Ziggy is going on vacation

TWO girls in heat at our house equals Ziggy going on vacation this week in sunny Jupiter, FL!  Actually the problem really is Spice since Groovy isn't allowed to interact with the other dogs but now that we know she is in heat too that makes me feel even better about my decision to send him south for the week.  He is only sort of interested in Spice but I'd like to leave it at that.  He's feeling some manly feelings this week as he's been a bit growly with Ruckus and with his brother Keep who came to visit who he hadn't seen since he was 13 weeks old.  The real reason he needs to go though is that I can just see Jack or I in an early morning stupor not remembering to keep the dogs separate and BOOM - babies!  Spice and Ziggy would make LOVELY performance pups unfortunately however they'd also likely make double merle pups and I'm just not capable of dealing with that outcome (double merle pups are very likely blind and/or deaf).

The good news is this is the girls last heat!  I was waiting to spay Groovy since some studies show that aggression can increase in spayed females but then I finally realized what does that matter since she's already relegated to living separate from the rest of the dogs anyway?  Spice... well at one point we thought might breed her but she has an intact sister who is awesome at herding, loves disc and is in a home with a breeder so will likely get bred so no need to miss out on stuff cause Spice is in heat (like today's UFO last chance qualifier)!  Though to her credit this is the first time she's caused us to miss something due to her heats and she was kind enough to wait until after USDDN finals.  So now I just have to figure out WHEN to get them spayed.  I have a month or so less than 6 months to figure out a plan for Spice and less than 10 months to figure out Groovy's!  Bottom line though is that Sunday PM through Friday is going to be torture for me!  Ziggy will have fun and this will be a good experience for him but I'm not sure I can go that long without some Ziggy love.  When he gets back Friday he is going straight to his Pennhip appointment at 3pm!  Fingers crossed for beautiful hips!  That reminds me I need to get Groovy's hips done when I get her spayed...

Skyhoundz Recap - finally!

In September we headed up to Chattanooga for Skyhoundz World Finals.  Spice was qualified in microdog and Jack and Jason were qualified in pairs with Kai.  We went up in time for the last chance qualifier in order to get an extra practice in for Spice and to play Tali in the Masters freestyle (that's like veterans agility for those who don't do disc).

We drove up on Thursday getting into Chattanooga early Thursday evening.  For the first time we rented a house vs. staying at the La Quinta.  It was a duplex and the other side of it was being rented by fellow disc doggers.  It turned out to be a really nice place and a good deal.  Our side was 2 bedroom 1 bath and we split it with the Riglers.  We had 4 people and 8 dogs and it worked out just fine.  There was a small fenced in yard and all the basic amenities you could need.  For $149 a night split 2 ways it really couldn't be beat!

Friday was the LCQ and we got up early and headed over to Camp Jordan to set up.  The highlight of my day was getting to see Ziggy's litter-mate Charlotte and her mom Cor Brewer.  I hadn't seen Charlotte since we were in Texas getting Ziggy.  She's a great little dog.  Not as outgoing as Ziggy but she wasn't as a puppy either but so very devoted to her mom and already showing a ton of interest in the disc.  Cor is a lucky gal!

It was a fun day overall.  Spice did pretty good in her round of FS.  Tali did very well and ended up placing 1st in Master Freestyle!  Gooo Tali!  :)  Ziggy had a fun day meeting all kinds of people and dogs.  His highlight was getting to chase Charlotte around the soccer fields mid day!  :)

Friday night we were invited over to our friends cabin for dinner.  We had a great time hanging out with the Heygis, Susan Markham, the Williams, Rick R., Angela, the Hoots, Mike Dillon and more.  The food was awesome!!  The cabin was cool too - we might have to look at renting a cabin next year!

Saturday was a relaxing day for Jack and I since his big stuff was on Sunday.  We had a great time socializing with friends, rooting for J and Dre to do their best and congratulating Pennie Mahon on her World Championship!  The banquet was lovely as usual.  The folks at Skyhoundz really do a great job of making the event feel first class.  We haven't missed a Skyhoundz Worlds since the first year we qualified (2006) and we hope to not ever miss one.  It is well worth the trip!  They really make the competitors feel special.

Sunday was the "big" day for us.  For some reason Spice was up first which rattled me more than it rattled Jack.  It sucks being first at a World Finals because everyone is still settling in and unpacking, etc.  None of the spectators are there yet, etc.  Spice and Jack did pretty well but I can't help but feel that she would have done better with more energy and excitement in the air.  I think they were in 8th after round 1.  Then came D&A and typically Spice can get 12-14 points on just a decent round.  Unfortunately the round did not go well and she only got 10.5.  I thought for sure we were done after that and was pretty bummed.  We weren't even really paying attention to the other microdog D&A rounds and so were shocked when the results after round 2 came out and she was tied for 3rd with several other dogs (I think there were a total of 6 or 7 dogs in the top 3 spots).

Meanwhile Jack had to focus on pairs as well.  He and Jason decided to go with the Party Rock song and costumes again this year and it was a hit with the crowd.  Several folks came up to us and said they thought for sure that their round 1 was a top 5 finish but alas... the judges did not agree.  Rd 2 was better according to the judges but only by 1/2 a point.  Now granted... Kai's catch ratio was only a 6 and a 6.5 so it's not like they expected to win but finishing 3rd from last and below dogs with lower catch ratios was disappointing.  It's pretty clear the judges don't "get" the guys routine.  It's not at all "lets lay on top of each other and throw a disc together" like most pairs routines so that's likely why.  Not sure if they'll adjust to meet the judges expectations or keep doing what they are doing (controlled chaos that covers the entire field) in hopes of altering the judges view of what pairs can be.  Time will tell!

So back to Spice and microdog... her final round was nearing.  I was a nervous wreck but I hid it from Jack.  I kept my mouth shut and just kept breathing in my Peace and Calm essential oil.  He decided to go out with more energy but a safer game and see what would happen.  They did really well in round 2 but we didn't think it was well enough to snag 3rd place from all the other dogs vying for it.  When we were packing up though I wouldn't let Jack put Spice in the car *just in case*!  He wouldn't bring her out on the field though because he really didn't think they had gotten it and I agreed.  Well turns out he needed her out on the field!  We were shocked but thrilled when they called her name.  I took pics of Jack taking the stand (in between my tears) while Andrea ran and got Spice from her crate.  It was awesome and I think Jack is most proud that it was on the merits of his freestyle that he snagged the spot.  Their rd 2 score was 3.5 points higher than round 1.  The video is on the last blog post.  Still so much room for improvement in their game but we'll take the placement!  Hopefully in a year or two Spice can find herself qualified for both Saturday and Sunday and with a little luck find herself on both podiums!  It's been done before by Al and George... maybe Spice and Jack can do it too!

It was an awesome weekend and we can't wait to do it again next year!  In the mean time Jack and Spice are getting ready for USDDN finals... and actually Spice and I are as well since I'm qualified with her in D&A!  :)

Jack, Jason and Kai Party Rockin' in Pairs

Jack and Spice - 3rd place micrdog

Future Skyhoundz Qualifiers!  :)

Skyhoundz Worlds - 3rd place!

A more detailed post to come but the short version is Spice and Jack placed 3rd in Skyhoundz Microdog Worlds!!  :)

Here is the video to hold you over till I can work on a more detailed recap of the awesome time we had in Chattanooga... Jack and Spice have so much more work to do as a team but they aren't doing too bad for a 2 year old dog and 3/4's of a routine!

Ziggy, Spice and Tali

Ziggy... he's awesome.  Honestly I just love him.  His disc drive has increased and he continues to be a social butterfly.  Last night at Canis Major he didn't meet a stranger... he played with kids... he greeted other dogs nicely... he played a little bit of disc with me on the main field after the competition was over.  He is just superb!  He's already attempting to put flash and flare into his disc catching attempts.  I've seen him flip a few times.  It's kinda crazy and additionally it means I have to be really careful with any disc work we do cause he isn't old enough to be leaping and twisting like that!  Makes me pretty giddy about his future though!

Spice... what an interesting dog.  So full of herself and so sure she knows what is right.  We went to a UFO major and AWI qualifier in Naperville, IL a couple of weekends ago.  She was a hot mess.  Blowing off short tosses but looking like a rock star on her vaults and long tosses.  She also sucks at bringing the disc all the way back to the line in toss n fetch.  LOTS to work on but SOMEDAY when she decides to cooperate with our rules of the game and not her own she'll be awesome.  With all that negativity said she actually is scoring pretty decently in freestyle much to our surprise.  What a difference a flashy driven dog can make I guess (as compared to Tali).  We made the trip up to earn some UFO points since UFO finals will be in Florida and Jack missed our UFO major down here.  She earned 20 points so not what we were hoping for.  We have a local in a few weeks so hopefully she'll earn 10-20 more and then the rest they'll have to try for at the last chance qualifier.  She did better at the AWI competition the next day placing 9th overall and was 1 spot away from qualifying.  That worked out quite well actually because we couldn't have made the trip to Missouri anyway and we were worried about taking a spot from someone else that we knew we couldn't use but not worried enough to not play - she needs the experience because we leave on Thursday for Chattanooga and Skyhoundz Worlds where she is qualified in microdog freestyle!  Hopefully she and Jack will pull it together enough to do well in that competition but we shall see... they are still so new and green as a team (partially because she likes to play by her own rules and not his)!

Tali... or Fat Tali as we now call her.  Oops... she's gained weight and we didn't realize it so now she's on a diet!  Jam too for that matter... stupid rain and mud has been preventing exercise for the dogs.  Jack played Tali in SuperOpen freestyle in Canis Major last night.  It's her first time competing in freestyle since... well I think since USDDN Sun N Fun this spring which was right after she got sick.  She's mostly retired but he wanted to play her in Canis Major one more season.  She did well in freestyle but sucked in toss n fetch and ended up finishing 6th or 7th and thus got no canis major points.  It was pretty surprising that Spice finished 2nd in Canis Major in superopen freestyle but we'll take it!  :)  Tali did good for me in round 1 of D&A but sucked in round 2.  Makes sense considering her weight gain and being out of shape.  She has over a month till her next competition so the weight should be gone by then.  Jack is entering her in the Masters freestyle division at the Skyhoundz last chance qualifier.  She just turned 9 a few weeks ago.  Should be fun!

Ziggy loves frisbee!

Since our trip to Naperville Ziggy's interest in disc has gone way up!  He's so fun - LOVE him!

Beach in Hawaii

OK so it wasn't a beach in Hawaii - it was a beach in St Petersburg, FL!  Last weekend was our disc dog club's annual beach day at Ft Desoto park.  We had a good turn out and it was a fun time.  Ziggy really had fun swimming and running with the other dogs.  Jam came along and went in the ocean voluntarily!  I guess her time swimming after ducks in Christopher Steele's pond taught her that swimming isn't so bad after all!  Ziggy did awesome and finally got to meet some of the disc dog group other than Jason and Andrea.  My favorite part was watching him try to help various kids build sand castles!

Monday night was puppy class.  Ziggy did great!  It didn't rain so we got to be outside.  It started off with off leash play and he did well.  No issues at all.  His brothers did well too!  He did great in class too though he was making out with a border collie at one point!  :)

This week our training focus has been on stay and on retrieves.  I hadn't played any disc games with him in about a week and he was kind of sucking when I tried on Wed. night.  I figured it out though... he's teething! Duh!  When I switched to a soft disc and to soft squeaky balls he was all over it.  Poor little guy - the squeaky balls came away with blood on them and he's really starting to chew this week more than he has and thus finding inappropriate items that never interested him previously!  Going at lunch today to get him one of those chilly bones!

Also new this week is some alarm barking!  It was bound to happen - especially with my noisy pack.  He started at the beach when all the other dogs went on alert as crazy Haze approached the picnic bench.  I told Colleen that she should feel proud that her dog was the cause of my dog's first alarm barking!  Anyone who knows Haze is not surprised by this I'm sure!  Then on Sunday he saw Andrea out on the deck through our bedroom window and alerted.  I was able to get him out there pretty quick to see it was her and he was all wiggles.  Last night he heard something in the woods that scared him and he stopped mid poop and came flying up on to the deck with me.  It was kinda of funny but definitely tells me we are in a bit of a stage at the moment!  No biggie - he'll work through it I'm sure.  I love that he comes to me for reassurance though!  :)

Last but not least... I snapped this pic this AM.  Ruckus is definitely mellowing in his old age!  This would have NEVER happened with previous puppies, especially a male puppy!  Granted the two of them did get into it earlier this week and I have no idea over what - I suspect Ziggy got too into Ruckus' business but they've been doing really well since then (with a lot of vigilant watching from me).  It's just so heart warming to see them get along.

Comings and goings

Ziggy, Jack and I headed down to Bayfront Park in Sarasota this past Saturday to meet up with our friends Liz, Maggie and Heidi and Ziggy's brothers Peak and Graehm.  What a really nice park.  Lots of people, dogs, nice views, etc.  It was a great experience for the dogs.  We walked around a bit, let the boys play at the beach, had dinner at the tiki bar/restaurant and then took a short drive to St. Armands Circle for some icecream.  The boys did great - especially at the over crowded St. Armands Circle!  Ziggy gets in trouble with the other puppy owners cause 1) he attracts the most attention due to his coloring and 2) he's the most outgoing so thus keeps the attention.  Ziggy apologizes in advance for his handsomeness and outgoing nature!  I suspect we won't be invited along for every future outing!  LOL

Ziggy, Graehm and Peak at the beach in Sarasota

Sunday my sister's family came over to meet Ziggy.  This is only the 2nd time he's met people AT my house (other than my parents).  He did awesome.  Ran right up to them and snuggled up to them.  My brother in law is a big guy so this was extra cool.  My nephews are in their early 20's.  On another good note Spice who is often standoffish in the house with strangers warmed up to them all quite quickly and was vying with Ziggy for attention from them.  This is the 2nd time I've seen this happen (her vying for attention) and I think it's safe to say that maybe Ziggy is a good influence on Spice!

Speaking of Spice she got her first agility title in the mail the other day!  Not a big deal really because it was CPE level 1 and that is a SUPER easy title to get BUT it was still her first so we had to take a picture!

Sunday night I took Ziggy over to my mom's to meet my brother and his kids.  This is the 2nd time Ziggy has met someone new at my mom's house.  Both times he's been a bit standoffish which is very unlike him.  Normally he treats all strangers as his best friend.  This doesn't freak me out or worry me but I do find it odd and I'm definitely curious as to why that is.  In the end he was OK with my brother and his kids (ages 8 and 10) and as seen below was taking treats from them and gave Nathaniel (10) some lovin'  before we left.  Just an odd observation is all.  

I can't recall if I've mentioned our visitor that we have for 3 weeks.  We are dog sitting my friend Allison's dog Kicker.  Spice does NOT like her but seems to be coming around.  Ziggy LOVES her but Kick isn't too sure she wants to spend a lot of time with a 4 month old puppy!  She's starting to like Ziggy more though.  Jack said they were playing together last night while Spice and I were at agility class.  They make a cute almost matching set!

And last but not least Ziggy had his first puppy class this week!  It's a puppy class/puppy agility foundation class rolled into one.  His brothers Moses and Peak are in it too.  This week it was raining and our instructor Bonnie decided to have class anyway but to have it inside.  It was quite chaotic at first and fitting 8 pups and their owners in Bonnie's living room was quite the squeeze.  I was very pleased with how Ziggy handled it.  He was SUPER focused on me.  He was friendly with the other puppies too though he did have a little melt down and go off on Peak at the end of class when Peak climbed on his back while Ziggy was getting treats from me.  Kind of upsetting but really he spent an hour getting treats from me while he had a dog on each side within 1-2 feet getting treats from their owners and was fine.  One was Peak - the other was a new aussie pup he hadn't met before.  His focus only got better as class went on so I suspect his puppy brain was fried and considering I know he has a tendency to resource guard good stuff he did pretty darn good.  I'm looking forward to next class where we'll be outside and the pups will get to play with one another and then have more space when the "work" begins.

Till next time!

Ziggy

No reason for this song choice other than I like it and it does contain some lyrics that are also in consideration for Ziggy’s registered name.  Maximum’s Catch the Wave (for his wavy coat and curly tail) and Maximum’s Come for the Ride.  Groovy’s name was inspired by this song but she isn’t technically named after this song since her name is C-Me Ima Groovy Girl.

More about Ziggy… well clearly he’s a very happy and friendly pup.  He proved that again last night.  We met a friend of ours at Grillsmith at Wiregrass Mall to belatedly celebrate his birthday.  Ziggy did awesome.  Spent the first 30 minutes sitting and staring at me (he was randomly being rewarded with treats).  He went on to chew his bully stick until he got a whiff of my dinner then he was back sitting at attention in hopes of sharing my chicken and portobello stack – which of course he did.  He was so good - nothing bothered him and it was kind of loud compared to some of the other experiences he's had.  He got restless just as we were finishing up and turns out that is cause he had to go potty (we went for a little walk and took care of that issue!).  This was Ziggy’s first outing as the “only dog”.  Everywhere else we’ve been there have been other dogs with us that he could take his cues from, etc. so I was curious to see how he would do and as mentioned – he did awesome.  He got some lovin’ from some of the folks at the table near us and some teenage girls after dinner as we were walking around.  Such a good boy.  I really love this dog!

Learning stuff… so far we’ve been mostly focused on socializing with people and dogs, learning to love our expen and crate and usually once a day we do some sort of “formal” learning.  Sit, down, left, right, perch work, disc dog set up moves and rollers/retrieves.  We are alternating between food rewards and tug rewards.  Sit, down, left, right and set up moves are all done via luring.  Perch work is really the only capturing type of learning we are doing.  Oh and we’ve done some with offering to go through jump uprights.  Mostly though so far it’s just about play and being a puppy.  His recall is stellar and up till about a week ago we were really just rewarding with neck scratches and belly rubs but now that he is 16 weeks old I’ve made a point to reward any and all recalls that I deem “difficult” (outdoors, distracted, etc.) with love and good treats.  I’m hoping to really be sure and send the message that listening is awesome before we hit that independent puppy stage.

 

So far he seems pretty smart.  Sometimes he blows me away with his intelligence – other times he shows he truly is an aussie boy!  LOL!  He’s very athletic and very bold with his body – luckily he also has good control of his body already.  Groovy was a hot mess with her body at this same age!  He could jump up on the couch from day 1 (13 weeks old).  Problem is he doesn’t just get down… he leaps down.  Luckily our couch is pretty low and our carpeting is thick!  He was the first of his sibling to jump up on the exercise peanut unassisted and that was after just being on it once a few minutes earlier.  He conquered climbing up on the bed about a week ago and it isn’t low.  He’s attempting to jump in his crate at night – the problem there is that his crate is on top of Spice’s crate which I’m guessing is a 24” tall crate.  He doesn’t seem to care that he doesn’t make it – he keeps trying.  I’m having to keep an eye on him to prevent that.  He’s also mastered a box turn off of the chaise part of the couch on to the ottoman.  He jumps over Tali and Spice while playing.  I think it’s safe to say he’s going to be quite athletic.

He really is a great puppy and I am completely in love with him but no puppy is perfect and our “watch outs” so far are that he isn’t inclined to share high value resources well with other dogs with.  He can take treats while sitting next to another dog no problem but if another dog approaches his bowl/Kong (even when he’s in his expen) or if two dogs go for the same toy at the same time he is quite vocal about making sure the food or toy is his.  I try to keep in mind he comes from a long line of cattle dogs which are tough cookies but I’ve corrected him for it when I can and Jam and Spice have as well and he truly seems to be learning from that.  We are also rewarding any interactions that might cause an issue but don’t.  He totally respects Ruckus and gives him space.  He’s got great dog skills in that way and he’s greeted every strange dog very well.  

It!

If it wasn't a totally stupid registered name I'd name Ziggy after this song... "Maximum's It" is somewhat lacking however!  :)

My favorite lyrics from probably any Ziggy Marley song are from this song linked above...

"I hear you wanna try to find it do you know what it is
I hear you gone looking for what you want hope you find what you need
I hear you gonna try and find it do you know what it is
I hear you gone looking for what you want hope you find what you need"

So far Ziggy is everything I need.  I didn't go looking for the most outgoing puppy in the litter, I didn't go looking for the flashy blue merle - I came away with both and I have to say - I'm loving it!

This past Sunday Ziggy, Spice and I headed to Bradenton to participate in some agility run thrus to benefit an agility pug about to undergo radiation.  Spice needs the experience in other places and I figured it would be a good "entry level" exposure to an agility trial environment.  I was right on both counts!  Spice was spacey at the beginning of her run but pulled it together nicely by the end.  And the environment was very much like a trial.  Very crowded.  Ziggy did awesome!  Greeted everyone with enthusiasm, got his belly rubbed by a teenage girl, met a variety of different breed dogs from PWDs to a little Staffy who he really liked.  

After the run thrus we went over to my friend Liz's house.  Liz has Ziggy's brother Peak (used to be Coal).  We let the boys play at the house, we ate lunch and then we headed to Desoto National Memorial Park.  I've lived in the Tampa Bay area my whole life and I don't believe I've ever been to that park.  Cool place.  Nice historical experience combined with a mostly shaded walk through the mangroves that ends in a very calm beach.  Dogs are allowed but have to be kept on leash.  

Peak, Ziggy, Liz, Maggie and I set off.  The boys got to meet a lot of people along the trail.  Ziggy was the Wal-mart greeter of the group.  He loved everyone he met adults and kids!  He also was sporting his new reggae collar!  :)  This was his 2nd trip to the beach.  The first time he didn't get in the water at all but that was on the east coast and the waves were frequent and noisy.  At this beach however there were hardly any waves at all and the few that came along were quite small.  Peak had been swimming here before and dove right in so to speak.  Ziggy hung out in the shallows not going past his elbows for quite a while and then just as I was going to video Peak heading out to swim around Liz for the 10th time Ziggy started swimming too so yay me for getting it on video!  

One "cool" thing that happened was at the end of our walk we were resting by the interpretive center and the park ranger came up.  Full uniform including hat and sunglasses.  Ziggy greeted the park ranger with glee and when her hat fell off and landed on top of him and then on the ground Ziggy didn't bat an eye.  Good boy!  A couple of pics of the Wal-mart greeter...

My cute boy!

Peak and Ziggy

Ziggy and a new friend

Ziggy loves Maggie!

Ziggy and another new friend

Forward to Love

Click to listen while you read!

Forward to Love

So I’ve told you how everyone is handling the addition of Ziggy and how it was decided that the little blue merle was the one for us.  Incidentally had Noire/Keep come to live with us his name would have been Ferris but Ferris didn’t fit Azul so he became Ziggy instead after Ziggy Marley (in case you didn’t notice the theme to the musical blog posts yet).  So now to tell you about Ziggy!

Ziggy is one happy little puppy.  He loves to love!  He’s happy to play, he’s happy to eat, basically as long as he’s with you he’s happy happy happy!  Now ask him to sit alone in his crate or ex-pen and you likely will hear some screaming.  Those first 24 hours were hell, however we are into 2.5 weeks of having Ziggy and he’s doing much better.   He reminds me a lot of Mickie in his zest for life (and in his separation anxiety) but he has a LOT more built in focus than she did at the same age. 

His first week with us I didn’t really see any fear at all in him and I was really impressed.  He handled the drive from Texas beautifully.  An hour and a half down the road from Brenham we stopped in Houston to visit a friend and Ziggy did awesome with him, his wife and their pack of 4 adult cattle dogs.  Rest area potty stops and a hotel visit were no issue despite the fact he’d only been on leash once before we left.  Once home he settled right in (other than the screaming while alone thing).  I had planned for an outing and for a visitor to come over that week but those didn’t work out so all we managed in week 1 was two visits to my mom’s house (5 acres away).  On Thursday or Friday I started to see a little bit of a fear period starting in that he’d jump a little at a noise or look oddly at “weird” objects in the yard.  The cool thing is the moment something like that happens all I have to do is say “ZIGGY!” in a really happy voice and he comes bouncing to me to get some love.  We finished off the week with a play date with two of his brothers at my friend Sally’s house.  It was there we had our first and so far only (knock on wood) melt down.  Sally greeted me at the car in a hat and sunglasses and Ziggy was not impressed.  Barked and barked.  Took a little while to warm up to Sal after that but once he did he was fine and he’s been great with everyone ever since.

Week two brought more adventures.  First was a trip to an outdoor mall with his brother Moses and my friend Debbie.  Ziggy didn’t seem too confident about walking into the area on his own and being that this was only his 3^rd time on leash I went ahead and carried him.  Once he saw a group of people though he started wiggling in my arms to go see them.  I put him down and off he went to say hello.  He spent the rest of the visit greeting everyone that would pay attention to him and playing with his brother.  He met adults, kids, light skinned people, dark skinned people.  It was a really great time.  Later that week we headed down south to visit our friends Jason and Andrea.  On the way we stopped at my work so some of the folks could meet him.  He was awesome and everyone loved him.  He’s so full of love!  Later at Jason and Andrea’s Ziggy ran up to them right away and made himself right at home with them and their pack.  On Saturday we went to the beach and he did fantastic.  He wasn’t a fan of the water or the waves but he loved all the people and dogs.  Jack and I were beaming!  Saturday evening several of J and Dre’s friends came over to the house and again he did fantastic.  He met a really big biker guy, a big teenage boy, a small girl.  At the beach he met folks in hats, sunglasses, old people, kids, a Cavalier, a lab, a pit mix, etc.  It was a really great day for him.  He also spent a lot of time in an ex-pen outside watching the big dogs play disc and I think he’s caught on to the fact that the roundish plastic thing has high value!

We started this week with another trip to the mall with new dog friends and again Ziggy did awesome.  I saw a lot of stress yawning the first 10 minutes or so but he still was happy to greet everyone and saw no deterioration of any focus or happiness.  And last night we went to a friend’s how for a play date with her two adult dogs and her 7 year old daughter.  That went very well too!

Socialization…

Some folks wondered why we left Ziggy with his breeder Terri for an extra month.  The main reason is that I was petrified I’d screw him up somehow and wanted him to have extra time in an environment I knew wouldn’t screw him up.  Groovy turned out to be a disaster of sorts and that was the last puppy I raised.  Spice on the other hand is awesome and we didn’t get her till 6 months old (from Terri).  So I have a lot of baggage left from Groovy and poor Ziggy has to deal with that. 

Groovy’s inability to effectively deal with the world around her has been blamed on me by several people one of those individuals being a well-known dog trainer/agility person.  And this despite the fact that she showed signs of unbalance from the first hour in my house – seriously – how I can I be solely to blame for that?  Some people told me I didn’t socialize her enough… some told me I took her too many places and overwhelmed her.  Thing is I had friends who had puppies at the same age and took Groovy to the same places they took their pups and yet their pups handled it well whereas Groovy found something to freak out about on pretty much every outing we went on.  In the end I’ve concluded that I did take Groovy too many places but that it didn’t really matter anyway cause I had I not taken her she would still be just as unable to deal with the pressure but she would trust me a bit more.  That is evident in the fact that she trusts Jack more than me when we are at a competition.  She’s still unable to function like a normal dog but he can help her keep her wits about her better than I can and I attribute that to the fact that she associates me with all the scary stuff she managed to find while on our puppy outings.  Interestingly enough her brother Hammer is very similar to her in this inability to handle the world around him but on the flip side she has a brother that is a certified live search and rescue dog.  Genetics are a funny thing aren’t they?

What does this have to do with Ziggy?  Well I spent the first week or two constantly comparing him to Groovy as a puppy and was constantly on the lookout for Groovy like issues.  Was this fair to Ziggy?  No… but I couldn’t help it.  TOO MUCH BAGGAGE!  Every time I took him somewhere new I’d have anxiety about how it could possibly go wrong.  I was about in tears when he barked at Sally cause I thought to myself “Here we go again!  It all begins now!”  Luckily I was wrong!  Terri had been using essential oils with the litter from the time they were born and had gotten me started on them.  From his first trip leaving Terri’s house he’s had Peace and Calm on his car crate bedding for every outing.  I can smell it to though so I think it might be more for me!  J  The good news is that with every successful outing my baggage is falling away and my anxiety level is decreasing.  This is really important because I’m sure Ziggy can sense it and despite that he has been doing stellar.  He is an awesome little pup!  I pray that his love of people continues.  While I know that being the Wal-Mart greeter is not in the breed standard for the aussie I really wouldn’t mind one that deviated from the standard in that way.  Mickie is the Wal-Mart greeter of the pack currently… the rest of the crew vary from indifferent to people (Jam and Spice) to downright freaked out by them (Groovy).  It’d be nice to have another Mickie but I’ll be super happy if we just end up with indifferent.  I suspect we’ll end up somewhere in between the two.

I know that as Ziggy goes through different types of fear periods over the next year my baggage will pile back up and then leave again but I am ready for it.  I will continue to take him lots of different places and keep adding to his bank of positive experiences as well as being there for him when he isn’t feeling so confident.  More than anything I want this little guy to trust me and love me!  So far so good and I plan to do my best to keep it that way!

True to Myself

Click to listen while reading!  :)

True to Myself

Ziggy!  First of all he is freaking adorable.  I know… I know… what puppy isn’t?  But seriously… he is beyond cute.  Most folks likely think I picked him for his striking color but the truth is he isn’t even one of the puppies that I was considering when I flew to Texas to pick a pup when they were 8 weeks old.  My top 3 were black bis and black tris!  Terri really thought I’d like Noire – a black bi puppy that was low key with the other dogs and very very handler focused.  I really went to Texas expecting that is exactly the puppy I’d pick.  Several of us went to Texas that same weekend (6 of the 9 pups in the litter now live in Florida!).  It worked out where I got there early Friday afternoon so was able to spend time with the entire litter of pups and additionally spent 1 on 1 time with 5 of the 9 pups.  The only 2 puppies that were definitively spoken for were Graehm and Sapphire.  Before I arrived I really liked Noire, Night and Domino but I knew that Domino was likely going to my friend Debbie and that he was very likely going to be a bigger dog than I wanted.  Azul (Ziggy) and Coal had started catching my eye in the photos in the last week or two before I left but I still didn’t pay them much mind.  Additionally Azul had been the bully of the litter in the whelping box so that had accounted for much of my disinterest. 

While playing with the whole litter Night didn’t give me the time of day.  Noire took a little bit to warm up but was very sweet.  Meanwhile Coal and Azul were all over me right away and super affectionate (as were their sisters Raven and Jett but I didn’t want a girl).  Domino was very cool – very “middle” in every way.  I liked him a lot.   I started thinking “hmmm if Debbie doesn’t take him maybe I don’t care about what size he ends up”.  Then my 1 on 1 time with them came.  I planned to spend time with each one and get photos of each one but ran out of time and I played with them in the order that I could get them out of the ex-pen without a mass exodus of puppies!  The 5 pups I played with were:  Night, Graehm, Noire, Azul and Coal.  Again, Night didn’t really want to play or snuggle.  He didn’t like my camera, etc.  He was just blah.  In retrospect after seeing him over the next 2 days after that Terri and I strongly suspect he wasn’t feeling well from his vaccinations earlier that Friday because by Sunday he was a little maniac and a totally different dog.  Graehm wasn’t all that into me either which was fine – he knew I wasn’t his momma!  Noire again was very sweet.  He approached very submissively.  He liked toys and chased the rollers but just stood on them when he got to them and lost interest quickly.  I knew he had enough interest I could train it so wasn’t too worried.  I was a little worried he’d be too soft for me but he was still the top pick for me based on Terri’s observations of him over time.  She was right – he definitely was low key with the other dogs and not at all a bully or short tempered which is something that was important to me.  I knew he’d fit in well with my pack.  Then I played with Coal who was a favorite of mine from my time with the entire litter and our 1 on 1 time just cemented that.  He was very outgoing and loving.  He LOVED to get his belly rubbed and was all over me.  When I tried doing rollers with him he chased them and picked them up but didn’t return them.  He was a super tugger however.  Lots of toy drive!  I was very impressed with him.  He was at the top of my list at that point but I wanted to do more observing of him with the other pups to see how he interacted to get an idea of how he might do with my pack.  Then came Azul, such a sweet and happy puppy.  He was very bouncy in body and in spirit.  He still had the stigma in my mind of being the bully of the litter though so I still wasn’t sold on him.  Then I threw some rollers for him and he freakin’ rocked it.  He chased them down and after a little bit of wobbling to adjust for the disc’s weight (Jawz pup disc) he brought it right to me and then wiggled with delight at my excitement over his accomplishment.  He then repeated this behavior at least 4 or 5 more times.  I was in love but still tentative because of the bully thing. 

As the night went on more puppy parents arrived, my friend Connie from Jacksonville and my friends Debbie and Liz from Tampa.  Connie had been slated to get Sapphire the blue merle female and sure enough they fit together quite nicely!  Liz and Debbie didn’t arrive until late Friday evening so only got to see the pups for a short time but Debbie fell for Domino (now Moses) immediately so I knew he wasn’t an option for me.  That night we all headed to bed with the intention of waking early to play with pups and to put them on sheep and then the decision making would begin after that.  Terri had to see which would be her pup after all!  At that point I was interested in Noire, Coal and Azul and anxious to see what the next day would bring.

The next morning came EARLY but the excitement of playing with pups was enough to get me up before Liz (who is a morning person where I am not)!  The puppy playing began.  I spent more time observing vs. interacting because 1) Debbie and Liz hadn’t really gotten to interact yet and I wanted them to have that same ability I had the day prior and 2) I wanted to see the pup’s interactions with one another – especially Coal and Azul.  Despite my “stand offish” approach Coal and Azul were still all over me (and everyone else).  I watched Noire a lot and with more people there and additional people coming in I saw a lot of reserve in him whereas the other two were the first two pups to go running up to the new comers (people arriving at the ranch for herding lessons).  I really got the sense that Noire was not the dog for me.  I knew I wanted a more confident dog and I wasn’t seeing that in him.  He wasn’t scared mind you – but definitely withdrew from the hubbub which isn’t what I want in a disc dog that will be performing in front of large crowds on a regular basis.  Watching the pups play with one another both Azul and Coal got in little puppy spats with the other puppies but Azul was very often on the bottom whereas Coal was almost always on top.  This got me leaning towards Azul some more than I was. 

Picking time!  I thought it had been said that we were going to wait and see how the pups did on stock before any final decisions were made but I must have heard wrong because all of a sudden it was announced that Liz would be getting Coal.  I was confused and in a bit of a panic at that point.  That just left Azul (the “bully”) and Noire (Mr. Reserved) for me.  Granted Night was still available but he still was being ho-hum about stuff.  We gathered all the pups up and headed to the barn to put the pups on sheep.  In my gut I knew that Noire wasn’t a good match but I felt bad because Terri had really thought he was the pup for me.  With Liz now getting Coal that meant Azul would stay with Terri.  Terri had been planning to keep Coal but in the past week or two before we got there was thinking of keeping Azul. Well Azul got out there on the sheep and walked underneath them.  Not a tragedy by any means (and kind of comical) but not ideal.  Then Noire’s turn came and he was AWESOME on sheep.  We were all amazed!  I can’t recall what happened first - the dogs on sheep or Terri and I discussing Azul and Noire.  I said that I’d like to take Azul but that if his bulliness came back over the next month (I was leaving my pup with Terri an additional month for socialization) that maybe I’d look at Noire again and see if he had become more outgoing, etc.  Terri agreed we could do that.  I think maybe that conversation happened before the sheep herding cause once we all saw Noire on sheep it became apparently clear he belonged with Terri.  I still was worried about taking home the bully but my friend Kim who was there made a good point.  She said I needed to take the dog that was best for me and for what I wanted to do and that I could make the rest of it work out.  And besides, I hadn’t seen any of that behavior from Azul yet.  If anyone was the bully it was his sister Raven but really no one was the bully.  As the day went on and I kept watching the pups and interacting with Azul (named Ziggy by the time we went out for lunch) I knew the right decision had been made.  That little flashy blue dog was mine!  He’s been with us for almost 2 weeks now and every day he shows me he belongs with me.  My gut knew Noire (now named Keep) was not the right fit.  I’m proud of myself for listening (I haven’t done that in the past with puppies) and staying true to what I knew I wanted and although it took me a little time to see it and adjust to the idea of a pup I hadn’t even considered I am glad I stayed true to myself. 

All the pups truly ended up with who they belonged with.  Noire is now Keep and is staying with Terri to be her ranch dog.  Coal is now Peak and Liz is having a blast with him.  Domino is now Moses and Debbie couldn’t be happier.  Night is now Pete and living with Gail and she is really enjoying him.  They are a great fit.  Graehm was pre-named and Heidi is enjoying his adventurous nature.  Sapphire, Maxine (Raven) and Charlotte (Jett) are all perfect matches too!  Azul is now Ziggy of course and I love him.  He’s confident, happy and fun!  More about what Ziggy is like in the next post.

Changes!

Click to listen while reading!  :)

What is this thing here?  A blog?  I sort of remember that I have a blog.  Clearly I’m not a good blogger.  I do much better at short snippets of info than long ones i.e. Facebook status updates, but the drawback there is that I can’t easily go back and re-read them to recap what I think I’ve learned or said over time.  I can’t promise I’ll blog more often but I’ve had some thoughts fluttering around in my head that I want to put down so here goes at least 1 blog entry for 2012.  I suspect with having a new pup in the house I might manage to blog a few more times this year.  We shall see…

A new puppy?  Yep – a new puppy!  I imagine anyone who reads this is also my Facebook friend and thus already knows about Ziggy.  Quick recap in case you’ve missed it somehow… Ziggy is an ASCA registered Aussie from Terri Carver of Maximum Aussies in Brenham, TX.  He is out of Mojo (Slash V Midnight Cowboy) and Maggie (Maximum’s Steel Magnolia).  http://onedropaussies.com/ziggy/  He is a ½ brother to Spice through Mojo.  We are still working on a registered name for him.  Currently I’m leaning towards Maximum’s Catch the Wave but haven’t settled on it.  Catch the Wave is a lyric in Ziggy Marley’s song “Into the Groove”.  It also fits because of Ziggy’s crooked (or wavy) natural bob tail! 

So with the addition of Ziggy we now have 7 dogs.  “That’s a lot of dogs” is pretty much what everyone says when they find out we have 7 and they are right, it is a lot of dogs, especially when management is required within the pack and one is a pee pot!  We are adjusting and managing it all pretty well though Jack is complaining that he can't remember dog's names anymore.  I must admit I've had a few of those moments myself!  To add to the fun we’ll be dog sitting for a friend for much of August so that will make things interesting but luckily Kicker is well liked by all but 2 of the dogs in my house so it shouldn’t be too bad.

Some folks have asked how Ruckus is handling the stress of the new puppy.  For those that don’t know Ruckus is in congestive heart failure and doesn’t have too much longer to live.  Most things I’ve read state that most dogs live 6-12 months once they go on the meds he is on.  We truly thought we were losing him a few months ago but the meds have done wonders for him and he’s living quite comfortably right now.  We took several weeks to decide whether we wanted another puppy right now.  I had been on a list for a Spice sibling and that litter was planned for this spring but it didn’t happen and the Maggie x Mojo litter happened instead.  Other than size there were a lot of reasons to go with this litter over waiting for another Fly x Mojo cross however we weren’t sure it was a good idea to bring the pup in with Ruckus doing so poorly.  But it became apparent that Ruckus was going to do rather well on the meds and we decided to go ahead and get a pup from this litter.  How’s Ruckus handling it?  Pretty darn well actually.  Probably the best he’s handled any new addition.  He’s more focused on stealing Kongs and chew bones out of Ziggy’s ex-pen than he is on Ziggy, to the point that when I let Ziggy out Ruckus is right there to go in the ex-pen.  In the past he’d have stayed far away.  They’ve even been loose together in the front yard once or twice and Ruckus just ignores him and Ziggy seems to get that Ruckus isn’t a dog you approach.  Kudos to Ziggy on that!  Ziggy is very respectful of Mickie too!  His Uncle Max and Aunt Sadie taught him well!

How is everyone else adjusting?  Groovy likes him though is only allowed to interact through the ex-pen.  She’s funny – she tries to guard his ex-pen from the other dogs but Ziggy is allowed to have all the stuff in there.  Mickie appreciates that he is respectful of her and she’s even been spotted play bowing to him when outside.  Inside she lets him know she needs her space and he complies.  Spice… well Spice doesn’t like him.  The little queen feels like she’s been dethroned but to be honest she probably needed to be.  J  She hasn’t been allowed loose with him much at all.  She isn’t aggressive with him but definitely tells him she doesn’t want him near her or her stuff.  Hopefully they’ll eventually become good friends, time will tell.  Jam is very tolerant of him and occasionally likes him.  She hasn’t taken to him like she has to other puppies that have visited.  Maybe because he’s staying… I’m not sure.  She does play with him on occasion but isn’t in love with him.  And then there is Tali.  What a fantastic dog she is!  She loves the puppy and plays well with him and he loves her!  They are so fun to watch.  She is always a good big sister/momma dog to our new additions.  

So overall everyone is adjusting pretty well.  More to come on Ziggy and what he's like.  Look at that... already the promise of 2 blog posts in 2012!  Till then here is the new addition!

Ziggy at 8 weeks in Texas

Ziggy at 14 weeks at the Wiregrass Mall

Ziggy and his brother Moses at Wiregrass Mall - 14 weeks