Still settling

Quest has been a very good boy... But he's very much a young, enthusiastic male. Which means a bit heedless, and a bit rambunctious, and a bit out of line at times, too. Lucky boy, he's got me, and not one, but two! resident bitches to keep him in-check! :D

Dakota plays with him wonderfully, and if Suka still is hesitant to play, she's still been caught unbending now and again, ever-so-slightly. Heck, last night, I caught her napping back-to-bask with Quest. :) He plays in a bouncy Tigger-like mode, and it's a mark of how well Dakota likes him that she hasn't handed him his head for his exuberant "Death-from-above" suicide bounces onto her head!

He's fleshing-in nicely, and the vet is very pleased with his progress. He's also started blowing coat, and it's astonishing how much undercoat a smooth-coated Shiloh has!

He's sufficiently well-mannered on-lead that I will now chance taking him out in public, though I'm still quite watchful and careful where I take him. Due to his happy-go-lucky attitude, he greets and gets-on better with random strange dogs far better than either of The Girls, which is a giant bonus for us.

Settling in

Quest has been making himself at home. Slowly, slowly, we're bringing him into the full circle of things - he's not yet earned full run of the house, nor even earned the right to be off-lead, but he's working his way there. His good attitude and general willingness to get along is really appreciated. He's also more than a bit of a clown, and a happy one at that.

He's learned the basic morning and evening routines, and has come to understand his crate is his 'safe place.' He's also learning to come running to the nearest adult for support if something startles him, which happens kinda frequently, still.



Checking out the yard, and maybe gonna make a mark...









Greeting Suka. Hadn't planned on having the two of them in immediate contact this soon, but a fortuitous failure to communicate between my wife and I lead to a unexpected, but closely supervised meeting.

Quest and Suka got a long better than I'd hoped, so soon after his arrival - She doesn't play much with him, but she will indulge in a bounce or two - Sometimes.



This is NOT one of the times she's willing to play... Suka grandly ignores an offer to romp.







Sooo sad...
Rebuffed, Quest comes looking for a little comfort and reassurance.

Drag lead.

Until I know how to predict him, a drag lead is the order of the day, every day. He's quickly come to accept the lead as a condition of being out of his crate, and doesn't seem to resent it. I've had to correct him a couple times for mouthing the lead, but he seems to have gotten the concept.


Time to run now!

Meet Quest

Meet the newest addition to the Blue Rock Shilohs pack:

T'n'L's Eternal Quest for Zion, call name "Quest." Not the best possible picture, but will have to do until I get a better one uploaded.

Quest is a proven stud, rehomed from Tina and Lisa Barber's New Zion Kennels (hence the "T'n'L" in his name!), where they have an sufficiency of outstanding dogs, and needed to make room. He's modest in size (for a Shiloh!), but has really great features, and throws incredible puppies. He's also a bit of a snuggle bug, a confident-but-relaxed guy, and a total hit with everyone he meets (excepting Dakota - and the cat!).

So far, Dakota is less than impressed, but she's slowly coming around. Oddly enough, Suka, of all dogs, is taking the invasion in-stride. I guess her issues truly are only around bitches - she greeted Quest very well, and has even played a bit with him! Quest will need to learn to leave the cat alone, if he doesn't want to come away with battle scars. ;)


Jennifer has been gushing over him, but my son has all but claimed him for his own.

Go ahead and try to seperate those two... Not gonna happen. :)

Quest will remain "on duty," so-to-speak, under Lisa Barber's direction until such time as I can come up to speed as a breeder in my own right. Even then, Lisa will have unlimited access to his genetics - It would be churlish to deny New Zion his progeny after they've trusted me with this incredible dog.

Midnight Blues

Or, more accurately, 0130 Blues.

Storms rolled across the DelMarVa peninsula lasst night. Guess who lost her furry mind..? If you guessed the 7-stone walking carpet, you called it right!

So, once again, I woke to nigh-on 100 pounds of Shiloh Shepherd, standing on my face as she tried to climb to safety. It's a sign of something, not sure what, that I wasn't any more than mildly annoyed - Mostly just resigned. I mean, whattayagonnado..? At least she doesn't go wild and tear the house apart, nor does she make desperate attempts to escape teh house - No, she merely turns into an anxious mountain-climbing spelunker. Yup - Climb any high spot she can find, looking for a hole to crawl into. Would be entertaining if she weren't so distressed. And, of course, it never occurs to her, whilst in this state, to simply go to her crate. I have to herd her into it, instead. Once she's in, however, she's suddenly fine.

Go figure.

Once I had Dakota settled, I was allowed to go back to sleep - I found a muddy paw print on my face this morning though, when I went to brush my teeth.

Yeah - That much dog, all perched on my face in the wee hours of the morning.

Surprise!

Dakota doesn't like the basement

New washer and drier delivered and set up yesterday.

Suka spent the afternoon announcing the arrivals and departures of workers and equipment in various levels of anxiety. Clearly, removing stuff was bad, but bringing stuff in, while not bad per se, still needed an announcement. Ah, and disassembling bits of the house (popping a door off its hinges) falls under the heading of HIGHLY suspicious activity.

Dakota watched things quietly, and was generally a very good girl, though she did cause the workers sore necks as they swiveled their heads to keep an eye on her. They should've been watching Suka, instead!

Suka suspiciously eyeballed the new appliances once they were set up, but Dakota simply would NOT come down into the basement. She lay at the top of the stairs, paws over the edge, and moaned at me as I made adjustments and test-ran the new hardware (all under Suka's watchful eye), but she would not take even a single step down the stairs. Even the cat supervised a bit, lurking in the rafters and playing 'Basement Cat.'

Dakota was simply having none of it.

I guess Suka's found a Dakota-refuge, if she wants one. Too bad, too, 'cause the basement is the coolest place in the house, come summer (even with central air!).

Ressurection

This has been lying dormant. I haven't forgotten, just haven't had much to say that wasn't already being said over at Suka's Place.

Dakota has long settled into the family as a beloved member. She's got her odd little quirks and behaviors, and is known as a consummate Toast Thief. She's also been known to solve rather complicated problems to get her schnozz into a can of bacon grease. :)

Generally, my wife claims Dakota as 'her' dog - Jenn has the 'calm down a distressed dog' magic, and she loves Dakota to the point of distraction. Lin also has a serious love-on for Dakota, but Ian is a bit intimidated still - Not that he actually fears her intent, but rather that he fears her enthusiasm and occasional clumsy moment. When Dakota gets heedlessly excited, she can knock poor Ian ass-over-teakettle with a single mis-placed tail wag.

Dakota still doesn't really 'do' long stairs. She sits on the step, backwards, then walks her front paws up to the step she's sitting on. Then she'll stand up, and sit back down on the next higher step. Repeat as-needed until stairs are scaled. It's silly-looking as hell, but faster than you'd think. Whatever - She manages the stairs in her own way, and that's that. Short stairs, OTOH, she generally has no issues with, though she sometimes forgets which hind foot to put where.

Suka and Dakota have a complicated relationship. Suka doesn't really approve of Dakota, but generally tollerates her well, excepting when Dakota crosses one of Suka's numerous invisible rules. Then, Suka will get all huffy, and make faces, and generally throw her (fairly minor) weight around. Dakota will turn away, sit down, groom, or otherwise engage in distance-increasing behaviors until Suka gets bored, or decides that she's got her message across. Once Suka runs out of steam (or, more usually, gets called on being a rude little punk by one of the humans), Dakota goes back to doing what she'd started. Dakota generally yields dominance to Suka, and follows her about (especially when stressed). However, she doesn't let Suka go too far in being pushy - When Suka crosses one of Dakota's lines, Dakota will thump her a good one. Then it's back to business as usual. Dakota definately relies on Suka outside and off our land, and at the same time, is highly protective of Suka.

Case in point: Last night, I had The Girls at the vet for checkup and immunization updates. Suka was generally being a stress-puppy; whining, squeaking, and panting heavily. When Suka was taken to the back for a blood draw, Dakota hit the door to the treatment area HARD. Dakota normally doesn't jump up, but last night, her head was six feet off the ground as she took a run at that door! Deciding that she couldn't batter the door open, she was reduced to sniffing and nudging at the cracks until her Suka was brought back to her. Once Suka was back, all was well again.


Speaking of Vets, Dakota is still doing very well, though the doc did notice some loosness developing in her hips from last examination. Considering that over this last winter, she also gained a bit of weight, I suspect it's from not getting enough exercise, or is at least exacerbated by that lack. What with the weather and all, she's not the only one needing a bit of toning up! We'll be taking action on that, now that the weather has started to turn.

Such a life...

Dakota is doing well. Very well. :)

I'm not doing entirely so well, though... Family issues (no, no one is getting divorced!), and work... I'm responsible for items that could literally cost my company a billion US Dollars, if I were to fail. Plus my job. ;) Family comes first, but clearly, the job is running a close second. :p

When I have time, I'll add more. Until then, just know that I have my nose to the grindstone and, to a degree, my back to the wall.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

OK, so what do we have?

Dakota and Suka did not get along well at first. I've discovered that Suka can be a bit of an asshole at times, and she's definately the dominant dog of the two. She will try resource guarding, and she will try bullying, and she's gotten in Dakota's face more than a few times. Dokata is a kind and forgiving soul, and will put up with some crap, but only to a certain point. Then she holds her ground. Or pushes back. I've been working on Suka - If I wish to avoid an all-out Donnybrook, I have to watch Suka closely, and step on her whenever she gets out of line. Well, that's my job, so that's what I do. And sometimes, Dakota gets a little pushy, and has to be reminded of her manners, too. No problem - That's what I do. Long story short, the two are not bosum buddies, but they get along in a live-and-let-live manner, though I have to keep up the maintenance on the behaviors, to ensure things stay that way.

Dakota has my wife utterly wrapped around her paw, which is remarkable. My wife, the 'I don't like dogs' person, is captivated by Dakota. My wife, the 'I don't like BIG dogs' person, adores Dakota. And the feeling is mutual. Dakota will prance up to my wife, lower her head, and tuck it up under my wife's arm, leaning in for a snuggle. She'll dance for my wife, and do the characteristic Shiloh 'wookie talk' to her, and sit at her feet, happy in the close, comfortable presence of my wife. :-) Oh, Dakota loves me, too. And my daughter (and to a lesser extent, my son), but Jenn is 'first among equals' to Dakota.

We take the dogs for walks down Main Street in town, and that's the place that Suka and Dakota get along best. I take Suka, and Jenn takes Dakota, and suddenly, they're companions - shoulder-to-shoulder in comfortable peace. Suka always drew some comment - she's a lovely dog - but Dakota is a literal traffic-stopper. She's magnificent. And people see that - They'll stop, roll down their windows to ask about her, they'll walk up and adress themselves to her, too. Never mind the people at the other end of the leash; it's Dakota they want to talk to! :-p I've handed out a lot of informational tri-folds! :-D

OK, enough for the moment. More later, with pictures.

It's Alive!

Bwa-hahahahaha..!


Oh, wait... This isn't a Frankensteinian monster. Well, it might be monsterous, but it in no way involves resurrecting the dead. Or maybe it does.
:-p :-D


So, what are we doing here? Oh, yeah - talking about ISSR Shiloh Shepherd dogs. One very specific dog, in particular - Dakota.

Dakota stretching her legs

Dakota's a long, long way from where she started. She's found a home where she's happy and loved. She's settled in, if not exactly without some rough spots, but settled in none-the-less, and has utterly wrapped my wife around her... Uh, Paw, I guess. ;-)

There's much more to cover, of course, but I'm not up for that this instant. More later, when the kids are in bed. :-D

It's been a while...

It's been a long while.

Not sorry, either. I've been busy with Suka ( http://sukasplace.blogspot.com/ ), and life, and there's been very little happening here.

That's changing.
Up to my usual tricks again - I'm taking in an ISSR Shiloh, one in need of a good home, because where she is, they're not able to care for her much longer. Her owner, a Licensed Breeder, passed away, and there's basically no support left for the dogs of her kennel. One, Cain (Acer/GEM '08), is expected to be going to live with a family near Vanessa D., of Guardian Kennels ( http://www.guardiankennels.ca/ ). The other, Dakota, is coming to live with me. :-)

Dakota is a five year old female, neutered (so my breeding plans stay on hold for now!), and is a registered Therapy Dog with St. John Ambulance. St. John Ambulance is descended from the remnants of the Knights Hospitaler, and does good work all over the world. Unfortunately, they don't operate much in the US, so I'll need to find another group to sponser Dakota and myself, but I've long wanted to do Animal Assisted Therapy work, and Dakota is opening that door for me!

Plans for getting Dakota from her home in Winnipeg to her new home in Delaware have been a challenge, but the very good Shiloh people from Shiloh Shepherd Friends have bent over backwards, and we've got a relay running down into North Dakota, over into Minnesota, through Wisconsin, cutting south through Illinois past Chicago, across the tops of Indiana and Ohio, and then the length of Pennsylvania and into Delaware! Whew! What a ride! But we've got experts on each stage, and it all meshes.

Why, you may ask, aren't you flying her? Good question. Domestically, within the US, I could get her to me for as little as US$400, not counting travel crate. Travel crate for a full-grown ISSR Shiloh would be around US$180. But the nearest US facility that flies pets to the Philly area is Minneapolis - So there'd still be a lengthy drive involved. But why not Fly her across international borders, from Winnipeg, so to avoid the drive? Minimum of US$1800! Why the jump in costs? Because the TSA (Travel Security Administration) has, for whatever reason they feel valid, decreed that all unacompanied pets crossing the US borders by air must be shipped via a "Pet Forwarding Service." The cheapest was US$1800, and the price went up rapidly from there! That's something like three times the total cost of running her cross-country! And the travel times are comparable, once you include security and layovers!

So, it's a-road-trippin' we go.
Next Friday night, I start on my way to Toledo, which is where I'll pick up Dakota, and bring her the rest of the way home. It's been an interesting challenge to pull this together, but with good help and good hearts, nearly anything is possible.

We got the red carpet out for ya, Dakota!

Marla went home

OK, who's Marla? Well, she's the dog formerly known as "Marly" from here:
Blue Rock Shilohs: Transporting: It's not just a drive in the country.

I predicted she'd be easy to place. I was right. I love it when that happens.
:-p

"New" Parvo C2 strain - The sky is NOT falling

There's been a recent rash of breathless e-mail about the "new" C2 strain of Parvo, and how deadly it is, how only a few vaccines will work on it, and so on. Very scary!

Relax.

The sky really isn't about to cave in:
http://www.petconnection.com/blog/2008/08/28/the-new-parvo-revisited/

The "new" parvo is seven years old, current vaccines work, and so long as your dog has current immunizations, and you follow proper hygene, you're in pretty good shape.

Go play fetch with your pup, or something.

No activity for a while....

The Shiloh people are at Homecoming 2008, and I'm stuck at work. Well, except when I'm not keeping up with family and such. Oh, and with Suka, too.

It occurs to me that the Shiloh puppy is going to have to wait a year or so, at least until my daughter is truly old enough to help out. Or until I hit the lottery. I guess we all know which of those is going to happen first! Especially 'since I don't even play the lottery. :p

Well, for the time being, I'm busy enough. Especially with Suka. Amazing what a dog can do to your life. ;)

Transporting: It's not just a drive in the country.

Did I mention I work, well, volunteer, with a BC rescue? I do.
Did my first transport a couple days ago. Interesting, to say the least...

To start, I'm not on the transport list, but we had a transport coming in the previous night that was a special case, and the other usual transporters are either on vacation, or had other commitments. So I stepped into the breach.

No good deed goes unpunished.

Right away, I had to address my wife's understandable distress that I suddenly pulled the plug on half of Saturday - The half where she usually sleeps in. She's in rehearsal for "Oklahoma," and has been burning the candle at both ends and the middle. So the possible loss of her Saturday AM recuperation was devastating. Well I managed to cool her down long enough to explain my plan to ensure she got her rest - A plan, which, as it turned out, worked flawlessly -
One of the few things that *did* go according to plan that day. Not that she trusted it at first; But I'd already put my foot down - We weren't leaving that dog, or that shelter either, to twist in the wind, and that was that. So, with ill-grace, she backed down. But my plan meant that I had little time to make the rendezvous - and my mapping software mis-calculated the distance by 20%. Oops! Running late, and I hadn't even left the house, nor did I even know it yet!

Fortunately, I didn't dawdle, and when I discovered I was cutting it really close, I was also getting pretty close to the meeting point. But then I got a call - the other transporter was early! And she had other stops - She was relocating dogs to half a dozen breed-specific rescues, and had a long way to go... And I wasn't there yet! Fortunately, she was gracious about it, and she WAS early.

130 miles from home, as I started to pull off the highway, I felt a horrible jolt, and then a second one - I'd hit something, something I never saw. I pulled to the shoulder, got out, and immediately heard the sickening rush of air escaping a tire - rapid deflation. Fortunately, I was at the foot of the correct exit, and the meeting was just off the ramp, but by the time I limped into the truck stop where we were to meet, my tire was done for. I met the other transporter, and took custody of Marly, a BC/retriever mix who was shy, and semi-feral.
Lovely - A timid dog, on top of everything else.

Get her into the cool of the van, and lock it up - Then trot into the truck stop and see if they service cars. They don't. Back out to the van, secure Marly, then open all the doors and windows, and break out the tools - I've got to get the donut on, and get across town to the nearest service center that could get me running again today. And no, I don't have AAA. So I do all the work.

Up onto the jack, and discover the lug bolts are heavily rusted. OK, no problem, I'm a big strong guy - But by the time I broke loose all the lug nuts, I'm literally streaming with perspiration - It's HOT out here! In literally five minutes, I was soaked through. OK, wheel off, time to drop the donut and put it on. But noooo... The damn thing is seized. Sit down, drink some water, give Marly some water, rest a couple.

OK, up under the van, and bang on the locknut, and apply the wrench. No go. Hit it harder. It moves. Marly is shifting around above me - I'm making one hell of a racket. But she never utters a sound. Just moves - Away from the hammering, I think. I've got sweat pooling in my eyes...

Back out, sit, wipe my face and hands, drink some water, offer Marly some, and begin again.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Repeat repeatedly.

At last, the nut breaks free, and I get the donut on. Off we go, across town, to the garage. They agree that they can get me moving again in about an hour - but the manager won't let Marly inside to the AC - one of her mechanics was recently bitten by a customer's dog. Marly has been a saint so far, and I'm insulted, but I can't actually vouch for her, so I grab the camp chair from the back of the van, a bottle of water, a bowl, and Marly, and set up camp in the shade of the garage, in a nice cross-breeze. The shade and breeze is a God-send. Marly is hot and stressed, and the quiet little nap she takes is exactly what she needed.

'45-minutes- to-an-hour' turns into two and half hours. Yuk - I'm going to be getting in *VERY* late. But I'm back on the road again, and that's what counts. Then Marly gets sick - the other transporter had fed her! Ugh - Big pile of semi-digested kibble there on the van floor. Oh, I'd had Marley out of the crate - The crate I brought was too small for her. Rookie mistake. Instead, I'd secured her leash very carefully to the structure of the car. As she was doing so well, I left her out of the crate, and she didn't get any of the sick on her - She neatly deposited it in a corner, then looked sheepishly at me. So, I stop, and clean up the mess - I may've brought the wrong crate, but I *did* bring cleaning supplies!

OK, we're off and running again, then I hear flowing liquid. And smell an unmistakable aroma. She'd just crapped in the car - And it's liquid, not solid. *sigh* This is why I brought the cleaning supplies. Stop again, and check out the mess - She's crapped/squirted all over the donut that I couldn't get loose earlier, and had stuck in the back of the van, rather than wrestle with a second time. I laugh my ass off - Good girl! *Exactly* my sentiments!

About this point in time, I begin catching myself repeatedly almost calling her Suka - the name of my soon-to-be very-own BC/X. OK, anyway, another clean up, and we're moving again. No more stops - She's feeling better, and has corked herself between the front seats, looking interestedly around. Or, sometimes she'd lie down, or stick her nose between me and the window, from behind my seat. In short, she's *really* well-behaved in the car. This is a shy semi-feral? Looks to me like her instincts are perfect - I'm quite certain she’ll find a home with ease.

The remainder of the run goes flawlessly - five hours late, though.
I'm sunburnt, and beat. But Marly is safe.

The new phonebooks are here! I'm finally someone!

OK, I'm probably mis-quoting Steve Martin, but Yay! My SSDCA Membership Card has arrived! I'm official now!

Well, officially a member. I get to add Shiloh Shepherd Dog Club of America (SSDCA) Member to my signatures. Woo!

Heh! Imagine that... This ol' sailor so thrilled over a small hunk o' cardstock.

Y'all may commence to rolling yer eyeballs, now.

Doubly Irksome

Well, I figured it out.

Dur... Call me a poopyhead, instead. I'd set my privacy permissions on this page WAAAAY too tight. WebRing couldn't read the page, so assumed it wasn't real. All fixed and pretty now. Look at the bottom of the page. see teh pretty WebRing nav bar? See! If I slam my head against a wall enough times, I can figure ANYTHING out!

Irksome...

So, trying to connect to the ISSR webring...

No dice. Seems the webring hub won't recognize a blogspot.com URL. I'm not alone, either - At least one other person is having the same problem. What's up with that? Quite annoyed, really. It's not like Blogspot is a new concept, or anything. No one at Shiloh Shepherds home seems to have any idea, either.

Poopyhead webring. :-p

Clean out!

I come home today, and what do I find in my driveway?

A 20cy dumpster! Ain't cheap, but I'm serious about this - I'm taking charge of the house situation. My wife and I both tend to hoard, and it's going to be strange, but this dumpster isn't leaving here less than full.

Insanity...

I knew I was insane. I'm sure y'all knew it, too. Now, I'll prove it.

I'm getting a rescue dog. "What?" I hear you exclaim, "That's not crazy!" Well, you're right - it's not. It's actually quite cool... But... 1) It's - she's - not an ISSR Shiloh; she's a Border Collie, and 2) I'm reaching all the way to Wasilla, Alaska to rescue her. I live in Delaware. That's about 4300 miles by road. Somewhat less by air. Loooooong arms!

Ta-DA!
Proof positive! I'm bloody well 'round the bend!

But it's cool to be insane - Just ask Jack Nicholson! Suka (my soon-to-be family member) is a 7 year old BC (or BC/X - Not sure) rescued by my sister. Once from Animal Control, then two years later, again when the man who took her in couldn't keep her anymore - new, pregnant wife didn't want a dog around. I'd say "Ditch the wife, keep the dog!" But, well, people are people. So my sister grabbed Suka again, and went looking for new homes for her. Zero success - No local BC rescues, no local rescues at all with any space, only the local shelter, which kills. Suka's far too good a dog to be put down!

So, in just ten days, she's flying in. I'm not ready... Not yet. But I will be. I'm practically squirming in anticipation!

Yay! It's good to be crazy!

No updates?

Slow slow slow...

Or maybe busy busy busy?

Yeah, I know - No excuses!

Well, I'll work at that some. I need to see about getting BlueRockShilohs.com up and running. I'm building the site myself, and it's slow going - I've forgotten more HTML than I remember, and I didn't know all that much to start. :-p