She was literally nose to nose and breathing in my face. =)
I had a discussion last night over fried cheese sticks and spinach-artichoke dip (yum!) with a friend of mine about the ethics of choosing to breed a dog. I was outlining this and that and saying things like “If I bred a dog that was XYZ, it probably wouldn’t crop up in a puppy but what if it did? Even just one puppy… am I willing to take responsibility for that one puppy with an issue?” Her eyes got kind of big as she listened to all the considerations I had just for a litter of cute, wiggly, puppies. I laughed and explained that’s why you were better off buying from a serious, responsible breeder, even if it costs more money, than some ad in the paper for cheap puppies… we actually care about these things (can I even say “we” when I’ve never bred before?).
All of this got me thinking about my own decisions in choosing a foundation bitch. Obviously if I want to only breed the very best, I need to start with only the very best. The problem is that sometimes the very best can take different forms. Take for example a litter of puppies I saw about a month ago.
They are from a particular line that has a reputation for producing really nice, really winning Aussies. The litter is actually from a different, smaller breeding program here in Oklahoma, but the pedigree itself is straight from this other really big name. The dam finished her AKC CH in one weekend with three 5 point majors (for those of you who don’t know dog shows that is a really big deal, and for those of you who do know dog shows but don’t know Aussies, a 5 point major for Aussie bitches in this region requires something like 27 bitches). The dam’s dam finished in a very similar fashion. The puppies’ sire also finished quickly and is one of the nicest dogs I’ve ever seen in person. Just gorgeous. The puppies look to have it all, structure AND type.
Someone in dogs who I respect very, very much once told me that when buying a show/breeding puppy to go out and find the nicest dog I could, who I knew would finish as fast as possible (now to be fair, she certainly never meant to do this at the expense of health, as we’ll talk about shortly). These puppies, the ones held back for show homes anyway, definitely would seem to fit that bill if they live up to their pedigree, which I imagine they will.
Here’s where the balancing act comes in. I asked someone else who I love dearly and very much respect, who has 10 years of experience in the breed of Australian Shepherd, what she thought of the pedigree. Her first response was, “I love those lines.” Then very quickly she picked two dogs out of the pedigree three or four generations back and said, “That dog and that dog will never be in my pedigrees. Too many health issues.” This got me thinking about a lot of things.
Let’s say the dog behind the puppies’ pedigree is Bouncer and the issue of concern is Syringomyelia, or SM (it is not, I’m just pulling something out of the air here that doesn’t generally affect Aussies). SM is a serious disease and not one that I would wish on anyone’s dog, and certainly not one I would ever breed into my puppies if it was within my power. I certainly would never breed a dog that I knew to have SM. The risk of passing it along would be too high unless we knew genetically exactly what to breed him with to avoid the disease, which we don’t.
Bouncer does not have SM, but according to good sources, it seems to pop up in dogs that he’s behind for some reason. On the other hand, Bouncer has been bred a lot, so perhaps it’s just how he matches up with certain other pedigrees, and SM is bound to crop up when you have that much breeding going on. In fact, Bouncer, or one of his close relatives, crop up in a whole lot of pedigrees, so to stay completely away from those genes would be hard. The breeders of this particular litter of puppies, when asked about the occurrence of SM in these lines, don’t deny that it’s there, but say they have never once had a single dog with it and think it may have more to do with certain medications being given to dogs.
So the question becomes, am I comfortable enough with the chances of producing healthy puppies because these particular breeders haven’t seen SM to take that risk, or am I going to forgo a beautiful dog because of something that might be lurking there? The answer is a tough one to arrive at. When I go back to thinking about that conversation last night, the question becomes, “Am I willing to risk that even one puppy could have SM because of me?” Of course, nothing is ever a certain, I could avoid all dogs with even a whisper of SM possibilities, avoid Bouncer’s lines like the plague, and still inadvertently end up with it in my puppies. But with this knowledge I do have, what is the best choice?
Ultimately, I’m leaning toward the “I’m not comfortable with that” end of the spectrum. Health is very important to me, and I want every single last one of my puppies to have the best chance at a long healthy life as I can give them. I won’t lie though, if that puppy I loved so much when I first saw her showed up on my doorstep with a bow around her neck, I don’t know that I could turn her down. There are so many what ifs on both sides, but I keep thinking about that moment when I get a call from an owner I’ve sold a puppy to saying, “My baby, who means the world to me, just got diagnosed with SM. What do I do?” Maybe it would never happen, but what if it did? Am I ready to take responsibility for that?
Posted in Dog Breeding, Dog Health, Dog Shows | 2 Comments »
I have found that after a long day of work I love nothing more than to come home, take some pictures of the dogs (because they’re usually the only things around to take pictures of that aren’t some form of weed) and play in Photoshop for about 4 hours before heading off to bed. I had been working on the website for hours every night, but it was not as fun and I have put it on the shelf for now. It is presentable and I will do more to it once I have some time to sit down and read some of the Joomla tutorials online. So for now I’m back to Photoshop. It’s oddly relaxing.
I wanted to post an example of what things looks like coming out of the camera. I am really not any kind of photographer, I just am lucky enough to have a nice camera and good editing software. Here is an example of a picture that came straight off the camera. It’s not horrible, but it’s one of those that tells a good enough story, it deserves a little extra work so it can tell it’s story really well. (It looked a lot better to me until I put the new one up next to it!)
I spent 20, maybe 30 minutes on it in Photoshop and Voila! Magic! Now, Sky’s eyes, which I wanted to really take your breath away, stand out more from the rest of the picture. Also, when I took this picture it was a really hot summer day but the picture has such cool tones, it’s doesn’t reflect that. I changed it so it looks hot and it makes more sense that Sky’s tongue is hanging out of his mouth.
Everything I did was subtle, but the overall impact is huge, isn’t it? Here is the recipe I used to get this picture:
Levels, Saturation, general editing stuff
Fresh & Colorful*
Boost*- to taste
Sunshine*- to taste
*All Actions are from the free Pioneer Woman set
Posted in Photography, Sky | Leave a Comment »
So a certain Australian Shepherd club that may or may not be located in the state of Oklahoma has been behind the curve on scheduling ASCA shows this year. Their grand total has been… zero.In fact, of all the ASCA clubs surrounding me, there has only been one show since Brando came of legal showing age that has been within 3.5 hours of me, and I went to that one. I spent twice as long driving as I did at the show. But, as of today, this ASCA club has scheduled a show… four shows to be exact. That is to say, four shows in two days; one super long, super fun weekend. Four chances to try to get a point or two on this boy of mine.
Brando has been to two shows and a handful of matches, but this is the first show I’ll be taking him to where I will actually expect him to be competition. I don’t necessarily expect to win, he still looks very beaky and puppy, but he’s not going to be a throw away either. Well, that is if my awful handling skills don’t get in the way.
The show is scheduled for the first week in Sept so it’s really not that far away. I have to get a little weight on him between now and then. I’ve kept him on the thin side so as not to ruin him by too fast growth, but the judges might not appreciate feeling his ribs. Then we just have to get it in his head that galloping and climbing in the judge’s lap is unacceptable, and we’ll be good to go. Ha! If that doesn’t work out we’ll be meeting up with his breeder the next month at Nationals, and as she so subtley put it, she will “kick his red butt.”
Here is a picture of the big show dog to be after he got a much needed ear trim by someone who knows a lot more about grooming than I do. (I choose black and white because I almost never do B&W, but I know some people go bananas for it. It does add a special touch of nostalgia, but I just really like color in my life. So for all you black and white lovers, this one’s for you!)
Posted in Brando, Dog Shows | 1 Comment »
Warning: I have been having neck problems all week and finally gave in this weekend and took a muscle relaxer. As I type this I’m all Jello-y and happy and foggy, so I will try to be coherent, but I make no promises.
I don’t know if it’s something about summer time or what, but I’ve been noticing a lot of people the past several weeks that are posting ads to sell their dogs. Not rehome, but actually sell. Depending on the person, sometimes they use the word rehome, but it’s still selling. This is actually disturbingly close to one I saw not long ago:
“8 Month Old Peke-a-poo for Sale!: I have an 8 month old Peke-a-poo named Schnookums. Schnookums is the bestest puppy in the whole wide world but I just don’t have time to give her the attention she deserves, and she’s not potty trained, and she chewed up some wires, so my husband said I have to find her a new home. I paid $500 for her, but I will let her go for $300. Price firm.”
There are so many things wrong with this I don’t even know where to start, but the most important thing I can stress is you don’t get to make money on a dog you don’t want. A dog is not a car. When you are done with it, it doesn’t have a “used value.” You do not get to try to recoup your purchase price on it. You don’t get to sell it to make money to go buy a new iPhone. It is not a thing. It is a dog. Thanks to you maybe a poorly trained one, but a dog nonetheless. If you want to sell something to make money, sell your TV, it won’t feel abandoned and confused.
Anyone who takes that dog and is kind enough to give it a home is doing you a favor. A really big, stinking favor. They are cleaning up your mess. I guarantee they are going to spend a lot of time and a lot of money fixing the problems you created. They probably should be charging you. In fact, many rescues do. I know a rescue around here that charges $200 to take in your animal. And that’s a steal when you consider what you would have spent on that dog for the rest of its life.
Charging a genuine “rehoming fee” does not bother me. Especially if you’re using a venue like Craigslist or the like, something, anything, tends to weed out the people who want bait dogs for fighting or pets they can turn around and sell for money.
Legit rescues will often charge a much higher prices, sometimes a few hundred dollars, to adopt a dog as well. They give a dog they take in a lot of care. Again, fixing that owner’s mistakes be they health or training, before sending them on to a new home. They also usually carry out the spay and neuter surgery and go to a lot of trouble to make sure dogs (and cats) are going to good homes. Usually what you pay for even the more expensive rescues is cheaper than what they spent on the dog during the time they were there. (Now there are some uber-expensive rescues that seem suspect to me, but that’s not what I’m talking about here)
There are also very responsible breeders who will place retired dogs for a fee. That is different. That isn’t a dog that they don’t want. They would be happy to keep that dog for its whole life, but think the dog might enjoy being the center of attention in a family. Most breeders I know still only charge for the price of the spay which the new family would have had to do anyway. I know other breeders who have absorbed the cost of the spay and given the dog away completely.
But the people who are selling their unwanted dogs are the ones who, when someone suggests contacting the breeder to see if she’ll take the dog back, clam up or “lost her number.” They don’t want to give the dog back because they care more about making a few dollars than making sure that dog really goes to a great home. They don’t want to be out that purchase price.
Too bad! You don’t get to sell your dog! YOU made a choice to buy a dog, maybe even when you knew you shouldn’t have one. YOU failed to housebreak/train/occupy it. YOU don’t want it anymore. Man up and do the right thing. If you really can’t/won’t keep your dog, spend $200 and take them to that rescue you know will find them a great home (or contact their breeder if they came from a good one). Trust me, that is a heck of a lot less than you would have spent on your dog over the rest of their life, or the rest of the year for that matter.
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
No, no one is sick, this was a scheduled visit. Lyla had to get her Rabies vaccine so the city will “allow” me to keep dogs for another 3 years.
Lyla has been having some tremors in her hind leg. I mainly notice it after she’s been doing a lot of running around. I asked the vet about it, and she didn’t have a good answer for me. She mentioned Addison’s Disease, but Lyla doesn’t seem to have any of the other indications, so we decided it wasn’t worth running the tests at this time. I’m trying not to over-analyze the tremors too much and trust the vet’s opinion that it’s not necessarily a symptom of anything serious.
Personally, I think that the fact that Lyla has a horribly constructed rear probably has a lot to do with it. Her body is totally working against her mind every time she is running, chasing, herding, and I have no doubt that makes her muscle fatigue sooner than it should be. We’ll just keep an eye on it for now.
And because I like to get on soapboxes, the reason I have a dog with such a poorly constructed rear is because I didn’t read this wonderful article before I bought Lyla a year and a half ago. There are plenty of really great topics on that blog about buying a dog. Read them before you buy a dog. You won’t be sorry you did. It is so true that the purchase price is the cheapest part of owning a dog, and if you spend a little more upfront, your odds of a healthier product are better. And if for some reason your dog still has issues, well at least you have a good breeder to give a little IT support.
Posted in Lyla | 1 Comment »
… but at least I’m getting somewhere. I have it online right now just to bask in the glory of an accomplishment, but it will probably be coming down again this weekend as I try to do some major overhauling and master the mystery of Joomla templates!
And while you’re there, be sure to check out Rudy (available in Oklahoma) and try to convince someone in your life to give him a good home!
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
I have been trying valiantly for the past 48 hours to put some semblance of a website together so BonaDea will be able to grace the world with its “Aussome”-ness. The issue is I know nothing, absolutely nothing, about how to create a website. I have lots of really cool ideas in my head, but getting those ideas onto my computer screen is so not working.
I’m hosting through DreamHost which offers this nifty one-click software install download for lots of web programs. One of these is Joomla. Joomla is apparently a CMS that allows you to design a site so easily, a piece of cheese could design a website that rivals the big corporations. I, my friends, am dumber than a piece of cheese.
I’ve tried reading tutorials and ebooks, watching youtube videos, and good old fashioned “what happens when I push this button.” I have gotten absolutely zip accomplished in the past 6 hours. Around the time I pushed a dog off my lap out of frustration, I decided it was time to give it a rest.
A normal person would give up. Unfortunately for my mental health, once I set my mind to do something, I must do it… myself. I probably won’t even sleep well until it’s done. My goal is to have something, anything, presentable to put online next week. I’m going to interview the piece of cheese…..
Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
At the risk of beating a dead horse, I have been thinking a lot about vaccines again the past few days. It just seems to keep coming up. And here is what I really don’t get, there is a lot of information out there telling us that giving the core vaccines (Rabies, Parvo, Distemper, and Adenovirus) annually is just plain UNECESSARY, and yet I’ve met very few vets who convey that to their patients.
And we are not talking andecdotal evidence where someone said “well, I had this dog vaccinated once and then took him everywhere with me and he met lots of dogs and never get sick.” No, this is evidence where a lot of really respected non-fringy vets at the university level are conducting studies that have to meet certain standards in order to be considered valid. And they’ve run them multiple times and still get the same results. So why do I still get a postcard every year reminding me it’s time for those shots?
I think there are two factors at work here. The first is that many pet owners have been told for many years by many people that they need to give the core vaccines yearly in order for their pets to be protected. And the truth is that unless their pet has an adverse reaction that clearly correlates to a vaccine or unless they stumble across some information that indicates otherwise, the vast majority of pet owners will never question giving yearly vaccines. If their vet were to say to them, “I have these two different vaccines, one you have to give every three years and one you have to give every year,” most owners will probably still opt for the yearly because it’s what they’ve always known.
For these people, I get frustrated that vets don’t do more education. For example, my vet, who is a wonderful lady that I truly enjoy taking my pets to, and I have had several conversations on vaccination frequency. She agrees with me. She reads the studies too and can’t wait for the day when more people become more enlightened and stop vaccinating so frequently. She does not continue to revaccinate her personal pets. She still offers yearly vaccines. Why? The funny part is when I took Lyla in to get her final Parvo/Distemper shot at 1 year old, she asked if I wanted the one year or three year shot, and then laughed and said, “actually, to be perfectly honest, they are exactly the same, just have different numbers on the bottle.”
Another friend of mine had been taking her animals to the same vet for a while and giving them yearly shots. After talking with me she asked her vet about vaccinating less frequently. He launched into all the studies on duration of immunity being much longer than we thought it was, and yes, it’s perfectly safe for her to vaccinate less frequently. Why are they not sharing this information unless it’s asked for?!
I think the second reason some vets continue to not only offer but encourage yearly core vaccinations is because they are pretty old school themselves and think it is necessary. I can’t imagine being in a profession and not keeping up with the current research, but I know it happens. I had a vet tell me it was perfectly safe to give an Aussie Ivermec daily as a treatment for mange. When I questioned him he told me it was only Collies and Shelties that had to worry. I never went back to that vet again, but it just shows you what kind of stupid erroneous information can be transferred if the medical profession isn’t staying current, and it worries me.
And just as an aside, the American Animal Hospital Association is now recommending vaccinating for the core disease every three years rather than yearly, and the AAHA doesn’t change their recommendations on flimsy evidence.
(Now, I still don’t agree with every three years being necessary either, and the studies back me up there too, but I still think it’s a heck of a lot better than every year. )
Here is a direct quote pulled from a Schultz seminar: ” Recent vaccine trials have shown long-term immunity of more than seven years for distemper and parvovirus, more than three years with a canary pox-vectored distemper vaccine, and more than seven years for canine adenovirus with the second-generation vaccine product. Where studies demonstrate three years of immunity, the next steps will be to test for five, then seven.” (Note: the vaccine referenced as a 3 year DOI is the newest Recombitek vaccine and has not been on the market long enough to prove longer than 3 years. Testing for a longer DOI is still in progress and I will be very suprised if it comes back any shorter than the MLV vaccines).
I am including a link to Schultz’s paper/lecture here so you can read it for yourself. Don’t trust me, but do your own research. Read good, solid, scientifically backed up information (if you don’t have the desire to read the studies themselves, which most people don’t) and then go talk to your vet about it. Make a decision together, but make sure you are educated before trusting your vet blindly. I’ve found that more often than not vets will either do what they think their patients want without asking or they will not be as up to date themselves as they should be.
And just an FYI, if you choose to not vaccinate every year, it still doesn’t get you off the hook for going in for your yearly examination. I think this is another reason some vets continue yearly vaccines, it gets pets in to be seen. My dogs (and cat) go in every year for an exam regardless because my vet will catch things I don’t.
I’ve also noticed people seem to be extremely quiet on here. I’d like to hear some feedback. Leave a comment and tell me I’m crazy. Tell me you want to know where I’m getting this information from because you’ve never heard it. Tell me talked to your vet and it went great (or not so great). Tell me how your day is going… just talk to me! =)
Posted in Dog Health, Vaccines | 9 Comments »
“Crunchy granola” is a much loved slang phrase of mine. A previous boss of mine used to use it in reference to people that lived more “green” or ate organic food or any of those wonderful, healthy things people should do more of. It is not meant to be derogatory in any way, it was just a fun way to say, “hey look, those people are making healthy choices and I’m eating a Big Mac.”
I have mentioned in passing that I feed my dogs a raw diet. This is actually a relatively new development in my house, and they have only been eating this diet for about the past 4 months. The changes in them have been many and great, but this is not a post about how to feed a raw diet. There are many better places you can go to find that information (like here: http://blacksheepcardigans.com/ruff/?page_id=4930). No, this is a post about how my dogs will not eat anything anymore that is not healthy or natural.
A couple weeks ago I was driving to Arkansas to pick up an in-season bitch that needed to be transported to the airport so she could be shipped to Puerto Rico to be bred. I took Sky with me because he’s my car buddy and because he really enjoys looking out the window for several hours on end.
When we got to the toll booth the sweet lady inside asked if my dog could have a treat. I said yes because despite the healthy diet I feed them, a Milkbone now and then isn’t going to kill them. I handed Sky the little red bone (seriously, dogs need red food dye?) and he promptly spit it out. I handed it to him again and he not only dropped it but half spit, half threw it onto the floor between the seat and the armrest.
At that point I gave up and scratched his head and called him a Crunchy Granola dog, all the time chuckling at these health food monsters I have created. Lyla probably would have eaten it had she been there, but Sky has always preferred the finer things in life.
Speaking of finer things, last weekend I went to the natural foods grocery store to grab something for the dogs and then drove to Walmart to pick up my dinner. Spoiled rotten! (although, I would just like to clarify, the only reason I went to the natural food store for the dogs was because I needed something that wouldn’t have been at Walmart, they really don’t eat better quality food than I do…. usually)
Posted in Raw Diet | 1 Comment »
Bona Dea Australian Shepherds 