her foot! Telling me "I found it Mom!" Needless to say she got her Wubbie and a big party as a reward and we played fetch for a good long time. The little girl is growing up."

"Well, my "little" girl is now a solid 51 pounds of Dober. There is no fat on her, it's all dog! LOL
Rain decided she likes my Vets (but all my dogs have always like my Vets over the 35 years I have been going to them, it's two brothers and one son) and gave Dober kisses! The one I saw yesterday was very taken with her, called her a very nice typy Doberman but he also thinks she will be a moose when she is finally grown. :-)

I'm probably looking at spaying her at about 16 months. I want at least one heat and then I want to make sure the growth plates have closed before I do it.

I can not believe how big she is now. My baby puppy has turned into a big puppy! LOL"

Rick reports that Tessa is very smart. Here is what he said in his last email:

" Anyway Tessa is doing fine, she weighs 60 lbs. her tail healed fine. She hates the rain, we open the door and she won't go out, we have to push her out and she goes potty and runs back for the door, otherwise she loves it outside, even if she's just laying looking at things. She always tries to find the shade. She is very smart, she sits and down with just hand commands, she stays for a little while with verbal command, if I throw a treat and tell her to wait she does until I say ok. I had all of this on video for you but couldn't send. She still gets bitey sometimes, mostly when she's excited or if your ignoring her when she wants to play. We have 22 pine trees like a row of 11 on each side of our property and she helps me pick up pinecones about every other day, I take a bucket and pick them up and she works a little ahead of me and brings them to me and puts them in my hand, she's close to putting them in the bucket. When I take her out to poop, we have a very big yard, she runs way in the back and poops, so I'll be up by the house and she'll come running back and I'll say lets get the shovel and clean it up, she goes to where I keep the shovel then I'll tell her to find the poop and she always takes me to where it is, she runs to it and stands with her head down until I get there with the shovel. Lately she has discovered a lot of baby birds in the yard, she starts by sniffing them, then she starts barking at them, when the mother birds start screaming at her she chases them all over the yard barking at them. She jumped a rabbit the other day and started chasing it, and I thought oh great, she'll chase that for miles and I'll be lucky to find her, but she got just over the property line and I yelled Tessa no, get back here and she stopped and came back. I have her about 7 yard toys for her I keep in the other garage and I take her out and say lets get your toys, she runs to the garage and waits, or if I'm outside and have the door up and tell her to go get her toys she runs in there and gets them. She has a unique personality which is hard to explain, like if she's wanting you to play with one of her toys and you don't feel like, she takes her toy and sticks it up your butt when your walking away, lol."

I don't have any new info on Alex "purple" other than I called David in May and she is doing good.

Practice Practice!

Cinders and Porsche had fun training with David Harris Saturday. Porsche is working on her grips and Cinders and I are working on her Sch2 routine. Depending on how things go this next week, Cinders and I may be traveling to Warrensburg, MO to compete for her Sch 2 at the United Doberman Nationals, May 1.

Cinders bitework has been cleaned up a lot. With David's help she has stopped bothering the helper and is outing more consistently and cleaner. Her call out of the blind looks good. Her grips, as always, are excellent. We are working on her blind search and increasing her barking in the blind. She barks really well, but not always for as long as she needs to. We had a really good session on Thursday working on her blind search with David. She is doing a good job checking in with me. I just need to make sure that I am communicating clearly to her. Her transports are really good and in such a short time. Her stand out of motion looks good. I am working with her on her down stays with distractions and out of sight stays. So far, she is vocal, but doing good.

Porsche did really well on her tug work. She is fearless and will climb all over David when tugging. I think this little jute tug is still a little hard for her, but she did pretty good with it. When we moved to a rag tug , she gripped so hard she wouldn't let go! I let her carry it all the way to the car. She held on to it even when she jumped into her crate. The only way I was able to get it back from her was to go back inside the building and get some treats to "trade" her for the tug!

Thanks to Dale Matthews for these photos!

Tessa Goes to Play at the School

Tessa went to the high school yesterday and today and ran the football field and the rubberized track and also loved to play in some sand, must be the first time she has been in sand and it felt different to her feet she just kept running in circles and rolling in it. She went with just me today in the hummer and she was great, she just sat there, it was only 2 miles away though, it was the first time she wasn't held by either wife or son. She is going to the vet tomorrow for her third shot. She has sit down very well, she will sit with just hand command most of the time and come very well, her stay is coming along pretty well, if I get out of sight she breaks stay, her wait is pretty good also, her down is only close with treat.

- Rick

Working Puppies

Porsche worked her 3rd track today. Yesterdays track was shorter than originally planned. It was basically a scent pad and about 15-20 paces which started to go in a circle. Unfortunately, I had Porsche tied to a down tree as we were in the field across the creek and behind my house. Porsche broke her collar and started working her track before I finished laying it. I let her go ahead and find the food without a leash on. She was very good about finding each piece of food in the footsteps.

Tonight I laid Cinders track first then laid a scent pad then about a 20 foot arch into another scent pad with a jackpot of food. My intent was to make a circle, but I have never been good at circles. Again I just followed behind her and stoked her calmly when she was eating a piece of food. I had turkey in each foot step and allowed her to wander off track and discover on her own that there wasn't any food there. She has a very deep nose and is more intent than ever remembered Cinders being at that age. Considering how good Cinders tracks now, I am VERY please with Porsche. She also seems to take her time on the track. Hopefully we can keep it that way.

The Rain Report from Gail:

"Well, she is stubborn, some what will full, one of the smartest puppies I have ever owned and really really sweet, and gives great Dober kisses! If that isn't a combination I don't know what is.

When she wants something there is no mistaking it. LOL She lets you know in no uncertain terms about what SHE wants.

However on the other hand, she learned sit in 2 very short sessions and will now sit even out side with distractions. We are now working on come. I just started that one today. She is also very good now about walking on leash. I haven't taken her out on the sidewalks yet, traffic here is hellish and I'm not risking it until she is a tiny bit better about heeling on a loose lead.

She is a great fetch player and loves her Kong Wubba toy. She would play fetch for hours if I had the arm to keep throwing the wubba.

My next step with her will be to take the second Wubba toy and put it in my cadaver box to scent the toy, then we will play hunt the Wubba toy to teach her to go look for the scent.

We're going to be at Atterbury all next weekend so she'll get introduced to some of the agility equipment, some "baby" rubble and probably helicopters since they should be flying next weekend. I think she will enjoy that a lot."

-Gail

Tessa Report-
Tessa's ears are doing really well. Tessa is being a little ornery right now and has been biting a lot. Other than that she is doing really well on her house training and obedience.

Porsche Starts Working

I took Porsche with me to train yesterday. First I laid Cinders bigger track then I laid a 2x2 scent pad then a 6 foot track followed by another 2x2 scent pad. There were lots of treats and of course treats in each foot step. When starting a young pup on tracking its important not to put any pressure on the pup. The idea is that she learns that when she is on the track she finds food and there is nothing outside of the track. The pup learns that on their own and at this age you do not guide or direct or influence the the dog in any way. Once the pup lost interest, I took her off the track and put her in her crates. Then I got Cinders out to work with her.
After I finished working Cinders, I got Porsche out of the car and took her on a walk in the woods. I took her up hills, over logs and across a creek. She stayed with me the whole time and was unfazed by the different terrains. I gave her a treat anytime she happened to be in heel position. I forgot my clicker or I would have clicked and treated anytime she was in heel. I trained Cinders this way when she was very young. Its a good way to teach heel position in a very positive way. I then tied a small branch to the end of her leash and ran away and called her. Dragging the leash simulated a puppy runaway and also provided some noise through the crunchy leaves.
Overall it was a nice lesson.

Back to Work!!!

Cinders and I started tracking again yesterday. Cinders is so excited about working again. She loves to do work. Taking 4 months off for the pups has been hard on her. I think that's why she was so obsessive about taking care of her babies. Looking back at last year, I am amazed at what Cinders and I accomplished. Finishing her Sch1 and then her WD1 at the DPCA Nationals with such good scores, Completing her BH, her WAC, and her AKC CD were great accomplishments. Ultimately, its her awesome work ethic that saw us through a year of pitfalls and illnesses. When I think of all the things that happened last year its amazing that we did what we did.
Here's is a recap: Around February Cinders broke her Canine tooth on her crate. Because of her age etc, they did a vital pulpotamy on her tooth. That's a pretty major surgery, very similar to a root canal. I remember that she had her operation on a Thursday and Friday, Sat and Sunday we had a 3 day training weekend. I skipped training Friday, but took her Saturday to do tracking and obedience (no bite work for 1 month). We were training with Mo then and I remember finishing her tracking lesson Sat and someone saying something about her tooth. Mo apparently didn't know she had an operation and he was shocked that I had worked her so soon. The thing is , despite being on pain meds and having a mouth full of stitches, Cinders still wanted to work and she still did a good job. Then about a week after her BH in March , Cinders got really sick throwing up. I took her to the vet and she stayed there for 4 days. Ultimately, they kept telling me that they were not sure if she would make it. They thought she had an obstruction so they opened her up and milked her intestines. Nothing. So they sowed her up , put her on meds and sent her home. No work for 3 weeks ( I think we snuck in some tracking). Then in May, I took her back to check on her tooth. The procedure had failed and she had an infection. Now she had to get a root canal (no bite work for 1 month). Then in June she started having some breathing difficulties. She had a lung infection. The vet put her on antibiotics and said she could work if she wanted but to pull her if she fatigued. She was on antibiotics for over two months trying to kick the infection. I believe she had it for a while and it was related to her abscessed canine tooth. During this time we worked on obedience and tracked 7 days a week. In September she was finally off antibiotics and we trialed. She got a 265! Then we went to the DPCA Nationals. On the way to the Nationals, Cinders came into season. Despite the long trip, being in season, and not getting the opportunity to work on the helper before the trial, Cinders did very well.

So now after 4 mos maternity leave, we are back to work! 2 weeks ago Cinders got a 192 in Novice B and she also earned the first leg of her Rally novice title. We have started doing obedience every day and yesterday we started tracking again. Cinders is VERY happy.

Rain in her New Home

Here is part of an email I recieved about Rain:

Rain is doing fine. She is learning fast, we're playing fetch and she is sitting for a treat - not bad for just a couple of days. She is sleeping well through the night and only had one accident in her crate (on my first work day I was gone for about 4 1/2hours). She is eating well and likes the new food but is still getting a mix of old and new.
I get the biggest kick out of her. She howls when she thinks she isn't getting enough attention and sounds like a baby werewolf. It's hard to not laugh at her and keep a straight face and tell her no.
She is bonding well and watches everything I do. Very alert and very smart!

Gail

I am so happy she is doing well- I miss the little brat!

Happy St Patrick's Day!!! Rain goes home

The little Checker pup went to her new home today. Her name is now Rain and she is going to be trained as a Search and Rescue Human remains detection dog! Hopefully she will be a good worker. I am going to miss the ornery little girl. It seems like she and Cinders were always arguing about something!

Tessa (Pink- in the picture)is doing good to. I think she has a head start on everyone in the ears department. As you can see her ears are already starting to stand some. It also sounds like she is ahead of us al lon her obedience and has been practicing her stays already.

Porsche (Red) went to dog class with me tonight and we worked a little on her obedience and a did some tug work. Mostly she just got to socialize. Really thats the most important thing we can do with our puppies until the turn 16 weeks. I think she is going to miss Rain. They were always together.

I hope to get some blog entries from the puppy owners soon!

Taking Advantage of Every Opportunity

I came home from running a few errands Saturday afternoon and an electric company guy was in my back yard playing with Lily and Lulu! Normally, I don't leave anyone outside while I am gone, but it was such a nice day and I was only going to be gone a short while. Lily and Lulu where mauling the poor guy. Of course, he seemed to be enjoying himself playing with them.
The electrical problem was at the neighbors, but he was just making sure that all my lines where ok before they turned the power on. I think he volunteered because of the dogs. I am not sure where that crew was from, but I have seen several in the area from Georgia and Alabama. He said they made him miss his dogs. I was just glad I had not left Cinders outside because she would not have allowed him back there. He said she had been barking at him through the window and he was glad she wasn't out there.

He was a grizzled husky guy with a hard hat, uniform and some equipment on, so I thought it was an excellent opportunity for some socialization. I told him I had some pups and asked him if he wanted to see them. Of course he did! I knew he had to go back to work, so I brought out two bullys first. One was the boy ( I thought he would like him) and the other was Molly. While the 2 bullys were being loved on, I went in and got the purple and red pups. All the pups took to this big guy very well. The red pup did not want to wait her turn and was trying frantically to climb up his legs. Too bad he had to go back to work or I would have brought everyone out.

I am very happy the power is back on and the weather has improved. I let the pups run in the yard for an hour or so and I took some video. All together during the power outage I took an hours worth of video that needs to be uploaded and edited. So for those of you that got the first installations, that was about 30 min of video cut to 20 min. I still have another 30 min to go and I am already thinking about taking some more. Likely I will create another agility course this weekend. I am already thinking about it. However, I believe I have one on video that hasn't been uploaded yet.

Still no electric

We have been with out electricity since the ice storm nearly 2 weeks ago. I have been taking pictures and videos of the pups, but have no way to upload them. I moved everyone (dobes and bulldogs) into the x-pen in the living room near the wood stove. Right now it is our only source of heat.

Cinders and Lulu have both been allowing each others puppies to nurse. Cinders is a little more picky and prone to getting on to Lulu's pups if she thinks they are being too rough with her baby dobes. The puppies get out a lot and its not uncommon for me to find some of them running around the house when I get home. Thank goodness all my floors are hardwood and tile.

The good news is that the lack of electricity has allowed me to spend a lot of time with the puppies. I have gotten to know their personalities really well. This is going to help me find the right home for them. I am pretty sure that Purple is going to be Tessa and live in MI. She is a really nice middle puppy and I think she will be very happy in MI. She loves to play, but right now doesn't seem as dominant as the pink puppy or as high drive as the red puppy.

I have been creating puppy agility courses and videoing the puppies on the "equipment". I am very pleased with everyones reactions. The Checker/stripe puppy seems to enjoy the equipment the most and is the first to explore and climb on everything. She is real confident puppy and loves toys and people. I think she would do well at agility or pet therapy or make a nice family dog.

Pink is a monster and the largest puppy. She constantly tries to dominate the other puppies. She loves people and when she gets out of the pen she runs straight over to try to be with me.

I have also started taking the dobes on small car trips. Either individually or in pairs. Yesterday I took the Pink puppy with me to wash the car and run a few short errands. Pink whined some and explored some. Friday, I took checker. Checker is the easy going puppy. Hardly fussed at all. Monday I took purple and Red. Red is also pretty easy going and started exploring the car. Purple was a little more fussy. Its not to surprising though. Purple and Pink are the more vocal of the puppies. They let you know when they want something. Checker and Red are quieter in a way, but I think they will be "talkers" when they get older.

Also, since the snow/ice has been melting I have been taking them outside for short walks either individually or in twos. Yesterday, I let pink walk in from the car. She was very interested in exploring her environment.

Next week I plan to take them to my friends house for individual pictures and some kiddie play time.

I will send out new video and pics as soon as the power comes on.

Puppies Everywhere!

The Dobe puppies are becoming more and more active everyday. They have moved from the whelping box to the pen in the living room. They have started eating moistened food. They have had several visitors lately. A family came and visited them on Saturday. The puppies enjoyed spending time with and playing with everyone. There was someone to hold and play with each of the puppies all the time. The father seemed to be the resting spot as each time he got a puppy she decided to take a nap!

The girls are changing so much every day. They had started escaping the whelping box. Now their mom lets them out of the x pen in the living room. Its not uncommon for me to wake up in the night or come home from work and find dobe puppies quietly exploring the house. Nothing seems to faze them. Once the plastic baby gate fell on a couple of them. No one cried or anything. They just quietly tried to wiggle their way out. They climb on everything and sometimes I will hear a clunk or see one fall off of something it climbed on, but no one cries. They are pretty tough and only squeak when their mom squeezes them too tight! She is one of the best mothers I have seen, but ultimately she believes in tough love and has always been a little rough with them. I think that's why they are so tough. I was even quicked one of them when cutting her toenails and she jumped but didn't cry. Very quiet pups, but the bulldogs make up for it.

Its going to be interesting watching them grow. I am curious if the toughness carries over to the Schutzhund field. Cinders has never been particularly sensitive and I think her babies are the same way.

Its fun having them around. I have been holding and playing with two at a time when I watch TV in the evening. If the weather would improve, I think I can already start housetraining them. They seem really smart and most of the time even when they are running around the house, they go back to the middle of the x-pen to relieve themselves.

Weights

Burgundy/red 7.02lbs

Pink 8.07lbs

Purple 7.85lbs

Checker/stripe 7.32lbs

Explorers

I took the puppies into the kitchen tonight to take their first real individual photos. I basically have a little table set up in there with a carpet on it for traction. Its interesting to see the difference in breeds. I took the Bulldog puppies in first. They have done this before and are 8 days older than the Dobes. For the most part they were scared and even though hey have been walking for a few days, the would only crawl and were obviously stressed. Personally, I don't believe that a little stress in a puppy is a bad thing. After I finished with the Bulldogs, I took the Dobes in by themselves to the kitchen. Other than a couple trips to the vet and sitting on my bed near the whelping box they had never really been out of the whelping box. The Dobes didn't seem stressed at all and immediately began to "walk" (they are really wobbly). I had to constantly keep bring them back where I wanted them. They each kept trying to explore their environment and I had to monitor closely so they did not fall off the table. Its amazing how early you can see solid temperament in puppies.

I truly don't think my Bulldogs are abnormal. I had the same type of responses from my Dane litter. None of my dogs would be considered shy or weak in nerve and I would never breed to any dog (regardless of breed) that was in any way shy or fearful. The difference is that the Dobes are so solid and such brave dogs. Cinders isn't scared of anything and neither is Arras (ok maybe Chris when shes mad, but I would be too;) I only wish Cinders was scared of me when I get mad at her. I am very pleased with these puppies. I think they are all going to be exceptional and have lots of nerve. They didn't miss a heart beat when put in a new environment on a raised table with a surface that they have never been exposed too. Little monsters are going to be into everything!

Its hard to see drive right now. I truly believe that Cinders goes and feeds those girls the minute she hears them move. Spoiled!!

Weights have moved to lbs

Burgundy 4.14

Pink 4.81

Purple 5.16

Checker 4.14

Last Nights Puppy Weights

Everyone has their eyes open now. They are starting to get more demanding. For the most part they are very quiet puppies, but last night purple was throwing a fit. She was barking at Cinders. She wanted to make sure that Cinders knew she was hungry! Cinders seems to have recovered from the loss of Peanut. She went outside a lot and started jumping on me and trying to play. I think its almost time to put her back to work. My goal is to get her Sch 2 and 3 this year. Then maybe next year we will breed another litter. Cinders is such a good mom and has remained very vigorous and healthy throughout this litter. Maybe we will get some boys next time.

Burgundy 57.1 oz
Pink 59.9 oz
Purple 67.7
Checker 50.7

Loss of Peanut

I had begun to call the only little boy of this litter Peanut. He seemed to gain just enough weight every day not to put me in a panic, but not as much as he should have. I had been making sure he was nursing every time I walked in the room and had found that Cinders would often do the same thing. She would move him to wherever she was in the whelping box and set him down near her tummy to nurse. I took Peanut to the vet because of his lack of gain. He had pneumonia. He received an antibiotic and vit B shot and oral antibiotics. He didn't respond to the antibiotics and continued to weaken. I syringe fed him every 2 hrs all night Saturday and Sunday. Sunday afternoon he passed away. It was very sad. Cinders knew he was in trouble and would barely leave the whelping box. She had him between her paws and would gently lay her head on him in a sort of hug. It was sad. He died there in between his mommy's paws. Cinders was upset when I took him away and began to search for him.

I lost one pup in my Dane litter this year. It was much less dramatic as I just found her dead at 14 days. The mother didn't care when I took that pup away and never seemed to notice her loss. This was much more difficult. Cinders is a much more involved mother. She takes such good care of her babies and she loves them so much.

Eyes Starting to Crack Open

Purple's eyes are starting to open. I also caught Checker being very demanding to Cinders. She was basically barking (as close as she can get at this age) at a standing Cinders and following her around the whelping box because she was hungry. She wasn't crying. It was more like she was chewing her out. I think being hungry was a novelty to the poor pup. I changed the bedding and Cinders insists upon digging so then she doesn't have a soft place to lay. I think that was why she hadn't nursed them and Checker felt the need to be demanding. Purple out grew her collar. i am going to have to make her a new one.

Poor Miss Kitty just couldn't fit in with the dobe pack. Cinders tolerated her, but really wasn't very welcoming. Lulu is doing better on her milk, so Miss Kitty moved back in with the bulldogs.

The Ugly Doberman

Cinders gained a new child. Lulu has had a limited milk supply. I have been increasing her food and doing some other things to increase her milk supply. Meanwhile the bullies are still doing well. Cinders has had lots of milk and she gets upset when she hears the bully's crying in the next room, so I decided to see if she would take one of the bullies. The poor little bullies are essentially orphans as Lulu doesn't clean them or really care for them. Last night I was washing the little bullies off in the bathroom and Cinders seemed really concerned. I started trying to introduce them to her. She really wasn't too interested. Finally, I got to Ms. Kitty and I put her down near Cinders teats and Cinders stood there and let me hold her on to nurse. She seemed not so sure about it. I took Ms. Kitty to my room and sat on my bed near Cinders' whelping box. Cinders came up and sat on the bed beside her, so I introduced them again and put Ms. Kitty on to suck. Eventually, we moved to the whelping box. So far, Cinders is not so sure about Ms. Kitty. Kitty is very content and happy to have a family. She likes her dobe siblings and enjoys cuddling with a mommy. Mommy still hasn't commited to Kitty though. We will have to watch and see.

Pups are feeling better

The lil dobes have recovered from their dock and dew claw experience. No more fussiness. Everyone is growing. Cinders is doing better and has let me remove her quilt for cleaning. I will likely try to avoid giving it back as the pups were getting under it. Cinders is back to eating in the kitchen and has a large appetite. I think the little tails look good and Cin hasn't been bothering the stitches like I was afraid she would. The purple puppy is still a moose and at 5 days weighs 32.5 oz. This is the size my Danes were at 7 days old! It seems like she is always sleeping when the others eat, but the truth is that she ate first and is already full.

Oh in case anyone is wondering - the wood chips are kiln dried hardwood chips. They were my first efforts to take away Cinders' quilt. They didnt work. So far they are not bothering anyone, but I will likely remove them in a few days as they are messy and Cinders has thrown out a lot of them on my bedroom floor. Thank goodness all my floors are hardwood.

Puppies Get Docked

The puppies went to the vet today and got their tails Docked and their dew claws removed. I think we got a really nice dock on all of them. I'll be able to tell better in a few days, but it looks like it is the length I wanted it. The vets kept commenting on how big the puppies were. Purple girl is especially large. Cinders waited in the car and dug around in the blankets while the pups were at the vet office. The trip in was uneventful. Cinders was very content with the puppies in the car. I think she was ready to go for a ride. Also, I think she would have been happy to have all her pups there as she is so used to being in the car. It is like a large dog crate to her.

She was a little upset when she got the pups back, but not as bad as I was expecting. The puppies are fussy and that bothers her, but for the most part everything went well.

Puppies Arrive!

Puppies were born Tuesday the 30th. It was a chaotic day as I had thought it was safe to go to work that morning for a few hours. I kept in close contact with my mom at home. I anticipated Cinders having the pups that night. She had been nesting the night before and I had stayed in the whelping box with her all night. However, a couple hours before dawn she had stopped and went to sleep. I got up and took care of the other dogs and fed them. She ate and was acting a little funny, but I didn't see the immediacy. Besides I knew my mom was there and would keep me posted of any changes. Mom called me at noon and said that Cinders had a puppy beside my bed on my quilt (in anticipation of this possibility I had been using an old quilt). I raced home (30 min) while talking to mom on the phone. The first puppy was a boy (black collar)! Before I got home Cinders had another puppy (burgundy). The girls had started to arrive. I got home and moved everyone to the whelping box including the quilt. About 10 minutes later with very little effort we had another girl (pink).

Not long after that, Cinders started pushing and she kept pushing. After she had been pushing for over an hour, I became concerned and consulted some long time breeder friends and then called the vet. We decided we needed to get Cinders to the vet ASAP. I had used a glove and checked her and could not feel the puppy being presented and so we were concerned it might be stuck at the "gate". Poor mom, I made her drive while I sat in back of the Rav with Cinders and the pups in a basket. The vet is about 30 minutes away and I swear , I believe my mom was going 80. It certainly felt like that as she was entering Louisville and going around some mondo corners. About 10 min from the vet I was finally able to see a puppy presented. With some maneuvering from both me and cinders I was able to pull the pup (rear first) out. I was really scared because the pup seemed huge. It was backward and the first sign I had of her was her rear where the sac was already broken and there was manure. I hurried up pulled her out and removed the sac from her face and rubbed her did some other things to make sure she was breathing well. I kept thinking when I pulled her out she had to be dead because I think her sac had been broken for a little bit. But she started to breath and kick and she hasn't stopped! What a moose! She's a little terror and pushes everyone around. She is already nice and fat and sassy!

Well we decided not to go the vet and we turned around and went back home. I knew there was one more puppy that had to present itself. Unfortunately, it was taking its time. At about 6pm, we took Cinders back to the vet. In the end she had to have a C-sec to get the last pup out.

Everyone is home and doing well now. Cinders is a very protective mommy and she gets very upset when I hold the pups. She hates it when I weigh them. She always tries to take them from me. She will barely leave the whelping box to get a drink or go relieve herself. I have been feeding her in the box. Gotta keep the milk coming! Surprisingly, she still let Lily come in the room to sleep on the bed. However, Lily keeps her head down and hugs the wall by the door and Cinders monitors her movements very closely.