Gunner's visit, Part 2

Morning . . .
After a short spell of crying, Gunner finally settled down in his crate and slept until 7 AM at which time he decided it was time for us to get up. 7 AM is better than 5 AM. To continue his shaping, I waited for him to sit (or lie down) in his crate before opening the door. If he rose as I was starting to open the door, the door closed. His behaviour determined whether the door opened or not. Success at last. I was able to open the door and he sat until I said the magic phrase "OK / Break". I am starting the process of phasing out "OK" but for him to understand his new release word, I say "OK Break" as if it's one word. Then I'll say, "O Break" and then finally just "Break".

Anyway, I quickly looked to see if there was a regurgitated sock in his crate from overnight. Nope. Onto a Flexi and outdoors to do his business. Nothing that looked like a sock came out the back end. Indoors and up to the kitchen where I spent time rewarding him for being on a mat/Bowser Bed. This used up 1/2 cup of his kibble. I delivered the treats at a very high rate within a short period of time & then would release him before he decided to do it himself. I waited to see if he got back on the bed - which he did pretty quickly. More treats, then "OK - Break". Then it was back into his crate while I read the paper in bed. Oh my but did Gunner protest. He carried on for several minutes. I usually try to wait this out but even my patience was wearing thin so I did shout at him to be quiet which he did, much to my surprise. After that point, I was able to verbally praise him from our bedroom when he was quiet. His humans say he's very smart so I am confident he'll learn quickly.

Afternoon . . .
Spring was in the air so we decided to do some work in the garden, cleaning up leaves that we didn't complete due to unexpectedly early arrival of winter and snow. Gunner was outside alone with us and he acted like a 3 month old puppy with my rake, trying to attack and grab it with his mouth and bouncing on the piles of dead leaves. How old are you Gunner? Not 3 months; you're almost 9 months old. What are you like with a vaccum cleaner? I did expose you to that when you were a baby but you didn't try to attack it.

Meal times . . .
At his home, Gunner lives with a senior aged Labrador Retriever named Boomer. Boomer is very, very placid and doesn't put Gunner in his place, which Gunner does need so Gunner is top dog at his home. Not here. He hasn't figured that out when it comes to meal times in our house. He acts like a Lab around food - all consuming - and because he's at the bottom of the pecking order in our house, he gets served last. That's not how he figures it should be though and twice dove his head into other dog's food as they were starting to eat. He was so fast that I estimated he ate almost 1/3 to 1/2 their food before I could tear him away. Now, he's put on a leash while I serve the others.

Evening . . .
My step-son came to dinner and things always get a little more chaotic in the house when there are visitors and extra dogs. I leashed up Gunner in case he decided to greet Mark by jumping up. That didn't happen. Wow, I was surprised. After the dogs ate their dinner, Gunner & Tyro started playing in the kitchen but it was turning into a dominance - submission routine where Tyro was trying to put Gunner in his place in a non-aggressive way and Gunner was submitting. That was fine. The only problem was that Gunner was submitting by peeing all over the kitchen floor as I was trying to get things ready for our dinner and the dogs were tracking all through it. Absolute pandemonium! Got the floor washed, the vegetables finally ready, table laid out, food plated and then Michael said he wasn't feeling well and warned us he was also feeling faint. He dropped down to the floor just to avoid fainting. More chaos as Gunner and Diva came over to investigate and lick his face. As I dealt with Michael, I was fully aware that there were 3 plates loaded with food, including very tasty roast lamb sitting on the counter - prime target for counter-surfing, chow-hound Gunner! Well, Gunner wasn't interested in our dinner because his stomach started heaving. Then he started to vomit. Where? Right at Michael's feet as Michael lay supine on the kitchen floor still. Sick husband, vomiting dog, upchucked kibble on floor, human food sitting out on counter getting cold, no paper towel in the kitchen. But there in a pile of vomit was the sock that Gunner ingested 2 days ago! Asked step-son to put the food in the oven to keep warm while I dealt with hubbie and cleaning up vomit. Hubbie went to bed, not the hospital (likely something he ate that really upset him) and Mark and I finally had our dinner. Later that night, Gunner curled up by my feet like an angel while I sat at the computer and when he went to bed, he didn't utter a peep. All quiet in the Moffat household after a full day of Gunner's visit. What's in store tomorrow? Well, I hope I can get some decent photos of him. All the ones I've taken so far are blurred because he won't remain still. Tomorrow is another day. Sleep tight Gunner. Sure hope your humans are enjoying themselves in Jamaica. We know you're having a great time in Moffat.

Gunner's visit, Part 1

" . . . oh, and Gunner ate a sock. It's not his first one either."

These were the parting words of Gunner's alpha human before she and her 2 sons departed for a vacation in Jamaica, leaving me to board Gunner for the week. For those following my Blog, Gunner was Mr Black in our Ozzie-Miska breeding born June 16, 2008. Mr Black was totally fearless confronting his uncles Tyro and Chili (who has been renamed Tucker by his new owner) as a 3 week old puppy. http://varazsvizslas.blogspot.com/2008/07/mr-black-meets-big-boys.html In contrast, it was Chili who was more afraid of Mr Black than Mr Black/Gunner was afraid of him.

I hadn't seen Gunner for several months so was anxious and excited to see how he was turning out. I always love to hear news, see photos and ideally have visits from the 'grand-pups' so jumped at the chance. But I was just a little concerned about his visit only because Gunner had injured his shoulder a few weeks ago. I know from dog and personal experience how long it takes to heal soft-tissue injuries and how well dogs can mask pain. Boarding him means he gets to see his relations and that means he wants to play, race and have fun. Some of that wouldn't be possible because I want to rest him and ensure his injury heals. Hard to do when he's just a puppy and there are other Vizslas to play with.

Gunner is certainly a handful and very smart. It turns out he's your typical, somewhat out-of-control Vizsla, male puppy: counter surfs, jumps up on people A LOT, steals food, pulls in a leash, mouthes leashes, eats socks, sit-stays for 1 nano-second, etc. WOW! But I suspect my dogs aren't the most perfectly behaved when they go and stay at someone else's house either. However, the jumping up on people is a major concern for a dog that is going to weight around 55 lb. Gotta definitely do something about that before the owners return and teach them how to eliminate this behaviour.

First order of business - outfit Gunner with a Gentle Leader. Then I took him and Tyro for a nice leash walk. At least the boys get along well. Gunner understands he's not top dog in this house.

Second order of business is to change his release word from "Okay" to something else, e.g., "break". Talk to Susan Garrett about using Okay as a release word - NOT!!! Too overused in everyday human language- very confusing for a dog.

Third is to start shaping his behaviour rather than using lures. Unfortunately, most schools use lure training and it's almost impossible to avoid. The school I sent Gunner and his humans to introduce the clicker but really don't use shaping at all in their classes. There are no other schools I've found which teach the general public how to shape their pet's behaviours. I hate lure training now that I've seen the incredible results that well-timed shaping can produce but it's virtually impossible to avoid if one trains with anyone other than Susan Garrett.

Fourth is to use at least 1/2 of the kibble in his meals to shape various behaviours like go and stay on a mat, lie down, etc. He knows some of these behaviours from his school but most are lure-trained. I need him to figure things out on his own and especially learn some self-control.

That's all within the first hour of observing him. I've determined that Gunner has a lovely temperament. Like most male Vizslas, however, he's highly energetic, very kissy and has the attention span of a gnat for a not-quite 9-month old. Gunner, I'm looking forward to this week with you!

As to that sock . . . my experience is that socks don't tend to exit the back door. They are regurgitated through the front. How long will this take? I'll wait and see. Note to self- tell owners about inducing vomiting if they witness Gunner eating a sock again but also teach them Susan Garrett's "It's Your Choice" game using smelly socks.

6 for 6 for Milo & Corrine

Wow - look at all these blue ribbons! Milo and his owner Corrine have been on a huge roll lately. This weekend, they were entered in a total of 6 obedience and rally obedience trials in Georgetown, Ontario AND qualified in ALL six trials!! Milo earned his Cdn Companion Dog (CD) obedience title plus his Cdn Rally Novice title. And they scored well. His rally scores were 96, 91 and 97 / 100, competing in the "B" class with some of the country's top competitors. Plus they earned their first CKC Rally Advanced leg with a score of 95 / 100. Woo-hoo! Correction - these were their 12th and 13th titles and they are close to earning another two to three more in rally! What an amazing accomplishment for both so a huge smile and round of applause from me, Milo's breeder.

Mystery ailment

Whatever affected our dogs the day we departed Arizona, seems to have returned. First Nova began throwing up Thursday night. This time, I took Nova to see our vet. She really was under the weather, not herself at all. We drew blood; he gave her a shot for nausea & sent me home with more pills for nausea. Thankfully, her blood work was all normal. Then Tyro vomited in his crate overnight. And then when Miska vomited her breakfast, I took both of them, Tyro & Miska, to see the vet on Saturday. So far, only Diva has been spared but she is now on meds prophylactically.

They say, "know your dog", and I sure do. I am tuned into just the slightest change in their behaviour. It's not as easy with a puppy or young dog such as Diva but with Nova & Miska and Tyro, the signs are more obvious to me. Tyro slept all day in our den and didn't get up to follow me room to room with a toy in his mouth. Tonight, despite an injection of an anti-nausea drug, Miska hasn't been herself. She didn't go around the kitchen picking up dog bowls after their meals as she absolutely loves to do. This has been Miska's twice daily routine established before her dad, Sasha, died in January 2008. When she doesn't want to do her job, I know she's not feeling well.

Nova is definitely feeling herself again; Tyro is improving. But tonight it will be Miska's turn to sleep in mom & dad's bedroom as she's still not 100%. Most likely this is some kind of virus that is spreading amongst our dogs but I've never seen them this 'under the weather' before from something like a stomach bug.

Blaze & Piper update

Blaze (Varazs Kedves Quasar) was in his second weekend of shows recently. IMO from the photos that his humans sent me, he looks stunning & moves well, even though he wasn't awarded Winners Dog; he took Reserve Winners (runner up) instead. Aaah, the joys of showing dogs.

From Blaze, Calgary show

And pretty Piper (Varazs Kedves Quinn) and her young human, increasingly pretty Rae Brynn, recently graduated from their third set of puppy obedience classes. They make a great team! Rae Brynn shows cows at agricultural shows as one of her hobbies. I'm hoping to encourage Rae to show Piper in conformation since handling a dog is a whole lot easier than handling an ornery cow! Here are some photos of Rae & Piper together.

From Piper graduates Puppy 3

Cdn Ch Varazs Napkelte Tyrone Am RN

Finally, I received the photo of Tyro taken in August 2008 when he completed his Canadian Championship. Pretty nice looking boy, if I do so say so myself and he is sooo sweet-natured and loving - just a wonderful temperament. His father is Am/Int'l/Cdn CH Kizmar Touch of Evil JH NA (Hudson) and his mom is Cdn CH Ferngold Varazs Innovation FDJ Am/Cdn CD, Cdn RA, Am RE, Am RAE, JH, CGN (Nova). Tyro was born June 17, 2006.

And below, Tyro is shown earning his Amer Rally Novice title (with two 1st placements in Novice B) and on the left is his mom, Nova, who finished her RAE (Rally Advanced-Excellent) title.

Where's Tyro's CH Certificate?

It's now been 7 months since Tyro completed the requirements for his Cdn Championship but he still hasn't received his certificate from the Canadian Kennel Club. I keep pretty meticulous records of my dogs' wins and passes so I was able to construct a list of all the shows he been to, the dates, his wins and the points he accumulated. And to be sure I hadn't made a mistake, I spent a few hours today perusing the CKC's dreadful online system of show results to verify that my records were accurate. When I say dreadful, it's because it takes far too many clicks and screens to get to the information one needs and the way it's set up, past link selections aren't highlighted so you don't know if you've previously visited a page. And once you get to the desired screen, it doesn't actually indicate the date of the show so if you're looking at multiple days of showing for a particular club, it's very easy to lose track of what you've viewed and what you haven't. And, the download speed is dreadful. The CKC's online published results can be far worse because the files are HUGE and take an extremely long time to download for folks who have dial-up Internet. Anyway, I faxed the CKC a letter and now I'll wait to see how fast they respond.

The AKC on the other hand, is exceptionally speedy at processing show and trial results. I know they have already processed Tyro's scores for his rally title earned in February and that his certificate is in the mail, less than one month after the trials took place. Actually, Nova's AKC RAE certificate reached me early this week, less than 4 weeks after she finished her title, even allowing for mail to move between two countries. Now that's FAST! And the AKC's online system is so much better laid out and organized than the CKC. PLUS, it's open to the general public whereas the CKC restricts its show/trials results to CKC members only. How petty. Well, that's my rant for the day!

Mila, the wonder Vizsla!

Mila (M-OTCH Szuni's Shooting Star UD FDX TD AGN AGI AGDC AADC CGC) who is a daughter of our beloved Sasha (Am/Cdn Ch Varazs Kiraly Sassy Sasha Am/Cdn CDX, Am RAE, FDJ, CGC, CGN) recently earned two more agility titles from the Agility Association of Canada:

Advanced Agility Dog of Canada (AADC), January 22, 2009
Advanced Game Dog of Canada (AGDC), November, 2008

Congratulations Susan and Mila! Mila isn't quite 10 years old but she's still going strong and these are her 14th and 15th titles. She's still burns up the agility course and is usually much faster than dogs half her age. Susan Scobie, Mila's owner & breeder, and I both hope she'll follow in her dad's paw steps and keep competing in something well into her old age as did Sasha (earning his Am RAE in his 15th year). Here's a photo of Mila at a younger age, doing the weaves. Mila is an 'awesome pawsome".

Sasha's grandkids

There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think about my dearly departed Sasha. So it was lovely to learn that two of his grandkids recently earned their Canadian Championships. They were bred by Susan Scobie of Szuni Reg'd Vizslas in British Columbia and their mother is M-OTCH Szuni's Shooting Star UD FDX TD AGI AGDC CGC, "Mila", who is Sasha's daughter. Mila was mated to an Onpoint dog to produce these kids.

CH Szuni Shoot the Moon "Milo"

CH Szuni's Gypsy Moon CD "Gypsy"

Miska's trophy

Yippee, we dogs are happy to be home so we can run off leash in the woods! But brrrrrrm it sure is cold in Ontario! Our people aren't happy to be home though. Hu-mom took us for a walk on Sunday just in the neighboring conservation property by our house. It was only for about 50 minutes since it was so bitterly cold. On our way back, I (Miska), disappeared into the woods 'cause I could smell something interesting (my nose is pretty darn good). Remember, I haven't been able to hunt for over 2 months when in Arizona so I was pretty excited to be able to let me nose take me places again. I surprised my hu-mom by bringing her a deer leg! She was shocked and didn't know what to say, except for "good girlie Miska!", but she let me carry it all the way home (about 1/2 mile) because she didn't have a large enough plastic bag to put it in. (If we bring her animal parts, she usually thanks us by giving us a cookie & then she puts the parts in a plastic bag and takes them home & puts them in the trash. What a waste but at least we get a cookie for our troubles.) Well, I didn't drop the leg once and it was a long way home. Tyro and Diva wanted to take it away from me, but I didn't let them. I had to hop over trees and logs and big rocks and sometimes the leg got twisted around but I still didn't drop it. See how proud I am of my "trophy"? Hmmm, I wonder what mom did with it?

Brrrrrrr!

OMG, it's cold outside! Awoke to freezing temps in Tulsa, OK. Literally freezing - 32 deg F/0 deg C. Our hu-mum had to bundle up in her fleece jacket to take us outside to do our business. We didn't have any coats but she was still shivering away. Now she knows why so many people say "hurry up" to their dogs to do their business!!!

Okay, okay - we've all acclimatized to Arizona temps after only 2 months. So why, oh why, are our humans taking us back to the cold in Ontario? Something about a famous opera star who's coming to sing in Toronto on March 1 and they have tickets. Her name is Cecilia Bartoli and she's THE most famous modern opera diva of modern times and they bought tickets to hear her months and months ago and didn't want to miss her because it's a once in a lifetime chance. So that's why we're coming home now and not a month from now. If it were up to us Vizslas, we'd have stayed in AZ until April. it wasn't our choice to come back to cold Canada.

What's going on?

It started with Tyro. He threw up part of his breakfast on our way back from the dog park on Tuesday. And then he vomited several more times later in the day. I wondered if it was from heat exhaustion from playing at the park - even though it wasn't exceedingly hot; or was it from drinking too much water at the park? Or was it from stress when he saw us packing up to return home? We dosed him up with Pepto Bismal and withheld his supper.

Finally to bed aftr packing but were awakened at about 1 am by the sounds of a dog heaving. I raced downstairs. Tyro was fine. Now it was Nova's turn to vomit. And, some of it had run onto the carpet in the rental house - the very day we're leaving! So it was clean up time. Back to bed. Then she threw up again but this time, just a small amount of bile.

After a terrible night's sleep, we awoke at around 7:30 AM. We'd hope to depart for our trip home by 9 am but that departure time was unlikely. No breakfast for Nova or Tyro; just more Pepto. Shortly after feeding Miska and Diva, it was then Miska's turn to throw up. What was going on? Of course, Miska did it on the carpet too! Thank goodness both I and the landlord had plenty of carpet cleaner on hand. Finally, Diva wasn't spared. She vomited her breakfast. Now I had 4 dogs all throwing up and we had to hit the road for our long trip back to Canada. Stopped at the vets and picked up some canned gasto food & the grocery store for a can opener. None of the dogs was so sick that they needed medical attention but it was a little worrying.

Despite the Pepto Bismal, Miska vomitted in the van and then again at the hotel in Texas. Thankfully, I bring sheets to throw over the hotel's bed to protect the bedding because that's where Miska threw up. I was glad that the hotel had a guest laundry so I was washing & drying dog beds and sheets late last night. Finally, all 4 dogs now seem to have recuperated over whatever made them sick and we can all relax. But I have no idea what could have given all of them upset stomachs. It's sure not fun being sick or having sick dogs when one is traveling. I hope that the rest of the trip home is smooth and without incident.

Paws up for winter in AZ

Our hu-mom took us to the dog park yesterday and today. She says we have to leave tomorrow to return home to Ontario so wanted us to have lots of exercise before departing 'cause we will be in the van about 9 hr/day. It was hot, even though the temperature was only 71 deg. when we went out this morning. At home, that would just be warm but because it's so sunny with so little wind, it sure feels hot here. Mom is sad that it's going to be hot all week just as we're leaving Arizona because it's cold and still snowy at home in Canada where we live.

We had a really good time at the dog park and no dogs were mean or growly to Tyro. My mom, Nova, and I (Miska) pointed the song birds because there are no game birds at the dog park while Diva chased a ball or was chased by other dogs or began a game of chase and Tyro just hung out and joined in the chase games. It's a good thing there's fresh water here because we needed lots. Yesterday, a boxer kept standing in the water basin and getting it dirty so our hu-mom or someone else's hu-mom or dad would empty and refill it. It would stay clean until the Boxer came back.

After we got home, we relaxed in the garden by the pool, soaking up the rays. Surprisingly, there are very few flies or insects here so Mom can leave the patio doors open.




We Vizslas had lots of fun here in Arizona. Sure beats having to dress up in winter jackets and sweaters to go outside. Of course we do miss running through the woods off leash but we'll get to do that soon when we get home. Our humans have already been searching for another rental property for next year. This afternoon they are going to view a house that sits on an acre of land - just for us. They are so thoughtful, aren't they? We're keeping our paws crossed!

"Heat" wave

I wish the heat wave was all about hot weather in Arizona; it's not. I wish it was because it's been quite cool this week but still beats being at home in Ontario! It's all about Tyro having to endure his half-sister, Miska, being in estrus this week adding insult to his near injury at the dog park the other day. And Miska's not interested in him at all! Poor fellow. What a blow to his ego. When he's not around her, he's as happy a Vizsla as ever. Just wish she'd go 'off the boil' very soon so we can all get some peace and quiet.

Close call for Tyro

I don't frequent the leash-free park on weekends, anticipating excessive crowding. However on Saturday, we spent most of the day driving up to Wickenberg, AZ to reach a 53 mile scenic drive west featuring Joshua Trees, mountains and canyons. By the time we returned home, there wasn't enough time to walk dogs. So I took Tyro, Nova & Diva to the dog park. Miska stayed home because she is in full estrus.

My expectations were right, it was more crowded than I had ever seen it. But no one was bothering Tyro and he was having fun until another Vizsla arrived - a neutered male - which started to show some aggression towards Tyro. (Tyro is intact.) I was able to stave this dog off but he worried me. Then a hefty male Boxer (again, neutered) arrived, ran up to Tyro and immediately jumped up & put his front legs and chest over Tyro's back in a strong display of dominance aggression. The Boxer didn't want to step down and was making increasingly louder growls and threats at Tyro. Tyro wasn't happy to be pinned by the Boxer. I quickly grabbed the hind legs of the Boxer & pulled him off Tyro. He didn't like that but he just wouldn't leave Tyro alone. Who or where was the Boxer's owner? I had no idea. The owner was doing nothing to intervene.

From there, it started to escalate. The Boxer was really upping his growls, circling Tyro and starting to flash teeth. Then the other male Vizsla ran over to join in. (Yes, there are Vizslas that have aggression problems.) Tyro is NOT an aggressive male and he was not the aggressor. It was the neutered Boxer that was preparing to fight. Other dogs ran over and were mobbing Tyro when they heard the increasingly loud growls. I knew it was going to turn into a dog fight if I didn't do something fast. I started screaming, "Call your dogs off!!!" while trying to protect Tyro and to prevent both of us from being bitten. Owners finally came running and an attack on Tyro was avoided. Poor Tyro was clinging to me, very shaken, as I was. We quickly left. I still don't know who owns the Boxer but if I see the owner, I shall give him/her a big piece of my mind, and the same for the Vizsla owner. The park rules state that aggressive dogs are not allowed. Will these dogs return? I suspect so. But we won't be back on a weekend, that's for sure.

New RAE, RE & RN (rally) titles

Three of our dogs completed 3 more rally titles at the Suhuaro State Kennel Club's rally trials in Phoenix AZ. Elizabeth Packer and Gryphon earned his Rally Excellent (RE) title. My Nova finally earned her last 2 legs of her Rally Advanced-Excellent (RAE) title and Tyro (Cdn CH Varazs Naplete Tyrone) completed his Rally Novice title in 3 straight trials and earned 2 First place finishes. Although the AKC website showed Nova only needed 1 more leg for her RAE title, it was wrong and I knew she needed two. Fortunately, I entered her in 3 trials and she had Q's in 2 of the three. Whew!

Unfortunately, Miska had come into season and so I had to scratch her 6 entries at $29 US each which added up to a lot of money that I wasn't able to get back. She is working on her RAE title and for that, a dog has to compete in both the Advanced and Excellent classes in each trial. Oh well, that's life. Because of her heat, I didn't have Tyro's complete attention even removed from her proximity so I was very surprised when he managed to snag two first placements. And it was nice for Mom (Nova) and Son (Tyro) to finish their titles the same day. Way to go!

The best veterans!

The Rio Salado Vizsla Club's veteran sweepstakes (Feb. 7, 2009) were sparsely attended in Phoenix AZ. Very sparsely in fact - only 3 veterans entered and two of them were my dogs. Traveling from California to visit us here in AZ was Elizabeth Packer who entered Gryphon (Am & Int'l CH Varazs Gryphon's Magical Mist JH CD RA) pictured at Right in the sweeps. I hadn't seen Elizabeth and Gryphon for a few years so it was wonderful to meet up with them again. Gryphon turns 8 on Feb. 21 and he is still so handsome with a beautiful dark, rich rust coat. He has a beautiful head and absolutely fantastic feet - probably the best cat feet I've ever seen on a Vizsla. And get this, in all the years Elizabeth has owned Gryphon, she's only had to trim his nails a couple of times when he was a puppy. His nails grow but they get worn down naturally. That's a dog owner's dream come true - and probably a Vizsla's too!



Back to the veteran sweeps . . . Gryphon was the only male veteran. My Nova (Cdn CH Ferngold Varazs Innovation JH, FDJ Am/Cdn CD, Cdn RA, Am RE, CGN) pictured at the left was one of only two female veterans. Well, she could have come 2nd out of two, but the judge, Mary Jane Mowry from Phoenix, liked her and gave her first. Gryphon and Nova then went up against one another and Ms Mowray picked Gryphon as Best Veteran and Nova as Best of Opposite. In both cases, I was the 'winner' being the breeder and/or owner of both dogs. But what was so nice to hear were the compliments from the judge who is an Irish Setter breeder. She loved both dogs and couldn't find enough nice things to say about them and commented that they were so much better than many of the Vizsla puppies she had just judged in the sweeps. That meant a lot. So here's to our veteran sweeps winners, Gryphon and Nova!

Diva's show debut

Well, Blaze isn't the only 'pretty dog' from our Ozzie-Miska litter to be a show dawg. His sister Diva who is swiftly becoming a 'Valley Girl', made her show debut in Phoenix, AZ on Feb. 5. She participated in 6 shows over 4 days. That's a lot for a puppy but she managed to take it all in stride. She won the Bred-By Exhibitor all 4 days (even beating another female on two of those days). She came 2nd out of 3 in the Vizsla 6-9 month puppy sweepstakes (and won her human mom some US dollars!). But the Rio Salada Vizsla Club's Specialty Show judge - whose name we won't even mention here - didn't like her at all and gave her last place in her class. Poop on him! Diva is still a little "bum-high" but has good forechest and angulation. Human-mom was very proud of Diva because Diva acted like she had been to dog shows all her life! She was calm, well behaved and stood still for the judge. Thanks to my friend, Elizabeth Packer from California, for taking these photos of Diva and me.

Diva free-stacking

Diva showing off her nice chest

Diva gaiting

A well-behaved model

Diva's ribbon haul (we don't like the yellow one)

Blaze's first show

On January 31, Blaze (Varazs Kedves Quasar) who was out of our Ozzie-Miska litter born June 16, 2008 participated in his first conformation show in Calgary, Alberta. He was 7 months old and was the only male entered. His owners used a professional handler whose job was made easy because of the training that his owners have been doing to get him ready for the show scene. He didn't beat the other females but earned his first ribbons and was selected as Best of Opposite Sex to the female Best of Breed. Of course, I'm rather biased and think he's the best looking Vizsla there and should have won Best of Breed and Best of Winners. Nevertheless, the important things were that he had fun and behaved well!

Jester - aging gracefully

Lorie Hrycuik who owns Jester (Varazs Starbuck's Moka Java TT) sent me two beautiful photos of him, taken in November 2008. Jester has one of the most gorgeous male Vizsla heads and even into his 14th year (he's 13.5 year old), he still looks very handsome. I hope he will be celebrating his 14th birthday in August.

Dollars for Dogs campaign

WOW! i just read that the Dollars for Dogs campaign raised over $75,000, with $11,000 in donations being received in the first 3 days of the campaign from concerned dog owners in Canada and around the world. How fantastic is that? Absolutely FABULOUS!!! I hope that my post helped in some small way to raise awareness and perhaps some funds. We need to fight breed-specific legislation here and in other parts of the world.

New blog - Vancouver Island Vizsla Enthusiasts

My friend, Chrissie Diron, who along with her husband, Jens, owns and operates the Vital K9 Pool on Vancouver Is. (west coast of Canada), has just started a Blog for Vancouver Island Vizsla Enthusiasts. Check it out! Chrissie and Jens own Shandy, who is a female puppy from our Nova X Sasha breeding born June 26, 2003. Their pool facility is just incredible from the photos I've seen. I have only met Chrissie and Jens in person once and that was when we met up in the Okanagan Valley (on the mainland of British Columbia) as our paths serendipitously crossed for other reasons (us, a vacation; Chrissie & Jens travelling to a seminar). We didn't plan the meeting so how fortuitous was that? Our meeting was a couple of years ago. I hadn't seen Shandy since I put her on a plane at 10 weeks of age to travel to her new home so it was great to see her again and to meet her humans and the other Vizslas in the family. Although recent immigrants from England to Canada, Chrissie is very active in getting involved in the local community. So I hope there will be plenty of activity on the new blog!

More winter in store for Ontario, Canada

According to German superstition, if a hibernating animal sees its shadow on this day, February 2 – the Christian festival of Candlemas – winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, according to legend, spring will come early. Unfortunately Ontario, Canada - where I live - is in for another 6 weeks of winter according to Wiarton Willie, our local rodent forecaster. And it appears that this winter will rival last year's for one of the worst for record breaking snow and cold temperatures. http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/winter-hell-toronto-snowfall-may-break-70-year-old-record All I can say is, thank goodness we decided to spend two months of our winter in Arizona! But it looks like winter will still be there when we return home later this month if Wiarton Willie's prediction is accurate. Let's face it, winter always sticks around until March anyway, sometimes even into April, even when he doesn't see his shadow.

So while we have been enjoying lovely sunshine and spring temperatures in Arizona and it's easy to get dogs outdoors, back home it hasn't been the case. So what's does a Vizsla owner do to exercise their dog when it's bitterly cold and there's too much snow to walk through? Well, Corrine Sellars who owns Milo have been spending time indoors learning new sports and tricks.

1998 litter turns 11, Feb 2.

It's called "Groundhog" day in Canada today (Feb. 2) and our small litter born February 2, 1998 also turned 11 years young! Happy Birthday puppies!! Everyday birthday past 10 is a blessing for most dogs and we are celebrating their achievement. And Groundhog day is the day that this stupid rodent is supposed to emerge from its burrow in the ground. If he sees his shadow, he predicts another 6 weeks of winter. If he doesn't see his shadow, spring will arrive earlier. Well, in Ontario Canada where I live, it almost always another 6 to 7 weeks of winter no matter what. So much for its ability to signal the end of winter.

Anyway, back to our Vizsla puppies born on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2, 1998. The parents were Am CH Legacy's Rhythm N Blues ("Rowdy") and Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah CD CGC ("Nekah") whom I miss dearly still. This was Nekah's 4th and last litter. Here are photos of two of the dogs from that litter, Bartok and Amber. Amber celebrated with pizza (her favourite food) and Bartok had a nice walk with his dad, Oliver. May you celebrate many more B-Days.

Here's Amber.




Below is Bartok.


Bartok's family will soon be moving from British Columbia to Calgary, Alberta where he will be closer to his sister Amber. Bartok also has 2 other relatives in Alberta, Polo (a 3rd cousin I figure) and Blaze, a great-grand nephew. Kinda hard to figure out these doggie relationships at times but they are related through our Nekah and her son, Sasha. I have to stop and try to figure it all out and I'm the breeder!



Lots of love from breeder mom.

Dog parks, a necessary evil

I mentioned in an earlier post that I am not a fan of dog parks, mainly because of diseases and germs that are spread from feces and between strange dogs. And sometimes there are acts of aggression and fights between dogs. So initially I was very nervous taking my dogs to a leash-free park here in Glendale, AZ because they aren't used to this type of situation. And, they are valuable show, competition and breeding dogs. At home in Ontario Canada, they run off leash in wooded areas where we generally don't run into other people and dogs. It's dangerous to do that here in Arizona (cactus, rattlesnakes, broken glass everywhere).

Glendale AZ's leash-free park rules say no treats and no squeaky toys (gets dogs too excited the sign says and this may result in fights) & your dog can be banned if it's aggressive or picks fights. I don't take squeaky toys with me but, no treats? How am I going to reward my dogs for exhibiting good behaviour? I did break that rule at first.

Glendale Foothills park actually has 3 runs. The larger area has a small enclosure for small dogs & a much larger area for big dogs. It is closed on Wednesdays for maintainance. The third area is a little larger than the small run for small dogs & it's used by all dogs on Wednesdays and can get very crowded.

The first time we visited the park was a Wednesday; only the third (small) area was open. Fortunately Michael came with me so we could supervise our 4 dogs carefully. I think another rule is only 2 dogs / owner-handler. Miska is alpha dog/bitch in our household and she's used to bossing our dogs around. Tyro is an intact male. I was most concerned about these two. Miska did try to assert some dominance with a couple of dogs who ventured too close to her but I had to reward her when she showed proper behaviour so sneaked her some treats when she started ignoring the dogs that came close. With Tyro, it was more the case of watching to see how the other dogs behaved with him, especially males, both intact and neutered. Tyro is not an aggressive male. It's neutered males who are usually more of a problem with intact males. Anyway, I was relieved there were no issues or incidents that day. The only 'incident' was the Diva got an upset tummy. This happened twice, both times after visiting the leash-free parks. Coincidence? Who knows.

The next time, the larger park was open again & I went without Michael. I was very nervous and didn't know what to expect. Initially I took two girls out first, supervised them - they always wait to poop at the dog park - in case I had to clean up. When I was comfortable with things, I went back and brought out the other 2 dogs. Fortunately, there weren't many dogs or people there at that time. I guess I break the regulation since I have 4 dogs (1 owner) but my guys are usually better behaved and more responsive than most of the other dogs at the park. Generally, they want to be with me rather than interacting with other dogs.

Diva, however, is a social butterfly - like Nova, her grandma - & wants to visit other people and dogs. Being a puppy, she also really wants to play with other dogs. I don't usually worry about her except she did get grazed by a fat Dachshund who didn't want to play with her. (It was a day when the other 2 parks were closed for maintainance so all dogs were forced into the smaller area. Many of the leash-free parks here have a separate area for small dogs and a much larger park for the big dogs.) Diva was doing her play bow but he didn't want to play & eventually told her so. Her skin wasn't broken but she acted like it was. Tyro also loves to run and chase and so far, there have been no issues with other males.

Unlike some owners, I am constantly watching my dogs & walking around with them so they get exercise because Nova and Miska don't tend to play. They aren't into playing fetch or chasing other dogs. Thus I never sit on the benches or rarely stop & chat with people. It's not that I'm unfriendly but I don't want my dogs getting injured or doing something stupid. Watching 4 dogs is a lot more work than with only 1.

I've noticed some 'regulars' at the park & feel OK with their dogs. A number of people have specifically commented on how beautiful my dogs are - they haven't said 'well behaved too' but I think if they didn't feel positive, they probably wouldn't say anything at all or it would be a negative comment.

So while I still am not crazy about dog parks, I am impressed with the ones they have here as they are well provided for and well maintained. I may visit them once per week, mainly to give my knees a rest from all the walking I do with them on leash. Or when Michael & I have been busy during and I don't have 2 hours to spare to walk them. Then it's off to the leash free park for some fun with other dogs.

Puppy tails, epilepsy study

Before we left for Arizona, I finally had my vet send off the tails from our last litter (born June 16, 2008) to extract DNA for the Vizsla Epilepsy study. I had to wait until all the CKC registrations were complete before I could ship the tails. I also drew blood from Miska and her brother Vadasz (5.5 yr), Tyro (2.5) and Nova who is their mom (9.5 yr.) - all dogs in my breeding program or out of my kennel to send with the tails. To date, none of these dogs have seized but it's still important to participate in health studies like this. It is hoped that one day, a marker will be found for this health problem in Vizslas (as well as a some other breeds).

For more information about health issues and research studies in Vizslas, go to:
http://vcaweb.org/welfare/research.shtml

Another ribbon haul for Milo

Hamburg, NY - 11th day of 2009 - Milo the Magnificent Earns his 11th Title

After logging 650 miles and 14½ hours in the car over 3 days between Toronto Ontario and Hamburg, New York, Corrine Sellars and Milo returned home with their AKC Companion Dog (CD) title PLUS two legs towards their AKC Rally Advanced title!!! Corrine emailed to say they also got 3rd place in Novice obedience with a 189-1/2. They had a run-off for 2nd but the judge said R turn but she did an about turn and when he repeated R turn, she went left. She jokingly wrote, "Great Dog - Shame about the Handler". Now Milo is known as Varazs Mokany Ficko FDJ, RN (AKC), RN (CARO), SSGDC, SADC, AG.N.J., CL1-R, AG.N., RACL, CD (AKC), CGN

This was a great accomplishment for this team. In the past year or more, Corrine had some real struggles with Milo 'zoning out' or freezing in agility and also being stressed at rally trials. On Friday, he was a HIT outside of the ring, impressing everyone with his repertoire of tricks. (Playing tricks with your dog is a great way to relax and de-stress.) Milo recovered quickly when something concerned him and he entered and exited both runs with enthusiasm (stays and stand were perfect, good figure eight, improved set-ups. Congratulations Corrine and Milo on a great performance!

Poop, poop & more poop

I am sure that on our street in Glendale, almost every household owns a pet. I hear the dogs bark as I walk my Vizslas along the streets; sometimes they bark at 6 am in the morning when their owners are getting ready for work. I don't often see them though. Maybe they get walked early in the morning or late at night. Clearly some dogs do get walked because I see the evidence - mounds of poop that never gets picked up! There is tons of it around. I am shocked and disgusted at how much dog poop litters the sidewalks, verges and trails here. It reminds me of Italy and France years ago. I couldn't find any "stoop and scoop" regulation for Glendale, other than in the dog parks and on hiking trails in recreation areas. But lots of people still don't bother to clean up on the hiking trails even though there are waste bins and sometimes bags provided.

Most people visiting the leash free parks are pretty good but even there, I've done my civic duty and cleaned up other dogs' waste. Some people totally ignore their dogs at the dog park. One woman was reading her book while her dog played with others and then pooped. I called out, "who owns this dog?" to order to identify the owner so she would clean up after her pet. I'm sure these people wouldn't consider themselves to be irresponsible pet owners. They probably aren't - except for one category.

At one very nice, pet friendly hotel we stayed at in Albuquerque, New Mexico, despite the bags provided to owners, the waste bins, and the signs to clean up after your pet, many guests still didn't.

Dog owners - PLEASE CLEAN UP AFTER YOUR PETS!!! It's not just disgusting to look at, smell, and step in - it's UNHEALTHY to leave dog poop around.

Is your dog worth $1.00?

I just received the following bulletin from the Dogs in Canada Blog. ALL dog owners must help to fight and overturn this legislation. I just donated $50 to the challenge. How about you?

Breed Specific Legislation UPDATE - Supreme Court of Canada Challenge

Breed-specific legislation (BSL) came to Ontario in the form of Bill 132 and became law in August 2005. The bill established restrictions against owning, breeding, transferring, importing or abandoning "pit bulls" (defined as being Pit Bull Terriers, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers, American Pit Bull Terriers or any dog that has an appearance and physical characteristics substantially similar to any of those breeds).

The Dog Legislation Council of Canada (DLCC) and members of Banned Aid took up the fight against BSL and are now headed to the Supreme Court of Canada, but they need your help to get there.

This fight affects all dogs and fanciers because, "All breeds and mixes are now just a bad news story away, one pen stroke away from being wiped out by our government," states DLCC president LeeAnn O'Reilly.

The DLCC needs to raise $67,000 by the end of January. Thus they launched the Dollars for Dogs campaign and are asking dog lovers to donate a dollar for every dog they own and love.

For more information about the DLCC and their campaign, you can read the Dogs in Canada blog or visit the DLCC's site to learn how to donate.

First anniversary of our Sasha's death

January 22 2009 is the first anniversary of our Sasha's death. It's a hard day for me because I miss him so much. He would have turned 16 on Dec, 31, 2008. It would have been so wonderful if he could have accompanied us to Arizona. He loved to travel and would have enjoyed the warmth of the weather and just being with me. He definitely was a mamma's boy! That wasn't to be but he's in my heart, my soul, and my memories.

Here is Sasha at around 5 months of age. He still needs to grow into his ears!



And a photo of Sasha and me in our younger days, doing obedience in which he excelled. He scored a first in Open A under judge John Harvey who is a tough judge. We were thrilled!



Below is a photo of Sasha with the Tibor Rieter Trophy for Versatility which Sasha earned at the age of 15 from the Vizsla Society of Ontario. This was taken just a day or two before Sasha died.



Our accomplishments were many but what matters more to me right now is just the memory of my wonderful and loving dog, Sasha.

Dear Sasha,

Oh Sasha, I love and miss you dearly but I can smile at my wonderful memories of you and our terrific accomplishments. We did so many great things together. And because of you, your temperament, your accomplishments, others were inspired to achieve various accomplishments so you live on not just in my thoughts and actions but in others' too. You are beyond our physical world in a place where I can't pet you anymore or hold you or feed you or walk you or compete with you in dog sports. But your spirit is here with me and one day, we will be reunited.

All our love Sylvia & Michael

SEPARATE LIFETIMES

We who choose to surround ourselves
with lives even more temporary than our
own, live within a fragile circle;
easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps,
we would still live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only
certain immortality, never fully
understanding the neccesary plan....

--- Irving Townsend ---
"The Once Again Prince"

Life for dogs in Glendale AZ

Glendale AZ loves dogs. Regulations allow 4 per household, that's one more than municipalities in Ontario allow, even in the rural areas. And everyone here seems to own a dog, or 2 or 3, judging from the barks/growls I hear while walking along the streets with my dogs. I can't see most of them because the vast majority of fencing is made with solid cement block. That makes for better privacy but dogs don't get to see what's beyond their world, unless their humans take them outside of their yard. Although every household in this neighborhood seems to own a canine, I wonder how many dogs get exercised outside of their 'compound'.

Glendale also has 3 leash-free parks. I've only been to one here, Foothills, and I must admit, it was quite impressive compared to the 2-3 I've seen or been to at home. Foothills Leash-free park is about a 12 minute drive from our rental house. It has shade covers, water, benches for humans, some agility stations, and lots of garbage bins and pooper-scoopers. There's a separate area for small dogs, and a larger area for bigger dogs. By my standards, it's quite large and very well maintained. Here are some photos of our first visit to the Foothills leash free park. Fortunately (for me), it was almost empty as I was quite nervous to let my dogs loose with others that I didn't know.



Life for my dogs is different from at home. They can't run free, not only because of local regulations, but because there are dangers lurking in them thar hills. The biggest danger at this time of year is cactus. At warmer times of the year, a more severe danger is rattlesnakes. Arizona has 13 species of rattlesnakes, more than any other state. And they live in the hills and mountains that surround our area. I have spoken to some dog owners about the rattlesnake danger and one fellow said he found one in his back yard. Another told me I shouldn't worry about rattlers at this time of year. But I'm not taking any chances, especially with Miska and Nova who are avid hunters. They haven't been trained to leave snakes alone because frankly, we don't have many at home, just the occasional, 'friendly' garter snake. I've always tried to discourage them from snakes but having seen them hunt raccoons for example, once their hunting instinct takes over, they don't always listen to mama when she screams, "leave it".

So, it's long leash walks for my dogs. That's not a bad thing, especially for me, because it means I am getting a lot more exercise. I take 2 dogs out a time. There's a hydro corridor a couple of blocks away and some man-made and natural walking trails exist along this corridor. We walk mainly up and down it a few times and sometimes I explore the neighbourhood. There are streets that have wide sidewalks and bike lanes that give us more distance from passing cars. The dogs usually get 50 - 60 minutes of brisk walking / day (that's almost 2 hours for me!). They also get to go in / out into the small yard we have here. Much of the yard is taken up with the pool, which unfortunately isn't heated (the water is freezing cold!) so all I do is stick my feet in after a long, hot walk.




The pooches seem genuinely tired at night because they sleep most of the evening. The heat also makes them drowsier too. About once / week, I take them to the dog park, mainly to give my knees a break but to give them some fun.

Happy New Year from Glendale, AZ

We were so happy to be settled into our new rental house in Glendale, AZ for New Year's eve. Here is a photo of the dogs with Diva in front and the others snuggled in their Bowser Bed.

Being new to the area, we didn't have an opportunity to research parties or dinners. So we spent a quiet evening in our new house, surrounded by our dogs, and enjoying the warmer weather than at home. I guess we were more tired from our long drive than we anticipated because we fell asleep before midnight. Michael roused me just as AZ was ringing in the New Year with a repeat of Times Square celebrating 2 hours earlier. We had bought a bottle of bubbly but it would have gone to waste so decided to keep it for another occasion.

It was both a happy and sad occasion. We were happy to be in a warm climate, happy to be together but sad to be away from our good friends Colleen & Raynal with whom we have celebrated many a new year and also sad because Dec. 31 was the birthday of our beloved Sasha from our very first Vizsla litter born in 1992 whom we lost in January 2008.

Anyway, a belated Happy New Year & all the best in 2009 from Sylvia, Michael & the Varazs Vizslas.

Voyage to Arizona

High winds and major rain and t-storms originating from the US mid-west had us adjust our itinerary when we departed Moffat, Ontario for Arizona on Dec. 27, 2008. We headed more directly south to Indiana instead of going west to Chicago. As a result, we were fortunate to avoid almost all of the heavy rain, severe thunder storms & high winds that affected several states & Ontario. But the drive through Indiana was very boring - it's very flat, mainly farmland & there were miles & miles of it. T he section of Illinois we drove through was much the same. Oh, I forgot to mention that much of these states were under water due to the rapidly melting snow & heavy rains. There were mini lakes everywhere. Most of the central & mid-west US is pretty uninteresting geographically if you're sticking to the Interstates to get somewhere which we are doing.

Missouri was a little more interesting because of rolling hills & trees. Below, the famous arch in St. Louis and a photo of Busch stadium.




Then Oklahoma was flat again, and mostly farmland. We crossed the entire state of OK from 1 side to another.

Just when we didn't think it could get any flatter, it did in the Texas Panhandle. Boy, it's as flat as I remember Saskatchewan to be. You can see for hundreds of miles in the Texas Panhandle, except there is nothing to see! - apart from windmill farms and vast herds of cattle. What I learned is that the Texas Panhandle has been identified as one of the fastest-growing wind-power-producing regions in the nation over the past decade because of its strong, steady winds. Pretty exciting stuff - not!

Welcome to New Mexico
Once we hit the western part of the Texas panhandle and then into New Mexico, the geography finally started to get more interesting with buttes, mesas, rock formations, mountains, canyons, etc. And there was also some snow.



In Albuquerque we found a brand new, very nice pet friendly hotel, La Quinta Inn Suites. It was the nicest accommodation of our entire trip. The hotel has a lovely enclosed courtyard specifically to run dogs leash free. It's small but it was better than nothing after our dogs had endured 3 days in crates in the car without any walks/runs. Unfortunately, despite the signs, the doggy do bags provided for dog owners, people at this hotel still didn't clean up after their pets!!! I spent time and effort cleaning up after a lot of pet owners, on their behalf. Grrrrr.

Traffic was light on our trip, even in rush hour in major cities like Tulsa & Albuquerque. Traffic in these cities is nothing like Toronto rush hour which last 18 hours/day, 7 days a week. It's awful driving the greater Toronto area at any time of the day now. I hate it.

Our most exciting "events" on the trip were a possible sighting of a bald eagle (or maybe it was a vulture) and a red-tailed hawk carrying a rabbit, flying low over the highway right in front of us. Other than that, it was just millions of acres of land, water, trees, farms, cattle & cars.

As to Tyro and his travel anxiety? Well, a few drops of Lavendar oil were good for about 3 or 4 hours. He never dropped his head or closed his eyes the entire time in the van; nor did he sleep at all. After the 2nd day, I put in a donut bed in his crate, hoping he would at least rest his head. He sort of did, but still didn't close his eyes. At least he didn't pant for the most part. Needless to say once we got settled into the hotel at night, he was out cold. It obviously wasn't great for him, but at least he wasn't so stressed that it was terrible. He 'endured' it.

Welcome to Arizona!
Dec. 30th, 6:30 pm - we finally rolled up to our new temporary digs in Glendale. AZ. It took us the better part of 4 days to reach our destination safely and without incident. We are so looking forward to our sojourn.

I'm slowly catching up on our blog stories and there will be more about our life here in AZ soon.

Finding a pet friendly rental home

Having decided to venture to Arizona meant finding a pet-friendly rental home that would accept 4 Vizslas. Yikes! I know it's hard finding places that will accept animals because there are a lot of irresponsible pet owners out there. I found that most landlords only accept 2 (small) dogs. I had 4 Vizslas I wanted to bring. Would I find the perfect place?

I found a few websites for rental homes but many restricted the number and size of dogs they would accept. Interestingly, when I was able to talk to prospective landlords on the phone and told them that our dogs are show dogs and that they train and compete in obedience events, and they travel with me to hotels & so have to be well behaved - which is all true - that made a big difference. Landlords generally became more open to hosting us and our dogs. Of course, they had to accept my word on face value but it did ease some initial potential resistances. I wanted to be honest with these people about our dogs but I also didn't want to be turned down.

In the end, I found a great pet friendly home in Glendale AZ. It even has a pet door. My dogs are not used to a pet door and quite frankly, I prefer to supervise their coming and going because I want to teach my dogs not to go through a door without permission. I need to know what they are doing outdoors, especially because this home has a pool. I don't have a high opinion of pet doors. I lump them in with Flexis. (I've got my flame suit on, just in case.) I also watch what my dogs do outdoors. I don't want them eating stuff they shouldn't and I also don't want them barking unwarranted. My dogs aren't used to living in a city so I wasn't sure what to expect. It will all be a new experience for all of us. Can't wait to get to Arizona!

Tyro's travel anxiety

Having made the decision to spend January and February in Arizona and buying a new van, the plan included driving, rather than flying, and it also meant taking our dogs with us. However, we deliberated leaving Tyro behind with my good friend Joan White. Joan has dogsat Tyro several times. The reason for our indecision is that Tyro is not a good traveller. He wasn't always that way. For the first year of his life, he was fine in a car. Tyro and Sasha always went together in the car for their swims at Luv My K9's. But it was after we lost our Sasha that Tyro began to get anxious in a moving vehicle. He's fine when it's stopped but the motion now upsets him and after about 5 minutes sometimes, he starts to pant.



But two months is a long time to be separated and I knew it would be hard for Joan to give him up when we return. However, traveling for 4 days straight, about 9 hours/day over 2000 miles is a long time for a dog that is anxious. I had to find a solution. Rescue Remedy didn't work for him, nor did a prescription anti nausea medication. I had read in Dogs in Canada magazine about the therapeutic effects of lavender oil. The scent has a calming effect which may aid in relaxation and the reduction of anxiety. Also, lavender can be used to prepare for meditation because it balances mind and body, promoting a sense of stillness, according to Wikipedia. So I experimented with it on short trips. It worked! I couldn't believe it. A couple drops of lavender oil virtually stopped Tyro's panting. But, would it reduce his anxiety enough for 4 days of traveling? More in another post.

New Vizslimo

Much of late November and December was spent looking for a new van. We had decided to venture to Arizona in search of better weather for January and February. Our (now former) 2000 Toyota Sienna racked up almost 240,000 km in the 6 years we had owned it; much of that mileage was traveling to/from dog shows. We didn't think this van would make it to and from Arizona from Ontario, Canada - the round trip is 7,200 KM or 4,470 miles - plus all the driving while in Arizona.

Like many dog-owning humans, we make many purchase decisions to accommodate our four-legged family companions. I go to a lot of dog shows and trials with multiple dogs so our vehicle has to have a lot of space to carry all the dog equipment.

It was a great time to buy a car because of the worsening economy. We decided to stick with the Toyota Sienna although we were tempted by the Honda Odyssey which has very good ratings and reviews. But the newer Siennas have a bit more cargo space than the Odysseys and we needed every extra inch of space we could get for this trip. Having traveled with dogs before, I know that their crates and other stuff take up most of the cargo area, living little extra for humans' luggage.

In the end, we got a good deal on a very low mileage, 2006 Sienna that was imported into Ontario from Florida. The body was rust-free as it hadn't been exposed to winter salt. It also has lots of features our old van didn't have, including stow-n-go rear seats, an automatic side door (that's really neat), and side windows that open - a real plus when you own dogs. Corrine Sellars who owns Milo, sent me this neat website http://www.dogcars.com/ to help you select a vehicle for dogs. The latest model got the paws up. I am thrilled with our new "Vizslimo".