don't shoot the dog

I've borrowed the title of Karen Pryor's excellent training book in response to the hysterical frenzy whipped up by the public, media and politicans whenever there is a tragedy involving a dog and a person.  This week a child was attacked by a dog and, as always, it has led to cries for banning certain dog breeds.

There are a couple of reasons I didn't watch the BBC documentary "Death Row Dogs" last night.  I never watch these things because I already have more than enough awful images stuck in my head that I wish I could scratch out.  And I also don't watch them because I usually get so angry and frustrated at the sensationalism or the ignorance or the one-sidedness that I start yelling at the television and upsetting my own dogs.  And, really, none of us need that - with 4 dogs in the house we generally have more than enough opportunity for noise.

But on this subject I'm with Beverley Cuddy, Editor of Dogs Today magazine.  You can read her excellent blog on this subject here.

In the meantime I leave you with an old photo of Neka, aged 11 months, playing with Annie, who was our very own "dangerous dog" Akita. A more gentle, loving and dignified dog you could never hope to meet.  Does she look scary here playing?  You bet she does.  Was she completely reliable around all people, children included?  Yes, to our knowledge, she certainly was.  Would we ever have left her (or any of our dogs) alone with small children, as Beverley discusses in her blog?  No.  We definitely would never have done that.

























Rauhan & Pippa illustrate the wonderful relationship between dogs & children when carefully supervised

more mud

On the first Sunday of the year I host my Devon Lappy walk for the SFLS. Last year we had 8 dogs (including one honorary Lapphund in the shape of Akita Anniebear) and a bunch of people and we met at Bigbury on a clear, cold, windy day and got lots of great photos.

This year the timing of the tide wasn't very helpful and we were in constant and imminent danger of being under way too much snow and ice to attempt the winding back roads to get there. So we did the ever-popular walk at Saltram House in Plymouth instead. It was busy over the holidays. I mean, it was - whoa! - BUSY. Plenty of dogs, too many people, lots of bicycles and kids on scooters. Not really my flavour. Thankfully it had somewhat improved in the new year when we went, and we had a nice walk followed by tea in the cafe.

In spite of the biting wind, and all the ice and snow we had before and after this day, it perhaps goes without saying that the dogs still managed to find rather a lot of mud.

















L-R: Alan, Liz & Helen with Koda; Jo & George with Tarkka; Jay with Neka & Maija

What were those dogs looking at, you ask? No idea. But there was plenty of action in the vicinity to choose from and it was quite handy for getting the dogs to sit still long enough for the camera moment.

The first Sunday of the year is a tough time to gather folk & their dogs as everyone always has lots of commitments around that time. So I think I'll try to pull something together later in the year when it's a little more convenient. Suggestions for location would be more than welcome. I love Bigbury, but I'm not sure how dog-friendly it is in high season. And Saltram is just too hectic. I'll have to do a bit of research & get back to you on that one.

thank you

We've had so many lovely messages about Annie from so many people. Thank you all. I know there is nothing to say on these sad occasions, but it really has helped to know how much she touched the lives of so many.

Goodbye to Anniebear

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? 1998 – 28 Sep 2009

A day I never wanted to face has arrived and we have had to say goodbye to our beloved Akita, Annie. So gentle, and so beautiful, she won admirers everywhere she went.

Annie came to us early in 2005 when Neka was less than a year old. We weren't looking for another dog, but a chance long wait in the vet's office brought her to us when she arrived for treatment with an RSPCA handler. We looked at her and she looked at us and we went straight to the RSPCA centre to 'reserve' her, even though they hadn't yet assessed the severity of her hip dysplasia or even whether she would be suitable for re-homing.

Over the next 2 weeks we visited her everyday and took her for walks, getting to know her and trying to determine whether a 33 kilo, middle-aged abandoned Akita could fit in with us, with Neka and with our 2 cats. We need not have worried.

After the first few visits, she would be waiting for me and would drag her handler through the door to greet me. After our walks, she would quietly sit at my feet. One day she headed straight for our van and tried to hop in. It was just right, and so in February she came home with us and immediately claimed her den under the stairs.

We did get off to a slightly shaky start. During the first night she decided she didn't want to stay in the kitchen so with one yank she uninstalled the cat flap from the door. From time to time she also displayed an alarming talent for simply breaking out of metal crates. She never wanted to actually go anywhere, so long as she was with us she was happy.

I had done a lot of reading about Akitas and had sought advice from a few experienced owners and breeders, so we were careful with her at first, learning to read her body language and cautiously approaching introducing her to the cats and to other dogs. Pretty soon she was walking off lead all the time and was beautifully behaved and always eager to please – at least when she wasn't having one of her stubborn moments. At a dog show campground, someone once called “Look out, there's an Akita loose!” Many people leapt to attention to help until someone laughed and said “Oh, it's only Annie.”

At first, as she rolled around on the floor having her tummy scratched, I was afraid when she would open her enormous mouth wide and roll her eyes at me. Sensing my nervousness, she would open that mouth even wider until it was almost big enough to fit a human head. It took me a while to realise that this ferocious looking expression was her soft face and the more nervous I felt, the 'softer' she would make it to put me at ease.

She was great with all people and animals, and so patient with the puppies. However, she did demand her due respect from other dogs. If any dog ever took advantage, she would go up on her toes, head and tail held high as if to say, 'You do know I'm an Akita, right?' and that was all it took. Once, when I was having a crisis with a screaming puppy caught in barbed wire in a field, Annie immediately assessed the situation and stood guard at the gate of the field, letting no person or dog enter until the crisis had passed.

Letting them go when the time comes is the last important act of love you perform for them. You owe it to them to make sure there is no needless suffering, but still I didn't think I could go through with it. In the end, she told us that she had had enough and it was time to go – she stopped eating and didn't even try to get to her feet anymore.

I will miss her during thunder storms when she would seek me out, not because she was disturbed for herself, but to protect me. I will miss her when I'm sitting in the garden during summer evenings when she would stretch out next to my chair on the cool stones. I will miss her on woodland walks where she would suddenly revert to puppyhood to chase the squirrells. And I will miss her everyday lying on her back, feet in the air, snoring next to my desk at work.

I'm so grateful to the wonderful staff at St David's Vet Hospital in Exeter who care for all our animals, and cared for Anniebear right to the end. I was so touched that the nurse who treated Annie the very first time she came in from the RSPCA came again today to assist the vet and say goodbye as well.

Run free, my bear, without pain, and we'll look forward to seeing you again on the other side.

and 1 makes 5

Adam delivered the Dink to me at a convenient mid-point between our homes this afternoon and I can just imagine how quiet their house is tonight without her. Unlike this house.

Getting any photos has proven a challenge, but we persevere. In the first one you can see Annie's legs as she watches from the safety of the garden. She hates to be left out, but the puppies kept knocking her off her feet. While she seemed to think that was pretty funny, I thought it best she was out of harm's way.
























L-R: Maija (top), Keskiyo (bottom), Neka (top), Inko (bottom)





















Bottom-Top: Keskiyo, Maija, Neka, Inko




















L-R: Inko, Keskiyo, Maija

And eventually they tire themselves out. What a sweet bunch!


















Clockwise from left: Keskiyo, Maija, Neka, Inko

As I'm not leaving for Scotland until Friday morning, we still have all day tomorrow to get through. It's off to the wood in the morning for a good long run. That should tire them out for, oh, about 30 minutes or so.

crufts

At last I finally got to show one of my own dogs at Crufts. And one of my own dogs' own dogs too, if you follow. No? I'll explain.

In order to qualify for Crufts, a dog must place either 1st, 2nd or 3rd in their breed or Not Separately Classified class at a qualifying Championship show the previous year. I've been showing Neka for about 4.5 years now and in every one of those years she qualified for Crufts. In fact, unless I'm mistaken, she qualified at her first attempt each year.

So why is this her first year actually at Crufts? After all, there are people who show dogs for years and years and never qualify them to go to Crufts. To qualify in a numerically small breed like Finnish Lapphunds is not nearly so difficult as many other breeds. However, it's still an honour to be able to take your dog there. I've gone along just about every year to watch and cheer others on - one year I showed someone else's dog. Keskiyo has been there before but someone else showed him for me on that occasion.

The reason Neka has never been before is because the timing has always been wrong. Her first year of qualifying for Crufts was out because the judge was her breeder, and breeders cannot judge their own dogs, for obvious reasons. The next 2 years Neka was in season during Crufts - the one time I cursed her seasons being so predictably regular! And if being in season wasn't bad enough, she was also at the tail end of her moult at that time and more or less bald. So, in one way or another, the Crufts ring wasn't exactly the right place for her.

As luck should have it, having her 9 puppies well and truly knocked her cyle askew and not only is she not in season, but her coat is gorgeous, thick & lush at the moment - almost back to it's fullest. So, at last, at the age of 4 years 11 months and 11 days, Neka got to go to Crufts. And I'm so glad she did - here she is coming 3rd behind her lovely half-sister Apina out of a large class of 9.














Going to a normal Champ show is a tiring enough event. The early rise, the invariably long drive from Devon, the lugging of bulky & heavy kit around - often through the mud and rain, etc. ( Are you wondering yet why we do this? When I put it that way it doesn't sound like much fun, does it?) Anyway, that's just a normal show. Crufts is a completely different event with something in the region of 28,000 dogs and their hangers on coming and going through 7 halls over 4 days. It's big. And, of course, it's often the one chance you get to catch up with old friends in the dog world that you have somehow missed meeting up with all year. So it's also busy. And very, very tiring.

I couldn't face venturing into this on my own with more than 2 dogs. It's difficult enough to cope with more than 2 dogs at a time under normal circumstances. Most years Jay would be there with me and we would have anything up to 4 dogs between us. This time Jay stayed at home with Annie who is too old and dignified to stay in a kennel these days, and I had promised to take Taika for Kate as she was otherwise engaged. So it was just me, Neka & her daughter. A nice team, if I do say so myself!

Somehow I managed to not get any photos of Taika at Crufts, so if anyone has one, I'd love a copy, please! I did find this one, though, thanks to Karen's husband who was documenting her spin round the ring with Taivas (I'm the one in bright blue). And, lo and behold, at her first ever outing at Crufts, Taika came 4th in her class, the largest of the day. And she wasn't even in full coat - result! (as they say...)

Then it was the boys' turn. As I didn't have Keskiyo with me, I was able to relax, watch and take photos at this point. Here are Taito (L) and Karhu (R) in their large class.











They went on to place 4th and 3rd, respectively, so I was one excited observer! I'm hoping that Andrew, the happy snapper, will have lots of photos of Emma & Taito for me. In the meantime, this is what Karhu thought of the whole showing thing, hanging out on the benches before going into the ring to do his thing.























The 4th showdog from that litter, Keksi, was absent from Crufts, afflicted with the same unfortunate timing as her mother - her season was due. Perhaps I should plan a litter of puppies from her in the hope she'll be able to attend in another year.

Maija & friends

It's been a busy few weeks since all Maija's siblings left home. With the puppies in residence, we tended to put off all the other urgent business of life. And now it's flooding back demanding to be taken care of with no further delay. Most days I don't know if I'm coming or going. Not much change there, then, you might say. There's the garden re-design which has been zooming ahead (on which, more later). On top of all that, there's the business waiting for me to catch up (2 hours a day isn't getting me very far) and, of course, we too have a new puppy needing to be trained and generally fussed 23.9 hours a day.

Maija has started to attend puppy socialisation where she is the smallest and most clever (obviously). Mind you, the tiny Jack Russell probably won't grow very much more and Maija is likely to be bigger than he is by the next class. She's had her injections but has been out and about on her lead since 8 weeks. In my book, I'd rather take the chance on nasty rare diseases than miss out on valuable socialisation weeks. As a result, she's quite brave and not much bothers her. At the moment we're working on after-dark walks as I suddenly discovered that she's a bit nervous of meeting other dogs when she can't see clearly. So each night & morning before daylight we're out going up and down the park with my pocketful of liver sizzlers.

Great treats, these. The dogs love them, they make a nice attention-getting snap as you break them & they're very clean in your pocket. They're also very useful when I'm out in the park with Maija off her lead as even her most nosey of noseying is interrupted when I call an enthusiastic "Come!" to the tune of the sizzler snap.

We did have a weekend away last week to visit Jay's parents, and here is Keskiyo lounging resplendently in his favorite fragrant evergreen.















While in the neighbourhood, we invited ourselves around to visit Liz and her pack while Paula & Adam were also there with Inko. The weather was truly unbelievably good for mid-October and we sat out on the terrace in the late afternoon sun which left Jay & I both glowing the next day. Maija and Inko had a fantastic time playing in Liz's spacious garden and by the time we finally left, the formerly bright white paws were all the sludgy shade of Surrey mud.

Here is one photo I tried to take of them playing followed by a short video. Check out the artistic, slanting sun rays. Ok, ok, I know that it's just poor photography really. For the best photo of the day, go see Adam's result on Inko's blog.

















Pups gone bonkers:



In addition to travelling the length and breadth of the south of England, Maija has also been quite busy at home and work with me. She's a little sweetie, happy just to amuse herself so long as she gets plenty of attention from Jay & me, but particularly her canine family. Here she is playing with Keskiyo. At last I managed to capture them in action to get a picture that is more than simply a blur of fur and teeth.

















And, finally, a couple of shots of Maija indulging in her new favorite pastime - chewing.

Under the stairs in Annie's den, hiding her bone from Keskiyo:














Finding all the sticks in Surrey:













Over the next few days I'll try to post an update on some of the other puppies with new photos. Also, for those of you who are partial to building sites, there'll be some news on the state of my garden.