Things were looking really good in our first run today (ADO) until the third last obstacle. There was a tunnel under an A-Frame and of the eight or more times I walked or jogged the course, I never failed to do an “RFP” to bring Gemma in close to avoid the off-course tunnel entrance.
Until the actual run, of course. She succumbed to ‘tunnel suck’ and off course she went. It was an otherwise brilliant run from both of us. Entirely my fault for not giving her clear directions – so she got her chicken as if it was a Quali run.
I’m afraid her next run, ADM (Masters) was a trainwreck. She racked up at least four refusals and dropped at least three bars before I stopped caring. She even refused the weavers, and then did them perfectly when she actually started them.
When I heard the course time for JDM (Masters Jumping) I knew it would be all but impossible for us to qualify, my best case scenario being at least 5 seconds over time. In practice, she zoomed around the course in only 36 seconds and change, a few seconds under the 40 SCT. Except for one pesky dropped bar
The last run of the evening was JDO (Open Jumping). A slightly more reachable SCT meant I could concentrate on handling a bit more than speed… and we rescued a victory from the jaws of defeat!
She qualified fifth in 35.35 seconds (SCT 48) in a masterful run. Very proud of her. She got the rest of the chicken as a reward, followed by her ultimate reward – her aerobie for 10 minutes.
One from four is not a particularly good performance, but it doesn’t reflect how well she ran in three of the four courses. I’m very proud of her performance, considering she’s hardly been out of the yard since mid December.
Such a shame that she missed out on her ADM and ADO titles tonight, especially the ADO… since it was entirely my fault However, it’s an ill wind, as they say… the JDO pass was well received, as it’s been a particular bugbear of ours. That makes three now, with two to go for her title.
She’s right on the brink of five more titles: ADM(1) ADO(1) JDM(2) JDO(2) and RN(1.) If she keeps up her current form, it won’t be too long before we’re celebrating.
Another mini-temperament test now concluded. I allowed each pup in turn to play with the adults, and closely observe the interactions. The characters played out their roles as expected. What I didn’t expect is that Dot and Clyde would perform a retrieve! No offer in front of course, but they ran out, grabbed the ring, and brought it back to me! Hamish got the first half. He ran out, grabbed it and ran away with it
After 10 minutes each, in turn, I opened the flood gates and let the black & white tide out. A brief comfort stop at the Bow-Wowser and they were off playing puppy games again while the adults tried to play *serious* games with me.
I’m glad to report that Shadow is finally agreeing with me that the Bow-Wowser needs to be shut off. They’re only getting one or two very short feeds from her per day now, and she is terminating it herself without guidance from me.
I am also pleased to report that the litter has now been registered on the ANKC main register for Pedigree dogs, which is the last major hurdle before they can go to their new homes. Apart from me knuckling down to work out where those homes are, of course.
I’ll be working on that this evening (Friday). Their formal names are:
EweTurn First Impression (B1)
EweTurn Formal Attire (B2)
EweTurn Dark Energy (B3)
EweTurn Storm in a Teacup (G1)
EweTurn LightningStrikes Twice (G2)
Also, managed to pick up some rubber matting like the material used to protect truck beds, which should make a dandy snake barrier for the bottom of my gates. It’s quite thick, but not quite as thick as a car/truck mudflap, so it should last (it’s UV stabilised) and is quite flexible while still being relatively stiff to prevent “incursions.”
It’s been a hellish couple of weeks, and I’m only now starting to catch up with myself. One thing I haven’t had any time for yet is leash/collar training. With a bit of luck, I can start the collar training tonight and advance to walking on a lead over the next few days.
Took the dogs out for their first run in months (quarantine for the puppies). After a few minutes, I was in no doubt that Heather feels perfectly fine. In fact, she seems her normal self. However, I don’t think she’s making allowances for her recent ordeal in her zest for life in the here and now.
So the poor girl had to put up with the indignity of being on a long lead for the rest of the hour. She had no trouble crossing a couple of hundred metres in a few seconds flat. I think she might be ok to return to training next week, albeit at reduced jump heights. It will give her mind something to focus on other than avoiding nibbling puppies!
They all run around in the back yard, and have not lost any speed that I can detect during the interregnum. A week or so and they should be almost back to their usual peak of fitness. Finn, Gemma and Heather are at close to optimum weights. Shadow is of course tracking towards that, with her litter weaned… but that doesn’t stop her or them from trying!
The adults are mostly exercising in the “main” yard, where the puppies are in the “front” yard where they are easier to keep an eye on, so between that and their shots on Monday, the risk is now minimal. The first 24 hours brought a few coughs and a bit of nausea, but they recovered even before I got up on Tuesday morning. Finn and Heather are not keen on hyperactive, nibbling puppies anyway, so it’s one way to keep the peace and lower the overall stress level in the household.
With any luck, the puppies’ Pedigrees will be registered tomorrow, along with their ‘official’ names. Stay tuned for the official announcement, coming soon!
I can finally calm down and let the dogs loose in the greater part of the yard now. As of late this evening, the mesh is all up. If a snake gets in now, it will most likely be thrown in rather than slither in. If it does get in, it will look like a potato pushed through a “french fry” cutter – 5mm square spaghetti lengths.
There is still a week or more of work to do, but I can take a bit more time about it now that my family is protected. I do still need to do a considerable amount of work to get it finished, and judging by the way the weeds are growing lately, I’ve only got a week before they take over again!
The gravel area outside the front, and the garden bed (used to be roses!) were all pristine just before Shadow had her pups. Three days ago, the weeds were a dense clod as high as the roses. Five large builders’ barrow-loads of weeds just from that one bed!
With the back fence sorted yesterday (including the gate) the priority was to seal off the two other ends of the “U” shaped yard. I nearly finished at 18:00 today, but the Sonic Screwdriver went on strike, wanting a holiday on the charger. So I gave it a few hours and finished the job, with another dozen or so screws.
I’m still trying to finesse the undersides of the gates, but there is only about 4-5mm of space (at worst) for the critters to get in now. By lunchtime tomorrow, not even that on the front gate – I’m putting some gutter mesh on the inside as well. It’s more flexible than the metal, and easy to replace when worn.
Still to do:
Buy and fit 60m of the plastic drain shown in the photos yesterday
Dig up the pebbles on the outside of the enclosure and move them inside
Replace same with 100mm of soil and turf
Drill seepage holes in the side of the U drain and install a layer of drain cloth to keep soil out
Backfill the soil up to the drain
Transfer the pebbles from the rest of the rear fence to the enclosure
Redo the same area with snake mesh and weed mat, as per yesterday’s work
Fit the drain to that side of the gate (14m)
Backfill & turf
Dig up the decomposed tanbark from existing beds & dispose of it, including contaminated weed mat
Fit new weedmat and tanbark to about 60m x 1.2m of garden beds
Dig out a 50mm deep trench outside the fence, 150mm wide (just below the sleepers)
Lay a concrete edge on the outside of the fence to keep weeds at a distance
Lay a concrete landing under the rear gate INCLUDING a special “slot” that will take a perspex sheet to block off the entire width of the gate to snakes, while still allowing the dogs to see out through the gaps.
And that’s just what I can think of off the top of my head!
Clean bill of health for all the kids yesterday, including Shadow. All the pups now have microchips, a Health Certificate, and have had their first C3 vaccination. They’ll need a C5 booster at 11-12 weeks, and another at 16 weeks now, and a heartworm treatment at 12 weeks to set them on the right track.
Managed to re-pot that fencepost and snake-proof the most likely point of ingress for snakes just in time for Gemma’s Agility class tonight. The concrete footing broke some months ago, so that whole segment of the fence would blow around in the wind. i don’t think that’s going to be happening again soon… I dug out all the fractured concrete and the soft earth around it, down to about 50cm and re-potted it. it took three and a half bags of quick-setting concrete to do it – that’s 70kg!
That segment is now protected from weeds AND snakes by a double layer of weedmat going under and outside the fence, and a 45cm wide snake mesh that goes inwards. That’s all screwed to the sleeper layer of the fence, and will be further held in place by a drainage channel later this week. But for now, the back fenceline should be snakeproof. Can’t say the same for the front fences and gates. They’re next!
Preparations are always the hardest part. Most of the day led up to about 20-30 minutes work actually screwing the weedmat and snake mesh to the fence. With a bit of luck, the two front fences should be much the same; a bit of digging and a lot of screwing around. As for the rear, the gate is a worry. That will get another “80%” solution at first, pending a proper and permanent solution. Perhaps a strip brush along the bottom?
Worksite now taking shape. The post between the power pole and the gate was very dodgy. It broke its footings in a wind storm some months back
What the fuss has all been about – this area of the fence is now the most secure, instead of the least!
Drain loosely positioned to show the planned effect
This drainage channel is loosely positioned to show the finished effect; it will be drilled out on the grass side and covered with “drainage matting” so water doesn’t build up
The area to the left of the pebbles was infested with weeds, now drying out. I’ll probably lift the pebbles and put more soil and grass in, up to the enclosure
The broken post footings now repaired – 800g of concrete out, 70kg in! This is going nowhere now.
The outside of the fence now – will get a 15cm mower strip when finished
Shadow and pups are booked in for their Health-check, Vaccination and (TBC) Microchipping on Monday. Perfect timing for the shots, but four months too early for the chips if you ask me – however, the law is the law. They can’t leave here without one.
A large pile of kibble went missing during the night, I’m pleased to say. Apart from the occasional “crunch” or “lapping noise” they let me sleep until I was almost rested Another few days and they’ll be fully weaned, I hope.
I have two kennel names now for Duff (B3) but the rest still elude me. It usually comes to me like rain in this country – an interminable drought followed by a torrent that never ends.
As the video yesterday shows, they aren’t afraid of a little rain. Today I have the enclosure set up so that they can get in and out of the kitchen at will, all the way outside. The carpet at that exit is already long ruined, so what more can they do?
Heather is bouncing back from her ordeal, leaving me with only two conundrums: how to satisfy the prospective homes’ wants and needs, and what the ANKC Pedigree names will be for Hamish, Clyde, Bonnie and Dot.
A large pile of kibble went missing during the night, I’m pleased to say. Apart from the occasional “crunch” or “lapping noise” they let me sleep until I was almost rested Another few days and they’ll be fully weaned, I hope.
I have two kennel names now for Duff (B3) but the rest still elude me. It usually comes to me like rain in this country – an interminable drought followed by a torrent that never ends.
Notice how they are confined to a safe area, away from the (probable) snakes at the south side of the house. Watch out for Bonnie’s Leaf Rescue service.
What I didn’t know at the time is that Finn and Shadow (at 12:35-12:50) are actually hunting a BROWN SNAKE and not a mouse or a lizard as it usually is. Heather was bitten by a Brown Snake only a few days after this was taken, and was very lucky to survive it (she’s the one in the foreground at the time, playing with a puppy.)
Needless to say, I’m on DEFCON 1 right now, with five puppies in addition to the usual dogs in the back yard!
More footage taken today (Week 6, nearly week 7) and will be posted as soon as I can find time to download and process it.
A frantic morning of running around for the puppies, but they’re all curled up in a communal ball now. Peace in our time . Clyde has already started doing ‘crazy fives.’ Imagine a cheetah, but 1/20th scale and short wheelbase. Putting his back right into it and zooming around the yard. Must be where all his energy goes. The pups now outweigh Shadow, and their mum is now a “favourite meal” instead of a staple. The staple is now kibble, biolac 30% and water 50% of their liquids.
I *still* can’t put a finger on which puppy would stay if I could keep one! Each has at least one suitor now… but there have been far fewer responses than questionnaires posted. Including one of Bonnie’s best local options, sad to say. Still hoping to hear from them.
Not to mention vaccination, health-checkup and chipping later this week. A week that won’t be soon forgotten!
Like the sperm whale in the Hitch-hikers’ guide brought into existence by an unprogrammed Infinite Improbability drive – “I suppose I better start putting names to things in, for the sake of what I shall call an ‘argument,’ I shall call ‘the World.’” There is only one solid kennel name so far (for Duff) and no really sticky names for the others yet. Nothing that grabs me. This is a hint, folks. Subtle enough?
Heather’s bandage is off now, making it easier for her to walk. Which she appears able to do (even a short trot to get outside!) although she’s still a bit weak. She tried to jump on my bed but “missed” ending up half-on, half-off.
She seems determined to want to lie at my feet, so I’m not going to discourage that. If she keeps recovering at the rate she has so far, she’ll be racing whippets again in no time. That first 36 hours was a real worry. Maybe by the weekend, the only sign of any misadventure will be the shaved patches on her arms.
Still going to keep her quiet though. No running about; first sign of that, she’s back in confinement to rest up. Gemma made a strong little girl, here!
Lucky for her I was home and she was nearby to notice her unusual behaviour and movement.
At this stage, it seems very likely it was a Brown. She appeared to respond to the antivenom, but it will be at least the morning before we know how she will go. In all likelihood, this was a fresh bite around 2pm today – not from the snake I found just 48 hours before that!
She was running about only a couple of hours earlier, trying to avoid being bitten by her five little siblings in the back yard. I wish I knew for sure that there was another snake involved… if not, the prognosis may not be good after so long.
Gemma doesn’t like the really loud thunderclaps, but will tolerate most thunder. The other adults were a little concerned, but happy enough to hover around my feet for security.
The puppies? They couldn’t care less. They were too busy wrestling and trying to disassemble my kitchen
I’ve been doing my best to introduce as many environmental stimuli as I can; a thunderstorm is certainly a good thing to add to the list. As is being held, stroked, having your paws examined, bite inhibition, having your nails trimmed… and so on. All those things that are very hard to condition a puppy to later in life. For obvious reasons, such things as other dogs, cats, swimming etc will have to wait until they are homed in a month or so. And then some.
All of Shadow & Finn’s litter are bright and cheerful puppies; so far, they are all showing signs of being extroverted to some degree, though there is certainly a scale. Dot is at one end (placid) whereas Bonnie is at the other (a bit of a firecracker.) Clyde, Duff and Hamish fit more or less in the middle of that range, in that order.
I can already see that Duff is going to be a real People Dog. He’ll probably bond very closely with one person, or a small family group. A very active person. He puts even “Gemma the Energizer Border” to shame at times, the first to start play and usually by far the last to stop. They are ALL intensely curious and interested in humans. Especially what they taste like
With a bit of luck, I’ll have a chance to edit down a new video (week 4/5) from the raw footage in the next day or so. The first EweTube videos were a hit, if not a smash-hit, so let’s see what this one does.
The kids are definitely engaging in play now; this is no random running at things and biting… they are looking around, seeing something to do, and making their way ever so cutely over to it to engage in boxing, biting, licking… or whatever sparks in their little minds.
Their vision has developed to the point where they now differentiate between Shadow and Me, and between us and the other dogs here. Previously, anything remotely like mum involved a stampede for a feed.
Mum still does, but I’m different: I’m there for comfort, warmth and security – and the new foods! Warm weather or no, they still like to huddle around me on the warm grass as I read a book.
They are already making meaningful eye contact.
Hard to fathom, but this brood haven’t really taken to red meat yet. They actually prefer kibble! Even small-bites kibble is too large for their new teeth (which are big and strong enough to really hurt a finger if you let them!)… so I’m making it easy for them by grinding it up to a rough dust with a rolling-pin.
I have to practically force-feed them mince, but they will gladly hoover up as much of the dust as they want.
Gemma’s pups were like crack-heads the moment they smelled red meat, let alone tasted it.
Go figure!
But the priceless expression of the day was when Shadow vaulted over the pen fence today just as Clyde was coming in for a feed. The look was one of pure astonishment. As in, Whaaaa? Where did she go? She was right HERE!
Up until recently, the kids haven’t been too interested in mince, and certainly not kibble. They just wanted Home Brand milk, right from Mum. In unlimited quantities.
Well, Shadow is beginning to look a little tired from all her exertions, and the pups haven’t shown nearly as much avarice around mince as Gemma’s litters – as soon as I put it near their noses, I nearly lost finger tips! Not so, Shadow’s litter. They sniff, they lick, and eventually take a bit into their mouths and chew.
Last night, I tried offering them some kibble soaked in milk to soften it. They studiously avoided the lumps, just like Gemma’s litters before them.
So it was with some surprise that I note Clyde’s reaction to kibble today: he practically inhaled it, but found it too hard to chew. So I tried the old biscuit crumb theory: put some in a plastic bag, and roll it into rough dust with a rolling-pin.
Clyde took to it like I expected them to take to mince! Ok, so I put a small handful in a bigger bag and made enough “dust” to cover a small saucer. Clyde had a bit and went to sleep, bu tbefore Duff and Hamish ate more than I thought was good for a first meal (since it expands 3:1 in the stomach) I pulled the saucer out and spread the remainder on a dish of Biolac (milk substitute) as “frosting”.
I tried to get the girls interested, but despite being hungry most of the time, they don’t like being woken up – even for food!
At this rate, they could be getting half their food from me by the weekend, taking the load of Shadow. She isn’t sure she likes the idea… but her feeding sessions are starting to bother her. I can see why – I’ve been on the receiving end of those teeth, and they are remarkably sharp and yield quite a force when they want to!
The periods of activity between sleeps are getting longer and more boisterous now.
The kids have been very playful the last few days. Exploring the world with their eyes and mouths. Sucking their feet, biting each others tails and feet and then their own… ooh, it feels different!
The heat has been a bit much for them this last few days (despite airconditioning) so I waited until the sun was well over the yardarm and the shade took over – while still keeping the ground warm to touch. After five or six minutes of video, they’d just about had enough… but I did manage to grab a few stills as well. It’s a case of “this is what they gave me to work with.” Enjoy.
As per usual, these are just thumbnails. Click on the image to see a larger version. Full size on request.
Heather looks on as the kids explore the new environment
B1, “Hamish” stalks his prey
The dashing B2, “Clyde” looks for his mum
B3, “Duff” has had just about enough of being woken up for photos
G1, “Bonnie” has the makings of a Naomi Campbell (“I don’t get up for less than $10000″)
By day #15 they have all put on a kilo, their eyes have been open for a few days, and they are already interacting with each other, avoiding obstacles, and making their wants and needs plainly heard
G2 B2 B1 G1 B3
(Click photo to see a larger version)
In a few minutes, a spread of individual shots – they were extremely uncooperative today, so the composition leaves much to be desired.
I’m afraid you won’t see much change here, as they all “look” the same despite being three times the size!
Without someone to hold them in a pose, it’s a bit hard to do that and take pics with these seasoned adventurers!
Click on the images for a larger version.
Full images available on request.
Bonnie
Clyde?
Dot (Dorothy)
Duff (Dark one)?
Hamish?
The names above are tentative, and it was purely a coincidence that we ended up with a Bonnie & Clyde! The fact that they are nearly twins just made it stick I have another few names in mind, but none of them really “catch” like these.
All have doubled their weights in five days, and all are now over 500 grams.
Ever seen video of the infamous “feinting goats?” They go stiff as a statue when frightened, and usually fall over without losing that posture. Shadow’s puppies seem to have discovered that same “response” to her toilet licks. They stiffen up their backs and thrust their legs out straight and stiff and “try to weather the storm” as they get nudged and licked around the floor
They seem to have worked out that the sooner Mum is satisfied, the sooner it’ll be over. They also seem to be speaking ‘bird’ already – replying to the chirps and cheeps of the birds outside.
They are also growing like some kind of mutant, walking bamboo! Turn away for an hour and they are visibly bigger!
Recent Comments