Nails....

Dog nails... Ugggg! I battled Kay'Lar's nails her whole life. I never had a dog whose nails grew as fast as hers. And keep please keep in mind I've had over 70 rescues come into my home plus my three dogs (before Sparkle) in my adult life. Then there was Connor (my male Rottie) in eight years I think we did his back nails twice, front ones were only monthly and Cora was monthly too. You need to keep them "short" while showing and working. I really don't, to this day, understand why Connor's back nails where so awesome. He was an inside dog like the all my dogs; because I believe if you want an outside pet, you should plant a tree. He got his walks ever now and then, but the majority of his (and Cora's) exersize came when they where working on the Schutzhund field (which is turf for those of you that do not know). With Kay'Lar, she was a spoiled pet, no showing and the only "title" she had was her AKC Good Citizen (which I believe all dogs should have; sorry, preachy). So her exercise was walks and sometimes running in the backyard. And by now you are wondering what this has to do with Sparkle the "who" behind this blog. I told you at the beginning that I might go off on random things but would come back to the point, but this is all the point.... Dog nails... Doing Sparkle's today, like I do every Thurdays at 3pm, it got me thinking, of course about my other dogs and how unique they all are, right down to their nails. Yes I do Sparkle's nails once a week. This is for two reasons; so her nails stay short which in good for their feet, which makes it good for their gait, which helps in the show ring (and Sparkle may see the show ring, still TBD) and because she won't let me use a dremmel yet (my preferred nail trimming method) I need to clip them once a week. Using a dremmel insures that you don't cut the quick, so therefor you can get as close as you like. If she let me get me use a dremmel I would only have to do her nails every other week.... Hence the ugggg at the beginning.  All my dog trainer tricks have not worked yet to get her used to the dremmel... New methods forth coming. There are something's that chicken and/or raw beef can't fix... With Sparkle that's the "scream" of the dremmel.

What are you...

There are some breeds that are know for their tracking, their are some that are known for their drooling, some that are known for their barking and/or howling and their are some that are known for using their feet when they play. Just so we are are clear a Dalmatian is NOT known for any of these things! When I was getting my Rally Titles on my Rotties there was a man that had two Malamutes. They were beautiful and well behaved, a perfect ambassador for their breed. But once he got them in the ring, they "talked" the whole time. Don't misunderstand me, they were great and did what they were suppose to do; in fact it was always my dogs and his dogs vying for the top spots. It was a riot to see these dogs doing perfect obedience while "talking back" the whole time. I only saw them doing Rally, never in the Obedience ring, I don't know how those judges would react or take that. In Rally, however, there was always a laugh, and sometimes even from the judge. You think I have gotten off topic, but really I haven't. I told you that story, because Malamutes are known talkers. And boxers are known to play with their feet, or "box" then they play. So I'm really hoping the video above loads properly, or this is all for not. Sparkle does a lot of funny, odd, interesting, naughty.... things, the reason behind the blog, but one of the things that she does that is not typical of her breed is "talk". I've mentioned it in pervious posts, but in the video above (I hope) is Miss Sparkle telling me its dinner time. The only thing I'm doing to get her to do this is not look at her. She knows its dinner time because she gets fed once the kids are in bed for the night. I knew she would do this if I did take her right out to get fed. Please enjoy the video, and don't judge my 
mess; I have small children, a dog and a husband (I love you honey). She will also do this 
same thing if my husband is eating jerky and not sharing.

Oh, the shame...

Dog Shaming

As a dog trainer and someone who did rescue (before kids) I have seen all sorts of dogs with all sorts so issues and/or problems. When the web site dogshaming.com first went up I laughed and did the "Ooo" face. And I did my biggest mistake by telling my hubby that we are so lucky that we have a dog that would not do something that would land her on this site. And if you know anything about the laws of the universe, you know that saying this out loud is the kiss of death. Don't get me wrong I know my dog is not perfect, nor were any of my previous dogs. In fact there are a few things that my Rottie, Connor did that would have landed him on that site. For example, because I know you are dying to know, he loved to eat my husbands socks. We would try ("try not, do or do not, there is no try") to make sure that socks were put away, but he always seem to get to them. We were "lucky" enough that he never had to go to the vet because of it, he would be nice enough to "deposit" them in the dog run; yes, gross! I would have to say that some of the Christmas shaming pictures were wonderful. In one, I believe a bull dog ate a baby Jesus out of as nativity scene; naughty list for sure. The picture above is of Sparkle and her debut on Dog Shaming. As responsible dog owners we do not allow a puppy to free roam in our house; my last Dalmatian was five before that happened. So we have a crate that she sleeps in at night; left over from the Rotties, so you know it's big enough. And if we are going to be gone during the day, we have a "run". There's an outdoor area about 12ft x 20ft with a dog door into the third stall, which she has a third of that is sectioned off for her with an "X-pen". I always make sure that she has toys and/or a frozen raw bone of chew on. I'm guessing she has decided that this is not enough to occupy her time. We thought these were chew holes, but on further examination we believe that they are actually "dig" holes. I know what your thinking, so she dug at the walls in the garage. Well, this summer we finished the garage. We had someone come in and professionally mud and sand. Then my husband and I sent two weekends painting. All clean and sparkly... Then came Sparkle and her dig holes. It's a good thing we love animals, because I think for a minute there we debated about a trying to knock her spots off (I am joking of course, those that know me; encluding her breeder, know this would NEVER happen). So know Miss Sparkle will not have "free time" in the run. Sadly those privileges have been revoked for a while. She will have to be in her crate when not traveling with me. My hubby did the first coat of mud yesterday, he will then sand, mud and sand again; then it will be my turn to paint. I know what you are thinking; just wait until she grows out of it to repair. Well it's also a visual thing. Dogs will go back to the destruction and make more if they see it there. So we are removing the reinforcement that its ok the dig there, by removing the visual cue.  

Ok, now the dog trainer in me must speak! It is not ok, or cute that your little dog growls and/or shows his/her teeth to you. It is not ok for your dog to "hump" kids or your house guests. These are all signs of dominance issues; meaning that your dog thinks (s)he out ranks you, your guests or kids. This in NOT ok and is especially NOT funny. If your dog does these things, especially to kids, please fix it, or get help to fix it. Ok, trainer side done.

Sorry for the lack of blog over the holidays, but it was the holidays and my life was super crazy.