SizzleDog

[quote]Hey Sizzle, you have any words of wisdom?[/quote] I'm here, I'm here! YES, Ilsa has issues with buildings, especially performance buildings (like obedience buildings) Why? Ahhh, let me list the reasons! ~ during her fear imprint period, she was attacked by a Great Dane in a training building. ~ slipped on an A-Frame, got jolted and almost fell off ~ had a weave pole break and slap her in the face ~ has a novice owner who gets anxious in training buildings... and it travels down the leash. Ilsa was practically raised in a Petco groom shop, so she has no problem with put supply environments - it's just those darn training buildings! Here's what I've been doing - I've been going to open training night at a local building, and just worked on confidence building activities - tugging games, obedience, roughhousing games... anything to make her feel at ease. We leave before she gets a chance to get antsy, and have been steadily increasing the time spent in the building. I'd say take her to the buildings that bother her and work on her confidence - but take baby steps - don't land her with everthing at once. If you can, take her EVERYWHERE. You can probably sneak into the dog show (she is a champion, after all) but be sure to take her on an obedience collar or a show lead so as to not arouse suspicion. Unentered dogs aren't allowed on show sites, but it's easy to sneak in if you've got the right "material" to work with ;) See if there are any fun matches being held - those are great too - even if it's just for socialization.

gigi, are you from Iowa? I only ask because I'm originally from Cedar Rapids. Kirkwood used to have a great grooming program, but now it's practically useless. I've had to work with many Kirkwood groomers, and most know nothing - don't even know what brush burn is! I've had to help re-teach a lot of the Kirkwood groomers - they needed to learn how to fluff dry, how to bathe properly, and even needed to be taught how to express anals... yikes!

Ilsa has a seatbelt harness. It's a Roadie Ruffrider, which is the #1 canine seatbelt in existence. It's a bit expensive, but it's actually been thoroughly tested - it's stronger than our human seatbelts! Here's the website: [url]http://www.ruffrider.com[/url] And Ilsa wearing hers: [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_0767.jpg[/img]

That's alright - no harm in it! After all, Christina and I are both owners of frisbee lovin' Doberman bitches! (and the Chippendale Kid)

AmericanPUP, I think you're getting Christina and me confused! Christina (Doberfanatic) isn't asking about neck muscle - I am!

Oh nooo... I don't plan on using any sort of weight to build neck muscle - Dobermans are prone to neck problems anyway, and there's no way I'm going to invite CVI or DDD intentionally! I do frisbee about 3-5 times a day now, with obediece training worked into it. Each session lasts about 30 minutes - sometimes longer, sometimes shorter, depending on the temperature and Ilsa's attention span!

I have Ilsa chase a frisbee - her thigh muscles are HUGE from all that driving (propelling herself after the frisbee with all her might)! I need to build neck/shoulder muscle... and idea how? You can really see her muscle definition in these photos: [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_7070.jpg[/img] Butt muscles! [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/Ilsa%20and%20Suzzi/100_6361.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/Ilsa%20and%20Suzzi/100_6331.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_6048.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/Ilsa%20and%20Suzzi/100_6359.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/Ilsa%20and%20Suzzi/100_6384.jpg[/img] Needs more shoulder muscle, but she's not looking too bad here! [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_7060.jpg[/img]

Yeah, but you can be sure that Divina has an AWESOME rear assembly! :D

My Doberman did for awhile - obviously not real trials, but just practices. We left after the verbal abuse got out of hand. Not all sighthound people are mean - far from it - but the club we were part of didn't like the fact that my Doberman was "tainting" their membership... ...grrrr. The thing is, Ilsa was faster than a lot of [i]their[/i] dogs!

[quote]Because Americans are pompous a$$ holes who only care about money [/quote] Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not... I sure hope you are! I know for a fact that my dog's American breeder is not a pompous a$$hole who only cares about money. She's been breeding wonderful dogs for over 30 years - several BIS and BISS winners, as well as the test dogs for the Working Aptitude Evaluation. Her dogs aren't just show dogs - they can work too. She loses money on each litter she produces, because she does it right. The health testing, the cost of showing and trialing (and hiring handlers, since she's no spring chicken anymore!) I think it's unfair to categorize breeders based on the location of their kennel. I like what John Kerry said int he debate tonight about supreme court justices - and I think it also applies to breeders - "When you see a dog, you shouldn't be able to tell if it was bred by a woman or a mon, a conservative or a liberal, a German or an American or a Canadian or an Argentinian or a Japanese person - you should look at the dog, and be able to say, 'damn that's a nice, correct dog who can do the job it was bred to do!' " ***** Edited to add that I won't be back for awhile to read responses - we're headed to the Doberman Pinscher Club of America's National Specialty Show in Kentucky... we'll be gone for an entire week.*****

I like Macadamia (Mac is such a cute name for a little girl!) and I also like Cotton. Please Please Please stay away from the stereotypical Maltese names - Angel, Sugar, Baby, Candy, etc. You have no idea how many "Angel the Maltese" we get in at the grooming salon. One day, we had THREE Angels - all Maltese! It's the mosty common Maltese name (based on what I've seen - and I've seen hundreds of Maltese). Speaking of common names for breeds, here's the official list my coworkers and I made a couple years ago: Shihtzu: Gizmo (we have more than 300 Gizmos in our records) Golden Retriever: Buddy (around 100) and Sam (around 100) Maltese: Angel (we've got about 300 Angels) Lab: Maggie and Molly (about 75 of each), Bailey (about 50) GSD: Duke (around 50) Schnauzer: Scruffy (about 100 of those!) Chow: Bear (fully 2/3 of all the chows we groom are named Bear) That said, here are some of the more unique names we've got listed! Hooch the boxer mix Decoy the lhasa Freddy Rainbow the shih tzu Flounder the shih tzu Jezebel the pit Luka the rott Dika the mutt (seriously - no breed can be seen - all american mutt!) Rerun the shih tzu Judge the GSD (has a Bullmastiff sister named Bea) Royce the GSD Yenta the elkhound Mina the wolfhound Wireless the lab so please dont' name your new girl Angel... you dont' want her to be like [i]every other[/i] Maltese!

It's not that they're lacking biotin, it's just that the protein that they metabolize goes elsewhere, such as the muscles, cardiac, and lung tissue. The extra biotin (I believe) helps the dog metabolize the protein more "efficiently", making it possible for the coat and nails to get extra attention. Sorry, that's basically all I know. Ilsa is a very healthy dog, but she doesn't have much body fat (she's all muscle). One speculation is that some canine athletes have the same problems as human athletes - they're in such good shape that their horomones go wacky... look at the gymnasts that stop having their period, for example. Ilsa's bloodwork came back compeltely normal, as did a skin scrape and allergy testing. My regular vet, my new vet, and all the vets up at the teaching hospital that have seen her agree that she's one of the healthiest dogs they've ever seen - no allergies, great hips and elbows, great eyes, vWD clear, teeth are near perfect, awesome muscle tone... they love her. She's healthy, believe me. She is supplemented, and California Natural isn't lacking in any key nutrients. It's one of the best kibble foods a dog can be on. If you would like to look at the Analysis and Ingredients of California Natural, please check out their website at [url]http://www.naturapet.com[/url]

California Natural is six main ingredients, plus vitamins and minerals - it's nutritionally complete, and has all the essential nutrients necessary. The vets I talked to feel that changing her diet isn't a good idea - luckily the vets around here know a good food when they see one!

No, we don't change her foods around. No food I've found has made her look and act as good as California Natural, so I'm sticking to it. After about 18 months of experimentation, we finally found the perfect food for her - not gonna change it anytime soon!

... according to the vet, YES! The vets seem to think they might have pinpointed Ilsa's bizarre alopecia. My new vet is a mover and shaker in racing sciences (dog racing), and apparently there's a relatively uncommon condition that some racing greyhounds develop. When the dogs are in optimum physical condition and on a high quality food, some mysteriously lose the hair on their chests, stomachs, and parts of their legs. They don't know exactly what cuases it, but their best guess is that the protein doesn't metaboliza correctly, and affects the coat and nails. My vet took a look at Ilsa and noted many things that are red flags of this condition: ~ Ilsa's alopecia is in the "right places" for the condition ~ her alopecia gets worse at the time of year when she's exercising the most ~ her skin is otherwise healthy, and the hair she's got is in excellent condition ~ she's virtually pure muscle - optimal body condition ~ some of her toenails are changing color from dark brown to light brown He suggested a trial run of Biotin supplementation, if if that doesn't work, he'll refer me to Dr. Noxom, the head dermatologist up at VetMed. The vet said I could call Dr. Noxom whenever I wanted, but suggested that we try the biotin therapy first. Let's hope the biotin does the trick! It makes me feel a bit better to know that her alopecia could *possibly* be cuased by being too healthy!

Here are mine! [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_6037.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_6029.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_6026.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_5813.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/4841cea7.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v107/lhartlep/General/100_4852.jpg[/img]

I TOLD YOU SO!!!!! (once a Dobe owner, always a dobe owner.) Did I ever tell you the story of Mike and Markus? Mike was this amazing guy who is a regular poster at the DPDF. His beloved Doberman Markus died, and poor Mike was heartbroken. I believe he had to take personal leave. Wellllll... we convinced him to adopt another - he did, and now he fosters new dobes all the time! I believe he's fostered around 10 or so since Markus died. BTW.. you know we need pictures of Peaches, right? :wink:

Ohhhh do NOT worry about being put on a Do Not Adopt list - as I said before, bloat happens to the best of us. I know extremely responsible breederswho have had dogs die of bloat. Heck, even my breeder has lost a couple dogs to it. It's one of those things that will sneak up on you, even if you're doing everything right. No Doberman breeder or rescue organization will holdhwat happened to Rocco against you. You did what you could, and you definitely did everything that was recommended (getting dog to vet asap, etc.) I believe bloat is the #2 killer of Dobermans (#1 is cardio) - it's very common - horrible and heartbreaking, but still common. You'll get another dobe someday, and no one will hassle you about it! :wink:

Oh HF, I'm so sorry - losing a dobe is like losing part of your soul. You made Rocco's life much brighter, and I hope you let another Doberman into your life when you're able. Dobes leave a hole in your heart that can only be filled by another Doberman... I must admit, bloat is the one thing that terrifies me. IMO, it's one of the most terrifying and wholly [i]unfair[/i] afflictions known to man. Unfortunately our deepchested beauties are all at risk. As you know, bloat can strike without warning, even if you've done everything in your power to prevent it. Just in case you're thinking it... DON'T blame yourself - bloat happens to the best of us. Sometime down the road I'm sure I'll have a Doberman die of bloat (after all, I've got an estimated 50-60+ years left in my dog-owning timeframe) - and I can only hope I have a group of friends as wonderful as the people on Dogo to help me through it.

Kat, could this be of any use? (it's my girl and her two cousins, Ginna and Mia) [img]http://images.snapfish.com/33%3B8787923232%7Ffp64%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D39%3B%3D4%3B3%3DXROQDF%3E23236365976%3C9ot1lsi[/img]

The vets at Petco are all private - they aren't corporations like Banfield in Petsmart. Therefore, the quality of care is different at each Petco. A good idea is to call around the smaller practices and see who has the best prices. SInce I just moved to Ames, I needed to find a vet - the one down the street from me is a great clinic, but very pricey. My boss breeds Ragdoll cats,a nd she highly recommeded a small practice in a SMALL farming community about 30 minutes away from home. That particular practice is small, but very cheap - an exam and vaccinations for my new kitty only cost $28 ($6 for the exam, $22 for three shots) The vets are extremely nice and practical - but very competant. If I were to have an emergency, I'd probably drive 5 minutes to the Veterinary Teaching Hospital here at the university and pay with a credit card - the VTH is extremely expensive! Routine care though? I'm going to go with my small town vet ;)

That poor dobe... dobermans are sensitive dogs, especially when they're puppies. That little pup is going to have some serious issues when it grows up... :( I would definitely call animal control. Dobermans are prone to CVI - Cervical Vertebral Instability, a.k.a. Wobblers. A prong collar is a better idea than a head halter (only use a head haltr as a last resort, and I [i]mean[/i] LAST resort!), but it sounds like the prong is definitely being used incorrectly!

BTW - Dobermans have very sensitive stomachs - probably the reason why Rocoo gets the squirts frequently!

Nothing happens if you don't show up for group - it's just tacky.

newfiesmom - the newf that went BOB didn't show up for group! Neither did the St. Bernard, the Bull Terrier, the Pynenees, the Foxhound... The Labrador and the Springer showed up, but I didn't get clear shots of them. The Springer wasa lovely bitch - young, but still stunning. The Labrador was... erm... a bit tubby for my taste (most of the American show labs are). Besides, those huge elbow calluses really show up on a yellow dog! MajiesMom - I don't know about the other handler, but Dawn Honaker (Cruiser's Handler) has been wearing a brace for quite some time. I believe the story is that one of my breeder's dogs tripped her in the excitement of a BIS... and her knee has never been the same! Then again, there may be another reason. Dawn usually wears skirts when she handles Cruiser - not sure why, maybe it's a movement thing. ::shrug:: I've looked through all of my Doberman Digests, and every single ad for Cruiser shows Dawn wearing a skirt... My problems with the Dane are as follows: ~ chest not deep enough ~ knuckles over ~ straight front ~ wear/overextended rear pasterns She was a young bitch - under 18 months - personally, I don't think she was Group Winner material. There were many dogs (like the Samoyed, the Standard Schnauzer, Cruiser obviously, and the Boxer) that IMO fit their respective standards more closely.