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The ongoing photo journal of Katoba Dobermans' 2009 "Miss & Mister" Litter ~ DPCA Futurity Nominated for 2010

Today was each pups LAST "field trip" before ear crop day. Mischief, Erica, and Zzzen went to WalMart with me. I had received managerial permission to take them in, as long
as they were in a cart, I had the bottom lined in case of accidents, and we did not go into the produce department of the store. They stood up in the cart and stare at people -
there were only a few that I let get near or pet the puppies :). The puppies watched keys be made, (early intro to proofing for sound). They put their feet on sand paper in the
home repair dept, (a surface I had not had a chance to have them on prior); and they were entertained when we walked through the large flat-screen tv area - they saw a bit of
"Monsters vs. Aliens". Louis, Breeze, and Braun visited the feed store with me to get white shavings for their pen. Not a whole lot of training room there but the very handsome
young man who worked there was kind enough to let us go over and walk on a piece of cyclone fence - the pups found this to be quite fun - especially when we threw treats
down and they had to walk across and get them out from between the small spaces in the fencing we were walking on. Breeze LOVED the young man ... but she loves
EVERYONE; Braun and Louis tipped over a bucket and when they climbed in it, it tipped back upright ~ they sat like statues ... baffled at what just occurred. We laughed! Violet,
Soleil, and Rhyme went into the fabric store with me - how many ways can I say "MISTAKE"?!? Not the fabric store ... but, THAT combination of girls. While Violet is NEVER a
problem - in ANY situation ... Soleil and Rhyme both think they need to be the center of attention, neither of them have ANY fears, and both can be 'opinionated'! A fabric store
was definitely NOT a good socialization location, either ... I NEVER realized how quiet it is inside the Fabric store ... until I had THOSE two girls with me. I got what I needed and
got OUT before they could have a chance to ask us to leave. :) Just when I thought the Fabric store was going to be a failed attempt at a field trip and just could not get any
worse ... we got in line and had to wait ... and wait ... and wait. 15 minutes felt like 3 hours. During that "3 hours" time, since I had run out of 'treats' by then ... I had to grab a
bag of 'cheez nips' from the bin, open them and begin working on their "sit" ... IN THE shopping cart. It was hilarious, but both did very well and it kept them occupied. The pups
are happy wherever they go, but if they are not tired, there MUST be something for them experience, communicate with, or play on/with. Violet had fallen asleep with her head
on a piece of furry fabric I was buying; the other two girls never stopped looking and watching and wanting attention. All ... VERY social puppies.

I knew that when we got home, I had decided to tear down the puppies indoor sleeping pen, as it has become too small. I let all the little "Miss & Misters" outside to run & play
while I started the "demolition". Of course, I am so entertained by the pups, that I HAD to take a "Union Authorized Break" - just long enough to get some photos, (lots). Then I
created the "Puppy "Condo". It is something in between their former "Puppy Pen" and the outdoor "Puppy Park". It is now bigger with two access gates instead of one; I'm
adding a new tunnel, a bigger 'table', and making a ladder for indoor play and climbing; there is a lot more room, bigger water bucket, and I have added the 'full crate' with
blankets for sleeping, etc. The big kids have now been displaced from their room as this took up the entire dog room, since I wanted room to walk around the pen. As I finished
that, the "little-dogs" were at the back door watching and had now begun whining a bit ... they were wanting to come back inside - they must have started getting cold. This was,
after all, the first time I had left them out to play so long without me being right in the middle of the fun - and it was the first time they had been out this long of a stretch on this
crispy-cold-damp of a day. How nice it is to see that they CAN amuse themselves for a couple hours at a time without canine chaos or mayhem breaking out. I opened the back
slider, just to 'smell' that somebody had rolled in something - dead or alive, it did not matter at this point ... now, they were all "bath-mandatory: STAT". This was already on the
list for today, but was now the top priority. One by one, I let them in; took off their collars; gave them a great shampooing; cleaned out their ears; dremelled their toenails;
brushed their teeth; weighed them; and then gave them a little snack before they got into their new "Condo" for a nap. WOW they are growing most are over 14 pounds - wow.
I took all the collars off to also be washed during the puppies baths. When they awoke, they went back outside, they still had collars off ... can you figure out who is who?

Sunday, October 4, 2009

~ Lots of photos today ~

If you cannot tell one from another ... no worries .... I DO know who everyone is :) i should ... I look at them every free moment of every day.
They are all "dressed" again ~ most are almost ready for a new larger sized collar, so I will order yet another set of collars tomorrow.
Before they leave the brood, I do keep collars on them mainly for instant and undeniable identification from a distance.
I do NOT like to keep collars on my dogs AT ALL otherwise, as it can and does wear the hair off and leaves a line of demarcation in the neckline of the dogs
coat ... yes, even when worn very loosely. So, all you show homes remember, NO COLLARS of any kind on your dogs, unless you are in a public area where
rabies and licensing tags are required. When an ID, rabies and license tag on collar is required, make sure it is a cloth or woven collar only.
Try to avoid the "choke chains" - they 'are' exactly what they are called; also, never put a pinch/prong collar on your dog; and certainly NEVER use a shock or
"e"-collar. If trained in a consistent, positive and affirmative manner from the beginning, you will gain trust and respect FROM your dog, and your training should
be successful without taking to the cruel extremes of choking, poking, pinching, or shocking a dog. Using harsh, humiliating, demeaning, or hurtful aversion
methods is a way to destroy the spirit, break down the confidence, and lose the trust that is already instilled in your Katoba Puppy. If your dog will not focus on
you and does not want to be pleasing to or responsive to you, then consider what it is that YOU may be doing that would cause you not to earn your dogs
respect and trust and response! Your dogs are all willing to please ... we owe it to them to teach them in ways that are constructive, rewarding & permanent.
EVERY dog is different and needs different types of guidance and training - a trained dog is a loved dog. Your Katoba puppy is no different.
Don't just love them "enough" ... love them "MORE"!

The puppies were up THREE times last night - I have NO idea why, but remember ... when one wakes up, they make sure they wake up everyone else as well :) Those who did
not wish to be awakened become VERY grumpy and less than nice to the antagonist. I stopped the tooth-wrestling while sawdust flew amidst the sounds of the puppy choir.
I even took them outside for a 2:30am potty ... BIG mistake, as I then found myself with flashlight in hand, chasing them down. Don't misunderstand ... they were having a
GREAT time ... but, I had a rush of panic - with sudden fear that another monster-raccoon would appear and turn them into a snack. That may sound paranoid, but the wildlife
of late, (raccoons, big possums, owls, and overabundance of large hawks), has proven to be much more assertive than we have ever seen ... and all look as though they are
keeping themselves VERY well fed. So, out of sheer sudden realization of the potential for disaster, I was running around in my "jammies", in 40-ish degree moonlight, calling
"puppies ... puppy-puppies" with a 'middle-of-the-night-raspy-soulful-frog' voice. I had to send Misty & Echo out to help me - Misty corralled them and brought them in while Echo
scared away any possible threat that may have been lurking. Misty is amazing mother ~ I could not be more pleased ... and Echo is, undoubtedly, the BEST "granny" EVER. I
can only hope the girls from this litter do as well in the whelping box as both Misty and Echo have done. They all bunkered back down and fell asleep just about the time the
coffee pot started to perk . UGH! While I was so tired I wanted to be mad at them ... that thought melted away as I stood staring at their angelic faces ...and any feelings of
frustration disappeared. EVERY puppy is PERFECT in that moment.
That said, Sunday is the major weekly "all things dog" maintenance and clean-up day at Camp Katoba.
Todd had to work, of course - (haha).
This was going to be a very ... VERY long day.