COULD YESTERDAYS GRAND VICTORS BE TODAYS GRAND VICTORS?

Are you of the belief that if a German Shepherd Dog is a good one that he can win in any ring (All Breed and Specialty)? There are some specialty people that wouldn�t be caught dead in an All Breed ring and there are some all breed people that never show their dogs in a specialty ring. Some specialty people feel that the reason some all breed people won�t show in a specialty ring is because they know their dog won�t win there. These same specialty people feel that those all breed dogs are not of the quality of dog that wins at a specialty show. Who�s right? Who�s wrong? I don�t know but I do know that there are some great dogs in our breed that can and does win at both of these types of shows!

Like in many things in today�s society, there seems to be a division even among dog show people. Many people put our German Shepherds into two different categories when it comes to show dogs and that is specialty dogs and all breed dogs. Some don�t believe that a good dog will win anywhere. They are of the belief that a good dog is in the specialty ring��period! These same people expect that the specialty dogs are the ones that you�ll see competing at the National level�.that is the National Specialty Show at the end of the year that is put on by the Parent Club (GSDC of America). They do not expect or think of the all breed dog competing at this level. But indeed, there are those dogs that have won high honors at an all breed show like taking Group 1st and Best in Show competing at the National Specialty show and many times winning top honors as well.

Recently I was thinking about some of our top winning dogs of the past and was looking at some of their pictures. It got me to wondering that if some of the �greats� of the breed were alive today, how well would they do in the ring against our present dogs? Do you think that they would still be the top winning dogs that they once were?

Let�s take for instance one of the all time history making German Shepherds in our breed. That is GV Ch Lance of Fran-Jo ROM. Why do I call him all time history making? He wasn�t in my opinion (by looking at his picture) that extraordinary looking. But this dog more than any other dog in the history of our breed changed the look of the German Shepherd forever. Gone was the boxy, square looking dogs of the earlier years. He introduced a more sloping top line and with a more extreme hindquarter. The way the dogs were stacked when they were set up was completely different from the years before. Lance produced a prettier standing animal. If Lance was shown today, would he, could he still be crowned the Grand Victor?

Would the extreme front and rear of the GV Ch Mannix of Fran-Jo (a Lance son) make him a competitive and winning dog today? How about the beautiful breed type of GV Ch Woodside�s Nestl�s Quik, would he still stand out today?

And what about some of the great producing bitches of yesterday? Think that they would be great producing with today�s blood lines? How about Lance�s mother, Frohlich�s Elsa v. Grunes Tahl ROM. She wasn�t a bitch with much angulation at all but she produced her famous son that was dominating in this area. Her father Ch Riter v. Liebetraum had even less hindquarter. Where did all this hindquarter come from then?

How about Cobert�s Melissa ROM who never made her championship but produced some top champions including GV Ch Lakesides Harrigan ROM, Sel Ch Cobert�s Reno ROM, Sel Ch Lakesides Gilligan Island ROM, etc. Would she still be able to produce top winning dogs today?

Does the style of a great dog change from decade to decade? And if it does change, should the standard be re-written to keep up with this change? Just a thought and question for you��what do you think, would the great ones of yesterday be great ones today?


My rating: A good German Shepherd never goes out of style: (4)

INTELLIGENCE OF A SEVEN YEAR OLD

I�ve read a few times that the German Shepherd Dog has the intelligence equal to a seven year old child. Taking that one step further, I�ve also read that we humans learn the most we ever learn in the first five years of our lives. If that last sentence is true, then just think of what the German Shepherd Dog could be capable of learning! Very few of us��.no I take that back��.none of us can ever learn all there is to ever know. We could never hope to teach the German Shepherd Dog everything that a seven year old child knows. I dare say that most of this breeds intelligence level is never, ever realized to even half of that equation.

Thinking how intelligent this breed is it would be a little scary if they really knew all there was to know that a seven year old child knows. Without ever teaching them anything, their quest to know what�s going on at all times is never satisfied. I only own three dogs (all bitches) and they�re all smart just because they�re a German Shepherd, but one of them is the nosiest of the nosy! I could have a box the size that holds a ring and I could put it somewhere that she�d never see it, but she�d know it was there. Her nose is always up in the air sniffing around to see what her nose can lead her to.

I also think that once you train this breed to learn something, they never forget it. They might be a little rusty, but they don�t forget. Now that says something for their intelligence. My house dog Amber (see the above picture � yes that�s her reading a literary masterpiece of her own choice) has been trained by me to do certain easy tasks. She also knows hand signals for those tasks. Now I don�t always ask her to do these tricks all the time. In fact besides the command of �sit�, she pretty much does as she pleases. Today I gave her a few commands and then did hand signals with her and her recall was excellent. She was an easy learner and eager to please when I trained her. Her daughters are another story waiting to be written!

Training dogs is hard work and takes a dedication on the owner�s part to train their dogs. But oh the rewards are worth any time that you put in them. There is nothing nicer than a well trained animal. They�re easier to live with and easier to go places with. Besides the general public will thank you for the time that you�ve put into your dog. No one enjoys being jumped on or mauled to death (in a friendly way)!

So Amber and I chose a �Seasons Greetings� and most sincere wishes for you, your family and loved ones. Oh yeah, and all those intelligent German Shepherds that you share your life with. This is really not a poem geared towards Christmas but the words can be enjoyed and lived with all through the year. I can�t take credit for the construction of the �words of wisdom� and I can�t give credit where credit is due as it says the author is unknown. That said������HAPPY EVERYTHING��EVERYONE!

The most destructive habit..............................Worry

The greatest Joy.................................................Giving

The greatest loss........................Loss of self-respect

The most satisfying work....................Helping others

The ugliest personality trait....................Selfishness

The most endangered species........Dedicated leaders

Our greatest natural resource....................Our youth

The greatest "shot in the arm"...........Encouragement

The greatest problem to overcome........................Fear

The most effective sleeping pill.............Peace of mind

The most crippling failure disease....................Excuses

The most powerful force in life..............................Love

The most dangerous pariah.............................A gossiper

The world's most incredible computer..........The brain

The worst thing to be without................................ Hope

The deadliest weapon.......................................The tongue

The two most power-filled words......................."I Can"

The greatest asset......................................................Faith

The most worthless emotion................................Self-pity

The most beautiful attire.....................................SMILE!

The most prized possession.............................. Integrity

The most powerful channel of communication.....Prayer

The most contagious spirit..............................Enthusiasm

Written By: � Author Unknown


My rating: Training the German Shepherd Dog: (4), Living with a well trained dog: (4)

IS THE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG A DESIGNER BREED?

What does the average person in America think a German Shepherd Dog looks like? Now clearly I�m not talking about a breeder or a show person. I�m talking about �John Doe� that lives down the street from you. How would he describe the German Shepherd Dog? What would he say he looks like? What would he say about the disposition of this breed of dog? Are we the breeders representing the German Shepherd Dog the way most people think of them? Or have we designed a dog that most people wouldn�t identify as the �average� German Shepherd?

If �John Doe� came to a dog show or if he looked up kennels on the internet, I dare say he would be faced with many different types of German Shepherd Dogs being represented. Just take a look on Facebook at all the breeders and the pictures of their dogs on there. I have never seen such a variety of German Shepherds in one place.

What does the general public think a German Shepherd Dog looks like? I bet if you asked them, a majority of them would probably describe a black and silver or black and light tan dog to you. They would probably describe an ordinary looking dog with a protective type of personality.

I was disappointed the other night when I was watching �The Dog Whisperer� and a poll was taken asking the general public which dogs were the most aggressive breed. I knew that the Pit Bull would be the first dog people would name. However, the German Shepherd was rated as being the most aggressive right under them and then followed by the Rottweiler! It doesn�t look like our breed has such a great reputation! I�d rather them be listed as a protection breed for their family and loved ones rather than an aggressive breed. It really is two different things, in my opinion.

If a person �Googled� the words German Shepherd in the search window, thousands of breeder�s names and kennels would come up. Now if you went on those web sites, many times you would see a dog that looks different from other people�s dogs on their websites. Oh sure you�d see the same noble looking head with his ears standing up straight on his head that most people would associate with this breed. But many times this is where the similarity would end. You�d see many different colors of the German Shepherd Dog�s coat. You�d see short coats and you�d see long coats. You�d see average sized dogs and monster bone sized dogs. You�d see American style German Shepherds and you�d see German style German Shepherds. You�d see light pigment. You�d see deep, dark Mahoney red pigment. They�d be straight backs and there would be roach back dogs. You�d see short backs and long backs. Some would stand straight and look boxy and others would be slopping with their rears close to the ground. This could all be very confusing to "John Doe" for he wouldn't know what the standard for our breed is. All he would know is that they all looked so different.

When one talks about one of �those� designer breeds, are we too not designers of our breed the German Shepherd Dog? If you were to look at the first picture of a German Shepherd when this breed first became recognized and look at it now, you would think that it is a different breed. So indeed, we as breeders have designed the German Shepherd Dog and how it looks today! We changed the whole look to the dog. In many ways for the better, I believe. But we have designed him to look a certain way and not the original way at all. I wonder what the breed will look like in another twenty years or so. Should we be changing the looks of the breed so much? We have a standard, but I see very few dogs look like what the standard calls for. Because a breeder is a designer of sorts, he will have bred for a certain style of dogs. Many kennels have generations of their lines in their breeding program and one only has to look at their dogs to know that this is from their kennel.

Are we all heading in the same direction with the same goal to breed the best representative of the German Shepherd that we can? Or are we all doing our own thing and designing a dog that doesn�t really fit to the standard at all? Take a look at the dogs on some people�s websites or on Facebook. Have we created a designer dog or do they look like the standard set for our breed? You decide!


My rating: Breeding to the standard: (4)

IS FACEBOOK TAKING OVER THE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG WORLD?

Several months back I wrote about the different ways that one has to advertise their dogs for sale or stud services. Long gone are the months that we wait to see our ad in �The German Shepherd Dog Review.� We live in an �instant gratification� generation. Patience might be a word that finds itself used less and less. �We want something and we want it now� seems to be the motto of many people today! Oh sure there are those that are happy to remain the way that they always have been, but the majority of people are looking for the �quick fix.�

In today�s economy this probably makes total sense. Waiting and holding back puppies is something that many can no longer afford to do. Ad after ad of puppies, adult dogs and stud dogs are being put up for consideration on Facebook almost every hour it seems. Some people (and by the looks of it on Facebook) see this as another way to advertise their dogs where people will see them immediately. Other people think it can attract the wrong kind of people that inquire about your dogs. The jury is out on this yet.

Whether you believe it�s a good thing or a bad thing to advertise your dogs and puppies on Facebook, it isn�t going away anytime soon. Heck, I even have friends that have said to me in the past that Facebook is not for them, and now are singing a different tune. I never realized just how many people are breeding and looking for good homes for their animals. I must admit I�ve seen some magnificent looking animals that I may have never had the opportunity of seeing if it weren�t for the fabulous pictures that people are posting on Facebook.

Is Facebook a good way of introducing new people to the breed, do you think? Well I don�t know about that, but I can say this much, not too many people that I know of are not on Facebook in one means or another. I for one joined because it�s a great way to network and I love looking at everyone�s beautiful dogs. It�s a wonderful opportunity to see what lines are producing. I get to �meet� people that I would never have met if I didn�t sign up on this social network. I didn�t think I would be on Facebook very much when I first joined. I sat back and watched and wondered what all the hullabaloo was about. Now I get it and I look forward each day to see the different breeder�s quality of dogs that they have produced.

Facebook is not just a place to advertise and look at pictures of peoples dogs. It�s fun to see the dialog that people engage in with one another. Some are on here more than others I admit, but where else would I be able to �travel� with Jeff Pyle through the snowy highways and byways as he makes his way to the New England Shows? He�s quite the social butterfly! How else would I know how much he loves playing volleyball with his friends���.and lots of friends he has! Some of his pictures are a riot.

I�ve seen people on here that I haven�t seen since my high school days and in some cases, glad that I haven�t! But in most cases it affords one an opportunity to re-connect with people that were only a distant memory to you until you get a message asking if you would like to be a friend with �so and so!� Is it all fun and games being on Facebook? It can be a very educational experience but in my opinion I would advise those thinking of coming on Facebook, not to join too many different groups and invitations. I�ve heard of talk about viruses being obtained from this network. But like in anything else that you may receive in an e-mail, don�t open up everything you get. The same precautions that you would use normally can be extended to your use with any social network.

I admit that I�m not the most �with it� when it comes to technology. I periodically get instant messages sent to me when I�m on Facebook and I write back to them and you would think I would know how to send it to the other person. NOT! So I�m not ignoring you. I�m just showing you that I�m still a little �wet behind the ears� when it comes to some of this modern way of doing things. Oh you�ll hear back from me alright, but maybe not for another month or two. I�m still trying to figure it all out!

Many of us (myself included sometimes) like to keep the �same old, same old� just that way. We hesitate to change things that have been the same way for so long. But sometimes we have to move out of our comfort zone and see what it�s all about. We might not like it and we might not stay, but it seems that the majority of people are willing and admitting, it just may be time to move on.

Who among us gingerly got involved at first with all the German Shepherd e-mail lists when they were first introduced? Many sat back and waited, but eventually they got involved and now it�s one of the first things they look at when they are sipping their first cup of coffee in the morning. Sometimes there are days that I see less and less chatter on the e-mail lists. Where did everyone go to? Yup, it looks like Facebook has cut into some of us list owners bragging rights as well. It doesn�t help to fight it. One can either join in or sit back and listen to other people talking about it. I don�t see it going away anytime soon and if you are looking for where the German Shepherd Dog community went, you might just take a peek and discover that Facebook has been keeping them company!


From the book: "DOGS THAT KNOW WHEN THEIR OWNERS ARE COMING HOME".....It's rare for a book's title to say so clearly what the book is about. In the case of Rupert Sheldrake's latest work, the controversial content is right on the front cover. Pet owners will see it and smile in recognition; skeptical scientists will shake their heads and mutter about "maverick scholars." We all know of cases of dogs (and cats) who know when their owners are coming home, who go to wait at the door or window 10 minutes or more before their human arrives. Conditioned by the tight rigor of contemporary scientific thinking, we either look for rational explanations or we file the phenomenon away in our minds as "unexplained" and are careful not to talk about it with our scientist friends. Sheldrake believes that the "telepathy" between pets and humans, or between flocks of birds or schools of fish that move as a single organism, can be explained this theory. Sheldrake is less persuaded by anecdotes that suggest animal clairvoyance--warning of something in the near future--but refuses to disallow the possibility.


My rating: Facebook: (3 - 4)

YOU WANT ANSWERS!

Thank you to those of you who played along with my little quiz that I posted here on Friday. You put your thinking caps on and sent me your answers. Some of them you got right and of course, the others you got wrong. Someone got 99% of the answers correct. Everyone got one of the questions wrong. That was the question about who wrote the memorial for LaMar Kuhns and her husband read it at the Arizona National Specialty show. Many of you thought it was Connie Beckhardt. See the correct answer below. So here are the answers to my little quiz.


The handler that said �I can finish anything� was Jimmy Moses. Someone wrote to tell me that Jerry Guzman says this as well. Come to think of it, probably many handlers would say this to someone when asked if they could finish their dog.

The handler that said, �Give me a spooky dog to show. They always move, was LaMar Kuhns. I don�t know how well he�d do with a dog like this today as the judges are not as tolerant of spooky temperament in their ring.

The two litter sisters that were Grand Victrix was Anton�s Jenny and Anton�s Jessie. Everyone got that right.

The person that wrote the memorial tribute for LaMar Kuhns was Jane Dove and her husband Sylvan Dove read it at the 1984 National Specialty show in Arizona.

There were two writers of �This is the German Shepherd� book and they were Ernest Hart and William Goldbecker.

The editor of the GSD Review in 1985 was Lois Fryslin.

If a dog produces his phenotype, this means he produces himself��what he looks like.

The GSD Specialty club that Ed Barritt still belongs to and still stewards at most years but no longer lives in that state is the Mohawk Hudson Club in New York.

If your dog is diagnosed as having SIBO, those letters stand for �Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.�

The first ROM import since 1967 was Ch Jim v Fiemereck ROM

The people that used to advertise in the GSD Review and put on the bottom of their ads, �Records live, opinions die� were Ralph and Mary Roberts.

The Grand Victor whose father was a Grand Victor and he himself produced two Grand Victors and one Grand Victrix who lost one of his Grand Victor sons to bloat was GV Ch Mannix of Fran-Jo ROM.

The person that writes �Inside the German Shepherd Dog�s World� is me!

The person that writes the National Specialty show blogs is Evan Ginsberg

The German Shepherd Dog family of handlers are the Dancosses��Henry, Sandy and Leslie.

�Rex the wonder dog� was owned by breeder/exhibitor/judge, Joe Bihari.

If a dog is said to have the initials EPI then this means he has Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency.

The white German Shepherd Dog is the dog that is disqualified if he was in the ring. (Note: I said excused�..should be disqualified, but most of you knew what I was talking about).

All of these dogs would be disqualified: nose not predominately black, down with an undershot jaw, dog with hanging ears and the dog that tried to bite the judge.

That�s it for today, so once again, thanks for joining in.


My rating: refreshing your memory on trivia about the German Shepherd Dog: (4)

REMEMBERING YOUR FIRST TIME

Someone wrote to me this morning and asked me if I could write about this subject. So I gave it a little thought and decided, �Sure, why not?� Everyone in dogs has a �first time� doing something. The woman that wrote to me was so thrilled that she had just put the first point on one of her own animals that she was showing. Here are her own words: �I handled my girl Piper a few weeks ago in Urbana Ohio. Nothing new except she went Winners Bitch. I was on cloud nine and sill am. It�s the first time I ever put a points on my own bitch. I handled others and got majors, but this was different. It is a very special feeling, one that I have never experienced before, and I hope to again and again. I know I will never forget it.�

Looking back in my own involvement in dogs, I was never that talented to show my own dogs so I left it to the professionals. I probably am the world�s worst double handler and every professional handler�s worst nightmare so pretty much the dog was left to win on his own merit. The very first time that I ever showed at a major specialty show, I hired Jimmy Moses and my dog won a big four or five point major and back in those days the entries were huge. First of all I was thrilled that Mr. Moses was showing my dog because I was a young, �just starting out� novice and he consented to show my dog. So that was my �first time� having a cream of the crop handler showing for me. Then the other �first time� was that my dog won his first major! So those two things stand out in my mind of �first time� events. I remember driving to the show that day, but I don�t remember driving back home because I was floating, because my feet hadn�t stepped back on the ground yet.

Then there are memories of the first litter I ever bred and there are memories of the first champion I ever finished and the first champion I ever bred. There are memories of the first �big shot� I ever talked to and that was so sweet and supportive of me. That was Carol McPheron who owned GV Ch Scorpio of Shiloh Gardens. She was just the nicest and most helpful person to a newcomer like me.

Can I ever forget the first time an icon of the breed bred to my stud dog? When Bill Goldbecker bred one of his German bred bitches to my dog, I couldn�t believe it. He was a fascinating man who knew a lot about the breed. He didn�t let you forget it either. Now most people when they breed to your dog, they bring the bitch to him. Nope, Bill expected and he got me bringing my stud dog to his bitch. What did I care anyway? He thought enough of my dog to breed to him.

Could I have been any luckier than to be able to lease a bitch for my very first litter from the kennels of Marge Dolan of Dolmar Shepherds? She was from the famous Reno/Rhyme combination. I�ve always said it many times on this blog, I was VERY LUCKY when I first started out to have some knowledgeable people take me under their wings.

Another first for me was when the GREAT, late Joan Ford judged a match show. The entry was huge. I kid you not; there must have been a hundred entries that day. The sun was shining brightly; a cool breeze was in the air��a perfect combination for a dog show. We entered our sable �Charlie� son and without a professional handler at the end of the leash. Well can I tell you when she pointed to him and gave him Best Puppy at this match; you would have thought he just won the Grand Victor title. I was stunned that she awarded our super moving puppy this title.

Then owning BIM Ch Arbar�s Xanadu ROM afforded me many, many �firsts.� She was the best thing that ever happened to me in dogs for a gazillion and one reasons. She was a once in a life time dog and I owe her so much more than she ever got.


And writing this article wouldn't be complete if I didn't include when I bought my very "first" German Shepherd Dog, Helga. Bought from a pet shop, but loved like she was a champion because although she may have taught me everything that a good quality German Shepherd shouldn't look like conformation wise, she also served to remind me of the fantastic mind and temperament of this breed. And after all that was the real reason I bought a German Shepherd to begin with. It was who they were that attracted me to them in the first place. It was their nobility, loyalty and the love for their master that first caught my eye. My very first German Shepherd made me realize that my first choice of a dog breed was the right choice for me.

So looking back over my ownership and involvement with the breed, I remember many �firsts.� How about you? Do you remember some �firsts� in your dog show career? Do you remember the thrill of it all? Did it feel different then then what it feels like today when you win? Do you still get that �rush� when you win? Are there still �firsts� that you are looking forward to experiencing?


From the book: "CHOOSING GRATITUDE: YOUR JOURNEY TO JOY" - Gratitude is a choice. If we fail to chose it, by default we choose ingratitude. And once allowed into the heart, ingratitude does not come by itself but with a lot of other seedy companions that only succeed in stealing joy. To not choose gratitude - daily and deliberately - is more costly than we usually realize. And when we do choose a lifestyle of heartfelt, humble gratitude, we are mindful of the benefits received from our gracious Savior and those He has placed around us. By intentionally thanking God and others, bitterness and entitlement are replaced with joy and the humble realization of just how undeserving we really are. Derived from a popular Revive Our Hearts radio series, Choosing Gratitude: The Path to Joy challenges and equips the reader to live a life of intention. A life based on thankfulness - for the freedom Christ has provided and for the blessings of others.

TO HELP MAKE YOUR LIFE A LITTLE BIT EASIER

I�ve gathered some ideas to help make your life a little bit easier when you�re looking for solutions to some of your pet questions.

Just because summer is now officially over (boo hoo) doesn�t mean that ticks and fleas are still not looking for tasty drops of your or your dogs blood to help sustain them through the cooler months. Nope these tiny, itty bitty �yuckies� are not going away just yet. If you plan on hiking with your dogs, still wear lighter colored clothes to make ticks stand out. Spray your clothes with a product like Repel�s Permanone which has a chemical called permethrin. You can also use a product containing oil of lemon eucalyptus such as Repel Lemon eucalyptus Insect Repellent to use on your skin. I spray my dog�s everyday with a mixture of Lavender Essence and water to help repel these and other �buggy� creatures.

The fleas are still biting so try dabbing a drop or two of lemon essential oil (like lemon balm or lemongrass) on the back of your dogs� neck and on his rump. The citrus oil contains a powerful chemical called linalool that is toxic to fleas but not to dogs. The fleas should move on.

For the persistent little buggers (fleas) that reside in your house, here�s a trick that seems to work. Salt�..it is the perfect de-bugger. Just sprinkle a liberal dusting on rugs and carpets, banish pets from the room for a few hours, and then vacuum thoroughly. Repeat twice a week as needed. Salt dehydrates flea larvae that hatch from eggs deposited deep in carpeting, arresting the insects� life cycle.

Has your dog put his nose where it doesn�t belong and got tangled with a skunk? Here are a couple of remedies to help your dog smell like a rose once again! Rub a can or two worth of beer into his coat, then rinse with water and bathe him with doggy shampoo to remove any beer scent. Beer�s yeast cultures will penetrate the skunk sprays� water resistant oils so the brew�s carbonic acid can dissolve them. Plus, the alcohol will kill odor causing bacteria, resulting in a fresh smelling dog once again. Then you can sit down and enjoy the rest of the �six pack� of beer knowing that all is well with your dog once again.

Another idea for a skunk smelling dog is to mix � cup of baking soda, 1 tsp. of liquid soap and 1 quart of hydrogen peroxide. Work it into the pet�s fur, then rinse. Caution � keep the mixture away from his eyes! Hydrogen peroxide neutralizes the sulfur compounds in a skunk�s spray to render them odorless, while the other ingredients leave fur smelling clean.

Got a dog that hates going for rides in the car because he gets sick all the time? All dogs love cookies, but give him one gingersnap cookie 10 minutes before you leave the house. If the trip will be a longer time, give him another cookie while en route. The ginger in the cookie will stimulate the flow of his digestive enzymes to help settle his stomach, so you both can get to the destination without an incident.

We all know that German Shepherds are notorious for shedding their fur all year long. They leave their calling card where ever they go from room to room. My house dog Amber has little area rugs that I put out for her to lay on. Well she also thinks that that is her invitation to lie on my bath rug as well. I hate that when she does that. The last thing I want to do when I come out of the shower is to step on a hairy bath rug. So I found an excellent and quick way to pick up the loose dog hair lying on my bath rug without using the vacuum cleaner that tries to eat the rug. I use my �squeegee� type �thing a ma gig� that I use to wipe away the excess water on the walls of my shower. I just take it and run it across the rug and like magic it gathers any of the loose hair so I can easily pick it up and throw it in the trash. Simple and it works!

Does your dog need to go on a diet? If cutting back his food consumption is leaving your dog begging for more, there are a couple of things that you can do. Try adding some vegetables like string beans or carrots to his daily meal. This way you won�t be adding very many calories and he�ll feel fuller. Also recommended by a vet, to slim him down while satisfying his appetite, gradually substitute 1/3 of his usual food portion with canned PURE pumpkin. The low-cal addition is high in fiber, which will prevent hunger pangs.

I hope you can use some or all of these tips to make living with your dogs just a little bit easier and without breaking the bank.

CHRIS CHRISTENSEN SYSTEMS

Well looks like we are saying �goodbye� to the summer and �hello� to the fall. There is nothing like showing a dog at the fall shows. The weather is perfect for it, cool and crisp. The dogs feel good and the owners feel good. So out come the grooming supplies once again. Are your supplies in tip top shape or has some of them seen their better days? I was talking to a breeder friend yesterday who shows her dogs year round and we were talking about supplies. She loves the Chris Christensen Systems products. When I did a review on brushes before, I included this company�s line of products. Today I decided to devote a whole article on what they offer as it�s been a name well known in the dog world for years of offering top quality dog brushes.

WHY PROPER BRUSHING IS SO IMPORTANT:

Other than the primary function of brushing or styling hair, hair brushing serves several other important purposes; cleaning and massaging the skin, and stimulating the release of beneficial oil called sebum. Sebum is released by the sebaceous gland at the base of the hair follicle as a result of the gentle hair tugging action caused by brushing. Brushing the hair cleans the hair shaft, follicle, and skin by removing trapped scale, dirt, and oils. Brushing also distributes the Sebum, coating, lubricating, and protecting the hair shaft resulting in a healthy glow or sheen and more flexible hair. Because sebum protects and moisturizes, regular brushing results in hair that is healthier, more manageable, and easier to style. All of Chris Christensen Systems brushes are well balanced and easy to use. Handles are designed to ensure comfortable grip and use.

I�ve always known that this company made some of the best dog grooming brushes on the market, but I didn�t realize that they make some other grooming supplies as well. Here are some of the products that they make.

Oval Pin Brush - Large - A top quality pin brush. The finest quality pin brush that money can buy. Use 20mm for short coats; 27mm for medium to long coats; 35mm for long thick full coats. Ground and polished tips are the smoothest available and will not push into cushion. The supple, relaxed pin cushion is set in a light-weight solid wood body with an easy grip handle.

Thick N Thicker Volume Response Foaming Protein adds astonishing volume to any coat type. Replenishes protein and creates volume by implanting a high volume of low molecular weight proteins. The dense compact foam base allows easy distribution through the coat. Naturally volumizes thin, skimpy coats while repairing and protecting coat hairs. Strengthens weakened hair shafts and repairs split ends.

Buttercomb - 6 inches - Solid brass core with round core top to reduce friction and eliminate unnecessary breakage. Exceptionally smooth teeth glide through the coat like butter to reduce combing time by 50 percent! Steel teeth with a highly finished tips and high quality nickel chrome finish. This heavy dog grooming comb features1.25 inch long staggered teeth with a 6 inch total comb length.

Beautifully handcrafted Beech wood slicker brush with high grade steel pins for less coat damage. Ultra-soft, extra flexible cushion with base of one fourth inch foam. Shape and contours of the handle do all the work for you instead of wrist being at a constant angle. Less stress for groomer and animal.

Miracle Air is a natural but powerful way to completely eliminate odors. It can be sprayed directly on your dog, cat, puppy or kitten, around food and even on baby diapers. Chris Christensen Miracle Air is food grade. Miracle Air breaks apart odor molecules on contact. It is not a cover up. It eliminates all odors from pets, urine and fecal matter, cigarette smoke, cooking odors, body odors, diesel and gasoline.

These are just some of the products this well respected company carries.

My rating: Chris Christensen Systems dog grooming supplies: (4)

PANNUS IN THE GERMAN SHEPHERD DOG

The more that I think I know about the breed, the more I realize that I don�t. This is just one of the things that I didn�t know that the German Shepherd Dog can be affected by. I never even heard of this disease before.

German Shepherd Dog Keratitis [pannus], medical name: keratitis superficialis vasulosa pannosa pigmentosa chronica, is a chronic inflammation of the corneal surface and, in most cases, of the conjunctiva of the eye. The reason it is called German Shepherd Dog Keratitis is because the disease is found predominantly in German Shepherds and is only rarely seen in other breeds.

Pannus is a condition where your dogs� immune system attacks the cornea. Symptoms include changes in color and the appearance of red blood vessels. While there is no cure for the syndrome, it can be controlled for the life of your dog. Failure to treat the condition can result in blindness.

It is normally seen in dogs between the ages of three and five. It first appears in the outer regions of the cornea and, in almost all cases, affects both eyes simultaneously.

The cornea is a membrane that covers the colored part and white part of the eye. Canine keratitis is a syndrome where the cornea becomes inflamed and discolored (corneal pigmentation). Pannus causes tissue to accumulate on the surface of the eye and cholesterol to form inside the cornea.

The cause of Pannus is not well understood, but several factors are involved. The breed incidence suggests a heritable predisposition. Additionally, UV (ultraviolet) radiation plays an important role as an inciting and propagating factor. Dogs living at high altitudes and low altitudes are more severely affected. Also, autoimmune factors and possibly genetics play a part.

Initially, redness and brown pigment may be seen in the conjunctiva (white tissue of the eye). White infiltrates made up of inflammatory cells then invade the clear cornea. Next blood vessels invade the cornea. Finally pink connective tissue grows into the cornea and later becomes brown. In a small number of cases, two other symptoms may occur either alone or together. A thickening, redness, de-pigmentation and lumpiness of the third eyelid may occur. This is called a plasmoma. The other condition which may occur is chronic, erosive ulceration of the lower eyelid near the inner and outer corners of the eye. Pannus is uncomfortable to the dog. When treated adequately, your dog can be free of this irritation even though the corneas may not clear up completely.

What is the treatment for Pannus? Despite intensive research efforts, no permanent cure exists for this disease. However, in the vast majority of cases, the diseases progress can be halted and the problem kept stable. In other cases, Pannus may be reversed and the corneas will clear. This is most probable if therapy is instituted early during the disease. The inflammatory cell infiltrate and blood vessel invasion are generally reversible with therapy. The connective tissue infiltration and pigment deposits are often not reversible once they have occurred.

There are four types of therapy:

1. Corticosteroid (cortisone) therapy. This is the main line of defense against progression of the disease and in most cases is effective. If the pannus is severe, cortisone may be administered by injections under the white of the eye. In all cases drops containing cortisone must be applied to the eye many times a day. Treatment must be kept up for the rest of the pet�s life. Even short periods of interrupted treatment, i.e., 2-to-4 weeks, may cause severe relapse with worsening of the patient's vision. The main side-effect of prolonged corticosteroid therapy is the adverse effect on corneal wound healing. Microscopic wounds of the outer layer of the cornea often occur. In a normal eye the cornea heals rapidly. If corticosteroid medications are being applied, minor wounds worsen leading to serious corneal ulceration. The main sign seen in patients with ulceration is pain. Therefore, should any patient on cortisone therapy show signs of pain, such as holding the eye shut or pawing at the eye, it is important that the medication be stopped and the doctor consulted immediately.

2. Cyclosporine is a new medication in the war on pannus. It does work on pannus and doesn't have the side effects of corticosteroids. Unfortunately, cyclosporine doesn't work as quickly and it is usually necessary to continue it twice daily for the rest of the patient�s life. Often, we will initially prescribe corticosteroids to be used in addition to the cyclosporine. When used together, greater improvements are seen without the side effects associated with high levels of corticosteroids.

3. Surgery may be used when medication does not completely clear the pannus from the cornea. A 'peeling' of the cornea may be required to restore vision in eyes that are severely scarred and pigmented. Unfortunately, treatment is required following surgery to prevent the pannus from recurring as the cornea heals. This method is only used if medication doesn't work.

4. Beta-irradiation may be used when medication and surgery prove insufficient. This will not be recommended unless all else fails.

Although Pannus can be a condition that requires life long treatment, with the correct diagnosis and early treatment, the dog's vision can be maintained.


From the top rated book: "THE 5-MINUTE VETERINARY CONSULT: Be ready to face the rush of common and not-so-common animal disorders with the Third Edition of 5-Minute Veterinary Consult: Canine and Feline. It's your complete, quick-reference resource, offering authoritative coverage and timely answers to your questions pertaining to canine and feline health. You'll also have the insights of more than 300 top veterinary specialists at your fingertips, plus complete coverage of more than 700 specific disorders.


My rating: Learning and educating yourself on the diseases of the German Shepherd Dog: (4)

A LITTLE BIT OF THIS, A LITTLE BIT OF THAT

Thank God it�s Friday and where the heck did the week go anyway? This is the weekend of the Canadian National Specialty show and a lot of my friends are up there enjoying that right now. Everyone seems to have fun at this show. Good luck to all the exhibitors! One of my friends and her husband take their motor home up there every year. I always wanted to travel cross country in a motor home and just take my time and take in the sights along the high way. Oh well, maybe one day when I get rich and famous!

Speaking of rich and famous��I�m going to make this plea this coming week on a couple of lists that I belong to. I just put it on my Facebook page yesterday afternoon. I need your help, so I�m networking it here as well. I wonder if any of you can give me advice or lead me in the right direction. Recently I wrote an idea for a television reality show. I�ve had it copyrighted with the Copyright Office and also have a registration number from �The Writer�s Guild of America.� Because of my research on the internet, I was led to believe that MTV accepts unsolicited material so I wrote them a letter with my concept for the show. When I didn�t hear back from them, I called them and they told me they no longer accept unsolicited material and in fact haven�t done so for the last two years. They advised me to get an entertainment lawyer or agent. I contacted a lawyer that I know lives in California (non-entertainment) and he was kind enough to inquire about this for me. He was told the same thing that studios don�t accept unsolicited material. So what I need is an agent or an entertainment lawyer. Do any of you guys know anyone that fits this description��.friend, family member, associate, friend of a friend, distant relative��..anyone at all that can guide me in the right direction? No scratch that��.anyone who can get me into a production company??? PLEASE WRITE TO ME PRIVATELY at: uwish@hvc.rr.com Mucho thanks!

Now back to the doggy stuff. A couple of days ago I asked my readers what state did they think should be the official state of the German Shepherd Dog. Naturally I got answers from people who thought that the state that they lived in should be declared the official state of the German Shepherd. I heard from those from New York, Ohio, Texas, Colorado, etc. Oh and even someone wrote to me saying British Columbia, Canada should be the winner! The most responses came from New York. Two people wrote to me to tell me that New York tried to make this their official dog after the 9/11 incident but for some reason it hasn�t passed yet so one of the ladies that wrote to me just wrote a letter to her state Senator to inquire about it. She told me when she hears from him, she�ll let me know. Speaking of 9/11, this is a story that I wrote all those years ago concerning that horrific event in our countries history. Have a great week-end everyone!

THE MAJESTIC LADIES
By
Barbara J. Galasso

From a distance you could hear the steady humming of a jet that grows increasingly louder as it speeds ever faster towards its target. Closer now; the humming is replaced with a roar. Deafening, crashing, and crushing�..no time to prepare. Just a blank expression; not even recognition of ones surroundings. Jet fuel leaking, angry black smoke rising, red hot fire spreading. Steel beams collapsing, walls surrender, little Joey�s framed picture falls to the floor, a telephone rings from a forgotten desk in the corner of the office. Voices scream, crying and shouting. �Get out, get out� is the last words some hear as the voice succumbs to the dead of silence. The falling, the awful falling. The walls cave in; the floors disappear as the majestic ladies tumble to the ground, floor by floor, stairwell by stairwell.

Thick black choking smoke. Flames dance across the bleak landscape. Debris, so much debris. Crushed stone, twisted cables, a set of keys, a wedding band, and a scrap of paper with a note saying �Don�t forget 2:00 meeting today.� A cell phone rings among the trappings of the fallen buildings. A German Shepherd rescue dog lays exhausted by the feet of the dirt covered fireman who sits in shocked bewilderment among the rubble that was once known as the majestic ladies.

In other parts of the country, two more jets are racing towards their destiny and a place in the history books. No survivors, all victims have succumbed to their fate in a lone field or the side of a building. The majestic ladies are not alone in their heroic defeat.

Oh America, your innocent, your brave cry out for justice. Hear them shout from the top of a snow capped mountain, or your painted valleys awash with a tapestry of colors, or through the deep crevices that reverberate through your canyons. Hear them in the whisper of a gentle breeze that caresses a lone tree top that sits in a barren meadow. With each new dawn that starts the day and when dusk follows her lead, those who have gone before us prepare for their day of reckoning. They can no longer be silenced by the deafening thunder of a jet. The souls of the past beg to be remembered. Peace escapes them as they search for America to be vindicated.

The flags will be flown at half mast today as the breeze catches the fabric with her stars and stripes that ripple ever so gently across the clear blue sky. Wave high, wave proudly Old Glory, as we�ll never forget what you stand for and represent. The majestic ladies stand ever tall in our hearts. And if one walks past ground zero late at night and you listen long and hard enough, you may still hear the echoes of life begging to be remembered. One may think they can still hear the telephone ringing, faxes sending, copying machines copying, ideas exchanged at the board meeting�..business going on as usual. �Hey Jane, what did you do over the week-end?� someone asks. �No dear, I won�t forget to pick up a container of milk on my way home tonight,� another softly whispers in to the phone. A secretary types her boss�s presentation papers for the meeting early this afternoon. She accidentally types in the wrong number. She goes back and corrects it. She changes the 0 to a 1. �There now, that looks better,� she compliments herself. Her boss comes over to her desk and reminds her, �Don�t forget, I need to get out of here by 3:00 this afternoon. It�s my son�s birthday and I promised my wife I�d get home before rush hour traffic.� The secretary nods her head up and down in acknowledgment of his request. She makes a mental note to herself; �Today is not a good day to ask for that much needed raise. Tomorrow� she tells herself. �I�ll do it the very first thing in the morning.� She turns back to her paper she�s typing and dates it September 11, 2001. �Gee, I�d like to get out of here early myself,� she chuckles. The majestic ladies hear her. She�s about to make history.


NO PART OF THIS STORY MAY BE REPRINTED WITHOUT PERMISSION FROM THE AUTHOR!

My rating: Thank God it's Friday: (4)

I'VE BEEN REPLACED!

Oh wow, looks like my owners are packing up the van with dog crates and supplies, water and food dishes as well. I see luggage and lawn chairs being put in the van also. I can�t wait. My tail is wagging faster and faster. I�m turning around in circles now. My eyes are wide open with delighted anticipation. They brush by me and say to me, �Buck get out of my way and go lay down someplace will you?�

Go lay down, what are they crazy? I can�t lay down with all this excitement around me. I know where we�re going. We�re going to a dog show and we�re even going to stay in one of those fancy hotels that allow me to stay in the room with my owners. I can�t wait to share one of those big old king size beds with my masters. And if I�m really good, my owners will bring me some left over steak from one of those fancy restaurants that they always seem to find no matter what city we go to. Yup life is good being a show dog.

But wait what is this that I see? Why is my owner going over to the kennel and getting that young male dog out of his run? What�s that about and where does he think he�s going? I see him jumping up and down now as they put a collar around his neck that I would like to bite right about now. They know better than to bring him into MY house. Then where is he going to? I press my cold nosy nose against the window pane watching where they�re taking him. What�s this? They�re putting him in the van in MY dog crate. Just where does he think that he�s going to? Just wait until I get out there and get into that van and give him a piece of my mind. Hey, why are they closing the door? I haven�t been put in there yet. They probably forgot that I�m waiting for them inside the house.

I see they give a piece of paper, some keys and a handshake to the kennel helper. They get into the van and I watch them drive down the driveway. Surely they�ll turn back for me once they realize that they forgot to put me in the van. I wait and I whine and I sit staring out that window but the familiar van that I love to go for rides in doesn�t come back to get me.

The kennel help comes into the house now and sees me looking out the kitchen window. I don�t go over to greet him right away because I know once my owners realize the mistake they made; they�ll be back for me. I let out some cries and the kennel guy comes over and pats me on the head and says, �That�s alright fella�, come away from the window now and I�ll get a treat for you.� He tries to coax me with one of those dog biscuits made to look like a real bone. I never liked them very much anyway and like it even less now as he tries to make �nice, nice� to me because he knows like I know, I�ve been replaced.

Sure I�m old and gray and walk with a more cautioned step now because of that darn arthritis in my rear legs. Am I supposed to make apologies for what the passing of time has done to my less than youthful body? Have they forgotten all the trophies that my younger body brought home to grace the shelves in their family room? Have they forgotten all the lovely ladies that I �entertained� and helped fill their bank accounts so they could put that swimming pool in the back yard? Come to think of it, I haven�t entertained any lovely ladies in awhile now because that young Bronco that they just put in the van has seen to it that I haven�t. Have I been replaced?

I�ve decided I don�t feel like eating the food that my kennel help offers me. It�s not made with love like my master makes it for me. The long week end goes by and there�s something in the air. I can just tell these things. I run over to the big kitchen window and I wait patiently for the van to appear. Here it comes up the driveway now. I start to cry and turn in circles in happy anticipation for my owners to come in and apologize for their obvious mistake a few days ago. I hear the key in the door turn and in they walk. But for some reason my enthusiasm for them has changed from one of excitement to one of temperamental disdain. They�re not going to get away with this so easy. No sir!

Oh here she comes over to me saying, �Where�s my baby? Where�s my big boy?� The nerve of her to act like nothing even happened. I turn my head away from her for a moment as I watch my other owner take �HIM� out of the van and put him back in the kennel where he belongs. Good thing too, because I was ready to rock and roll with him��arthritis and all!

She continues to muss on me scratching my ears and trying to rub my tummy acting like nothing ever happened. The kennel boy tells her I barely ate a morsel since they left. �Oh Buck is that true?� she asks me, like I have a human vocabulary to answer her back with. She gives me some more loving even though I�m still slow to warm up to her. Then the kennel help says the words that I want to but can�t. He tells her, �I think old Buck feels like he�s been replaced.� With that she turns and hugs me tight and says, �Never, no one could ever replace you Buck. No matter how many dogs I have, no one could ever replace you.� With that, I give her a big kiss, roll over on the floor and allow her to scratch my belly and plan my revenge on that young �wanna be� the next time I see him.

Moral of the story: Our old guys know when the playing field has changed and they can no longer do what they once did. But even though their body ages, their hearts remain forever young as long as they feel that they haven�t been replaced.


From the book: "CARING FOR YOUR AGING DOG"..........Today, veterinarians know more about small-animal geriatrics than ever before�making it possible for dogs to live longer, better lives. But science and technology alone aren�t enough: we have to do our part, too. And this thorough guide to the older dog teaches us how. It introduces the basics of caring for a senior pet; examines issues of genetics, environment, and nutrition; presents a �prevention primer� for forestalling disease and old-age conditions; and explains how to recognize vital signs of change, from cloudy eyes to achy joints. Most important, it offers comforting advice on what to do when your beloved pet does get sick, and how to deal with both the financial and emotional costs. Throughout, dog owners tell their inspiring personal stories.


My rating: Letting the older dog know he's still very much loved and valued: (4)

SO YOU WANT TO BREED A LITTER OF PUPPIES - (Part 3)

Most German Shepherd �mothers to be� are good eaters while they�re carrying their litter of puppies. However, not all of them are. This is why it is important to make sure you are feeding her a top quality food to ensure that she is getting the proper amount of nutrition. Supplementing her food with vitamins is important also. Some bitches will go off their food at certain times when they are pregnant and the owner is about ready to pull her hair out worrying that her puppies are not going to be healthy. I had a bitch do this every single time that she was bred. Because she did this, I knew she was in whelp. Like some women who get morning sickness when they are pregnant, there�s no reason to think that some dogs don�t go through the same thing. Any and all food that I would offer her, she would refuse, EXCEPT��.dog biscuits. She loved dog biscuits when she was pregnant. So dog biscuits are what she got along with her vitamins. Just as long as she was eating something, I didn�t care! If anyone came to my house and looked at her, they must have thought that I abused her because she looked so skinny.

Anyway, let�s assume that your girl continues to eat; you should increase her food the last couple of weeks during her pregnancy because she�s eating for a whole litter now! Sometimes a bitch may go off her food or cut back during the last few days of her pregnancy.

By now you will have set up a whelping box for your bitch in a quiet area of your house where she is free from unneeded stress or other distractions. You will have bought a heating lamp for the whelping box as it is important to keep the new pups warm and toasty. Make sure that the whelping box that you invest in is large enough for the mother to stretch out and big enough for her growing puppies. Another thing the whelping box should have is a rail that goes around the inside of the box. This is where the puppies can lay under so they don�t accidentally get squished by their mother. I know some breeders use a kiddy pool for the mother and her puppies. They swear by it, but I don�t understand how those puppies don�t get squished.

Hopefully you have been in contact with your veterinarian about your breeding of your bitch. You have let him know when she is due to whelp. As the actual time of her whelping draws near, you should be in contact with him to let him know how she is doing. Also you should know what his procedure is if your girl should run into an emergency situation. Will he come to her aid and meet you at his office during the evening hours after his office is closed? Or do you have to rely on an emergency vet to take care of her needs? Find this all out BEFORE you actually need help! A Vet that works with a breeder is a God send!

During the bitches last few days of pregnancy it is a good idea to monitor her body temperature. Normally you can do this using a rectal thermometer. The normal body temperature for animals is generally higher than for humans. The normal rectal temperature of a dog is 99.5� to 102.5�F. What you�re looking for is her temperature to drop to 98 degrees from her normal 99 � 101 degrees. You may even see her temperature fluctuate going up and down. It�s when it stays down, you normally have 12 � 24 hours from the time that she first started to drop her temperature. When it goes down to 98 or 97.9, then you may expect the first born in 2 � 12 hours. This is just a guideline as all bitches are different.

When your bitch is getting closer to whelping, you may find she goes from periods of sleeping for hours to becoming restless pacing back and forth. She may look stressed and excited. She will have to urinate more because of the pressure that she is feeling. Make sure you go outside with her when she goes potty as you don�t want her running off somewhere in the woods to deliver her first puppy. When her water breaks, you might not even see it, but if you check her, right before she�s ready to give birth, you will normally see a white mucous like substance. Stay with her. Your litter of puppies is getting ready to enter this world!

To be continued�..


From the book: "THE COMPLETE BOOK OF DOG BREEDING"....... A veterinarian with many years of canine practice experience offers guidance to novice and professional dog breeders, emphasizing the responsibilities of reputable breeders to their dogs and to the buyers of the puppies they produce. Topics covered include: the choosing, health, quality, and conditioning of brood stock; practical DNA use, and Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) surveys and data storage to scientifically improve the selection of healthy brood stock and puppies; potential breeding problems; artificial insemination; pregnancy and its duration; embryonic and fetal activity; pregnancy nutrition; physical changes during pregnancy; stages of labor; normal and Cesarean-section births, and how to assist in both; nutrition of dams and puppies and how to recognize and prevent potential problems in both; neonatal puppy care; lactation and weaning the puppies; socializing the puppies; pedigrees, registration, and titles; and much more. Filled with color photos and line art.


My rating: Dog breeding: (1 - 4)

SO YOU WANT TO BREED A LITTER OF PUPPIES - (Part 2)

Okay so you just invested in buying the best bitch that you can afford for your breeding program. You raise her until she�s at least two years of age. You have her x-rayed and submit them to the OFA for evaluation. You receive her OFA numbers for her hips and elbows. Then you once again take a look at the studs that you have been considering breeding her to for awhile. Hopefully you have done your homework and have investigated a little further into the bloodlines of the potential stud dogs and have talked to other breeders that have utilized these dogs into their own bloodlines. You would have discussed the faults of the lines and any health problems other breeders may have had. Perhaps you can even take a look at some of their puppies that they have produced from the stud dog that you are interested in using.

Once you�ve decided on a dog that you would like to use, your next step is to make sure that your bitch is up to date on any of her inoculations that she may need. Taking in a stool sample to your vet would be a good idea as well. This is a good time to have her thoroughly examined to make sure she�s healthy and ready to have a litter. Alright then, Mother Nature pays a visit to your girl and she�s in season.

You should get in touch with the stud dog owner on your bitches first day of season. This way the owner of the male can reserve the days that your bitch needs to be bred. Most stud dog owners will allow you to breed your bitch two times during her season to help ensure that she�ll get pregnant. Also the stud dog owner should let you know what tests he expects you to have on your bitch before the breeding takes place. These tests are to protect his stud as well as your bitch from contacting any infectious diseases. Some bitch owners will have tests done to determine when their bitch should be bred. I have never done this test and I have never had a bitch miss. But for those bitches that do have a harder time conceiving, these tests can prove to be very valuable to the bitch owner.

This is what the person that wrote to me about writing about this subject had to say about the actual breeding of the two animals. �You can of course leave out the copulation itself as I think most know how that is done.� Well you would think that that would be the case, but it�s not always that way. Most people think that you just put the two dogs� together and let nature do what nature normally does. You would think. But it doesn�t always work out that way. Many a time the breeder has to be �hands on� when a breeding is taking place. If she�s not, injury may result or a breeding doesn�t take place at all. So let�s take a look at this eventful day.

So the time has come for you to breed your girl to the famous stud dog. Hopefully the stud dog will be a good breeder and there will be no problems. A good stud dog is an eager breeder and gets the job done without too much fanfare. The problem can arise when you have a young stud dog that is still �wet behind the ears� because he�s never been bred before or to very few bitches. I�ve written about my own experience with this. If it weren�t for me and the stud dog owner being there, serious damage could have resulted to the stud dog and maybe my bitch. Not to go into all the detail all over again here, I�ll just tell you that the stud dog tied with my bitch and then he wanted to play games and tried throwing himself on the floor like an overgrown puppy would do. That�s when the fun began! NOT! The poor dog was screaming in pain and he didn�t know what to do. The stud dog owner became so scared and yelled to me to hold my bitch very still. Thank God my bitch was an experienced brood bitch. She just looked at him like he was nuts and as if to say to him, �Are you done yet?�

Then you might run into the other side of the spectrum and have a dog that is a lazy breeder and is not really too interested in your bitch. I also had that happen before. Eventually we got the breeding done and had a large litter, but you would think that the stud would want to breed a willing bitch. Nope, he had to be coaxed.

And then how about the stud dog that is overly exuberant with anything that has four legs. He�s an aggressive stud dog and the owner has all he can do to hold the wild bronco back. This can result in outside ties and small litters or no litters at all. Then you can�t breed to him until another 24 hours at least and hope that the next time you can calm his libido down a little bit. And hopefully you�ll have a litter.

And the stud dogs are not the only ones that can give you a headache. How about your darling sweet little girl? If she is a maiden bitch, she may not want anything to do with the stud dog at all. She may be frightened or she may want to rip his head off! Most stud dog owners will muzzle all bitches that come in to be bred to their dogs. The smart owner doesn�t take any chances. Many times after they are tied, the muzzle will be taken off the bitch.

So no, it�s not just about putting the two dogs together. The breeders are very much a part of what goes when the two dogs are bred. Believe me many stud dogs owners earn their stud dogs fees and the bitch owner ears her puppy prices!


So if everything goes well, you will have had two breedings on your girl and you can take her home and wait until you see the signs that your bitch is pregnant. Your girl will carry her babies for nine weeks. While she is pregnant you will make sure that she has the proper nutrition and some breeders will give their bitches supplements at this time to ensure that she is getting the extra vitamins they she will need to nourish her babies and herself.

If you haven�t already, now is the time to invest in a good whelping box for the mother and her newborns.

(To be continued)�.


DRYMATE WHELPING BOX LINER -

* Provide your pet with a clean sanitary whelping area.
* The soft, non-woven fabric absorbs and contains liquids.
* The bonded backing prevents leak through and protects the flooring.
* Machine washable and dryable.


My rating: breeding puppies: (1 - 4)

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY!

Whether you breed, show or just own the German Shepherd Dog doesn�t mean that you won�t experience a little of each of these things at one time or another (good, bad & ugly). So let�s take a look at some of these things.

THE GOOD:

The pride of ownership of the best all around, �do everything� with type of dog.
There really isn�t too much that you can�t do with this dog. He�s extremely devoted and is need to please in unrivaled.
He�s a great watchdog.
He�s a great baby (kid) sitter.
He loves to go out for hikes or walks.
Many of them love car rides.
He�s very easy to train.
He definitely is the �poster� child for �Man�s Best Friend.�
I think more movies have been made with the German Shepherd Dog than any other breed of dog.
He�s a hero! I bet he�s the breed of dog that is instrumental to saving and rescuing more people�s lives than any other breed.
He�s very good at sizing up people knowing if the person has good intentions and who doesn�t.
He doesn�t make friendships easily with strangers.
The devotion of some people in this breed that work unselfish hours to rescue them from shelters or other abusive situations.
The breeders that take responsibility for ALL the dogs that they breed, whether it�s a pet, show, or working animal.
These are the same breeders if a rescue calls and says we have one of your dogs, that they take the dog back and re-home him.
Breeding a healthy, strong litter of German Shepherd puppies.
Breeders who give the best care to their animals through proper nutrition, immunizations and training.
The lasting friendships that we make because we share the same love for this breed.
The wealth of information that can be found through communication from one breeder to another.
The amount of time and devotion that some people in this breed give to their local breed clubs and the Parent club.
The �newbies� still coming into the breed.
Helping the �newbies� coming into the breed by being a mentor to them.
The German Shepherd Dog will always be a beloved breed simple because they are what a dog should be like.

THE BAD:
The number one �bad� about the German Shepherd Dog���DOG HAIR!!! EVERYWHERE!!! THIS BREED SHEDS A LOT!!!
They never live long enough. 8 � 12 years (give or take), but never enough for anyone that owns and loves this breed.
Because of their popularity, many people that should not be breeding are breeding because of the money they hope to get from this popular breed of dog.
Because of the over breeding of the German Shepherd Dog, many of them will find their final �homes� in a kill shelter.
Intestinal health problems as well as other genetic dispositions for certain diseases.
People that breed and don�t know the first thing about how to read a pedigree.
People that breed that don�t know the first things about the proper structure and movement of the German Shepherd Dog.
People that should never have their judging license because (see my last sentence).
People that don�t know how to train and socialize this breed.
The lack of sportsmanship by some that exhibit dogs.
The same judges judging the National every couple of years when there are those judges that are never asked that could do an equally good job or even better!
The expense of some dog foods that we would love to feed our animals, but we can�t afford so we have to feed a lesser quality food.
Some people never volunteer when they belong to a club but instead bellyache about how the club is run.
These same people reap the rewards of those that do do the work for the club.
And what about those people that never say �Thank you, or congratulations� to their fellow exhibitors?
The �newbies� leaving the breed because of the indifference shown to them by those that should know better.
Being in the breed with the attitude of "What's in it for me?" rather than what good you can do for the breed.

THE UGLY:
Those breeders that are told that one of their dogs is in a shelter and they say, �It�s not my problem!�
German Shepherd puppies and adults being used as �bait� dogs for fighting breeds of dogs.
Those judges that are dishonest and set up the �winners� before you even walk in the ring with your dog!
Those exhibitors that would even ask a judge to put up their dog because of friendship, or because the judge wants to get a lot of judging assignments that the exhibitor has promised to make sure that he does.
Anyone that would abuse this breed through neglect, indifference, torture or with the intention to cause it harm in any way!
The ingredients in some dog foods, like rendered concoctions � road kill, diseased animals, dead animals from shelters, etc.
Those that pass judgment on others in the breed by spreading vicious lies and gossip about someone or their animals hoping to get people to believe them.
This is especially ugly when it comes from people in the breed that should be setting an example rather than being an example of what people never want to be like!
Because of the indifference by some, the breed clubs diminish, the entries are down and the sport of showing dogs as we once knew it may not be re-visited again for some time if ever again.

So these are just my thoughts and like usual just my opinion.


From the book: "WHEN FRIENDSHIP HURTS: Does anything hurt worse than betrayal by a close friend? Sociologist and friendship expert Jan Yager (Friendshifts: The Power of Friendship and How It Shapes Our Lives) explores failed, hurtful, and destructive friendships in When Friendship Hurts.

The book describes 21 types of potentially negative friends. The "Rival," for example, is envious to the point of malice. The "Blood-sucker" expects you to be there every moment. The "Controller" must be in charge of everything, from where you meet for lunch to whom you date. Yager lays out strategies for dealing with the problems when you want to keep the friendship, while also warning about extreme behavior and discussing triggers that lead to friendship conflicts, such as jealousy, anger, and change (of marital status or job, for example). Yager also guides you to examine your own destructive or harmful traits and recognize patterns in your family background that affect your friendships. Overall, this book will help you learn how to deal with destructive friendships--when and how to save them, when and how to end them, and how to cope when a business friendship goes wrong.

My rating: The Good: (4), The Bad: (1), The Ugly: (1)

AND IN THIS CORNER......

I�m a fan of most animal programming on television whether it�s on Animal Planet, National Geographic or National Geographic Wild. If it�s about animals, I�m there. Some of them can be entertaining while others are very informative. Then there are those that can be very shocking and down right horrific. Like everything else in life, there is the good and the bad. I�ve always been a sensitive person when it comes to watching anything in pain. I�m even more so as I get older. I�m fascinated by the Predator and Prey types of shows with the Big Cats but when it comes time for the Predator to kill his prey, then I turn it off to watch a commercial or two and then come back to the programming.

Some of you might remember me writing about how much I really like the Pit Bull dogs. They can be some of the most loving and affectionate among the dog breeds. But naturally man sensationalizes everything and all we hear about is how mean they are and that they�re vicious killers. Just like the German Shepherd Dog is known to be one of the breeds of dogs reported that do the most biting offenses against people.

Well in this last week, I watched another part of a series on the Pit Bulls used for fighting. Here again, I turn the parts off of the dogs killing one another in the ring. What disturbed me on this particular night though was talk about a black German Shepherd female. This dog was used for breeding to produce puppies known as bait dogs! You read that right. Her purpose was a brood bitch for this sadistic operations unsavory behavior. Bait or baiting is the act of worrying or tormenting a chained or confined animal by setting game dogs upon it as sport! The dogs bite and tear to subdue the opposing animal by incapacitating or killing it. Baiting is a blood sport used for entertainment and gambling. It is illegal in most countries with varying levels of enforcement.

Well I�m happy to report that this particular lowlifes operation was shut down and the dogs were confiscated and received medical attention. Some were too far gone with their injuries and then there were others that were too aggressive for rehabilitation. The female black German Shepherd was also seized. She was very frightened and distrustful of people. Well with some work and training, she is now leading a life as someone�s loving companion. She was spayed and there will be no more of her babies used as bait dogs for the sadistic pleasure of these monsters.

It infuriates me to hear that German Shepherds are used in this manner. That�s not to say that I think that any dog should be used in this way. Our beloved breed should never find itself in the �pit�s of hell� known as a fighting ring used as bait for a dog�s jaw that is more powerful than his and can rip him to pieces.

Yesterday I saw a program on Dr. Phil on this very subject of fighting dogs for profit or someone�s sick pleasure. There was a man on the program that was sent to prison for fighting dogs and cited for animal cruelty. This cold, callous individual was there to say that he didn�t think what he did was cruel to his dogs. This was a sport like any other and didn�t see the difference from what he does with his dogs and those that chose and enjoy watching boxing. Again a video (that I didn�t watch) was shown to the audience and it was one of this man�s own dogs that was getting mauled and ripped apart. What I did hear was the screams of his dog in apparent agony. I muted the sound after a short bit. He claims that the dog was just scared because it was his first time in the pit. He said he was fine and he took him back home and put him on his chain again. Some home life with a big old heavy chain wrapped around his neck. Dr. Phil was all over this guy. The man didn�t seem too concerned. He had his lawyer sitting out in the audience. He was asked how many dogs he killed. Without too much thought, he answered a couple of hundred. He said he usually just took a gun and shot the dog if the dog was too injured to save. He thought that he was doing the dog a favor and doing the humane thing by putting him down. By this time, I�m ready to jump through the television screen and choke this ignorant �poor excuse� for a human beings neck!

We as breeders and owners of the beloved German Shepherd Dog must diligently protect them from the predators out there that are looking to do them harm. Sometimes these types of people will go to animal shelters and use the dogs from there as bait dogs. They will also pick up strays that are roaming the streets.

Now this just came across my computer yesterday. I recently joined a Yahoo Group for recycling. It�s called Freecycle. I get e-mails from them all day offering items for people to take for free. They just need to come and pick the items up at the person�s house. Also people will post that they are looking for certain things as well. Yesterday one of the moderators came on and I�m quoting one of the sentences from her e-mail�����We are looking for someone who has knowledge about caring for pets and wishes to help members offer or seek animals through this group.� (End quote). Now I was gone most of yesterday (sorry I didn�t get a chance to write on my blog before I left), so I haven�t got a chance to write to her about this yet. I do not think that this is a good idea. I can understand what they are trying to do here. Obviously because some people find they can no longer keep their animals, they are looking to place them in good homes. However, these moderators do not know the people that join their lists. Many of these predators look for free dogs or puppies and read the want ads of their local newspapers. Some might be used as bait dogs, and others may find their way into a lab used for experimentation. There is lots of money to be made on animal�s misery! So although the moderator�s intentions are good, I will have to write to them today to voice my concern.

We live in a scary world. We don�t want to have to become paranoid, however no concerned animal lover can ever be too watchful about the people that we invite into our lives. The predators are out there looking for their next prey or meal ticket! After all, this is their �SPORT� of choice. When they need to �train� their dogs, they might come knocking on your door when they hear about one of your dogs that you are looking to place in a �loving forever� home! We don't want to ever hear that one of our dogs is being used for someones profit from animal cruelty!


From the book: "BADD NEWZ: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MICHAEL VICK DOG FIGHTING CASE"......Book Author, Kathy Strouse, has launched her first book, �Badd Newz-The Untold Story of the Michael Vick Dog Fighting Case�. She reveals the never before reported twists, turns, obstacles, plots, and setbacks that made building a case against superstar Michael Vick the challenge of a lifetime. Readers will be shocked to learn how close and how often Vick came to walking away from justice. Investigators were fueled by a determination to rescue the innocent dogs and to bring Vick and his Badd Newz crew to justice. The small team of �dead game� investigators put everything on the line to take a stand against the brutal �sport� of dog fighting. Strouse also introduces the undercover investigator known only as Dog Angel. A shadowy, elusive figure, he has worked for over 35 years infiltrating the underground world of dog fighting, rubbing shoulders with some of the most infamous characters in the �game�. The reader will learn how Dog Angel infiltrated the inner Badd Newz circle and used every skill in his arsenal to help make the case against them. No dog fighting case has ever captured the attention and the hearts of the public like the Michael Vick case. Most Americans had no idea that such cruelty even existed. The stakes in this case were very high. Success would send a message to dog fighters across the country that law enforcement was pledged to stamp out this cruelty and send the perpetrators to jail. Investigators knew they had to bring Vick to justice in spite of his wealth and fame. Climb aboard the rollercoaster for the story of how they did it.


My rating: The use of German Shepherds as bait dogs: (1), Profit from animal cruelty: (1)

OPEN DOOR POLICY

The very first time that I put up a couple of kennels in my backyard we attached them to the back of our garage. The dogs could go in and out of the garage as they pleased because I had a �doggie� door for them to use. Can I tell you how much I loved that? So did they. You just drill a hole in the wall of the garage and attach the �doggie� door to the hole. The reason I liked this so much was that the dogs went in and out of it whenever they wanted except late at night when I locked those doors for the evening.

The nice thing about having your kennels attached to a building is that the dogs can get out of the sun or bad weather if they want and come inside. These doors have been around for a long time, but I think they are a God send to dog owners for the convenience that they afford our animals. Besides fencing, �doggie� doors are one of the best inventions in my opinion. The dog is not forced to stay outside if he doesn�t want to. He comes and goes as he pleases. Ideally a platform should be placed out in the dog�s run and one inside the garage or building. This way he�s not lying on a cold, damp or hard surface.

Some people that don�t own a dog kennel but keep their dogs in a fenced in back yard love the convenience of the �doggie� dog as well. The only difference with this set up is that sometimes when your dog is feeling a little bit frisky, don�t be surprised by the little �gifts� that he may bring into the kitchen and deposit at your feet. This is especially true if you have cats. He may share the rest of his uneaten dinner in the form of a �nearly dead� mouse or worse.

Now let me say here that if you have pets that you want to give freedom to by coming and going as they please, caution and common sense should be used. Only use these doors attached to your house if you have a fenced in yard. Depending upon where you live (what state) there are other things to take into consideration. Are there venomous snakes or bad mushrooms that grow on your lawn? Do you live in a neighborhood where children can throw things over the fence for your dog that may not be healthy for them to eat like a chocolate candy bar? If you live in a state like Florida, are there fire ants on your lawn? These are all the kinds of questions you should ask yourself before giving �Fido� his freedom to come and go as he pleases.

Another reason that some people like having a �doggie� door attached to their homes is because the owner may have physical ailments that make taking her dog for a walk close to impossible. Because she realizes the need for her dog to get fresh air and exercise, having a �doggie� door is the answer for her and her animal.

Here are some �doggie� doors that I found on Amazon.










My rating: "Doggie" doors: (4)

ESOPHAGEAL DIVERTICULA

When I had a puppy spitting up at most of her meals, my immediate thought was �Oh no, I�m dealing with Mega-esophagus!� Now mind you, in all my years of breeding and having puppies, I never heard of this before as I never dealt with it. If other breeders had it, I never knew about it as no one ever discussed it with me. After numerous tests and ruling out of heart problems, mega was suspected but never diagnosed as such. Instead I was told that my puppy had esophageal diverticula. Well that�s nice because I never heard of Mega before and never heard of esophageal diverticula either. So just what the heck is this anyway?

Esophageal diverticula are large pouch like sacs on the esophageal wall. Pulsion diverticula is a pushing outward of the wall. This will occur as a consequence of increased pressure from within the esophagus as seen with obstruction or failure of the esophageal muscles to move food through. Traction diverticula occurs secondary to inflammation, where fibrosis and contraction pull the wall of the esophagus or near the diaphragm with food being taken into the mouth and getting caught in a pouch as it travels down the esophagus towards the stomach. The organ that is affects includes the gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal, and respiratory. At this time, no genetic basis has been proven although it may be congenital (present at birth) or acquired.

These are the symptoms of this disease: regurgitation following eating, difficult swallowing, lack of appetite, coughing, weight loss, respiratory distress (aspiration pneumonia).

The causes associate with this disease are: Pulsion Diverticulum, embryonic developmental disorders of the esophageal wall, esophageal foreign body or failure of the muscles to move food through, traction diverticulum, inflammatory process associated with the trachea, lungs, lymph nodes or lining of the stomach; causes fibrous tissue formation around the esophagus.

In order for your veterinarian to diagnosis this disease he will conduct an esophagram or an esophagoscopy to examine the diverticula in order to determine whether there is a related mass. An x-ray of the chest area and a fluoroscope examination to evaluate the movement of food through the esophagus will give your doctor a better idea of where the diverticula are placed in the esophageal wall. An injection of a radio contrasting agent into the esophageal passage may be used to improve visibility on an x-ray so that an exact determination can be made, as the substance flows down the esophagus, filling the pouches as is does.
Sometimes the treatment of this disease is that your veterinarian might recommend a change in your dog�s diet if the diverticulum is small and is not causing significant clinical signs. Usually this will consist of a soft bland diet given to the dog frequently rather than in one big meal. If on the other hand the diverticulum is large, or is associated with significant clinical signs, surgical resection will probably be recommended. The potential for food being drawn into the lungs and leading to aspiration pneumonia makes the importance of dietary management key to avoiding fatal complications. Aggressive care will be called for if aspiration pneumonia is present. Fluid therapy, antibiotics, and nutrition via tube will be necessary. Your veterinarian will prescribe medications for your dog on the basis of the diagnosis.

Your doctor will want to monitor your dog for evidence and prevention of infection or aspiration pneumonia. You will need to maintain a positive nutritional balance throughout the disease process. Patients with diverticula and impaction (i.e., food material that is packed tightly) are predisposed to perforation, fistula, stricture, and postoperative rupturing of the incision. For this reason, your veterinarian will want to revisit your dog on a regular schedule. Prognosis is guarded in patients with large diverticula and overt clinical signs.

For some breeders at the first sign of a puppy throwing up, they will think that they are dealing with mega-esophagus and in some cases have the puppy put to sleep. I am one of those breeders that putting a puppy down is the very last thing that I do when nothing else can be done. As in that disease and in esophageal diverticula there all different degrees of these illnesses. Some of these animals can go on to live healthy full lives. Obviously if you choose to keep the puppy and raise it yourself, then you take the responsibility of raising a dog with a health issue. However, selling a puppy with a known health issue is a whole other thing entirely.


From the book: THE NEW HOLISTIC WAY FOR DOGS AND CATS: THE STRESS-HEALTH CONNECTION.....Stress. It's the single, universal cause of both wellness and illness. While this theory is widely supported in the human medical community, it's still controversial among veterinarians. Dr. Paul McCutcheon examines the all-important health-stress connection while drawing upon the latest scientific thinking and combining it with a comprehensive, preventive, and holistic philosophy of pet care. So if you're among the millions of caring, responsible pet owners who visits the vet more often than your own doctor but still wonders what more you can do for your dog or cat, The New Holistic Way for Dogs & Cats is the next best thing to a consultation with Dr. McCutcheon. If only he saw human patients in his practice, too!


My rating: Esophageal Diverticula: (1), Different degrees of this disease: (1 - 4)