Doc in City Paper

So I've been doing this writing/editing gig for the better part of a decade now, and I've never been one to write about me or my life . . . or my dogs. I love my dogs and I could probably entertain myself by writing about them all day long. But for the most part, people who write about themselves, their lives, their kids, their dogs tend to overdo it. So I save all that up for this blog, and I've never written about any of my weird dog adventures in City Paper.

Til now.

We did an issue this week in which writers and editors recalled the aughts with personal essays that helped make/shape the decade for them. And since my life has been so significantly changed by the big, white pit bull, I pitched a story about how he landed in my lap back in 2006.

If you want to read it, click here.

I'm particularly fond of the artwork that accompanies the story, and I may start scraping up my pennies after the holidays to purchase a print from the artist, Hawk Krall.

"But he's never done that before!"

Those of you who compete in any kind of dog-related sport probably know that line all too well: "He's never done that before." It's the thing EVERYONE says when their dog does something uncharacteristic on the field.

I joked with the judge about that line this weekend, when Doc and I trialed (again) for our SCH I. And again, we did not pass. Last time it was because he just fell apart during obedience--refused to do some exercises, did horribly on others, broke his long down under gunfire. Well I'm pleased to report that he performed ALL of his exercises this time around (not as well as I would have liked but completed and passed with points to spare), and he passed tracking. But . . . we got to protection and . . . he did something he's never done before. Shocker. First, he broke out of heel position before the escape bite and rushed to guard the helper, and I had to go retrieve him and set him up properly. Not cool, but we worked it out, and we got the really nice photos, above, to prove it!

BUT . . . on the courage test, he was so hyped, so pumped, so ready to go . . . we were heeling down the field to set up to send him on the helper. And about 10 paces before we got to our spot, the dog could not contain himself anymore and decided to take matters into his own hands. He turned and ran for the helper and guarded him till I could retrieve him and heel him back down the field again. Unfortunately, he learned in that first try that he was not tethered to me and there was nothing I could do to prevent him from going back into a guard. The judge (generously) gave us three tries to get down the field for the courage test. But each time I picked him up, I got him about 3/4 of the way to where we needed to be, only to have Doc bread and go back to a bark and hold on the helper. At least he didn't bite when he wasn't supposed to. But still, it's a DQ. No title for us. We were the only SCH I in the trial that made it that far (some failed tracking, others obedience, we passed both though it was a bit rough). The judge even hugged me when I had to put the leash back on the dog, and said she was pulling for us to get this because we'd made it this far.

But Doc has a brain of his own, and apparently it was working overtime on Saturday.

The judge really liked Doc and his upbeat attitude, and she said she thinks he's fully capable of making it to SCH III if his HANDLER (ie., me) works smarter and in a more disciplined fashion. A most astute critique, I must say--I'm definitely guilty of blurring the lines between play and work and of being rather easygoing about things I probably need to be more serious about in our training. Which sucks when you get so close to something you can taste it, only to have your dog show you that you really don't have the kind of control and communication you need to get it!

Anyway, always a learning experience. And it was fun, though a bit stressful when things went haywire. Here are the pretty pictures. One thing I gotta say about Doc--his grips were looking good Saturday! So was his guarding--too good! :)

Another new pit bull TV show

This one's on Animal Planet, and it's called Pit Boss.

Shorty, a workaholic with a devilish sense of humor and quick temper, balances two jobs - running Shortywood Productions, a Hollywood talent management company for little people, as well as Shorty's Rescue, his pit bull rescue. Shorty, aptly named, along with his three cohorts happen to be little people who have the biggest hearts for these adorable dogs who often are bigger than they are. From the producers of "Millionaire Matchmaker" and "Blowout," PIT BOSS is a docu-soap that follows the everyday drama and joy of these buddies and business partners who hit the streets of Los Angeles in their fight to overcome stereotypes - for themselves and the pit bulls they save.

Never heard of this organization Shorty's Rescue before, but they do have a web site, which I checked out earlier today. Couldn't help but notice that a good deal of the material on the site was lifted, wholesale, from BadRap's website, including the "Pros/Cons," "History," and "Are you a Responsible Owner" pages.

Hopefully they'll create some new content for the site soon, so we can learn a bit more about the history of this organization and its involvement with the breed.

Poking More Holes in the Dog

Button's still an acupuncture patient, but it's been a few weeks since his last session. His original acupuncturist, Dr. Alison Key, went on maternity leave (congrats to her on a new baby!), so we made an appointment with another doctor who practices acupuncture at the vet practice (Everhart Animal Hospital in Baltimore), Dr. Jan Tesi.

This is Button's third visit to Everhart. He's a worrier to begin with, but he was extra nervous when we got there today. Usually he settles in and relaxes a bit once he has a few minutes to acclimate himself to his surroundings, but today he was pretty edgy. He greeted the women working at the desk, and usually he jumps up and puts his front feet on the counter to check them out, but today he just hung back and looked at them. And when one of the techs came to greet him, he pressed himself against her and tried to huddle up--kind of odd behavior for Button, who usually only comes to me or Rob for comfort when he's scared or nervous. Guess I wasn't giving him the kind of support he was looking for today.

When Dr. Tesi came in, he was a little scared but he warmed up to her pretty quickly, licked her face, checked her out, and took treats. But once she started putting in the needles, he got all worried again. So we didn't do a whole lot of needles today--to avoid stressing him out too much, she hit three points in his head and one along his spine. The one down on his spine obviously was sensitive because he yelped and jumped when it went in--so we didn't go any further. Usually he doesn't really seem to notice the needles.

But for some reason, he was extra-sensitive to everything today.

Here's a quick snap of one of the needles in his head. Next time, if he'll let her, she said she might do a vitamin B-12 injection at this site and one on the other side, to stimulate those points even more.



The head points she got were really good calming spots, she said, and I have to say--within about 5 or 10 minutes of having those needles put in, he laid down and fell asleep. I even snapped a photo to prove it.

Skeptics can say what they want about Chinese medicine, and I know it's not going to fix his problems completely, but I definitely feel like I'm seeing some therapeutic benefits for this dog.

Snow tracking

We got a bunch of sleet and snow on Saturday here in Maryland. I took Doc out to track in the sleety mess and it was a miserable experience for both of us. Took him out again on sunny Sunday morning so he could do a nice, easy track in the snow.

I had to make it a little hard--I started the track here even though I could see a bit of a crosstrack (the faint wheel marks veering to the right).



No problems following it. But I wondered what he would do when he came to an article--he does have a bald belly after all, so I thought he might cheat and indicate by sitting or just stop and look confused.



But he's a good boy, and he downs on both articles even though it's snowy.