06.29.08
And my favorite photo from the day…..
Last but not least, the rodeo we attended.
How we ended up at a rodeo was kind of funny. The conversation went like this:
Me: Look a rodeo, we should stop! We could take the dogs in.
Mike: Yes, nothing like tons of people, wild animals, and Cosmo…. Let’s not stop.
Me: When you put it like that, we have to stop. Sounds like a great socialization moment!
Mike: Or lawsuit…
So we stopped 
It was fun to watch and almost felt like we had entered an entirely different country. The people were dressed in all their cowboy attire along with spectators. There were box seats up high for the local farmers to watch from. It was interesting because all the people who sat in those seats were gray haired and old. They appeared to be taking the rodeo very seriously and writing down all the scores. It left me wondering where the future generation of farmers were?!?
Down in the bleacher area was younger people, but very different than the older generation. They were loud, cheering on the competitors, and drinking beer. It was interesting to see and left me yearning for a green John Deer T-shirt…. Although, as out of place as we felt, I reminded Mike this isn’t a far stretch from our roots. Considering I grew up in farm land IL and not to far from where John Deer was created.
Since the rodeo was held late at night, it was difficult to photograph the action…. but here is the best of the bunch.
D.C. Photo dump!!
Ok, this was kind of fun! Mike and I wanted to go down and see the city since it is so close to where we train and it had been awhile since our last time in. The only problem is, in the summer it is way too hot to leave the dogs in the truck. We normally like to walk the dogs around D.C., because so many places are dog friendly; but again the dogs were still pretty hot from training….. So this is what we did:
We drove around a bit site seeing so they could cool down. Mike dropped me off on some corners so I could run through the city snapping photos (I actually take photos of things other than dogs!) and would meet me on different blocks. I am surprised no one thought I had stolen a camera, since I running with a Nikon D200, in jeans, and dirty from dog training. We did that for some areas, and other areas if could find a close parking spot, get the dogs out for socialization and a photo ops!! It was great and the dogs seemed to enjoy it.
Not the most conventional way to get photos, but it was kind of like drive by/running by photography!! Ok maybe we are weird. Unfortunately the photos from Flickr of Condor were decreased in clarity.
Dog Training Portion of Saturday
After looking at these photos, I have determined Cosmo needs to loose some weight. Lyn pointed it out last week, but I wasn’t sure I agreed. This week, I agree 
My first “fat” dog!
Condor:
Breath of fresh air…
It was hot, hot, and very freaking hot yesterday. Training had to be kept to very focused points with long periods for cooling down. But despite the heat, I managed to have a very good training day with some eye opening revelations.
Since I have lost Jingo, I have had some very frustrating training moments with Cosmo. Part of it is getting her back together physically and mentally after her pregnancy, and the other part of the equation is me. Jingo and Cosmo are very different dogs which require different training approaches. With the loss of Jingo, I find myself getting frustrated and wishing she was more like Jingo. It is a case of wanting what you can’t have, and with that; I have found myself getting stressed at training when we hit bumps…. until something occurred to me.
I noticed another club member seeming kind of down about her dog because of some of her current training issues. Her dog is a good dog, but is hitting some bumps in training. It was suggested to her to consider getting rid of the dog, but she said that wasn’t an option. I greatly respected her for saying that and it reminded me of what Carlos had told me about training. He said, no dog is perfect. Every dog has their faults, but it is the true dog trainer who works threw his issues and learns how to present his dog to the judge in the best possible way on trial day. For anyone to tell you there dog has no faults, is not very honest. He went on to tell me some stories about dogs from his past and how he handled them.
It isn’t that I didn’t already know what Carlos told me, but sometimes hearing it from a very successful trainer and handler is re-assuring. Realizing that some of our problems are training created problems, and then figuring out how to best address them is what dog training is all about. It was something I needed to hear, because I was starting to feel like I had lost sight of what this sport is all about and not having fun. So this time out, I relaxed a bit and discussed some of Carlo’s ideas with Butch and we had a good time on the field. We worked on the retrieve over the wall, had an excellent track in the morning, and short but sweet protection routine on the field.
Frodo: His only puppy goal was a small track in the morning, which was his best one ever. He kept his focus and ate all the hot dogs out if his little track. The rest of his day was spent playing with people and his other Doberman friends
Condor: I attempted to do a small track with Condor, but it ended in disaster. It wasn’t his fault, but it was just one of those moments… if it could go wrong, it went wrong. It started with him busting out of the crate and getting free when I was trying to prepare him for the track. Not only did he bust out, but I think he caught his toe because he yelped loudly. Than he started to take off and run around which scared me, since this dog has NO training and I had just started teaching the recall. Thank god some people (thanks Nancy and Curtis!) pulled up around the same time and we all just kind of called to him and he ran up to say hi. I attempted to bring him to the track, but at this point he was frazzled along with me… and I couldn’t get him together to focus on the track. So I just pulled him off and let him socialize with the people and put him back in the crate. The rest of his day was just having him out and around people, which he did very well with. The only concerning thing was that he seemed VERY uncomfortable in the heat. He was panting heavily even though I had him under a shaded tree. He laid down and kept shifting his weight back and forth, and didn’t really want to get up. He did the same thing to me when I took him out jogging…. so not sure if he is extremely de-conditioned or a possible health problem, but I am keeping a close eye on it. Since he was so bothered by the heat, I put him back in the truck and cranked the AC in the back for him. Poor guy, he has been threw so much.
Well… training was only a small part of our day, prepare for the photo dump!! We managed to spend time in NJ, Delaware, Maryland, D.C., and head back up threw hitting a bunch of stops for photos and dog socialization moments… It ended up with us picking Vietnamese dinner from Pho Thao Go (Mike was jealous that Lyn and I ate there last week) as we drove threw Columbia, MD; eating it as we drove back to NJ and stopping at a rodeo in Southern Jersey!!
06.26.08
Excerpt – on spaying and neutering dogs
I really wanted to share this excerpt form the The Complete Dobermann Pinscher book published in 1953. I thought it was fun to read, but also a great reflection of the time. After reading this, it left no doubt in my mind the sex of the author
The Spaying of Bitches
First, let us say, that the spaying of bitches is not recommended. However, it is frequently done.
Before having such an operation performed, the owner must realize that the spayed bitch can never be bred and is disqualified for exhibition. The pedigree had as well be burned, for it is useless. The only purpose spaying serves is to prevent the bitch from coming into heat. It is best done, if ever, on a bitch before her full maturity.
The whole nature of the bitch is liable to change after her spaying. She may lose her pep, grow fat, lazy, and dependent….. (and it continues on)
The Castration of Dogs
Castrated dogs are monstrosities, even worse than spayed bitches. The horrible practice of castration is mentioned here only to declare that it should never be done, except as it may be to remove testes irreparably injured in an accident or fight or to remove a malignant growth. Emasculation alters a dog’s entire internal economy, causes him to grow fat, lethargic, lazy and misshapen. It serves no possible purpose.
Excerpt from: The Complete Dobermann Pinscher, 1953. Authored by Milo G. Denlinger.
Condor
A little history on Condor: This dog has had zero socialization, was severely underweight when I got him, and no has had no training on him. He has since put on weight at my place and learned how to play nicely with the dogs in my pack. I love how stable his temperament is despite the fact that so many situations are new to him. He seems to accept everything in stride… except for bikes and garden hoses.
I went to training with the full intentions of handing Condor back to the person who asked me to help out. And I actually did return him, but on Saturday I asked if I could see Condor and do a little work with him. I was so impressed with his attitude and work ethic, that he was promptly returned to my truck and came back home with me. Sometimes I feel like things happen for a reason. Below are pictures from his first time ever on the schtuzhund field:
