Battle On: Home of the Working Schnauzer

Poor Juju. She is one of the reasons I no longer crop my dogs. It can be difficult to find an vet who can (and will) crop ears well. I had Juju’s ears redone after a few months. I hated to put her through that, but …..

Tags: grooming

I had an interesting conversation recently with a friend.  She confirmed something I’ve thought for a while and have heard from a number of people.

For Giant Schnauzers (especially males), there is something magical about the third birthday.  They gain confidence in themselves and seem to settle into maturity.  I notice this especially in the working lines.  But that might be that I expect more from my dogs now - in terms of courage and work ethic- than I did when I was showing in conformation.

My friend went a step further.  She believes, for protection sports, it benefits most Giants to only play train until three years of age.  At that point, she believes their progress will be exponential with no fall-outs due to training woes.  I tend to agree unless you have access to an absolutely great training helper who is very talented at reading dogs.

We’ve been fortunate to find a great young vet who practices fairly close to us. One of the qualities that I appreciate the most is his willingness to share information. We’re learning a lot and that allows Gregg and me to better evaluate the health of our dogs.

Twelve and a half year old Rex went in recently for a geriatric check up. He has various lumps and bumps that concern us. Of special concern is what appeared to be a swollen lymph node.

The vet was not at all concerned about this lump. He was positive it was a cyst that just happened to be located where the lymph node is. I learned cysts are usually soft while swollen lymph nodes are usually hard. When I asked about lymphoma, Kevin assured me Rex did not have this cancer. Most dogs with lymphoma only live two months after diagnoses and an exam will show all lymph nodes will be swollen. Definitely not the case with Rex. What a relief!

Kevin was more concerned over the lump on Rex’s neck. This is a semi hard mass that has been drained before but reappears. In order to determine if this was an infection, Kevin pulled a bit of the fluid and examined it under the microscope. The results were puzzling. Although it looked like bacteria was present, there were no white blood cells. Typically, where an infection exists (bacteria), white blood cells would also be present. So, this diagnosis wasn’t straightforward. He wondered if these might be mast cells. Apparently, mast cell tumors can look very different and while grade 1 tumors are benign, grade 4 are malignant.

This is an almost 13 year old dog with a bad back and we’d like to avoid surgery if possible. So, the decision was made to send a sample to a pathology lab. If this is a mast cell tumor, we’ll have the tumor removed. If this looks like a cyst filled with bacteria, we’ll begin him on antibiotics. I’ll get some photos posted soon.

Another bit of good news was the result of the blood panel. All of the levels, including kidney numbers, were within normal range. Rex has been on a raw diet for the last four years and every blood panel has come back within normal range. I did learn that BUN numbers for raw fed dogs are usually higher than normal range.  I was concerned until I learned that the “normal” range sample was determined by using kibble fed dogs.  The “normal” range for raw fed dogs is higher.  Ah, the joys of statistical sampling….

(Overheard on a plane)

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Passenger 1: So my brother made some good money breeding his dog.
Passenger 2: Oh yeah?

Passenger 1: Yeah, he’s got a certified min pin and he bred her and got like five or six puppies. He sold the puppies for like five or six hundred dollars a piece. But he had to pay the stud dog guy money but he still made a lot of money.

Passenger 2: That’s good money!

Passenger 1: Yeah, but his dog is certified so he had to make sure the stud was certified too. That way he can certify the puppies. If you can’t certify the puppies, you can’t sell them for that much. He told me that’s the important thing.

Passenger 2: Oh, OK.

Passenger 1: He only did it two times. He didn’t want anybody thinking he was a puppy mill or anything.

________________

(sigh)

When I first became interested in the working lines, I had this idea that I’d have to resign myself to “ugly dogs.” Many of the German dogs I saw at AKC conformation shows did not have good conformation or coats. But because the temperament appealed to me so much, slowly but surely I made a complete transition.

But, now through a combination of education and experience, I’ve learned to really appreciate a good moderate conformation. In fact, in many ways, I’ve grown to dislike the extremes that are often found in the AKC show ring.

Ben v. Hatzbachtal is a V rated dog. I do not know if he would V rate today. Sorry for the teeny pic. I can’t find the original.

Below is Bullet from the Jasso x. Leika litter. I think Bullet is a good example of a nice working dog conformation.

Tracy has been taking agility lessons with Bullet.   He’s very motivated and a fast worker.   I know very little about agility having only completed two legs of a novice AKC title back in the early nineties.  But, I think it is interesting that our working line Giants seem to excel in the sport.  The year end agility statistics for the Giant Schnauzer Club of America show forty two dogs earned placement points. Of those, the top two dogs were out of schutzhund titled dams and/or sires.  Both dogs were bred by Momentumm Giants.  Considering that the number of schutzhund titled litters is vastly out numbered by non schutzhund titled litters, I would think this is a valid indicator that schutzhund bred dogs are good candidates for the competitive agility fancier.  The only MACH 3 (Master Agility Champion) Giant Schnauzer in history is Momentumm Behind The Wind V. Iro (Breezy).Here is a video of Breezy and her handler Ginsey that shows off their great teamwork. 

Tags: agility

Congratulations to Montell Brown and Quentin von Grobis Meute on a very nice showing at the 2008 AWDF championship.  Montell and Quentin scored 91/97/81 (269).   Quentin is out of Falk v. Weseler Wald and Naomi v. Grobis Meute.

Certain phrases just sound good to me.  I tend to collect them in my head as word treasures.  Gregg collects pictures.  I collect words.  I discovered a new phrase this weekend.  Failing Forward.   I like the alliteration and the concept.  (My needs are simple :))  I suppose if I attempt to really break this phrase down, it strikes a note of encouragement.  That failure is only a perception.   And that each fall is still advancement if you fall forward.  Every football fan understands that!  So, fail forward my friends! 

Bullet and Glory appeared in a National Geographic special.  Aftermath:  Population Zero is a “what if all the people disappeared” story.  Glory and Bullet got to be “dogs running amok” role players with Glory appropriately cast as the opportunistic devourer of dead cows.

We don’t have cable so will have to wait until somebody sends us a copy.

One of my pet peeves is the misuse of “me” and” I.” It’s amazing the number of times this occurs. Not just among us mere mortals either, but by people who get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to write speeches.

I can’t say it any better than this.

If you aren’t sure, just use “we” or “us.