A Must Read

It’s a weekend tradition as steadfast as Tim Horton’s every Saturday and Sunday morning – watching the Dog Whisperer on the “National Geographic Channel” (can’t you just hear Cesar saying that, with his Spanish accent? The National Geographic Channel).

Years ago, when I read my first Cesar book, I thought he was a little too much “Hollywood” and kind of wrote him off. But Glenn’s been watching his show every weekend morning for a couple of years, and naturally I’ve gravitated toward the TV too. I’ve learned a lot from watching the show and attempting to apply his principals to my own “pack”. Amazingly enough, with this unruly pack, I’ve seen some changes, all improvements, in the dynamics, their behavior, and especially my presence and interaction as pack leader. Of course, it’s soooo easy to fall back into my old patterns of building up the excitement level, but when I stay disciplined and conscientious of my body language, my tone of voice, etc., the response and respect from the crew is quite significant. They remember that they're dogs, and I remember they're not children.

Angela (Juno’s mom and future Paisley puppy mom) has been reading Cesar’s new book, “How To Raise The Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond”, so I thought I'd pick up a copy, too. I can't put it down. It has me as captivated as the Twilight Saga series. I read each page with my yellow highlighter in hand.

Pages 23-24 describe his visit to a breeder. When I read those pages, I thought "that's me", or what I've worked hard at to be for my owners. It's important to me to be here as the "go to" person for training issues, problem solving, and especially to share in your delight over your Aussie's latest stellar accomplishments. It's SO much more than selling you a puppy and wishing you luck as you both heel off into the sunset.

P.S. The part where he says if you arrive at the breeder's and it's wild and crazy and loud and chaotic, that you should run like hell ... please ignore that part. It doesn't apply here hahahahaha.

I would encourage anyone with a new puppy at home, their name on a waiting list for a puppy, or an already present dog at home who could use a little tuning up, to obtain a copy of this book. It'll be money well spent and in the long run much more valuable than yet another stuffy toy for your pooch. And for my Casselcreek future owners, it'll give you something to do to help pass the time from now until February 14, and from then until you take your puppy home.

I've included a photo here of Annette (Zoey's person) who was lucky enough to attend one of Cesar's seminars and book signing.

As for Twilight? Move over Edward, there's a new man in town and his name is Cesar.

Happy Trails ... Theresa

Now that's more like it

As we enter the last "trimester", this has been a pretty good week for Paisley. After close to 3 weeks of really not eating unless “assisted” (aka force-fed), she’s finally regaining her appetite, her mood has greatly improved, and we’re turning the corner on the homestretch to The Big Day. She’s gaining weight at a very nice, steady rate and her tummy girth is increasing as it should. Matt even says she’s getting a “ghetto booty”. She’s definitely got a load of babies in there and is starting to resemble a pretty little blue merle … goat. Still as athletic and agile as ever. I’m just pleased her happy mood has returned, she’s once again giving me the Aussie grin, and is stepping right up to the plate in her new role as Alpha Bitch. The re-producing female usually takes over as Alpha, and Paisley is no exception. Not bitchy but definitely bossy.

Paisley and I both have a weight/fitness plan, though we’re working in separate directions. I go to Jenny Craig on Friday mornings, Paisley always comes along for the ride, and on the way home we go to the vet’s to weigh her as well. Paisley’s weight gain this past week is 2 lb 4 oz. She’s also up just over an inch in waist circumference in a week. Today is Day 42 of a 59-63 day gestation.

Normally at the 30-day mark, I change up their diet, increasing it by about 50%, and reducing the amount of bone in their meals. The usual increase would be more like 25% but because of the high activity level of my girls, I’ve always been able to increase to 50% without having the girls gain too much or grow puppies that were too big. Not to mention, they've always been ravenous. However, with Paisley refusing raw food (on her own) and not consuming any bones, but thinking kibble was at least a little tolerable, I haven’t had to do much. The kibble is a grain-free high quality holistic brand and is perfectly balanced so I know she’s getting everything she needs. In the last few weeks, I’ve been able to spoon-feed her our beef offal mix (yes, I did say spoon-feed, how ridiculous, eh) but now that she’s back to eating chicken pieces and pork ribs, our bone is nicely balanced too. Because of her petite size and the number of puppies the vet sees on ultrasound, I’m sticking closer to the 25% increase as I want to be sure the puppies don’t grow too large for an easy whelping. Hannah gained about 15 lb total with each litter. When you think about it, that’s a lot of extra weight on a dog.

Bone is reduced in the last half of pregnancy because the body has no problem supplying it’s own calcium with a well-balanced diet. Supplementing with extra calcium is actually quite dangerous as it can cause your bitch to develop uterine inertia during whelping. By supplementing with extra calcium, the hypothalamus forgets how to draw it from the body itself. During labor, calcium is extremely important to strengthen contractions and keep them coming. If the body doesn’t know how to draw it’s own calcium, no contractions. During the actual whelping, however, extra calcium is quite helpful to increase the contractions. I always offer my girls vanilla ice-cream about once an hour during the labor process (about 12 hours). The ice-cream not only provides the calcium, but sugar for energy, and a little something to keep them hydrated. An egg yolk mixed with a little corn syrup and some milk is also a whelping favorite. And if the girls aren’t into vanilla ice cream, well sheesh, I still need a little something during the lengthy whelping process, too!

One thing I have made sure she still gets is her very important supplements of omegas and essential fatty acids in the form of salmon oil, Vitamin E, and kelp – all essential for the development of those outstanding Aussie brains we all love and appreciate.

Happy Trails ... Theresa

Paisley's in a family way

CH Casselcreek Vintage Paisley, aka Paisley, is two-thirds of the way through her first pregnancy. Bred to CKC/AKC CH Blue Isle Field Of Dreams "Chipper", this is a litter I'm very excited about. Not only is Paisley my very special little baby girl but she's, well, you know, my very special little baby girl. Totally holds the record for being the most spoiled, pampered pooch at Casselcreek.

Bred in mid December, the first "trimester" was rather uneventful. Then came the 3-week mark when she decided that the "full" feeling in her tummy must actually mean she was full, therefore didn't need to eat, and so she didn't. A bit of morning sickness, combined with going off her food was a pretty good indicator of a successful breeding and a girl very likely in whelp. In addition to the loss of appetite, her mood was also somewhat depressed ... mopey, clingy, and needing lots of extra TLC. We visited our wonderful repro vets for an ultrasound on Day 30 and the good news from Dr. Wendy is, "Ohhhh, she's pregnant. Lots of puppies, so many I can't count them all". Paisley was the first puppy born in a litter of 12, so no doubt carries the fertility gene passed down from her Gramma to her mama and now to her. I might have to buy a bigger whelping pool :)

I've spent the last 3 weeks trying to convince her to eat. I've offered her absolutely everything ... raw, frozen, kibble, thawed, cooked, canned, sauteed in a delicate red wine demi-glace, standing on my head while I chewed bubble gum and sang O Canada ... anything to get her to eat. The only thing she seemed to enjoy were crappy milk bones and horse manure. Nice. I finally convinced her to play games with the kibble and spent a lot of time tossing her kibbles, one by one, until she had consumed her daily ration. Any idea how many individual kibbles are in a cup or two of kibble? A LOT. Nevertheless, we persevered and finally made it through that stage.

Paisley says, "morning sickness sucks"

Our weekly visits into the vet's office for a quick weigh-in have at least been reassuring as the numbers on the scale are starting to go up. Looks like our little "walnuts" are well on their way.

Happy Trails ... Theresa

A very special boy finds a very special family

This is a story about Wally, aka Walter Woodruff of Laredo. Wally is a very handsome blue merle boy from my first litter. For nearly 7 years, Wally was the much-loved sidekick of a super couple, Chris and Amber. Unfortunately, circumstances changed and Chris contacted me in the fall of 2008, that he had made the gut-wrenching decision to give up Wally, and would I help him find a new home for his best buddy. I had been working with a family who were waiting for a puppy from my upcoming spring litter. I was very excited about the possibility of the Tanners having one of our puppies and knew they would provide a wonderful home. Dave and Tracey and kids Jordyn and Dawson were looking forward to Aussie ownership. Here's their story ...

"It was August of 2008, and I had begun looking on the internet for dogs. We had just gone the previous year and a half without a dog in the house after having one for so many years. It was tough. I had actually spent a bunch of time looking at websites that featured "mini" and "toy" Aussies. (Ya I now know what you think of them!!) I then stumbled across the Casselcreek website and something about it stuck with me. I filled out the on-line questionnaire while my wife called me crazy as she continually told me that her dog days were behind her. Little did I know that this would be the start of something that was meant to be for our family.

We met and worked with Theresa on the possibility of becoming Aussie owners. We were happy to hear from her that we made the cut and made it to the "puppy list". We knew there was most likely going to be a spring litter and that we could be a part of it. The kids and I talked about having a puppy in the house again, different names, colors, and the tricks that we would teach it. Shortly after, on a sunny September day, we received a call from Theresa about the possibility of becoming a second home to an older dog. This is something that we had considered when we first started, but thought that the chances were somewhat remote. Theresa told us about a dog from her first litter that may be available. His name was "Wally".

After some discussions over the phone and emails, we made a time to meet Wally. We drove out to "Granny's" farm to meet Wally and his owner, Chris. When we first saw him, we thought, "wow he's huge". We walked the fence-line getting to know Wally. We made arrangements to take Wally for a test drive and have a sleep over. A week or so later, we had the sleep over. It went well, but my wife had decided that it was too hard for her to have another dog in the house. We actually took Wally back and told Chris that we were unable to take Wally into our home.

After that day, our home seemed empty. Wally was missed. It wasn't long after that my wife made arrangements with Chris (without any of us knowing) and the "adoption" was again on! After solving some logistical challenges, Wally came to live with us on December 13, 2008. It was a steep learning curve for all of us, but we couldn't imagine our lives without him. Wally has spent his days with us, getting us out for multiple daily walks, put on hundreds of kilometers to our camping destinations, and has minded the house, making sure all of his "people" are accounted for. We learned while camping that Wally LOVES the water. It is difficult to keep him out of it. He will walk and run forever and rarely tires. He loves going for rides in the truck and can't wait until we take him to the off-leash parks where he runs and plays with all of the other dogs.
Whether we are doing laundry, shoveling snow, or laying in front of the fireplace, he is always with us around the house. Even though he is nearly 8 years old, Wally has recently joined agility with our daughter and will be starting Level 3 in the new year.

Wally does have a couple of habits that we would like to change, but we have come to realize that these are some of the things that make him special. Even though my wife wasn't keen on another dog in the house, Wally has quickly become her dog. She is his favourite "people" and is over the moon whenever she is around. When I come home from working night shift and open the door, Wally is there with a smile and his tail-less stump wagging a fast as it can. We usually share a "before bed" snack and jump into bed, Wally at the foot again minding his people.

It is hard to believe that a year has come and gone so quickly. We are looking forward to many more fun and exciting years with him.

Theresa, thank you for helping us find "our dog" And to Chris, we can never thank you enough. Dave"

A very lucky boy indeed, but I think I'm really the lucky one, to have found not only one great family for this boy, but a very special family willing to give a forever home to a slightly older boy (who still thinks he's a puppy).

Happy Trails ... Theresa