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Knit Your Own Dog!

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2011-02-09T19:14:23-06:00

I used to love to knit sweaters, but the fact that you have to knit the whole thing before you know how it's going to look on can be a little discouraging. Today I found this book:

You can knit a dog! None of the doggies in the book are Labradoodles, but a Portuguese Water Dog pattern should work OK in a pinch.

Of course, a knitted dog doesn't take the place of a real one. A knitted dog won't poop...or eat...or chew up the remote. Hmmm...a knitted dog is sounding pretty good!

A knitted dog won't cuddle with you, go for a walk, act goofy, give your hand a little nudge with her wet nose, get excited when you come home, or love you unconditionally either. A knitted dog...oh well. Maybe for some people it's a good idea.

Here's another book I saw:

Maybe you could knit your own dog with dog hair! Do you think it would get fleas?

Austin City Council Passes Spay/Neuter Ordinance!

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2011-01-30T11:06:35-06:00

On 12/16/2010, The Austin City Council passed an ordinance banning retail sales of dogs and cats. The ordinance further stipulates that breeders must spay/neuter and microchip the animals they sell or pay a fine. It also bans sales of animals at locations other than where the animal was bred. This means no more animals for sale from the backs of vehicles parked on the side of the road. Animal shelters and non-profit mobile rescues are exempt from the ordinance.

Congratulations to the Austin City Council! For almost eight years I have been spaying, neutering and microchipping my puppies before they leave. I have always felt that if ALL breeders practiced early spay/neuter, there would not be a pet overpopulation problem in shelters. Apparently the Austin City Council agrees!

I would happily say goodbye to Petland. I know some have argued that Petland provides employment, and that shutting them down causes people to lose jobs. However Petland could make a corporate decision not to support puppy mills. Many customers visiting Petland "feel sorry" for the puppies and kittens there, so purchase the animals to rescue them from the retail store environment. However, saving those puppies and kittens condemns the sires and dams of these animals to horrible lives at puppy mills. It would be much more responsible of Petland to operate as a retail store selling pet supplies. Then, and only then, would I shop there.

You may read more about the Austin City Council ordinance here: http://www.cityofaustin.org/edims/document.cfm?id=146902.

If you have reservations about the health risks of early spay/neuter, please read the information at the following links:

http://www.columbusdogconnection.com/PedSpayNeuter.htm
http://www.angelswish.org/documents/resources/SpayNeuterPaper.pdf

My hope is that other municipalities will follow Austin's initiative and require breeders to spay and neuter, making a real contribution to reduce animal overpopulation.

Missing Miss Melie

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2010-05-01T07:05:57-05:00

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is, "Is it sad for you when the puppies leave?" The answer is a resounding "YES!" I do miss them so much, but it doesn't compare to the sadness of parting with a beloved and retiring breeding dog.

I knew when I started my breeding program that over time I wouldn't be able to keep all of my dogs. I mean, it wouldn't be fair to them or to me, and I could just see myself being one of those people that you see on the television news that has 80 dogs and says they love every one of them. Yea, right.

So the right thing to do is to let them go. Reluctantly. Sadly. But I know I have to do it, and I know they go to great homes where they forget all about me. :(

That's a good thing! Really it is good for all of us (I tell myself). I know that my dogs go to loving homes to live out their lives in families where there may be no other dogs, or just one other dog. They deserve that, and that's what I want for them, no matter how sad it is for me at the time.

Even so, I worry about them being successful in their new homes, and I agonize over finding just the right ones for them. Quite often their forever families are already known to me years before they leave here.

Our sweet Amelia, or Miss Melie as we usually call her, recently found her forever family here in Austin. She now has two human brothers to play with, and she is living the high life.

We will always miss her. She was our class clown, our prankster and game player. You could practically see the gears working in her brain as she plotted against the other dogs and played little tricks on them. One of her favorites was placing a coveted bone close by, like across her front paws, and then pretending to be asleep. The other dogs obsessed over the bone, which was exactly what Amelia wanted…that scamp!

Another favorite game was "Catch me if you can! Come on….CATCH me!" I didn't like that one.

But most of all she loved to play "Whisper in My Ear", and her favorite thing for me to whisper was, "Are you my teddy bear?" She would sit perfectly still, not moving even a paw, while I whispered to her, and she seemed to delight in every word.

Yes, I will miss Miss Melie. Her new brothers whisper the teddy bear question to her now. I made sure they knew how important that was to her. I know that her new family loves her as much as we did, and that she will live out her life in the best place for her, delighting her new mom and brothers with her sweet spirit and mischievous ways. I know she will add as much to their lives as she did to ours. How could she not?

Here she is with her new bros:

Goodbye Miss Melie; we love and miss you!

Your puppy didn't read that book!

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2010-01-10T15:32:02-06:00

In some ways, your first puppy is a lot like your first baby:

No amount of book-reading will prepare you for it.

Like children, every puppy is unique. That's part of what makes having a dog as your best friend and constant companion the rewarding experience that it is.

It is also a character-building experience for your children. There is something so very enriching about growing up loving animals. Dog lovers are kindred spirits, all of us with something intangible yet wonderful in common.

Nevertheless, getting from puppyhood to full-blown canine adulthood is a road beset with many challenges. You never thought you would be all about poop, but believe me, the state of your dog's poop is of monumental importance. Because if the poop's not good, life is miserable. After all, poop is what they do!

There are many behavior challenges that come with puppies. When that little furball first comes home, he is undergoing a massive change to which he must adapt. New family, no more brothers and sisters, no mom. Everything is different. The puppy is a little cautious at first, but it doesn't take long before the new wears off. The new family has been very nice, and the nature of the puppy's interaction with the family members, especially with the very young ones, may start to take on a new flavor. The little pooper that was so sweet a few days ago now has a sense of entitlement that rivals Brittany Spears.

If you've never had a dog before, I always suggest having a trainer come out to your house, right away, as soon as you get your puppy. There are so many things you can do that will help you have a well-behaved dog, and it's critical to get off to a good start. Even the layout of your home has an effect on the puppy's perception of his freedom. For example, you can use gates to set boundaries. Physical boundaries help you establish mental boundaries, or at least helps set the stage to be the leader in your pack, because as soon as you walk through the door with a puppy, that is what your family is - a pack.

If you don't want to have a trainer come over, or if you are determined not to let a six pound ball of fur run your life, then you better get busy teaching bite inhibition.

Yes, it's true and should not come as a shock, but puppies explore their worlds with their mouths, just like babies. But the big difference is that puppy teeth are extremely sharp and can be painful. Teaching your puppy that you and your children are bosses and not peers will help you get past this stage with as little pain and as few physical scars as possible.

Please refer to this fantastic article for assistance: Teaching Bite Inhibition

I also recommend that you download this wonderful and free book:

After You Get Your Puppy by Ian Dunbar

And don't forget…..The book is for you; the puppy didn't read it!

What clean floor?

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2009-10-26T18:15:04-05:00

This is why my floor only stays clean about five minutes:

Twygg thinks clean floors are highly over-rated.

Don't anthropomorphize your canine!

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2009-10-22T18:57:40-05:00

Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics to non-human creatures and beings, phenomena, material states and objects or abstract concepts. It is a huge disservice to your dog to attribute your own feelings and emotions to him. Please don't do it!

For example, reaching down from above to pat your dog on the head could be perceived as a very scary thing by your dog. Now, probably all of us do that, don't we? But if you think about it, it makes sense that a huge creature (you, as viewed by your puppy) reaching down toward the puppy could be scary from the puppy's perspective. If not scary, then at least something that makes its heart race a little. So no wonder some dogs get excited and pee all over the place when that happens!

We as humans place a lot of emphasis on making eye contact. To your dog, direct eye contact is something to avoid. Dogs consider direct eye contact a challenge. It's really not fair for your dog for you to insist upon it. Respect your dog's hesitance to make eye contact, and understand where he is coming from. Who wants to constantly feel challenged or threatened?

Always try to take your puppy's viewpoint into consideration when it comes to your own actions. Soothing a puppy that is crying in her crate will teach her to cry in her crate. Same goes for a dog that is afraid of thunderstorms or of riding in the car. Indulging a puppy by letting it take over the house and do whatever it wants will lead to a puppy that "sasses" back, by growling.

Sometimes maybe we try too hard to make them fit into our world when what we should be doing is understanding theirs. A lot of the doggy behaviors that we don't like have a very understandable purpose in their world. Obviously you can't let your furkid run amuck, but try to understand that some things that we may consider bad manners or perplexing behavior have roots in survival instinct for the dogs with whom we choose to share our lives. Co-exisiting shouldn't be a one-sided denial of all things dog; there exists a happy medium where both man and canine may be fulfilled. For the sake of your dog's emotional health and development, please make an effort to find that middle ground!

Way to go, Dakota!

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2009-10-19T20:10:53-05:00

Dear Dixie, Just a note to say how thrilled & proud we are of Dakota!! I know Michelle was going to call you, so by now you know that he's been matched with a family and is going to be best buddies with his very own 12-yr-old boy. Dakota and this boy, Ben, had instant chemistry! I'm SO happy...you would've loved seeing them together, I'm sure. Ben was amazed that Dakota would obey commands from him and just spent the whole time playing with him while Mom & Dad asked questions & talked. Honestly, knowing what I do now about Type 1 diabetes & diabetes alert dogs, I have to say that I think Dakota is almost custom-made for this job...great nose, super smart, a nice size for a young child to handle, extremely people-focused...and that's just for starters! :-) If that were my child I would definitely want the safety net of a dog trained to look out for him. I am especially pleased that GDTx is providing training (the diabetes part they're contracting out, but a lot of it they're doing themselves), for the people as well as Duckie, and will provide ongoing 24/7 aftercare like they do for all their guide dog teams. This is what they do so well, and why I love volunteering for them...I know they'll take good care of that puppy we've worked so hard on, and ensure he's successful & happy. Perhaps one of the most special things about Dakota, that makes him such fun to work with, is the way he tunes in and seems to almost know what I'm going to do before I know it myself. I think that sort of empathy will really be a big key to his success. ANYWAY, I could just talk about him forever but I'll let you go... :-) Just had to share our excitement!! This family will be so blessed with him, I just know it! Thanks for being willing to do what you do. It's definitely making a difference in people's lives! Beth

I'm so proud of Dakota! As you can tell from above, he will be a diabetes alert dog for a 12 year old boy. I love it when these guys get to do what the breed was created to do, service dogs. Dakota was from the final litter of Alice and George (born May, 2008) and was selected by Guide Dogs of Texas for training as a service dog. I was honored to be asked to name him. Dakota, meaning "friend", is the name of my grandson. I am proud of them both!

Here is a photo of Dakota as a baby. This is the first thing I saw when I came downstairs one morning...Dakota, standing in the water bowl!

Here is Dakota's picture painted on the side of the Guide Dogs of Texas van. I love the puppy training vest!

Finally, here he is all grown up, looking sedate and beautiful.

Sweet Dreams!

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2009-10-07T07:35:47-05:00

This is Chandler Pippen from Calista and Mudgee's litter. Isn't she cute?

Here is what her mom had to say:

Hey Dixie! We are doing great! Chandler Pippen is her full name, and it really does suit her! She is the joy of our lives! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful puppy! She is the best. She wears us out! She has got the most wonderful personality and everyone she meets just loves her. We think that she is part bunny and part lion! Everyone tells us that she looks just like a Teddy bear and they don't know she is real until she moves! Puppy classes are great and Chandler performed a perfect demonstration last week with the trainer. We are so proud of her. She sleeps in her crate and has never cried during the night. She is awesome. I am not sure if I sent you this picture yet, but it is everyone's favorite. We took this the third day we had her. More pictures are coming, of course she is so big now- almost 9 pounds!Thanks again for such a wonderful and joyous gift!

Boy....or Girl?

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2009-10-03T15:55:43-05:00

The answer is simple! It doesn't matter!

I'm serious; it really doesn't!

Statistically, there are supposed to be an equal number of boy and girl puppies born in nature, however my experience is that the boys almost always outnumber the girls in my litters. Now that doesn't make sense in any species! I have tried and tried to figure out why that happens to me, but I haven't come up with a good reason. I keep thinking it is the timing of the mating, something I am feeding them, or who knows what. I've experimented with some things, but I just can't come up with anything that seems to change the outcome.

Invariably I have more requests for girls than boys, but I can tell you without a doubt that it truly should not matter. People often tell me that they think girls will be sweeter, or that they are afraid that boys will mark. The fact is that girls are not sweeter, and boys neutered early generally do not mark territory. They don't even realize they should have a territory to mark!

Your relationship with your dog has the potential to be one of the most rewarding and meaningful relationships of your life. Even in an "average" litter where there are an equal number of puppies of each gender, why rule out half the puppies before you ever get started?

Please consider the boy puppies! They deserve to be loved too! You will not be disappointed.

Boarding Kennel vs Puppy Sitter?

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2009-08-04T19:23:06-05:00

Dear Dixie, I need your wise advice about whether to board or not to board my dogs. I have a friend who we pay to house and puppy sit. She is very reliable and takes great care of Emma and Sully. She stays here with them at night. The only problem is that she works full time. When we are gone she comes home once during the day to let them out. They stay in my master bathroom which is a very large room (still with their litter box). They are very content there and have lots of chew toys, kongs with peanut butter etc. When they are alone we keep a toddler gate over the door which they could step over with no problem.. I just don't think it has occurred to them to try. She tries not to leave them for more than 4 hours at a time. On the other hand, we do have a great place to board them which has large rooms they can stay together in instead of kennels. They also have a puppy play room where they play all day (supervised) with other dogs. It is a very nice place and I trust the people who own the kennel. It is owned and run by a veterinarian whose clinic is also in the buidling.So here is the question....when we leave for a long time (5 days) and it is during the week while my friend is working, do you think it is better to leave them in their home environment or board them in a place where they get lots of attention. We don't leave often for more than 2 or 3 days, but I worry about them when it is 4 or 5 nights. What is your take on this? I appreciate your insight!!! All is well here......hope you are doing great too! Thanks for your advice!!!

This is an interesting dilemma! Would a dog be more comfortable in his home that he knows, that smells like his owners, where things are familiar? Or would he be better off in a more social setting while the family is away? I think we all too often project our own feelings onto our dogs. We think, "He looks sad", or "He must be lonely". Honestly I don't think dogs feel exactly the way we do, and in many cases we are mistaken when we make assumptions about their feelings. I have often heard that dogs don't really have a sense of time. It could be a day or a week, and they don't really realize the amount of time that has transpired.

That being said, dogs are social beings. Isn't that why we love them? I think for most dogs, particularly those that are used to an active lifestyle and are well-socialized, they would probably be happier for an extended time period in a boarding kennel that has doggie day care. Some of them have web cams, and you can watch your dog to see how he is doing in this setting.

An active environment would most likely be a better choice in this situation...worth a try at least. After all, a tired dog is a happy dog!

Wordle

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2009-07-25T20:56:20-05:00

Have you ever played with Wordle? It's really cool! All you have to do is make a list of words. List the more important words more times than the less important ones. Put them in Wordle, and voila! See mine below:

Do you like it?

Here's my word list:

Australian
Australian
Labradoodle
Labradoodle
Texas
Austin
family
companion
Labradoodles
dogs
pet
enchanting
special
wonderful
puppy
amazing
Dixie's
Dixie's
Dixie's
Doodles
Doodles
Doodles
puppies
puppies

My new website!

dixie@dixiesdoodles.com — 2009-08-06T12:23:21-05:00

This is my first blog on my new website! After this one, they will be more dog-related, but I have to let you know about my new site. I LOVED my old website, because my daughter had created it in an html class in college. But, after a few years of me updating it in FrontPage, well, it wasn't a nice clean snazzy site like it used to be. FrontPage is no longer published by Microsoft, and it wasn't compatible with my current computer, which is a MacBook. I was having to boot my old PC to use FrontPage and to upload it every time I updated anything...which is a lot! It was a huge pain, and I knew the day would soon arrive where I had to make a move.

I mentioned my plight on a Kindle forum. Who knows why people were talking about Macs on an ebook forum, but someone said that the entire internet would thank me if I redid my website. That hurt! (They said that because FrontPage is such a clunky and ill-suited software for much of anything, which is true.) To this I replied, "Will Al Gore thank me too?"

Someone else on that forum recommended RapidWeaver software, so after doing a little research I bought it. It was overwhelming at first, but I took some online training at RapidWeaver Classroom. Wow! This made all the difference in the world!

I am very proud of learning the software and putting my new site together. I hope you enjoy it!

And wouldn't it be neat if Al Gore did thank me? You know, for cleaning up a little smidgeon of the internet, since he created it and all.