Christmas in our house

There were only 5 of us plus the 3 dogs - age 7 to 87 very neatly - but it felt manic. Great time, actually, and Antony and I make a good team in the kitchen. Dogs were pretty good, although I suspect that was mainly because we made sure there was no food left in Satchmo's reach. Maxie developed a penchant for Quality Street - wrapper and all. They went down in one, so there can't possibly have been any flavour. Nonetheless, he still clenched his teeth tight when I tried to get a toffee penny back out. I had visions of it coming out the other end unmarked. If I really hated someone, I could perhaps have washed it an offered it to them. Fortunately, I don't hate anyone. By the time we were back on our own on Boxing Day evening, we were all crashed. As you can see...

Pregnant ladies

Some of you may remember that, last time she was preggie, Nina had a thing about eating compost and dug almost all the summer plants out of my garden tubs. This time, whilst not actually averse to a bit of compost, she's fonder of wood. She's demolished the tub that one of my clematis has been in for years, and she keeps taking logs off the fireside pile and ripping them up on the rug. Needless to say, this is only ever done when I've just finished vacuuming. (Of course, I say 'she', but we all know Satchmo will be joining in enthusiastically, don't we?)

Puppies!

Yes, she's pregnant. A litter of 3-4, due 17 January. Already got several people interested, which is a nice position to be in. Nina was scanned Weds; whilst waiting in the vet's reception I realised she had a real gash on her shoulder, so she had a scan and 7 staples in one go (needless to say, only 5 left now). These days they give you a printout of the scan. The embryos are about 2 inches long so far.

Puppies?

Usual hormone hell for the last couple of weeks while Nina has been in season. Good in one way as it meant Max was really keen to go round the garden 20 times a day sniffing where she's weed. Nasty habit except when it keeps an old dog mobile.

I had to spend 2 nights sleeping on the breakfast room table as the only way to keep Max quiet.

Then, last Tuesday, I took Nina to Jay Horgan's in Staffs to visit Bracco her boyf (Nina's, not Jay's) and the usual deed was done. I took her back Thursday to be on the safe side, but nothing doing. She sat in the back of the car and curled her lip at him.

Fingers crossed. Due on 17 Jan if she's preggie. Bracco has never stopped still long enough for me to get a really good look before, but this time I did and, goodness, Satchmo has his Daddy's head.

Good luck, bad luck

I've had some serious bad luck in recent years. It's almost as if I used up all the good luck and then it ran out big time. So ... I've lived in Wheelwright Cottage for almost 15 years and during that time, my kitchen cupboards have been organised the same all the time (bear with me, this is going somewhere). So why is it that, having had a metal hob for almost all that time, as soon as I buy a nice halogen one to replace it, a honey jar falls out and smashes it? Never happened in the first 14 years when it wouldn't have done any damage. Never happened when I was flush with money. Just had to spend a couple of hours online (very annoying when a site says they have it in stock, then you get almost all the way through the purchase before you find they haven't) and £200 to get a new one ordered. Fortunately the delivery is for Weds. But then again, perhaps all my luck these days goes into having dogs with lovely temperaments including a 14-year-old who's recovering pretty well from his spinal stroke. If so, I'll stick with that deal.

Magic Max - daily bulletin

Felt foolishly disappointed yesterday because I coudn't see a specific improvement in Max, but for heaven's sake, he'll be doing backward somersaults if he makes a leap forward in improvement EVERY day. However, today, he's really walking around whenever he wants, wobbly, falls over occasionally, but OK. And he managed to get outdoors on his own, so I followed him and just steadied him from time to time for a minute or two, before using the towel sling again. He's definitely not going to be confined to the sitting room today - wants to have the freedom of the house, and I'm letting him. I'm letting the other dogs do their own thing too. I was worried about Satchmo being too boisterous and knocking him over, but he's being very respectful so far. Now that Nina's around agaain, Max is silently sending Satchmo out of the room again. Wish I could get Satch to do my bidding so easily!

Very trying week

It's been an incredibly difficult week, but thank God things are looking up now. Last Wednesday Max collapsed while out walking. He lost the use of his back end completely - didn't know where it was. I managed to get him to a neighbour's, and they (bless them) helped me get him back home and then take him to the vet. They sent us home for the night and said they would arrange an MRI for first thing in the morning. It's when you're on your own all night with 33kg of helpless dog that being on your own feels especially hard. I stayed up all night with him. I tried to get him out for a pee at 3.30, but just couldn't. At 5 am, I managed to get him out with a makeshift sling under his waist, but he was too stressed and unstable to do anything. I spent the night convinced he was in his last day. At 7.30 my neighbour helped me get him out and he peed. He lifted Max into the car and I set off to Bristol. They had to carry him in and I hated leaving him there for his MRI.

They didn't find anything on the MRI (eg slipped disc) and the assumed diagnosis was therefore a spinal stroke. Never heard of it before and was amazed to hear that most dogs recover well from this. Of course, Max is 14, so tougher. He came home Saturday with a sling. I was worried whether I would be able to look after him, esp peeing and pooping, but I managed OK with the sling. I put him in the sitting room so he had the carpet for grip and could get outdoors through the patio doors. We sat out in the garden for a while as the weather was lovely. I slept on the settee Saturday night.

On Sunday, he was dashing round the garden with me supporting him. He still couldn't stand up unaided, but when I let Nina in to see him, he leapt up and ran round the room after her! He wobbled a lot and fell over a bit, but nonetheless... The physio came and took me through the exercises I need to do. He did pretty well though.

By Monday he could get up unaided and walk about the room a bit. This was much faster progress than I expected, and I was thrilled. He even got up 8 stairs to try and find me ... and then got back down with minimal aid from me when the cleaner arrived and was greeted by the other two.

More of the same today. Expecting the physio again tomorrow. Can't rightly say how relieved I am. Long may it continue. God is definitely in my good books!

And Satchmo follows up Darlington...

with another BOB at Stafford open, plus Working Group 2. My boy! Thanks to judges Colin Gillanders and Alan Brown.

Satch gets BOB at Darlington

Satchmo (Grafmax Louis Armstrong) has just won his first Championship show Best of Breed at Darlington Show. V proud! Thanks to judge Nigel Morgan. Have been meaning for several years to make the 600 mile round trip to see friends near Newcastle and take in Darlington and NECDS. Finally did it. Great but emotional to see Gerry's best friends after so many years - very conscious of the empty seat at the dining table, but good to see them nonetheless.

Came back via Peterlee for NECDS dobe champ show. As expected, Amazon Russian Ice won limit and a Supeta was 2nd, but Satch came 3rd, so fairly content with that, what with so many professionals there. Lovely atmosphere, lovely people and so many came up to compliment me on Satchmo and tell me they were rooting for us. Long 4.5 hours back from there in heavy traffic and rain.

As these are Satch's first two shows in Limit Dog, I was pretty pleased.

New heart tests for Dobermanns

The Dobermann Breed Council (1) has announced new tests for early detection of heart disease in dobermanns. Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM) can occur at any age, but is more common in older dogs. One of the challenges, therefore, is to identify young dogs that are at risk of developing the disease before they are used as breeding stock.

Troponin I is a protein that is present in cardiac muscle tissue. Increased levels of Troponin I can indicate heart muscle cell injury, as researched by Gerhard Wess and colleagues (2). This could be caused by a number of problems, not just by DCM, but a raised level of Troponin I indicates that echo and Holter testing are needed to test more specifically for the presence of DCM. As the tests only identify whether there is any heart damage at that time, it is important to retest regularly throughout the dog’s life. The Troponin I test is a simple blood test, so it is clearly more feasible to start young and repeat regularly than with echo and Holter testing.

Another possible marker, but with less clear evidence at present, is lactate levels. Lactate is a form of lactic acid, which is produced naturally by animals and increases during exercise or severe illness. If lactate is produced at a faster rate than it is being cleared from the dog’s body, even when it is not being exercised, there is some evidence from Bitten Jönsson’s work in Denmark that this may be a very early marker indeed of the dog’s potential to develop DCM later in life. At present, this assay is for research more than for diagnosis.

The Dobermann Breed Council (DBC) is working with Dr Jo Dukes-McEwan at Liverpool University to carry out Troponin I and lactate assays and the DBC will pay up to £50 towards costs for breeders who are member of a breed club affiliated to the DBC.

© Sue Thorn 2011

(with thanks to Dr Jo Dukes-McEwan and Rebecca Barber)

References

1. Dobermann Breed Council announcement, http://dobermannbreedcouncil.co.uk/troponin.html

2. Wess, Gerhard et al, 20I0, Cardiac Troponin I in Doberman Pinschers with Cardiomyopathy, Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, vol 24, pp 843-849 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/204I2436

Pippi gone

Pippi went to her new home with Natasha and Julian and their 2 children last Saturday. Last thing I saw she was sitting on Natasha's lap licking her chin. My dogs don't appear to have noticed, but I like to assume there's been a bit of doggy grief in there somewhere. I took Nina to see her other daughter, Ella, yesterday, which she was very excited about.

Shame Pippi fell in the pond just before she left! I was indoors and heard Nina barking - that's nothing unusual as she barks at every passer-by, but this sounded panicky. I then heard a little squeak from Pippi (don't call her Pipsqueak for nothing) and knew exactly what had happened. Dashed out to find her doggy-paddling madly in the deep end - a few feet from the shallow end and beach but at 7.5 weeks that's clearly not obvious. Yoiked the poor girl out, wrapped her in towels and cuddled her till she warmed up and the adrenalin rush died down (in both of us!).

Update - better late than never

Well, just as it was getting interesting I got sidetracked and didn't make any entries. Sorry about that. Nina was confirmed pregnant at about 4.5 weeks, but it wasn't clear how many - looked small. At 7 weeks she was rescanned and ... just one pup. What a bugger. Rather worrying as you really can't afford to lose one when it's a singleton. However, all went well and she whelped at 6.15 on Weds 6 July.

Little Grafmax Solitaire (Pippi) weighed a healthy 460g. Here she is as a newborn. More like a little rodent than a dog! All has gone fantastically well. She's been given very active interaction and exposure to lots of things to compensate for not having sibling pups and she's extraordinarily confident at 5 weeks. She now weighs 3.5kg.

Satchmo adores her and plays with her very gently. Max hates her and doesn't want her near him. They are all jealous and seeking lots of attention. I started her on solid food at 3.5 weeks and will start weaning her away from Nina today. She's already sold and her new owners have been to see her twice and are coming again this weekend. Have alook at www.grafmax.org for more photos and video.

More puppies?

I took Nina back to see her erstwhile boyfriend, Bracco, on 5 May. They got on pretty well! Fingers crossed that she's pregnant. If so, pups will be full brothers/sisters to the Grafmax Jazz litter and will be due on 7 July and ready for new homes at end of August. I've told Nina I'd like 8 please. I can't have her scanned until 5 weeks after mating. She's started stealing Satch's and Max's food. Does that mean anything?

I can't wait to see what Satchmo thinks about some new brothers and sisters. I should think his nose will be quite out of joint when he sees his mum fussing round new babies.

Secret diary of Maximilian Thorn, aged 13 3/4

Woke up at 6am and thought, 'My Mum loves me, she won't want to miss a minute with me', so I barked and barked until she realised I was awake and came down to love me a bit more. I went out into the garden for a pee and a sniff and ran back in quickly to see her some more. She didn't seem pleased that I'd come in without waiting for her to do that strange thing where she wipes all my feet with a towel. Still, I probably imagined that - I'm a bit sensitive, you know.

She sat down at that damn thing she calls a computer and appeared to be ignoring me, so I tap-danced and whinged till she turned and laughed and stroked my neck. I love my Mum. She couldn't have been laughing at me of course, cos she loves me too much. She was probably just laughing from sheer pleasure at my stopping her having to look at that weird screen thing. Then she was forced somehow to look back at it again, so I put my front paws on her lap and gave her a big kiss.

She said, 'Off', but I know she didn't really mean it. Then she said, 'I said off, deaf bugger'. Then I knew she really loved me more than the other two, cos 'deaf bugger' is a new term of endearment that she only uses with me. That's cos I'm special. I'm her first dog and today I'm 13 and 3/4. She loves me much more than that scintillating bitch, Nina, who's only a girl after all, and MUCH more than the brat.

Have I mentioned the brat? He and 3 others, indistinguishable from him, came to live with us a couple of years ago. Mum and Nina brought them back from the vet's. They were really small then and I didn't think they'd be an issue, but, boy did they grow quick. They got everywhere. I treated them with the disdain they deserved, of course; ignored them completely, in fact, but that didn't stop them running round after me and doing their poor excuse for barking. (Not proper big boy barking like mine. Hang on a sec while I do a bit more.) Anyway, after 8 weeks, my Mum realised they were pathetic compared to me and paid people to take 3 of them away. (Yes, she did, I saw money change hands.) Seems the brat (they call him Satchmo, but I call him the brat) was so appalling they couldn't afford to get anyone to take him away. And boy did he grow. I've heard people say he's bigger than me, but of course that can't possibly be true.

Anyway, today's my 13 3/4 birthday, so Mum is going to take me for a really good walk and then Emma and Brian are coming for the weekend, specially to see me cos it's my 13 3/4 birthday. Yes, I know it's Mum's and Nina's birthdays tomorrow, but that's definitely not why they're coming; otherwise, why are they coming today?

Got to go - sausages for breakfast. That PROVES my Mum loves me best. The other 2 will get tinned food - heh, heh.

Puppies?

I've been pointedly not making a decision about whether to mate Nina when she comes into season again in a few weeks. Pro - this is her last year of being able to produce KC-registered pups, probably my last chance to raise more pups, it's good timing (summer, I'm working from home). Con - health risks? I'll be stuck at home all summer.

However, just in case, I sent her for some health checks last Friday. Like most large breeds, dobes are prone to heart problems, esp Dilated Cardiomyopathy, where the heart enlarges. She was given the full test for this 18 months ago, but had some follow-up ones and also blood tests for liver and kidney function. Her heart was fine (she didn't even have to be sedated for the tests; what a good girl) and the blood results should come back soon.

And, rather predictably, that's tipped me into thinking I should mate her if the test results are OK. Otherwise, why pay for them to be done? I expect that decision was already made subconsciously anyway.

I'll use the same sire as for the Jazz litter. Temperament couldn't be better; behaviour, health and fitness good and they're all beautiful head-turners.

And of course, there's no way I'm going to keep one...

Update on New Year resolutions

Just looked back at the New Year resolutions. Mixed bag (not very mixed; most have been pretty much failures).

"My main wish for Max is that he stays happy and healthy. My resolution is to make sure he gets 2 walks every day to keep him fit." Update - he is happy and healthy. The spring weather has seen him out in the garden a lot and he looks really fit. Can't say it's due to my success in taking him for 2 walks a day, though...

"My wish for Nina is that she stays well and continues to do well at shows. I've just started taking her again and she's had a Best of Breed, a 1st and two 2nds in her first four shows. My resolutions for her are to continue working on her nervousness of unknown small dogs if they come bounding up to her (she's much better, but more to do) and to join an agility club with her." Update - she's well and doing pretty well at shows. RBOB recently. I've taken her once to the village field where everyone walks their dogs and once to Westonbirt Arboretum. Does that count as working on her nervousness? Not really, does it? Haven't joined an agility club, but she has had a couple of agility lessons at our normal place.

My wish for Satchmo is that he stops chewing everything! Are you listening, young man? My resolutions for him are to get him through KC Gold and SWDTBC Intermediate. And to improve my handling, especially to handle him well at Crufts. Update - as with all my dobes, Satch got to 20 months and pretty much stopped chewing everything - apart from his mother's ears. He's got his KC Gold and may take his Intermediate shortly. And I DID handle him well at Crufts - as witness his 2nd and 3rd places!

Too good - I'm suspicious

Satchmo has been pretty good. He got his Kennel Club Gold last Sunday. He was really well-behaved on his walk yesterday. He hasn't chewed up anything in the garden lately. Why is it that I feel we're building up to something?

Satchmo at Crufts

Crufts was last Friday. Took Satchmo, mainly for a day out as everyone reckoned the judge likes shorter, stockier dogs. However ... he came 3rd in Yearling Dog and 2nd in Good Citizen Dog. I was very pleased; I think his movement probably swung it as he moved like a dream. It's so nice to have a really big ring to move a big dog in. He didn't pace at all ... unlike the one that won Best of Breed ;-)

Put a sock in it

So, I used to have several hard rubber balls that made really good garden toys if tied in an old sock; makes it easy to throw them a long way. Needless to say, the socks had disappeared, so I went and got a couple more. Run out of the very fine ones, so these 2 were a bit thicker. Tied them on and threw a couple of times and went out for the day leaving the dogs playing happily with them. Came back to find - both balls, neither had their socks on. Couldn't find the socks whatever I did. Gave Satchmo some old-fashioned looks.

Cut to next few days when old Max was being a bit sick here and there, but dogs do that, so ...

THREE days later, I came downstairs in the morning to find a large pile of vomit. Unusual that, as they usually eat it again (aaargh). I don't really need to tell you that both socks were in it, do I? Poor old Max had managed to eat two full thick socks. Poor wee laddie. Better out than in, I suppose!

Life's not fair!

Satch has been really good lately. Good stays, good on walks. Then Saturday I was preparing myself a really nice cold chicken salad (you can see where this is going) when the postman arrived. The back door was open as it was such a lovely day and the dogs all rushed out, so I had to step momentarily outside the back door to take the post through the gate ... and stepped back in to find the chicken breast in Satch's mouth. Got it back, not without a little difficulty, but obviously out of the question to eat it. I had to make do with an omelette and the dogs got chicken for tea. Life's so not fair!

The joys of dog ownership

Got up yesterday morning and could tell before I started to come downstairs that there had been an 'issue' overnight. Got into the breakfast room to discover one of the three dogs had had real squits. Spent a happy half-hour cleaning that up. Couldn't have been Max as he would have called me. So both Nina and Satch got a very small breakfast. All well during the morning - several lots of workmen there laying flooring and carpets, servicing the Aga, delivering radiators. Then, after they'd all gone (thank goodness) I discovered some more in the hall and extending on to the sitting room carpet - which had just been professionally cleaned, at great expense, exactly a week before. Whilst cleaning that up, I realised there was some more on the sitting room carpet. Oh joy. Concluded it was Satchmo (there was a bit of evidence, if you know what I mean). So no dinner and no training class for him. Still, that meant Nina could go. We did a bit of agility - going over a jump, through a tunnel, over another jump, picking up a retrieve item and bringing it back the same way. She gets soooo excited about agility that, to start with, I couldn't stop her going backwards and forwards through the tunnel in a frenzy of excitement. Bless.

Dobermann eating deer

Gross bit of video from Xmas time. Monster Nina found this in a field and wouldn't give it up until there was only a little bit left. Needless to say, much of it appeared on the floor the next morning...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S5kyQo1V5w

Tomboy again

Yet again, I came home from a day out last Weds and found Nina had a 3 inch tear in her side. Actually, rather embarrassingly, I didn't find it on Weds at all - I didn't notice till Thursday morning. So, no breakfast for Nina as it was clearly a general anaesthetic jobbie. Off to the vet for first appointment of the morning (I think they keep it free for us). Collected her about 4.30 and had usual 'I need to sleep but I don't want to so I'm going to stand here and waver about all evening'. Getting better now. Nurse Satch did his usual job of licking it clean all the time. Although clean is perhaps overstating it. You never know where that tongue has been. No - worse - you DO know where that tongue has been!

The Nina Simone Guide to Parenting

The Nina Simone guide to parenting – a guide for first-time mothers

1. If in doubt, lick its bottom
2. When leaping from the bed to shout at a passing horse, try not to tread on more than two of the puppies
3. If the horse is imaginary, try not to tread on more than one
4. When all else fails, lick its bottom
5. If it won’t stop suckling to have its bottom licked, stand it on its head and do it anyway
6. Try not to look at the puppies with too much disdain as you pass the nest, or your mum might not let you out in the garden as much
7. Remember, this is the one time you’ll be allowed to eat as much as you want – cultivate a constant hungry look and head for the kitchen every time your mum goes in there
8. If the puppies cry, ignore them; they’ll fall asleep eventually
9. If they’re suckling and you want to get out of the bed, get out anyway; they’ll drop off at some point
10. If in doubt, lick its bottom

Happy New Year

Happy New Year. What will 2011 hold for Grafmax dobermanns?

My main wish for Max is that he stays happy and healthy. My resolution is to make sure he gets 2 walks every day to keep him fit.

My wish for Nina is that she stays well and continues to do well at shows. I've just started taking her again and she's had a Best of Breed, a 1st and two 2nds in her first four shows. My resolutions for her are to continue working on her nervousness of unknown small dogs if they come bounding up to her (she's much better, but more to do) and to join an agility club with her.

My wish for Satchmo is that he stops chewing everything! Are you listening, young man? My resolutions for him are to get him through KC Gold and SWDTBC Intermediate. And to improve my handling, especially to handle him well at Crufts.

On the fourth day of Christmas ... I strangled Satchmo

On the fourth day of Christmas my Satchmo chewed for me...

Four doggie collars
Four leather shoes
Three organisers
Two of Nina's moo-moos
And a really nice honeysuckle tree

The dog collars were all on Max's neck at the time.
The leather shoes were all real favourites except one.
The latest organiser had been bought only two months ago
And the honeysuckle had been cultivated for years to the point where it climbed right over the wall. It's now a two-inch stump.
Sigh.