Deaf, or hard of hearing!
From the ‘net. But good to have a laugh at around the time of Obedience Trials!
Hopefully, none of our dogs in the ring will be that far off 🙂
Bouviers with children
It is coming on to the trials for the CD title. I have not been to any classes for the past 6 months and only managed to get to the “Mock Trials” last Wednesday as the training classes clashed with something else I was doing.
Most children love dogs and these two children, one is six years old and the other eight years old came running up and wanted to walk and play with the Bouviers, Rita and Rhapsody.
Both Bouviers walked gently with the children and both of these dogs are obedience trained and well socialised.
Some challenges in changing web hosts have delayed posts to this blog.
Hopefully, everything will be up and running smoothly shortly and a series of posts will be entered.
Regards.
Admin
PS Caveat Emptor – Gisol.Com now said to be trading also as Dserver.Com and Bizways.Com
Research Gisol.Com through Google and stay far away!
A book about a dog for children
Yesterday’s “Sunday Sun” on its front page had a picture of a baby which the newspaper said was biten by an Akita while petting the dog on its head. Different tale from the earlier version. The Akita was later killed and it is nice to know that the baby is doing fine. Guess the editors would know why that is front page news instead of some of the people working in tourism receiving top awards.
“Marley and Me” which showed in Barbados and was written about a mischievous Labrador Retriever which really needed training has a lot more tales coming. Its author, John Grogen has signed up for a 13 book deal with Harper-Collins which will have books like a “Very Marley Xmas”, “Marley Goes to School” etc. These picture books are all aimed at children but no doubt adults will enjoy them as well.
Books like these and the movie have done a lot for the sales of the Labrador Retriever which is well known for a children’s pet and it is regarded as a breed which is also easy to train.
I know these children’s books are available from Amazon.Com and I suspect the major book stores in Barbados are also carrying the series.
The movie “Marley and Me” was reported in the U.S.A. to have box office sales of 36 million in the first four days and in two weeks’ time, had the record for the largest Xmas day box sales ever of 14.5 million ticket sales in the first day! In 2 weeks, the sales had gone to 106.7 million. And there is the dvd of the movie.
Lost, stolen, strayed sign
Just read that a couple in California paid US $10,000 for the return of their Yorkie-Chihuahua mix which was stolen from their parked car while they popped inside a restaurant for a quick meal.
They believe that they paid the actual thief of their dog to return it, with no questions asked. The “thief” sent them a picture through a cell phone of it all dressed up in a jean jacket after they put hundreds of fliers on parked cars in the area where the dog was taken and Channel 5 aired their story.
The couple did not involve the police in trying to trace the thief; they met him and handed over the money and he in exchange, gave them back their dog. They did at first involve the police who came to the scene of the crime, and saw their vehicle with the shattered glass but the police could not even take finger prints because they were so short staffed. So the couple decided to work on their own.
That is one very expensive 3-lb. dog 🙂
In Barbados, we also get missing dogs. Sometimes they escape from their owners’ property and go for an adventure in the gap or nearby area and after a good run, return through their escape route or wait outside their gate for someone to let them in.
For dogs, it is tremendous fun for an owner to have to chase them. I remember some years ago, one of my Bouviers got under the fence and went into a nearby bushy empty lot and with her was one of her puppies. One of my other Bouviers led me to the lot, and then the 2 who got out looked out from the bushes and ran back in. When the puppy was inclined to come, his mother barked and he ran back in the bush. I pretended to ignore them and then they came out. But I was lucky because they did not go far and one of the other Bouviers had alerted me by going to the fence and barking so I saw how they got out.
Barbados has seen quite a few dogs which have strayed, become lost or were stolen as their owners never were able to recover them.
It is a good idea to have a photograph of your dog you can use in case your dog becomes missing.
I realise that all dogs do not wear collars or choke chains all the time and a possible reason for this is that the dog can get caught by the choke chain or collar in gardens. In Barbados we do not usually tatoo or microchip our dogs, so in the event that they become missing, we need to be able to describe them, identify them and move fast to find them.
My tips for finding missing dogs would be to talk to your neighbours, the postman, and other service people in your area. See whether you can place fliers at nearby schools, gas stations, shops, supermarkets, at vets’ offices. Talk to the institutions here who rescue dogs in case it is picked up there. Utilise media like radio, press and blogs. But you should move fast as you don’t know what fate could become a missing dog.
I agree in offering some kind of reward. However, if you think about it, you would not want to encourage a dog napping business to develop. And it would be an individual decision but I believe most people would notify and wish to involve the police if they believed their puppies/dogs were stolen.
Arriving to the USA in June was a small dog Leia which was rescued by a solider and which his troops sent home to his family as they knew that Major Hutchinson had been working on getting the small dog which he loved and befriended sent to the USA. Major Hutchinson was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb and his troops in his honour followed through with what they felt their former leader was passionate about. General policy is that soliders are not allowed to adopt strays and Hutchinson defied orders to get rid of the dog and always protected it.
Leia’s new home will be with one of the members of “Team Force” which was the name Hutchinson called his troops and Hutchinson’s brother says he will be happy to visit her in Michigan when he visits there to see his parents. He made the decision for Leia to live with a “Team Force” member as he thought she might be happier living with a young family.
Hi Magie,
You are on the ball about the yacht club,and the Bkc they are both white supremacis and may be spoken about in the same breath as the “KKK” AND aparthide of South Africa. I did some investigation on my own and found out that the BKC always find a house boy, a black token,this time they have moved up grades to a brown 6 IS A HALF OF A DOZEN. The bkc know how to live up to they image.
Pete
About the dog that bit the child, the adults are at fault lack of basic supervison.Any woman can give birtg and any man can donate spirm but it takes a real man or woman to be a parient.
Pete
This is one area where a dog which might look very good to spectators and exhibiitors can get severely penalised by a conformation judge.
I have had newcomers at show handling classes ask me what I think of their dog and it is usually a puppy. In some cases, I have seen disqualifying bites and I would tell them that if the dog was mine I would not show it and explain about the bite.
A six month puppy with an overshot bite I have found will usually turn out to a correct scissor bite but if at six months it is undershot, it will most likely never have a scissor bite.
Most dogs are supposed to have a scissor bite, that is that the lower incisors touch inside of the upper incissors. The sketch above illustrates. Breeds like Boxers, Bull Mastiffs, however, are supposed to be undershot, which is a fault in most of the other breeds. Judges can fault dogs for having missing teeth, or having a level bite and not a scissor bite.
One of the first things the judge does in examining the dog is to examine the “bite”. I always ask the judge if it is ok that I can show him/her the bite and I have never had a judge insist that they wanted to pull back a Bouvier’s beard and moustache on their own. One of my reasons for this is if kennel cough or a similiar infection was at the show, the judge putting his/her hand in an infected dog’s mouth would spread it to the other healthy dogs. Persons who know their dogs are not well, especially with anything which could be spread to other dogs should not bring them to be shown but some people would.
I remember some years a judge from Ireland at a show here opened a dog’s mouth (from the Utility group) and the dog bit the judge who then sent both dog and handler out of the ring and later said he had judged all over the world but it was the first time he had ever been biten by a dog! A first from Barbados! 🙂
So it is also safer for a handler to have control of the dog’s mouth by opening the mouth for the judge.
The judge at the last show here was so thorough in looking at mouths that eventually I politely asked her if she was looking for anything in particular as she kept on telling me to “open again”. Some dogs do not particularly like having their mouths opened. The judge explained that she was checking the pigmentation of the mouth and the tongue as well as checking the “bite”, this was the teeth from each side and also the incisors at the front of the mouth. I showed 2 Bouviers and the judge’s pattern was the same with both so I believe she was just a thorough judge but a lot of our dogs do not enjoy having their mouths opened for what they might regard as a long time with a stranger looking into their mouth. So it can put a bit of pressure on the handler.
In the UK, USA and large countries where there are lots of dog shows, the dogs get more accustomed to strangers peering at their teeth and mouth but in Barbados with so few shows, our dogs are not usually accustomed to it.
Yes, and there are toothbrushes, special toothpaste, and scaling tools to keep the dog’s mouth healthy with sparkling white teeth. Bones can help a lot in this area. And the vets offer a service to also clean the dog’s teeth – their idea would be dental heath but conformation competitors might feel that having a judge see some beautiful pearly white teeth might give it an extra point or two. So there might be more to the average “bite” than meets the eye. 🙂
US newspapers and television yesterday reported the rescue of close to 400 American Toy Eskimo dogs from a “puppy mill” in Benton Country.
” barks rang out from across more than two acres on Stewart’s property. There were puppies in shopping carts, tiny pens, hot cages. Some of the animals were just days old, many with their eyes swelled shut, fur matted, and suffering from serious skin problems. The stench was overwhelming.”
The breeder apparently co-operated and signed away her rights to the dogs which would make it much easier for the helpers to find new homes for them.
I believe because of the condition the dogs were found in, some charges of animal cruelty could be expected.
Toy Eskimos are a member of the Spitz family with a size of 9 – 12 inches (to the shoulder) and a weight of between 6 to 35 lbs. It is one of the breeds which was utilised a lot as circus dogs in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
This breed was formally recognised by the AKC in 1995 but I do not see it listed under The Kennel Club, UK.
A Spitz family member, however, is in Barbados and that is the Japanese Akita. I think there is also at least one Shibu Inu still around.
The original photo which was in circulation with the same theme story on the ‘net was of a Golden Retriever.
There was actually a Golden Retriever which last year vanished in Barbados and his owners never recovered him although they put up numerous fliers all over the island and spent countless hours searching and driving all over the island to try to find their dog. Although a reward was offered, none of the tips they followed up lead to the dog’s recovery.
That Golden actually did wander into neighbours’ yards if their gate was open. He lived in the same gap that I live in and several times I had to call my Bouviers from the gate as he was outside, wagging his tail and wished to come in. But although I knew him and liked him, I never let him in as I have male Bouviers here as well as female Bouviers and they are protective of their territory.
I did take 2 female Bouviers out in the area where I used to see him run, across pasture land leading to a wooden area and a road in case he had gone to the road and being struck by a car and thus could not get home. And although his owners called and the Bouviers helped by searching that area, we did not find him. That was a sad story but the below is a happy one.
I need a nap - Calliope Dena C.D.
It would not be an uncommon experience for someone’s dog to wander into a neighbour’s yard in Barbados, and if the person was a dog lover, they might happily keep it so it would be safe. They should then check around for its owners. In Barbados, a dog lover would probably give it water as well.
Here is the story of a smart dog who knew where to go for a nap.
The story told to me goes like this:
An older, tired-looking dog wandered into a yard. (The one in the above pix. is over 10 years old)
The home owner could tell from the dog’s collar and well-fed belly that she had a home and was well taken care of. And really wondered why the dog was paying her a visit.
The dog calmly came over to the home owner and offered a paw and in return, received a few pats on her head. And then the dog calmly walked into the house, and found a cool area by a patio overlooking the garden. And curled up and fell sound asleep, with an occasional snore.
An hour later she went to the door and was let out. And trotted happily away.
The next day she was back, wagging her short tail and dancing about the yard. Then she walked inside and resumed her spot in the patio area and again slept for about an hour.
This continued off and on for several weeks.
One day, the home owner, who was becoming attached to the dog, pinned a note to her collar: ‘I would like to find out who the owner of this wonderful sweet dog is and ask if you are aware that almost every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap.”
The next day the dog arrived for her nap, with a different note pinned to her collar:
She lives in a house with 6 children, 2 under the age of 3 and she is just trying to catch up on her sleep.
Can I come with her tomorrow?
I thought the story cute and possible. I changed the photo of the dog as there are still memories of the much loved Golden Retriever who vanished and I was disappointed when his owners never recovered him although they offered a reward.
I doubt very much that Dena would wander into anyone’s property, nor stay for the nap 🙂
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