Chelsea at Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus

I saw this all-natural girl on the Illinois Doberman Rescue Plus Facebook page and had to share! She just blew my mind.

Chelsea is 2 years old, natural ears and tail, black and tan. She was picked up as an underweight stray, and she's blind. But everything about Chelsea is what I love about the Doberman breed! Remember BRAINS and beauty!

(picture from Chelsea's page on the IDR website)

What I think of Michael Vick's New Dog

I'm sure you know by now that Michael Vick has a new dog. Angel. He brought her to PetSmart for training! Ooh. Ahhh. Accompanied by his bodyguard, apparently. Perhaps a good move on his part.

It's legal. Nobody can do anything about it. We just have to hope that he does well by Angel. People are keeping an eye, evidently, so maybe that will help.

Dogster.com ran an article about it (linked above), and in the comments I expressed my surprise that he'd selected a Belgian Malinois, typically used as Military Working dogs, police dogs, or for the sport of Schutzhund, and wondered at his plans for said dog. Somebody called me idiotic, which I thought was extra classy (I guess they don't moderate their comments. Though, all in all, this is the Internet. If being called idiotic makes me take my toys and go home, I should seek other hobbies). That individual wondered if I believed any "civilian" should receive that sort of scrutiny when selecting a Malinois. Well, maybe. But civilian isn't my keyword here.

(public domain picture of a Malinois from Wikipedia)

Doberman temperament: What is drive?

In the wake of Westminster, and reading peoples' reactions to the appearance of the German Shepherds, I've been thinking a lot about working versus show in the context of breeding. My understanding is that German Shepherds did not always have the rear assembly that they do now, and that working lines of German Shepherds still look "normal", as it were. The slopes of their backs are not so extreme, they're not walking down on their hocks, etc.

And then I thought about Dobermans. Working Dobermans vs. Show ones, thankfully, do not have gross physical departures from one another. The AKC Doberman breed standard is to ensure a physically sound dog; one that can be as agile and athletic as the job entails. Mentally sound as well, so far as the standard covers it, as "a judge shall dismiss from the ring any shy or vicious Doberman." A stable working dog is neither shy nor vicious, but rather alert and confident.

In Internet circles, I do see complaints that American show Dobermans are softer than their European counterparts, and softer and less drive-y than working lines in general. So, what does "drive" mean, anyway?

Book Review: When Pigs Fly! by Jane Killion

The full title of this book is When Pigs Fly! Training Success with Impossible Dogs! 

Elka is not an impossible dog.  She's very smart and sometimes difficult and frustrating because of her intelligence (a combination of "What'll you give me for it?" and "I don't see the point", I'm sure.)

When Pigs Fly! uses clicker, treats, and basic notion of drives and motivations to make working with your dog the joy you hoped it would be.