Hurricane Deck

Ah, breed type, how elusive you are! Or are you? One would think that Rat Terrier breeders don't even know what their dogs are supposed to look like, much less the judges! Breed type is going straight out the window in exchange for ribbons. It makes me ill to hear over and over "for the betterment of the breed" or "we breed for the standard" and even "I know structure, and my dogs are correct!" (when they have 7 differently structured Rat Terriers in their yard - from a whippet to a bull terrier!). I will grant that the breed standard is somewhat open for interpretation, however that is for a very select few items! "Moderate" is one word that seems to stymie many breeders. I will agree that there is a range of dogs that could be considered moderate of bone and substance. However, there are dogs that fall outside of that category. If the dog looks elegant like an Italian Greyhound, then perhaps it is too fine of bone. It it looks like it could

One of my BFFs is Tracey from K2 Rat Terriers . I want to be her when I grow up. She's an amazing mom to 2 great kids, an incredible mentor, has been raising some amazing Rat Terriers for the past umteenth years, is a UKC judge and she is an extremely talented photographer. When we went to Premier in Kalamazoo, MI this June, we decided to go and check out the dog beach at Kruse Park on Lake Michigan in the town of Muskegon. I want to share the amazing action shots she got of my little Rat Pack, who enjoyed the cool water and the sand dunes of Lake Michigan! Air Rooster Synchronized Head Shaking Rodear is stalking Jada Jada didn't take kindly to Rodear's stalking There isn't much I don't like about this girl - all that muscle and even on sand she's a beautiful mover! Air Sniper! Jada's eyes always make her look really intense Jada waiting for Sniper - LOVE this picture! Me and my Pack To see them all, click here. Thanks again Tracey!

Go here for Part One. Is there a difference between the behavior of “show dogs” and “working dogs”? Well, it depends! [Fair warning : For the life of me, I could NOT keep a straight line going with this post because this subject really could turn right into a book. So please be kind!] Before I can get into why I think that is, well, let me do some defining of terms. (It’s the law school student coming out in me – before we form any sort of opinion we like to say “It depends.” Other times we like to say “It depends on what you mean by X.” See, we can switch things up to keep you on your toes!) Behavior: an observable activity in an animal, most directly related to temperament and training. Working dog: A dog whose job is to work either by itself or with the supervision of one or two people. When I think of a working dog, I think of the Great Pyrenees out in the pasture guarding a flock of sheep, an Akbash chasing coyotes away from its herd of goats, a dog trained for schutzhund work, a

And yet again, the Terrierman has me thinking – and this time I might actually have something to add to the musings of he and his emailer. The post, in part, read as such: I was bird-dogged to Heather's post just moments after responding to an email asking me whether I thought there was some genetic slippage in dogs as far as dog-to-dog communication was concerned. So many show dogs seemed somewhat infantilized in their behavior, while the working dogs were generally more serious and self-purposed. Could this be a genetic issue? Were modern dogs losing their ability to communicate as natural dogs? Click here to read the rest of the post, and to get yet another link to a great photo series called Not Your Stick! I found two different questions in his paragraph: a) Are modern dogs losing their ability to communicate with other dogs? b) Is there a difference between the behavior of “show dogs” and “working dogs”? I will tackle each in different blog posts and try not to bore the he

If you believe that, you probably also believe that every time someone buys a puppy from a reputable breeder, then a shelter dog dies. Horsepucky. Why should you buy a dog from a reputable breeder? - We health test for everything that our breed club recommends, and sometimes go above and beyond that before we breed the two parents together. In Rat Terriers, for example, the breed club recommends testing knees for soundness , hearts for murmurs and other irregularities, hips for dysplasia and a disease called Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease. Keep in mind, these are the MINIMUM! Most breeders also test for elbow dysplasia and also for Primary Lens Luxation, also known as "PLL." While these tests do not guarantee that your puppy will not develop these diseases, HOWEVER, it lessens the chances. With the PLL test, we can virtually guarantee that your puppy will never have the disease. Can you guarantee that with a shelter dog? - A reputable breeder will do their best to ma

It amazes even me how long I can go without a blog post. I have three pages of topics that I want to write about, but I never seem to get around to it. My job as a landman keeps me busy, as does having a spouse, a sister, a brother in law, and a total of 6 dogs living in the house with me on a full time basis. I am relishing right now my adult beverage and a tiny bit of quiet time with the computer. I wanted to share a picture with ya'll: There is so much I love about this picture. One, it is of my dearest Rodear earning her Grand Champion title. Two, her "other mama" is in the picture with me (it being Premier, we might have had to wait around for ages for the judge, and I wasn't into that!). Third, Rodear looks fabulous. Fourth, I think that this is one of the best pictures taken of me ever. And I LOVE my giraffe print dress that I got at the thrift store for $3. Enough of that! Right now I am trolling the internets looking for silhouettes of dogs because I a