Welcome to our 2 newest canine family members



Meet Shana Madela who travelled here from Kentucky at 8 weeks old.   She was born at Masaya Dobermans on
4/8/2013.   She recently came here on 6/4/2013.  She is an amazing puppy, and she will do great things in the future.
Right now, she is just a baby and starting on her puppy training.

 

This is Ziggy.   He was owned by a client who is going through some medical issues right now.   Luckily, we were able\and willing to take on this little guy.   He is howling with my dog, Boris in the photo.   He is already a BFF to my personal dogs, as well as our client dogs.    I am thinking about doing some trick training with Ziggy:)   He is a super nice dog.

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Local dog, Midas, recovering from a skin irritation on Short Sands

 

I spotted poor Midas the other day, while out with the day train crew at Ellis Park/Short Sands Beach.   He looked very blue, to match the color of his soft collar/cone preventing him from itching his forehead.   His owner reported that Midas got a skin irritation that he just would not leave alone, hence the comfort cone.

 

Feel better soon, Midas!

 

 

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Some video highlights of Stormy's time here

Stormy's first days here:






Stormy and Boris:







Stormy and Leon:




Stormy playing hide and seek:




Stormy and her favorite toys:




Stormy's best puppy buddy, Dudley:







Stormy and Jet:






Stormy and Daycare:

Swift Run's Krystal Storm, SchH3, WD3 7/14/2001-6/13/2013

Our little Stormy left us yesterday, and ventured across the rainbow bridge.    Thankfully she went peacefully at home and surrounded by both myself and my husband.   She had gotten on the bed, sighed, and then was gone in seconds.   We are grateful that at almost 12, and having to deal with the cancer that was deteriorating her body, she passed away at home.   She had spent the last two days pretty perky and playing all her favorite games.

A previous owner had put the SchH3 and WD3 titles on Stormy.   Then lost interest in Stormy's well being for three years after retiring her from the sport.   Finally, Doberman Rescue Unlimited was contacted and asked if they would take her.   My friend, Alissa, was involved with her intake and kept her during her recovery period (she came with medical issues that needed to be addressed) so she would not need to recover in the shelter (although just to let you know DRU is about the best shelter I know of, and the dogs get great attention if they need to stay there).

I stalked my friend's Facebook page while Stormy recovered.   Something pulled me toward her.   Then when we met her at that year's open house in June of 2012, the gears started in motion for her to come live with us.

Live she did.   I considered it my job not to provide a place for her to die, but for her to live out the rest of her life well loved and filled with adventure that she had been previously denied for those three years.   It took a little time for her to trust us, but not for her to love us:)   We all fell in love and bonded quickly.   She had been trained previously to not be on the furniture.   Since she was a senior and needed cushy places (and we have a family dog room specifically for this sort of thing) I gave her the place command onto furniture until she knew that she was in fact welcome to use these things.   Then she delighted and expected nothing less LOL.

She came here a bit nervous about strange dogs, and left here with many many canine friends who loved her.   In particular our own Boris, Tommy, Ziggy, and Dudley; were all very very good buddies.

In my car, I never had to worry about being car jacked or surprised about someone walking up to my car.   She saw this as her job to alert, and took it seriously.

In general, she was the most busy dog here despite her age.   All the young dogs would be asleep after a day of play, and Stormy would still be looking for action.   I would give it to her.   She was so strong in spirit and determination.

Stormy has inspired me to take better care of myself physically.   I was like "if Stormy can get up and make it a great day, well certainly I can give myself the gift of getting healthier myself".

She was brave, loving, loyal, smart, and my great canine companion for almost a year.   We were honored that she came here to stay with us. 

I found this blurb about her online:

"2007 DPCA NATIONAL HIGH PROTECTION,,2007 UDC NATIONAL IPO1 CHAMPION,,2007 UDC NATIONAL HIGH IN TRACKING,,2006 USA NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL SCHUTZHUND 1 CHAMPION,

Stormy earns her SchH1 in the cold, driving rain at the 2006 New England Regionals.She was SchH1 Champion and got the highest protection score in the entire trial. "

What a dog working and what a dog just loving life and her family.   We will always remember and love her.

Stormy run free and proud!

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No Time to Train? Yes You Do!!

Everyday places to use commands. You should spend your time training the dog for these beforehand, and also preparing them for the everyday distractions.   If you haven't proofed your dog, you may spend some time training these to put some polish on the commands, but soon your dog will be responding as you want in these everyday situations.



1. At Sit Down Human Meals-sit on the dog, down stays, place,

2. Getting the Groceries in-heel, sit at door, stay,

3. Letting the Dog Out/In-come, stay, release

4. When People Visit-sit stay for greetings, down stay for visiting humans, place,

5. When Distractions are Visible at the Window-come, let's go, quiet, down stay,

6. When active animals are on the tv-Quiet, sit, down, heel, stay or any command where distraction makes it more challenging
7. When on your dog walk-heel, sit, stay,

8.  When going to the mall with your dog in the car-down in the car (especially useful for backing up so your dog is not in your rear view), sit before going in car, sit or down stay before coming out of car,  can do long down when in car,

9.  At the veterinarian or groomers-heel into vets office, sit stays at counter, stand for exam, down stay for exam, sit stay for exam,

10.  On a busy city sidewalk-heel, sit and auto sit while heeling,

11.  During play sessions-sit, stay, down, come, heel, and more

Remember if you don't use it, you WILL loose it.



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Some of our clients videos

Boone:



Macie:





Sadie (2):



Brody:


Ziggy:



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New Puppies!

8 Week Old Shana Madela!   Welcome home.

We just purchased a new puppy.  Shana Madela will have been our third puppy, and our seventh dog.   One forgets a lot of puppy stuff in between the new family members, and especially if your dogs live happy and long lives.   So I am going to attempt to collect as much puppy information as possible for others right here.      Dobermans grow until at the minimum two years, and are not considered mature until three years of age. Taking your eyes off puppies can be quite a mistake, that may threaten the life of your new family member.   Please be sure to supervise your young and learning puppy, to keep them out of trouble and accidental harm to themselves.

So here is some puppy info links, notes and advice:

1. House Training
2. Crate Training
3. Socialization
4. Feeding/Food/Water
5. Vaccinations - also talk this over with your veterinarian.   You should know the risks ET, and the changing environment of vaccinations.
6. Worms and Parasites - Good to know about, but be sure to consult your vet if you think there is a problem.
7. Teething
8. Stages of puppy hood
9. Leashes/Collars-Leash protocols for young puppies (NOTE:  I use a fifteen foot leash for this)  and slip type training collars can be used ONLY to be sure that the collar will not slip the puppy (as many flat collars can and get loose if your puppy tugs at all on the leash).   Training collars should never be left on your puppy when not out walking (and again, remember only to use so your dog can not slip their collar, do not use for corrections at this time)  Be sure you do not start correcting your puppy to early.   They are still very fragile, and all your work now should make corrections minimal in both frequency and level when they are over six months old and old enough to start more ambitious training.
10. Toy Safety
11. Toxic items you might not think about.
12. House Proofing or knowing what to be especially careful of (please note that puppies should never not be supervised in or outside the house)
13. Multi Dog Issues and Training in a Multi Dog Household
14. Off Leash Preparation-Most effective off leash preparation is done on leash.   Many people start off with their puppy off leash, and then have problems with them staying near them when they reach a more mature age, where adventuring is the norm. (see number 8 article on umbilical cord training)
15. Still Growing Watch Activity
16. Puppy Training-You start with the basics in training a young puppy.   First things to do is house training, crate training, training to accept and not eat the leash/collar, and recognizing their name. Commands are trained differently than you might train an older dog with perhaps no previous training behind them.   Generally, if you do this right and consistently, it will be very easy to carry training forward into adolescence and maturity.     I play a lot of games, do luring, and use food when necessary.   Also a lot of praise and fun.   You can't expect the same performance as you would from a more mature dog.   For instance, you are not going to expect a half an hour place from a very young puppy).  
17. Natural but Annoying-Mouthing, barking, occaisional growling, accidents in the house, eating poop, chewing, and more.   You can find some great tips about these sorts of things in this article.   These are all things that can be worked on (please see a dog trainer if you do not know how), but know the puppy has no idea these are not desirable in a domestic human household.
18. Things to Be On Top of Right Away-Signs of aggression, abnormal growling or barking, health concerns, biting (different than mouthing),any abnormal behaviors, and so on.   Be aware though, some very new owners have a hard time telling play signs from aggression.  It's a good idea to consult with a pet professional or trainer to help you understand the behaviors of puppies and what they may mean.

There is lots to know about taking care of a puppy.   I do hope this helps someone out there who is going to be or is enjoying this adventure soon:)

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