The Big Dog Series - Part One

Well, after focusing the last few entries on the puppies, I thought it was high time to introduce ppl to the most important members of the household, the big dogs who live here. Part one of the big dog series is Jurny
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Jurny is my second Australian Shepherd from Cathy at Caitland Aussies. He is more formally known as C-PCH CH Caitland Jurney into the Crowd CDX, AGX, RA, HIC, AADC, NAC, NGC, NJC, TN-N, TG-N, GS-N. I had talked to Cathy to let her know that I was ready for my next aussie, and was thrilled to hear she was breeding Brooke and would I be interested in a puppy from that litter? Pretty much a no brainer, of course I would be! I had my heart set on a little blue boy, however, it was determined Jurny was the one to come home. And as soon as that little black furball strutted out of his crate and let everyone know he had arrived I fell in love.

Jurny started life on the island living in a motorhome with me and Quest while I went to grooming school. He was well travelled as we went up and down the island on weekends. He still loves his car rides, and would dearly love to ride up on the front seat...however all dogs are crated in the van much to his disappointment. Shortly after I finished grooming school I packed up my now 5mos old set of legs (I think there might have been some body attached, but not very much) and off we moved to Alberta for a new adventure. Jurny accompanied me on a few moves around town and finally we settled into our first house that was really ours! Through this time I kept willing him to grow and put on some weight so I could get him in the show ring and looking back laugh that I even considered him somewhat ready to show!

In the meantime I worked on his obedience with my friend who was also my boss at the time and her golden. We decided we'd better just enter a trial and maybe we'd get motivated to train. And we did. One weekend in Lethbridge saw both of us finishing the dogs' CDs with scores I cannot remember now.

While I was in AB Jurny had some experience with herding. He did very well and earned his herding instinct certificate, impressive considering I had zero idea what I was doing, need to pull out that tape and watch it now that I have a small understanding of herding. Unfortunatly I never persued the activity with him at that point.

Shortly after I decided a career change was in order and moved back to BC to go to school. In the two years I spent waiting to get into the nursing program Jurny and I got involved in as many different dog sports as we could find. He finished his CDX in short order, finished his Championship (my first champion!), and we discovered agility. Over the course of the years, Jurny trialed in AAC earning his AADC (is only one Q from his MADC), in NADAC earning his NAC, NGC, NJC, TN-N, and TG-N (not bad considering the lack of NADAC on the island at that point), CKC earning his AGX, and one trial in ASCA earning his GS-N. Jurny still loves to go and play on the equpiment and who knows, maybe he'll get to play again and try for that last Q on his MADC. The day Jurny earned his AGI was also the day he earned his PCH (performance champion) through CNASA. He was the second aussie in canada to earn this, second only to his half sister. Jurny also tried his hand at herding again when he was about 8. This might have been a bit too late. He really had no use for chasing sheep, but would work the ducks if I got him really really excited. A herding dog he was no longer, but he still had fun. Most recently Jurny has gotten back out into the ring in Rally. He LOVES it! He may not be the most precise dog out there anymore, but I dont' care. I just love seeing him have fun. He finished his RA with multiple high in class placements and in six straight trials.

As Jurny grew, I realized I should have taken out pet insurance on him. I once added up how much I've spent at the vet on him and his injuries and accidents and mishaps and nearly fell over. That number is now blocked from my memory. He has some odd quicks, like his psychological polydipsia that cycles through from time to time, his INTENSE hatred of squirrels, to name a couple...but that is what makes him Jurny.

Jurny is "that" dog for me. He is the dog that has been able to do and succeed at everything I ask of him, even if he's not thrilled with it (ie being touched all over by conformation judges). Jurny is game to try anything, as long as he gets to spend time with me. When Jurny was younger I'd describe him as having perfect Aussie temperment. He was reserved with strangers, but as soon as he knew you, you had a friend for life, and good luck getting him out of your lap. Now as he's aged, he loves everyone after he meets them. Still needs to try the big old "I'm a big scary dog and I'll bark....oh wait, who cares" as he goes wiggling up to them for attention.

Jurny is now 11 and will be 12 in March. He doesn't look much over 8 years old. A little grey in the muzzle, but that's about it. He runs with the younger dogs and is always up for a good game of ball. Not bad for a dog sporting a grade three heart murmur...with no outward symptoms.

Plans for Jurny include rescuing him from sharp puppy teeth in the next months and letting him relax on the couch or under my feet as he wants. I do hope to continue with Rally with him and finish his RE title. He may come to Cdn Nat'ls with me as well and show off his youth in the various veterans classes.

Coming up next...Argus.

How do you choose?

Six puppies. Only one gets to stay. From day one I've been kidding myself that I will wait until week seven when final evaluations are done and that day I will pick my puppy. Uh huh. How do you not fall in love with one particular puppy when you see them every day, learn all their little quirks, see their strengths and their weaknesses. I think so much easier to get the full picture of a puppy in person than just through pictures, though a good still pic makes it easier to see what can be hard on a constantly moving puppy. How do you then turn around and pick a different puppy than the one your heart is set on because of one day of evals?

As each puppy was born I thought "oh, I love this one!" and on and on as each one arrived. At that point, I was dead set that I was keeping a female. Until a little blue and white boy appeared. Last one born and that thought "he's the one" hit me. I can't say what it was at that point, I mean, he was being ripped out of his sack, hadn't taken his first breath even...let alone knowing if he was correctly marked, what his temperment would be like or that he was even a he. I have to say, I have wanted a blue merle and white for YEARS, so it would be easy enough to blame his colour on the reason I wanted to keep him. But I've always wanted a blue with minimal white, and I wanted a girl. And, I have a puppy that fits that bill exactly. I love Fiesty to bits, and I think she is going to make someone an awesome awesome little puppy, but I don't feel the same connection with her as the blue boy, I'm pretty sure it's more than just markings, plus I don't like all the white generally. ;)

As the puppies grew, each puppy changed a little, I got a different view on their personalities and still, the blue and white boy topped my list. A lot of what draws me to him is his personality and temperment, which for me is key. I don't care if they are the most beautiful dog out there, or the top herding dog, or the fastest agility dog, at the end of the day temperment is what matters most. My dogs are my pets and need to thrive in my home with my lifestyle. He is his father all over again, but much quieter in volume (not busy-ness, he's a busy busy boy). He is a total ham, the class clown of the group who always has a grin on his face as he bounces over to me so I can pick him up and snuggle him. He's a bit of a wimp and can get his feelings hurt if someone roughhouses him too rough, but seconds later he's right back in the fray of things and grabbing and shaking someone's fur.

Is he the nicest conformation puppy in the litter? He's a nicely put together puppy, (needs to think some black nose thoughts though) but I'm not sure if he'll turn out as pick show puppy. Is he the top performance puppy? Again, he's up there, but I'm not sure if he would be considered the top one (and really, how do you pick that at such a young age...so many variables). Will he herd sheep? Who knows, based on his pedigree and parents he should, but no guarantees. Regardless, he is THE ONE, I've known it from day one and in the last few days I've finally accepted the fact that the blue boy is the one staying. I can't imagine sending him off to another home, where the rest of the puppies I've already picked what their ideal homes would be and figured out "short lists" for my waiting homes to choose from in a couple weeks.

So finally, I'm pleased to introduce: LookQuest Leap Frog "Juice", who regardless of if he is the "best" puppy after evals are done is the puppy who is meant to stay here, and will always be the best puppy in the litter as far as I'm concerned.

In Leaps and Bounds

For ease of describing the puppies from here on out, I'll be referring to them by their litter names, much easier than black boy #1 etc. That gets cumbersome.

Billy (black boy #1)





Boston (black boy #2)




Matthew (blue boy)




Chatterbox (black female....who I obviously need to get better pics of, this kid is a going concern and never sits still...even dreaming of going outside in the pouring rain)




Fiesty (blue female #1)




Angel (blue female #2)


I have been amazed since day one how fast these kids grow and develop. It truly is in leaps and bounds from one day to the next. It seems that one day they're little mewling vulnerable little souls in the whelping box, the next fuzzy bouncing, growling, barking, running puppies.

Some of the changes of late that I've been noticing is how they discover their world. Late last week I started opening their pen up when the big dogs went outside and I went in to clean up the mess in the puppy pen. Luckily, I think I'm having it easy, Impulse still cleans up the majority of the mess (she does like poo...I knew there would be some aspects of this job she'd like) and generally all I have to do is change wet papers and dirty towels a couple times a day.

The first day out Boston charged out into the kitchen, the stopped, surveyed and stuck pretty close to my pant leg. He was quickly followed by Matthew and Fiesty. The other three finally decided the great world outside the pen was okay too. They didn't venture very far from their pen that day. The next day, all six tumbled from the pen and explored the rest of the kitchen. From there it was the front entrance to the living room. Today, they conquered the hallway. Chatterbox even ventured all the way to the end of the hall and into the bedroom by herself. It's neat to see how they learn one day and apply the next. Yesterday they tried out the beginning of the hall, but stuck to the living room/front entrance to play. Today there was zero hesitation in going down the hall as they'd already learned it was safe yesterday. And there ends their freedom in the house.

Another recent and constantly progressing change is play. They started with simply playing with each other over the xmas holidays. I loved waking up and looking over the side of the bed to watch rudimentary puppy play. This was a bit difficult as they were just starting to stand and pretty unsteady on their feet. It started with chewing on each other's muzzles, then once they were up and walking, running into each other and pushing the other puppies over. This moved to pouncing and growling. Now it is full fledged wrestling and tussling, with a few arguments starting to arise. They are also realizing there is more to play with than just each other. Late last week the puppies started to notice their toys as more than obstacles to walk over. They started chewing on plastic nubs, sleeping on soft teddy bears, shaking wubbas. By the weekend they were stealing the big dog's toys (the wubba specifically which is double their size) and dragging them into their puppy pen. Then started the creation of toys. The paper, the blankets, pant legs, shoes, they are finding anything they come across can be a toy. Today I really notice they are purposely seeking out objects to play with, testing various objects to see if they're fun. Fiesty noticed a piece of paper on the floor, stepped on it, slid, sniffed it and realized it wouldn't be fun. Then she found the bag that all the new toys came in. MUCH more fun. It rustled and crinkled and I said NO, which made it that much more desirable. Puppies are also starting to play with me more. They love nothing more than when I push them away so they can rush back at me. They love the "hand of death" as I grab their faces and play with their feet on the floor. They are just starting to put together playing with me with a toy. I'm sure that will be the new development in the next couple days.

Another, fun(?) development is that they are starting to get on a schedule. They know that in the morning when the big dogs get up (who attack me when the alarm goes off...everyone's pretty scheduled in this house) and go outside, it is time for puppies to be fed. As in NOW. I have six puppies at the doorway to their pen screaming, barking, howling, sure that they are dying of hunger RIGHT NOW. They also need their morning attention. Often the noise level quiets down after each puppy is picked up individually and snuggled. They all look forward to this short time and then dive into their food. They have progressed in food from one meal of pureed kibble with goat's milk to two meals and quickly to today when they started three meals of kibble soaked in water and mashed. They know that at lunch it's a quick out and socialize and play and back in the pen in 10 minutes or so. They usually come out and play and easily go back in and eat their lunch and crash. In the evening is when they wake up. The big dogs go outside and the puppies are let out. They are up for a good hour playing and wrestling and this is when they are most active. This is my favourite time of the day with them. Watching how everyone is doing, how they've changed from the day before. After that they go back in their pen and have dinner and then everyone settles until the big dogs go out after their dinner. Out again for a few minutes until puppies start to crash around the living room them back in the pen for the night. So far, this is working well, though I'm not getting much done around the house.

Impulse decided tonight that maybe her puppies are fun after all. She and Chatterbox had a couple little play sessions in the kitchen with Chatter chasing after her when she left to continue with the fun! This was a fun new interaction with Impulse and the puppies, and I look forward to seeing how she changes her parent role with them from "milk bar" to "teacher".

It's all about the FOOD!

In my work I talk to a lot of moms about breastfeeding and the ins and outs of feeding your baby. So, watching Impulse feed her babies has been particularly interesting to me. I love watching the stages of nursing. To me, it looks like four stages. Stage One: getting latched and working on getting that milk to let down. At this point all six babies have found their nipple and are kneading and prodding and pulling those nipples till I think they're going to pull them right off Impulse. They are working hard for their dinners. I also usually hear little grunts and whines as they are frusterated their meal isn't being served quite as quickly as they think it should be. Stage Two: The Letdown. The milk starts to flow with ease. All at once, every puppy stops moving and you know milk is just pouring out. All that can be heard is swallows as each puppy drinks their tummies full. No more whines, no more grunts, just soft little puppy swallows. Stage Three: The Slowdown. This must be when the bulk of the milk has been letdown and the flow lessens. Again, all at once as if on cue, every puppy gets panicky and starts fighting for a new nipple because the one they were on isn't giving up the goods like it was a couple seconds ago. Once they try out a few, they realize they're all the same and they settle down again. Stage Four: sleep. After each meal follows a good long nap. Some puppies are still latched on and start sucking again if you disturb them, others fall off the nipple in happy full tummy dreams. As they've gotten older feeding has become more efficient. It takes less time for the milk to let down, less time to get through the main part of the feed, and quicker to sleep. I was starting to find though that puppies were feeding more often and not sleeping as soundly after feeds. Partly due to the fact that they're getting older and have more wakeful periods, and I think partly due to the fact that they are monsters and Impulse is reaching her peak of being able to feed all the monsters.

I did a lot of reading on starting puppies on solids, and there seems to be no "best answer". I found this frusterating. Not only do ages that people start their puppies on vary, but the debate over what to feed and when to feed is huge. I opted to go with what I know and apply some of my infant feeding knowledge to puppies. First of all, no cow's milk. That seems to be fairly well accepted among breeders. Next was what the solid bit should be. I read about people giving puppies infant cereal, all kinds of concoctions of human foods etc. But these are not small people, they are puppies. So, the decision was made to simply grind up the food they'll be eating once they're weaned, which is also the food Impulse eats now. That is, Go Natural. I've raised all my puppies since Argus on Go once they've arrived home and have loved the food, so chose to use this to wean puppies on to. Picked up some goat's milk and was ready to rock. It should be noted, Magic Bullets are not made to grind dog food. Good thing I have an old blender to use. Soaked the kibble in the goat's milk, added a scoop of canned food and made it into a nice pastey slurry. Slopped onto a tray and ready to go. But not quite. I still want the puppies main calories to come from mom, and I want her milk supply to stay up for another couple weeks. So, after Impulse finished an afternood feed, I kept puppies up, put a towel down and one at a time introduced them to this new goop. They all thought it was quite fine, but didn't gorge themselves, due to being mostly full up with momma's milk. I think this will provide a nice easy transitition and as they get older they'll gradually need more and more filling up with the food, and need mom less and less. I'm starting with two meals/day for a few days, and then will up to three. I don't want to upset little tummies. So far, Impulse continues to keep her pen impeccable, unless I catch a poop between her times in with the puppies you'd never know they poop....so far. I know that will all change soon. And so, life with six puppies will get a little messier, but the fuzzy cuteness will mostly make up for that I think. ;)