Two Walks On Home Ground

 Asha, Sammi, Ziva and Loki

 Kaiah and Ross

Ross - Nothing Anyone Can Say!

The Four Youngsters Out Together

 That Bridge Again

 And Don't Forget The Rock

Poor Sammi had hell from her naughty daughter. 

I'm not really sure she wanted to be there really. Such a shame that Kaiah spoils it for her.

Exploring With The Birthday Boy

 A New Walk To Explore - And We Loved It

My Handsome Hunk On His Birthday 

She's Back

Those of you following on Facebook will know about the sheep. She's been here for weeks, only in the top field so she's not really a problem. She gets in by climbing on the wall which is lower on the outside and then jumping over the fence which runs inside the wall, the only problem is she can't get out on her own again. Steve has thrown her out dozens of times, but in less than 24 hrs she's back!
On Friday I saw the farmer in town and I told him about her. I stressed she was no real problem and not in danger from the dogs but he said he would be round to collect her over the weekend. Sure thing by 8am on Saturday she was gone. I did ponder about what he'd done with her .. but now I've worked it out. He must have put her in his 4 x 4 and taken her a distance away and dropped her off. Well not far enough obviously as this morning Miss Sheep is back!

The Second Big Birthday

Happy Birthday darling Nico. (Conbhairean Danko OfBlanik) I can't believe you're 7 already. Such a wonderful, kind affectionate dog, beautiful inside and out. You've brought so much joy to our lives I'll never ever understand how anyone could not love you, their loss was my gain ... Special walk planned today my mate

Exploring With The Kids

Anyone know where we are?

More Limping Dogs

A phone call from a friend has left me saddened for her. Like Ross her young dog had been limping on and off since he was 4 months old. She'd been on exactly the same route as I had, though I must admit that when I saw him as a youngster I was very concerned about his stiffness and inability to get up from lying down, something I've not seen with Ross. Anyway she's seen vets, had Xrays and had them looked at by an orthopedic specialist. The conclusion was very much like Ross .. most likely to be Pano but could be something more serious which will need a CT Scan to diagnose .. make an appointment if the lameness continues.
Now at 18 months Merlin is still lame on and off and his owner took him for the £1300 CT Scan. She now has the answers and for her they are worst case scenario. Merlin has OCD in both shoulders. (The term osteochondrosis refers is an abnormal development of the cartilage on the end of a bone in the joint Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD or OD) is an inflammatory condition that occurs when the diseased cartilage separates from the underlying bone.) She has been given options ranging from do nothing now and treat with pain killers until he deteriorates to a referal to Fitzpatrick now. Hard decisions for her .. such a lot to take in and deal with and I'm so sorry for her and Merlin.
I've only limited experience of this condition. Sultan my Rottie had it and had been operated on, but I know very little about it as it was prior to me knowing him. Treatments have improved tremendously I'm sure as it was probably 25 years ago that Sultan was treated and he was still lame in his older years.

Company On Walk One

 It's really lovely when Steve feels up to coming for a walk with us. The walk may be shorter but we are out as long, the only problem is that due to the speed of the walk the bitches get too much time to think about mischief ... and Jezi took full advantage as does Sammi when Steve walks with her. Never mind I enjoyed the company. 

 Asha, Ziva, Loki and Sammi

Ross and Kaiah 

Handlers, Friends And Shows

Well I'm home, I've got three entered at the show but opted to stick to the decision and stay home for the day. It wasn't an important show, it was only a limit show in a small venue, but a judge I'd have liked the opinion of and with three dogs entered a bit of wasted money, but there you go!
There's no doubt that last weekend could not have been repeated and as I said then that could not have been possible without the support of friends. It just all got a bit chaotic with them all winning their classes. When my dogs misbehave for a handler or a friend I'm quite happy for that person to take charge of the situation. I want them to say .."Oi you, you're over stepping the mark!" Ross sure did try his luck with Ian, and Ian was too nice to tell him off. Ross is the kind of guy who will happily have it all his own way unless you are firm and show him the right way of behaving. The video above shows how easily and quickly Ross takes advantage and has been invaluable for Ian and myself for future shows .. and it did make me giggle, sorry Ian.
I've had lots of handlers over the years, but I guess Sarah has handled more of my dogs than anyone else. They all know their place with Sarah .. she's firm but very fair and very kind to them. Most of them like her very much but of course as is always the case the do not like being taken away from me and 6 out of the 8 of them will let you know that in no uncertain terms. Sarah copes with it and always manages to convince them that it's OK, and unless I make a mistake as I did in Builth last August she always gets the best out of them.
Simply don't get a GSD if you want a quite dog, and if your helping me don't expect my dogs to sit like an ornament by your side. They want to be with me not you. But more than anything don't you EVER raise a hand to any of my dogs again, and don't you dare suggest anyone else does it in my absence or that they "Give it a fucking hard check." I'm fuming with you, livid, fecking annoyed. I don't slap or smack my dogs, it's an unnecessary action that only causes confusion  and if that is the way you "train" your own then maybe you should consider your abilities as a dog person and a GSD owner.

Champ Shows Are Coming ..

.. and the boys are really throwing their coats. Sammi is not entered as I could see at the time of entries closing that she would be out of condition, but now my boys are doing it to me too. Loki has tufts coming out here and there and Ross has lost more coat than I thought he had! Though maybe with him having less coat anyway he may not end up looking as bad. Kaiah is still in full bloom and will hopefully hang on to her coat for quite a few more weeks.

I think it's demeaning to a quality dog to show them in poor coat condition. I know not everyone agrees with me, but why show an animal who's not looking at their best? Generally I can get away with it with the boys as they tend not to loose as much as the bitches do .. and of course spayed bitches who usually have a more profuse coat don't get naked either. I regretted showing Sammi out of coat at a champ show 2 years ago and said then I would never do it again. She means too much to me for me to put her in when she hasn't got a fair chance of being placed. I probably would consider showing an out of coat dog at an open show, but often well coated bitches loose condition with coat. Sammi was hardly beaten till that Champ show, I put her in naked, she was last and I was gutted. But I could see why, though of course the shape and performance was there at a champ show these bitches need it all and people always remember the day you showed your dog looking less than perfect!
I have a show entered tomorrow under a judge that I would consider worth the entry, but now I doubt I'll go. Though I told her I had a show Mum has organised a family meal in the evening to celebrate my birthday. I did try and tell her that I could not do both but it fell on deaf ears. It's hard for me to adapt to doing less and if people close to me can't understand that I now have limitations what chance have I got with the rest of the world?

Ross was lame again this morning. Understanding what's going on with him is so difficult. Knowing it's either Pano, which is nothing .. or worse case scenario of elbow dysplasia is really quite confusing. I honestly thought the Xray would give me an answer, but now I know that elbow dysplasia can only be diagnosed with a CT scan hasn't helped my peace of mind. I think I need to find someone to talk too, someone who can explain to me how a dog can be elbow scored with Xrays but elbow dysplasia can not be diagnosed without a CT scan. It sure doesn't make sense to me, but someone, who would have to be more qualified than a vet must surely be able to explain the system to me. (I'm not trying to be demeaning to my vet .. everything you read says that ED is extremely hard to diagnose and that specialist examination/CT scans are necessary)
One thing I have decided on though is that I will let Ross live his life to the full. I'm not going to wrap him up in cotton wool for another 3 - 4 months, he needs to be allowed to live his life. I've kept him away from walks with styles and steep slopes, now I want him to go where we go and experience it all. Believe you me there's nothing harder to live with than a bored Ross. He's not the type of dog who can live without mental and physical stimulation.
Dear Ross my 50th birthday pressie to myself. He arrived a bit early, and yeah he has been challenging, but my god I love my baby boy!