Puppyhood goes way to fast! (Part Two - The Bindi Chronicles)

Bindi 8 weeks old

People have always complained that it is really hard to have a puppy, and it is sort of hard and a lot of work, but I love the puppy phase. Puppies do not remain puppies very long, it is really sad. I was not prepared for how fast our puppy was going to grow up.

Bindi 4 months old

It was almost as if Bindi went on hyperdrive in the journey to become a dog. Her tail grew, her snout elongated, her body elongated - what the hell?! Bindi started loosing her teeth and her adult teeth came in fast and furious. She became very leggy. 

This is Bindi at 6 months. I suspect she is not done growing. She will probably not be a large Border Collie, but she is 16 and 3/4" at the withers right now. We have stopped going with weight and started measuring her to see how she is growing. Her weight has been pretty much at a standstill, she just grows.

Bindi's bark has lost it's high pitched puppy bark. She has adult dog barks - Waaaah! I will admit to being very blue once realizing that the little puppy from Washington State is gone. She has been replaced by a dog who lives in Phoenix. It is what we were going for in the first place, I have accepted the new doggy order. The melancholy has left and our "Dog", keeps us laughing every day, all day long, with her antics and general comedy routines.

New Puppy Bindi (Part One - The Bindi Chronicles)

On April 23rd Mike and I flew to Seattle to pick up our new puppy Bindi. We have always opted to rescue the older dog before, but something came over me and I got puppy fever!

Bindi has been a tour de force in the Stamp household and Mike and I have been learning about "All Things Puppy".

For the last year I have been reading many books on bringing up a performance puppy. Just like when I was pregnant with my daughter and read all the books on brining up baby, once the baby came, the books went out the window. No child and no puppy fit the profile defined in all the books. Now what?

One thing we have learned is that having a puppy is really fun. I know that sounds crazy, but Bindi has been a pretty darn good puppy. Maybe since Mike and I were expecting a weapon of mass destruction, and what we got was a normal puppy who needs guidance on being a good dog. Jubie and Kama at Club-Doggie have been wonderful resources for us and is making the puppy raising a little easier. Yes, there are accidents in the house and yes there is chewing, but we are able to make adjustments and make a little headway on teaching Bindi good manners.

April 23rd 2016

Dog Days of Summer - Frozen Treats for Pups

Phoenix has been really hot this Summer. I know, we are suppose to be hot. I have lived here 36 years and have never gotten use to the summers - I digress.

This is a recipe for a frozen treat for your pets. I call them "Pup Pops". If your dog has dairy allergies, this isn't the recipe for your pup.

1 cup of frozen berries (frozen or fresh)
1 cup of yogurt
1 tablespoon "The Honest Kitchen Pro Bloom" (essentially this is dehydrated Goat's Milk, you can use Butter Milk or just plain Milk)

Pour all ingredients in a blender, puree until smooth.  Pour into ice cube trays and cover with plastic wrap or bags to avoid spills. Leave overnight to freeze. Take trays out of freezer, let sit out for 2 minutes and remove from tray to serve. I make a bunch and put in freezer bags for later.

Note: You can buy silicone paw print molds from Amazon

Or just use ice cube trays (I bought the molds).  You can also buy "The Honest Kitchen Pro Bloom" from Amazon too. This has probiotics. I have made these Pops quite a few times. The original recipe calls for Honey, but my dogs swallow the Pop whole, I think the extra sugar would be lost on them. 

One way of keeping your pets cool in the hot summer. I wonder if dogs get "Freeze Brain"?

Hollywood has their own version of clicker training - based on a true story.

Ruger dropped one of my clickers in my purse the other day. I guess he thought I should be clicker training at work. I can just see it now; someone exhibits a behavior I am looking for, I click and quickly shove an M & M in their mouth. Well, that is a dream for another time.

Recently we saw Jurassic World and the main character was clicker training Velociraptors. Hollywood has access to a huge amount of animal training talent, so whoever was advising the Jurassic World crew on clicker training should be dropped in a pit of Velociraptors (well probably not that drastic). Instead of one click marking the behavior of the Velociraptors, our hero would click the heck out of the clicker.  Can you believe this is all I have taken out of that movie? I know that sound terribly Rain Man, but I was taught better (thanks to Kama and Jubie). I thought it was a cool thing to introduce into the movie, because clicker training is so effective, but then in true Hollywood style, one click was not enough, they had to pimp clicker training - argh! I do not remember much about the movie, sure Bryce Dallas Howard was beautiful and Chris Pratt was ripped, but the poorly executed clicker training is what I have taken away from that movie. Also, as Mike reminded me, don't babysit anyone's kids at a Jurassic theme park.

P.S. If you want to investigate proper clicker training go to Club-Doggie.com, contact Kama and Jubie. Tell them Jurassic World sent you (or you just want to be a better trainer).

When you are feeling sad and blue...get a Ruger!

Ruger (A former AZBCR alum,) is the sweetest dog I have every owned.  We got Ruger almost three years ago. I saw his picture and for some reason had to have him. Linda White was fostering him at the time, so we drove up to Payson and brought him home. Ruger put us through some trying times, but, quite simply, I love him. Tonight I was reading through some posts of bad things happening to some dogs and as I always do, started crying. Ruger immediately came and stood by me. He always has my back. For whatever reason pulled me to Ruger three years ago, I am thankful I followed the feeling and brought him home. He is sweet and kind and the only type of Ruger I will ever need.

Team Work

For some reason this whole Agility thing takes me longer than most people; I struggle. So I am rather embarrassed to just figure this component out about my dogs and Agility: Team Work!

My dogs, Lady and Ruger are polar opposites in behavior and abilities. Both are terribly smart (goes without saying - Border Collies), but both have had and are having problems with being scared at Trials. Lady shut down on me both in class and in competitions. I took her out of classes and any competitions for a year. I worked with her at home and Ruger took over her classes. I worked on Handler Focus, Susan Garrett's "Recallers" and just having fun with me. She has been back in class and competition for a little over a year now, and boy is she doing well. We are not going nuts competing, just slow and steady, but nice results. Even if we do not have a Qualifying run, I still have fun with her and most importantly, she has fun with me. What has changed? Lady and I are a team and we have a good time together. She trusts me to guide her around a course and her focus is on me and the obstacles.

Now for Ruger. Ruger and I are definitely not so team-like on course. At home and at class, he is happy and loves Agility. In competition, he's terrified. His little face is tight, he smacks his lips and walk/trots over the course, or I am begging him through obstacles. We are not a team. I get irritated and I am sure he feels keenly my ire. Saturday night he was in a show and stopped on top of the A-Frame because he caught sight of the judge and he was scared. I will mention that he knows the judge, but at that moment, I do not believe he even remembered him. Since this was an Intro Trial we were running For Exhibition Only (FEO), I entered Lady in one run on Sunday because I just couldn't take not having a good run, she was my ringer.

Lady had a wonderful Snooker run, and wonder of all wonders, I actually didn't mess it up (I have been in a long Snooker rut). I ran the course the same way with Ruger and OMG he did great and he actually made time.  His next run was a Jumpers course. Ruger has never made time on a USDAA Jumpers course - EVER. His time was 28.89 on a 33 second course. This was the fastest run he has ever had. I was over the moon, we were a team.

Why the difference? I have been working on Handler Focus with him and will continue to do so since I feel we still have a long way to go. But, between runs, I am playing with him and getting him to tug (albeit for treats - we are not there yet). I think also, with Lady there, it is easier for me to let go the irritation that I feel when he acts goofy. I have been going back and forth for some time now (I said it took me longer than most) wondering if I should pull Ruger from competing, or just stick it out and accept "he is who he is". Now I have a clear objective and neither of those choices are optimal. I am going to be Ruger's teammate. We will continue to work on Handler and Obstacle focus and we will have fun. I have no idea how this all is going to play out, but my focus from now on is to have fun with both of my dogs and perhaps we will have an amazing team.