May weekend with dogs and puppies and ducks and goats and sheep

I spent the last weekend with a friend, working dogs and catching up. Had a couple of really good herding lessons with Jubilee. For some reason, I never get pictures of her working, but dayumm, she makes my heart sing whenever I work her. (Bonus news: I re-xrayed her hips this past December and sent them in to AKC--she was re-evaluated as OFA Good based on the 54 month xrays!)

She was laying down some extremely nice work this past weekend, staying back, rating her pace, covering the stock nicely, and insisting that I be correct before she listened to me. Oh, yeah, that's what herding is really about--the human not screwing up.

No herding pic, so here's a stacked shot of Jubilee from this April.

Oda has had a resurgence of, well, let's call it, "ummmph" since her puppies and had to have some attitude adjustments to get back into the groove of working with me--and I did get a few pictures of her working, due to the help of a friend.

Leeroy the goat is not fond of Oda

Nemi had a go on ducks--she's got excellent herding instincts and I look forward to training her in herding--after I do a schutzhund 1 on her. For my own sake, I'm going to hold off on herding with her until I am done with the schutzhund. I also don't want to make her too handler aware/sensitive by doing both activities at the same time. In the one venue, it's about using her mouth in drive with lots of control and obedience. In the other, it's about NOT using her mouth in drive with lots of control and obedience. In the meantime, she has a blast these herding weekends--playing in the water, trying to get humans to play ball, being the mentor for little puppies.

Nemi - play with me?

Nemi, Zee, Calcifer

Nemi, Zee, Calcifer

And young Strider, from the Xita x Jedi litter, is back with me. He had two excellent sessions on goats. He has the potential to be an extremely good herding dog, I think. (He is here for a bit of training and then I hope to place him on co-ownership with someone who wants to work and title him.)

Strider, 11 months - April 2013

Two young sable dorks

German Working Bloodline Info

I'm cleaning out some old files (procrastinating from doing my taxes), and I found this article that I had saved from 1992, The German Shepherd Quarterly, by Nancy Jacobsen. It has some invaluable information on the influential dogs in working bloodlines. And, 21 years later, these dogs are the still the foundation of today's working German Shepherds--these traits are still influential and form the scaffold of our dogs' temperaments and working abilities. (Click to embiggen.)

A scanned PDF is available here: http://blackthornkennel.com/GSDBloodlines-article.pdf

Harro is seen most often through his son Fado v Karthago, and Fado is seen most often through his sons Task and Troll v Haus Milinda, linebred 2-3 on Fado, and 7,7,6 - 7,8,8,7 on Bernd Lierberg.

Gildo v Koerbelbach is frequently seen through his son Arek v Stoffelblick (also 5-5 on Inka v Itzal). Nick v Heiligenbosch's mother was 2-3 on Gildo (through Arek and Orly Baerenfang) and also brings forward these old lines--5-5 on Racker v Itzal, 6,7-7,7,8,7 on Inka, 5-6,7,6 on Quicke.

One other huge influence in today's working bloodlines is Orry v Haus Antverpa--a grandson of Robby v Glockeneck, he also brings Enno v Bielstein, Greif z Lahntal, Ziggo Bungalow, and Bernd Lierberg in his 5-generation pedigree.

What you don't see mentioned in this article is the powerhouse producer of top producing sons, Fero v Zeuterner Himmelreich--born in 1984, Fero's influence was just starting to be seen in 1992.

Sunny Girl

Blackthorn's Solstice
10 months old
Jedi x Xita

 

Rescue Dog -- looking for a good home

"Chloe" is a lively, small female who loves training and loves human attention. She is OK with cats and small dogs, is a bit insecure with bigger dogs, but once she gets to know them, she really enjoys playing with them. She also has lived with kids for the last 3 months and really enjoyed them (I wouldn't recommend her for toddlers, but for dog-wise kids who are over the toddler age, she should do well.)



She was originally bought by an elderly couple, but she was too active for them, so they consulted some behaviorists and she ended up in my hands to re-home her. (She's not from my breeding.)

I found her a good home, but that didn't work out because she does not do well when left alone in a crate. (She's fine crated when people or other dogs around, but seems to panic when all alone.) So, they started leaving her out of the crate--and she would get into the trash and was otherwise destructive. They said she was just about perfect when they were home, but too destructive when they left her for any amount of time (3+ hours).

I got her back last week--she's spayed and up to date on all medical care. She's about 45 pounds right now, and I think she will mature under 55 pounds. She has AKC papers that will go with her.

She would do great with someone who wanted to do agility with her--lively, fast, easy to motivate, and very physically self-confident. She's also the type of dog who looks to her person when she is a bit nervous--so she gives more focus and looks to her handler for guidance. She is food motivated and also loves to play ball.

See her gallery for more pictures: https://picasaweb.google.com/1006194...35/RescueChloe
(located in central Virginia)

WW: Nine Days Old

Wordless Wednesday: White Christmas 2012

Lynx

Nike, 14 yrs, 6 months

Lynx and Nemi

Nemi, Lynx, Jubilee

Nike