I’ve been informed I’ll have a copy of my new book by mid-November!
I’ve been hoping it would come out in time for Christmas, and I see a new date on the publisher’s website of December 5th!
EDITED 11/3/09: I just saw on their website, today, that the date is pushed out to 12/26/09 - the availability date keeps changing!
http://www.voyageurpress.com/Store/ProductDetails_42264.ncm
This is exciting!
Having already posted this on my website - I will simply provide the link:
http://www.darnfar.com/Belle2009/accepting_imperfection.htm
It describes what has wholly consumed me the last few days.
It’s been a long few days. We had a Board/Train pick up appointment on Friday (two dogs from the same household) that lasted most of the day. Then, Saturday and Sunday was another Committed Canine (professionally guided – owner trained Service Dog) course. Even though I was the instructor, the class was, for me, very educational and also very inspiring. Participants included a nine year old child with Asperger’s Syndrome (a condition described as being part of the Autism spectrum), a recently returning veteran from Iraq, a student who attended an earlier Phase One class who joined this class as a refresher before moving onto Phase Two and a woman for whom we trained a Service Dog several years ago, also in attendance to hone skills that had been allowed to slide.
It is amazing to see the transformation in both the dogs and the handlers over the course of the two days. On Saturday morning, a quick assessment of the dogs might have led one to believe it would be hopeless to move the dogs and their handlers to the state they achieved by lunchtime on Sunday, when we traveled to town for a public outing, including shopping in a department store and eating at a restaurant.
We saw all three conditions of anti-social behavior in the dogs on Saturday morning; excessive exuberance, fear-based / retreating behavior as well as dominant type aggressiveness. On Sunday afternoon, these same dogs shared the small space under the table at the restaurant and without one woof or whine or sniffing for crumbs.
Not only did I see a transformation in the dogs’ behavior, but I was also granted the privilege of watching a sort of blossoming of each student’s confidence and capability. I experienced a change in actions, aptitudes and attitudes of both dogs and their people as they moved through the process of training their dogs.
I believe that Service Dogs can enhance the life of a person with a disability. But, even more so, I have come to recognize how much owning the process of training one’s dog plays a therapeutic role, too.
I have been waiting for Doozie to plump out in these last few weeks of her pregnancy. But, it wasn’t happening. At the end of last week I realized that I better get an x-ray to confirm whether she was carrying puppies, or not.
This afternoon, the radiograph provided the answer. Doozie is not pregnant.
I have never bred a bitch that didn’t get pregnant. I bred her to Boon five times in six days. Her first due date would have been October 27th (63 days from the first breeding). That is just two weeks from now. But, she has not gained weight.
I have been very fortunate, really. I have heard horror stories of breeders who loose puppies and even their dams. I have produced 12 litters of puppies that resulted in 93 total puppies. That’s an average of 7.75 pups per litter.
I had one puppy die at 6 weeks old. It was the puppy I chose to retain from Lexie’s first litter. I called her ”Stitch” because she required stitches before she was 24 hours old due to a tear at her umbilical cord. I believe the the antibiotics the puppy received at such an early age weakened her, perhaps destroyed her kidneys or liver. She was born the largest puppy, but grew very slowly and at six weeks old was very small compared to her siblings. I had already received deposits on the other two female puppies. Lexie was eight years old and it was her first litter - and perhaps her last. Lexie is Sham’s daughter. Sham was my first Border Collie, and a very special guy. I wanted terribly to “steal back” one of the puppies that I had promised. But, I chose to retain a male, instead. It was a great choice. Boon is a great dog. I was able to breed Lexie one more time, producing Moxie. Lexie turns 14 years old this November!
I also lost two puppies at birth in different litters (both which were the 9th puppies in the litter), and another died at around a week old; a pup that I named “little bit” because she was so very tiny compared to her siblings. But, in that’s just four puppies in almost 100 born, that did not make it. I feel very fortunate. I am even more grateful that I have never had a mother get ill or require a c-section. It’s a healthy breed, in that regard. Border Collies are not extreme in size and are still designed to perform a challenging, athletic job.
So, I guess, the fact that Doozie is not in whelp is certainly not the worst thing that a breeder can encounter on this journey to try to create wonderful puppies and place them in loving homes. But, there is a very nice family in Colorado that is sad to hear the news. Diane contacted me back in March, and while I had Shimmer x Switch puppies available, she wanted to wait until her youngest child attended school in the autumn so that she could dedicate all the time necessary to their new puppy. Doozie was due in season in the summer and pups should have been available in September - perfect timing for them. When I chose (sort of as a last minute decision) to breed Yoli to Switch (as a final litter for her and to figure out where Shimmer acquired her “red” color gene), I let Diane know. But, she wanted to wait for a pup out of Boon that would be born in the fall. Then, Doozie did not come into season as planned (which is not unusual - not every dog is on a perfect six month schedule). Finally, the breeding took place, but the autumn puppy became a Christmas pup. When I saw the x-ray, today, I was not surprised. I have never taken a bitch to get an x-ray before because I have always been able to tell they were pregnant by this time. But, I was very sad for Diane and her family who have been planning for their new puppy for what seems to be forever. I guess this is sort of like those “adoption” shows on TV - where the folks wait and wait for their new baby, then it falls through, but in the end they get their baby.
No Christmas puppies this year - and I love so much to make the puppy videos with a Christmas theme. Here’s one I remember:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOBaTz-B1wY
For the most part, I think people are too frightened to give other people constructive feedback. But, without it, it can be very challenging to improve oneself. So, while it may sting at first, I consider feedback a gift. Once in a while, I am granted a glimpse of someone else’s view on the world as it applies to me. I try to use it to my advantage to offer better service or to improve our processes.
A few months back a client traveled over 14 hours to bring us her dog. I understand that when you travel so far it’s hard to be accurate about when you might arrive. However, we must conduct our business with our clients on a “by appointment” schedule because of the nature of our work. She called three hours before her planned appointment to drop off her dog for Board and Train and asked whether we could receive her dog. Sometimes, that is an option. But, mostly, our days revolve around tasks which require some set-up and tear-down, so to speak. She happened to arrive on the day my book was due to the publisher, and I was doing last minute work on that while watching the clock for the last possible moment I could get out of the house and to the FedEx office in time to ship the manuscript to meet my contractual deadline, and to get back, again, before her late afternoon appointment.
If we are working with a client dog we are not running a timer. The dog usually defines the length of the training session (in that we constantly pay attention to the dog’s reaction to learning something and adjust accordingly). If a dog decides to protest with her teeth (as in she tries to bite when we expect her to lie down, for example), that training session must run its course until the dog relinquishes her peception that she can resist compliance with force. That can take some dogs two minutes, and others it can require 20 times as long. We once worked with a feral Border Collie (as in, when she arrived she acted more like a wild fox than a domestic dog). It took us an hour to break her to a lead. Most dogs, it takes 10 minutes. Robert often has client dogs out in our reception area to mingle together in a “small indoor” location, since some dogs do not act out towards other dogs when they feel the freedom and open space of an outdoor yard. It is a fine line that he dances when he is working with the aggressive dogs – push them too hard, they can end up in a fight, but refrain from dealing with the dogs’ fears, and they never learn how to recalibrate their perception of the world. We simply cannot risk our client dogs’ safety by having an “open door” policy about arrival times. I feel that we need to have time to end a training session in ample time to have the dogs secured to provide uninterrupted time to spend with clients when they drop off their dogs for training.
Although I informed the woman that I was not going to be available to receive her dog until the specified time (three hours later, as originally planned), she chose to arrive a few minutes later and sit in her car in our driveway to wait. It left me with the sensation that I was now captive in my own home, as her car blocked both my car and Robert’s vehicle from exiting the property. It was an eerie feeling – like driving with someone “tail-gaiting” behind me. It was sensation that she was intentionally putting pressure on me by her presence. When I was ready to ship the manuscript, I went out to the driveway and up to her vehicle. It was still two hours before her scheduled appointment. Although it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to receive a dog, it can take over 45 minutes if the owners ask questions, or if I feel a need to chat with the folks based on how I perceive them or their dog. So, I informed the client that I could take in her dog, then, if it were a brief meeting, or she could allow me to get out of my driveway, go to town to ship the manuscript, then return for her – at which time it would be closer to her appointment time, and I would be free for as long as need be, if she had questions.
During the drop off appointment, she asked a typical question about how much the dog would be trained. Then, she asked if he actually would be trained, rather than just boarded for the duration. I understand folks have reservations when they leave their dog somewhere, but some questions truly insult me. It is a question of integrity whether we plan to the job for which we are being paid. So, I am taken aback by such inquiries. I actually had to ask her to repeat her question because I wasn’t certain why she would ask such a thing.
A few days later she wrote an email stating that she had reservations about whether we would train her dog because “nothing was happening” when she arrived to drop off her dog. There was the Aha! moment I needed to understand her questioning. I did not know what she expected to see, but, clearly she didn’t see the “activity” she needed to make herself feel comfortable that we would work with her dog. Of course, she did not know that I had one of the client dogs doing a “down stay” next to my chair in my office while I reviewed my manuscript for the publisher – and was making certain that he ignored my cat. She didn’t know that Robert had three other dogs in the reception area with him working on social skills and obedience. He could have just as easily been in a back field out of her sight or in our training building, as well, with a dog or two, and she would not have seen him, there, either. We could have also been at the city park in Vandalia in the three hours before her arrival. We often take client dogs there because there are good distractions like kids on skateboards, squirrels, other dogs pulling their owners about, and people on bicycles. So, she would have never seen that “going on” from our driveway. She had a perception that she would see “something going on” and when she didn’t, she figured that nothing does go on.
I’m happy that she chose to make the comment about her perception. Otherwise, I would have never known it was on her mind. I want the drop off appointment times to be uninterrupted and calm. For the most part, dogs that arrive for training are fairly anti-social (either excessively exuberant and lacking manners, fearful or aggressive). I don’t want to put owners into the position of having to control their dogs around other dogs at the drop off appointment because that is why they are bringing their dogs to us in the first place; they are struggling with controlling their dogs in the presence of distractions. The need for a quiet drop off appointment is, however, just my opinion. Robert doesn’t seem to mind working with dogs when the new clients arrive, and it has always been a bone of contention for us. I feel like he is disrupting an important time I have with the clients. Apparently, that sort of activity would be comforting for some clients.
For the most part, I think people are too frightened to give other people constructive feedback. But, without it, it can be very challenging to improve oneself. So, while it may sting at first, I consider feedback a gift. Once in a while, I am granted a glimpse of someone else’s view on the world as it applies to me. I try to use it to my advantage to offer better service or to improve our processes.
A few months back a client traveled over 14 hours to bring us her dog. I understand that when you travel so far it’s hard to be accurate about when you might arrive. However, we must conduct our business with our clients on a “by appointment” schedule because of the nature of our work. She called three hours before her planned appointment to drop off her dog for Board and Train and asked whether we could receive her dog. Sometimes, that is an option. But, mostly, our days revolve around tasks which require some set-up and tear-down, so to speak. She happened to arrive on the day my book was due to the publisher, and I was doing last minute work on that while watching the clock for the last possible moment I could get out of the house and to the FedEx office in time to ship the manuscript to meet my contractual deadline, and to get back, again, before her late afternoon appointment.
If we are working with a client dog we are not running a timer. The dog usually defines the length of the training session (in that we constantly pay attention to the dog’s reaction to learning something and adjust accordingly). If a dog decides to protest with her teeth (as in she tries to bite when we expect her to lie down, for example), that training session must run its course until the dog relinquishes her peception that she can resist compliance with force. That can take some dogs two minutes, and others it can require 20 times as long. We once worked with a feral Border Collie (as in, when she arrived she acted more like a wild fox than a domestic dog). It took us an hour to break her to a lead. Most dogs, it takes 10 minutes. Robert often has client dogs out in our reception area to mingle together in a “small indoor” location, since some dogs do not act out towards other dogs when they feel the freedom and open space of an outdoor yard. It is a fine line that he dances when he is working with the aggressive dogs – push them too hard, they can end up in a fight, but refrain from dealing with the dogs’ fears, and they never learn how to recalibrate their perception of the world. We simply cannot risk our client dogs’ safety by having an “open door” policy about arrival times. I feel that we need to have time to end a training session in ample time to have the dogs secured to provide uninterrupted time to spend with clients when they drop off their dogs for training.
Although I informed the woman that I was not going to be available to receive her dog until the specified time (three hours later, as originally planned), she chose to arrive a few minutes later and sit in her car in our driveway to wait. It left me with the sensation that I was now captive in my own home, as her car blocked both my car and Robert’s vehicle from exiting the property. It was an eerie feeling – like driving with someone “tail-gaiting” behind me. It was sensation that she was intentionally putting pressure on me by her presence. When I was ready to ship the manuscript, I went out to the driveway and up to her vehicle. It was still two hours before her scheduled appointment. Although it shouldn’t take more than 10 minutes to receive a dog, it can take over 45 minutes if the owners ask questions, or if I feel a need to chat with the folks based on how I perceive them or their dog. So, I informed the client that I could take in her dog, then, if it were a brief meeting, or she could allow me to get out of my driveway, go to town to ship the manuscript, then return for her – at which time it would be closer to her appointment time, and I would be free for as long as need be, if she had questions.
During the drop off appointment, she asked a typical question about how much the dog would be trained. Then, she asked if he actually would be trained, rather than just boarded for the duration. I understand folks have reservations when they leave their dog somewhere, but some questions truly insult me. It is a question of integrity whether we plan to the job for which we are being paid. So, I am taken aback by such inquiries. I actually had to ask her to repeat her question because I wasn’t certain why she would ask such a thing.
A few days later she wrote an email stating that she had reservations about whether we would train her dog because “nothing was happening” when she arrived to drop off her dog. There was the Aha! moment I needed to understand her questioning. I did not know what she expected to see, but, clearly she didn’t see the “activity” she needed to make herself feel comfortable that we would work with her dog. Of course, she did not know that I had one of the client dogs doing a “down stay” next to my chair in my office while I reviewed my manuscript for the publisher – and was making certain that he ignored my cat. She didn’t know that Robert had three other dogs in the reception area with him working on social skills and obedience. He could have just as easily been in a back field out of her sight or in our training building, as well, with a dog or two, and she would not have seen him, there, either. We could have also been at the city park in Vandalia in the three hours before her arrival. We often take client dogs there because there are good distractions like kids on skateboards, squirrels, other dogs pulling their owners about, and people on bicycles. So, she would have never seen that “going on” from our driveway. She had a perception that she would see “something going on” and when she didn’t, she figured that nothing does go on.
I’m happy that she chose to make the comment about her perception. Otherwise, I would have never known it was on her mind. I want the drop off appointment times to be uninterrupted and calm. For the most part, dogs that arrive for training are fairly anti-social (either excessively exuberant and lacking manners, fearful or aggressive). I don’t want to put owners into the position of having to control their dogs around other dogs at the drop off appointment because that is why they are bringing their dogs to us in the first place; they are struggling with controlling their dogs in the presence of distractions. The need for a quiet drop off appointment is, however, just my opinion. Robert doesn’t seem to mind working with dogs when the new clients arrive, and it has always been a bone of contention for us. I feel like he is disrupting an important time I have with the clients. Apparently, that sort of activity would be comforting for some clients.
I’ve been away from the Blog for over a week due to some atypical activities which are taking up much time.
Early last week, we traveled to Ohio (and back in one, very long day) to acquire a new baby puppy. Bruce and Linda Fogt, who need no introduction to anyone in the Border Collie herding world, had a litter and I was lucky enough to get a cute male pup whom I have named Liam (as his father is imported from Ireland).
Liam’s mother is Linda Fogt’s Annie and his sire is Dal Kratzer’s Imp. Shep.
Liam is black and white, smooth coat.
Usher (who is 15 weeks old in this photo) traveled with us to Ohio and was a wonderful traveling companion for Liam on the long drive home.
Baby Liam at 8 weeks old.
Welcome to my blog.
It seems that everyone is doing it, and since viewing the marvelous film, “Julie and Julia” (I recommend it to everyone - especially if you have ever watched an episode of Julia Child’s show), I just felt I had to step up to the plate and begin blogging!
But, of course, there’s no point in writing for the mere sake of writing. If nobody really cares what you say, then it’s better to just keep your mouth shut, pencil down or fingers off the keyboard, so to speak.
I already have a website FULL of article on training dogs. Go to http://www.darnfar.com/ and travel about the site. There are FAQs in the “Puppy” section that are specific to, of course, raising puppies. The “Dog Training” section has plenty of material that defines my opinion about dogs and dog ownership. I intend to use that site, still, as a way to offer my advice on dog training.
I also have a book due out in December 2009 through Voyageur Press (http://www.voyageurpress.com/) entitled The 4-H Guide To Dog Training And Dog Tricks. It includes over 150 color photos (taken by my husband, Robert) that illustrate the methods. Along with stories about my start in dog training, it is a step-by-step manual for teaching dogs. That format would not have been my first choice for my maiden voyage into authorship, however, I was requested to take the assignment by the publisher, who has an agreement with 4-H to create a series of books for 4-H. The first four include my book on dog training as well as a guide to training horses, raising chickens and digital photography. They are all available for pre-order at http://www.amazon.com/ - or, if you want to get it for Christmas, you can purchase my book directly from the publisher (current publish date is 12/11/09).
My second book is in the works, right now. I will retain details for another time.
This blog is intended to shed light on the day of a professional dog trainer. However, for the most part, any specific training information will come via conversations which I have with prospective clients. Until I receive a call or email from someone, there’s really no dog to train. And, I have learned over the past 25 years, that “dog training” is not really about training dogs! It’s about teaching people. Very often, I impart some of the most important information in initial conversations with people who call with a problem. Sometimes, advice I give during the initial telephone call or email is some of the most critical information they will receive.
Hopefully, by sharing these conversations that I have with real clients (the names, perhaps even the breed of dog, will be changed to protect the guilty!), I can answer some of the most basic questions and set straight some of the most common misconceptions that many people have about living with this unique species, dog.
Come back soon!
Tammie