Change of Plans

Sleeping arrangements here at our Ranchero are, by design, flexible. Dogs have many choices, from barn to kennel to family room to master bedroom - crates, x-pens, raised beds, and orthopaedic cushions abound. People have beds, sleeper sofas, and air mattresses to choose from.

I have extensive experience sleeping on an air mattress. One summer I spent a month (with Dot) sleeping on one in the back of my Outback, waiting for a foal to drop. It gets cool in the summer nights in the desert, a dog is just the thing to keep my feet warm. Add a pillow and a sleeping bag, and I can go without end.

I slept on the same one last year waiting for Rumor to whelp. Wake up, deflate it, roll up in a corner; at night just inflate (self unrolling), hit the sack.

Sadly, that air mattress sprung a leak, one too large to repair. So I set about buying another one that would work with the pump I have. (Great pump - AC/DC, multi attachment.)

No dice. None of the ones available at stores local to me work with the pump, not even close.

After two purchases and returns, today the guy at the store said, m'am, what are you needing this for? I told him. He said - camper cot. I said - no way, bad back. He said - trust me.

So I bought one. After all, what I was doing wasn't working... time to try something else. Man oh man, is it comfy.

And I got one in green, so my bed matches Tigress's .

Bonus shot for today! Pausing mid-walk to admire the gorgeous day.

Day 58

Five days to go, give or take, until whelping. Two days to the x-ray for a puppy count.

So. Time to start the pool...

Take a guess at:
1 - day/time of first puppy to whelp
2 - day/time of last puppy to whelp
3 - number of puppies
4 - division of sexes
5 - bonus points for division of colors
6 - double-bonus points for division of white markings

Put your guess in Comments or just send me an e-mail.

So we're all more or less on the same playing field, here's some detail.

A - Tigress's first litter had 8 puppies in it. See photo from this afternoon and see if the visual helps you with your guess:

It's in the mid 60's but the cool tile is her choice for napping.

B - Sex is determined by the sperm; Py's first litter had 2 bitches and 3 dogs (one stillborn).

C - For a crash course in borzoi color inheritance, click here. The Dva litter is Py bred to Tigress. Py is a self-gold, carries black&tan. He may be a double-chinchilla. Both Py's parents carried white spotting; his sire an IM red brindle, his dam a self red brindle. Tigress is an irish marked black&tan with brindle; she has to carry spotting and probably carries chinchilla. Click to see her sire and dam's coloring. Both Py and Tigress are ticked.


I will post the x-ray picture when I get it, then we can all have fun trying to count skulls and spines and see what we come up with!

In the meantime, Tigress would like more bon-bons served, so I have to go...

Shopping for... well, don't know how many

Maybe it's because yesterday was Mother's Day, but I was in baby-shopping mode. No no silly, not that kind of baby shopping. Shopping for baby - for puppies, actually.

First, an update on how Tigress is looking - which is, huge:

"Oh servant, more bon-bons, if you please..."

The x-ray to count puppy fetuses isn't until next Monday, but I went ahead and shaved her belly today. The hair has been falling out in clumps (normal in preparation for nursing), but it's 71* today and Tigress sez it's hot. I figure a nude belly on our tile floors will feel really good. Plus, maybe I'll see the little "scoops" moving around (!).

She was a very good mother with her first litter; I got to see her playing with them at 8 weeks of age and she was obviously enjoying her babies. I hope this litter is as charming and rambunctious!

While waiting for my car to get its oil changed I wandered into one of the pet super-stores. It's been a long time since I did anything other than dash in and grab cat litter, so took the opportunity to peruse every aisle and see what's new in toys. I found a few items that will make fun puppy toys, and may even work their way into my Temperament Testing box of goodies. Although I don't understand why they were in the cat section??

"Tweet Thing" touch activated noise-maker with feathers. Cool!

"Play N Squeak" comes in a fox version, too! Not too sure about the catnip tho...

A couple of aisles later I found my "now I've seen everything" item:

Disposable boots for dogs... whoda thunk?

Seemed kinda silly - until I started pondering the possible uses, when I almost bought a pack just to try them out... But I restrained myself. They probably don't keep out cactus.

Back at home I finally got a chance to look at the video my son sent me (via FaceBook) for Mother's Day... raunchy humor is right up my - sorry - aisle. Great kid, I'm so incredibly fortunate. He'll be home from university for the summer next weekend, can't wait to see him. And yes, we'll be having green enchiladas when he walks in the door, made with the good stuff. 
   

It's all Semantics

This post is a cheat... was originally an e-mail posted to a list with over a thousand people on it in response to someone who claims to place borzoi as assistance dogs... The entire thing gave me such heartburn that I wrote the following in response. It has since been re-posted and shared on other lists, so I'm posting here so that my original content is unadulterated.

------------
Thank you for clearly articulating some important questions. I can't speak for anyone else, but will try to answer, generally, what is required of Assistance/Service Dogs (and briefly, a Therapy dog).

I am certified dog trainer (CCPDT) and a professional instructor/trainer for Assistance Dogs of the West (ADW). ADW is a Full Member of Assistance Dogs International (ADI); ADI is the governing body world-wide for assistance/service dog, organization, and trainer standards.

My organization, ADW, focuses on placing dogs with people with cognitive and physical disabilities. Scent alert (diabetic, seizure, etc.) is a new area we're finding some dogs talented in. We do not do seeing-eye or hearing-alert dog placement. We secure our own liability et al insurance privately, which is extended to clients when a dog is placed.

ADW begins the selection process of potential assistance dogs at puppyhood. Youngsters are repeatedly evaluated for appropriate temperament, aptitude, and structure. I am intimately involved in this process and can best describe it as rigorous; well over 50% of candidates are rejected. Every organization does things differently, but because the wash-out rate puts crippling expense on the training organization, ruthless selection is essential. ADW is able to place 80% of the dogs we accept, the other 20% are released.

Training takes an average 18 months; ADW does it faster than most in the US because of our unique, community integrated approach. After a year of training, ADW's dogs have 90 commands; by placement they have 150-200 behaviors on cue, depending on the type of work a specific dogs is suited for. Many assistance/service dog training organizations take 24-36 months. Because the ADA standards require that a dog be able to provide essential life functions the person can not do for themselves (http://www.ada.gov/qasrvc.htm and http://www.petpartners.org/TAP-FAQs#ServiceTherapy) these dog skills must be perfected prior to placement.

And don't get me started on the placement process, it's complicated and thankfully the special responsibility of people in our organization with decades of experience and expertise (including Occupational Therapy) with people with disabilities and the diagnostic capability to match needs and skills. Not my area of expertise, and I am in awe of our staff professionals that do this "matchmaking".

Once placement has been determined, the handler comes to our facility for two weeks of "boot camp" to learn how to work with and care for the dog. Before going home they MUST pass a Public Access Test (AND be re-tested by us every two years) in order to take the dog home. We provide livelong follow-up support. ADW retains legal ownership of the dogs, and sometimes takes back a "retired" dog (if the handler can't take care of the retired dog along with their new assistance partner, for example).

These are a few reasons Assistance dogs are so difficult to get, waiting lists are usually years-long, and the dogs themselves extremely expensive.

And one last word on Therapy dogs... I am with Delta Society and a Therapy Dog handler. Therapy dogs **ARE NOT** Assistance dogs, and the certification tests for Therapy dogs absolutely do NOT qualify them in any way shape or form for Assistance Dog work. BTW, Delta provides insurance for their teams.

I love my therapy dogs, but have no delusions about them being Assistance Dogs. An Assistance Dog must be biddable enough to to work 18 hours a day; a typical Therapy dog will "work" a few hours a week. This is why the vast majority of ADI organizations use labs, goldens, or shepherds - these breeds have the human-driven work ethic required to do the job, year after year. (ADW is doing a pilot program with smaller breeds; the jury is out on these.

As you can see I'm quite passionate about this topic . Hope it's answered some of your general questions about Assistance/Service dogs and Therapy dogs.

Countdown....

Two weeks from today, give or take, I hope to be welcoming a much-anticipated litter of puppies. Mama-in-waiting, Tigress, spends most of her time dreaming of bon-bon's served to her in the whelping box. She eats three meals a day now, and has to be cajoled into a daily walk.

Tigress breaks in the whelping box, earlier this week.

Papa-to-be is, no surprise, pretty oblivious to the upcoming madness. His routine continues as usual, which on Thursdays means visiting "his" kids. Today was all about reading... I am so lucky to just sit back and watch the magic as a child too shy to read in front of people boldly sounds out difficult words for Mr. Py.

Mr. Py gives his full attention.

I blogged about our litter last year, and plan to for this litter as well. So everyone please keep your fingers crossed that all goes well for Tigress and her babies, I'll keep you posted.
   

Charismatic Mega-Geeks

Oy, my aching head!! And it feels so good...


This past weekend I went to the 3rd Annual ORCA Conference - and I intend to be a regular attendee. This year's line-up of speakers was an über-geeks dream come true, with a wide variety of species experts (birds, wildlife, marine mammals, horses, dogs, etc.) sharing their knowledge, ideas, thoughts, experiences, and notions of what to do next. A few of the speakers I had heard/seen/met before, a few were legends in the OC community, and a couple I'd never heard of before! What a wonderful mix... I was full of eager anticipation.


Friday morning dawned and I scurried to get all my morning chores completed before my ride/room-share for the weekend arrived. Suzanne and I had met casually a few times; this was to be our first in-depth time together and I will confess a certain amount of trepidation... three days (two driving, one at the conference) and two nights (splitting the hotel expenses) can be an eternity if people don't "click" (pun fully intended). Thankfully we got along exceptionally well, and I look forward to many intriguing conversations with her in the future. 


Before 9 a.m. we were on the road, headed east to Texas. Texas, the land of gentlemen (we never opened a door ourselves), meat (more steak restaurants than any other three states combined), and terribly interesting rest-stops (free wifi and scary signs). 


We rolled into the Dallas area well after dark, checked in (very nice hotel), and set about finding a place for dinner. Suzanne is a vegan, so we found a place that would work for her and had dinner. Off to bed, then up early on Saturday morning.



The conference set-up was excellent - but I was just floored by how many people were there!! I have no idea how many registrants there were, but seating for 75!! and the room was full. Honey was set out by the hot tea - now that's good planning. 


We had arrived early enough to get prime seating (which I will prove later), but the multiple enormous screens around three sides of the room insured everyone would have an excellent view of the presentations. All day tech support was in quiet evidence, adjusting sound quality as needed with minimal fuss. After filling up on coffee I wandered the room... and found a board describing current research projects by some of the graduate students. Two of of the topics caught my eye:

 

I believe the students at NTU in this department are the brain-trust that will take all of us to the "next level" of understanding of what is possible through OC. It is essential that their findings be published so the "rest of us" can learn from their work.

I'd been told that the speakers at this conference don't "talk down" to their audience. That is putting it mildly. 

The keynote speaker knocked it out of the park. Three pages of notes made my hand cramp non-stop as he talked for an hour: Evolutionary Theory and the Analysis of Animal Behavior. Dr. Andronis effortlessly ranged from the unifying paradigm of consequential contingencies as a driving force of natural selection, to the fallacy of panselectionism, and segued into strategies of reproduction, exaptation, and behavioral cusps before I could catch my breath.

If I'd gone home right then and there, the price of admission would have been a bargain.

But no, we were just getting started...

Next up was Phung Luu, with slides and videos of birds - endless variety of species - in free flight performance (educational shows), kennel management, the responsibility of the teacher to reduce errors, the balance of training and the development of natural behaviors essential for mental & physical development and stability and how that actually makes training easier, and efficiency of production as a good business practice.

Kay Laurence, always good for a thought-provoking laugh, made the challenging concept of increasing criteria easier to digest. The analogy to glass-blowing and videos of micro-shaping (teaching a dog to back-up 360* around a cone in 20 sessions); the continuum of luring to free-shaping and its relationship to mental stamina; and research on undifferentiated results between luring, targeting, and shaping - fascinating!!

A much-welcomed lunch break found me seated with several students at UNT, all in the Behavior program. Juniors and Seniors, I peppered them with the usual mom-questions about what they liked most about the program and what then envisioned next for themselves. Many want to work with people, not animals, and that is tremendously encouraging. After eating, I wandered around the building, and found a small exhibit of student and faculty art.

The afternoon session started off with a bang with Alexandra Kurland, whom I've wanted to see for years. "Loopy Training" is her name for using subsequent cued behaviors as reinforces for prior behaviors - nothing new there but her protocol for resolving poisoned cues was intriguing. Clearly built on Premak, the concept of an "anchor behavior" in systematically and ever-increasingly complex behavior chains was really interesting and something I'll be exploring.

Steve White. What can I say? I first saw him five years ago, and he is still the fastest talker in the room - so fast, I sometimes couldn't listen fast enough, much less take notes. So I finally resorted to using the camera on my phone - and what a good idea that turned out to be! 

"Fluency" means many things to many trainers, but when put in the context of bomb sniffing (false positives OK) and drug detection (false negatives OK), makes running contacts and precision heeling look like child's play. Sadly, I didn't get a shot of his "J curve of change" but did draw one in my notebook - excellent explanation of resistance and progress.

The energy level in the room when Ken Ramirez took the stage reached a fever pitch. His topic of "Training to Save Wildlife" was, to say the least, controversial. I, like many others, have an ethology background, particularly to non-domestic species, most especially in the wild. My initial tension faded as he outlined his four pillars of animal care, priorities driving training, and a candid description of initial failure (condor reintroduction) and later success (wolf release). Ken detailed the use of a Skinner Box for remote training in a wild sea lion study, and the use of scent detection dogs to relocate sea turtle eggs after last year's gulf oil spill disaster. Why "good enough" just isn't. Once again, I was impressed beyond words with the care and skill; no controversy here.

Last thing on the agenda was to be a panel discussion, but that was scrapped when a last-minute speaker was added. Bob Bailey. Yes, that Bob Bailey. The one of Chicken Camp fame, a mere twenty feet away from me. It was like having Pink Floyd in my living room, too freaking cool and yes I know how I sound ;-)  I will confess to having introduced myself to him at lunch (trust me, he won't remember but I will!!). I was rapt, didn't even take notes. Bob was charismatic and passionate, his enthusiasm for the subject after all these years uplifting.

Training is easy, he explained:

But not simple:

And the space between those, my friends, makes all the difference.

So, how great was my seat? This great: no zoom, not cropped. When I grow up I wanna be a mega-geek, too...

Yeah, OK, so it's blurry. Who cares. I was this close.

Until next year...

How Low Can You Go?

The answer this morning is: -26º


It was much too cold for me go outside in my jammies, even to take a photo for you, gentle readers. Thankfully it quickly "warmed up" (relatively speaking) once the sun was up.

On the other hand, our sunrise was spectacular. The mountains visible for the first time in days, the hard air shortening the space between us, the sun's pink glow bouncing of the mountains' snowpack like a boxer's right hook.

A warming trend for the next three days:
(current, tomorrow/tomorrow night, Saturday)

-20°F	22°	7°	36°
Feels Like: -34° Get FREE weather on your desktop	High	Low	High
Past 24-hr: Precip: 0 in Snow: 0 in	Chance of Precip: 20%	Chance of Precip:10%	Chance of Precip:10%
Wind:From N at 5mph	Wind:NNW at 9 mph	Wind:NNW at 8 mph	Wind:NW at 9 mph

We've been very lucky here at our ranchero. The power and water have worked without fail, the wood stove hums merrily along all day keeping the house warm. Our beagle of course will only nap under the wood stove - silly creature. The World's Greatest Neighbor called yesterday and, after Rick shoveled the 4' drift away from our gate so it would open, WGN ran his Kaboda up the driveway so we could get off-property if we wanted to. 


Best of all, Rick and I spent three days together in the house without incident. A test of a happy marriage, we passed with flying colors.


But the extreme weather this week has me thinking about other cold spells. Two are so memorable they put this week to same.


The first, in the mid '80's, was a storm that went through the college town where I lived. It was -27º, blowing like stink, and classes were not canceled. Fool that I was at that age, I bundled up (we were in the mountains after all, and theoretically prepared for such things), and went to class. I didn't own a car and there was too much snow for a bicycle, so I headed out on foot. I don't remember how long it took me to get to the art building, but I do remember that my sunglasses (RayBans, I was such a hottie) had frozen to my cheeks and I had to wait for my face to thaw before removing them - totally fogged/iced up indoors - so I didn't tear my face off. 

The other was the Opening Day one day in April at Candlestick Park. The fog poured in from the Bay, like icewater, seeping through my clothes and boots and into the very marrow of my bones. Trapped in our seats for the game, unable to generate enough heat through exercise (Rick is a furnace, and wasn't suffering as I was), it was the coldest I have ever been in my life. Even though I was dressed like the proverbial bag lady, layered with long johns and double socks, gloves, scarf, hat, heavy coat, etc. it was a soul-sucking misery without equal. It may have been a Croix game, I don't remember. 

 

This sign has been making the rounds on the internet, so I can not credit its origin. But I think it's apropos.

So I will keep the home fires burning in the wood stove and watch the dogs' feet so they don't bring in enormous iceballs and be grateful it's a dry cold.