RE: (no subject)
Posted in plain text for Sherry: ! have been awake pretty much since Wednesday morning but I had to post this.. I am so proud of my girl Macy..aka... Santera's Evening Masquerade.. Macy freewhelped 18 beautiful Berner babies yesterday. 9 males and 9 females. She began her labor at about 5:30 am yesterday morning. Her first pup was delivered at 8:30 am .. she continued at a relaxed pace for the next 18 hours. Her last pup a small female was delivered at 2:30 am this morning,. sadly that last pup couldn't hang on and we lost her this morning.. Macy had no drugs of any type.. She did it all completely on her own. Puppies all weigh between 14 and 16 ozs. and all but 1 have very nice markings.. 1 has very high white boots on both his front feet. I want to thank Macy's breeder Sandy Novocin for allowing me to choose Macy. I went to Sandy looking for a bitch that had good orthopedics and longevity that could possibly also bring free whelping into my lines.. I have had alot of problems in my lines with having to section everything for very small litters. Macy has been everything I could ask for and more..She has a wonderful temperment and is a nice moving bitch with beautiful expression. The daddy to this litter is my Rigg's..Sunshine-Von Engel's Lethal Weapon. Celia Cuellar bred this wonderful boy. I was fortunate to get him.. He is a beautiful big boy with lots of type..He is a wonderful ambassador to the breed and I am hopeful that he will lend some of his size and beautiful type to this litter. As an added bonus Mom and Dad are both excellents with clear elbows and have nornal eyes, hearts and thryoids. Sandy and Celia.. Thank you for allowing these 2 wonderful dogs to be a part of my breeding program. It is quite an accomplishment in this breed to have a bitch that will free whelp.. let alone such a large litter..and with NO help. I see lot's of supplementing in my future..Anyone know how to find out if there has been a larger litter than this? maybe Macy is a new Titleholder after all now to get some sleep Sherry Von Engel BMD's
Agility training (was Re: (no subject)
In a message dated 1/31/2003 4:03:17 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I have an 8 mo old Berner who is quite smart. We would like to start training him for agility. Hi Denise, My thoughts follow, but I do agility for fun and not competition so this is a pretty inexpert view. There are so many skills involved in agility, it's never too young to start working on many of them. You just want to keep in mind that Deuce's joints are still developing and therefore somewhat vulnerable and...that he's a teenager so his brain can go 'out to lunch' at any time without notice g. So, my approach to agilty with a young dog is to work heavily on my relationship with the dog, teach them to work at a distance, follow my body, that kind of thing. I'll do the obstacles with my young dog BUT no where near competition height. I'd do low jumps, set the A-frame wide open (just prop up the center a bit if the chains won't go far enough), lowered dog walk, lowered teeter, etcand avoid a lot of repetition. What you're training for is the dog to do each obstacle in a FULLY controlled manner...not as a wild eyed hot shot. It's those flying leap moments that I think pose the most risk for youngsters so preventing them is the real challenge of doing agility with a teen. Agility puts the most stress on the front assembly of the dog, less on the hips. To get an idea of why this is so important to know, take a close look at a dog's skeleton. You'll see that the front end is made up of a succession of bones that aren't held together by much at all. No nice, tight, full contact support like you see in the ball and socket joint of the hips. In the front, it's bone to bone with little holding things in place but ligaments. Keeping that picture in mind will help guide you in deciding what and how much to have Deuce practice. And the decision IS up to you... some teachers are more knowledgeable about working with a large dog than others but the final decision on what to do and not during class is yours. Drop an email to Kris Osojnicki, [EMAIL PROTECTED], for info on the Berner Agility elist. I'm sure there's lots of experience there to take advantage of. ~ Sherri Venditti
Re: (no subject)
Denise, Deuce and all, I started training Boomer at about 12 weeks. Of course I didn't have him jump or do the dangerous stuff at that age. But the earlier you expose to the baby teeter, tunnel, ladder on the ground (to teach him where his feet are), etc., the easier it is later. Boomer went to the big show in Cleveland in December in the preferred classes so he didn't have to jump full height. He wasn't quit 19 months old and, other than knocking off a bar here and there (He's still learning how to jump. It's hard for a big dog to know where to gather himself between jumps so that the take-off is in the right place.), he performed beautifully and loved every minute of it. Go ahead and get your 8 mo. old started. Just don't jump him over 12 inches at first. By the end of the class you might be able to do 16 if it's elbow height or below. Don't have him go over the full height A-frame for a while either. Coming down can be hard. And make sure he's steady before trying the dog walk very high. You don't want him to fall off and hurt himself. Hopefully these are safeguards that your trainer will have built into the beginner class. Claudia Brydon in NW PA Barney OA NAJ (Aussie) Boomer (Bernese Mountain Dog) Mo (Gordon Setter Granddog) - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]@prairienet.orgBernes eMt.DogMalingList Sent: Friday, January 31, 2003 4:02 PM Subject: (no subject) Hi Everyone- I have an 8 mo old Berner who is quite smart. We would like to start training him for agility. Have found a trainer who gives an 8 week course for this. My question is this- is he too young to start training for this? I wouldn't want to do anything to harm him - I know he has alot of growing to do and wouldn't want to jeopardize his hips or legs. Anyone have any advice for me? Love listening to all of your suggestions and advice everyday. I've learned sooo much. Thanks again for any help you can give me. Denise Deuce
Re: no subject
In a message dated 1/29/2003 6:43:42 PM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: I guess my real question to the list is what are some of the more unusual/unique tricks that your Berners do? I haven't done it...but the cutest trickster I've seen was a Sheltie. When her owner sneezed, she raced across the room, grabbed a box of tissues, and returned to offer them to her owner. Very cute... -Sherri V.
Re: no subject
well Bogen has a trick everyone loves - except Tarheel fans. I aim my finger at him like a gun and ask Would you rather be a live Tarheel or a dead Cavalier? and he flops down and rolls over his back with all 4 feet in the air. At 11 years old he still does this trick with a smile on his face!! My mother's border collie mix also did this trick but he added theatrics to it and would slowly dissolve into the ground groaning like the movie stars then slowly roll over on his back and hold perfectly still. Bogen wags his tail the whole time so he leaves the theatrics to the hard crash he makes when he hits the floor. Sorry UNC fans ;) Go Wahooos! Molly and the gang Charlottesville, VA PS - The Cavalier is the mascot for the University of Virginia
