It's Been a Wild Ride

Thanks to all who emailed me privately expressing concern and care for my absence from the blog. It was all due to this precious tiny package in the picture here.
Welcome, Ella Marie Brison, the miracle baby. Long story short, she came very suddenly and I had exactly 1 hour to jump onto a plane and arrive at the hospital while my daughter was having an emergency C-section. Gretchen, the other terrified mom of my daughter's husband, hovered outside the surgery room with me. What happened was nothing short of a miracle. When the placenta was removed the large cyst burst. Had that happened inside my daughter & baby would have been at risk. Baby Ella was born and was able to breathe on her own. Daughter Kimberly is pictured here with the doctor who saved Ella's life. I cannot say enough how deeply I appreciate this man and how much I appreciate being able to post this picture of smiles and a healthy, albeit tiny baby.
Once all this was under control and healthy report after healthy report came, I received a phone call from my sister that brother in law Barry indeed had stage 4 cancer. After the surgery, Interferon treatment and radiation it had come back with a vengeance and continues to rapidly grow in his lymph nodes, chest wall and lungs. We've received a shred of hope that Barry is eligible for a clinical trial of this rare form of cancer. Again, we have to wait to see where and how he will receive this. Nothing is guaranteed but at least there is something we can cling to.
It's been quite the wild ride of emotions but I'm glad for the wonderful outlook for baby Ella and some hope for Barry. What a treat to sleep in my own bed and now the task begins to go through all the mail and catch up with my work duties. The Sheltie specialty is in 3 weeks and I hope to have the energy to resume my training schedule. Blitz looks very healthy and is obviously feeling great. Moto was all smiles at my return. I hope to capitalize on this eagerness and use it in my training regimen. And, I get to look at puppies this weekend. They are 4 weeks old and I'm eager to see their tiny personalities emerging. From the pictures I've received I see a mischevious look in some of the boy's eyes, while one appears very sweet and another thoughtful. We'll see if what I saw in the pics corresponds with their actual personas.
It's SO nice to come home.

When Life Gives You Lemons....

This is a lemons/lemonade entry.
Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and get emotional. Underneath these dyed blonde locks is a head of completely white hair. My hairdresser said "I guess the car accident and everything else you've been through has taken its toll." Gee, thanks. But! I have the $$ to keep coloring my hair and fooling people. That's the lemonade part.
Hubby has been on several job interviews. Ditto second interviews. This Friday, yet another bad email stating "we regret to inform you...." *sigh*. Our paid health insurance runs out end of May. After that our cash hemorage will be even more as we pay full price for health insurance. But! I'm surprised to find that I really, really like having hubby at home. With me working two jobs he has been very helpful with the housework, even helping with Shiloh's physical therapy and group poop cleanup. Our marriage is even stronger and we enjoy doing a lot more together since he lost his job. That's the lemonade part.
My brother-in-law has cancer. We are waiting until April 26 (correct me if I am wrong on the date Janice) to see if his treatments have held the monster at bay, maybe even beaten it back. I am terrified for Barry along with the rest of my family. But! While I'm several days' drive away, my sister's church and friends have surrounded her with love and the famous Lutheran tradition of bringing casseroles, and lots of them. Her emotional and physical well-being is well taken care of and I need not worry about that. That's the lemonade part.
Daughter Kimberly is in the hospital. Her pregnancy is now high risk. Baby Ella is only 2 lbs and should not be due until end of June. However, it looks like she will be making an entrance into the world next week. I'm frantically doing laundry, packing, checking out flights and all the other things I need to do should I make a sudden departure. I worry about my daughter and the health of Baby Ella. But! My daughter picked the best husband who is responsibly juggling work, the kids, relaying of information. The doctors have told Kimberly it is a miracle that Baby Ella is still inside her womb and healthy. Kimberly has been the recipient of a few miracles already in her short life, and this wonderful trend seems to be continuing. That is the lemonade part.
I have an aged dog, 15 + years. He's in good health but obviously no longer showing. My beloved OTCH Shiloh has suddenly gone deaf and suffered a spinal injury. Any thought of showing him in any venue is completely out of the question. The dog of my dreams, Blitz, has a terminal disease. A promising obedience career crashed and burned with that prognosis. Moto, while the world's sweetest dog, is not very drivey. He has great health but I really don't know what to make of the future with him. That remains TBD. BUT! I came home from my Welcome Wagon job today, a bit overwhelmed and sad from all my troubles. Dusty managed to get up and stand at the doorway. Shiloh picked up on the activity and was there, too, along with Daisy, Blitz and Moto. I sat down and was buried in doggie kisses, and my troubles were licked away.
And that, my friends, is the lemonade part.

That Subtle Shift

I'm sure everyone who has had an older dog has experienced this, but it's a first for me. It's when you see the signs that your old dog is crossing that line and you know their time on Earth is coming to a close. Dusty is still enjoying great health and quality of life, but he took just the tiniest step to the Bridge a few days ago. It was in the form of greeting me, or his lack thereof.
When I come home from work I'm greeted by a barking excited pack. Dusty is always at the front, giving his little "ruh. ruh." That is his trademark. A few days ago he wasn't amongst the other 4 dogs. When I got to the top of the stairs there he was, looking at me, eyes bright.
It just was a little too much to get up.
Next day he greeted me as he usually does, but the remainder of the days he has not. And while I carry him up and down the stairs to potty, sometimes he will go up or down on his own. But, that has ceased entirely. Now he'll bark to go up or down, depending on where it is he wants or needs to go.
I don't like it, not one little bit. Apparently it's bothering me a great deal, as I dreamt the other night he passed away. In my dream the dogs had gone out for potty and then it began to storm. As I always do in that situation, I call them inside. No Dusty. I went outside to look for him and he was lying on his side. I could tell there was no life in his body and when I went up to him, he was gone. I was crying and saying "PLEASE don't leave me this way" and was so upset I woke myself up.
So I'll hug him just a little more often, tell him I love him a little more often, and be grateful for every day he chooses go give me. No matter the when's and where's, we are never ready when our dogs leave us.
For me, the word STAY has never held such meaning.

Training vs. What Comes Naturally

Before I go into the thoughts about this header I want to talk about what a gorgeous weekend it was. Talked to my daughter on Saturday and for the first time she sounded good. Baby Ella is stable and "cooking" nicely. Of course things can change and quickly but for now I'm very grateful all is well. We had a cold, bitter winter but it's making Spring all the more enjoyable. Gorgeous weather this weekend! I trained Moto yesterday and was thrilled with him. Blitz is feeling good so I took both pups to the fun match on Sunday. With absolutely no training Blitz wowed the crowd with his flashy heeling style. It's amazing he can do so well with no priming. If I were a judge I would have given him about a 192 - pretty good for no practice. Moto was entered in both Open and Novice. Open was first. I could see he was nervous when we went to warm up so we played touch games which brought a smile to his face and started his tail wagging. That was a good decision as he turned in a fairly nice Open performance. By Novice time the building was very warm and Moto was not motivated. He was OK but not great but he has a much better attitude than previous times in the past. So much to work on but it's coming along. I'm encouraged. Here's a pic - taken yesterday - of the pups I'm looking at. They've graduated from looking like baby rats to baby guinea pics. I also got to meet a pick puppy kept from the sire's previous litter. She is amazing and has a personality very much like Blitz. Which brings me to the discussion we had - how much of this innate flashiness and work ethic is bred in and how much comes from conditioning? This is a conformation line with virtually no performance titles, yet Blitz, had he been well enough to perform, would have been a spectacular obedience dog. And, all their dogs have temperaments to die for. These breeders work extensively with their dogs, socializing them and training them. Kathy's amazing dog Buoy was worked with a lot when he was with the breeder before coming home with her at 8 weeks. Yes, Kathy's a fantastic trainer and I'm sure Buoy would have done amazing things regardless. But how much of that is conditioned in those early weeks? It will be fun to watch this litter develop. I'm lucky to live just 45 minutes away to check in frequently. Right now these tiny babies are very wiggly and active. Can't wait until it's temperament test time. The debate will continue and it's a fun discussion about temperament vs. training. And meanwhile, I continue to watch and see what developes in these puppies.....

Moto the Therapy Dog

I've felt for awhile that Moto has a different calling than that Obedience Champion; like Shiloh he will do it for me because he's a good boy but there is another talent that he has and something else that he really likes to do. Because of his gentle empathetic nature I believe that is the Therapy Dog. You know, the one that goes to hospitals and lets people hug and pet him. My friend Dee came up to me and suggested the Therapy Dog role as well. See, her tiny teacup poodle puppy decided to visit Moto and stuck her head through the crate wire. She got stuck. What could have been an awful situation was handled beautifully by Moto. He backed away from the panicking puppy and looked very concerned until Dee freed her. Then he insisted on licking her face so she would feel better.
We continue to make progress in Obedience and I am now enjoying our training sessions. With Moto it works best to have a lot of 5-minute sessions instead of one big one. And for once, not training daily also seems to help. He's coming along nicely.
But Moto's true calling came into play yesterday. My daughter was hospitalized as her pregnancy has taken a very dangerous turn. There is a cyst on the umbilical cord that is causing it to slowly break away from the baby. "Ella" (the unborn baby girl) is only 2 pounds. So she is constantly being monitored and once they determine she is not getting any blood flow an emergency C-section will take place. The outcome for baby Ella is uncertain.
This is devastating and frightening news, heightened by the fact my daughter is in Arizona and I'm out here in Missouri feeling helpless. I await "the phone call" where I need to drop everything and grab the first plane to Arizona, which could be any day. After the scary news was delivered to me my hubby of course was very supportive. That supportive hug brought on tears. Moto quietly came over and just sat next to me, looking up with big concerned eyes. I realized he was offering his body for solace and I hugged his big furry self and buried my head in his ruff. He then gave some big serious wet licks to my face.
He is so much like Dusty that way: Dusty will come over and lay down in such a way that there doesn't seem to be a single of molecule of air that can separate him from me. It's as if they know we need a strong quiet dog to hug and hold and they offer themselves up for that.
Moto doesn't (yet) have the certification to be a therapy dog. It is something I will be looking into in the future. But as with the car accident, with this recent turn of events Moto has risen to his calling and is MY therapy dog. It's been said every dog comes into our lives for a reason, and I think that is why Moto is here with me. And I'm sure glad he is.

Compulsion vs. Purely Positive

The arguments between these two camps has raged over the years; however most of us trainers find that both have really good points and that most dogs need a blend of the two. Dusty was a good boy; you just show him what you wanted and he did it. It was quite a shock to my system when I got Shiloh: you showed him what you wanted and he uttered a few doggie expletives and would throw temper tantrums. For Shiloh in the training years needed far more compulsion - the positive would come later. Blitz adored working and like Dusty you just showed him what you wanted and he would give 110% to make sure he did it. Moto doesn't really like to work and is very soft. Compulsion in his building block training would have been disastrous. It's been a struggle since the beginning building drive with this boy but I have to say he is coming along quite nicely lately.
After a long Obedience fanatical discussion with friend Laurie I decided to take her suggestion of kicking it up a notch WRT his heeling. It's not very exciting heeling and he is a bit laggy. My observation over these few weeks is he is being lazy about it. I looked at his earlier match video and he was lovely there. I still want his happy attitude but he needs to know staying in position is important. Out came the microprong. We did a series of very short set-ups as if we were getting ready to heel in the ring. A quick pop and when Moto popped into attention we released. We did this several times, alternating with sits (he's developing the famed "collie sit" which is a slow sit), or moving quickly into the fast. It didn't take much and I was amazed with some lovely work. The whole session didn't last more than 5 minutes. We then did some fun stuff (the touch, a touch to finish left or right) some go-outs, turns and sits, drops, all lightning fast. It was good! He'll wear the microprong for the next couple of sessions (at our lesson and at this Sunday's fun match) so that he understands staying in position is important wherever we go. He's a quick learner and I don't expect much more than a few small corrections to get the message across. Short story long, this is a PP dog for the most part, but needs the occasional compulsion to keep him on his game. Our next show is at the end of May, where hopefully he will get his RN title. Depending on how that goes,we may experiment with a Wildcard Novice class in June. It's at a lovely trial in Ballwin, MO. I'm loving that he is coming into his own!

The Puppies Have Arrived!

Yes, I have far too many dogs. I remember telling my husband "We will never, EVER have this many dogs again - three is the perfect number!". Then Dusty got old, Shiloh went deaf & injured, and Blitz developed his debilitating disease. Enter Moto. I then told Erik - "Five is INSANE! I promise, this will be IT!". And yes, things are progressing nicely with Mr. Moto, far better than I ever expected.
But a few months ago, on a whim, I decided to call Blitz's breeders and inquire about any future litters. Funny you should ask, they said, we just bred Dylan to Kimora. I adore both these dogs. When Kimora was born I was interested in that litter but it was an all-female litter. Those girls had the same spunk, work ethic, and joy of life that Blitz has. It was difficult, but I passed. I warned hubby I was thinking of getting another pup from this upcoming litter. Bless his ever loving heart, he simply sighed a sigh of resignation. When I got the call the puppies were born, three are males. All healthy. Now the odds go significantly up that I might get one. As you can see they are still in the "rat" stage but all have beautiful markings. Now it's a wait and see game as far as the temperaments go. They've already made arrangements for them to be temperament tested. I will get to come and watch. Timing-wise the time a pup would come home (mid-June) is perfect; grandchild #5 should be here and I would have made the trek to Arizona to spend time with the new baby and back home.
Now that I know exactly what I'm looking for it should be easy to see if one of these pups will be a good fit. But I'm quite sure one - if not all - would be a joy to have. With parents with like they have, I just don't think any one of them would be a poor choice. But time will tell. Now, it's a waiting and watching game.....and for me, keeping a level head and being objective will be key.

You know you're Obedience obsessed when....

...you dream about training fronts. We had a great Rally weekend and I plan to continue the Rally/Wildcard classes until I feel Moto is ready for the"big ring". But his fronts aren't consistent. Of all the little things we need to tweak this is the one that has mystified me the entire life of this blog. The front in the picture is pretty good but could be .5 deductable. It's not perfect.
This weekend I saw Kathy helping one of her students with her lovely terrier. Kathy had taught us a little trick about fronts at Obedience Camp that really keeps the dog thinking where front is. I'd forgotten about this until she worked it with her student. Back home I tried it with Moto and could see his wheels turning...Where should I be, gosh, I have to work at this! It was great and can be a lot of fun too.
I thought about this trick so much I dreamed about it last night. It wasn't as much fun as a dream I had when I began showing Shiloh, where I dreamt we got a 200. I was sooooo happy in that dream I was actually mad I woke up from it! It hasn't come true during his career but it's something I will aways work towards. Meantime, the Correct Front dream is something more tangible. One dream at a time, please!