Audrey the Field Spaniel

Lack of updates is a good thing!

2009-07-27T20:20:00.000-07:00

We've been so busy having adventures that we have been severely lacking in updates!

Our latest endeavor is the launch of a new social networking site for dog owners in the Rio Grande Valley. Since getting Audrey I've been on the constant lookout for new and exciting places to take not only her for weekly socialization, but my other dogs as well. This new site is designed so that other dog owners can post about their adventures and we can all keep updated on dog-friendly/dog-related events in the RGV. Check it out at:

www.rgvdawg.ning.com

In two weeks Mackenzie and I will be debuting in AKC Rally Advanced at the Corpus Christi Kennel Club/Obedience Club of Corpus Christi's annual show. I'm really really excited.

Audrey is progressing quite nicely in the Looks department. Her feathering is coming in on her front legs and a tiny bit on the back legs, and she is finally filling out slowly. As for her personality she is still a demon when I'm not here (or so my parents tell me). But she has her glimmers of greatness. I'm guessing once both of my parents go back to work we can get back to our normal routine.

She is still hesitant allowing people to pet her/approach her but in general she is recovering from being startled or wary much faster than even a few weeks ago. Speaking of a few weeks ago, Audrey went on her first trip to the Beach (South Padre Island) and she had a blast. She was a perfect little traveler and earned the nickname Angel the whole weekend. She loved walking on the beach and walking into/jumping over the waves.

We still go to the bar every Thursday and we just started walking at the World Birding Center last Friday and I hope to take her there at least every week or every other week. Assuming she doesn't fall headfirst into the pond again. :)

K9 Kayaking

2009-06-30T20:43:00.000-07:00

Just a quick picture of Mackenzie and me on our two minute kayaking adventure. :)

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-20T22:26:00.000-07:00

To the best Dad in the world!!

On Father's Day we celebrate not only my Dad's special day, but also the day we brought Spencer home, exactly 4yrs ago. Dad's best Father's Day gift EVER. :)

A wonderfully unexpected Mariachi Band!

2009-06-20T20:47:00.000-07:00

Audrey and I went for our usual evening walk and met the white Spencer-looking dog down the street again. And again She was a bit hostile towards Audrey but they were fine. Her owner, one of my neighbors, asked me "She's a Lab right?" To which I replied, "No, she's a Field Spaniel." And then we walked away. C'mon, a Lab, really? Is that going to be the most common guess?

We continued on down the street and the recent trend is that the 2nd half of our street is over run by people letting their big fat labs and little white terriers loose in their front yard (ie: the middle of the street). So we turned around and started coming back home.

Another of our neighbors was talking to my Mom so Audrey said Hello and acted quite friendly. There were tons of cars in the street and we noticed there was a lot of bustling at our next door neighbor's house. We heard the wailing of trumpets, violins, and guitars and singing of a Mariachi Band and we naturally went to investigate.

Audrey's initial reaction was to bolt, but I held her leash close and we huddled next to the next door neighbor's fence and she got comfortable enough to sit with me and we listened to the Mariachis play for a while.

After that we walked on down the street and much to our excitement the Mariachis were done playing and started walking toward their van to pack up. Their van, conveniently, was parked right across from our driveway. We stood and watched them drink their waters and smoke their cigs and I asked if we could say Hello. I told them my dog was just a baby and quite shy and they should all say hello to her.

They were all super friendly and whistled and baby-talked to my beautiful Cocker Spaniel. Audrey on the other hand flipped out about the giant harp, trumpets, cellos, violins, and of course, their Mariachi outfits. After a lot of flipping out and nearly escaping out of her collar, I picked her up and allowed them all to pet her. They were very nice and she allowed them to pet her.

As it turns out, my family knows the main trumpet player so he came into our yard to say Hello to my Mom and Dad and I guess Audrey figured since he was on our yard he was less scary. She went up and sniffed his outfit, his trumpet, and his hands but balked a little when he bent down to pet her.

I think she did pretty well considering a Mariachi Band full of strange outfits, loud music (they played a little of the Harp while they were packing up in the street), big men, and large instruments would probably initially freak out even the most stable of dogs. Well, most dogs anyway, Mackenzie was raised with the Cornell Marching/Pep Band so she's used to pretty much everything musical/instrument-related.

Overall, it was a really great socialization opportunity that I imagine a lot of dogs never get to experience. I love the Valley. :)

Wonderfully Unexpected Visitors

2009-06-10T22:33:00.000-07:00

Since its already summer we are looking forward to several Wonderfully Unexpected Visitors (WUVs)! The other day marked the beginning with my best friend from high school stopping by unannounced as I was getting ready to leave for work. Then tonight Mom's BFF from work stopped by complete with her 10yo + 2yo Yorkies.

She rang the doorbell (duh) and of course that sent the dogs into quite the tizzy (they LOVE hearing the doorbell because that means - WUVs!). Whenever WUVs ring the doorbell Dad makes a big deal about opening the door and inevitably 1-4 dogs will run out the door depending on how many are loose in the house at the time. The good part is that their main goal is to greet the WUVs whether its the pizza man, the post man, cable guy, or someone we actually know, so once they are sniffed and cleared for entry into our home, everyone comes back inside to complete the greeting rituals.

Our dog's usual doorway greeting rituals-
Mackenzie: BARK BARK BARK sniff BARK BARK BARK sniff BARK BARK BARK x infinity
Spencer: sniff sniff OMG I NEED TO BRING A TOY TO THE HUMAN!!!!!
April: JUMP LICK JUMP JUMP JUMP LICK JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP JUMP

In this case however, since she had her two dogs there was the initial sniffing of human + dogs then Spencer went into total Terrier PLAY mode. Whenever he and April/Audrey/Mackenzie/Anyone play with him or he gets excited he starts spinning and snapping the air. So all I see when she is trying to come inside is April hopping up to kiss her, and Spencer spinning at the dogs and Mackenzie obviously barking her silly head off.

Finally they came in and I put everyone outside. Audrey was in her crate so I let her out and she did her usual wigglebutt shuffle all the way down the hallway because she knew someone was here. Once she saw that OMG THERE ARE DOGS IN MY HOUSE! she was totally comfortable with our WUV (who she has met a couple times before). She went right up to our WUV and her dogs and said hello and acted all cute and wiggly trying to get the younger Yorkie to play with her. After a few minutes I let her outside and traded for Mackenzie to come inside while everyone else stayed outside.

We gave our canine guests some of their favorite Greenies smart biscuits (and of course Mackenzie had to partake since they are our dogs fav biscuits too) and Mackenzie allowed the dog cookie jar to hang out on the coffee table without guarding it. She even let the younger Yorkie sniff her bum for several seconds. She was an incredibly gracious hostess.

I think its great that all of our dogs are so welcoming to both people and other dogs into our home. Our guests on the other hand may not always appreciate four overly friendly dogs climbing all over them and the furniture (yes, my dogs will not only JUMP on YOU, but they will also JUMP on the furniture, OMG such ill-trained dogs!) so usually we'll let them greet guests 1-2 at a time with the rest outside and/or crate and rotate. With WUVs though, since we don't know when they are coming over sometimes we will *gasp* have all 4 dogs loose in the house when they ring the doorbell. So here's to a summer filled with WUVs!!!

Blessed Puppy

2009-06-10T12:37:00.000-07:00

Every one of our dogs has been to St. Jude's Church in Pharr, TX to get sprinkled with holy water. There is a lovely outdoor walking area and places to pray. We usually go to the store, buy four candles (one for each member of our family), light them and place them in one of the prayer areas and blessing the dogs with holy water.

Mackenzie went when she was a baby, Spencer when he was a young puppy, even April shortly after we adopted her. Since the last time we had been there they had posted a sign that dogs weren't allowed.

We arrived and parked and I had noticed a little dog running around the baseball field across the street while we were driving in. That same dog ran across the street straight toward us when he saw Audrey jump out of the car. So I yelled at him and scooped up Audrey in my arms while kicking and screaming at him. This dog would NOT leave us alone. So I was yelling at the dog and we were all trying to scare it away (it seemed to be a nice friendly dog, but being a stray, we didn't know if it had any communicable diseases) when finally Mom opened the car and I was able to get her umbrella to keep him away.

Once we had scared the stray dog away we walked through the gates and over to the holy water and blessed Audrey (she was of course scared of what we were doing - sprinkling water over her head- and wanted to drink the holy water instead). We stayed for a while and she sat nice and quiet while people were praying. It is quite a far drive to St. Jude's plus we ran a couple other errands while we were out so overall she was out with us driving around, and running errands for probably 3 hours. I don't know whether it was the holy water or not, but she behaved beautifully all the way home.

Oh and tomrrow I am going kayaking with Mackenzie and some other friends and their dogs. It should be a fabulous day. :)

Stats

2009-06-04T22:40:00.001-07:00

Approximate number of times Audrey has been called:

Cocker Spaniel: I stopped counting

"Spaniel?": 10

Irish Setter: 3

Chocolate Lab: 3

Labradoodle: 1

A WHAT?

2009-05-29T06:44:00.000-07:00

Last night we did Illegal Dog Park followed by Roosevelt's bar as per our usual Thursday. Our current Illegal Dog Park location seemed to attract a few people who were just running by. In particular a young good-looking guy with some equally good-looking labs (one yellow, one chocolate) was running by and saw us, so he stopped in.

He let his dogs off leash for a little while and they went off and socialized a bit. I was intrigued by him so I went over to talk to him and Audrey followed me. As we got close enough Audrey went up to sniff him.

Guy: "Aww, she's a Labradoodle right?"
Me: "Oh c'mon, you've gotta be kidding me. A Labradoodle?"
Guy: "What??? She looks exactly like my dog...she's a labradoodle."
(I don't know if he meant she looked exactly like his chocolate lab who he had with him, or if he had another dog - a labradoodle - at home).
Me: "She is absolutely NOT a labradoodle. She is a purebred Field Spaniel. They are a very rare breed in the United States."
Guy: "Oh...cause she looks just like a labradoodle."

I think that will probably be the pinnacle of Audrey's career. Being called a Labradoodle. It doesn't get any better than that.

We had a great time last night and she behaved beautifully at the bar. She laid on her little mat, ate ice cubes and treats, chewed on her plastic cup, and whined to play with her best pal, Grace the 6mo GSD who was tethered across the table from her. She still occasionally acts shy with people when they initiate the greeting, otherwise if she is allowed to come up to them first, she is perfectly fine and friendly.

Taking her to the bar is obviously the ideal solution to her shyness. No one is allowed to be shy at a bar. :)

8mo Update

2009-05-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

Audrey accompanied April and I to the Vet this morning. April is going blind in one eye and is sporadically limping on her right hind leg, plus she needed her yearly shots. So off we went.

April weighed in at 17.5 lbs! A whole pound more than the last time, granted she was wearing her super heavy bling Coach collar + a harness so that might have been the pound right there. She got her yearly shots, plus one anti-inflammatory shot for both her eye scarring, and her leg. She was insanely happy to be at the Vet and jumped up and gave every one lots of kisses. She was super cute and silly, I love my April.

Audrey weighed in at a disappointing 28lbs. I was guessing (hoping?) she was anywhere from 30-35 but no, still in the 20's. Which is pretty sad considering she's so much taller/longer than Spence and only about 6lbs heavier than him. I also had the Vet look at the little scabby thing on Audrey's head and he said it was likely some mange mites were still present so she's going to do oral Ivermectin for two more months just to make sure we got them all.

Sorry no pictures for this post, but we are most likely going out to the bar tonight, so perhaps I'll have pictures to post later.

Next up for the pup

2009-05-21T11:21:00.000-07:00

Next up for Audrey is going to be a practice run at her Delta Society therapy dog evaluation. She is ineligible based on age (she needs to be 1yo to be evaluated) but I would like to see how well she would do right now. Mackenzie and I are members of WAGS (Wonderful Animals Giving Support) so we are hoping to squeeze Audrey into the summer evals/workshop to see how she does. She is still quite shy when people approach her but overall I think she has the perfect temperament to be a therapy dog because she adores people.

Mackenzie was the first dog I've actually done dog stuff with, so she started much later in life. I got her while I was in college, so we didn't quite have the time or resources to start doing stuff while still in New York (although I kick myself now). Mackenzie became a therapy dog shortly after her 3rd birthday and didn't enter the obedience ring until she was nearly 5yo. Now, since I sort of know what I'm doing, hopefully Audrey can get a head start on her dog "stuff" career at a much earlier age. That being said, I will never force her to do anything that she is uncomfortable with or that I feel she is not ready to do/or capable of doing just because Mackenzie did it. :)

Stacked at nearly 8mo

2009-05-14T21:22:00.000-07:00

My girl takes some properly stacked photos (well, as close as we can get).

She'll be 8mo on May 27th and as one of her breeders said about the pics, "she looks damned good to me". I totally agree. :)

Los Caminos

2009-05-08T11:00:00.000-07:00

One of the people we meet up with is the Executive Director of Los Caminos del Rio (www.loscaminos.org) "Los Caminos del Rio began as a Texas Historical Commission exercise in historic and cultural preservation back in 1991. Fresh investment from the Meadows Foundation has reinvigorated our pursuit of National Heritage Area status for the Corridor from Laredo to Brownsville. Through a robust mix of place-based education, support for the arts and outdoor sports we make the Valley a more interesting place to live. Los Caminos promotes cultural heritage, ecotourism and active outdoor living on both sides of the Lower Rio Grande."

He has invited us to help promote and recruit for a kayaking day on the river with people and their dogs. I'm totally excited. :)

Thursday Adventures

2009-05-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

The evening started out by us meeting up with a few friends and their dogs at a school yard just like we did a few weeks back. Things were going good and the dogs were running and playing and Audrey was exploring her perimeters every chance she got (trying to find a way to escape and give me a heart attack - did I mention this area isn't entirely fenced in?)

After a few minutes we looked down the road and decided to try and go to another school yard a couple blocks away which looked to be empty (and was fenced in completely). The other ladies I was with walked to their cars and said they would meet me there. I begin walking back to my car (on the other side of the school we were currently at) and the realization hit me. Somehow I knew it was a bad idea to park on that side again because last time I came they locked the gate right behind me as I was leaving. This time, it was already locked since we had stayed a bit later than last time. After a few minutes of desperately searching all over the school for a custodian or someone to let me out to my car, I decided to just walk to the other school yard we were meeting them at.

For someone who used to walk an hour and a half to class at Cornell, this little two block stretch was nothing for me. It was actually quite a nice little stroll. Since it had been several minutes since I told the ladies I would meet them there they were driving around looking for us and found us walking. Once we got to the other yard it was lovely and had a nice gate and we let the girls off leash to run around.

A while later one of the women I was with said she was meeting someone at the bar, so she was going to leave and she would meet us there whenever we were done playing. So she left and we stayed playing for a while longer. As we were just chatting away we see two men looking straight at us from across the school yard.

One of them comes up and starts telling us the following:
-dogs are not allowed in this area (even leashed) because they poop and poop is dangerous to the children who go to this school and play in this yard regardless of whether you pick it up or not
-he has been advised that if he finds dogs in this yard he is supposed to call the McAllen Police
-but he likes us and doesn't want us to be upset with him so he won't call the Police
-but he has to leave so when we're done playing if we could just lock the gate behind us so no other people (with dogs) can get in that would be great
-so really we're not supposed to be there and don't come back, but for now, stay as long as we want.

It was kind of odd, but we appreciated him not calling the Police on us. Shortly after he left we leashed up and got out of there. My friend drove me to my car and we then drove another couple of blocks over to the Bar.

The bar (Roosevelt's at 7) was really awesome. The outdoor area was super nice and all of the servers were extremely accommodating to us and the dogs. They have a giant water bowl for the dogs and they loved petting them and talking to them. Not to mention the bar-goers also really enjoyed the dogs too. I had a Pear Woodchuck (well, two) and OMG it was amazing. They have like 40 different kinds of beers/ales and it is a really classy place. I didn't get to go inside, but from what I saw it looked just as nice inside.

The conversation was equally great. These people I hung out with are all around my parents age or older and they've got these fantastically interesting lives. We had a few drinks and slowly the bar really began to get busy. When we first got there (~7:30PM) we were the only people in the patio. By around 8:30 or so it was nearly completely full. Like I said, most people came up to pet the dogs or made a comment about them and they were having a great time.

We decided to order some food and I must say, it too was incredibly good. But before my food arrived however, Audrey, who was attached by her leash on a carabiner to my chair, decided that the other ladies I was with should be sharing their food with her from across the table. So she proceeded to jump onto the table, and this was a high table, taller than my elbows as we were seated. I quickly shooed her off and once my food came she had settled down enough to have some of my panini.

As we were eating a surprise guest showed up. Sir Kingston and a half-naked woman called "Jaguar". They just pranced all over the bar and people took pictures with them and of course we asked to take a picture with them too.

Apparently you can hire him, Sir Kingston (www.sirkingston.com) to help you advertise your bar or restaurant, which is what Jaguar was doing. I think. Once they left we finished our fabulous food, chatted for a few more minutes and paid our tab and came home. All of that, more than 5hrs of being out and about, and Audrey still got the zoomies with Spencer when we got home.

Seven Months Old

2009-05-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

The A-Team!
April and Audrey waiting to go back inside (and cramming both of their big butts onto one mat).

Took some pictures of my goofy little Audrey outside after breakfast. She is a total natural at posing. :)

Not as exciting as Illegal Dog Park

2009-04-23T22:40:00.001-07:00

Instead of an exciting update about another visit to Illegal Dog Park and the dog-friendly bar Roosevelt's, I went to the Doctor for an infected spider/bug bite on my leg. :(

If you really want to know (possibly TMI) I've got a bacterial infection so I got some hardcore antibiotics. Not all was lost though because Audrey did get to go to the pharmacy with us. While waiting for my prescription we walked around outside Walgreen's and she flipped out at a fire hydrant.

Luckily since I'm a true Dog "Mom" I had emergency cookies in my bag. I introduced her to the fire hydrant from a short distance away and she ate cookies just fine. Unsatisfied with just that, I placed cookies on the lower level of the hydrant and she reluctantly sniffed and then hesitantly ate them off of the hydrant. Slowly but surely I got her to sit and then released her to eat cookies off the entire bottom circle of the fire hydrant. Still unsatisfied, I put cookies on the top level of the fire hydrant and she jumped up to get them and actually stood on her hind legs balancing her front half on the hydrant asking for more cookies! Success!

I forgot to add that earlier this week she attended PetSmart's annual Pet Birthday party and did WONDERFULLY. She met tons of dogs and people and took everything in stride. She was super outgoing and friendly with the other dogs and was even going up to people to say Hello. She was absolutely great and I was so proud of her progress.

Illegal Dog Park First Visit

2009-04-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

I call it Illegal Dog Park because it sounds sneaky and mysterious, but really what we do is go to vacant schoolyard playgrounds and let the dogs off leash.

We don't actually have a real dog park in McAllen, but we do have a group of people and dogs who meet up at another elementary school on Sunday afternoons. Because I work Sunday I haven't gone in a very long time. Working on Sundays is not the only reason I don't go though. The main reason I don't go is because it is an Unofficial Dog Park (see that doesn't sound as cool as Illegal) there isn't a seperate place for big dogs and small dogs. The other reason we don't go anymore is because Spencer is not happy or friendly with Little Kids Who Steal HIS Frisbee. Again because it is unofficial, there are no rules against bringing children to the dog park. But that is a different story/rant for a different day.

Anyway, tonight there were a few people and dogs who are trying to start a mid-week play group at another elementary school on Thursday evenings. So I decided to take Audrey by herself to see how she did. And because at around 30lbs right now she is by far my "biggest" dog and I knew it was likely going to be just large dogs.

The school yard where we met was a small grassy area surrounded by shallow ditches and fenced in on three sides and leading into a parking lot. Since it was 6:30PM or so when we arrived, there weren't many cars so I wasn't worried about it not being totally fenced in since the parking lot was mainly empty with very little action. As we were walking across the parking lot I took off Audrey's lead and we walked toward the other dogs. The dogs were Buster, a very VERY large Lab X, and Grace a 4-5mo GSD (who I just graduated from puppy class) was roughly the size of Audrey just a bit taller.

At first the other dogs hadn't noticed us but when they did Grace came barreling at Audrey and Audrey was OFF like someone had lit a fire under her nubbin. She made it all the way to the parking lot area when I decided to call Grace to me. Once Grace came running towards me Audrey decided no one was going to eat her so she came back. Her recall throughout our time there was fabulous by the way. Every time I called her she would drop what she was doing and run her crooked little bum all the way to me and I would love her up and release her to play again.

For the next half hour or so the dogs (now including a huge Doberman named Brando) chased Grace's Chuck-it ball, played with my water bottle, hung out with each other and were having a lovely time. When the other dogs were getting tired and just laying around Audrey got bored and decided to explore the ditches surrounding the area we were in. She went all the way into the shallow ditch at the far end of the fenced area and I saw her get something in her mouth. I knew if I made a big deal she would come and show it to me so I started yelling "AUDREY WHAT DID YOU FIND, GOOD GIRL? BRING IT HERE, LEMME SEE IT!!" She loved that and came flying back to me with a rabbit carcass (I'm guessing that's what it was) in her mouth.

Once she got to me I told her to drop it and surprisingly she did (good girl!) The other dogs each stole it one by one and got it in their mouths before we covered it with a water bowl. Then they postured and growled at each other while they all guarded it (Audrey was not involved in the guarding, she was already moving on to another adventure). Once we had disposed of it, Audrey could tell things were boring again so she went back to her ditch and brought what appeared to be a jaw bone, or wing, or bone of unknown origin. Again she ran right back to me when I called her like an obedient little hunting dog. After a brief victory lap with the bone in her mouth she dropped it and Buster crunched it up and ate it.

Overall she did really great, aside from her wonderfully naughty retrieving skills. Her recall was amazing and she seemed totally happy and at ease with the other dogs and even the people. She looked like the most graceful, beautiful dog I've ever seen while she was running towards me and again when she would stop and sniff the air or strike a pose.

We had a great time and next week we're going to go again, and then afterwards there is a bar down the street from the school that apparently allows dogs out on the patio. So that will be our next adventure. :)

Adventures

2009-04-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I needed to pick up Mackenzie's framed RN certificate with her ribbons and pictures of me and her with the judges at Hobby Lobby. Audrey needed a few treats and I had a $10 coupon for PetSmart so I decided to wait until Mom came home so we could do both errands. I definitely wanted to take Audrey because obviously she needs it. And secretly because I enjoy the comments I get when I walk her. :)

So off we went and lo and behold, Audrey was an Outgoing Friendly Puppy. She was pulling to meet people in the parking lot, and once inside the door steered us straight toward the registers where one of her favorite people was standing (my pal Marianne). She was wary of sudden movements from the young children she met (but allowed them to pet her), and was still slow to greet people when they reached out towards her and over her head. But the highlights were when a few of my friends asked to greet her, they knelt down or allowed her to approach first and she was perfectly calm and accepted petting and high-pitched greetings. She took treats from people, sat when I asked her to, she would down, AND she would Heel. She even got to play with the fattest Cocker Spaniel ever.

Mom was super impressed and said it "made my heart burst with pride to see her act like that" (in those exact words). We've made some incredible progress I think. Although Mom thinks it was because she was with me and Audrey felt more secure with both of us there. Either way it was BY FAR the best she has ever acted out in public and it gives me hope that she will be a normal outgoing friendly puppy in no time.

Pictures!

2009-04-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

Pictures of Audrey at 6.5mos. Plus some of Mackenzie, Spencer, and April.

Good Friday

2009-04-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't written as often as I should, but don't think that just because Audrey isn't going to be a conformation dog that we haven't been working on her. Every week we still have our socialization adventures. At 6mos old she is an absolute terror in the house, but extremely shy when either people come over, or she meets people/sees people outside of our house, or something new and scary happens. So every week we go on adventures.

As I wrote in a previous post, the scariest place on earth to her was the park we go to on Sprague Rd. Since her first time there I always bring her back with Mackenzie. This park is probably on Mackenzie's Top Ten Fave Parks, so she's always super excited and that has really helped Audrey get over her fears. We've gone almost every week for the past few weeks and the progress is coming slowly. There are several different entrances and playgrounds in the park so we've yet to hang out at all of them.
Note: playgrounds by the skateboard park are NOT a good place to take a fearful dog. Sounds of young boys skateboarding = even bomb-proof Mackenzie flips out a little bit.

Other than that park and PetSmart on a weekly basis, she goes with us for a car ride nearly every night either to the pharmacy, or to pick up food. We also go on walks in the neighborhood where she sees/hears other dogs, cars, people, big black trashbags full of horror, and terrifying wooden Easter Bunny lawn decorations.

Her other adventures include several visitors to our house on a weekly basis. In just this past week we've had my best friend Ashlee and her boyfriend Ben visiting from London, Matt's friends Nelson and Robert, and my friend Marianne all come over at different times. She will alternate between coming up to sniff them, running away terrified, and then coming over to sniff again when no one is looking at her. So we're working on that.

Today however, was an extra special treat. Dad and Mom are off from work because it is Good Friday so Dad invited us to go with him to Lowe's. Being the great outdoorsy place that it is, they allow dogs in the plant section outside. Thanks Lowe's!

Overall she did extremly well. There were a few tough spots; the forklift, the birds cooing scared her (worst bird dog ever!), people pushing the big baskets/wagons full of plants, etc. The great thing was, she recovered very quickly from most of the incidents. When we first went in she would spit out her favorite banana flavored cookies. Once we were in though, in between short bursts of flipping out, she was jumping on me asking for more cookies. Several people commented on how beautiful she was and I had a silly conversation with a husband and wife outside on our way back to the car.

Wife admiring the dog (also wearing white pants so it was my turn to flip out that Audrey was going to jump on her with muddy paws): She is soooo beautiful! ::turns to husband:: Look honey, look at this pretty dog!
Me: She's just a baby. She's only six months old and shy so we're working on that.
Wife: Oh My! Six months! She's a big girl! Cocker Spaniel?
Me: No, she's a Field Spaniel.
::Husband finally turns around:: What's the difference?
Me: Field Spaniels are bigger. They are a medium sized hunting dog.
Husband: A what?
Me: Hunting dog.
Husband: Hunting what?
Me: Birds...
Husband: Is that what you use her for?
Me: No. I'm going to show her in obedience... (at this point I trail off because obviously Rude Husband was done being interested and had already started walking away).

She took cookies from another lady's hand (one of dad's friends) and sniffed her and her husband, and she was interested in sniffing people who came up to her. What she really doesn't like is when people reach over her head to pet her. If they would just open their hand and let her sniff their palm first she would be fine. But somewhere in dog history some idiot decided that dogs needed to pet on the head and everyone and their mother tries to do it like that. For the record ALL my dogs hate that, especially Spencer who is the master of avoiding petting.

But overall Audrey was really great. She was panting and smiling by the end (which is the normal goofy Audrey face) and strutted out of Lowe's like a little champ. Then we went to Burger King to pick up breakfast and she got a hash brown for being a good girl and also go to finish the rest of her bag of treats once we got home.

Luckily I think that since Audrey is young, with enough adventures like these she will be fine. I worked on Mackenzie's severe dog aggression/reactivity for years before she was able to be shown at 5yo. So there's always hope. :)

A New Journey

2009-03-19T21:27:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned Audrey was diagnosed with Demodex (demodicosis, demodectic mange, puppy mange). In doing my research and talking to the vet it is clear that this diagnosis puts an end to Audrey's conformation/breeding career. Predisposition to demodicosis is considered hereditary and should not be passed on. While the demodex mites themselves are not considered hereditary, it is believed that dogs with demodectic mange should not be bred.

At the beginning of her hairloss (right around the belly, inner leg area), I put off taking her to the Vet to see if her hairloss resolved itself or not. After it continued to spread I knew she needed to be put on medication.

"Sometimes the puppy with localized demodicosis was obtained for breeding purposes. The current recommendation is not to treat these puppies so that we can determine if the condition will stay localized and resolve or if it will generalize. If it stays localized and eventually resolves without treatment, the animal is still a candidate for breeding. If the condition generalizes to cover the entire body, the animal should be sterilized. If the condition receives treatment and resolves, we will never know how the disease would have gone in its natural state and will not know whether the pup is carrying the genetic predisposition for demodectic mange. In this case, it is best to be conservative and not take the chance of passing on genetic predisposition for this disease."

Mackenzie was diagnosed with Demodex when she was 3.5yrs old which is a much bigger red flag. It was right after we adopted April from the shelter (stress), Mackenzie had just gotten vacc'd at a new vet (more stress) AND she ended up getting kennel cough from April anyway (stress + suppressed immune system = mange) . We took it very seriously and she was dipped in Mitaban every week for 8wks or so (cost close to $500 total) and had her skin scraped 4 times. Incidentally she was also at her highest weight of 11.8lbs (omg!!!)

Audrey will be on oral Ivermectin for approximately 60 days. So far she doesn't look any better, but they say it gets worse before it gets better.

After discussing these details with Audrey's breeder it has been decided that she will be spayed as soon as we feel comfortable (once she is clear of the mange) I'm thinking some time around her 1st birthday in the Fall. Our contract will change from Show Prospect to a Performance/Pet contract. As previously decided, in addition to Conformation I was planning on showing her in Obedience and Rally and any other dog sport we could possibly get our hands and paws on.

Thus now we truly begin our journey. Our road has changed a bit, but we are just as excited to get started. Instead of her rolled leather collar to prevent the collar "dent" we have officially switched to a martingale training collar. We will begin her formal obedience training as soon as possible. Although she knows the basics (Sit, Down, Stand, Stay, Watch, a loose Heel) we had been mainly focusing on stacking, stand/stay, and socialization. Now we can really start working on Obedience/Rally. The goal is Mackenzie in Rally Advanced A and Audrey in Rally Novice B at the Corpus Christi show in August.

So Audrey will not be my first Conformation dog and I won't have a Champion show dog at the age of 25. But I do have the most beautiful, affectionate, wonderful puppy I could have ever asked for.

She is mine forever and we will travel whatever journey is put in front of us, together.

Vet x 2

2009-03-05T16:46:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately Audrey was diagnosed with Demodectic Mange (Demodex, puppy mange) today. She will be on oral Ivermectin for the next 60 days. Her hair should grow back within the next few months.

Mackenzie accompanied us to the Vet because her bum was bleeding and as it turns out she has an anal gland abscess and got a shot of antibiotics. :(

Rally Novice Title!

2009-03-02T22:09:00.000-08:00

I wrote earlier this year that I wanted to finish Mackenzie's RN title with at least one placement. We did it!

At the San Antonio Dog Training Club Obedience/Rally trial in Kerrville, Tx we got a Perfect Score of 100 on Saturday and First Place and a score of 99 on Sunday and another First Place!!! So Mackenzie is now officially:
JC's The Weiner Takes All, RN

Fear Period

2009-02-12T17:18:00.001-08:00

Claire (1yo, female, Field Spaniel) who belongs to Audrey's breeder Gayle, has been coming to class with me to try and work on her fear issues and has been making very good and steady progress in just the few times we've worked with her. That being said, I was hoping Audrey would be a magical puppy that never went through a fear period at all, much less several different ones throughout her first year.

So yesterday we went over to Central Office (Dad's office which is full of dozens of people, slick floors, random boxes, janitors, tables, Dad's fish tank, etc.) She was super shy about meeting people when they started squealing about how gorgeous she is and walking towards her with their hands out, but once they either squatted down or ignored her for a second she was much more willing to come up and be pet (or allow me to pick her up and get pet - which I won't be able to do for much longer as she's getting quite heavy).

We went around the office and got several weird questions such as "Is this the mother or the father of that little puppy that ya'll brought a few weeks ago?" To which Dad and I looked at each other and Dad said "Uh, this IS that puppy... she just got bigger."
And I said several: "No, she's still not a Cocker Spaniel. Yes, her paws are big, she'll be at least 40-50lbs. No, she's not related to the Basset Hound. Yes, she is related to the winner of Westminster (Sussex Spaniel). No, she's not an outside dog just because she's "big".

Then Dad had a meeting so we hung around for a little while and she ate some cookies and practiced some sit and stand/stay. Then we had a few more minutes until everyone got home from work so I figured as a treat for being such a good girl we would go to the park. Bad idea.

The park was the first time I've ever seen her really flip out (not counting when I dropped the box of Milkbones on her). As I was getting her out of the car at the park, I had a fleeting thought that maybe I should keep her car harness on her just in case she flipped out because I figured she could probably slip out of her leather collar. That was the only good idea of that entire outing.

We first had to walk on gravel in the little kid's playground and that freaked her out but she quickly got over it. Then as we were walking to the playground, a Mom was wheeling her son in one of those bright red plastic car-shaped strollers. The stroller itself wasn't scary but it happened to be wheeling on the sidewalk which was covered in pieces of gravel from the playground so it was making double the amount of noise. At this point Audrey was literally darting all over the place and running from side to side trying to get away (thank goodness for the harness). She was pulling me so hard to leave that she actually left nail scratch marks in the sidewalk.

After a few seconds they stopped wheeling the stroller and she calmed down a tiny bit. At this point though she was completely covered in stress-related dandruff (which I first discovered exists a few years ago when Mackenzie was young), panting, and her legs were shaking. We sat at a park bench and a nice woman came over and chatted with us for a while. I told her we were here for socializing and she invited her son to come over and pet Audrey. She was very nice and told her son to approach slowly and allow Audrey to sniff his hand before petting her. All of this she was 100% fine with. I'm convinced it was the sounds of the park and not the actual kids or people that freaked her out.

We sat at the bench for a while and then moved to sitting on the grass in front of the biggest playground area (huge plastic slides, gravel, swings, the stroller and about 12 kids and assorted adults) to watch the action. She calmed down a bit and a little girl came up and pet her for several minutes (again she was totally fine).

Finally we got up and she pulled me like hell back towards the car.

So we're dealing with a fear period. Hopefully it will pass soon enough with some consistent training and weekly outings and we will be able to go to the park again with Mackenzie or one of the other two and she will see that it is their favorite place in the world and there's nothing to be scared of. Hopefully.

Speaking of Mackenzie, she and I are entered in an Obedience and Rally trial in Kerrville, Tx in two weeks! I'm pretty giddy about it.

Two Weeks Progress

2009-02-05T18:58:00.000-08:00

Like I said earlier, in just two weeks I see a significant amount of progress in raising her pasterns. My pretty little werewolf.

Gaiting

2009-02-05T10:06:00.000-08:00

Last night we practiced some gaiting and free-stacking in the driveway and down the street. She's really quite good at maintaining a nice little trot and a loose leash. We did that for a while and then we practiced free-stacking right in front of me instead of to the side of me. She's not as clear on that concept because we've never done it before, but she'll get it soon enough. I had Mom play judge mainly because we don't want Audrey to end up like Mackenzie who can't function anytime Mom OR Dad is anywhere near the ring. Of course Mom thought Audrey looked great even when she had one leg totally out of place like a GSD show stack. :)

After doing that for a few minutes I still had some bait left so I ran inside and traded dogs. Now I know this blog is about Audrey, but I must talk about Mackenzie for just a few sentences. When I came inside last night I was sniffling and breathless from the cold front that swooped in while we were out there and all I could say was "Mackenzie is such a BADASS."

It was the middle of 5PM traffic, two other people were walking their dogs (both stopped to say Hello and watch us for a while), neighbors were coming home from work or unloading groceries, cars were speeding down the road, and Mackenzie was focused enough to HEEL in the STREET with me. We worked pace changes (normal, fast, slow), about turns, fronts, finishes, everything I could think of before it got too cold and windy to function. She was absolutely incredible. She is so ready for the San Antonio show at the end of February. Too bad we didn't enter. :(

Stacking/Pasterns at 17wks

2009-02-03T09:18:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago Dad took some pictures of Audrey and I (she was 17wks at the time) practicing her show stack. I was thinking she was looking pretty damn good, but once we (her breeders and I) checked out the pics, we noticed that she was looking quite down in her pasterns (front wrist area).
We've started some supplements (just Vit C and Fish Oil so far, I'm still waiting on the "real" supplements to come in the mail) and I constructed a raised feeding station for her out of a cardboard box cause I'm super crafty like that and I can honestly say that today I see some subtle improvement. I will post some updated pics later so we can track her progress on here.

Audrey's sister Quest is doing fine by the way. :)

Parvo

2009-01-22T11:12:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately Quest (Audrey's sister) was diagnosed with Parvo on Tuesday. Currently she is stable in the hospital on IV fluids.

Audrey tested negative this morning. Thank God.
I'll keep you updated.

A Video!

2009-01-15T13:27:00.000-08:00

Here is a video from one of the first few days that Audrey was home. She is about 10 1/2 weeks old.

Catastrophes!

2009-01-15T13:10:00.000-08:00

Somehow my dogs (and me) seem to attract all kinds of catastrophes wherever we go.

Yesterday was time for Audrey's final puppy shots. We got to the Vet and everything was fine. She was all wiggly to meet everyone and sniff them and their dogs/cats. She was a champ getting her shots and everything was great except when I went to lift her off the table I mistakenly grabbed her at the injection site and she yelped. Thankfully we recovered and left on a high note (she met a cat and that got her all wiggly again).

After the Vet we went to PetSmart to buy her some treats and a new BIG toy (since April de-squeaked her giant Stingray). We were in the parking lot talking to one of my groomer friends when I saw out of the corner of my eye a truck with a big tail wagging out of the back. I thought nothing of it and we said bye to my friend and kept walking. Suddenly out of nowhere a GIGANTIC Great Pyrenees mix (I know the odds are slim that he was one, but that's what he looked like) comes RUNNING, GROWLING, AND LUNGING AT AUDREY.

I go into Alpha protection mode and I sort of crouched between the dog and Audrey and yelled "NO NO NO STOP IT GO AWAY." Then I grabbed the big dog by the scruff/collar and told him again "NO NO NO". By this point the owner was on his way over (nonchalantly of course) saying "Oh don't worry, he won't hurt her." To which I yelled "HE'S RUNNING, GROWLING, AND LUNGING AT MY DOG. GET HIM AWAY FROM HER."

Once he was contained, Audrey literally shook herself off and wiggled towards the door as though nothing had happened (Thank God). Once inside she wiggled and said Hello to a few people, played with a dachshund puppy (who she probably thought was a way friendlier Mackenzie), and sniffed every inch of the floor. I was grabbing a few things for her and didn't think I needed a cart or basket so I had everything in my arms. Right at the front of the store are the MilkBone Gravy Biscuits which everyone loves (especially Mackenzie because to her they are ginormous) so I went to grab a box.

You can probably tell where this is going... as I reached for the box, I became aware that I probably had too many things in my arms to begin with, and the box fell. Yes, it fell, right on top of my little Audrey. She proceeded to yell and scream at the top of her lungs and try to run away, probably more so from the shock, than it actually hurting her. I spilled everything from my arms, got on the floor with her and fed her cookies. We recovered again after a short time but the noise of the biscuits being shaken in the box still worries her, but she'll get over it once she realizes what the box actually contains.

That was our last catastrophe of yesterday, but as you can tell we live a life full of adventure.

Today Dad had his left knee operated on (in March of '08 he had the right knee done) so we're playing nurse. Hopefully she doesn't rip off his bandages, chew on his ice pack, or pounce on his leg until he's feeling better. :)

Being a puppy is tiring!

2009-01-08T15:54:00.001-08:00

Sorry for the lack of pupdates. My internet has been spotty.

Yesterday was Audrey's first official grooming! I took her and Spencer out to Paws and Claws (our breeder owns and operates a boarding kennel) to get them groomed and let them play with some of their dogs.

Spencer, who I am clearly mistaken about, was a perfect gentleman with everyone. Usually I say that he is iffy around other dogs because of his reputation for getting picked on/attacked at the dog park. Even Wicket the Borzoi (who honestly, might be the only dog in the world I've ever been scared of at first sight because she's so huge and breathtaking) didn't phase him. He hung out/ran around with a Flat Coated Retriever, a Springer Spaniel, a Silky Terrier (more on her later), a Corgi, a Field Spaniel, and the Borzoi and Audrey.

Audrey, on the other hand, has this effect on other dogs. They all want to eat her. Everyone was fine at first but then the Silky decided Audrey would be a nice snack and was determined to eat her face. Then the Big Dogs decided to all sniff Audrey at the same time so she was flopped on her back, kicking her legs in the air and simultaneously showing her teeth just in case. Once we got the Silky put in another kennel run, we brought out Quest (the puppy that our breeder chose to keep from Audrey's litter). So Quest comes barreling out and also decides that Audrey needs to be eaten. After a few loud and toothy scraps we decide that maybe it's not a good idea to have them play together. Later though Audrey did get to play with a crazy, gorgeous 1yo Pomeranian who Spence even played with.

In addition to the socializing with other dogs, Audrey also heard a lawnmower, walked on a wooden slatted thingy, said HI to the cat, and got groomed. It was her 2nd bath, but her first time getting her nails clipped, her paw hair was trimmed, and her head, neck, and ears got shaved.

As far as people go Audrey's met probably close to her 100 people thus far. I had a small get together last week, she met my Aunt today, and I'm having a party tomorrow. She gets a car ride nearly every evening too. She's also gone to PetSmart once a week since I got her so I think we're doing pretty well.

Bath Day + Pupdate

2008-12-26T10:35:00.000-08:00

I don't bathe my dogs very often. In fact, I bathe my dogs so infrequently that every time I do bathe them, I do it only because I can't remember the last time I did it. So needless to say, when Bath Day comes around, it's kind of a big deal.

Our Bath Day began because of Audrey. Now, as you may have realized by now, Audrey is, for lack of a better word, a BAD puppy. When she is outside her main objectives are to eat/grab as many items as physically possible. Grass, twigs, plants, rocks, ants, flowers, leaves, unidentified objects, and so on. What she does is she'll get one of the aforementioned objects and race to the flower bed that she has claimed as her own personal sandbox. Once there she will dig, chew, and eat as many items as possible. If she can tell that you are on to her she will start racing around the yard with the object in her mouth, wait until you can almost catch her, and then take off again. She was having a wonderful time at her salad bar and sandbox when I realized just how dirty she had gotten.

Her bath was fairly uneventful. She did manage to climb out of the utility sink twice but was unsuccessful in jumping off of the washing machine. She is probably going to be too big for the utility sink by her next bath anyway, so we won't have to worry about that. After her bath I thought she should meet Mr. Blow Dryer. I've never met a dog who actually likes the blow dryer but after a few minutes of screaming and trying to simultaneously rip my arm off and run away, she finally settled down a little bit and let me finish. After that she was so tired that she slept soundly in her crate for the rest of the afternoon...
Obviously I'm lying. She slept for maybe an hour and then went straight to the water bowl to ruin her lovely blow dried ears and then ran outside after Mom had watered the grass to play in the mud.

Speaking of being bad, we have a theory about our precious little Audrey. She's got these gorgeous golden/yellow eyes. When they are fully golden she behaves like an absolute angel. When her pupils get big and her eyes look more black, that's when you know she's going to be bad.

Now although her registered name is Argyle's Velveteen Rabbit, we also have her "official" name that we call her. We call her Audrey Bella MalaMala:

Audrey - after the amazing Audrey Hepburn
Bella - after the main character in the Twilight Saga
MalaMala - Mala means "bad" in Spanish and clearly she's bad x2

So whenever she's got the black eyes she is known as MalaMala. :) She's got several other nicknames as well including variations of Audrey such as Audrina/Audrita. Apparently Field Spaniels do this little dance move when you call them to you, they will come and then suddenly their little butts curve around and reach you at the same time as the front half of their body. I was told that this is called the "comma" for obvious reasons, but we also call her Chueca (crooked in Spanish) or Cashew.

Tonight I had Dad and Matt deliver her to me at work at 5:45 PM so I could have a few minutes to work with her. She met some kids and did quite well with them except when all four of them wanted to pet her at once. She sniffed a child in a wheelchair, and met several new people. She met a gigantic chihuahua x who she was quite smitten with (she would play bow and then smack him in the face with her huge paws), and a crazy chocolate lab. I told the lab people that she is often mistaken for a lab and they thought that was funny, but even I have to admit she is the exact same color as a chocolate lab.

We worked a little bit on loose leash walking/gaiting. She did a little bit of free stacking, and she sat politely for everyone who asked her to sit. Overall, the only issues she had were when the group of kids were trying to pet her and she got a little nervous, but I know she needed to poop too. So that might have been why she was antsy.

Oh and as per the usual everyone and their mother (literally) was quite confident that she is a Cocker Spaniel.

Weekly Socialization Pupdate!

2008-12-18T12:14:00.001-08:00

Yesterday Audrey (and Dad and I) went to JCPenney's. Well technically Audrey and I just went to the parking lot of JCPenney's while Dad shopped inside. We walked around the parking lot and encountered several new and interesting things such as:

-a storm drain
-landscaping wood chips (which she was convinced was just lots and lots of FOOD)
-bushes/palm trees
-gravel
-cars passing by very closely (and probably wondering what we were doing)

And then we went back to the car and I opened up the back of the TrailBlazer and we trained a little bit in the cargo area. After all of the other things she experienced, she decided that the scariest part of her day was the cover flap thingy in the back of dad's car (its hard to describe exactly what it is, but basically if you put groceries or something in the cargo area you could then pull this cover to conceal the packages). She bumped it with her nose accidentally and it made a funny sound and then to show her nothing was dangerous, I pulled it out and again it made a loud noise and she tried to leap out of the car. So we'll have to work on that again soon.

Then we went to PetSmart where she saw and experienced even more things such as:

-the automatic sliding doors in the front which she was unsure about at first, but then once they didn't eat her, she waltzed right in like a champ
-the Banfield sign was apparently quite fragrant (and thankfully didn't fall on her)
-a black lab/chow was OBSESSED with her (staring, whining and lunging at her) the entire time we were there so needless to say I didn't allow her to say HI to him
-she peed (what dog doesn't pee in PetSmart?) and so I cleaned it up and when I threw it away the sound of the trashcan closing scared her but she recovered and ate some food near the trashcan

She also allowed one of the cashiers and one of the groomers to pet her and give her some food (and she sat when they asked her to!) Also a little girl (finally) pet her while she was busy sniffing Dad's shopping cart. Overall it was a pretty eventful day, I just wish there were more dogs and people at PetSmart. I might take her on Saturdays since the weekends are always busier.

Even though yesterday was quite tiring for her, I think, last night and today she's been quite the little hellion anyway. :)

Goals for 2009

2008-12-14T23:03:00.000-08:00

Borrowing the idea from Kim over at OTCH Rah I decided to post about my dog goals for 2009.

Mackenzie:
Finish her Rally Novice (RN) title with at least one placement.
Start/(Finish?) her Rally Advanced (RA) title
Get a Companion Dog title (CD)
Find/Take a Canine Good Citizen test (CGC)
Pursue a new dog sport (tracking, earthdog, musical freestyle, etc.)

Audrey:
Debut her in July at the Field Spaniel National Specialty in Wisconsin
Get her in the ring as much as possible
Get as many CH points as possible
Start/Finish her Rally Novice title
Get her CGC
Start her Companion Dog title

Me:
Socialize and train Audrey for Conformation AND Obedience/Rally
Train/polish Mackenzie to finish her RN and hopefully earn legs towards her CD
Figure out how to attend as many shows as possible to achieve these goals

Some lofty goals, I know. Lofty in that we live in the Valley and everything takes 10x longer for me than anyone else. The last show we went to was in August, and the next show we're going to is in February. At this rate it could take two years for Mackenzie to get her CD. Either way, we've got the goals in mind. And I do believe that we've got a solid chance at achieving a good number of them. If I lived in a city where shows were close by I would have a much longer list by now. Plus all four of my dogs would be able to pursue all the sports they wanted to. We would be taking classes nearly every night I bet. Obedience/Rally, Disc, Musical Freestyle, Tracking, EarthDog, the list would be endless. Unfortunately, I love the Valley.

So instead of whisking myself off to Austin or San Antonio, I would much rather stay right here and if I'm lucky, I can slowly make an impact on the Valley's dog-owning public.

Shenanigans

2008-12-14T19:25:00.000-08:00

While I was at work today my brother decided to make some lunch for himself in the oven. Somehow when he was getting the tray out of the oven, he dropped something and ended up slamming the door of the oven so hard that the St. Francis of Assisi clock hanging on the wall fell to the ground and broke in half.

Everyone starting yelling and my parents went running in to see what happened and amidst all of this, Audrey was nowhere to be found. After things calmed down a bit, she reappeared in the kitchen and asked my Mom to open the door to her crate because she wanted to put herself to bed for being bad! My silly puppy.

We had a training session tonight and we worked on:
Sit
Down
Stand
Look (at the food in my hand)
Watch Me
"Audrey"
Shake
Touch (when we worked on it she would touch the palm of my hand with her nose and Spencer - who also knows the touch command since I teach it to all my dogs - was touching the back of my hand trying to get a click)

We also worked on ignoring food on the floor and watching me instead, which will come in handy in the ring when other exhibitors drop their bait. So far she's really solid with Sit, Stand, Watch Me/Audrey, and Touch is coming along real nice. We just started 'touch' yesterday but I find that dogs always catch on really quickly to that one and I use it as my gauge to see if they are truly understanding the clicker.

Our next adventure is going to be getting her used to the PediPaws (dremel-y thingy) and hopefully getting a bath sometime this week.

Socialization

2008-12-12T12:20:00.000-08:00

I think we're doing pretty well so far but just to track our progress I'll write down what we've done in the week that we've had her:

Handling (every day):
Mouth/looked at teeth and removed objects from mouth :)
Legs
Paws/cleaned
Nails
Tail
Belly/wiped after she peed in her crate
Back
Cleaned/handled ears
Collared since the day we got her/we work on collar grabs everyday
Car harness
Sweater
Snood
Bandanna
Santa Hat

We haven't had a bath because I don't like bathing dogs that often. But I imagine she'll need to get used to it soon enough. Maybe sometime next week I will give her a bath.

People she's met:
Young adults
Middle-aged adults
Older adults
Seniors
We need to find some kids

Sounds:
Doorbell
Dogs barking
Squeaky toys
YouTube
TV/Loud Movies
Cars
Clapping
Yelling

Objects to chew/Play with:
Nylabones
Tugs
Squeaky toys
Ropes
Small/Large toys
Rubber chew toys
Frozen teething stick
Food bowls (I think we might have a future Frisbee dog on our hands, seeing as how she's really into playing with the other dogs' food bowls)

Dogs/Puppies she's met/played with:
Other dogs being boarded at the kennel (Random assortment of breeds)
Other dogs belonging to her breeders (Flat-coat, Corgi, another Field, Borzoi, Springer, Silky Terrier, and obviously her mom and littermates)
Our dogs (Scottie, Boston, Dachshund)
Rambunctious puppy at Petsmart (GoldenDoodle 6mo)
She saw a few dogs at the Vet but did not interact with any of them
I will start bringing her to work on Fridays for more dog socialization

House training:
Peed in crate twice
Peed in house once
Pooped in house once
Has produced something outside nearly every time we've gone out/will alert us that she needs to go out by running to the door/doing the crazy poop dance

Crate training:
Occasional singing
Plays quietly in crate now
Sleeps through the night
Waits to be let out in the morning without whining until she hears me wake up (just like Mackenzie and April)

Places/Experiences:
PetSmart for Christmas pictures
Vet's office for shots
Car rides to see Christmas lights/PetSmart/Vet/Post office/etc.
Post office
PetSmart after the Vet to choose a bowl/toys
Dad's office

Surfaces:
Grass
Mud
Concrete
Gravel/Street
Tile
Carpet (here and at Dad's office)
Uneven surfaces (water hose in the backyard, sticks, stepping stool in my room, the step to get into the living room)

Eating locations:
Bathroom
Kitchen
Bedroom
Living Room
PetSmart

Whew, I got tired just writing this out. For one week I think we're doing pretty damn good. The main things we need to work on are meeting more Kids/more people and Dogs. And obviously HANDLING. We worked on stacking in front of a mirror last night and we got some pretty good free stacks until she discovered the pretty puppy hiding in the mirror. She's made tremendous progress with her crate-training and we're hearing less and less of her lovely singing voice. I think our guide from now will be The Puppy's Rule of Twelve (Positive Paws Dog Training).

Christmas Photos

2008-12-11T10:20:00.000-08:00

I made a sorry attempt at taking some Christmas photos with the dogs this morning. For some reason they can only pose two dogs at a time. The split second I try to get a third dog, or God forbid a fourth dog in on the action, they all get up real nonchalant and leave like they've got to go read the newspaper or something.

I did manage to get a few good individual ones of April especially, a few of Audrey, a couple of Mackenzie trying to eat the Santa hat off of her head (isn't she supposed to be the most highly trained of my dogs?) and one pathetic one of Spence with his elf hat on which I had to delete. It is impossible to get a good picture of Spencer. He always looks so utterly sad and so black in his photos. Audrey on the other hand is going to be a natural I think. When she hears the little tune of my camera turning on she looks right at me (just like Mackenzie used to do before today...)

I will post the good pictures as soon as possible.

For now you get Audrey's Christmas Card.

Introduction

2008-12-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Audrey the Field Spaniel's blog! I will try to update as much as humanly and doggedly possible. For starters though, I figured you were all in for an introduction post.

No, I never planned on getting a Field Spaniel, but when opportunity knocks, at my house anyway, we answer that door (some of us even bark and run wildly out the door to greet Opportunity). So when the opportunity presented itself that I was being offered a show quality/show potential Field Spaniel, I answered the door with puppy food, chew toys, and leash in hand.

We've always been a dog-loving family, but up until recently that's all we were. Our dogs obviously got good food, regular vet visits, toys, etc. But then my senior year of high school, I got accepted to Cornell University halfway across the country and I was leaving everyone and everything I had ever known. While I was living in New York (all alone, yet surrounded by people) I started wanting and needing a companion, a sense of family. After many months of research and a solid stack of information, I convinced my parents that I needed a puppy. For Christmas of my 2nd year of college, I got the greatest puppy the world had ever known. This blog is not about her, but she is such a huge part of my life that she needs her own part of the intro.

Mackenzie changed my life. From the moment I got her, we had this thing. This connection. It gets hard to describe without sounding a little bit crazy, but we have this relationship that is unlike any I had ever had with another dog before her. Like I said, our family always had at least one dog at any given time and we loved and took care of it. But with Mackenzie I wanted and needed to do more, I wanted the perfect dog. Because she was the first dog who was really mine. We got her at 8wks and she was on her first cross-country plane ride before she was 3mo. As a young dog on a college campus, she got to do some amazing things. From picnics with the President of Cornell, to lacrosse games with our Big Red Pep Band, Marching Band practice on our astroturf football field that she peed on, running off leash around the quad of one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country, and of course quality time spent at our Ithaca home. I raised her the best that I could while still concentrating on papers, exams, friends, parties, road trips and everything else that comes along with going to a really tough yet continually exciting Ivy League University. Despite the craziness of having a young puppy during the hardest part of my college years (or perhaps because of it) Mackenzie turned out beautifully and our relationship is incredible.

After I graduated from Cornell in 2006 with a B.S. in Communication, naturally I accepted a job as a dog trainer. Mackenzie comes to work with me 2-3x a week and loves everything and everyone at work. Since our graduation from college, we had a little bit more time to pursue other activities. Shortly after I accepted my job as a dog trainer, I met a woman who started a Therapy Dog organization in our area, so a few weeks after meeting her, Mackenzie and I become Delta Society registered Pet Partners. I knew that Mackenzie was destined to be a star from an early age, so we also began training for competitive dog sports. Being severely limited by our geographic location, we did the best we could and prepared for a "local" (2.5+ hours away) dog show in August of 2008. We competed in Obedience and Rally and came home with one Qualifying score in Rally (which was one more than I thought we would get).

At the time of the show I was a few weeks from being 25yo and had never in my life been to a dog show. My parents, both in their mid-50s had also never been to a dog show. Now none of this is for a lack of dog-show enthusiasm, but simply because there aren't any dog shows nearby, and Mackenzie is our first "performance" dog. And although for the past 15+ years we've only had purebred dogs, Mackenzie was our first to be able to compete in AKC events (she has her ILP/PAL number which means she is identified as a purebred Dachshund even without AKC papers and able to compete in all events except Conformation).

Obviously we've still got a lot to work on, but being in the ring with Mackenzie for those few minutes was electrifying. We are absolutely addicted to it now. We hope to continue to compete as long as she and I are having fun, and hopefully manage a few titles before she retires.

That being said, our first experience at a dog show was spent entirely on the Obedience side of the convention center. I have zero experience watching even a millisecond of Conformation, because I was too busy watching the Obedience dogs (and freaking out about when it would be our turn). My parents, who I banished to the complete opposite side of the convention center so that I could concentrate, did manage to watch a few breeds in the Conformation ring and my Mom the always popular chat-magnet, spoke to a few Conformation competitors about the trials and tribulations of dog showing.

Going on those few minutes of experience, we are now plunging headfirst into that world. I've always dreamed of owning and exhibiting a show dog, but honestly I've got no clue as to what I'm doing. Now I've got this crazy biting, running, yelling, absolutely breathtakingly stunning puppy who I'm supposed to turn into a show dog - Audrey the Field Spaniel.

A few weeks ago a client of mine asked me to temperament test a litter of Field Spaniels that she had bred. When I was evaluating the "white" puppy I said "This would definitely be the puppy I would take home today!" As it turned out, when we went over the temperament test sheets "white" puppy scored the best. After the temperament test on the litter, the breeder/owner drove up to see Pat Hastings so that she could evaluate the litter. Pat Hastings rated the "white" puppy as the "Pick of the Litter" and rated her as having the best conformation for the show ring.

And then, surprisingly, they offered her to me. My first AKC registered show potential puppy, of course I said YES.

So here we are.

It has officially been one week since I brought her home. She continually bites our ankles, toes, and pants, she sloshes around in the water dish for minutes on end, she chews on our wooden coffee table, and the metal legs of our computer chairs, every toy in existence is strewn around the living room, and perhaps her greatest claim to fame is that she has tried repeatedly to rearrange all of our dog-furniture (beds and bowls).

We've done very well with housetraining (only a couple accidents so far) and she has been introduced to the clicker. We've worked on attention, a loose show stack, her name, watch (me), look (at the food in my hand), sit, down, and come. She will be my first entirely clicker-trained dog (Mackenzie would be considered a crossover dog) and I get giddy at that thought.

This blog will primarily be about Audrey's training, my research and training about what I need to do and what I need to teach her, our daily adventures in socialization, pictures, and questions.

While this blog will be primarily about Audrey, I can't promise that our other two dogs (April and Spencer) won't make surprise cameos. Especially seeing as how Audrey just got here a week ago and already she's got her own blog. But I'm sure they're all just dying to steal the spotlight away from Mackenzie for once.