The Puppies Are Almost "Grown"!

It is one of the most unimaginable things! I cannot believe tomorrow will be 8 weeks since our puppies were born! Where has the time gone? From blind little "moles" to "real dogs" in just eight weeks! Unbelievable!
In a couple more weeks most of them will have new homes and those people will be thrilled. I think the pups will be also as we have tried valiantly to find good homes and I think the pups are ready for "people bonding". But it is going to be pretty hard to see them go. The saving grace is that (hopefully) we will keep in touch and follow them throughout their lives while hearing about and enjoying all their adventures!
I have tried to socialize and acclimate them to a variety of different experiences. They have been such beautiful "blank slates" - ready for learning and such happy, willing students. What precious little gems they are!
When the dust settles I will have more "reflections" about this experience. For now I am amazed every day how they grow and how vital the role of the breeder is in their development. It would be easy to just let them sit around in a pen and when they are old enough, send them out into the world. But it is infinitely more important to them and their new families (and to me!) to do all I can to start their lives on a solid and loving footing. They didn't ask to be born.... I, as a breeder, made a decision to bring these puppies into the world and it is my obligation to make their existence as happy and productive as I can through the limited time I have with them. AND IT IS SO MUCH MORE FUN!!

Where Have I Been?

Sorry if anyone has been wondering what has happened to my posting. We were blessed with 3 beautiful girl Border Terrier puppies in late July. My youngest girl "Ellie" presented these to us in a textbook easy whelping.
They are having a ball! Growing like weeds and now are in a big 6ft x 9ft play area where they can run and romp. They have a small teeter-totter to play on and a short section of PVC tunnel to investigate so they are budding Earthdogs and maybe we have an agility dog or two in there! They're eating mush and nursing some still from mom and have been learning to pee and poop on the papers in the back of their area. Later this week we will go outside! First time stepping on grass should be a treat to watch!

Their puppyhood here goes by so quickly. Pretty soon they will go off to their new homes (all are spoken for!) and we will be wondering what happened! In the meantime, we get to enjoy them and watch them learn and grow daily! I have to admit we have had it pretty easy this litter. Breeding animals is fraught with risks and disappointment sometimes, but litters like this one make up for all that and more!

The Great Triangle

I was chatting the other day with a very nice couple about Border Terriers. They are hoping to adopt one soon having owned a BT previously. They were kind enough to complete a puppy application in much detail. And I realized as we talked that I knew a lot more about them than they did about me. I had wanted to meet them so I could evaluate them as a potential home for a puppy, but hopefully they were likely evaluating me as a breeder just as carefully.
I realized that I knew the breeders of my own dogs only superficially in most cases. We meet the breeder maybe over the telephone or via email, and maybe we are lucky enough to be referred to them. We have a few conversations, exchange a few pictures, answer their questionairres and maybe meet them for a few hours when we pick up the puppy, or before, if we live close by. But in both directions, it's a pretty basic acquaintance.
Do we need to know more? Not really. But we do share a dog's life that hopefully will be long and bring much joy to both sides. Our puppy homes shepard that little pup through all his life and we are the people they will turn to if they have questions or problems. They depend on our expertise in selecting breeding stock, on providing the basic socializing for the puppy, and for ensuring the initial health and disease prevention for the dog.
Some of us breeders believe that these puppy homes are part of an extended family of our dogs and ourselves. We love to hear how the dogs are doing, what they are learning and acheiving, and always enjoy seeing pictures, if not the actual dog itself. Some of us like to keep in touch while other breeders seem too pre-occupied and busy with the rest of their lives.
As a potential puppy home you need to be comfortable with how your dog's breeder treats the breeder-owner relationship. If you are a "sharer" of news and joy, but your breeder doesn't return emails or letters, etc.; perhaps you would have been happier with a more personable breeder. Much of the joy of living with a dog is sharing. Sharing activities with your dog brings much joy, and sharing this joy with others can be very important for some owners.
As breeders we need to realize that every potential puppy owner is as different as each of our puppies; and that some owners appreciate a stronger relationship than others. As a service to our potential puppy homes, we need to take a few minutes and get better acquainted with those who seek us out. We are all part of a great triangle- breeder, owner and dog. Through the dog we have been brought together, our paths have crossed and our lives somewhat intertwined. In some cases, we may discover a better friendship than we could have ever imagined. We might become partners, advisors, mentors, co-breeders, or more. It would be a shame to miss such an adventure.

The Position to Win

Sometimes it seems you and your dog try and try but still can't come out a winner or get the score you need to qualify. Ever wonder how some of the pro handlers and trainers seem to always win? Here's something I was discussing with a handler the other day.
The secret to winning or getting a qualifying score is to have your dog in the position to win every time you enter the ring. Every dog is different and every dog gains the skills, experience and emotional maturity to be a winner at different times. You just have to wait for the dog to get it together mentally or physically before they can win. But even if they are mentally, emotionally and physically capable of winning, you still must place them in the position to win.
What do I mean by this? It means that they must have the basic training and skills needed to be winner firmly entrenched in their minds and bodies. For example, in conformation, they must know how to trot on a loose lead, stack both free and by hand, be at ease on the judging table when being evaluated, and have learned that the show ring is a fun place to be. In earthdog, they must learn to drive through the darkness of a complex tunnel system to the quarry, must have developed the instinct to work the quarry aggressively and learn to use their nose as a guide to locating the quarry. In Rally they must know the basic commands, hand signals and movements and know that, no matter the distraction, their place is at the heel position or where you have told them to go. In all activities, they must have had the physical development, athletic conditioning and nutrition to remain competitive throughout the length of the competition.
When you have the skills taught, you need to remember the mental aspect of your sport. Mental conditioning is as vital as the physical. When all individual skills and training have been learned, you must tie them all together in your dog's mind like you are developing a dance routine for your sport. We go here and do this, next we go here and do that, etc. It becomes routine and dogs love routine! Finally you must anticipate, and train for, the unexpected as well as those things that are expected, but are not always the same. In conformation, you need to train for the "go round" at the head of the line, in the middle and as the last dog in line. You need to train the "down and back", the triangle and the "L" because any of these can be chosen by the judge. And you need to train for getting bumped, being in a tight line-up and having the dog in front of you go very slowly. Some of these skills are for you to learn and some for your dog, but all are necessary for you both, as a team, to master.
Once you have these elements down, you can start placing your dog in the position to win. Now you refine posture and gait, enhance presence, build more enthusiasm and develop speed (in those sports where speed is a requirement). But every time you enter the ring, you do the same basic things that you trained- the basic skills. You continuously place your dog in a position to win by having the skills down. When the dog is ready, when he / she is mentally and physically prime, then you will begin to win or score. But while you are waiting for the dog to mature in their bodies and their sport, you are developing them and constantly striving to place them in a position to be a winner.
Our dogs mature at their own pace. For some it's at nine months, for others two years, for some or in certain sports, it can be many years. It's our responsibility as trainers and handlers, every time we take them into the ring or to the test, to give them every opportunity to win so that when they are ready, they can win.

Ellie has 'em up a Tree!

Well, I knew my little girl was smart! Seems she remembers about the tree squirrels she saw while at summer camp!! ("Summer camp" is our term for where she was while she was being bred! )
Yesterday when I came home for lunch Ellie was standing in the dog area under one of the trees on her hind legs looking up at the tree. Now we dont have THAT many trees here as this was all a big, flat hay field when we bought it except for the few scrub oaks in the creek bed. And I can't remember seeing a real tree squirrel around here ever. Anyhow, I have planted a bunch of trees over the years and there is a nice big one in the dog run area and two bigger ones just outside. She was looking up at the one in the run. So I came over, looked up but I couldn't see anything.
Then she BOLTED over to the tree just outside the run. And sure enough, when I looked up, there was a tree squirrel up in that tree! It must have lept from tree to tree! Well, she had a grand time watching that squirrel most of the rest of the afternoon. Sometime later he must have jumped down and gone over to the neighbor's trees because when I checked him out later he was gone.
So now Ellie and Kate know about tree squirrels. (Kate learned about them long ago on one of our walks!) Now they BOTH will stop and look up at the trees as we go on walks! You never know....there may be a varmit up there! Thanks to "summer camp" my little girl is ever more educated!

Loss to the Breed

Linda Cribbs (LNDI'S was her kennel name) passed away this morning. A long-time Border Terrier breeder from Taft, Ca., Linda was a fixture at many S. Ca. and N. Ca. shows. Many times she would make the long trek up to N. Ca. to help support a major or a terrier show. I last saw Linda in January at the Indio shows. She wasn't in the ring, but many of her dogs, or the offspring of her dogs, were. She always treated me with a kind "hello" and we occasionally compared notes about her leg problems and my knee problems. She bred the type of dog she liked and tried to remain true to the Border Terrier breed standard. She will be missed.

The Best Dog He Ever Had

I was out walking my dogs this evening and a family passed by with a mixed breed dog. Off leash but very well behaved. Part Chihuahua and part Corgi?? As we passed by, I asked the owner the usual questions: How old? What mix? Etc. etc.

His response was enlightening. She was a pound-puppy and the best dog he had ever had. Didn't know exactly what she was but she was six years old. She was smart and listened to him and was very obedient. And she had never had one obedience class.

His response triggered something in my memory. Long ago when my wife was starting to breed dressage horses, we imported a mare with a filly at side and a foal inside. A 3 for 1 package. The filly was nice but my wife didnt think she would ever be a top level dressage competitor and so we sold her to a nice home with an experienced trainer. Long story short, the filly became an FEI level (WORLD CLASS!) dressage horse! From then on I always believed that the horse was the least critical of the partnership elements. When asked how far a horse might go in competition, I always said that, given good health, I thought the horse would usually NOT be the limiter.

And I think the same is true for our dogs. No matter if a pure bred or a mixed breed, given a good sendoff and start in life by the breeder, all dogs are very likely capable of much more than we sometimes think they can achieve. It's usually our poorly conceived training, our ill-timed cues and responses, our lack of quality time with our dogs that limits their acheivements. The man this evening and his little girl are proof of that.