Girl Talk

Ok, no offense to our brothers Milo and Hank, but Swing wanted to talk about some things that only us girls wonder about.  Now I'm sure the boys scratch their heads about things at times, or perhaps they are just scratching because, well, their head itches!  Or maybe the feeling of a foot stuck in an ear, digging away at who knows what, is kind of euphoric.  Swing doesn't know and she's not about to ask...

So here are some things she is wondering about, girl things that is -

• What's the deal with peeing?  Seriously, is it necessary to pee on us when we are checking out that smelly spot you just spent 2 minutes snorfing at?  Didn't you see our head there?  A little warning, maybe a shout of "INCOMING" would be much appreciated.  And while we are talking about it, can you at least wait until we are done squatting before you let 'er rip?  It isn't like that spot is going to go anywhere once we are done doing our thing.  Geez!  Oh yeah, and do you ever run out of pee?  Good grief.

• Can't you spend 30 seconds away from your mom or dad without fussing and whining and basically showing what a big BABY you are?  You really are pathetic when she/he is just 2 feet away and you can't control yourself.  It isn't like they have abandoned you on the side of the road or anything.

• Ok, I may be your "sister" whom you enjoy playing with and even snuggling with (sorry, does revealing that embarrass you?), but I notice that you have no problems dropping me like a hot tamale when there are other girls around!  Yeah, I'm like mud when we visit grammy's house or our friend Gayle.  Thank goodness I'm comfy in my person or I might take offense at that!  Just remember, your sister will always be there when those other floozies move on.

So there you have it, some things that Swing has wondered about and wanted to get out there.  She realizes that you boys are a work in progress, so for now a little forgiveness for these minor shortcomings is in order.  She's sure there are things about the girls that the brothers wonder about, or maybe not!  After all, while she too is a work in progress, she thinks that she is just about perfect.  Of course ask her mom and she'll just grin and wink.  Hmmmm.

 Hank thinks he is winning!

I'm gonna catch you!

Swing, Dodge, Dirk and Jill hope the M&M siblings and their families have a wonderful New Year.  We look forward to hearing of the adventures of the rest of the gang in 2012.  Happy New Year!!!!!

Snoring?!?

Ann sends the following...

Do any of the other M&M puppies snore?  We've gotten plenty of chuckles out of listening to our little girl snore away when she's sacked out. Maybe it's her long nose - but whatever it is it's pretty adorable.

Ella snoozing (snoring away)

When she's not enjoying snuggling up in front of the fire Ella's been busy learning lots of new things in her obedience foundations & puppy agility classes. We're doing shaping & manners work which is all very different with her than it was with my male Weim, but I love her attitude & we're having lots of fun together. She loves to work.

Ella enjoying the fireplace

It was good to get a report from Ann on our sister Ella.  She sounds a lot like Swing who does indeed snore at times.  And Swing enjoys working too!  Thanks for sharing with us Ann, now how about the rest of the siblings?

Florida, the adventure...

Swing, Dodge and I (along with our friend Joan) headed to Florida to participate in the Brevard KC show (Swing's debut), the Orlando DTC obedience trial and Eukanuba.  We planned to take two days to get there and we pretty much met that schedule even though it did take a bit longer than I remembered from the last trip.  We made it to Rocky Mt, NC the first night which was about 100 miles less than originally planned, but we were safe and that is what was most important.  Swing and Dodge traveled well and she did very well for only her second time staying in a hotel (although the first two nights we didn't get a lot of sleep because she had to vocalize her uncertainty at every little sound that wasn't familiar).  We arrived in Orlando around 8pm on Wednesday evening and settled in to our nice suite at the Embassy Suites about a half a mile from the convention center.

On Thursday morning we were up and out the door early since Swing's ring time was at 8am.  I figured we would get there about an hour early so that she could settle and get ready to show.  WELL, little did I know that parking is what seems like a MILE from the show rings!  From the directions we were given it honestly took us around 15 minutes to find the hall where the rings were.  Needless to say, my plans of being ringside an hour early fell to the wayside.  We did get there with about 20 minutes to spare which gave me time to put on her show lead, get out the bait and pick up my number.  First up was the Sweepstakes class where she got a second place out of two followed by the regular class where she again got a 2nd place (out of 3).  Holding the stack while being examined proved to be challenging, but her movement on the down and back as well as the go around was very nice (she did a little bit of pacing but I was able to fix that fairly quickly.  The important thing was that the ring experience was positive and she appeared to have a good time.  Video of her performance is coming soon.

Dodge was in the obedience ring on Friday (we did not qualify in Open) before going in to the breed ring on Saturday for the Eukanuba show.  He did not make the cut but showed well (as he always did in the breed ring) and looked good.  It was a good way to finish his conformation career.

We logged a slew of miles over a 6 day period, met a lot of nice people, walked a LOT and ran in to folks from our area.  I am always amazed at how far you can go from home and still manage to run in to someone that is either from Pennsylvania, has relatives in Pennsylvania or has a funny story about Pennsylvania.  Cracker Barrel was our go to place for stopping to eat (Joan wondered just how many of them there are), gas prices where a lot cheaper as you went south although every now and again you would see a place where it was more expensive (we saw $2.99 in NC and $3.47 in SC), and we managed to see license plates from 30+ states!  Traffic was manageable, no accidents or scary moments.  All in all I'd say the driving portion of the trip was uneventful (ok, there was this one incident where I got on I-95 and drove in the wrong direction for a good 30 miles...).

I hope to return to Eukanuba some day, maybe with Dodge participating in the NOI (National Obedience Invitational) or Swing in breed.  But before then I think I'd like to go as a spectator just to take in the sights and enjoy sitting at ringside watching great dogs and handlers (that applies to ALL disciplines).  Video to follow!

Mystery solved!

I received an email from Amy this morning with this picture...

Indy-Anna on her "perch" - around 12 months old

Howard and I have both wondered where our pups got the "mountain goat/perch" gene and lo and behold here is half sister Indy-Anna demonstrating couch perching!  And I must say that I think the girls all bear a striking resemblance to her (Swing's nose is a tad longer at the moment, how do Ella and Gracie Dot look ladies???).  Anyway, if you look at the pedigree you will see that Indy's sire is Maestro (who is also our puppies sire) and the puppies dam Mia is Indy's great granddaughter.  So these guys have a double dose of that "perch" gene.

So there we have it, mystery solved!  Indy-Anna's obviously was not going to let that awesome sunbeam (looks like this picture was taken in the winter, trees seem bare) go to waste and the couch just happen to be in the way!  Thanks for sharing the picture Amy.

Cookies!

This past weekend Swing and the boys and I hooked up with our friend Sallie for what may turn out to be an annual event... Christmas cookie/goodie baking!  Now I hope Sallie forgives me for revealing this, but she's not an early riser so unlike "marathon baking" at my sisters, we didn't get started until after 10am (at my sisters you start around 6:30 am!).  Sand Tarts were first to go in the oven since I had prepared the dough the night before and we had to wait for Brad to finish the grocery store run (he was put on notice that he may have to make a run, or two, to pick up missed items).  Before I go any further, this was the first time we had tackled holiday cookie baking, so the wheel was far from greased to perfection.  We got off to a slow beginning but before we knew it we had two types of dough setting up in the fridge, one batch of cookies done, Heath Bars and fudge well on their way and that was all by early afternoon!  The dogs entertained themselves (Swing thinks Sam the shorthair  is quite the man, I'll have to get pictures of them playing for a future blog entry) and pretty much stayed out of our way.  Very few cookies were broken, the old hand held mixer made it through some intense dough mixing (those old Sunbeam mixers, they can take some abuse!), and no human or dog was hurt in the process so I'd say it was a success!  We are ready to do it again (right Sallie?), maybe sooner than later!  :-)

Since the last entry I have noticed that Swing has gone through another growth spurt and Howard reports the same with Hank.  Must be the 6 month jump or something like that.  Howard and I wonder if there isn't some mountain goat in our pups background (or maybe some distant relative was part of a circus act or perhaps a gymnast) since one of their favorite things to do is perch on top of the couch or lazy boy.  I have even caught Swing sprawled out across the top of the couch like a cat!  She's the first Weim that I've owned that does that and she cracks me up every time I turn around from sitting at this computer and see her perched.  Pictures will follow!

I have received updates from a couple of  you and will post them this weekend.  But if you have more to tell us please drop Swing and I a note, with pictures, and I'll pass the update along.  For now you'll have to be happy with this somewhat boring post, with no pictures.

Closing in on 6 months!

Within a week our M&M litter will be 6 months old!  So far for me it's been a fun journey which began with the road trip to Knoxville to pick up the crew.  And look how far everyone has come since that time.  All pups are doing some form of obedience work, a few have started foundation training in agility, tracking and conformation.  Of course they've all become wonderful companions and family members, right?

Turning 6 months old means that our guys are eligible to show in a couple of disciplines and Swing will be taking her first step in to the breed ring on Dec. 15th at the Timacuan Weim Club Specialty in Orlando FL (Dodge will be showing in obedience and at the Eukanuba show that weekend).  I'm rather excited and a little apprehensive about her debut, I want it to go well for her so that she has a good time.  We'll definitely report on it afterwards.

Swing got to meet up with her brother Milo at the Turkey Cluster dog show on Sunday.  These two had not seen each other since they were 9 weeks old and the reunion was filled with lots of horseplay.  I had to put Swing away during breed judging because they were rolling in to the ring gating and I didn't want to bother the dogs that were showing.  And poor Milo was finding it hard to lay quietly with his sister nearby so during breed judging she sat in the van with the boys.  Afterwards we took both of them out for Michael to work with.  Milo has not had the convenience of going to a breed handling class so Michael had to work extra hard getting him to stack and stand still.  And when it came to gaiting, oy vey!  He was able to put in one or two strides and then it was off to the races!  I really liked the expression on his face in this shot...

 Seriously dad?  This is kind of boring!

You "gait", I'll RUN!

Milo hand stacked, good boy!

For someone who hasn't been worked with Milo did fairly well and didn't embarrass Art that much.  Amy sent them home with a list of things to work on and after talking to Art I know he'll dive in to it with determination and purpose!  Art did inform us that he and Milo are taking TWO obedience classes a week, way to go boys!

Swing has had a show handling class, and after explaining the one or two things on how to stack her, she did quite well for Michael.  Hopefully she'll be ready for her debut next month!

 A little free stacking

 Moving

Yes, she can be goofy too when the cameraman is the owner!

Swing's best stack of the afternoon

When we were done at the show site we headed up to the Anderson's to visit and let Swing and Dodge play with Rosey.  The girls enjoyed tumbling with one another as well as schmoozing for treats from Michael...

One for me, one for you!  Swing (L) and Rosey (R)

 We'll come at him from both sides!  Teamwork!  Rosey (L) and Swing (R)

C'mon, give it to me Michael!  You can't resist the Swingster!

Of course I had to take a picture of Dodge's mom (and Swing's niece, figure that one out)  Yankee.  Is that the sweetest face or what?

Yankee (another dog with cute feet!)

It was a beautiful day, mostly sunny and comfortable (not too warm and definitely not chilly).  We were able to spend time outside with the dogs allowing everyone to stretch their legs.  And the mud was kept at a minimum (albeit short lived since it is suppose to rain this week).  A visit to GraytSky is always a treat for the dogs and I and the bonus was seeing Art and Milo again.  Perhaps we will see the boys over the winter and take Art up on his offer to stop by for a hike along the Potomac.  As always, I'd love to hear from the rest of the gang since this blog is all about them.  We hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving.

Little girls are made of...

Some of you know that I love my male dogs.  Girls were nice, but too many times I've seen traits that really didn't fit my personality or style of training.  My mom always said that females were more loyal, loving and overall better dogs to be around.  Our dachshunds were mostly females, except for the one that grew up with me.  "So High" was the only dog we owned with papers, and even though he had a tendency to wander if the gate was left open (yes, he was intact until the day he went to the rainbow bridge), he had that demeanor that upon looking back, just fit my personality.  Sure, our girls were fun and loving and loyal, but they were GIRLS!  Fast forward to my first dog when I left home, a GSP bitch.  I listened to mom and got a bitch versus the gorgeous male the little girl was holding when I walked through the door of the breeders house.  MISTAKE!  I spoiled her a little (ok, maybe a lot) and while she loved to hunt and go for rides, she was stubborn, vindictive in a way, and truthfully, she really didn't care if she pleased me or not (yep, it was all about her).  The day I placed her she just walked away and never looked back.  Wow, talk about a slap in the face.  I said I'd never own another female.  And then I discovered the world of dog showing...

Swing, Oct. 2011

I started showing in obedience with my male GSP (the son of the one I placed). He was a wonderful Novice A dog, very forgiving but also a little slow to mature and pick up what I was trying to teach him. He always tried for me and that is what I like about males. He never tried to defy me in any way and he was loyal and loving. His only fault was he loved to chase cats, and if he got out of the back yard then he was off and running through the neighborhood. He got his CDX and was starting to show in Utility when he got cancer. By then I had gotten my first Weim and since I had been exposed to the breed ring (showing Welsh Springer Spaniels) I wanted a dog I could show in breed as well as obedience. Five finished his Championship when he was just over four years old, all owner handled and on average we showed about 17 times a year in breed.  Yeah, it took a while but I was a green handler and he was a Canadian bred dog that didn't have the same style that a lot of the dogs here in the east have (he was from a breeder north of Vancouver).   My next dog came from a breeder here in PA and when I met her I told her I wanted a male that I could owner handle to his CH, show in obedience, tracking, etc.  I wanted an all around dog that I could do it all with.  I got Dodge and so far he's panned out to be exactly what I had hoped for and more in many ways.  Our journey is far from over.

Which brings me to Swing.  I realized that there was only going to be one way I would ever get a male puppy from Dodge so I told Amy that if she could produce something like her old bitch Indi-Anna (http://www.graytsky.com/Indy-Anna.html), whose style/type I like, I would consider getting a bitch.  Indi-Anna, like most of the GraytSky bitches, is very sweet and pretty as far as I'm concerned.  She's Dodge's great grandmother and has the pedigree that contains dogs that I find pleasing.  When Amy told me that she was going to be involved in a breeding that went back to Indi-Anna's sire I figured it was a sign, here was my chance to get a bitch with the pedigree I like that I could breed to Dodge for that future male puppy!  I was in (and I didn't arrive at that lightly)!  And the M&M litter was born.

What do I think of owning a female?  Nancy my obedience trainer asked me last night what I thought of Swing and without hesitation I said "she's a blast!".  Mom is right, she is very loving, loyal (so far) and sweet.  Maybe I'm a bit wiser and I've learned some things about raising and starting a puppy.  Life is all about her but on my terms.  She has the drive and work ethic I like in a dog and she always tries to do things that please me.  Yes, she has a couple of small quirks that I chalk up to being female characteristics, but she's NOTHING like the GSP bitch I had 25 years ago.  She may be my one in a million, time will tell but I certainly hope that she isn't.  She still has a lot of growing and maturing to do (she's only 5 and a half months old) but I am optimistic that she'll be a fabulous competition/show partner, along with being the wonderful pet that she is right now.  So while I never thought I would own another bitch I am finding that this new adventure is more exciting than I could have imagined.  Yeah, I'll keep her...

To finish the title, Little Girls are made of "the old, mixed with some new, add in some tried and true rearing, and a Grayt team of breeders", you just can't go wrong.

I taught her that?

I just had a revelation this evening and it came after a 15 minute training session.  Tonight I told myself I had to stay home and do a little cleaning (and as I type this I can tell you that all I've done is pull some paper towels off of the roll to do some dusting, which I have yet to do) and because of that I would only be able to do some doodle type of training.  I'm not blessed with a hallway or garage where I can do anything that requires lots of movement or distance work, so when I train at home I doodle or work on set ups, fronts, finishes, mark, etc.  My room of choice is the kitchen because most of my treats are kept in or on top of the refrigerator.  I do venture in to the living room on occasion but the kitchen is where most of the action takes place.  So I did some things that we covered in the seminar this past weekend.  About ten minutes after I ended the training session I found Swing hanging out in the kitchen and I figured she needed to go out.  So I played doorman and out she went with Dodge right behind her.  After I let them in I was looking at email and realized that she wasn't at my feet or chewing on the the string of my wind breaker that is draped over my chair, so I went looking for her.  There she was, hanging out in the kitchen.  Suddenly it hit me, holy cow I've taught her that the the kitchen means training which in turn means treats!  No wonder she constantly disappears to that room of the house!  So guess where I'll be doing some of our training from now on?  In other rooms in the house of course.  Kind of like taking the show on the road (but never leaving home).  Wow, who would have thought.

Swing, Sept. 2011

Dog shows, training, seminars, oh my!

I started to write this entry last weekend but I just couldn't pull my thoughts together enough to warrant an interesting post.  So here it is a week later and I think I can talk about some things and provide a story or two that will make it worth reading.  First of all, Ann sent an update on Ella...

The day after Jill wrote that she found Swing's 1st tooth I found one from Ella.

She's enjoying her puppy agility class where she added the tire to straight tunnels as equipment she's  familiar with. She's doing a good job of being quiet in her crate during class but when she shared a private with big brother Stanford we learned she has a long way to go to be quiet during his turns. I'm thankful for the Manners Minder my trainer let me borrow. I found it to be so helpful I bought one for myself.

I'll close with a few photos of the dogs enjoying the sun that we occasionally see up here in Northern NY.

It looked like a glorious day Ann, thanks for the note!

Last weekend the grey guys and I took a trip to Bloomsburg for the Back Mt Kennel Club all breed show and obedience trials.  I had Dodge entered in Open A and while we did not qualify I did learn a few things about what I thought we had mastered and what the reality of what we had, or rather had NOT, mastered.  I was feeling pretty good about us picking up our first leg in Open and then things just fell apart.  He worked each exercise, but not to the level that I know he is capable of and certainly not with the understanding that I would have liked to have seen.  The "been there, done that, know what you need to do" fairies must have sensed my disappointment at our Sunday performance because just before I left the show I received word that a working spot had opened in a weekend seminar just down the road and I knew I had to take it.  But before I get to that, I took Swing along to the show and set up her crate in the obedience area so that she could get use to the environment and get the chance to meet some new people and experience some new things.  Lucky for us, a number of the obedience competitors had pups/young dogs there doing the same thing I was doing.  She behaved herself quite well in the soft crate while I warmed Dodge up and eventually took him in the ring.  I had some friends keep an eye on her and only once did someone have to remind her to be quiet.  All in all she was perfectly behaved and she got to do a little training as well as a quick jaunt through the one building where most of the grooming was being done (I have a friend who owns Aussies so I took Swing back to her set up and let her take in the sights, sounds and smells of a grooming area).  It is important in my eyes that our puppies get this type of exposure before stepping in to any ring, be it conformation, obedience or agility.

I made mention of the "been there, done that, know what you need to do fairies" and the seminar that came about was called Fun with Fundamentals with Betsy and Linda from Top Dog Obedience School (located in Flanders, NJ).  I've attended weekend workshops with Betsy and Linda as well as a Sylvia Bishop seminar hosted by Top Dog.  Top Dog students are seen just about every weekend at shows here in the East and they use mostly positive methods with some corrections and negative reinforcement when necessary.  And my trainer has worked with the Top Dog trainers so a lot of the information was very familiar to the dogs and I.  What was great about this seminar was that they focused on the fundamentals of obedience, stressing that in order to have any success you need to have dog attention!  So all of the exercises and games they had us working on this weekend were geared towards building that connection and I came away with more notes but also a clearer sense of the direction I need to take in order to make our ring performances more successful.  You can't be lazy in your training, regardless of the discipline, because if you are then you will train undesirable skills that will frustrate both your dog and you.

More on the seminar in the next post.

Nor' Eastern!

I am going to go out on a limb and say that all of the M&M litter, with the exception of lil' sis Gracie Dot, experienced their first snow fall of the season today (Saturday) and I am sure everyone had fun playing in the white stuff.  Swing ran around like a little maniac, skidding along and plowing the snow between her toes and catching the little snowballs that I would pitch to her.  She was more willing to run around in the white stuff than wet stuff (don't tell her that it is just *cold* wet stuff!).

Where are you going?

Leaping the sidewalk

Swing - So, what do we do in this stuff?  Dodge - KIDS!

The temp kept the accumulation to only a couple of inches but it was enough to run around and play in.  If it had been another month we probably would have seen more snow (the weatherman said it could have been a foot!).  We can hardly wait for that!

More teething, field time

Teething continues, Saturday morning I was able to retrieve another tooth from Swing.  Not one of the big molars, but a molar nonetheless.  It was obvious that she wasn't feeling too good after an afternoon playing with Hank and doing a little puppy agility training.  When we got home she wasn't too interested in her supper but instead she headed to that nice donut bed of hers.  She snoozed until early evening and then she finally decided to eat some of her supper.  Sunday morning she was her chipper self and that made me happy.

After agility training on Saturday we pulled the pups out of the xpen to let them run around and stretch their legs, and take advantage of having the equipment to ourselves.  We called the pups over the jump bumps (plastic gutters) and had them racing through the tunnels, which were curved or had a 90 degree bend in them.  Swing took it upon herself to step up on the teeter and she was rewarded for having her back feet on the bottom of the plank in the contact area.  All I really wanted her to do was step up on it, turn around and then step her front feet off and leave her back feet on.  That happened twice and just as I commented that I was wondering when one of them would actually do the teeter, Swing walked right up the plank!  Thank goodness Howard and I were both in position, I caught the board as it tilted and Howard rewarded her when she was on the other end and the board was on the ground.  I seem to remember a Grayhart dog doing something similar when she was a pup, right Linda?  Anyway, she negotiated the obstacle about a half a dozen times without any prompting from me.  Now not to worry, she was totally supervised and rather than discourage her from doing it (and potentially creating problems down the road) I chose to run with it and reward the behavior that was offered.  I would not ask her to do the teeter as she is still developing and I will not chance her scaring or hurting herself.  Swing has been encouraged to offer behaviors and I think that is a key component in having a dog that wants to perform.  Yes, sometimes she does things I would not like her to do (like walk along the top of the couch and jump down off of it) and those behaviors are not rewarded.  I will do my darnedest to keep her safe while building her confidence in herself and her environment.

One thing I have found that does not thrill her is bird work.  She may be a late bloomer or she may not see the excitement in a bird.  Last weekend I showed her a dead bird and she was a bit hesitant about approaching it and after a quick sniff or two she was done.  She was more interested in socializing with the people than looking at that bird.  So maybe she'll change her mind when she is older and maybe not.  It is all good regardless, field work is low on our priority list.  Now Dodge is another story...

We are taking it easy this week since her mouth is sensitive.  I checked it and she does not have her lower canine that was dying as a result of the face plant she took a number of weeks ago.  I'm hoping the replacement tooth comes in just fine, as of now I do not see it breaking through the gum but the fact that she continues to suck on her gums tells me that there is a lot going on in that little mouth that I can't see.  I will tell you that her front teeth, upper and lower, are in and she takes great delight in leaving little nibble marks on my arms with them!

It's suppose to get a little wet and chilly later this week so I'll close with some shots of the gang enjoying the sun when Hank was visiting.  I only have one window where we get that nice sunbeam and as you can see, everyone crowds in there to get a piece of it.

 The bobsy twins

 The whole gang (Dirk is hidden behind Dodge, Swing on couch, Hank on floor)

 Swing close up

Hank relaxing

Let the teething begin! (and more)

Swing lost her first (well the first that I'm aware of) tooth last night, a premolar that I was able to get out of her mouth before she swallowed it.  She's been sucking on her gums for about a week now and I knew it was just a matter of days.  Well she was sitting at my feet and trying to chew on something, which I thought was a piece of a paper towel roll her brother had chewed up, when I found it between her lips and gums.  So it's in a pill bottle and I'm anxiously awaiting the next one.

Hank is visiting for a few days but he shows no indication of losing a tooth, but if he does I hope I find it to add to Swing's budding collection.  Maybe he will surprise me with one before he goes home later this week.  In the meantime he's been having a blast hanging with his sister and cousin (and Dirk, the old man who gorged himself on a box of Milkbones on Monday.  My fault, I forgot to take them off of the counter before I left for work).  He's learned to have his teeth brushed, negotiate a bunch of steps, open the pantry door  (that one surprised even me) and supervise yard clean up.  Tonight is toenail night which we will do at training and tomorrow we may have a bath night since they could all use it after dealing with the mud leading in from the back yard.  He doesn't have a large fenced in yard at home and it is so cute and funny watching him and Swing race around the back yard like a couple of young foals/deer.  I'll get some pictures of that before he leaves.  I warned Howard that he may not get the little monster back since he has settled in so nicely.  Of course we all know that keeping litter mates is not a good idea and I wouldn't dream of it, one is enough work!

This past weekend the weather was wonderful and after agility training we put together some props for me to take pictures of all of the dogs.  Of course the dastardly duo had to have their pictures taken and it was quite comical watching 3 adults try to handle and manipulate two 19 week old puppies.  Individually they were manageable, together was another story.  But we got the task done and here are some results...

Swing (L) and Hank (R)

Swing

Beau (aka Hank)

And the pups were not the only stars of the photo shoot.  Dodge sat patiently while I took his pictures (he was very good about taking directions from my friends) and while I love the colors in this shot if I were to re-shoot it I would find a way to shield some of the sun from his eyes (can we say diffuser?).

Dodge

This is Candy, Jan's sheltie that Howard is presently running in Novice.  At her first agility trial she picked up one Novice standard and one Novice jumpers leg.  We were glad that there was a bit of a breeze on Saturday because Candy has blown her coat so she isn't carrying as much as she was a month ago.  The wind helped "fluff" her a bit.

Candy

Finally, one of the shots that I really like, we have Bart.  Bart has the wonderful honor of being his breeders for ROM and he's currently running with my friend Carolyn's husband, a job he took over when she injured her knee last fall.  Now Carolyn did all of the ground work with Bart so her husband just had to learn how to handle him and they have done extremely well since hitting the ring less than a year ago!  As you can see, Bart is quite the looker and he obviously knows it.

Bart

Photographing animals and kids is considered challenging by some photographers.  Personally I find it fun to work with subjects that can be unpredictable, uncooperative, sometimes unruly and basically FUN!   The key to successful pictures is having an assistant or two that understands said subject(s) and can take direction from the photographer.  It also helps if they can take over pressing the shutter when the photographer realizes that they need to intervene and take over the posing duties.  This is what happened when the puppies were being photographed.  Trust me, I have a number of shots of one or both of them jumping off of the bales of hay, climbing on each other, looking away, etc.   Thanks to all of my assistants, I think we got some nice pictures.

Yes, I'm crazy about feet!

For those of you that do not know me that well let me explain today's blog title.  I have a thing for cute dog feet.  I love a nice tight foot that has a nice strong pad, nicely arched toes and SHORT TOENAILS!  Toenails are generally done twice a week in my household and one of the days I set aside for doing toenails is what I call "toenail Tuesday" (there is also manicure Monday if I'm feeling really adventurous at the beginning of the week).  Now I'm blessed with two dogs that have pretty feet, Dodge and Swing (well her back feet are a little ugly right now but she is just about to start teething so I expect all of her feet to look ugly at some point) and so far pretty much all of the GraytSky dogs have pretty feet.  Feet are probably the most important structure on the dog if you stop and think about it.  I mean if they do not have good feet (and good feet vary from breed to breed, I know that a sighthounds foot would not look like the foot of a sporting dog) then you can not expect them to hold up in performance events.  So let's take a look at some feet...

Clay's feet (Dodge's daddy)

Yep, when I went to see him at Westminster one of the things I looked at were his feet and I liked what I saw (tight, well arched toes, short nails, strong pads).  Feet like that should stand up to a day in the field or the jumping and turning in obedience and agility as well as moving easily around the conformation ring.  If you saw Clay you know that his movement was lovely.

Dodge's feet (are they too cute or what?)

Fortunately Dodge got his sire and dam's nice feet.  Other than adjusting his toes everyone once in a while (generally after running at an agility trial), he's never had an issue with his feet and he handles any type of footing with ease.  We've received many a compliment about his short nails and I have been pretty diligent about grinding them weekly (again, usually twice a week or every 3 to 4 days).  He accepts the procedure with little resistance and I am careful not to nick him or draw blood.  Grinding allows you to get close to that point without causing bleeding like a pair of clippers (guillotine or scissor like) can do.  There is rarely a need to have Qwik Stop handy when using a grinder.

Dirk's foot

Poor Dirk has the biggest and ugliest feet of all of my dogs.  Unfortunately he had a rough beginning and even after 10 years this is the best that I have been able to do with his toenails.  They are at least half as big as I like them, he's flat footed and his pads are quite soft.  This foot would not hold up to a long hard day (which is why Dirk's idea of a hard day is having to get up off of the couch more than 6 times a day) and anyone who knows Dirk knows that he is all about his creature comforts!

Swing wasn't being too cooperative this evening so getting a shot of her feet will have to wait for another day when she isn't sore at me for grinding her nails.  But I can report that she has nice nails, good arch to her toes, pads that are starting to thicken and toughen and a nicely shaped foot.  As I mentioned earlier, her back feet are a bit flat and resemble a hair foot at the moment but I expect them to improve after teething and maturity.  For now you will have to accept this shot of one of her little feet...

Yes, it is bedtime and the little munchkin is snoring away in that bolster bed.  We'll revisit this subject in the future and if any of you are inclined to take pictures of your puppies feet I would enjoy seeing them.  There are some judges out there who appreciate nicely manicured nails and good feet.  So please do not forget about the foot when you are getting your dog ready to show or contemplating taking up some dog sport (flyball, dock diving, agility, obedience, rally, tracking, hunting, etc.).  Until next time...

18 weeks and growing like weeds!

The M&M litter is 18 weeks old today and first hand accounts report that they are growing like weeds (at lease Swing and Hank are!).  A friend saw them at the agility trial today (they were there to hang out and take in the sights as well as get in some hard core play time with each other) and commented on how big they were from the last time he saw them (and he sees them weekly!).  Between growing and teething (which hasn't officially started but I fear it will be here before we know it) they will be unrecognizable to those that only see them every couple of weeks (or longer).

Those puppies that share their homes with other grey dogs (does anyone have any other color???) are finally being accepted by the little munchkins as evidenced by pictures like these...

 Beau & Kasper napping in the sun

Sue, Beau and Max (yes, even the humans get in to it!)

Swing, Dirk and Dodge enjoy monopolizing the corner section of the sectional and just this evening she had herself tucked in between them.  Of course we've seen Ella playing with big brother Stanford and I'm sure they share the dog beds as well.

Handling class continues for Hank and Swing (although Swing is taking time off while her handler attends a photography class with her BFF) and reports are that last week they learned to do the triangle pattern.  I have a sneaking suspicion the next pattern will be the dreaded "L" pattern (well it really isn't that bad, I only know two judges that use that pattern so chances of seeing it in the ring are kinda rare these days).  Howard's only complaint was that he couldn't figure out how to keep his hand still while gaiting Beau, we solved that little mystery this weekend at the agility trial (yes, we were doing things other than running dogs in agility).  Puppy class continues for a couple of the pups and besides the standard, sit, down, come, walk on loose leash and recalls I've been told that crate games are being played in at least one class.

The days are getting shorter and while fall is one of my favorite times of the year, I do not like leaving for work and coming home from work when it is almost dark.  But the shorter days mean that we look forward to the weekends even more, and for me it also means cramming as much outdoor training in as possible.  Hopefully we'll have some glorious weekends like this one we just had, thus allowing us to get our puppies out to possibly play with birds or go tracking or even just hiking and enjoying the outdoors.  So enjoy these fall weekends and get out with your puppies as much as you can.  Gracie Dot says there is no excuse not to get out and do something and anyone trying to do otherwise will be met with a big raspberry...

Have a wonderful week kids!

16 week checkups

The M&M litter had their 16 week check ups this week and everyone reports that the little munchkins (who are growing like weeds and therefore will not be "little" for much longer) are thriving and doing well.

Art sends the following about Milo...

Milo had his 16 week checkup today.  He weighed in at 30 pounds.  We are off to the Eastern Shore this weekend who have a new German Sheppard puppy, who is Milo’s age.  Hopefully, we will have a happy, but tired puppy by the end of the weekend.  If the weather permits, Milo may get a chance to dip his paws in the ocean. Have a wonderful time Milo and we hope you come home with pictures from your adventure.

Ann checked it with Ella...

Ella has a busy weekend in progress visiting the Wine Country circuit shows while big brother Stanford competes n agility.   Here she is getting in some conformation practice with a new friend.

She had her 16 week check-up & weighed in @ a healthy 26.6 lbs.

She's having fun practicing crate games & 101 things to do with a box. We've also worked on restrained recalls & shaping exercises.

Ella learning to free stack

Our sister is looking pretty good from where I'm standing!  Keep up the good work Ella and have fun with Crate Games and the box game.

And speaking of sisters, here is a fabulous shot of Gracie Dot!

Gracie Dot is doing well -- still spunky and full of personality!  Attached are a couple of pictures of Gracie playing in the woods. Her 16-week checkup will actually be done at 17 weeks, but right now she's weighing in at 24 pounds. Gracie is attending obedience training and passed level 1 (after 5 classes), which involved walking on a leash, sit, down, come, sit front, stay down while we walk away, and she's learning the climb command (stays on a cot without getting off). We're still socializing Gracie quite often.  We'll be attending an outdoor art show over the weekend in a historical park in St. Louis, and Gracie will be walking around the show with her Portuguese Water Dog cousin. 

 

We enjoy hearing about the puppies and watching them grow. They are all so darling!  Take care.  We couldn't agree more Deb, thanks for filling us in on Gracie Dot's adventures!

Hank was the first one to have his check up this week and Howard said that he weighed in at 26.8 pounds and everything was perfect.  He also said...

Max and Beau are sleeping together now.  Other than Beau taking nips out of Max every once in a while, they are best friends.  Max even cleans Beau's ears!  Max is our 7 year old male.

Kasper, our 10 1/2 year old male, is tolerating Beau better.

And finally Swing paid a visit to our favorite vet and topped the scales at 32.2 pounds!  She has a tooth that is dying, the result of that face plant she took at the clubhouse 10 days ago.  It's a good thing it is a baby tooth!  And there is a lump on her jaw, kind of like a mini goose egg that hopefully will resolve itself in the next few weeks.  Otherwise she is healthy, growing and like her siblings, a wonderful puppy.

Handling class is going well for the dastardly duo, they graduated to puppy show leads (the Resco kind) this week.  We spent a good deal of the evening hand stacking, gaiting, free baiting and getting use to other people touching their heads and bodies.  Both pups are going through a major gangly stage and standing still in a stack position is very challenging as their rears are still developing.  But with patience and perseverance Howard and I are getting these two use to the touching and moving of limbs and by the time they are ready to hit the show ring they should both be old hands at this game.

Next week we'll probably put the puppies back on the tracking lines and play with the agility tunnel, the table and the puppy bumps.  Swing will be working on some of her obedience skills (puppy heeling, recalls) as well as some more trick training.  And of course she'll get the chance to tumble with her brother while the big dogs are training for the next agility trial.  And we are planning to take some portraits as soon as our friends return home from their National event so look for those soon.  Have a wonderful weekend M&M crew!

Dynamic Duo (or is it the dastardy duo?)

Swing and Hank (Beau) headed south to see the GraytSky crew but not before making a slight detour to hang out at a show n go while cousin Dodge got some ring time.  I knew the venue would be a nice place for the puppies to hang out, and Howard was kind enough to humor me by watching the munchkins while I put Dodge through an Open obedience run.  Suffice it to say, the puppies were a hit (please, are you at all surprised???) with almost all of the folks that were there.  They hung out and wrestled in the xpen, something a brother and sister just have to do, and took multiple trips outside to do their business and check out the surroundings.  While it was not that busy in the bldg. (we all figured there was an obedience trial somewhere that everyone was at), they still experienced the sights and sounds of show and part of the socialization process is to expose the puppies to environments that are both positive and safe, I think we succeeded in providing that to them.

From there we headed down the road a few miles to the Anderson's for a scrumptious lunch and more socializing for both the puppies and their owners.  Swing had been down to see her relatives the week before so she just fit right in with the school of dogs (who BTW had all received baths before we arrived, too bad we didn't know that was going to happen since Dodge and Swing both could have used a bath).  It took Hank a few minutes to adjust to the craziness of 5 new dogs (one of them being crazy Rosey who is always glad to see us) running all over the place, but he was in the mix with everyone else in no time.  Once everyone was reaquainted we let the puppies play with everyone while lunch was cooking and then they both got a rest before putting them up on the grooming table for some stacking practice and pictures.  Here is what they look like at 16 weeks...

Beau

Swing

And for comparison purposes here is a shot of their daddy Maestro at 9 months (thanks to Chris Grisell for sharing the picture)...

After spending about 3 hours at Amy's we loaded up and headed north with two very tired  puppies.

Both puppies are enrolled in a Handling class and both are training in other disciplines (tracking, obedience and puppy agility) to make them as well rounded as possible.  I am sporadically bringing out a pheasant wing to encourage Swing to develop her hunting instinct but unfortunately it is low on the totem pole for us.  We hope that our other siblings are developing as nicely as these two and their owners are enjoying them as much as I am enjoying Swing.  Next weekend Swing will again be hanging with the GraytSky clan while I head to Dover with Michael for the NASCAR race.  Hopefully Amy won't spoil her too much while I'm away!  Thanks for the grayt visit Amy and Michael!

Updates from 4

Good grief, has it really been that many weeks since a post was done?  Well I can honestly say that the M&M kids  have been busy.  Milo checked in with this cute picture and a few words.

Milo was at a pool party this weekend.  In the last hour of the last day the neighborhood pool is open they allow dogs to come in and swim.  Milo was a little reluctant about going into the water, but I had him swimming in the baby pool and even got him into the big pool.  There were maybe 20 dogs and they all had great fun running around the grassy area just past the pool.


From the look on his face I would say that he had a great time.

Then Ann sent the following about Ella...

Ella continues to be a joy & a challenge. She is a fearless ball of curiosity & seems to come up with something new every day. A few nites ago I walked in to the bedroom to find her proudly telling me that she'd prefer sleeping on our bed than n her crate. 

 

Nice try Ella but it's gonna be a long time till you earn the privilege of sleeping free!

 

Thanks for sharing with us Art and Ann!

Swing and Hank started handling class last week and wouldn't you know, the first night was a tad chilly!  The first night we went over the types of show leads that are out there and we worked on head control.  All of the puppies met the each handler and we did some walking on lead to get everyone up and moving and for our instructor to see everyone move.  Our second class started with a lesson on how to hand stack and then everyone was put up on the grooming table and stacked.  From there we went on to stacking in a ring setting with all of the others dogs.  Finally we did some gaiting on a down and back and finally an around the ring.  Even our Bouvier classmate did a nice job!  We'll try to get some pictures of the pups to post in future updates.  Both of them are growing like weeds and developing quite nicely and this weekend they all turn 16 weeks old.

Tables, dumbbells & wobble boards

Swing's weekend was spent doing what she does best, jet-setting all over the central part of the state socializing with family and friends.  This gal loves to hop in the van and hit the road and lucky for her, I'm happy to oblige!  It all started with a visit to our friend Sallie to help her get her "dog van" all set up.  Swing had a blast jumping in and out of the vans while we pulled seats out, laid carpet, adjusted pads/carpet, set platforms, wiped down insides, etc.  Sallie's van was a "new" set up which means we had to see if the carpet would fit (which meant cutting it at various places so that it would lay correctly) and then place the platform at the correct place to accommodate the crates before putting the appropriate padding on the crate corners.  As you can see, the set up turned out quite nice and Gracie seems to approve.

 

Our van had a major cleaning and rearranging performed on it which was sorely needed!  Everything was pulled out, vacuumed, wiped down and then put back in to it.  I should have taken a shot of all of the junk that came out of it but alas, we were more interested in getting everything back in (I'll post a picture of the van all decked out for a show weekend, it's amazing the way some of us outfit our vehicles)!  Swing parked herself on the platform while the crate pads were being cleaned, a great place to observe the activities.  Of course she was not amused at how long it was taking to put the van in order!

We had every intention of doing some training that day but getting the vans decked out seemed to be a good reason to sacrifice training time.

Next on the agenda, a play date with brother Hank.  Howard picked up Swing while I had lunch with an old friend and did some shopping.  After a couple of hours of assisting in the wood shop, playing with Hank and then going for a neighborhood walk (these puppies make their rounds from what I'm told), we finally got some training time in on the new wobble boards that Howard built.

 Swing (red) and Hank (blue) trying to outdo each other

Swing waiting for her reward for standing on the wobble board

Howard realized that the boards are not "wobbly" enough for these two growing youngsters, so he will be replacing the "peg" that is under the board with something more substantial.  For those that are wondering what a wobble board is, it is a training tool that is used to get the dog use to having something move under their feet in preparation for the teeter obstacle in agility.  I believe it also teaches foot awareness and builds balance and confidence.  If your dog can handle something moving under them then they should take to the teeter very easily.

And since we know that Hank loves to carry things in his mouth, I pulled a dumbbell out of my training bag to see what he would do with it.  He grabbed it from me and took off like a bandit as seen in this shot -

And he really enjoyed playing keep away with his sister -

Look at that nice hold he's got on the dumbbell, good boy!

While I really didn't want him chewing on the dumbbell, this shot was just too cute to let go by.  I did take it from him before he got too crazy with the chewing.

The next step that I would take with him would be to put the dumbbell on a string and let him chase it and pick it up properly.  Having it on a string will let you control how far he can go with it, encourage him to hold it firmly as well as bring it to you (if he doesn't then you can just reel him in!).  Swing isn't as gung ho to grab items like this but that will change when I pull out the clicker (which I started this evening) and work on it that way.


Handling class begins on Thursday and we are looking forward to meeting some new dogs and begin learning how to free stack and show.  Not only does this girl have to have the brains and work ethic for the performance events, she's got to learn to turn on the flair and charm for the conformation ring.  If she takes to it as easily as the other things then I feel that the skies the limit for this gal.  We'll report on handling later this week.  Until then...