Is this animal abuse?

I got the dogs a cheap stuffed toy for Halloween which the border collies promptly shredded and destuffed. The head fit perfectly on Lyric-we had a good laugh over putting it on her. We didn't get the greatest pictures because she wouldn't hold still. But can you blame her-stuffed in a blinding carcass and all!

New England Photos

Obviously from the coast-I think these were all taken in Maine

At the Ben and Jerry's plant...

Pretty self-explanatory here

I don't know why there was a toilet in the street but it created a great photo-op

Along the Freedom Trail

Boston

Just to feel smart!

From a hike we took near Kelly and Nick's house

We're back

We had a great time on our trip-got to see lots of New England and had a super visit with our friends. We spent a day in Boston where we saw MIT, Harvard and Boston U-we all feel really smart now. Also went by Fenway Park, Freedom Trail and had dinner at "Cheers." The next day we headed off to Vermont to tour the Ben and Jerry's plant but that was kind of a let down. The tour consisted only of a 6 minute video, looking at the production room from above and watching another video about the parts we couldn't see, plus they weren't even making ice cream that day, and then downstairs for a sample. It was really more of a glorified trip to the ice cream parlor than anything else. But it was a nice scenic drive there. The next day it rained but we did take in some of the sights of Maine-checked out the coast and some lighthouses. And then it was back home and back to work. I'll try and get some pictures posted tomorrow!

A tale of two kitties

Meet Lefty (gray) and Barney (Tabby). Just hanging out having a nice time on the steps.

"Oh what a lovely leaf you have found there"
"Will you share with me if I groom your face?"

"No, I most certainly will not. Now back off fool!"

"Mmmm. That Barney sure tasted good."

"Just kidding. He's over there pouting. It was just a leaf. Geez."

Meanwhile, we are headed to NH to visit friends! Enjoy the week everyone. I may post some while we are gone.

Fall Photos

We took a drive the other day to enjoy some of the fall scenery and got a few good photos. Some of these were enhanced using Photoshop.com. It's a free program and it can really enhance what your camera can do. Assuming you have a pretty non-fancy camera like me! I'm a little obsessed now with making every photo perfect. But it is a little time consuming!

What breeds would you choose?

ManyMuddyPaws suggested a fun activity for everyone to play. If you had to choose a breed from each of the seven AKC groups of dogs which ones would you choose, the ones you currently own excluded.

My choices are...

Sporting: Golden Retriever-this was the easiest one for me. I've always loved Goldens, but it would have to be a big, blonde, fluffy one-the stereotypical breed standard type

Hound: Whippet-I'm not much of a hound person but these little guys are so cute

Working: Newfie-totally impractical but how can you resist!

Terrier: Probably a Jack Russell-they are so cute and fun, but I think Skye terriers are cute too-I just don't know much about them

Toy-Until recently this would have been a Pom but since they are now on the "breeds I own list" I'd have to say Italian Greyhound-so cute

Non-sporting: This was the toughest one for me as I didn't have much interest in any of them. I finally decided on American Eskimo. I know they can have a reputation for biting but they really can be pretty. I'm sucker for a fluffy dog I guess.

Herding: I'm going against the fluffy theme here. I'd choose an Australian cattle dog. I think they are very striking and also athletic and a good size.

So what would you choose?

Congratulations are in order

First of all I'd like everyone to stop by and give a big Congrats to Sue and Fudge and Linda and Chesney. These were both Novice A teams that finished their Rally Novice titles this weekend. I'm so proud of both of them!

As for my troop Zodiac earned leg number #7 on his RAE. He scored a 97 in Excellent and a 96 in Advanced for a 3rd place. His effort in Utility was not much improved from his attempt in July. I think we need to do a lot more proofing and solidify the exercises a little more. Or a lot more actually. But at least we know where we stand.

And as for Legend-she finally finished her CD. It took 3 years, lots of maturing and plenty of tries but in the end she Q'd in 3 straight attempts. Her score was not great, thanks in large part to her on-lead heeling. But she did it, plus we got one of these cool rainbow title ribbons.
After the trial I enjoyed lunch with some friends and then Cheri and I took the dogs hiking in a nearby park. It was a good day but I'm beat.

What do you think?

I've never had a small agility dog before and I've been trying to decide if I should do running contacts or 2o2o. My initial thought was running contacts but she seems to have some lack of self control issues-she's very excitable and VERY food motivated. More food motivated than any dog I've ever had or worked with. So now I'm thinking she might need something alittle more defined. Anyway, small dog people-what's your thought?

Meanwhile the big dogs are getting ready for the local obedience trial this weekend. Since I work (fooey) I will only show Sunday. Legend will by trying for her last CD leg and Zodiac will work on another RAE leg and get some more ring experience in utility. He's been having trouble with metal articles lately but everything else is moderately solid (as in he can do it all but not usually all on the first try on the same day). Like I said, we're just looking for more experience!

Cool stuff

I got photoshop's free iPhone app. I recommend it for all iPhone users. Definately worth the price.

























Here were the originals

Hip Dysplasia

Someone asked in a comment on my last post if Border Collies get hip dysplasia when they get older. I decided to write a post about this since the answer is not, shall we say, black and white (yes-pun intended).

First of all hip dysplasia is not something your dog gets, it's something your dog has. A perfectly sound young dog can be dysplastic. The term hip dysplasia simply refers to abnormal conformation of the hip joint, not necessarily the clinical signs of the disease. Generally speaking dogs are born with dysplastic joints-largely due to the breeding of poor genetic specimens (i.e. the parents had bad hips) and in some part due to bad luck. A normal hip joint fits like a ball and socket-the head of the femur should fit deep and smooth into the hip socket. In a dysplastic dog the socket is shallow and the head of the femur not perfectly round. There are varying degrees of severity but the outcome is an unstable joint-basically the hip is permanently partly out of joint.

Over time, the normal wear and tear on the joint causes secondary arthritic changes and increased discomfort associated with the joint. These changes can include thickening of the joint capsule, bony remodeling, and decreased range of motion.

An important point to note is that the clinical signs don't always correspond to the radiographic signs. In other words a dog with radiographically severe dysplasia might not limp much but a dog with mild dysplasia might limp a lot or start limping at a younger age. This is not always true but don't be fooled into thinking your dog is normal just because you have never seen it limp.

It's also important to recognize that arthritis doesn't just occur in conformationally abnormal joints. Arthritis or degenerative joint disease generally results from normal forces on abnormal joints or abnormal forces on normal joints. So a dog with all the genetic clearances in the world may ultimately develop painful degenerative disease when we subject them unnatural forces-this may be agility, frisbee or even the overweight lab who mostly sits around the house!

Hip dysplasia is more common in medium and large breed dogs just as luxating patellas are more common in small breed dogs. However it can occur in any size, breed, or mix and even in cats. Smaller dogs are less likely to show clinical signs because they don't carry as much weight around and in many cases are also not working dogs.

This is just a brief overview of hip dysplasia but hopefully it clears up some of the common misunderstandings. Maybe one of these days I'll write about treatment options too.