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.

Questions & Answers

I picked up Keen's ashes today. Having him home, albeit in this form, is both sad and comforting.

Because it means, it really is over.

The necropsy - which lasted 2 weeks - was unable to find a cause of death. My friends have been kind, refusing to speculate until the pathologists' work was complete. Countless things have been ruled out, all of which are good news. No trauma, no disease, no infection, no tumor, no deformities. The sole unusual finding had no identifiable cause, and didn't kill him. Detailed toxicology was Negative. Brain and heart perfectly Normal.

But the cause of death remains: unknown.

And unknowable. An uncomfortable state. The lack of a "smoking gun" is indescribably frustrating. My heart still screams for someone or something to blame; my mind is resigned to the fact that there isn't one. I was reminded, sometimes medicine just is more art than science. While I am left with unanswered questions, the answers we did get are good news for Keen's littermates, for his parents, for his half-siblings.

And that will have to be enough.

So we move forward. This little box of his ashes, with his collar and tags buckled around it, joins others on my bookshelf. Next to friends he never met on this side of the Bridge. Tommy, Tosca, Mac... and now Keen. His binder retired to a lower shelf... Rituals, these actions. I do find some cold comfort in them.

Sleep softly, sweet boy. Chase them bunnies in the stars.

Keen at 8 mos., at a fun run. Oh, the things he won't get to do...

Face Lift

Not me, silly. The Blog.


Turns our there are nearly 2,500 reads from 12 countries. Wow - and yikes! Guess I need to thank you all for stopping by, hope it's good enough you come back.


So, a cleaner look, lighter background, and I'll try the new editor.


As for content... I do like to write. Guess I have extra incentive now.


We'll see how it goes.  

Birthday Boy

While time may move forward, not everything changes.

Py turned 6 yesterday (Friday). This makes him eligible to run in Veterans for lure coursing and most other running games, and while I shudder to think of him as "older" he clearly has no idea he should be slowing down.

Just like last year, we spent a couple of days this week at Sandia National Labs, helping support their science outreach program to New Mexico's 4th graders. We had a wonderful time, and it is both a privilege to have been asked back, and a tremendous pleasure to be a small part of this wonderful week.

I tried to get different photos for you for this year. Some things are very much the same: wear your lab coat and goggles, and don't touch anything, don't wander off.

Signs with similarly stern language are posted everywhere.

I tried to get better pictures of the "Glow" station - rocks that become luminous under black lighting... let's just say the lack of detail isn't the photographer's fault, it's the camera, shall we?

Regular light

Black light

Moving on...

Anthony went with me this year (we had our annual sushi-fest with Miela afterward) and I asked him to take some photos of the kids "solving the crime" of dognapping, as I've never been in the room with the kids as they finish sorting through their evidence and "force" a confession from the thief. Mr. Py and I are tucked in a office down the hall, out of sight. As the kids' get louder and louder, Mr. Py becomes impatient to head into the big room to his kids.

The evidence against each suspect is weighed.

Everyone agrees: the Lab's Director did it!

The "guilty party," Carol, then enters the room with Mr. Py and begs for forgiveness (her cat made her do it). The kids cheer that the dog has arrived, and I slip in behind the Lab's staff to enjoy the celebration. Carol was having a little problem with Py - he was pulling away from her. She turned to me and asked what to do. I said, let go of the leash. She blinked, I nodded, so she did. Py promptly wandered into the crowd of 30 kids and was mobbed.

Mr. Py thanks his rescuers and enjoys their attentions.

The Lab has its own newsletter, and this was the day they sent a staff photographer. If an on-line version is available I will add it. I have no doubt he got much better photographs than I did.

After a group photo, the kids enjoyed their sack lunches and discuss careers in science (the purpose of the event, after all!). The Lab staff made "science cream" (mmm, strawberry this year) and the kids sang Happy Birthday. They laughed as Mr. Py ate his from a small plastic spoon and did some tricks. Then each kid then petted or hugged Mr. Py as they went out the door and back to their bus for school.

Back at home, Py dreams sweet dreams of next year... I swear, he's smiling.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Py

Time may wait for no man, but we will have to wait 'til next year for another birthday.

Sometimes you're the windshield...

...sometimes you're the bug.

This past weekend, Ren was the bug. What he hit was a fence.

Full tilt, by eyewitness report, bouncing up and over "like a pole vaulter", landing hard on his side. And, incredibly, got up and kept going after the rabbit.

Here's a picture from earlier in the day (thanks Barb). You can see there's pretty high cover in this area; now imagine a lot of tumbleweed blown up against the fence, obscuring it.

I blame the rabbit.

Minor injuries (cactus, slipped pads, abrasions, strains) are fairly common, and can put a dog out of commission for a weekend or a month. Serious injuries in the open field are, thankfully, few and far between, but when they happen they tend to be significant.

Ren was incredibly lucky he hit the wires and not a post, but he's out for a while. Probably the rest of the season at least.

So here are some photos, I suggest those with queasy stomachs skip them.

The bruising across his chest and down the front legs is spectacular. (Shown here on the operating table, upside down, head to the right.) There are two punctures and several abrasions; no stitches were required.

The three-point tear on his left hind leg needed a lot more work. Shown here after shaving, trimming, and prepped for sutures. (head top of photo, tail bottom)

Same leg post-suturing, with drain installed. Both are scheduled for removal on Friday.

Ren resting at home in an x-pen. The cast-like bandage is to restrict the flexing of his stifle and hock so the stitches don't pull out. Fingers crossed.

His appetite is great and while it's clear he's incredibly sore, I expect him to make a full recovery.