I hope this Blog proves to be both fun and educational for anyone interested in Showing and/or Breeding Dogs. Spend some time with us and you will really understand the time and effort and emotions that goes into this hobby. Join me here for the good times and bad times, the joys and sorrows, the wins and losses. Welcome to life at Vista Dei!

What a wonderful morning it is!  I got up to the sunshine, sure it is still in the 30's but was able to go out and clean up the yard and play with the dogs without the bitter winds driving me back inside.  They are still out, playing with some sticks, barking at the squirrels, intimidating the garbage truck as it goes by.  I love the mornings out with the dogs, it is my favorite time of the day and I am looking forward to it getting just a bit warmer so I can have my breakfast out there too and throw toys while I have my coffee.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:00 | link | comments

Check out our new "Picture of the month" on our web site... Hint:  It's a cool new picture of Regis !!

www.vistadeishelties.com/

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:27 | link | comments

It was chewie day today, and Darlin' lost another tooth.  Next to well-vet bills, the cost of chewies in this house is probably one of my biggest expences for the dogs. (ok.. I don't count the agility seminars, equipment and shows)  I try to save the new chewies for days like today when it is raining and the dogs don't get out for much exercise, just potty and back in.  Chewies give them something to do.  Of course with 8 dogs, one must pass out 12 to 15 chewies at a time, so there is no snarking or hording.  Diana is famous for that, she grabs a chewy, heads for the bedroom and stuffs it under a pillow, back out getting another chewy.. off to the bedroom.  By the time she settles with one to chew on, she is also guarding a pile of them she has pushed under the pillow or is laying on.  So I let her do all that work then I take the extras from her back to the living room so everyone can have some.  I wish there were more options of cost effective chewies that lasted longer.  I try to get the medium size rolls or twists, they are about 50 cents to a dollar  a piece depending on size shape and where I can get them, and the dogs can destroy a dozen in a day.  Somehow, I expect $6 to $10 of chewies to last longer than a day, so they only get them once a week or so.  I get knuckle bones for them too, but even those are going up, we used to get them really cheap at the butcher, but everywhere that has them now are selling them as soup bones by the pound, so about $3 for 2 of them.. hahahha and again, I have to have at least 10 to pass out so everyone can get one and relax.  Well it is good for their teeth and good to give them something to do on a rainy day, they are happy, I am happy.. that is all that counts.

Posted by: Vistadei at 23:25 | link | comments

YYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOO

Just got word that Regis finished his MXJ title!!! yipppeeeee..... that took 10 flawless qualifying wins in Excellent B to achieve, so proud of Regis and Tim and Christy!!!  Yipppeeeeee.... I am sure time and details will follow, I know they were showing in Dayton Ohio this weekend...  Oh I am happy!!

Posted by: Vistadei at 21:59 | link | comments (2)

All the upset tummies are back to normal today, it is such a joy to clean up nice firm poopies from the yard... yippeee... Darlin has done great on her week and a half on the Pro-plan for small breed puppies.  She has not had any upset stomach and seems to love it, tho the flakes are a bit smaller than I had hoped and she doesn't seem to chew much, just gulp it down.  I have upped to more than 50/50 of the Pro-plan for her now and by next week will have her completely on it.  I believe next week I will buy a bag of Pro-plan for the adults here and see if we can't get them off the Pedigree.  I am guessing because the first 5 ingredients are about the same in Pro-plan and Pedigree I shouldn't get the tummy issues I saw with the Nutro attempt.

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Hey, look.. a horizonal line!! thanks to our lovely blog host for giving me a new toy to play with!  This will help separate my thoughts for the day.  I just wanted to share a funny.. last night Darlin was playing with something, she kept picking it up, spitting it out, picking it up, carry around spit it out.  I thought it was a little stone we had tracked inside with the snow, but when I took it from her it was one of her TEETH!! she is loosing her teeth like a little first grader, it is so cute.  She got her new front ones in, but both her bottom canines are gone, so when she plays and mouths my hand it feels like she is gumming me.. aww she is going to be grown up before you know it!

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:18 | link | comments
dog food

Here are some new pictures that Rooney's owner sent me yesterday!  Isn't he cute??  This is the puppy #2 from the last litter, that I had refered to as "hairy" and he still looks like he will have a very nice coat when he grows up.  He is 10 pounds 4 ounces now

Posted by: Vistadei at 07:42 | link | comments (2)

I am giving boiled rice to the pukers and poopers last night and today, that seems to have settled their tummies right down YEAH!! I don't think I could take much more of that...ewwwww....  doesn't help that I am all conjested and just wanted to take some long naps on my day off work yesterday. nothing worse than to get up from a nap and find a puke puddle with your foot.. oh wait, yes there is something worse, that is to be sleeping and hear YURP YURP YURP and realize the offender is in bed with you!!  Poor Darlin' wanted to train this morning, but I was just not feeling well.  I always train her when the other dogs are out for the second time in the AM, and she knows it!  The first time they are all let outside, she runs right out with them, but the second time I let them out she won't go outside with them, gets all excited and runs to the living room for some training.  I had a hard time convincing her today she just needed to go outside I wasn't up to it.  That was one disappointed little puppy!

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:59 | link | comments

I am going to spare everyone the details of the progression of the food experiment at my house, because many of you may read this blog as you partake of your breakfast or on your lunch break and I truely wouldn't want to ruin that for you.  Let's just say, the washer is running AGAIN, as it has been way too much this weekend, several dogs are involved with issues on both ends of their bodies,  Crate bedding needed washed several times, comforters on our bed.. yah, they're in the washer.. carpet.. oh yeah.. needed scrubbed.  Dogs themselves.. yip had to be bathed several times yum yum yum....  This is basically what I had before when I switched foods, some people told me it is a "detox" stage, but I have some other names for it.. We are scratching the Nutro Natural for Overweight and less Active Dogs right off the list... 

Posted by: Vistadei at 07:42 | link | comments
dog food

Kiwi came to visit me today.  I had such a nice visit with her and Tim and she seemed to enjoy playing with Darlin' too!  Kiwi and Darlin were sitting on the recliner together and I wanted to get a picture, but of course they moved!! I got a couple shots of Kiwi, she has crept up in height a little and I measured her at 14 1/8" today.  She is getting a nice coat and is the spitting image of her mom Diana, don't you think?

Today was my aunt's birthday, and Darlin' came to the nursing home with us.  She did very well with the residents that wanted to pet her and was nice an calm for the 2 hours we were there.  I think my cousin's wife got a picture with her on my aunt's lap, so I hope they send that to me.  Dalin' still measured at 12 3/4" again today, she is 21 weeks and no significant growth in the past 3 weeks.

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:05 | link | comments (2)

My food experiment has gone down hill quickly in less than a week.  After a couple days of the new food, Poor Dusty has started vomiting after every meal, and seems listless.  Since is has only been a couple weeks since his vet visit when the vet was extreamly pleased with his health and condition and said he would have guessed him as being half his age, I have to think it is the difference in adding the Nutro to his meals.  I had started them this week with 1/3 of their meal the new food and 2/3 of the meal the old food.  I will put him back on the Pedigree and drop the Nutro for him.  Mysty hasn't shown any difference with the same mix.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:58 | link | comments
dog food

I kept a secret, we tried a Chilled Semen breeding a couple months ago with a wonderful male from Michigan.  The time has past this week that the pups would have been here, and we don't have puppies so the breeding didn't take.  For some reason my females do not seem to do well with breeding to outside males, this is the 5th breeding in the past few years that hasn't resulted in a pregancy though I did think this chilled semen would be a lower chance of success.  I have flown the girls to the males, driven them to the males and now tried the semen shipped all with no luck, yet I never have had a miss with my own males here at home.  I have picked out the sire of our next planned breeding, he is an AKC Champion and lives in Kentucky.  I am really excited about this breeding and hope he "breaks the record" for us and we have a nice litter.  Just waiting for Dew-oh to come into heat, which should be pretty soon now.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:00 | link | comments (3)

It seems after their sponsorship of Westminster dog show, the Pedigree Adoption program has hit many of the dog related email lists, with pro and cons being argued with great passion.  It is giving me a headache, but I guess it is a good thing for people to think about and discuss and see other's points of view on shelters vs breeders vs owners vs showdogs vs mixed breeds vs whatever.  I think most everyone makes valid points, and hope that instead of arguing and insulting everyone can come together for the good of the animals, and do what they can do to make sure the animals that exist live the best possible lives and the ones who are yet to be born are born healthy and placed into homes that will love and cherish them for a lifetime.

In the mean time thanks for the link via the comments section to the Whole Dog Journal's list of recommended foods.  It is nice to have the links to each food and check it out.  I didn't see the criteria for a food to make the list, but imagine with a little research I could find it.  I am still not sold on the rich high protein food, and hear just too many people loosing their dogs to kidney failure at about 6 to 8 years of age and I wonder if it is all the super high protein rich food,.  I would guess at least 50% of the people who contact me looking for a pup have lost a dog to kidney issues, and they are not all shelties.  I think Kidney issues must be far greater of a problem than we realize.  Anyway, I do see one of the foods I had tried prior is on the list of the Whole Dog Journal's top picks, and that is Flint River Brand.  My dogs seemed to like it, but I got soft stools, LOTS of gas and unfortunately some mmmmm stool eating which grossed me to no end.  Would think if the good stuff was getting digested well the stool shouldn't be so tempting.  Didn't stay on that long enough to evaluate for coat or condition as I was nearly gassed out of the house.

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:38 | link | comments (2)
dog food

We are having terrible weather here, about 7 inches of snow, then a 1/2 to and inch of ice glazing it all over, then more snow.  Dogs go out and can walk on the top of the snow, but when they shift weight to "go potty" tend to then fall through the ice layer and give a yip.  The poor things..

We played the "come" game with Darlin' again last night, only about 15 feet apart, but this time we set several chairs between us so she had to weave around the legs of the chairs to get back and forth between us.  She loved and it got it right away.  My son is very intrigued by her nosing (targeting) a sock to get a treat, I got her to do that in just a day with the clicker and no words.  He is getting interested in the training process when he sees how fast she is getting things.

I want to get some more agility equipment here, I think I am going to have to spring for a tunnel.  Want a contact board at least and a teater.  Wish I had more flat land.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:34 | link | comments (3)

My Son and I played the "come" game with Darlin' last night as outlined in level one of the training levels.  She caught onto that right away, and we quickly moved to 20 feet apart to give her more of a challange, but even that she got right away.  I think we will take her outside to play it next time.  On Sunday, I was taking her to conformation classes at the kennel club, and the plan was to go early during the beginner class, meet my friend Wendy there, and we were going to audit the books in the library during the first class, and put Darlin' into the second class. I am the librarian for the Kennel club, and the club moved my shelves out to the meeting room and put nice locking doors on them so we started trying to re-arrainge the books while we audited them so they would be easier to find.  Long story short, we ended up working right through Darlin's conformation class.  It was not a wasted trip tho, as she slept in a strange place in her crate, without fussing in the building.  Also, on our way to and from the club I let her ride on the seat beside me and everytime she offered the behavior of "sit" I clicked and treated without saying anything.  Pretty soon she would stand up just to sit down again for the treat, so perhaps doing something like that could give me the sit behavior without her linking it to sitting in the ring during conformation.  The activities we are working on in Level one are

1)Come - I think she is able to do this as outlined for level one, but ofcourse we will want to continue the game every day if we can to re-inforce.  I think at this time we can start "naming" this behavior.

2)Down - I haven't started doing anything with this

3)Homework - we were to write down 5 things we hoped to get out of training levels mine were *Build a solid foundation and partnership with Darlin' *Show her that learning things is fun *Explore Clicker training *Have a dog who is ready to step into and show in any venue *My lifetime goal with Darlin' is a AKC breed Ch, a MACH and a OTCH and I believe this type of foundation work will take us there

4)Sit - so we have just played in the car with this - haven't called it anything 

5) Target - she will bump my hand and target a sock on the floor.  I would like to get a firmer bump to the hand before we move on from this, so she is doing it with conviction.

6)Zen - staying away from my hand with the treat.  We are just starting this one today.

I am finding that her attention on me is increasing daily as we work this stuff, she is firmly convinced that I am the source of all good and spends a great deal of time trying to connect with me and see if she can get a treat.

 

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:06 | link | comments
training levels

Ok, Ok.. now someone emailed me and asked why I was "against" adopting from shelters (per my rants on the dog food posts)  I AM NOT AGAINST ADOPTING HOMELESS DOGS I have done so in the past, probably will again in the future.  I would have had NO problem with Pedigree's Adoption campaign IF they would also continue their support of breeders.  I feel that as a breeder I am sending a great deal of business to Pedigree, even as a very small breeder.  Look at last year, in 2006, we had two litters for a total of 10 pups.  I send them home with Pedigree food and coupons, and Pedigree "goodies" calendars, leashes, dog tags, scarves, whatever comes with the puppy packs.  I tell the puppy buyers why I like the food etc.  If all 10 of those pups stayed on Pedigree, and let's say averaged out $20 a month for food  we have 10 pups x $20 a month = $200 ..... In a year that comes to $200 x 12 = $2400 and over the lifetime of those dogs 15 years x $2400 = $36,000....... allllrightie then..  that is theoretically $36,000 in Pedigree's pockets just from my 10 puppies.  Now what of a decade of puppies bred?  What of those breeders with large breeds who may have 2 litters of 12 pups each?  What about a larger volume breeder who sells 10 dogs a MONTH?  I think breeders are pretty important to the dog food business, and I am just darn tired of attitudes that breeders are just about as valuable to society as the corner drug dealer!!  If there are no good breeders,  the only pups that will be available will be those from the "ooooppppsss" litters, those whose parents do not have proper health screening, have unknown temperaments, the pups weren't raised right, taken from mom too early, not feed or socialized right, not taken to the vets and eventually dropped off wormy, sickly, underdeveloped, malnourished, in a box in front of the shelter some night.  Yes, they do need taken care of, but is that really what we want to encourage as the primary source for the next generation of our pets? 

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:05 | link | comments (4)

OK, we start the "food experiments" today!  I am going to switch Darlin from the Pedigree Puppy food to Purina Pro Plan.  All in all, I do not see a significant difference in the ingredient list, I am not thrilled about the higher protein in the Pro-plan puppy, anyone who has talked to me much knows I think that all the kidney failure in dogs these days is because of the high protein premium diets, so I am hesitant to creep up to that 30% protein level. Also, the fat content in the Pro-plan is higher too, jacking up the calories quite a bit.  Darlin' is pretty slim, so I do not think the increase in calories will hurt at this point, and most of our pups are very active, but it is something to keep in mind when giving treats that she is getting nearly  -what - 26% more calories per cup of food?  However a quick trip to the pedigree website caused a rise in blood pressure again this morning as I see it has been designed to ONLY promote adoptions of shelter pets and all info on choosing a good breeder or other related info has been removed.  So I am at least embarking on my experiment.  The cost was about the same for the smaller bag 6 pounds of Pro-plan for $6.99 with my Pet Smart Card discount, I believe the smaller bag of Pedigree is about the same, the large bag of course offers the most savings, Pedigree being I believe 9.99 for the 14 pound bag, but having only one pup here at the moment I wouldn't be buying the large bag anyway.  I didn't get the price of the larger bag of Pro-plan.  Pro-plan does offer a breeder program and puppy pack program, but I have not checked into it or signed up for it, till I see if I like the resulting switch.

Here is the lable from Pedigree Puppy food 314 calories per cup:

GUARANTEED ANALYSIS

Crude Protein Min.	27.0%
Crude Fat Min.	11.0%
Crude Fiber Max.	3.0%
Moisture Max.	12.0%
Calcium, min.	1.1%
Phosphorus, min.	0.9%
Vitamin E, min.	350 IU/kg
Lutein, min.	5 mg/kg
Vitamin C, min.	100 mg/kg

And the ingredient list for Pedigree

INGREDIENTS

Ground Whole Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Rice, Corn Gluten Meal (Source of Lutein*), Animal Fat (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, Source of Vitamin E), Natural Poultry Flavor, Wheat, Potassium Chloride, Wheat Flour, DiCalcium Phosphate, Salt, Brewers Dried Yeast, Carmel Color, Vegetable Oil (Source of Linoleic Acid), Calcium Carbonate, Taurine*, Vitamins (dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate [Source of Vitamin E], Choline Chloride, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate [Source of Vitamin C*], Vitamin A Acetate, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement [Vitamin B2], Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Marigold Meal, Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), Added FD&C and Lake Colors (Yellow 6, Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5).

Here is the Analysis for the new food Pro Plan Puppy Small Breed Formula 488 calories per pup:

Guaranteed Analysis:
Crude Protein (Min) 30.0%
Crude Fat (Min) 20.0%
Crude Fiber (Max) 3.0%
Moisture (Max) 12.0%
Linoleic Acid (Min) 1.8%
Calcium (Ca) (Min) 1.1%
Phosphorus (P) (Min) 0.8%
Vitamin A (Min) 15,000 IU/kg
Vitamin E (Min) 100 IU/kg
Docosahexaenoic Acid** (DHA) (Min) 0.05%
Glutamine** (Min) 1.0%

Ant the ingredient list:

Ingredients:
Chicken, corn gluten meal, brewers rice, whole grain corn, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), poultry by-product meal, fish meal, corn bran, calcium phosphate, dried egg product, animal digest, fish oil, salt, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, choline chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, DL-Methionine, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, ferrous sulfate, manganese sulfate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, calcium pantothenate, thiamine mononitrate, copper sulfate, riboflavin supplement, Vitamin B-12 supplement, pyridoxine hydrochloride, garlic oil, folic acid, Vitamin D-3 supplement, calcium iodate, biotin, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), sodium selenite.
E-4454

 

In addition, I have decided to switch my non-breeding dogs to Nutro, so I can see if they show any difference in stool, improvement in coat etc.  Mysty is retired from our breeding program and Dusty is our older neutered guy.  I am interested in seeing what a switch in food might do for these guys.  Dusty has always had a more sensitive stomach, and he also has had a lousy coat all his life no matter what food he has been on.  He was from a farm breeder, not show lines, a great dog with good health and great personality, but never has had a nice coat like the show dogs do.  I am interested to see if we get any improvement with him.  Mysty always carries very thick coat, but she also packs on the pounds eating very little.  I have decided after reading the lables quite a bit before the shopping trip to try Nutro Natural Choice Small bites Lite for the 2 of them.  Now old Dusty doesn't need "lite", but the calories are nearly the same, in the normal Pedigree and the Nutro "lite" formula, so I hope that it actually does help with some weight loss for Mysty, but I am not sure how that will be achieved with the same calories.  Perhaps by "Lite" the people at Nutro simply mean "less calories than their other foods"?  Anyway, it has added Glucosamine and Chondroitin, which both of them might use being older dogs, the ingredients are quite a bit different on the comparison between the Pedigree and the Nutro, the cost is more than double would work out to $17 for 44 pounds of Pedigree and $40 for 30 pounds of the Nutro. 

Here is the Pedigree Small Breed that I have been feeding for years, 249 calories per cup:

 GUARANTEED ANALYSIS

Crude Protein (Min.)	21.0%
Crude Fat (Min.)	9.0%
Crude Fiber (Max.)	4.0%
Moisture (Max.)	12%
Vitamin E, (Min.)	225 IU/Kg
Vitamin C, (Min).	70 mg/kg

INGREDIENTS

Ground Whole Corn, Chicken By-Product Meal, Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Animal Fat (preserved with BHA/BHT), Meat and Bone Meal, Natural Poultry Flavor, Wheat Mill Run, Potassium Chloride, Wheat Flour, Salt, Carmel Color, Vegetable Oil (Source of Linoleic Acid), Vitamins (Choline Chloride, dl-Alpha Tocopherol Acetate [Source of Vitamin E], L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate [Source of Vitamin C*], Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate [Vitamin B1], Biotin, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin Supplement [Vitamin B2], Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Minerals (Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Potassium Iodide), Added FD&C and Lake Colors (Yellow 6, Blue 2, Red 40, Yellow 5).

And here is the Nutro Natural Choice at 244 calories per cup:

Guaranteed Analysis

Crude Protein (minimum) 14.00% Crude Fat (minimum) 6.00% Crude Fiber (maximum) 6.50% Moisture (maximum 10.00% Linoleic Acid (minimum) 2.50% Zinc (minimum) 250 mg/kg Vitamin E (minimum) 100 IU/kg Ascorbic Acid (minimum)** 40 mg/kg Alpha-Linolenic Acid (ALA) (minimum)** 0.20% Glucosamine (minimum)** 400 mg/kg Chondroitin Sulfate (minimum)** 300 mg/kg

and here is the ingrediant list

Ingredients

Rice Flour, Lamb Meal, Ground Rice, Rice Bran, Dried Plain Beet Pulp, Poultry Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Natural Flavors, Soybean Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Yeast Culture, Sunflower Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Potassium Chloride, Monosodium Phosphate, Dried Egg Product, Taurine, Dried Kelp, Ferrous Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid (source of Vitamin C), Biotin, Manganous Oxide, Garlic Flavor, Calcium Pantothenate, Niacin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement (source of Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Acetate, Glucosamine Hydrochloride, Copper Sulfate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of Vitamin B6), Thiamine Mononitrate (source of Vitamin B1), Chondroitin Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (source of Vitamin K activity), Sodium Selenite, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.

Posted by: Vistadei at 19:02 | link | comments
dog food

Didn't get a ton done with Darlin's training this week,  again, I am worried about teaching that "sit" at this point, so I worked on some targeting.  Got her to go touch a sock laying on the floor then run the other way for her treat.  Once she sees the treat bounce and goes and eats it she will run right back and nose the sock so she gets another one.  That is kinda cool, I didn't "name" the behavior yet, I am still trying to get co-ordintated with the clicking, so I am really marking the behavior, not too soon or too late. She does seem to be responding faster to the click and treat than the word "yes" and treat, I think because the click is more "neutral", once I am talking she is distracted and looking at me and wagging and starting to interact with ME, but the click and treat with no words seems to allow her to focus on her task more.

I joined an email list for the training levels, and people are doing this with older dogs, they just "test" the dog to see what it can pass at each level and fill in the holes where the dog might be weak.  There are over 3,000 people on that email list, so apparently this is an idea who's time has come.

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:21 | link | comments
training levels

Size - Darlin' got her weekly measurement this morning 12 3/4" at 20 weeks old.  No significant growth since last week,  now I am wondering if she will be big at all.  When we tracked Kiwi from the last litter, (who seems to grow like "my" lines rather than the sire's lines) she has not show significant growth since week 23, and that is about true with both Diana and Dew-oh, they leveled off at weeks 23 to 24.  Another suprise came my way this morning, because watching Darlin' play, she appears to be nearly as big as her mother Daisy.  Now Daisy had measured 14" tall, but of course there has been no need over the last few years to measure her, she is 4 1/2 years old, of course she isn't going to GROW.. but.. seems we have experience the "drop back" when a sheltie's shoulders drop to give them a smaller measurement.  I popped her on the table this morning and can get her only being 13 1/2" tall  what a suprise!  Well she is still well insize for her show career, and I am interested to see how she measures at the agility trials.  If she is under 14" she will be in the 12" jump height class, that would be nice for me when I start running 2 dogs to have them in 2 different classes.  Sooooooo... Darlin may not be a 15" girl when grown, which would mean my 3rd generation girls who will continue on with our progam (Kiwi - Destiny - Darlin) will probably all be under 14"  Hopefully they will control some of the larger size I battled in the earlier generations with Mysty being a 16" female and the foundation of our program.

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:13 | link | comments

Scratch the changing foods to Nutro idea.  I spent the evening going through the archives of some of my dog breeding lists, and it seems people who were tempted by the generous puppy pack program and made the switch then experiences labor and delivery problems that they had not had before and didn't have after coming off the food.  Of course there is no scientific research to back up their concerns, but doesn't sound like anything I want to find out on my own.  My girls have always welped easily and had plenty of milk for their pups, and (knock on wood) I have not experienced any birth defects, so I guess I will not switch to that.  The whole subject of dog food seems to be supercharged on the dog lists, it seems that the foods and supliments that produce what people are pleased with as a huge show coat, do not work well with breeding issues and vis-versa. Huh.. well I guess Pedigree will still get my business for now, while I continue my research (Cricket's mom --- cupons are still wanted! wink wink) What I MIGHT do is to try Nutro on Dusty (neutered) and Mysty (retired from breeding) and see if it makes a coat differance on them, as they won't have any breeding problems!

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:41 | link | comments

Perhaps the time has come to change dog foods.  Years ago, I tried alllllll sorts of brands of food, even tried feeding the dogs raw diet, but all of mine did the best on Pedigree.  Pedigree used to have a nice breeder program where they had rebated for the weight codes on bags, sent puppy buyers nice gifts and starter bags of puppy food as well as generous cupons, all given when they picked up their puppy.  A few months back, Pedigree notified us they were discontinuing the program for the puppy packs, and shortly after sent letters that they were dropping all benifits for the breeder program in favor of sending the moneys to shelter animals.  They now have very nice program for the equivelent of a "puppy pack" of free foods for people who adopt from shelters, but not for people who buy from breeders.  I have notice their TV ads have changed also in the past 6 months.  While I support the effort to adopt animals from shelters, I also believe that people have a right to buy pure bred puppies from health tested parents who have the best start in life, and I have a bit of a problem continuing to support a company who apparently isn't interested in supporting ME.  Soooo that has been bothering me a bit as of late. Decker went to live with Dave and Denise, and over the last month or so has changed from Pedigree to Nutro and his coat has gotten thicker and has more moisture in it.  Some of that I think is the winter, some the grooming with extra conditioner in the spray, but it is enough of a difference that I believe I will give the Nutro a try.  Nutro does have a breeder program with puppy packs, but limits them to a few litters per breeder a year, which I like, so they are supporting smaller home breeders that way, but not comercial "25 litter a month breeders". Also they seem to have a program of free bags with so many weight circles, so as long as they are supportive of responsible home breeding, I will give them another try.  Will let you know the results.

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:59 | link | comments (1)

Remember some time ago, I said that Cindy Nolan had taken some really neat shots of Drifter at a show?  Well I bought the 3 pictures which showed him collecting for a jump, in the air for the jump and landing on the same jump.  I blended them together into one shot, which makes it a little long and narrow for this blog, but here it is.. I was able to line the 3 pictures up correctly by overlapping the position of the tunnel in the back ground, so this is exactly the position and distance he is in for each frame in relationship to the next frame - cool, huh?

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:16 | link | comments (3)

I took Darlin for her first class in conformation yesterday.  She did really well.  I went to the building early during the beginner classes and let her get used to walking around in the building.  She was a little hesitant at first, but after she met some people (I gave them treats to feed her) and she met a Springer spaniel pup, she relaxed a bit.  Then it was our class out on the floor.  She trotted around really nicely, still wearing a flat buckle collar, not a show lead.  A couple times she "stalled" but I took something I learned in the agility seminar and used that.  There had been a woman at that seminar with a slower un-motivated dog, and the instructors emphasized that with a hesitant moving dog, the handler needed to stay right with them supporting them, urging them to "race", but not leaving even by a few feet, or the dog may "give up" the chase and become distracted.  So I used that new knowledge to stay right beside Darlin' on our go - arounds on the mat, and it worked like a charm.  She got 2 times on the table for exams, and stood very nicely.  I used the technique of "control of the head" as outlined on this web page: http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Writing/confstack.html

It worked very nicely to shift her weight by the slight movement of her head, it helped anchor her feet, and I was very pleased with this first time attempt.  I was also quite happy when I arrived at the class someone just spontaneously said "ohhh that pup has a nice head" which is JUST what I want to hear!! yipppeee

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:32 | link | comments

Now, onto Darlin' and her training.  At the seminar the ladies had a sheltie puppy there that was a couple weeks younger than Darlin'  she was already walking on a loose lead, giving right and left spins, offering "downs" and really had attention on them at all times even when she was on the floor while other dogs were there.  I was sooo impressed, and kind of felt like I was already behind in my training.  Then I had to slap myself in the head and remind me that I have a breeding program to tend to also, that it was important that I grew out both Derrick (Maxwell) and Darlin to see which one would best suite my on going program, and that set back my training a bit.  Also remind myself that I work full time and take care of and train with other adult dogs, and that I am still just learing alot of training methods, so we are not behind,  we just are where we are.  Anyway.   Darlin' has progressed to bumping my palm even if there isn't food in that hand, and I am clicking and tossing the treat with the other hand.  Oh I am so un-coordinated with this clicker thing.  I really need to grow an extra arm and hand, it would help so much.  I have started working on her stand on the table.  I think I am asking for too much.  I set her up, she sees the treat, she moves. I have no extra hand to reset her as well as a hand to click and a hand to treat.  I think I need to not set her up in a perfect stand, just click if she is standing still on the table.  I think I am lumping. Oh.. say.. note to self, it is ALOT easier to house break ONE puppy than TWO.. hahahah we have only had a couple accidents, even with the cold weather.  I am going to take her to the kennel club, conformation classes are this afternoon, but I am not putting her in class, we will sit in the audience and let her get used to being there. 

Posted by: Vistadei at 10:41 | link | comments
training levels

Get a cup of coffee, I have allot to talk about this morning.  I think I will break it into a couple posts so that I can collect my thoughts better.  First, a review of the seminar I went to yesterday.  I don't recall that it had a certain name, but it was taught by Deborah Jones PhD and Judy Keller.  I know it wasn't their clicker or their In Focus seminar.  IT WAS EXCELLENT  I would recommend them to anyone at any level.  It was held at WAGS in Ohio, the spectator area was a little tight, but the flooring was great and a decent square footage to work in.  WAGS members provided a nice little breakfast of fruits and donuts, and a WONDERFUL lunch - thank so much to them.

Ok.. the seminar, they limited to 10 working dogs I believe, and the rest of the people audited (watched without working)  That gave us all a really good amount of working time on the floor.  One of the nicest things with this seminar was that we all ran a little sequence, they took notes, then we re-ran and they worked with us fine tuning to OUR needs and our dogs.  So it wasn't -- this is the sequence and this is how you do it.. no, it changes for each dog and handler, some of us with faster dogs need to indicate one way, some with other dogs needed more motivation, etc.  So that was really helpful and great to both learn ourselves, but also watch the litte adjustments that could be made to do the same sequence with a larger dog, or a smaller dog, or a slower dog, etc.

Another thing they did, was.. VIDEO TAPE US.. and put it on the big TV for us to see... hmmmmm ok.. now I had been resisting ever watching my runs on video, even though I know Dave has video taped us before.  I was afraid I would be so self conscious of how I looked that I would not enjoy my runs.  But anyway.. there we were, big as life on the TV, and you know what.. I was ok with watching it.  So I am over that hump and now will be able to watch my runs, and I think that will help me improve allot.  One thing I noticed was that even though to myself, I think I am happy and upbeat, watching the performance I seem boring and slow and dull.  So apparently I need to exaggerate my enthusiasm so that it fires up my dog a bit more.  Of course another thing that I noticed was that my boobs have a life of their own.. note to self, - let's go shopping for some new bras.

Anyway, we did allot of work with serpentine jumps and I feel I made quite a bit of progress.  Dave had lent me his copy of the Jones and Keller DVD "In Focus - Foundation work" before we went.  Now I am going to re-watch it after we had the seminar and see what else I can pick up. 

This was definitely an A++ seminar.

Posted by: Vistadei at 10:09 | link | comments (1)
seminar reviews

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:58 | link | comments (2)

Started on the "Training Levels" today with Darlin'.  I am so excited to do this, I hope it will take me to a much higher level of bonding and success than traditional training.  I was alone this morning, so couldn't start on the "come" game as outlined.  (by the way I have put the link to the Training Levels website in the list to our left, so anyone can follow along, and I will also start tagging the posts that are primarily involving the Training levels so they too can be found easily down the road)  Anyway, since I was alone I decided to start the training with the exercise of having her touch my hand with her nose.  One of the different things about this training method is that you do not "name" the action until the dog is doing it well.  So anyway, I sat on the floor with a clicker in one hand and a treat between my fingers in an open (flat) hand. When she touched my hand, I clicked and dropped the treat for her to eat it off the floor.  Didn't say anything.  I did that for 10 small treats per each hand and ended the session (only about 3 mins)  Still haven't named the activity, so in a few days when she will consistently run to my hand where ever it is held and bop it with her nose, I will then add the word "hand" to the behavior.  After our treats were gone I played with her on the floor with a ball and a tuggy.  She hasn't got the idea of what to do with either one, but it was fun bonding between the two of us.  The adult dogs were outside playing in the yard during this session which was short and fun.  I would like to do this type of short training twice a day with her.

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:24 | link | comments
training levels