In her own words

If Decibel could describe her day, this is what her morning,
day, and evening would be like.

But in truth, the girl thinks more in images.

In August she went to the fair, and 'wrote home' about it:

Hi, this is Decibel!
I went to the fair.  My bubba came with me:

 I met new people and animals.  At first I was shy.

 But then I had to take a look at the strange sheep.

 Some had horns, some wore clothes!

 Some were really not sheep at all.  I liked meeting short humans.

 I met smelly naked dog.  I like smelly naked dog.

 I sleep now.

Glimpses of Decibel’s puppyhood: July.

More from Decibel… July letters:

All is well here, and our guests are gone now, and Decibel was outstandingly good. She was clean in the house, she stayed alone without trouble, and I could not have asked for a better dog. She was very good with people who are not 'dog people' and learned not to jump on them, and be a little polite when asking for affection. In the end my cousin's daughter even played with Decibel, and she was a little intimidated by all the dogs at first.
I am very proud of the little girl. She is really not so little anymore. She keeps growing like a weed. She is getting much more thick-skinned about the occasional grouches too. Now she asks for them, since her morning starts with jumping on Ralphy. She pesters Maggie too, and seems to know that Maggie will not actually bite her, just growl and show teeth, and Decibel just runs off and wags her tail, and runs back a half second later 'play with me'. Still, she loves her evening smooches on the couch and her special attention during the day. She needs her hugs. She can be just fine by herself for longer and longer now, but then she needs to fill back up on some people time.
We don't have dog class this week, so we will have to see how far she has matured. Jumping up on people is still a little too common, although she seems to just do it to hear us remind her with 'off'.
I was very proud of her not barking at new people in the house, and not eating their shoes or the like, although twice a flipflop magically got stuck in her mouth. She did not eat it though, just noodle it a bit.
Her adult teeth are coming in. She still has the puppy canines, but everywhere new pearly whites are showing. And she continues to let me groom her and fall asleep. Her swimming is coming along well. It has been so hot that it would be cruel not to let her jump in the pond.
Here is Decibel in the morning, reminding me to give her a big hug first. (No, she is not allowed to do it that way, but it was cute).

Hugs and slurps from us,


Decibel – back to work
now that our guests have left, and after the usual clean up Decibel and I are trying to get back to the routine. We spent the morning in town on campus trying to find people. I think they melted in the heat. Decibel got carsick again, so I had to clean her up a little in the bathroom. It isn't easy to find someone to pet the pukey puppy. I think I will try to take her on short but frequent drives, and see if that helps things. Decibel is our first dog to not like riding in the car.
I am not sure if it is the motion or 'stress', since she really doesn't like going places alone. Maybe I will take another dog with, she seems better when we go to dog classes and have one of her 'siblings' in the car. Also, we need a bigger crate... she keeps growing. Who saw that coming?

Otherwise every day I notice her doing something new or remarkable. They are not huge things, but they add up. The other day she played with the cat, but came when I called her.
Okay, I think that is huge! They were across the barnyard.
It was a good game, the cat was having fun too. I mean anyone can come when I have a cookie and call. But to come off a fun game of bite the cat tail, that was remarkable. She is also learning 'leave it, yuck!' and comes along in spite of the manure temptations along the path. What a change from the trying to eat as much as possible while mom drags you off...

She is also getting very good around the cows and sheep. I keep her close but don't always have her on the leash anymore. She studies the beasts for a while, and then comes close to me, and listens, and we get through the herd unharmed. It also helps to keep Ralph thinking he is 'herding', by keeping him slow and holding the spot occasionally. When he thinks he is working cattle, he doesn't yap and chase, and Decibel copies everything Ralph does, especially dumb stuff like barking and chasing. When Ralph 'works' Decibel is trying too. She is rather good at cutting people off.
Yesterday Decibel actually helped me drive the cows into a paddock. She followed a heifer and when the cow turned to look she checked up but then kept going at her (with some encouragement from me). These are visiting Jersey heifers and tame and unlikely to do more than chase Decibel for fun. I had already lead my cow Ruby into the paddock, and the 'herd' wanted to follow her anyhow, so it wasn't exactly a herding trial. But it was the sort of thing I like having a dog for: Helping out, keeping a beastie on one side of a gate while I get it shut and so forth. So we are getting somewhere.

It has been too hot and sticky to work much on the tracking. It still rains a lot - our hay got soaked.

I can send her out of the chicken coop with a word, and without a chicken dangling from her jaws. She is actually more interested in poop and feed again. Or maybe she is learning that they are 'mine'.
She is learning the word 'careful'. The way we use it is when a dog is about to walk into an electric fence, fall down a hill, step into a hole, run into a post or needs to check around for a larger charging beasty. This morning she got close to the fence with her ears, but ducked out of there and came to me on 'careful'.

Ralph still has his grouchy moments, but now Decibel just cries, gets her hug and then she goes right back. Ralph does not bite her, and has never done more than get her hair wet. Decibel used to tiptoe around him, but he is the only 'dog' looking dog here, so she can't resist him. Or she is convinced that he can't resist her. In the morning she has to lick his beard, and jump on him, and try to nip at his ears and such, until his lip itches. I praise him for not grouching and give extra smooches while ignoring Decibel, and mostly that works. When he does grouch at her, he gets timeout. He is learning. I think there are times when he tries to play with her, but then his people are not sure he means well, and watch him so closely he gets paranoid. It will work out.

Maggie Skeeter and Decibel have found their positions in the pack. I do not think that there will be trouble when Decibel is full grown.

New discoveries:
Cicadas are delicious. We call them buzz bugs. Decibel likes them. Crunchy and good!

She also likes blueberries, peaches, and steak. (We just butchered a steer). Ice cream is also very good.

Soap bubbles and balls are great fun. Only the bubbles pop.

Helping mom: One day I found four tomatoes lined up in front of the door. Decibel had picked them for me. Teeth marks were definitive. She had very carefully gotten them from the potted plant, only one was not useable.

The swiffer... brilliant dog entertainment. It squirts at you! The pads can be pulled off; then people chase you. Fun, fun, fun. Better than the broom, although there you can steal dust bunnies and try to eat them.

Grabbing Ralph's tail when he swims... he can't bite then, and she gets pulled along.

Her swimming is becoming very sure although the girl finds it unnecessary to use her hindlegs to paddle. She loves water. Only she believes that people can stand anywhere in the pond, and so they can hold her for a bit when she swims to meet them. I had to tread water quite a bit. Still, she lets you hold her and does not scratch or panic, so when we can stand, she just hangs out there in our arms. When Harold cleans the weeds out of the pond, Decibel helps. It involves biting into the weeds, and pulling and splashing and chasing the weeds as they get flung to the shore. Great fun!

Oh, she does not go into the goldfish pond in the backyard. What a good dog.
She does play with the frog Maggie killed. Oh, Decibel! Toads we have learned to paw at, they taste bad. We don't eat toads. She learned that from Maggie.

And she tries to dive into the dog food bin and steal the big dog's kibble. Ralph showed her that. So occasionally she does eat some 'cheap' adult food now.

I keep checking her teeth, and not just to admire her new pearly whites. She is already good about not biting, and can take peanut butter off fingers, without taking fingers off. This is an important skill in my house. We cut toenails without a huge wrestling match, and grooming is something she doesn't mind. Decibel can eat next to her siblings without stealing food! All minor things, but all things I take for granted.

More later.

Heat
This week all that seems to happen is that it gets hotter than the previous day, and other than swimming, the tiles in the kitchen are Decibel's best friends. She is going back to school today, I have not decided yet who gets to come along. For the last three days we had people digging around in the yard trying to install a line so we can have internet access and a land line in the house again. I can't even be upset with these people, for they have been fairly nice about the dogs and the gates and such. Still while there were backhoes and the like in the yard the dogs were cooped up in the house with me. I took Decibel out on the leash, and she peed each time, and kept the house clean, like a good girl.
I am so proud of her.

She is coming into her own, and there are times when we get a small glimpse of what lies ahead for the teenage months. It will be interesting, because the girl is so darn cute and I have to be really strict with me, to get through to her. You can see her little brain going behind those pretty eyes of hers, especially when she willfully does something 'bad'. She loves to drag dog beds around, which is okay, but I draw the line at area rugs. The funny thing is, she knows the difference, it is not that she is too dumb or literal a dog to not know that, but she will drag all the dog beds in a pile, lie on top of them and then try to eat the fringe off the rug. You can just hear her, 'oops, how did that get in my mouth?'

Still, she likes to get things right, and likes to learn, you can see that too. She is not stubborn, or hard to get through to. Decibel is working really hard on growing up, as you can tell. She can jump on the couch now, and she needs most of it to sleep. Apparently the concept of 'curling up' escapes her.

She has been playing with the cat a lot lately, and the two are too cute, but whenever I show up with the camera they just stop, or it is too early in the morning for me to think of such documentation. I don't function too well BC (before-coffee).

Ralph has been better with her, and puts up with her morning greetings with more tolerance. (Been grouch free for a almost a week now!) There is hope for him yet. Decibel doesn't take him seriously anymore, so I think they will figure it out eventually. Harold took the two of them for a short ride up to the barn, because Ralph loves riding in the car or truck, and Decibel hates it, but if he has to ride with her, Ralph will like her, or so we hope. It kept Decibel puke free, and Harold said she liked the car enough to stay in it while he unloaded feed.

I think Ralph is actually thawing a bit. Ralph is a very nice dog with people, he just doesn't seem to get dogs. With his puppy mill background I figure we got lucky he is this sane. Still, I don't want to make excuses for bad behavior. Ralph has never actually done more than grab a mouthful of hair, and he is not a 'fighter', more like a wimp who gets afraid of his own audacity. He does however at times have nightmares (he growls and is obviously afraid in those dreams, and he is really out of it and fast asleep) and will wake up snapping at phantoms. It is not all the time, and Decibel is smart and she learned to give a sleeping dog a wide berth, just like the other dogs do. We tend to wake Ralph, then he is fine. He seems very rattled when the bite-mare happens to him, and calms down when we talk to him and call his name. When he is just ordinarily sleeping he is just like any other dog, won't hear anything but the cookie jar lid or the moon beam landing on the lawn.

All the best from Decibel and the gang,
I will try to get a few more pictures and videos of her with the cat or swimming, if I can sneak up on them,

Oh that girl
this week Decibel decided that she was not doing a 'down' at dog class. Not for mom, not for hotdog, no she was not doing any of that.

'Quit pulling on my neck you evil woman,' was her response to my correction.

Now what? Decibel has been such a model good smart puppy, surely it is too soon for the teenager temper tantrums? Well, no matter why, down she must go before we can move on so after a short wrestling match, I had her on the floor, and then I took her out, but it wasn't too much pee or poop that troubled her. Even after trading with Harold she didn't work her best. Oh well, we all have off days.

Now once we got home, would you believe that she not only remembered her downs, but also her come, sit and stay, and best of all her come, and did so with happy flying bounce, that you just question your sanity. Is this the same dog?

Okay, more long down stays, more leash time, more of all that stuff, and of course Decibel passes it all with flying colors. Sometimes I can almost hear her giggle.

Now she is swimming with all fours, and she is ever so determined to catch me in the middle of the pond. Well, so I give in and swim to the shallows and hold her. No need for her to get in trouble with both of us in the deep end. After that turbo dog charges out of the pond, races around annoying her siblings, jumps on the dock, shakes over mom's pile of clothes, and races back to bark at Maggie who was disposing of a bunny. (We don't take them away, or punish her for that... there are way too many rabbits here, and they do evil things to our fruit trees in the winter, in spite of the trunk wraps and fences).

Then this morning, Decibel the great comes on my word, but what is that in her mouth? A mouse, dead, and she spits it out in mid-leap on the steps as she swooshes by me to get into the house. Now WHO taught her that? It was just perfect. Maggie has mastered this trick, and knows I won't take the treasured dead thing away, if she keeps to the rule.

Good girl, Decibel. She is soooooo smart.

I planned to mow the lawn before it got too hot, but when we checked the cows they might have been out, so first I have to fix the fence. Some of that wire should be in a museum. (There really are barbed wire museums, but that's another tale). Anyhow, lure the cows, lock them up, fill their stock tank, for it will be hot today, then go back with the dogs, load up the truck with wire, fence stretcher, pliers, bolt cutters, and other might needs, and do my best to stretch some fence. Well, it will tighten up as the temperatures drop, I figure, I don't have to get it super tight. Then back to the house, better get the mower going fast, which is a game of pick up toys, get the downspouts out of the way, pick up the toys that dragged themselves back onto the grass mysteriously, then mow, then downspouts again, where are my dogs? All good dogs sleep in the air-conditioned house, what wonderful dogs I have, oh, who the heck read the paper, disagreed, shredded it in the kitchen? That editorial was a first for Decibel. Well, it was in the recycling bin, on the floor, so I can't blame her too much.
They were alone in the house for much longer than I intended, due to the fencing emergency.

This week is fair week, so if the temperatures are not too outlandishly hot, we will drag Decibel there. Harold has been taking her in the car on short trips around the place or to the vet, with another dog, and no puking. Of course he claims it is my driving. Decibel slowly is getting better about getting in the car. The other guys like it, so she will too, eventually.

Oh, she lost a bottom canine! the other ones are poking through. Her gums must be bothering her, with all those teeth sprouting. We give her lots of chewy things, toys and sticks and anything that amuses her. I haven't found any of her teeth, so she most likely swallows them. Hope they don't 'bite her in the butt' on the way out.

Hugs,

Lazy days of summer
yesterday the house was full of the cable installer guys and their adoring train of four dogs. I was very proud of all of the canines, since their interest was friendly and not too bothersome, and no tools got stolen or chewed up. Harold added to the parade, so even without going anywhere, I would say that it qualified for a novel experience. We did have to convince them not to jump into the truck.

Decibel does exactly the same as what Barley always did, and Ralph still does, so I assume it is a Briard thing: When wanting up on a couch or car seat, she puts her front up and pulls herself forward, then lies there and waits for the butt lifting fairy (humans) to come and lift her rear up. She CAN jump up, it is not weakness, just one of those things, that is better when someone lifts your butt up apparently. When you don't want her up on something, it is only one quick leap onto the thing. Do yours do that?

Decibel has now managed to lose her bottom hooked canines, and in the morning she was playing wrestling with Skeeter, and it all stopped, and each dog scooted away. One of her baby upper canines was left on the floor. She must have used Skeeter's hair to pull it out. It was funny, because Skeeter was acting guilty, and tried to convince us that he hadn't done anything to Decibel, and Decibel has been acting like she is facing a terrible illness, but keeping this determined stiff upper lip, so we won't worry.
Her big brown eyes were just round with worry: I am falling apart here... another piece came off.
I cleaned up the little bit of blood on her muzzle, and gave her some soft cheese to noodle, because chewing is sometimes a bit too difficult for her now. She doesn't understand why we laugh about her predicament.

Her 'big' teeth are coming in and so far all looks like they should make a beautiful bite. Soon the little girl with smile again, and forget her troubles. Harold bought her plenty of toys to help with the teething.
Both Harold and I cannot get over how different Decibel is from Barley at the same age. She is full of it, herself, and very fast and agile. Barley never really needed to learn 'come', he was always there. I think I might have had to call him 10 times in his whole life... and twice then he was probably right behind me. Not so Decibel. She needs to run, catch grasshoppers, cicadas, pester Maggie, swim with Ralph, chase Skeeter, try to eat a horse poop, play with Quincy the cat, chase the spray from the hose, lick a pig's snout, and try to get her share of green pellets, all in the time it takes to walk halfway towards the horse barns. She is so busy. I figure all this will build good muscle-tone, coordination, confidence and since she does know her name and comes when called (unless we are in dog class), it is good for her.

Tonight she will go to the fair with us. It is the big annual event for the dogs in our house, the reason we go to dog class and all that, because we like to show them off at the fair. It is a small fair, livestock and 4-H oriented and the dogs are fine there as long as they behave themselves, which they will. So many of our friends and neighbors want to see how much Decibel has grown. And there will be kids there who will miss Barley, so we had better bring a Briard for them.

Well, that is all the news here.
All the best,

Glimpses of Decibel’s puppyhood... May and June

These glimpses are some of the emails I wrote to let Decibel's breeder know how she was adjusting to her new home.  I hope you enjoy them too.

The thief:

Decibel 'found' the empty big dog food bag on the back porch/entry.  She dragged it all the way to the living room, with me taking pictures, instead of telling her no, because she was so darn cute.  Don't worry, though, she eats her fancy dog food, none of this stuff for her; that is just for her brothers and sister. 

This pillow by the way used to be Maggie's spot.  Decibel likes it too. 

Puppy tale

I should apologize in advance, because this is a long brag.  I can't help it though, since Decibel is such a smart and wonderful girl and that is not just my opinion. 

Well, Decibel went to puppy class for the first time, although that is a misnomer, because it is our regular dog class, and she had been there once before for a visit. Still, this time she was there to work.  At first the other dogs were a bit of a concern for her still, she much prefers people to anything else in the world.  She tried to figure out how to get near the people without having to go near their dog. 

Then we went to work. 

Amelia, our instructor, blinded her a few times, taking pictures of her.  Harold was taking Ralph through his paces, it was his turn and he had been really good that day, even letting me give him a good grooming without the usual whine and dash, and he knew it was for class.  Those damn dogs can read the calendar. 

Anyhow, Decibel had a light choke collar on for the first time, since I knew she was a bit skittish about other dogs, and might back out of her usual collar.  And all of our dogs like wearing their 'school clothes', it tells them that we are there for a purpose and not to roughhouse. 

As usual, the class started with heels, turns, halts - automatic sits- and a few down-in-motion, stand-in-motion, or sit-in-motion, where the owner walks off, leaving the dog behind as positioned, walks the room, and returns, and then the heeling resumes.  A lot of the dogs there were the star pupils, two German Shepherd Dogs, an English Cocker, some bird dog-type (I am not good with 'naked' smooth haired breeds), a Papillon, all good enough to earn or have the CGC or higher obedience titles. 

And Decibel. 

She heeled!  I was surprised, because even though we walk a lot on the leash, she tends to switch sides on me, in spite of my efforts to keep her on the left, and she pulls or drags behind, because she is a puppy, and since I am not always that worried about form at home, because I have other things to do, our heeling had not been heavily enforced.  After all, a puppy can't heel all the time, and I actually appreciate that she goes off the path to poop and such.  Anyhow, here Decibel heeled. 

The hotdogs helped, because she sits when she wants something, so as soon as I stopped walking, she would sit, and get a tiny piece of hotdog.  I tried not to bribe her too much, and in truth it wasn't all that necessary.  Decibel liked the game.  She forgot about the other dogs. 

She was working for hotdogs! 

She did the 'in-motions' at my side, sitting, standing, or down, while the other dogs were all in their places around the room.  She did not bark, or try to meet the people as they passed by.  She was very good.  She did long sit stays and down stays, with me being able to drop the leash and stepping in front of her and away for a pace, before I got back to her.  Obviously she couldn't go the whole time yet in a sit stay, after two minutes she kept trying to lie down, but she didn't wander off either.  The others left their dogs and hid around the corner, but all the dogs were good. 

Then I took Decibel out and she pooped, and when we returned they were still doing recalls, so we watched that. 

Now Decibel's recalls at home are still wiggy.  She might come back, or she might ignore me for a piece of manure.  She sets priorities to suit her.  She is familiar with her name, likes to come well enough, but that it is an 'order' well, she debates the fact.  I train dogs with the notion that you never get punished for a come, no matter what you just did before.  If I call and say come, and you show up, you are safe.  It doesn't matter how mad I am, but (and this is a BUT) if I have to chase your butt down, then watch out. 

This means that the smart ones (Maggie) know exactly the last time I will say 'come' and come then.  The dumber ones (the boys, let's face it) come when I get irritated, because they are afraid of the BUT.  Or like Skeeter, he likes to show off how fast he can come!  He also knows that he won't get corrected too strictly for jumping up, because the 'come' gives him a pass, and so he jumps up, with me trying to praise and pet him, and keeping him off.  Maybe he is not so dumb after all.  Anyhow, he is getting better about getting me to bend down to smooch him without jumping up. 

Decibel will be in the Maggie category, and unless I can establish the come a bit better with her she might have to learn about the special collar that can zap you long distance, even when I am too slow to get her. 

But in school she did a passable sit stay while I backed up, and then called her, while backpedalling, seriously, the dog class is tiring for people too, and she came pretty well, to hugs and kisses, and then I went and reloaded on hot dog pieces. 

After that it was figure eights, and Decibel didn't do so well, because Ralph and Harold were one of the poles we were to walk around, and she wanted to say hi.  I took her back out and she peed.  That might have interfered with her concentration as well.  Then it was sitting and meeting a friendly stranger, who was all the people in class, they leave their dog in a stay and pet all the other dogs, after receiving permission.  The dog has to stay in a sit.  Since they are all nice friendly dogs, they tend to want to get up, jump up or such, but that is all they try to do.  Obviously the petter waits until the dog is in a sit.  Harold will try to get the GSDs to break position by 'accidentally' dropping food, moving funny, and such, but that is okay, because their owners want the dogs to be good even around dumb people.  We train for real life, here!

By this time Decibel was a bit tired and her sit became a down, but I didn't correct her.  I am more concerned with keeping her from jumping up or trying to climb on people's laps when it comes to that, or piercing their ears.  She will still try that, or paw them, and those paws will become big and heavy sooner than we think.  She has already grown taller than Skeeter, and she was definitely shorter than him only a week ago. 

After that it was another break for Decibel, this time for some water, then a bit more heeling with stuff, and then we traded dogs, and I took Ralph around one time, although he was pooped, and Decibel had trotted around the room like a show dog.  Really, she moved! 

Harold worked with her, only he didn't work, just smooched, but that was okay.  Decibel would have done the same for him, as long as he had hotdogs! 

(By the way she only got tiny pieces of them, more like hotdog molecules, and only occasionally as much as a quarter of a slice for a big reward, so it wasn't all junk food driven.  It is good practice for her to nubble things off fingers without eating the fingers. All my dogs know how to take stuff gently.  It is also the precursor to letting me take things out of their mouths, and giving pills, which Decibel doesn't mind.  She had to take her Heartworm preventative and only seemed to regret that I made her swallow it without tasting it.) 

More water, and a few hello's to the nice dogs, and now Decibel wasn't shy at all, and barked at them, and started to play (we made sure it was fine with the owners, and it was).  On the way out Decibel even got fresh with the female GSD, and I was glad the owner let us do that, because I do not want her to be afraid of a breed or size of dog. Cautious is fine, but not afraid. 

I have to admit that I didn't think Decibel could do this well, and for almost the whole hour of class.  She looked like this was her third or tenth class, not her first.  When I think back on our other first class puppy experiences... well, there was a whole lot of drooling involved, and much less everything else. 

Everyone remarked on how good and smart she was. 

Now, sure they haven't seen her 'independent' side, which is not nasty, only assertive, and she knows how to push buttons.  But at least we can train her to be a super dog before her adolescence, when things will go backwards for a bit, as they usually go. 

Next week is off, but after that Decibel will go regularly.  I hope we get a lot of the super dogs, who can do distance commands and off leash stuff, because she would learn that just by watching.  If she sees a whole lot of goof balls, she would become one, since that would look like fun to her. 

Ralph was tired after class, and both slept all the way back home. 

Slow week

I do not think there are enough words to thank you for this girl; she is more than we could have wished for. I still miss Barley of course, but there is a part of me that thinks, how like the old boy to pick the time to die so we could get Decibel.  If he could have planned that, he would have, because he was my perfect dog.  I know that is silliness, on one level, and on another, if I believe in anything, then it is in dogs knowing us better than anyone. 

Well, we had a slow week for the dogs, and a busy one for me.  Harold was on a meeting in St. Louis, and that left me with all the chores, so Decibel only went to one new place, one 'old' and then we got rained out too.  Still, it was a good time to practice being in the crate, and to consolidate some things.  Decibel can do a lot of things, but as with all smart ones, convincing her of the necessity will be interesting.  Not that she is unwilling; she just has her independent moments, where her name can be ignored, because she found some manure to eat, or the like.  Still, in spite of the busy week, we worked more on her 'come' and she could walk to the barns without the leash on occasion, or at a heel for short stretches.  The whole, pay attention to the human thing.  Her enthusiasm for swimming is still there, and I am careful to check her ears and dry them if needed.  It has been hot in between storms; so drying has not been a problem.  By the time we get home she is no longer even damp.  No mildew between the ears, either.  I do check.

Decibel is now a full inch taller than Skeeter, and will soon pull even with Maggie.  She is becoming more sure of herself, and is learning when to bug the big dogs and pester them to play with her, and when they mean 'no'.  Maggie plays with her in short stretches.  Ralph is still a bit iffy, but he is relaxing about her.  In the mornings Decibel jumps all over him and paws him in the face, and I make sure he gets plenty of loving from me and ear cuddles, so puppy is a good thing.  Like all Briards, Decibel uses her 'hands' a lot, and it is difficult to correct her for slapping you, because it is cute too.

She was very happy to have Harold back, at the end of the week, but she had not moped during his absence, which made both of us feel good.  I like a dog who can be with either one of us and be happy. 

Decibel can now drink milk outside of her crate, without stealing her siblings' allotment.  Again, while that is a negligible achievement, it is the sort of thing I like to see.  I don't want food fights.  Bowls are only to be licked when the 'owner' stepped away.  All my dogs have managed to understand that, and Decibel is well on her way.  She eats in her crate, but sometimes the treats (milk or cookies) are handed out with the dogs at a sit or down around us.  One funny thing... it was Ralph's birthday, so there were hotdogs to be earned.  We did sit-shake down the line, starting with Maggie, then Decibel, then Skeet, then Ralph, and what-do-you-know, Decibel ran around the back of me, and sat next to Ralph, for the next hand out.  She is so funny.  Not even Maggie had come up with that one before.

Oh Decibel discovered mulberries and those she likes.  We have a tree in the backyard, so there is no keeping her from eating the berries, and let's face it, it is better than her bug eating.  All the wild animals fill up on mulberries this time of year, from coyotes to possums, so I don't think they will do her any harm either.

We are still not hooked up to the 'net at home, so email is sent when I remember or Harold sends it from work, so I have not been checking out Terry's blog lately.  I did read some when I was still working, and really enjoyed the dog class observations.  As you can tell, we will never be 'obedience' dog owners, but we do try to have dogs we can live with, and that can be polite.  Different problems/ solving approaches do help, since no two dogs are the same.

That's not to say I don't like the dog show stories or observations about the Briard breed.

Thank you again for sending us such a treasure.

Pushing her limits

Ah, she is a normal pup after all.  This week we had a number of outings, dog class and rotten weather.  And Decibel has decided to 'explore her limits' in gobble-speak, or tried to find out just how big these human suckers are.  She is becoming quite vocal and tries to imitate Ralph, when he is barking at the sheep, which is not exactly good behavior.  Usually she waits until we are bottle-feeding the lambs and thus cannot do much other than be annoyed.

She likes to jump on Ralph and Maggie and see if Mom and Dad will protect her from the wrath of the big dogs.  Skeeter has long been demoted as play thing.  He has to get quite mean to get some peace or jump on the couch.

Here was Decibel's weekend stunt... she went into Ralph's crate in the kitchen and peed on his bed.  In full view of the humans!  She did not feel our response was deserved at all.  Now she knows the doggie door, gets praised for outside peeing/pooping, and I don't think we have accidentally made it okay to pee on your brother's bed, no mixed messages here.  Really it was just being the devil.

Decibel continues to do very well in dog class.  She likes going, they have hotdogs and people.  She does not seem to mind the other dogs.  She did get carsick twice last week, and puked right when we got to our destination.  It was very different trips, at different times of the day etc, so I am not sure she is really carsick or just nervous because we are somewhere new.

She does not mind new people, but new places are still not her favorite thing to explore.

She got a bath, which she also thought was unnecessary.  Then she antagonized her siblings, when it was their turn in the bath.

Below are a few pics to show how she has grown.  

Almost nose to nose with Ralph now.  Also note, different collar.  She outgrew her purple one.

Her swimming is coming along fine, now we don't worry about the goldfish pond, only the goldfish.

Decibel would insist on hugs and smooches,

Slopping hogs is my department.  

It isn't nearly as much fun as it sounds.  We have 6 pigs (Boston, Chicago, Socks, Snooty, Kinky and Brain) to help out with the excess milk.  Four will go to some exclusive restaurant as milk fed pork.  Naturally Decibel volunteered to help with the milk all by herself, but I think even her appetite would be challenged by 2 or 3 gallons a day.  For the last eternity it has been raining and storming, at night or making the day into night, it is sure dark a lot.  Since the ground has been saturated since August 2008, a river ran through my pig sty.  Now in the ancient Greek mythologies, that cleans out stables, but no such luck.  Harold and I get to bail out the liquid pig muck.  Since the trough for the milk keeps filling up with water, we have to dump that before slopping them, or they would end up with skim milk, yuck!  

Decibel got to come along for our haircuts and she was good just lounging in her crate while we were getting beautified.  She was very good, and even did her sits and her still shaky shake for Janel.

She is very interested in the sheep and chickens lately, but more in the hurting not the herding sense - she tries to eat them.  Okay, even Barley tried flossing with sheep, but Decibel left the chicken coop with a few feathers in her mouth.  She wasn't trying to kill just pluck them a little... the chickens didn't notice all that much, they are dumb and not very excitable.  I had Decibel on the leash, and the hens know that they are mine, and dogs are not supposed to eat them.  Now we just have to teach Decibel.  It is funny, last week all she cared about was chicken poop and chicken feed.  She didn't even notice the hens then.  

Still, her nose is awesome.  

I walked her by herself and saw a rabbit about 300 yards off.  Decibel was trying to grab the end of the lead and was not paying attention, but as we got closer, wham, her nose was down and she traced the rabbits flight very precisely.  I will have to get with Melinda the GSD gal, and see about tracking.  I always thought that would be fun, only Melinda talks about the MILES she ran after her dog on a track, and just jogging next to Decibel so she maintains that pretty trot she has makes me huff and puff.  I may have to act dumb and have Melinda do the running... there's a thought.  

 more later...

Later

well, never a boring week with the girl.  She was very busy the last week.  We went to garage sales on Saturday, but had to run home due to the storms.  Then we practiced 'waiting out the storm' in the storm shelter.  We had only straightline winds and no damage, but I thought it was a good time to make the shelter fun, and eat cookies there.  The rest of the weekend was stormy as well.

Tuesday Harold and I had to load up some steers and send them to the butcher, then we made apricot jam and I left him in charge of the house while going to the dentist.  

On Wednesday it was time for me to go to work one last time.  I started the day out early, to get all the chores done.  The cow cooperated, the donkey didn't make trouble, the sheep were compliant, the horses were good, and Decibel, she was wonderful, but did not feel the urge.  We walked and walked, and no poop.  Finally I put her in the crate and left.  I only worked a half day, since I have plenty of sick leave, and it won't get reimbursed, if you are not sick, you end up paying for it.  Naturally Decibel had not kept her crate clean, but I couldn't blame her too much, and it got to be funny when I thought that I quit a job for cleaning up dog poop for free, and it wasn't a bad trade.

In the evening Decibel got to come along for my retirement party, it was at a park, and there were lots of new things to see for Decibel, a train, a playground, ducks on a pond, which were only scary at first, then the bread fed to them won Decibel over, a really sneaky and frightening fire hydrant (really?  I thought those are doggy newspapers, but it took Decibel a bit to check it out), and balloons.  Decibel did fine, she just gets a bit quiet when she is in a new setting, but in the end there were hotdogs, and that was all it took.  Decibel prefers large humans to children.

At home she is getting far more assertive and when the big dogs grouch at her, she no longer cries and needs hugs.  She might yip and roll tummy up, and then go right back and annoy them some more.  She also handles new things differently, by barking at them, and letting me convince her to 'go check it out' as long as I am close by.

However, both Harold and I agree, she seems more of a hunter than a herder.  I think she will join Maggie on her hunts, if we let her.  She chases the water from the garden hose, frogs, toads, bugs, and her nose is always sniffing.

Swimming is her all time favorite thing.  She loves the pond.  It has been very hot here, so I don't have the heart to keep her out.  I just make sure her ears are dry, and by the time we get back home, the rest of her is dried out.

Then it was time for puppy class.

Decibel is really very good in class.  For one and a half times she did a sit stay while I walked the room, and I can get further away from her on the stays.  She caught on to the stand, even though it was the first time we had her do it.  What is funny is that she already knows to act really good in class and then it is back to normal as soon as we leave.  There is no 'heel' on the way back to the car, it is let's get out of here, come on already.  She loves class, but like all of our dogs, it is an exhausting hour for her.  Everyone sleeps on the way home.  Harold and I switched dogs half way through, so Decibel learns to listen to the guy as well.

Finally it was another visit to the vet.  Maggie needed her ears checked, and I wanted Decibel to go to Dr. Ann's without getting shots.  We weighed her instead, 32 pounds, and she is skinny!

In between Decibel learned that she likes blueberries, and will eat a few apricots, staying clean for shorter times alone in the crate, (she is fine when I can get her to do her piddles and poops on time), and even to stay away from the lawnmower and not to bite wagon tires.  Harold has taught her not to steal milk while the other dogs are still at their bowls, and she is getting very good at that.

Hugs,

Angel and devil

This week Decibel has had either one on her shoulder.  She is brilliant one moment and naughty the next.  Surely it is not yet time for being a teenager?  Here are some examples:

Brilliant

-Decibel did the whole hour of puppy class.  She held her business until afterward.  She did all the tracks that Melinda set up for her in the parking lot.  (Gobbling up hotdog pieces is such a task!)

Naughty

-Decibel jumped up on almost everyone in puppy class, including (gasp) me!  She KNOWS better.  She did it even after a correction.

Brilliant

-Decibel slept right through a grooming session.  She is the only dog that doesn't disappear when I pull out the comb and brush.  What a good girl!

Naughty

-grab a mouth full of brushed out hair and make a game of chase and try to eat the hairball before Mom gets it

Brilliant

-She was outstandingly good in the house all week, going out when she had to go, even without company.

Naughty

-sleep in Ralph's bed.  He feels displaced.

Brilliant

-she can get up on the couch by herself

Naughty

-so she can pull the covers off and try to eat the quilts

Brilliant

-she got a bath, and she was really good.  Then she watched all her siblings get a bath.  What a sweet pup

Naughty

-Bark! BarketybarkBAAAARK!  Stranger in the house, MOM! ALARM! (Ralph was wet and Decibel barked and barked at him.  Seriously.  She had just seen him get a bath too.  Okay, it was funny too!)

Brilliant

-her shakes are wonderful. Soon we will do high five and wave bye bye.  Her paw comes up so nice.  What a smart puppy!

Naughty

-down?  Huh?  Never heard of such a thing.  Why are you pushing me down?  I don't like the floor, eek.  Oh, down!  Okay, she plops down and rolls over.

Brilliant

-Decibel come!  She comes.

Naughty

-Decibel come!  She goes.

Seriously, she must be one of a kind.

Oh PS:

Brilliant is licking the ear, naughty is biting it.

The new puppy

We were not off to a happy start early this year.  My big Briard, Barley, usually referred to as 'baby' had to be put down after a violent but short illness.  Winter was harsh, and I hate the cold.  Life pretty much sucked.

But when spring became a reality rather than a calendar decree, we knew that mourning was over, and we needed to add a new dog to our group.  Three was simply not enough.  I contacted a Briard breeder,  Terry Miller and became part of her family.  She considers us 'married in' family.  On Cinco de Mayo we welcomed our new baby Decibel home.
She was tiny when she arrived, sweet, so cute, and insatiable.  I picked her out of an unseen litter, because Terry said that she was a 'pig'.  Terry had considered our situation and had several pups that would do well in our home, but Decibel was 'food motivated', and I like to have the key to a puppy's heart in the shape of a milkbone.  It is so much easier to train a dog when they like to eat.

This is the new arrival still at the airport.  She ate every morsel before we could leave for home.

Just as a comparison to Ralph, Decibel was tiny when she came.  Her ears are glued together so they will eventually stand up nicely.  Ralph was not thrilled with the puppy, by the way.  Ignoring her was about the nicest he acted toward her.
With Decibel, things got busy in the house, on the farm and in my life.  Puppies need a lot of attention, socialization, time, training, patience, a sense of humor and caffeine, before they turn into dogs.  But I was ready, thanks to the breeder's advice and articles that discussed the how to's of  surviving your puppy and the importance of  socialization.
Briards do not self-socialize, so I was a very busy person, lugging Decibel everywhere to meet and see and experience new things, places, and people.
And I am not kidding about being busy.  I decided to quit my job, and get this done properly.  Just like raising children, you get one try at it, so you had better give it your best effort.  And, besides, and entirely by the way, I used this as an excuse to get a family cow, Ruby, to milk, and learn the art and science of cheese-making.
I milk by hand, and so far I manage to produce fairly good mozzarella, feta, ricotta, cottage, cream, and cooking cheese; the hard cheeses are on my to do list for the fall.  If you are curious about cheeses, and making them, either wait a while and keep on reading, as I am sure I will get to the topic, or go to cheesemaking.com, where you can order supplies and get the recipes for the above.

Oh, here is Ruby, who is a registered Jersey, and just about the nicest cow you could possibly imagine.

She wears an antique cowbell I had for years, just in case... She is 'mowing' our front lawn.

In the beginning...

Pretty much all accounts of any beginnings agree, in the beginning there was chaos.  So please bear with me while I sort the initial chaos out into some sort of orderly functioning thing.

First things first, as Calamity Jones used to say,

Introductions:

What am I doing here?
Many times when I send friends, or acquaintances, or sometimes complete and utter strangers some mail, their response is, you should be a writer.  It has gone to my head, and so I wrote, write, will write, unfortunately only to find that most people are not readers.
So lately the response has become, you should write a blog.  So here I am.

Who am I?
Oh, great, I just love philosophy.  Who am I, why am I here, how did I get here, how do I know that I am, I am what I am...?
I am curious in the scientific sense, love a bad pun, love my dogs and the other critters on the farm (which includes my husband), love to write, am approaching the half century mark, am mostly honest, except about my weight, am a talker, a milkmaid, a cheese-maker, a frustrated artist, a writer, a thinker (well, I can sit like that), a poor rider, a better driver, and I guess now I can add blogger to the list.

Where am I?
Fly-over country, in the U.S. of A.  You won't find it on a map, but when you fly east west or north south, chances are you are passing directly over my head.  I live on a small patch of prairie.  But I am not a native, far from it.  You might have noticed my accent - people always do.  It drives me batty, because it is like having a big nose... sure there are things you can do about it, but they are either expensive or painful, or most likely both.

Most of this blog will be about my dogs, so you should meet them here.  There are four of them, two girls (bitches, as we correctly and often fondly refer to them, and it is not derogatory but rather the correct use of the term), two boys.  All are neutered, because they are pets and I am certainly not interested in breeding them, but just to be contrary, I tend to have the occasional purebred, pedigreed pampered pup, and pride myself greatly on this 'accomplishment' that has nothing to do with me, or only with my checkbook.  Two of the dogs are Briards, and if you don't know about the breed, hang on, you will soon find out.  Two are mutts, mixed breeds, unique canines with uncertain heritage that defies definition and even DNA tests.  Okay, I am too cheap to spend money on DNA tests for my dogs.  I don't see the point of it, since there is no way we can collect any paternity payment, even if their ancestry were known.
Rather than bore you with thousands of words, let me show you the 'gang':

Ralph, a five year old Briard, with natural ears, in his house.

Ralph and Decibel, the Briards.  Decibel's ears are cropped and up.  She is our baby, and still growing.

Skeeter, who came from an Oklahoma shelter.  They SAID he was a dog.

Maggie, from a Kansas shelter.  She is our oldest, and might be the smartest.