It turns out Isaac has Demodex Sking Mites (localized on his snout). They aren’t contagious according to the vet and are common in younger dogs. She did a skin scrape and took a peek under the microscope to confirm.

While he was there they checked under the hood (ears, mouth, heart, butt, balls, coat, flees, eyes, and temp) and Isaac was cooperative. He got hot dogs and tugs on the hoses so he hopefully he thinks the vet is a fun place.

They perscribed Goodwinol Ointment to be applied once a day and he needs to get a follow up scrape in a month (Dec 25th merry x-mas Isaac).

Here is the first link I found after the vets diagnosis Demodex in the dog

Isaac will be going to the Vet today at 12:20 to have a skin scrape done. He is missing a patch of hair on the right side of his nose.

It doesn’t appear to be red or irritated, no dog bite, no dry skin, and doesn’t seem to bother him at all. I’m beginning to wonder if it’s from him bopping his crate door open as I let him out (will switch crate door to other side).

I will post a picture once he comes out of his crate today….oh and he had the runs last night lots of loud airy gas not tons of poo though.

Here are the pictures I just took(appears a little more red in the images than it actually is) Now that I look at the middle picture it looks like something is going on, it’s not red but there appears to be some funk in there.

I have fallen behind in my posts (ooops), I’ve also been slacking in the area of pictures.

Today Noah, Isaac, and I drove out to the Indian Creek Schutzhund club trial to watch 9 or so dogs attempt their BH (all passed). It was wicked cold, Isaac sat in the crate, and there were more than a couple nervous handlers. After Noah suited up in his winter gear he walked past the puppy kennel and wanted to know why we couldn’t buy another one (I told him to save his money).

Note to self, when you walk your intact male on the field to meet the judge and there is another dog already next to the judge don’t walk him straight up face to face with the other dog.

Noah thought it was pretty funny that I rode the bike (girls bike) during the traffic portion of the test.

The dog smelled (since he tossed his cookies on the way to SchH training Sunday) so I had to give in and give him a bath.

Isaac doesn’t like bathing (and hasn’t since day 1). He finally reached the point where he would let me squirt him with the hose, suds him up, and then rinse him off  in the driveway (though he was never too thrilled). All reached a point means is he didn’t screech and howl like he was being skinned alive. Yes I know the garden hose is cold, but it’s not the cold water that bothers him. Squirting without the ‘bathing’ part and he’s OK, and there is even more of an adverse reaction to the bathtub (yes I put a towel down on the bottom of the tub so he isn’t sliding all over the place).

Since it’s cold out we had to bring the bathing to the bath tub (haven’t done that since I rinsed the green tattoo ink out of his ear). All I can say is that it was a lot of wrestling to get him to stay put and after 15 minutes he gave in and stood there. There was a lot of water on the floor and walls and he howled and screeched for the first 15 minutes. He finally became 80% compliant and was soaped and rinsed. He is a stubborn little bastard…

Then it was off to his dog room for the BLOW OUT….I left the blower outside the room and just slid the hose through the cracked door. He wasn’t too happy, but I was able to blow all the water and a lot of the loose hair out of his coat. He doesn’t smell like vomit any longer. He also looks about 15 pounds heavier with his fur all poofed out….

No OB training today, made the trip to ICSC. Isaac only participated in puppy bite work, did better than last week, I did a little better than last week. Pops not pulls…run in circles (seems to be a skill).

No work (just play and rest)

15 Minutes (first cold day….need gloves)

More of the same Fuss and Sitz at attention with hot-dogs…forgot to take the clicker (ooops). Isaac is definately catching on to what is going on when we go to the field.

Did one pass up and back on the center line not using food to lure, but instead held his attention with the hoses. I decided to do this because he was on fire for the hoses and figured it couldn’t hurt. Though he is a touch inconsistent in bringing them all the way back in (sometime all the way other times drops while running in). He always comes straight back in, seems the faster he comes in the more likely he is to drop the hose.

He is definately paying attention on the field when we are working or playing two hose. No longer dropping his head or casting it around. Doesn’t care that there is goose poop on the ground. We’ll see how this week at Indian Creek goes (last week he was investigating more than anything else, lots of sniffing).

Things are shaping up for me as well. I’m walking in a more proper position (head up/looking forward), feeding/luring better, and my timing is getting much better. More of a pain to get myself in order than the stinking dog.

Here is proof that I cleaned the basement this afternoon, this included but is not limited to

• Vacuuming the stairs
• Sweeping the tile
• Vacuuming the carpet and tile
• Dusting with the fluffy thing Isaac likes to grab (flat surfaces, corners, and ceiling)
• Picking up all the kids crap (a lot, put 3 metal ball bearings in the trash)
• Emptying the trash
• Made sure to get under the computer desk

After comparing the dog related mess to the kid related I vote that the kids have more of an impact on the environment than the dog. Isaac only produces a small pile of stuff compared to Noah’s 50 video games, game controllers (Wii and Playstation), socks, listening devices, and Bethany’s stuffed animals, dolls, and doll house. Not to mention the hair ties and food wrappers.

Pictures submitted as evidence:

Some how Isaac got the knot out of the end or his rope toy and now it’s just thousands of threads. Played with balls (ha ha he said played with balls) today rather than hoses. Figured I’d change it up as he seems willing to bring anything I throw back to me now (for awhile he was ball adverse, maybe he’s homophobic). Still working to get him a little more pushy for the hoses/ball (Bill would tell me to move my ass around and act excited).

Noah played a little tug with him prior to the Fire x Revolution game on ESPN II and Isaac was compliant with Aus. Noah might be catching on and making progress with how he needs to act around the dog (still questionable). He seems obsessed more with how much bigger is he going to get, is he bigger than other German Shepherd Dogs, why are his legs so long, when will he be trained, and on and on…..

The switch back to hot dogs has been beneficial. I’m able to manage them better and it appears to have improved persision and timing (more on my end than on the dogs). His stomach has seemed capable of handling it as well (which is a GIANT relief).

Day off, no work (just play and rest).

Just took a picture rather than transcribing:

15 minutes

Sitz in position with attention (hot dog and clicker)
Fuss up and down center line
Breaks with two hose
Few pivots at the end with him sitting in position (luring as moving)

I have been using pieces of garden hose to reward Isaac with during training and play. The issue is that they are a little tough to manage when not being used, especially when I’m wearing shorts. The are a too long to simply fit in your pocket and tucking them up under your shirt takes a little too much time.

So I started thinking about the best way to store them on my person where I would be able to both easily access and store them away. Here is what I cam up with:

I used an old prusik I had laying around, two binder clips (removed a clip 2 was too cumbersome and both hoses fit in 1 clip), and some zip ties. Seems it will be quick to pull them out and easy to reattach them….at one point I tried stuffing them down the sleeve of my jacket (way too much of a pain).

If you want to follow actual training use the menu at the right called Schutzhund Training Updates

Someone must be reading this crap as my sitemeter counter is about to hit 1,000. Wow I should start selling advertising space. Oh and don’t worry I’ve got a cookie set on my machine so it’s not counting my views.

Kerry just called, Isaac is outside howling at or with the Tornado Siren (he does it every first Tuesday of the month).

Actually got up at 6:30 & was on the field by 7:00 AM this morning. Isaac was like what the hell are we doing out this early, I should still be resting. We’ll see how long I can keep the early morning crap up….there are lights on the skeet field at the gun club so there is an option.

15 minutes

Sitz in position on left with attention (hot dogs & clicker)
Fuss up and down field with right turns (hot dogs & clicker)
Two hose breaks every so often

No stomach issues from yesterdays hot dogs

Still losing his attention (head drops) on occassion, but not as much as a week ago. Feeding is getting much smoother (more fluid). The hot dogs are definately easier than the kibble.

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10 minutes after work

Sitz in position on left with attention (hot dogs & clicker) made him really wait and look
Fuss up and down field with right turns (hot dogs & clicker)
Two hose breaks every so often (bringing them in closer)
Did a few pivots to make him simply shift to show him success in the position (luring with hot dogs going better)
Head still dropping, but not nearly as much, will just keep rewarding him for an UP head
Used the clicker again this evening (easier now that I’m getting better with luring and giving him the food and the clicker seems to really help) It’s’ all in the timing and coordination, which I was lacking and am still focusing on

Still produced solid stool after 3 sessions with 1 sliced hot dog per session (and he stole some rib meat that Stella had today)

Isaac has discovered that barking is a useful skill to have, for things other than food or hoses.

On this evenings walk to young fellows came scooting out between Judy’s house and Jacks house. Isaac spotted them and gave a few good barks. They stopped and tried to decide whether they should continue forward motion or retreat to the Day’s backyard.

Then in front of Keith’s house on the other side of the block we were ambushed by a cotton ball. The thing struck like a cobra and bark, bark, (more…)

Since I scored a new (used) iBook and it’s been awhile since I’ve played on the dark side I’m testing resizing images in GIMP. Dude isn’t there anything like irfanview?

Here is the picture I snapped of Isaac in the K9 – Kondo (mentioned in an earlier post).

Figured I’d add some more video for your viewing pleasure. Who really reads all this crap I post anyway! Hope you enjoy there’s more at http://www.youtube.com/user/gsdayla

It was 74 degrees here today, I was working from home, and my crazy dog was in the K-9 Kondo again. Cold nasty days he lays out in the open, beautiful nice days he heads for the dog house. That silly dog house can’t be any cooler so I’m not sure what his motive is. Either way I’m glad he is using it.

10 or 15 minutes

Sitz in position with attention feeding him (couple of different times after releasing him)
Fuss up & down the center line with right runs feeding him (right turns, he’s speeding around them might be starting to forge a little too much.
Two hose breaks every so often (bad habit of not bringing them back all the way)
Used hot dogs for food & it went MUCH smoother, was able to feed him more accurately & he was able to eat them much faster. Also he wasn’t taking my fingers off like when he was younger.
He seems to be dropping his head more (looking for food, goose shit, rabbit poo, or because he and I were  both dropping kibble before (maybe the hot dogs will help that, he was also more drivey for the hot dogs)

He jumped for a hose right as I tossed it and kind of jammed himself when bounced of my chest/right side rib cage/arm pit and slid sideways upon landing. He seemed fine when he got up, but I need to focus on keeping him on the ground for now…he’s still goofy with those long legs and not terribly agile.

Overall today was the best day in awhile with regards to attention, food, excitement, and accuracy. If his stomach holds out I think hot dogs with 2 hose breaks will be the combination for the week. Wonder if he’ll eat tofu?