Satchmo passes another exam!

Satchmo and 8 others took their Foundation test at the Southwest Dog Training and Behaviour Centre yesterday. The exercises include things like a stay amongst chickens, walk and wait, formal recall etc. The tricky bit is that you can't use any extra commands. Satch lost 1 point for raising his head off the floor during the lie flat; and 2 x 1/4 points in the formal recall, for sitting slightly at an angle and finishing a bit wide. Nonetheless, he did really well. All the dogs passed, even the ones that were having real problems only a few days ago. V v proud as always.

Serious stuff

Serious post this time. A few weeks ago, I thought I was going to lose Max. He's 13 yrs and 3 months and that's old for a dobe, but he's been so fit I've always kidded myself he'll go on for ever. Anyway, he'd been quite a couch potato since I've not been going out to work, especially when there was a cold, wet spell. I'd noticed he'd lost muscle tone on his back end. I had a couple of days when I couldn't walk them much and I then came down one morning to find a lake of pee and Max losing his back end every few secs. Poor lad couldn't make it to the door, but peed across the doormat and then couldn't cock his leg. Big panic and off to vet. Transpired he'd presumably both got lazy and stiff and also been leaving it too long to go for a pee, so he had a urinary infection. Anti-inflammatory eased the stiffness; antibiotics cured the infection; and 3 walks a day, rain or shine, built the muscle tone back. I shall learn that lesson and not let it happen again. Coddling him is obviously riskier than sending him out in bad weather.

Slapstick flatcoat

Molly the flatcoat retriever is very brave and aggressive ... as long as there's a gate between her and the three dobes. When she walks past with her owner, she races up to our gate, barking like a thing possessed, and then clearly enjoys the degree to which Nina, especially, gets wound up by this. Was at the gate yesterday with big softie, Max, and Molly saw us and started at her fastest gallop, barking manically ... just as Max and I opened the gate and came out to start our walk. Well, if she could have gone into reverse, she would have done. She put the anchors on so hard that she slipped on her side and slid about two yards on the ground, still on her side. She then got up and stood a couple of yards away, feigning nonchalance, looking in the opposite direction, studiously ignoring us, while her owner and I stood there, hands on knees, crying with laughter. Been feeling very stressed so, thanks, Molly sweetie, you really cheered me up.

Not hell ... not really even purgatory, except for Satch

Things are gradually subsiding. I let Max and Satchmo play with Nina this afternoon. Satch jumped and skipped round his mother, playbowing and saying, "I love, love, love my Mum. She's so exciting to be with. Much more than usual. Let's play, play, play." Sweetie. He just doesn't get it, does he? Max knows Nina won't let him near her, so he mounts Satch instead. So, Satchmo is playbowing at his mum and wagging his tail and all of a sudden, Max is on his back end that he's inadvertently pointed skywards. You can see Satch thinking, "I don't know much about sex, but this isn't how I imagined it'd be."

Hormone hell - yet again

OK, so Nina's in season again and this time two sexually mature boys to keep away from her. As luck had it, I was already scheduled for 4 days away with friends, so I took the boys and got someone to house sit Nina. However, back yesterday and at least one dog whining all the time. Mostly Satchmo (typical boy), but both Max and Nina do join in regularly. (Short pause here while Satch tried to climb on my lap. Fey little look - what a poor boy I am, please cuddle me - and then belched in my face.) Max won't eat at all now, at least not dog food. Half a dozen sausages by hand and a pound of biscuits doesn't, of course, count as eating.

Anyway, Max now in kitchen barking and howling, Satch whining in my ear and Nina in the sitting room scratching my lovely oak door and whining. At least another week of this...

At night the two boys are in cages and Nina in the room with them. If I put Nina in the cage instead, Max pees on her. The joys of dog ownership.

Good day at SW Working and Pastoral

Satch was the only dog in Junior, so needless to say, got a first. I also took Nina, first proper show for about a year, and she won open bitch, which I was thrilled about. And then Satchmo won BOB. Very pleased, as he was up against four other dogs. Had to persuade one of the exhibitors whose dog Nina beat to handle her in the BOB line-up. He was very nice about it and complimentary about her. Long wait for the group judging and no placing in that, which is not surprising as Satch is still only 16 months and therefore still a bit immature. Good day out though.

Emma's stuck inside the computer - get her out!

Just been taken totally by surprise by my first Skype videocall. Emma called from Spain and we were chatting away, when Satchmo got alert and then anxious; climbed on my lap and first stared at the computer, then started trying to nudge random bits each time Emma spoke. I'm sure she preferred seeing bits of Satch's head and neck to a rather washed-out pic of me, anyway.

House(trained) - Doctor Satch to the rescue

Nina tearing her ears wouldn't have been too much of a problem if Satchmo hadn't decided to give them frequent and thorough medical attention. He kept licking them inside and out. Constantly. Unfortunately, hygiene is not his strong point and he still licked them after he'd been drinking from a disgusting-smelling bucket (found out why after; dead fledgeling in it). So, antibiotics for Nina and a lot of shouting 'Leave it' for Satch.

Then I fell over and grazed my hand and knee badly. Satchmo felt he could deal with it much better than a wash and a plaster - but in this case I decided to disagree strongly. Got to wear trousers to keep him away from my knee. He sniffs it though - makes me feel as if I have a very smelly knee.

Normal service is resumed

Sorry for the long gap. I surprised myself in June by resigning from my job as CEO of 2 companies after 19 years. Just finished a couple of weeks ago. It disrupted life in many ways and, strangely, took my attention away from the dog blog. Was it a clever move? Tell you in 6-12 months...

Nina's in the wars again. She seems to sense when I've posted off some show entries. She hasn't been shown since early Sept 2009. I had entered her for a few more last autumn, but she ripped another bit out of herself. I've been focused on Satchmo since then, but I took both to the Companion Dog Show at Berkeley Show and she moved so nicely (winning open and best movement) that I thought I'd show her again a bit. So now she's ripped both ears (inside and out) on brambles. Found them and cut them down (no, silly, the brambles). Inevitably, by far the most noticeable scar is on the ear nearest the judge. Still, let's see how she gets on.

(She's snoring at the moment. Why do the bitches snore and the dogs not??)

Still a leather fetishist

Remember the blog about Satch and his leather fetish (early May)? Well, it's still going on. He's now removed a total of three collars from Max, eaten the leather and left the buckle/chain/dog tag or whatever. I'm only relieved that he must chew them into small pieces; I was not looking forward to helping 20 inches of leather out of his bottom. Max is now sporting a fetching multicoloured fabric collar.

Oh, and he had a go at one of my rather lovely pale blue shoes that I bought in the states. I think I can just about still wear it. I'm very well aware that he thinks suede is potentially even more tasty and generally sensually appealling than ordinary leather, as he keeps licking my suede shoes, but so far he hasn't got any further than that (as far as I know).

Satch the Elizabethan dandy

Poor Satchmo got a little histiocytoma (benign lump) on the inside of his elbow. As he was worrying it and making it raw, the vet nipped it off and put in 2 layers of stitches. Next day ... top layer of stitches gone. Back to the vet for staples. Lasted till Monday. By then the bit he'd worked the staples out from was infected. So, the elizabethan collar came into play. He was a very good boy and let me put it on, but was then scared, unsurprisingly. I walked round the garden with him before bed to encourage him to wee, but he wouldn't, so I resigned myself to a puddle on the floor overnight. But no, nothing the next morning and he still wouldn't pee. It was eventually at least 14 hours and then he peed like a horse.

It was impossible not to laugh as he ran for the door and then - boof - shot back at least six inches as the collar hit the door frame and proved action and reaction really are equal and opposite. Amazing how quickly he got the hang of it though. Not sure how much good it did as I caught Max licking the wound for him several times. All well now.

Another funny thing was that, when I took him for the op, I also took Nina for a day with some other dogs. When I picked her up, I was told she wouldn't play and wouldn't even eat treats; was just quiet and sad. Could this be because I took her son to the vet and left him there? She was fine once she got home and saw he was OK. Bet she kicked herself afterwards for missing out on the treats.

Satchmo the narcissus

Came back from a trip abroad and Satch stuck to me like glue. I went upstairs to unpack and he came too. I looked up from the suitcase to find him stood with his front paws on the dressing table stool, studying himself very seriously in the mirror. How cute is that?

World's most expensive hand job?

Well, I made an appointment for Max to have semen taken for storage and later AI. He's still very fit at almost 13, clear of all the main genetic diseases, beautifully proportioned and a perfect gentleman.

So, I was at my neighbour's a few days before and said I was taking him for a very expensive hand job. Her teenage son's friend immediately asked if he could come too. We both pointed out that he probably didn't need to pay that much. My friend asked how they do it and I said, "I'll tell you after Friday." Lots of jokes about needing to take doggie magazines, plus ciggies and whisky for after.

So, I took Max up to Malvern and we queued behind 7 bloodhounds. (Didn't realise how huge they are. And how dribbly.) I was slightly perturbed to hear that semen had only been succesfully taken from 1. I thought, "No problem for Max, he's all over Nina and she's not even in season."

Anyway, we went in and there was this sweet little collie bitch standing there patiently as the teaser. Then it became clear what the problem was. She was way past her peak of season. Max was interested in the room, the people ... anything except the bitch. Even lifting her tail and sticking his nose there did nothing. I did discover the way they do it ... just exactly the normal way, except with a latex glove. She commented that Max has one testicle slightly larger than the other. I know this and take a photo of his back end every couple of months to make sure it's not getting any bigger. I told her that I have a folder on my PC called 'Max's back end' where the photos are, and she said my friend's son's friend would probably want to be in there too. Guffaws of laughter from both of us. Very surreal having a chatty conversation with the vet across Max's back as he was being, well, wanked. Complete waste of time, and still cost me £50, but an interesting experience.

Does Nina wish she had babies or is she just pissed off with Max?

Nina has come to the end of her false pregnancy and seems, to all intents and purposes, to have post-natal depression. Or maybe she's just fed up with Max following her around and licking her fanny.

There is definitely a noticeable hormonal change at that point. I always know exactly which day it happens as Max goes off his food and starts trying to mount her. (He mounts Satchmo too, which leaves the pup looking confused). It's like a lesser version of his behaviour when she's in season. He had to sleep in my room last night as he wouldn't stop barking excitedly.

I've started giving Nina Tic-Tacs like I do in her season. Hope it helps, for all our sakes.

If she carries on being depressed for too long, it'll be off to the vet again for some cabergoline (prolactin suppressant). They must be missing us anyway; it's at least a fortnight since we were there...

Satchmo gets his Kennel Club Silver

Satchie baby passed his Kennel Club Silver Good Citizen Test Saturday at 12.5 months! Pretty good considering he hadn't been going to classes for several months and only had 3 before the test (test rather sprung on me as I hadn't picked up that a date was set due to not going to classes for a while).

Neither of us much enjoyed the road walk in the rain. He had been a bit funny about getting in the car, but our brill trainer Ann Nash had given me a tip to sort it (involving cheese - surprise, surprise) which worked perfectly.

On to gold now, and then SWDTBC's Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced. he'll catch up with Mummy Nina if she's not careful. She's in advanced. Might have to take them alternate weeks.

Two dog shows coming up next week, so fingers crossed.

No, Max, you're 12 YEARS old

Went for a 10 mile walk yesterday with a friend (turned out to be 11 miles, but that's another story). Satch is too young and Nina can be a bit of a pest when she's excited, so we took Max. I dithered a bit about that as he will be 13 in August. He's very good at looking sorry for himself and a bit of a waif and stray, so sometimes I think he's feeling his age. However, true to form, he had no problem with the walk and even behaved like a naughty teenager the whole time. Very like Satch at 12 months, in fact.

He ran off twice and wouldn't come back when called, so I had to put him on a lead. He tried to steal biscuits from my bumbag. He pulled on the lead while I was trying to walk down a steep slope. He ... get the picture?

Needless to say, he was much less tired than us when we got back and spent at least an hour playing in the garden with Satch. He's having a lie-in this morning, though.

Satchmo wins a few more firsts

Well, we are having a good run at shows. We went to a Dobermann open show Sunday and Satch got 2 firsts, a second and a third. Amongst others, he beat Amazon Russian Ice and Amazon The Kandy Man, both of which have been winning quite a lot. As he behaved appallingly, just like last time at that venue, I was doubly pleased. The judge was definitely judging the dog and not the handling!

We did special pre-beginners obedience as well ... also appallingly. Satch's finish at the end of his recall consisted of a complete clockwise circle followed by a half anti-clockwise circle to end up in the right place. Oops. Shame they don't give marks for artistic impression. And he's supposed to be doing his KC Silver award in a week or so. Mind you, he hasn't been going to classes for months until last week. And it wasn't his fault he needed a crap during the stays and couldn't settle.

Satch's birthday pres

Well Satchmo liked his birthday present from his sis. I took him to my Dad's for coffee (no, no, I had the coffee, silly) and he definitely liked it. When we got home I gave it to him again and within minutes Max did his best John Wayne walk across the room and said 'The toy's mine, pal' and that was the end of that. In the end I took it away from both of them and put it in the toy basket, which is on a chest of drawers. I now keep finding Satchmo balancing awkwardly on the breakfast table bench trying to nudge open the lid of the basket and get it back out.

Happy birthday puppies

Anticipating by about 14 hours, but it's the Grafmax Jazz litter's first birthday today. The whole experience has been an immense privilege and joy. I think back to when they were small enough for all four to climb on my lap and go to sleep after their post-breakfast play, and I miss that, but there are new joys as they grow ... and, given the chance, Satch still climbs on my lap in the evening for a cuddle and a sleep. Sometimes he wants to curl up on my chest, but I draw the line at that (albeit with difficulty; it's no easy thing getting 35kg of dobe off your chest).

I've sent the other three puppies birthday cards with dobermann puppies on them, which I'm sure they'll appreciate. I've got one for Satchmo (it was a special deal for four, honest) and I guess the best way for him to enjoy it is to let him rip it up. He has a present from Ella's family, which I'll give him later and hope Nina doesn't take it off him.

I'm working at home today, so I can make a bit of a fuss of him. He's managed to steal the bed nearest me at the moment; that's normally Max's privilege.

Just realised this blog service is obviously working on Californian time or some such as it thinks it's still 13 May, but it's definitely 14 May as I type, and that's their birthday.

Normal service resumed

Came home today to find a large piece of honeysuckle on the patio. That one was my favourite and was only just recovering from being demolished some years ago by my late lamented Ellie at the same age. Oh well.

Suspicious

Can't find anything naughty that Satchmo did while I was at work yesterday. Very suspicious, very very suspicious.

My clever boy

Satchmo went to Birmingham National today and picked up 1st in Puppy and Novice, so v v proud yet again. Ella got a 4th in Novice. Both hard work, but we're getting to expect that now. A fun day out with Nic too. Good to meet up with Jay and little Dora and pick up some useful handling tips too.

Satch the minimalist designer and leather fetishist

Satchmo knows what he likes. He likes minimalism. He likes leather. He's been working on my organiser for a while now and, at the third attempt, has got it back to basics. The spine is still there, but the cover isn't. The cover was leather. The bit that makes the rings spring open is gone too, so it takes brute force to open it now.

My new black leather high-heel shoes are rather minimalist now, too. That is, there's only one of them left, which is fairly minimal.

I washed Max's leather collar Friday and left it to dry (you soooo don't want to know what was on it). Next thing, I see Satchmo playing with the buckle, with half an inch of leather attached. Have still not found the other 20 inches, which is rather worrying. Keep eyeing Satch up, but he doesn't look like a dog with a leather strap wound round his gut.

He came running downstairs today looking extraordinarily pleased with himself, with one of my tan ankle-boots in his mouth. Headed that one off at the pass, but no doubt there's more to come.

Nothing to do with the dobes

This post is (almost) nothing to do with the dobes. I've just got back from running a 2700 delegate international meeting in Prague. So what? So, a week or so before it was due to start, the Icelandic volcano erupted and all flights stopped. It was touch and go for a while. We sent one team overland in a minibus driven by my neighbour and the rest of us took a 26 hour train journey. We had 127 invited speakers; most got there, we videod some of the US ones, and made a few substitutions. But it went soooo well. The President of the client society said I'd stopped the volcano. I suppose if I can control an adolescent dobermann by willpower, a volcano should be a no problem. I volunteered to accompany my neighbour back in the minibus. We started out from Prague at 09.45 Weds and got home at 22.15 yesterday evening (Thurs). V tired and glad of a shower. Dobes v happy to see me. Much jostling for front row position in the chin-tickling stakes.

Showgirl

Or perhaps Nina did it on purpose just to get out of going to a show tomorrow. The last time I entered her for one, she dashed off in the fields and came back ripped to shreds. Had to have 3 staples in one front leg and 1 in the other. The vets love me! The insurers don't. If I'm not in for more than a fortnight, the vets start dusting off the redundancy plans.

The things Nina will do to get a bit of attention

Poor Nina does occasionally tend to miss out on the attention, what with Satchmo being a hoodie and Max flirting (he's sat on my lap as I write). Not in the last few days though. Little tomboy Nina (aka Miss Bean) has been in the wars yet again (third time in 12 months). This time I got home from an overnight trip to find a horribly deep cut about three inches from her tail. Looks for all the world as though she's been stabbed with a chisel. Off to the vet yesterday morning, general anaesthetic, took 20 minutes to clean out (ooh), and she now has a very unattractive bald patch and 7 staples. Poor wee lassie. In usual style after something like this, she needed to come home and sleep, but just wandered pathetically around with her tail clamped down, wobbling slightly, and couldn't settle till bedtime. What goes on in their doggie heads? Does she think if she falls asleep she'll wake up back at the vet's? The nurse didn't want to let me have her back; she was totally enamoured. Apparently, it usually takes 2 to remove a line from a dog's wrist, but Nina just sat and gave paw. My little beauty. A bit better this morning; she stood up and put her tail up and wagged briefly when I got up. Back in bed now, but then she never was a morning girl.

Do I want Satch slow roasted or barbied?

Well, this week's little adventure is another incident with a cable. While the builder was away buying some bits and pieces (technical building term, that) for the pond, Satchmo was managing to grab the cabling from the new pond pump, drag the pump up out of 5 ft of water and over the edge and leave it in the middle of the drive. First thing I knew was getting home from work and finding a note saying, 'How do you want your dog cooked ... slow roast or barbie?'

Got home today to find he has dried mud on him. Don't even want to think what he's been doing. Will no doubt discover it tomorrow morning. Must ask his mother to chastise him a bit more, but to her he can do no wrong.

Satch the electrician and gardener

Satch has recently: pulled up all the cabling for the outside lights so I had to pay the gardener to dig new trenches for them; pulled up another bit and bitten through it (fortunately - or not - the power was off so no 12v shock); bitten a chunk out of the TV aerial; demolished 2 honeysuckles; stolen various of the builder's tools and chewed the handles; broken an eggcup (actually that might have been Max). Still love him, so he must have quite some boyish charm...

Happy Easter

Dogs are happy. Nina's season is over, we're all together. We even sat together in front of a log fire yesterday. I've been home most of the time as it's the Easter break, and there have even been some decent walks. Doggie heaven. Pretty much Susie heaven too.

Got to go - Satch making it quite clear he wants his dinner.

Hormone hell

Hormone hell in this house recently. Nina's in season, so she's stir-crazy from being kept indoors. She's on a diet of Tic-Tacs to mask the attraction to Max and Satch. It has worked, in that we didn't have a night when Max barks all night, which we usually do. He barked a lot, mind, and nearly drove me mad, but at least I didn't have to sleep on the breakfast room table, whch I had to do last season. Why does he quieten down when I'm in the room? I don't even want to go there!

Satch is funny. He's not been allowed to cross paths with his mum much either, but when he does, he just thinks playing with mum is so, so exciting. He wags his tail faster than I've ever seen before, play bows and jumps around, but clearly has no idea why he's finding her particularly exciting right now. I'm sure he'd work it out if they were together for long, though, so they've definitely been kept apart.

Things are finally starting to calm down. They're all together as I type this - Max sat on my lap; situation normal. I always feel as though I've got him back from a journey when he starts to be able to turn attention to me again after a week or so of total monomania with Nina. Maybe he'll even start eating again soon. He won't touch dog food - tinned or dried - for about 10 days. Predictably, he doesn't seem to think sausages and dog biscuits (fed by hand, of course) count as food, so that's what he's been living on, but he's still skinny.

Satchmo wins again

Well, we're doing well at Open shows. On 20 Feb at Bristol & District, Satchmo got Best Puppy, Reserve Best of Breed and then Best Puppy in the Working Group. V v proud of him. Needless to say, he was really hard work, but if you get it right with him, he looks fabulous, just poised and quivering.

A few boasts

Satchmo got his Kennel Club bronze obedience award on 5 February. Didn't put a foot wrong. His sister Ella got hers at the same time. That was a bit more nailbiting - right up to the day before, every time her owner, Nicky, called her in for a recall, Ella just ran straight over to me. Serious work was put in getting Nicky to jump up and down sounding like a banshee, and it worked a treat.

Satchmo also won Best Puppy (BP), Best of Breed (BOB) and Puppy Group 2 (PG2) at Yeovil and District Open Show in January, so you can imagine how proud I was. He got 1 third and 2 seconds at BDDC and also 2nd in obedience there, so that was pretty good too. Ella also got a second at the same show.

Very pleased with both puppies. Totally unbiased and objective, of course.

Episode 2

Well, that really did start a stream of consciousness, didn't it? Episode 1 in October; episode 2 in January. Satchmo is 8 months now; he is one gorgeous little boy. I use that euphemistically as he's about 37kg now. What a sweetie. V beautiful; v bonded; v good. V v time-consuming. Today I put all three dogs in the car together - WW3 did not break out. Max looked a bit pissed off, but then he's good at that. Walked them all in the snow. How come pavement not cold enough for snow to settle, but dogs' backs cold enough?

Took Max to vet yesterday to get checked up after recent swollen ankle (abscess). Usual Max Wall impression - legs bent, creeping along with excuse for a tail clamped to bum. No I know Max Wall didn't have a tail, but you get the picture. Vets will never know what a proud, handsome boy he really is.

Nina has new red collar. Her colour. My colour. Who would think a new red collar could be as enhancing on a dog as a new red dress would be on me...