What is this "Frisbee" of which you speak?

So lately, I've been working to teach Elka how to play Frisbee.

Oh, she'll run and retrieve something very well. But run, catch something in the air, and bring it back? Well, that needed some work. See, her typical M.O. is to wait until something hits the ground, then pounce on it, then pick it up and shake it, and then bring it back. Then maybe she wants to tug it for a little while (which I discourage with tennis balls, as you may imagine. I've had to discourage it with frisbees as well).

But, I think we're actually making some progress!

The ONE thing

I see this topic a lot on dog message boards. I figured I'd ask it here, because after all, you guys are my "dog people" too!

What is the ONE thing you wish you knew before you brought your dog home?

I of course can't limit it to one. But I've got a solid five, anyway.

Family Tree

While I don't know anybody who has known the dogs in Elka's pedigree, I still find her pedigree very interesting. Granted, I met her sire (deceased as of December, apparently. Rest in peace, Gabriel; you seemed like an awesome guy) and dam, but I don't know them. I knew that Elka's dam loved babies, and her sire would "Smile" on command. Precious little information, when you get fixated on things in the way that I do.

However, I'm lucky in that there are some very good online resources for Dobermans, including Dobermann-Review.com and Dobequest.org. There, provided the information was uploaded, I can find birth dates, titles, health testing, and dates of death. Elka is spayed, and I never intended on breeding her, but it's interesting to see what's "in her woodpile".

New Canis Maximus hearing tomorrow, June 6 2013

At 2 p.m. on June 6, there will be a public hearing at 10 Hotel Street in Warrenton Virginia. to consider Irina Barrett's new special permit application for her kennel. 

I write about this back in February, when the story first "broke". It took this long because applications were submitted and then removed at the 11th hour when it looked like they would not be passed. Things like that. My understanding is that Ms. Barrett has continued to operate.

Regardless of peoples' feelings on her breeding practices (and not everybody agrees that there is a problem), the focus for this hearing, according to the above linked article, will be on the land use practices. When it comes down to it, she has too many dogs on that property.

Ms. Barrett has also brought a defamation suit against the humane inspector to the tune of $1.3 million. I've heard on the Internet that she's looked up nearly everybody that has mentioned her and included them in a suit as well, but that sounds a bit over the top.

The AKC (famed for their recent letter on how they're doing the best they can) did send an inspector to Ms. Barret's property in April. They sent a letter to the county's Sheriff, which was quoted in the above linked article, and I'm going to quote below:

An American Kennel Club field agent on April 17 found “very poor sanitary and/or health conditions” at Canis Maximus.
AKC’s director of compliance support shared the report and a summary in an April 22 letter to Sheriff Charlie Ray Fox Jr., whose department includes animal control officers.
The field agent reported “that water containers for dogs were empty. There was a protruding wire in the chain link kennels which needed to be repaired. The is a metal futon frame and debris in the kennels. The breeder needs ventilation in both the kennel building and puppy room as there was a slight urine odor in both places.”
Jack Norton closed his letter to Sheriff Fox with: “We trust that your agency will look in to conditions at this kennel.”

Even with pending hearings, neighbors who are unhappy with the amount of dogs, and public scrutiny, Ms. Barrett apparently has not improved conditions for the dogs on her property. The AKC field agent found remarkably similar issues to what the humane inspector found in the first place, kicking all this off.

I feel very bad for the dogs who live there.

Wordless Wednesday June 5 2013

Tuesday Tails: Tommy, a Doberman in Lycoming County PA

Tommy is a not quite two (1 year 9 months) old Doberman who has been at the Lycoming County, Pennsylvania SPCA since February. Poor guy! He evidently has a very strong "prey drive", which has presented a difficulty in adopting him out. I would speculate that a home with cats or small dogs is not one that would be able to welcome Tommy (but this is speculation, mind you). He's an energetic boy, still a puppy really, by Doberman standards. He is neutered. By accounts, he just loves to be constantly pet.

If you're active and energetic, and looking for a Doberman to do sports with, Tommy might be the boy for you! A prey drive might translate well into something like Flyball or Dock diving (yup, Dobermans can do these things!) or even tracking. 

Tommy is safe where he is, but the shelter environment does no dog favors. Tommy would love to go home with somebody who can love him and keep up with him!

Dogs and Babies

I got the New York Times "dogs" article alert and sighed when I saw the title: "The Dog Bit Me". Oh boy. I read it anyway, of course. I wanted to know how bad it ended up for the parties involved. For those of you whose stomachs dropped with mine, the kid was bitten, but not "mauled" or disfigured. The dog was also fine; already, in fact, in residence with the grandparents, but this was a family visit.