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 Posted April 16th, 2009 at 12:37PM
She’s no Portuguese Water Dog, but we did end up finding a second dog about a month ago, from an area SPCA shelter. Her records say she’s an Australian Shepherd mix, which sounds plausible given her markings and disposition. The shelter had her tagged “Meg” which we changed to Maggie (or Magnificent, with theme song courtesy of Bono). Aussies are intelligent, active dogs and Maggie certainly keeps up with my two year old Border Basset Baja. They have been getting along nicely and exhaust each other daily. I’m thinking about starting a flyball team.
More later, but for now – a few shots I’ve taken:
For all of the shots, watch my Flickr photostream for stuff tagged ‘Maggie’.
Posted February 13th, 2009 at 12:54PM
After doing a bit of research – and tripping across a good deal on Amazon – I bought a spray-type no bark collar for my dog. Baja does respond to a “hush” command, but not reliably, and it’s hopeless when we leave him in the car alone. But he enjoys his rides.
Broadly, there are three choices in terms of collars: shock, sonic / ultrasonic, and spray. I was initially thinking of a shock collar, because he responded so well with the “electric fence” which works on the same principle. (A small shock to correct bad behavior, be it barking or running out of the yard.) But spray collars – which release a non-toxic (but obnoxious to the dog) odor upon barking – have high success rates in independent testing. Citronella is a popular scent option. The idea is that the dog is able to associate his nuisance barking with something he hears, smells, feels, and sees. As opposed to the shock, which can confuse some dogs (as well as increase anxiety).
Baja does not nuisance bark much other than when left alone, indicating separation anxiety as the cause. But it’s also his only bad behavior when alone, so I’m hopeful it can be solved.
I also bought a clicker to aid with training. Mostly so I qualified for free shipping.
Posted July 14th, 2008 at 8:01PM
…but he’s his dapper old self by now.
On July 4th, Baja woke up and was walking very stiffly. It was as if he went lame overnight. We wondered if he had just slept wrong in his crate, or had eaten something poisonous. But he seemed to get better throughout the day and still had an appetite and was peeing normally. The next morning, however, he was worse than ever and refused to move much at all. We called friends and found an emergency clinic open on Saturday, jumped in the car and took off. After spending all morning in the waiting room, they did simple blood work to test for Lyme disease. Well, it wasn’t Lyme, but something similar in cause, effect, and cure.
Ehrlichia
Ehrlichia is a rickettsial bacteria belonging to the family Ehrlichiaceae. There are several species of Ehrlichia, but the one that most commonly affects dogs and causes the most severe clinical signs is Ehrlichia canis.
…
Dogs get ehrlichiosis from the brown dog tick, which passes an ehrlichia organism into the bloodstream when it bites… There are three stages of ehrlichiosis, each varying in severity. The acute stage, occurring several weeks after infection and lasting for up to a month, can lead to fever and lowered peripheral blood cell counts due to bone marrow suppression. The second stage, called the subclinical phase, has no outward signs and can last for the remainder of the dog’s life, during which the dog remains infected with the organism. Some dogs are able to successfully eliminate the disease during this time. In some dogs the third and most serious stage of infection, the chronic phase, will commence. Very low blood cell counts (pancytopenia), bleeding, bacterial infection, lameness, neurological and ophthalmic disorders, and kidney disease, can result. Chronic ehrlichiosis can be fatal.
Baja’s only outward signs were fever and lameness. Fortunately, he’s now on three weeks of antibiotics, and was feeling better by the following Wednesday.
We do keep him on Frontline, but it doesn’t protect against tick diseases and only seems to work for about 3 weeks instead of the advertised 4.
Lyme disease is becoming a huge problem in the area, and the ticks are getting horrible. They better stop messing with my dog, or else.
Posted May 26th, 2008 at 4:48PM
So my dog is great. We’ve established that. But he’s picked up a few bad habits over the past year, entirely due to poor / sloppy training. The biggest and most aggravating? We’ll be playing fetch, say, and then he’ll “get the devil in him†and suddenly take off, into the woods (or worse, up the middle of the road). He likes to chase cats or rabbits, naturally, but there is neither rhyme nor reason to this sudden bolting. I chalk it up to the Border Collie roots: in classic BC fashion, he goes crazy without enough exercise. But how do you exercise a dog that will take off with no provocation? (The idea of a treadmill has been floated, a la stupid pet tricks, but it’d be a bit silly to buy one solely for his personal use.)
So he’s been limited to a leash while outdoors, which sucks as we live in the country and he has plenty of room to roam if he’d just behave. Enter the invisible dog fence. Last weekend I spent burying the wiring (a 1-3†deep trench sounds like a cinch until you try it around an acre of slate and rock… In pouring rain). This weekend the training began.
After setting it up, I had to see how it worked. We went with a PetSafe Stubborn Dog fence, via PetSmart. The fence works by sending a radio signal from the fixed transmitter (located inside of a building) to the buried boundary wire, which limits how far the pet may roam. The pet wears a collar that, once within range of the boundary wire, first vibrates and beeps, and then shocks should he venture too near.
The kit includes a “test light†so that you can ensure the system and collar are working. But being that it was my dog who’d be shortly wearing the collar, I had to test it myself. So on Saturday with the install finished, I walk with my finger on the collar contact points into the boundary, and – DAMN – I’m shocked a bit more than what I’d call “mild.†With some regret, I collared the dog and began the training, as per manual (and instructional DVD!)
Long story short, this thing works! Baja is a genius among canines, but I imagine even a lesser dog would catch on pretty quickly. The kit includes little flags that visually mark out the boundaries, and these were quickly associated with a shock. We need to work on showing him exactly where the boundary is, as he’s still unsure of most of his yard. But on Sunday, while catching a frisbee, he took off, and I ran after, sure that he would blow through the boundary and off into the road. But surprisingly, he stopped just short in the driveway, and I caught up to him.
He’s still a wild little Border Collie, but soon he’ll be able to get all of that energy out running full bore around the yard.
Invisible dog fence? A much better buy than the Dogloo, yo.
Posted April 19th, 2008 at 1:01PM
And to break up the monotony of MINI pictures, I’ll throw in some recent pictures of my little doggy. He got really furry over winter, but shed like crazy and his hair is now pretty damn short. He’s a pretty great dog, all things considered.
Posted March 15th, 2008 at 9:48AM
I’ve made very few dog-related posts since finding Baja at a PetSmart adoption clinic last June. Initially we were told he was a Blue Tick and Basset Hound mix, but after about fifteen minutes, we figured out his true heritage: Border Collie / Basset Hound. (We can only assume that his father was collie, and the mother, basset.. Think about it for a moment.)
This combination is, I believe, one of the best ever created. Let’s run through the positives:
- short, stubby legs: perfect for digging, running, and looking amusing
- long wheel – err – pawbase: good for high-speed stability
- highly flexible chassis: good turn-in, cornering ability
- markings + coat: very warm winter coat, highly pleasing to the eye, softer than a baby’s bottom
- intelligence: borderline dangerous Border Collie smarts
- hyperactive: dog runs in circles and growls wildly when not exercised for a period of time – highly entertaining.
- scent hound: amazing sense of scent, good for tracking deer
- innate herding abilities: good for herding cars, people, cats
- cuddly: especially after a long day, sleeps under covers, keeps feet warm
He turned a year old last week. He was rewarded with a new blue collar, and a cup of his favorite: Yöghund dog yogurt. mmm mm.
Posted July 31st, 2007 at 9:42PM
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