Dog Day Afternoon

Blogging - such a good idea for sharing ideas! Reality - not much time for blogging. When we have pups here much of the day is spent giving each one individual attention, and taking them out to explore (and get tired out!) The big dogs all want to each have time alone with us. Sport, the Arabian, hangs his head over the gate, asking when is he going to be taken out for a ride? The i-phone dings every time an email comes in, and that's pretty much constant. Folks wanting advice about their pups, and new friends needing to talk about dogs they have lost or are losing and when they should get a pup. Such a hard time to work through. 

Everyone wants to see pics, and who can blame them? So time must be spent on the website, and putting videos on facebook, and sending photos to everyone who has a puppy reserved. Then there is dog food to send out, papers to get ready, mail to prepare. And so the day goes by until next thing we know it's midnight. And no blog got written yet again.

Just so this one can provide something of value - there's a thought that we've wanted to share for some time. Everyone who is losing their precious dog seems to have a hard time deciding when the best time to get a new puppy would be. There's often a feeling of disloyalty to our old friends, in bringing in a new one too soon.

Our thought is that one of the finest things our old friends have done for us is to help bring along the new pup. A baby puppy is so happy to have an older dog to ease their transition away from the litter. And the old guy (or gal) seems to be happy about having a joyful little one around. Now if the old dog was feeling really badly, perhaps a rambunctious little pup might not be the best thing.  But what we've found true time and time again is that it's very nice to get a pup in time for your older dog to help raise it. So that's just something to consider.  And honestly, I just cannot believe that our beloved dogs would want us to mourn them when they are gone by not finding another pup to comfort us. Dogs are so far beyond those kind of petty thoughts.    So, random thoughts on this end. Please share yours.

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Often it occurs to me that if you looked close enough you'd know just what stage of training our puppies are in. Right now there is a trail of shavings throughout the house. Shavings stuck to pants, on the bottom of shoes and sometimes found in our hair.  This is embarrassing when noticed out shopping. Shavings at our house signifies puppies that are between 4 and 6 weeks old. They haven't yet learned to only go potty in shavings, and instead roll around in them all day long.

Prior to 5 weeks old, you might notice we still had dark circles under our eyes. That's because the puppies weren't eating any dry kibble yet, and had to be fed every 4 hours round the clock.  At about 5 and a half weeks old, they figure out that the world won't come to an end if they have to eat some dry food. We'd love to give them raw meat, but are quite sure that their new families would have a hard time getting them to eat kibble after that.  Another dead giveaway is the bloody split in my lip and often a cut or two around my nose, which comes from puppies reaching up and snagging me while getting hugged and kissed. No matter how much we trim their nails, they can manage to find a soft space on our faces to scratch. Sometimes I wonder if people who see me think I am abused at home.

At 3-4 weeks old, every time I come in the house I have blood running down my arms. Pups at that age are so enthusiastic!  They jump and scratch, and scratch some more. Nails are trimmed and sanded with an emery board, to no avail.  All of our clothes have globs of gooey puppy food in places we never see until we are standing in line at the post office or grocery store.  The house smells like chicken for all of weeks 4 and 5, some for mommy dog and the rest goes in the blender with basmati rice for the pups. There is grumbling about how the dogs eat better than the people at times.

At the end, when the pups are trained to come to a whistle, not to bite, to lay quietly on their backs in our arms, when they romp and play fearlessly on the lawn with the big dogs.... then they leave. We try to think about how happy all their new families are and not how empty the barn seems. It seems liberating yet disappointing that there is nothing to hurry home for, nothing that can't wait - as the older dogs learned early that they weren't exactly on a rigid schedule. (You can eat AFTER the puppies Gracie!) We don't laugh twenty times a day. Within a few months we've forgotten all about the missed sleep, the bloody arms, the weeks we can't leave home.... and all we want are puppy kisses.          

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Everyone in the U.S. should be keeping an eye on CA legislation regarding pets, because what happens to us can happen to you. Currently, we are facing a bombardment every year of potential legislation that will make us criminals for owning a pet, walking our dogs, taking a box of stray kittens to the store to give away, refusing to spay our dogs at 4 months of age, or breeding dogs and cats.

Do you support the Humane society or PETA? Be aware that their goals are those outlined above. They will not rest until none of us can "own" pets. Now Oprah has aligned with them, and in a recent show, lumped breeders together with puppy mills. (more on that in another post!) Please read the recent online issue of the Dog Press to see how these terrorist groups are working daily to ensure that one day we will not be allowed to enjoy our animal companions in any way.  http://www.thedogpress.com/SideEffects/AR-Vegan-Crosshairs_Amble-1110.asp   

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There's a terrific on-line publication out there called The Dog Press. You can find them at www.thedogpress.com  We highly recommend reading this! There is some fascinating news on a wide variety of dog subjects. Plus, you will find out the latest recalls on dog food, get info on holistic foods and medicines, and background on organizations you thought were great, but aren't. (like the Humane Society, who have nothing to do at all with saving dogs, they just suck down vast amounts of money for salaries and advertising). This week's publication features the proper dosage of liquid ivermectrin, which controls heartworms and most of the other parasites. It costs about 25 cents a month. We've been using it for 20-plus years.   Enjoy!

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Been thinking about this subject for quite some time, and was motivated to post on it by a photo I saw today of a prominent GSD.  The dog is on its hind legs in front of the refrigerator, and looks to be bigger than the fridge. It's getting to be really commonplace to see these kind of pics now - GSDs that are apparently the size of great danes, with gigantic heads to match, can be found all over the web.

The problem is, these photos are lies. They are taken laying on the floor and looking up. Or by purposely putting the dog foremost in the photo, which makes it bigger. Once you figure out how to do this, it's not hard.  There's also a lot of photo-shopping going on. Someone just told us that they were suprised to see a photo of their dog on their breeder's website, and lo and behold it was a different color!  While we certainly do not condone these practices in any way, I will say that they are market-driven. The dog breeder who is producing very nice dogs might tend to be discouraged by people calling and asking for HUGE dogs, or dogs that are only one color and nothing else. Instead of doing the ethical thing and telling the truth, they "fudge" a little. Many kennels that sell a lot of pups depend on shipping most of them - their clients never see their dogs, pups, or facility.

The larger problem is, with all the "enhancing" going on, the general public is beginning to believe that big GSDs SHOULD be 140 lbs. And that black dogs should not have a single hair that isn't jet black. And on and on. I would like to state, for the record, that I have been all over the U.S., from east coast to west coast, since the 1970s, looking at GSD kennels and small breeders. And for the last 3 years, in Europe as well. And I can tell you I haven't seen a single one that was 140 lbs. Or even close to that. I've VERY rarely seen one as big as Ali, Sarah's lovely dog who was 136 lbs. A big GSD, in our opinion, is 100lbs lean, not larded up to weigh more. That is way over the standard, and more than enough to impress any burglar. Do we have bigger dogs? Yes. But is that the most important thing about a GSD? No. Good temperament and health have been our focus for 35 years. We don't know how to photoshop, and wouldn't do it anyway.

We would like to recommend that if at all possible you go and visit all the kennels and breeders you can - it might be quite illuminating!  See if you can pet all the grown dogs - are they loving, and happy to meet you? If there are pups, do they run to you with tails wagging? Good dogs don't need to be enhanced, do they?

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