Comments on: From Yellow to Zippy to Jack: A puppy grows up

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:38:15 +0000

As his breeder and early socializer, not to his clicker-conditioner and first trainer, I take full credit for every good thing he does for the rest of his life.

Every bad thing is on his Forever Family.

By: Kathy K.

Kathy K. — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:18:50 +0000

Jack is a wonderful dog! He is currently enrolled in my Advanced Beginner Obedience Class and I am hoping that his “Dad” will continue on with him. I can see Obedience titles in his future.

By: Deanna

Deanna — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:08:20 +0000

The smartest dog in my household (and the least trainable) is a Lab/Golden mix with the most wonderful zipper nose. He’s in the room next to this one right now destroying an empty carton of rice milk. It makes him happy.

Hey Gina, you share a birthday with my Dash-boy. 5 years ago, his breeder and her helper said that it was the latest they had been up on New Year’s Eve since they could remember.

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:17:37 +0000

That does appear to be the case with Jack The Zipper, too. Smart AND opinionated!

By: Rori

Rori — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:10:32 +0000

Sounds like zippers on dogs are like double face whorls on horses. A distinction that is considered indicative of either exceptional intelligence OR exceptional pigheadedness. I have three double-whorled horses. All three are smart; all three are pigs, too. LOL

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:37:17 +0000

My first flatcoat was a second-hand dog. He was a failed hunt-test prospect who was working in a veterinary office as a blood donor. You can’t do that work for long, so his owner (the vet, still friends with her), his breeder and the owner of the stud were working on getting him placed.

I had wanted a flatcoat for a decade, and this sweet, easy-going 18-month-old seemed perfect for me. (He was, too!) So I made arrangements for him to be flown out from Ohio.

A friend of mine said, “But you don’t even know what he looks like!”

I told her, “He’s black. All black. Head to toe black. Nothing else to know.”

His name was Miles, but I renamed him Ben. He was with me for the rest of his life, and was the best public appearance dog ever. He was also great at the veterinarian’s. When he needed blood drawn, he’d raise his head and do everything to help short of sticking the vein himself.

Lord, I miss that boy.

By: Jan

Jan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:12:51 +0000

I hadn’t thought about the difficulty in telling the puppies apart. My working Border Collie, Spring, fathered a (planned)litter of puppies with a lovely working Border Collie named Jodie and six puppies were born two weeks ago. They each have slight variations in their distinctive coat patterns—in fact, I realized that after I had looked at the puppies, I really hadn’t known the shape of Spring’s white patches exactly. Funny, he is with me 24/7 and I just hadn’t paid any attention to the specifics of his markings. Now here is the tough part—the puppies are sinfully cute and I get pick of the litter for my stud fee. Several have interesting coat patterns and I am already developing preferences (especially the one with the question mark on her back). But the pup I keep will need to be a working dog and, while I can’t imagine any of these pups not having great sheep moving skills, as their parents have them in spades, I have to choose my pup based on personality and working potential, not interesting markings. This is going to be tough…..

By: Carol V

Carol V — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:07:23 +0000

OT…But FDA Webinar starting..to follow on Twitter #FDApet…3 pm EST…(NOW)

http://bit.ly/6RQ7Sl

By: Gina Spadafori

Gina Spadafori — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 19:52:09 +0000

That’s funny on the birthday part front. The answer is … NO! Although my mom and dad always told me that my birthday (New Year’s Eve) is the world’s party, so really, in a way, kinda, it was for me.

And then they went out and let me with the sitter. :)

I generally don’t do anything on my birthday, but the last few years friends have made it clear that’s not acceptable and drag me out.

By: Carol V

Carol V — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 18:34:06 +0000

ps…Did you ever have a BD party as a kid??? My first one was at age 40 (when I didn’t want one anymore) lol…