Breeding And Animal Welfare

I can across a truly amazing BBC documentary, “Pedigree Dogs Exposed”, via the Whole Dog Journal. The entire documentary is available online here or via YouTube (in 6 pieces, starting here). I found the film eye-opening, to say the least.

The breed standards, and therefore the dogs being produced to show, have often seemed odd to me. Many breeds (Labradors, for one) are becoming stumpy, bulky versions of their ancestors. Consider the dog shown below at Westminster (2010):

Source: http://www.goldenmoonlabs.com/

For comparison, the dog below looks an awful lot like Sadie... and like I expect a Lab in general to look:

Source: http://www.savedbydogs.com/2011/12/labradors-english-bench-and-american.html

I find it difficult to imagine her bounding effortlessly through a field of tall grasses to fetch a downed bird. She seems to me, admittedly not an expert, to be too heavy for a full days’ work. And those short legs must get tired.

Different breeds obviously have different physical exaggerations, and therefore different health issues. And based on the documentary, it sure sounds like breeders in the UK truly believe that these mutations are in the best interest of the breeds. At the very least, they turn a blind eye to the long term view, focusing instead on winning in the show ring. Excess wrinkling, tightly curled tails, and droopy eyes win the blue.

What I hadn’t considered, though, were some of the more egregious problems. Basic health issues like the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel not having enough room in it’s skull to hold it’s brain. (Ouch!) Or the ridge on a beautiful Rhodesian Ridgeback being due to a mild form of scoliosis. And imagine that this spinal deformity is the defining characteristic of the breed! The documentary touches on many other health concerns, but those two really stuck with me.

Another fascinating thing about the film was that it showed pictures and paintings of several breeds from 50, 75, 100+ years ago. Imagine my surprise to see daschunds with legs, bull terriers with normal snouts, and pugs with actual dog-shaped faces. The vintage images were absolutely recognizable as the same breed, but looked much more functional.

I recommend you also check out the associated blog. The prose can be over-dramatic at times, but it stops short of being alarmist. A critical reader will find much of interest and value in the information provided. I know I did!

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I wrote this post mid-day. By the time I got around to finalizing it in blogger and posting, this news came in from a friend via Facebook. The Kennel Club (European sibling of the AKC) has effectively banned merle-merle breeding in several breeds! This is wonderful news, and I hope to hear that the breed list will be expanded. To me, the most notable absence from the list is the Aussie.

PCOTC Trial: Final Thoughts

I’ve talked a lot so far about how I did, and how great my dogs were. But there are certainly other people who deserve mention.

Firstly, both clubs did a great job organizing and running a fabulous trial. I thought the judges were nice (and set good courses), the days went pretty smoothly, and volunteers were appreciated. And as a bonus, there were hand-wash stations outside the porta-potties all four days!

Next I have to thank the judges. Despite some grumblings I overheard during walk-throughs, I felt the courses were fair. Not necessarily easy, mind you, but fair. Both judges were patient with the new handlers. The gentleman in particular was very classy, congratulating people on Q’s and offering encouraging words those who didn’t quite make it. He also had a sense of humor, played upbeat music during walk-throughs, and was just pleasant to run for.

Last but certainly not least, I’d like to send some huge congrats out to all my agility friends who competed with me! From the veterans running for double-Q’s in Excellent to the woman trialing for the first time ever, everyone did a fantastic job. I saw a lot of smiles coming off courses regardless of a Q, which makes me happy. Even when the runs didn’t go as planned, I saw lots of great work in the ring. People were able to reconnect with sniffing dogs, complete obstacles that had been giving them trouble in class, and just have fun with their canine partners.

I was especially thrilled for a classmate who had entered just to expose her dog to the trial environment. She went in with a great attitude, realistic expectations, and a plan. She came out with a FAST Q!

Other runs of note include, but are not limited to:

• My classmate who kept her high-energy Beardie focused on the task at hand, barely knocking any bars (a big accomplishment for him) and not mugging her.
• A friend who got a slow-and-steady Jumpers Q with her young dog, getting him more energized than we usually see on course.
• Another friend with a BC who showed quiet leadership for his dog, resulting in a quiet, smooth run.
• My tent-mate taking on the challenge of her extremely scent-oriented dog, and getting him to take the teeter like it was no big deal (he had been refusing it for a while in class).

As Mr. Trainer constantly reminds me: the goal of agility is to have fun with your dog! Everything else is just a bonus.

PCOTC Trail: Days 3 and 4

Really the title should read PCNUT Trial, because Sunday was hosted by a Portuguese Water Dog club, but Mr. and Mrs. Trainer still did an awful lot of the work. Mrs. Trainer was the volunteer coordinator for the first three days. Mr. Trainer was the trial chair, and he was in charge of the equipment for all four days. Whew! Makes me tired just thinking about it! They did a truly wonderful job, though. Thank you, on behalf of all the weekend’s competitors.

The weekend turned out to be beautiful. Sunshine was welcome after a wet beginning to the trial, and the wind calmed considerably. I was able to go from long pants and two layers of sweaters to shorts and a T-shirt.

The dogs perked up as the trial grounds dried out. Neither likes wet paws, and Sadie and I both found the muddy footing a bit slippery. A light breeze and some big solar canopies helped keep the tent comfortable as the temperature hit the mid 80’s. I made sure they had plenty of opportunities to drink, and alternated which dog got to wear the cooling coat.

Open Jumpers was Sadie’s Saturday warm-up run. She still needed multiple attempts to complete the weaves, but we got through them… only for me to give her a bad front-cross. My motion and body language must have cued forwards rather than turn, because she happily leaped the double out ahead of the weaves, ignoring my shouts of Sadie. Sadie! SADIE! We completed the run otherwise clean and with a wagging tail.

My fiancé showed up to watch that afternoon, just in time for Novice Standard. I made him hide among some tents off the course’s visual path. In the past, Sadie has charged the edge of the ring to find him and/or spent entire runs worrying that he might disappear. I was determined that she wouldn’t even know he was there until after the run. And no pressure (hah), since I had already blown her title on Thursday! She ran beautifully, with just a pause after the very first weave pole. I’d have given her a refusal at one of the jumps, but her scorecard came up clean. First place and her title, with her human watching!

She was ecstatic to see him after the run, nearly ripping the leash out of my hand to charge up to him.

Novice FAST was the last course of the day, and the pup was hot. I kept her in the shade as much as possible, and my fiancé hung out with us. She kept her focus on me (and the hotdog bits, cheese, and buffalo jerky). I could certainly have taken more points, but I didn’t want to push her too much physically. A rock-solid Q and second place was enough for me! And to Sadie’s immense credit, she ran like her other human wasn’t even there. Not a single off-course glance, and all she wanted was her treats as we ran out.

Sunday brought us a lovely, flowing T2B course. It felt incredibly long when I walked it, though it was only about 18 obstacles, but ran beautifully. Sadie gave me all 12 weaves, clean jumping, and her heart in the game. We ran like a real team, and were rewarded with a Q. Our first ever in T2B! 14 more Q’s and 93 points to go…

We moved up to Open Standard that morning. The course was fun, and highly reminiscent of the previous day’s Excellent course. In fact, Mr. Trainer was convinced that the wrong course had been set up while we were walking it! My girl ran well, but didn’t feel like weaving and back-jump a bar. To be fair to her, that was her 11th run in four days and it was hot. She was moving noticeably slower that on day 1, but still responsive. In fact, she near ran by one jump, screeched to a halt when I shouted to her, and took it cleanly from mere inches away. I heard a spectator say ‘Nice save!’

With Open Jumpers last, Sadie was pretty much done; mentally, physically, and emotionally. She was still taking cues from me, but her reaction time was down and distractibility was up. She was starting to lunge at other dogs, though with no apparent malice, probably out of tired habit. I was happy with the run overall even without a Q. Plus, I got to entertain everyone at the weaves. Yet again, she did not feel like weaving. This time she found a smelly spot right by pole #3. It looked like she was going to eat some blades of grass, so I told her ‘No grass!’ just as she dove into a shoulder-roll!

After four days, I was very happy with Sadie’s performance. She had 11 great runs (sorry girl, Standard on Friday stank) and four Q’s. She completed her NA title, and is one more leg away from NF. The 7 good runs that didn’t Q still made me happy. I feel strongly that the issues we had were honest mistakes on both our parts (mis-cues and ticked bars) and a training issue (better, independent weaves). Those we don’t always run perfectly, I think she has truly earned her place in Open. I’m proud of my girl:


Sadie NA, NAJ, NAP, NJP, CGC
Poor Maxwell didn’t get nearly as much attention as I’d hoped. I kept getting pulled in for more volunteer work, like gating and setting bars. Especially by the end of the day, people stop offering to help. I had planned to not work at all on Sunday, and spend all the down-time with my boy. Instead, he just got one decent outing and a few quick potty walks. Despite being cooped up so much he remained very well-behaved. He didn’t pester competing dogs as we walked around. He didn’t jump up on anyone that wasn’t inviting him up. He gave me good focus in exchange for string cheese.

I’m still glad I’ve stopped trialing him for a while, but his excellent behavior gives me hope. When indoor trials start again in the fall, I may consider entering him in Standard again. We’ll see. In the meantime, he gets to be just my good little man!

PCOTC Trial: Intermezzo

Knowing that I was going to be outside for four days, and the pups would need some shade, I did the only reasonable thing. I bought a tent!

It's technically a screen-house. It doesn't have a floor, but is wonderful shade and lets a breeze through. It only weighs about 14 lbs, and is the size of a very small duffel bag. So easy to take along!

I had help putting it up, but I think I'd be able to do it alone. Especially now that I've had practice once. It's nice and roomy. In fact, I shared it with a friend and her dog for three of the days.

 
I had to put some sun blankets on it to keep it cool enough for furry bodies, but it was great. Nice place to relax in the shade. And when I had some extra time, I could zip it up and let the pups loose to relax with me. They preferred to sleep on exposed dirt when available, though I had a mat covering most of the ground.

Love it!

PCOTC Trial: Days 1 And 2

Author's note: My video uploads are taking forever, so please check back soon for links to the rest of Friday's videos!
All videos now available. Enjoy!

Sadie has come incredibly far since we started agility. It's hard to believe that we are now running fast and (mostly) clean courses so often... and we can do it outdoors! PCOTC puts on a wonderful trial, and Sadie is having a blast.

Yesterday we started off with an extremely respectable Open Jumpers run. She ran around one jump, finding something interesting to sniff. Of course she had to back-jump it to come back to me and take the bars down with her. But really, everything else was exactly what I asked for, so I can't complain.

She then had an impeccable Novice Standard course. Well, except that I thought she had cleared the final jump and threw my hands in the air in celebration. She went "What?", her hind end dropped, and the final bar went with it. 1,000% my fault. To make me feel even worse, she would have placed first for her Novice title if I hadn't messed her up! I know better than to celebrate early, but I guess this was a practical learning experience.

The final course of the day was Novice FAST. She had a solid if not especially flashy run. She happily took the send (woo hoo!) and bagged plenty of points. A refusal on the weaves, but I decided that the wasted time wasn't worth it, and we ran out for first place.

Today's first class was T2B. Like yesterday's Jumpers run, it was nearly perfect. We almost got the weaves on our first attempt, reaching about pole 11 before she popped out. And she ran with enthusiasm. So much so that she managed to run around my front cross before the last tunnel, charge behind my legs (nearly knocking me down) and race into the correct end of the tunnel anyway. She couldn't collect enough on her exit, though, so she took down the next bar. Very pleased with the run anyway.

Novice Standard was a bit of a mess today. She took down a jump (not a bar, a whole jump) so I decided to challenge her. I charged the dog-walk entrance to see if she would take it. Nope. I rear crossed the weaves. Fail. Hardly mattered though, since we'd already NQ'ed. But now I have some things to work on in class.

Open Jumpers (part 1 and part 2) today was a nice little course. I liked the flow, and thought it a good challenge. Sadie needed her two tries on the weaves, and then didn't/wouldn't/couldn't follow my front cross into the next jump. With me screaming her name, she instead took the double out ahead. Argh! Otherwise a gorgeous run.

Maxwell has been extremely good at the trial. I try to get him out and about with me between runs. He has been polite to other dogs and people, offering lots of eye contact, and generally being a very pleasant little guy. I know he wants to go out and run with the other dogs, but I just don't trust him to be aroused, off-leash, and outdoors. Yesterday he got to play a bit with a friend's BC puppy, and I put him on a long line to play fetch. Today we went for a walk along the back side of the trial area, and played fetch off-leash after most people had left for the day. So I think he's happy!

PCOTC Trial Sneak Preview

Today started the annual agility trial held by my club. Sadie is running everything, so I'm super excited!

I have lots to say about day 1, but I'm too tired to write much. Instead, here's a great cell-phone pic of my girl courtesy of Morgaana Photography. Here you see Sadie winning Novice FAST.

Not A Garbage Brain...

We've been happily using the new lock on the cabinet the garbage is in. So when my fiancé went to throw something out this evening, this is what he found:

Yep, that's chew marks and slobber

He blames me for teaching her how to think and problem-solve. I just think it's awesome that she so quickly figured out exactly what was keeping her from tasty trash!

And we hope she doesn't, you know, chew it off.

Trash Talk

So...

Sadie got into the trash again Friday night. We went to a movie, and came back to a full bag-worth of garbage strewn about the kitchen and living room floor. Meat packaging, spinach leaves, coffee grounds, and more. Ick.

Figuring we must have left the cupboard ajar, or she got it by dumb luck, we cleaned up and went about our business. Saturday we went out in the afternoon. And returned to more garbage on the floor. Yay! At least there wasn't too much this time, since there was only about 12 hours' worth.

My fiancé did errands today, and got these:

Both are on the cupboards doors where we stash the garbage and recycling. Think they'll hold?