Rob and I had a bunch of scrap wood left over from fence building, so we put it to good use and made a jump for the dogs. It's not regulation width, but it's regulation height, so it'll be fun for doing some training in the backyard, at least till we can get some more time with the jump the club has at Rosaryville where we train . . .

Doc has done a tiny bit of jump training, so he understands that "Hopp" means to go over the jump and to come back over the jump (not around, never around!). But we've never had him go over it at its full height--so far I've always taken a couple of boards off to make it easier for him. But I wanted to see whether he was game for the full height, just because I was curious.

I threw a toy over it, and Doc was over it in a second. He was quite clumsy, as you can see in the photos, and on his first try I was afraid he was going to take the whole thing down with him, but he learns fast so with each jump his technique was a bit cleaner.

Alhough he is going to have to learn to clear it without touching the top at some point. That should be a fun thing to teach . . . not!

Treadmill photoshoot

This weekend we broke out the pit bull, the treadmill, the hot lights, and Rob's camera, and we set up a mini-studio for Doc's treadmill. Rob got some great shots of Doc . . . gotta love the completely blissed out look on his face.

For more photos of Doc on his treadmill, check out Rob Bartlett's page at Flickr.com:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/48674731@N00/

Mason Dixon Classic 2008

Someone sent me a link the other day to the Old Glory Bulldogs web site--photos from the Mason Dixon Classic were up, and there were some really nice shots of Doc. You can check the full set of photos out here: Old Glory Bulldogs Mason Dixon photos page. Doc's photos are in sets 33 (here) and 34 (here).

The photog did a really nice job with these. They made Doc look like he was really doing great out there! The reality, however, was that neither he nor I put on a very good show!

My fault entirely, of course. I'm not a big fan of the "play at bitesports" events, where the dogs are just sent on a helper for a bite with no other requirements--no obedience, for example--to prove first that the dog is in control. So in retrospect, I'm kind of surprised I even entered Doc in the Hardest Hitting contest. I think I just wanted to let the dog have a run and a bite, and since he's a pretty safe dog in general (people friendly, not likely to run off and do something stupid, has a good obedience foundation) I decided it couldn't hurt to enter him for kicks.

The contest is basically just two long bites. You're about 50 yards down the field with your dog from a decoy cracking a whip and getting the dog's attention. When the dog is fully focused on the decoy, you release him and he flies down the field and gets his bite. Then you go retrieve your dog, and you do the same thing with a different decoy in the opposite direction.

I brought Doc out, he got good and excited by the whip-cracking, was raring to go, and I released him. He flew down the field, hit the sleeve, hung on, had a pretty shallow grip, but fought with the decoy for a moment, then . . . for no apparent reason that I could see, just dropped off and let go. I ran up, and Doc was sorta trotting around the decoy like he wasn't sure what to do next--maybe he was trying to find out whether he was supposed to guard and couldn't figure out his space? No clue. I called him, and he came back to me, then went back to a guarding position near the decoy, so I had to go haul his big red-nosed ass back and put him on leash. Dummy.

Then we went in the other direction, and he did fine--ran down the field, hit the sleeve, fought for a minute, I put his leash on, and that was it. Weird experience.

I can't say I'll be itching to do another Hardest Hitting contest any time soon . . . but at least the photos of Doc came out nice!

Broken Heart

So Doc's heart is, literally, kinda broken. Took him to the vet in May for a basic physical and the doc detected a heart murmur. I didn't panic, even when the vet recommended having it checked out at some point just to be safe. Rather than go directly to a cardiologist, I took Doc to a different vet we use for a second opinion. That vet listened to his chest and said he heard a "huge" heart murmur and told us it'd be a good idea to have a cardio consult and ultrasound exam . . . We scheduled our appointment with the cardio practice at Chesapeake Veterinary Referral Service for July 9.

The ultrasound didn't show anything too crazy--he does have a thickened and prolapsed mitral valve and a minor leak in a tricuspid valve. She said it was early-onset degenerative valve disease. Eventually, it'll get worse but for now it's really not bad. His heart isn't enlarged, it's strong and healthy, and the vet cleared us to work--yay, more schutzhund!--as long as I was careful and put him up if he started showing signs of serious fatigue, shortness of breath, or coughing.

Well this past Saturday we were doing protection, and I thought it was going really well. Doc was doing a nice bark and hold in the blind, he seems to be figuring out what Revier means, the helper was moving him out of the blind, Doc wasn't dirty or stressed, but all of a sudden his bark changed tone. He started sounding like he was choking. He coughed. But he barked through it. Then coughed again, then started hacking while he was barking. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

We finished the exercise, and I told Ron I wanted to put him up because I was afraid this was exactly what the cardiologist was talking about--coughing, blowing, having difficulty. I dragged him off the field reluctantly--he was pulling backward, he was so not done with that helper and wanted to have another go even though he was coughing like a fool.

Put him up, and after a while he was back to normal. Which made me wonder if I overreacted to the coughing--I mean, the vet thinks he should be fine to work, and it's a million degrees out because it's summertime, so of course the dogs will be hot and dilated . . . Ron said he kind of thought Doc was choking on his spit because he was panting and barking, and that's definitely a possibility.

I'm so conflicted, I'm just not sure what to think. So I think I'm going to try to take him out to a Tuesday night session in Alexandria to see if he does any better when it's cooler outside . . . if so, I'll know it was just the heat and not his broken heart.

Where's Doc?

This morning, Rob couldn't find Doc. He wasn't in the kitchen, where he usually naps after I go to work. And he wasn't on his bed downstairs either. Rob went to check by the washing machine, no Doc. But when he turned around, he saw him laying on his Grand Carpet Mill, taking a nap. I knew he liked his treadmill, but I think he likes it a little more than I even realized!