From the Leader of the Pack

First Day of Tracking

irisgrimm — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:21:50 +0000

Since Shelby has such a strong food drive we thought that she is a great candidate for tracking. Anytime I take her out for a walk, she spends minutes at a time sniffing the ground, checking here and there, picking up all kind of crap. I always have to watch her and it happened already several times where I pulled out bones, dog poop and other stuff out of her mouth.

Barko and Cito are starting their Schutzhund training again and tracking is one of the disciplines that we practice with them. So this morning we took Shelby with us.

We followed the Gene England method. I made 3 scent pads and put lots of food in there. I took Shelby out, lead her to the scent pad, allowed her to sniff the treat in my hand before I threw it on the scent pad. With the command “such” Shelby put her nose down immediately and started the search – reward process. We could hear her breathing so hard and she took her time finding every little treat. She did great with all 3 scent pads and I can’t wait to practice with her again.

Visit at Piedmont Park

irisgrimm — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 23:55:05 +0000

Today we had gorgeous weather in Atlanta, blue sky and about 65 degrees. We decided to take Shelby and the boys to Piedmont Park. Talk about mental stimulation and control. Shelby saw roller bladers, she watched bicycles passing her by, she walked next to other dogs, she met joggers and small children. And with all that she did a great job.

Unfortunately, we left our water at home. So when we asked for some water from a faucet, Shelby didn’t even want to drink the chlorine water. Instead she waited until we got home and then she finished her entire bowl. I guess she is getting spoiled.

And now she is sleeping on her blue pillow – this was an exciting day for her.

Just a Dog

irisgrimm — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 13:44:23 +0000

A friend of mine just sent me the below article which rings so true for me. So I share it here on my blog and I hope Richard Biby, the creator of the article, doesn’t mind.

From time to time, people tell me, “lighten up, it’s just a dog,” or,
“that’s a lot of money for just a dog.”
They don’t understand the distance traveled, the time spent,
or the costs involved for “just a dog.”
Some of my proudest moments have come about with “just a dog.”
Many hours have passed and my only company was “just a dog,”
but I did not once feel slighted.

Some of my saddest moments have been brought about by “just a dog,”
and in those days of darkness, the gentle touch of “just a dog”
gave me comfort and reason to overcome the day.

If you, too, think it’s “just a dog,” then you will probably understand phrases like
“just a friend,” “just a sunrise,” or “just a promise.”
“Just a dog” brings into my life the very essence of friendship, trust, and pure unbridled joy.

“Just a dog” brings out the compassion and patience that make me a better person.
Because of “just a dog”, I will rise early, take long walks and look longingly to the future.

So for me and folks like me, it’s not “just a dog” but an embodiment of all the hopes and dreams of the future,
the fond memories of the past, and the pure joy of the moment.

“Just a dog” brings out what’s good in me and diverts my thoughts away from myself and the worries of the day.
I hope that some day they can understand that it’s not“just a dog”,
but the thing that gives me humanity and keeps me from being “just a man or woman.”

So the next time you hear the phrase “just a dog” just smile… because they “just don’t understand.”

by Richard Biby Tulsa, Oklahoma Contributing Editor VHD

Barko’s Compassion

irisgrimm — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 01:30:49 +0000

One of the areas where we need to work with Shelby is passing cars. When 1 or 2 cars pass her by, she stays rather calm. But when she sees several cars coming her way, she freaks out.

So today we walked with her to the soccer field near the Elementary school close to our home. The walk is about 1 mile but we have to walk along Wallace Drive and in the afternoon there is a lot of traffic going on this street.

On the way towards the school Shelby was doing fine. She stopped a few times but I got her going very easily. However, on the way back she went on strike. Several times she would just hit her 3 little breaks and she didn’t want to move. She just didn’t want to go anymore. And then at the end, she layed down on the street and didn’t want to get up. Since that happened around the traffic light, we waited for a while to see what she would do. But she just layed there in the grass. I even tried to pull her up but she just didn’t move and I dragged her through the grass.

At that time Barko, our German shepherd boy and “house nurse”, really got concerned with Shelby. (I call him our nurse since he is always concerned when someone has an injury or makes whining voices.) He jumped around her, he nibbled her in the front legs, he scratched her at her shoulders, he tried to pull her up by biting her in the neck. Shelby didn’t move. So Barko started to bark at her, run around her and try to animate her to play and get up. It was really interesting to watch how concerned he was about Shelby’s well-being.

Just 3 days ago we saw the movie “8 Below” where they talked about 8 sled dogs that were left behind in the Antarctic during a bad winter storm. 6 out of 8 dogs survived by themselves for more than 6 months until their care taker Jerry Shepard picked them up. Anyway, Max, the Husky, was a very “caring” dog. He tried to free one of the Husky’s before he passed on. At the end when Jerry, the owner found them and put 4 of them in the 4-wheeler, Max was running back and forth trying to tell Jerry that he wasn’t ready to leave. Suddenly he ran away and Jerry followed him. Not far he found Maya laying in the snow fighting for her life.

Barko would do the same thing. When Cito doesn’t feel well, Barko stays around him or sniffs his injury. When Shelby came to our home, he always sniffed her stump and stayed around her. He even sleeps in front of her crate at night.

Anyway, after Barko’s nudging, Shelby finally got up and walked home with us.

Visit at Lowe’s

irisgrimm — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 00:56:41 +0000

We believe in socialization. Our dogs have been with us in public buildings, restaurants (in German), at the airports, hotels and stores. The people at Lowe’s in Kennesaw know our boys already and when we go to Lowe’s without the boys, we are always asked the question, “and where are the dogs?” Today it was Shelby’s day to visit Lowe’s. Before we went to the store, we walked with the dogs at Kennesaw Battlefield Park to get rid of their exciting energy. Since Shelby is already doing so well with her recall, she is now allowed to run around freely to explore her surroundings. Of course, I keep the leash on her in case she sees a deer or wants to eat some horse poop. However, I never leave the house without treats so anytime she runs at me or I call her name, I make sure I have food in my hand. She is so cute when she sprints to me with her little floppy ears. And she has that smile in her face when she patiently waits for her reward. She is such a great dog, she comes when she is called.

Once we arrived at the store, she walked nicely through the parking lot. When cars approach her slowly, she doesn’t even freak out walking next to them. In the store she was really well behaved. We asked her to lay down in the middle of the ile and she immediately responded. She walked with us through several iles without any hesitation. At the checkout lane she sat down while I paid for my items.Congratulations Ms. Shelby – now you know how to behave in a store.

Visit at the Shelter

irisgrimm — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 20:02:45 +0000

Today was the first day that Shelby returned to the shelter. She still had a couple of stitches in her leg and I wanted the vet to take a look at it. Besides, I needed to check in with Ann, the head lady of the volunteers, so that she doesn’t think I took Shelby and never return. However, I don’t want her to go yet to the adoption places since she is just not ready yet. After all, it has been today just 14 days since we picked her up.

She is doing so great. We walked with her to the shelter which is a one mile walk along a busy road. She walked much better next to the cars. When the cars drive slowly, she actually walks nicely next to me. When cars make weird noises, she stops walking and wants to hide. In that moment I just give her a slight pop so that she keeps moving. After a while her little brain got so saturated with the car noises and movements that she just kept going. Great job Shelby – I am so proud of you!

The ladies at the shelter were so happy to see Shelby and I was so happy that they saw the confidence and improvements in Shelby. Before I walked with her into the building, Sloan said to me, “when she walks out of the shelter like no big deal, then you know we did some good work.” And guess what happened? Shelby walked in the building calmly, in the building she sat when I told her to sit, she layed down when I told her to lay down, and when we walked out, she walked out of the building as if she had done it a thousand times. No breaking, no panic, just pure confidence. Iris Grimm

At the Car Shop

irisgrimm — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:25:47 +0000

When we go with Shelby somewhere, she is usually with Cito and Barko. That can make a difference for a dog when she is around confident, well-balanced dogs. She picks up their energy and follows them wherever they go. However, today Sloan took Cito and barko to the gym; so Shelby and I had “girl time.”In the morning we had to go to the car shop since my radio wasn’t working. She got into the car without hesitation but when I arrived at the car shop she did not want to get out of the car. She put her 3 little breaks on me and looked around with hesitation. I knew that she was unsure about getting out since she wasn’t familiar with the area. So with a little tug I got her out of the car and then she was calm and submissive. We walked into the shop and we even did some obedience training there. And she did really well. Now I know that I need to get her out to many different places by herself so that she feels comfortable no matter where she is.

Iris Grimm

Limping Dog??

irisgrimm — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 17:44:36 +0000

Today we were walking at the Kennesaw park. I had Shelby on the flexy leash and she really enjoys these walks. There was an older gentleman walking behind us for a quite a while bu then he caught up with us. We walked to the side so that he could pass us conveniently. While walking by us, he stopped and said to me, “Did you know that one of your dogs is limping?” I was surprised but at the same time didn’t know who he meant. “Who is it?”, I asked. And he answered seriously, “The little black dog”, and he pointed towards Shelby. Sloan and I smiled at each other and answered, “Yes, we do know. She has only three legs.” The gentleman really acted surprised and said, “I didn’t even notice that she only had 3 legs.” Wow, now that amazed me considering that he walked right behind Shelby and me.

That really kept us laughing for the rest of the walk.

Shelby had a good time during the walk. When I threw the ball for Cito, I kept her short on the leash, so that she wouldn’t try to reach for the ball. She turned out to be a really cute personality. The fear covered her personality up like a large bed of kudzu, as soon as the kudzu was lifted, a beautiful flower appeared.

Snow in Atlanta

irisgrimm — Sat, 19 Jan 2008 15:04:46 +0000

Wow, Atlanta received some snow. When I awoke at 7.30 am it didn’t look like it would snow but then a couple of hours late, the snow started to come down. We went outside with the dogs so that they could experience the snow but it really wasn’t a big thing for them.

Shelby’s first Training Day

irisgrimm — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 19:27:52 +0000

Sunday is usually training day with Charlie. Shelby is small enough that she fits in the front seat; so we decided to take her with us. After a good walk with the boys and a good breakfast which was a mix of kibbles, fish and veggies, we loaded up the car for our Schutzhund training. Shelby and I had enough room in the front seat. Initially she was a little bit scared but half way down the road she adjusted and relaxed a bit.

No matter where I go I always keep treats with me. So when we arrived at the high school, I walked around with Shelby calling her name. Yesterday, we got her used to the clicker tone and as soon as she looks at me or turns around, I call her by her name and click. She was very curious while she was running on the field. I even started working with her on the “sit” a little bit.

Susan said that she assumes that Shelby isn’t older than 9 or 10 months old; something with the head of a Rottweiler changes when the dog turns about a year old. Susan was also so kind to borrow us one of her crates. In that way, we can keep a crate downstairs in the office and I don’t have to carry his little crate up and down the stairs.

Iris Grimm