A NEW PUPPY FOR HAROLD

December 28, 2010

Mr. Aloha and I were going to Kona to go shopping. Kona is almost 100 miles away from Volcano. So I had a good two hours before I had to tell him we were going to look at boxer puppies again. It's not that I was trying to force him to get another boxer. I just wanted him to have every opportunity there was to see them just in case he changed his mind. That day we were having a good time, when we were about thirty mile from  Kona I casually said to him "By the way, we are going to look at boxer puppies today." He wasn't mad, but, he wasn't thrilled either that is until we got there. 

When we got there we were greeted by a female version of Butch. Mr. Aloha took one look at me and I knew this was the right time. He picked up on male, I picked up another. The one I picked up was small, his nose in my opinion was exactly like Butch's. The puppy Mr. Aloha picked up was the biggest pup in the litter. He had almost the same markings as Butch but his nose was pushed in a little more than the pup I picked up. Mr. Aloha handed the pup to me, he kissed me all over my face. I just look at him and said "Oh Mr. Aloha how can we not get him"

I asked the owner how much he wanted for the puppies. $1200 he said. Mr. Aloha said we had to go to Costco, we would think about it. After leaving we talked about how much the owner wanted, both of us thought that was too much, we also talked about what we would name him if we got him. Neither of us wanted to name him Butch. We decided on Harley.  


When we got home I sent the owner an email asking if he was firm on the $1200, would he consider $800 with no papers and if we neutered him. I explained to him we just wanted the puppy for a pet. He came back with an offer of $1000, we just couldn't do it. I sent him our answer.  We were sad we couldn't get him, but things happen for a reason we said to each other.


Mariah and her family came for the holidays. She was at my house when I got an email from the boxer owner, he said the dog belonged with us, we could have him for $800. I was stunned. Mariah said not to tell Mr. Aloha, we should go get the dog and surprise him. "Okay" I said, "But this is going to be his birthday present cause I already got his Christmas present." 

This was a good plan or so I thought. A few nights later, a few days before Christmas, we were driving home from a family get together when the following conversation took place.

Mr. Aloha: "You didn't put a deposit on that puppy did you?"
Me: "No"
Mr. Aloha: "Did you email the guy?"
Me: "Yes"
Mr. Aloha: "Good, we can't pay that much for the dog."


I didn't lie about anything, I just didn't go any further into detail about the dog. Okay, so I'm splitting hairs besides it was a surprise!


The Tuesday after Christmas, Mariah, Joe Feeney and myself went to Kona to get Harley. Joe Feeney had to pick up tool boxes for her husband, he's the Tow Guy. Did I mention he and Mr. Aloha are brothers? That's another story. Anyway, we were supposed to go there, pick up Harley and the tool boxes then come right back. I wanted to get back while it was light. I wanted to be able to see Mr. Aloha's face when I gave him Harley. Well, that didn't happen.  Somehow it took us all day. We were having fun. It had been a long time since the three of us goofed off together.
We went to Petco to get Harley some potty pads, collar, toys and name tag. We also went to Lowe's, quite frankly, I have no idea what we did the rest of the day.


Mr. Aloha sent me a text asking where we were and if he should cook dinner. We were in Naalehu, we would be home within an hour or so. I said as much to him, we would be eating at Joe Feeney's did he want me to pick him up? Thankfully he said yes. The plan was falling into place. 

When we got to the house, Mr. Aloha was working in his garage (he's a mechanic). I honked the horn, nothing, I honked again, nothing. Getting frustrated, I blasted the horn. Mariah who was sitting next to me, nudged me and said "Stop it" then, "Oh, there he is!" As Mr. Aloha was walking up to the truck, Harley was sitting by my side, I casually leaned forward so he couldn't see Harley just yet. I asked Mr. Aloha if he wanted to ride with us to Joe Feeney's house. He was hemming and hawing, I leaned back and said "Surprise, Happy Birthday!" His eyes immediately focused on the puppy. The picture says it all.

Mr. Aloha & Harley

Mr. Aloha was so happy I got the puppy. He later told me he had to hold back the tears.

2010 - NOT A GOOD YEAR

The year started off great. I was taking Sophie to obedience training and enjoying working with her. 

Ted said Sophie has a great drive desire, in other words obsessed with playing ball, Frisbee, stick catching and any other object which can be thrown. He wanted me to try her at Schutzund training. At the time I had no idea what this was.  He asked me to come and watch one of the working groups to see if I would be interested in working with Sophie in this field.

The following Thursday I meet with the Schutzund group to see how it was done. I was very impressed with what I saw the other dogs doing and new instantly Sophie would be great at it. I couldn't wait to work with Sophie. I was so excited about it, I called my sisters Joe Feeney and Mariah (these are their nick names from childhood) to tell them all about it. Mariah like myself also loves German Shepherds.


Life was great, I was doing something with my dog which I absolutely enjoyed. I was looking forward to competing with her in the Schutzund trials the first week of October. We had ten months to learn the routines. I worked with her everyday. Some days weren't as good as others but, hey, it's a work in progress.

Then suddenly and unexpectedly my mother passed away in February. She had been sick for a while but this knocked the wind out of my brother, sisters and myself. Our world had literally been turned upside down. Now I was going to Honolulu at least once a month for a few days or even a week to help my siblings with my mothers house.

When I got home Ginger, Jenny, Butch and Sophie were always happy to see me. I would let all of them in the house so they could be by me.  It's amazing how much an animal can relive stress.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Jenny, Butch and Sophie. Ginger would have no part in taking a picture with them.






 Unfortunately, some days I was just too drained physically and emotionally drained to work with Sophie, who paid the price and it showed in class. Ted was very understanding, he would say "at least try and work with her if only for five minutes each day". 

In May, Butch start to have seizures. I rushed him to the vet who put him on phenobarbital. Which seemed to be helping. One day after a bad seizures, he had a hard time walking. I took him to the vet only to find out he had broken his back in several places. I asked the vet if we should put him down, to my amazement he said "No, he looks happy, lets wait and see"  I went home with more medication which seemed to help. Over the summer he had gotten better and was almost back to his old self. The only thing he couldn't really do anymore was play with Sophie.


All the while I was working with Sophie trying to get the Schutzund routine down. Some days were great, others not so great. Ted would give me instruction on how to do something and I would hear it backwards. For example, if  he told me to have Sophie heal then turn left, I would turn right. I can only imagine how frustrated he must get with me.


Sophie and I were missing two to four sessions a month with me going out of town. We still managed to learn most of the routine. Although, I had been missing class and not working with her constantly. We would not be competing in the trials this year.


Mr. Aloha and I went to Honolulu in September for almost a week. We had been there for three days when we got a phone call from our house sitter saying Butch was have seizures again. I said I would call the vet, would he be willing to take him down. Of course he did. That was a Sunday, I talked to the Vet assistant once Butch was there. He said he was having seizure after seizure. They upped his medication and put him on Valium to keep him sedated. We were not scheduled to go home until Tuesday. I called three more times on Sunday. Monday rolled around I called, he was not doing any better. Mr. Aloha and I decide we would try to get a flight out if we could that day or early the next. All the flights were booked, we wouldn't get home until late Tuesday night, of course the vet was closed. We went down first thing Wednesday morning already having made up our minds to put him down. The vet called us in the room, we were expecting Butch to be in there. He had passed away the night before, I was so upset I went outside leaving my husband and his daughter to deal with it.

Butch in better days

Jenny and Sophie didn't seem to be upset he was gone. Ginger on the other hand pined for him for quite a while. The two of them were always cuddled together. I was getting worried about her, she had stopped eating for about a week, then she started eating a little. Eventually she got back to her ole self and was eating good again. As for Mr. Aloha and myself, we took it hard. It just wasn't the same with out Butch bouncing around, happily greeting us when we got home. He was the most lovable, sweetest and gentle dog. In October I took Mr. Aloha to look at boxer puppies, it was just too soon for home. 

Ginger & Butch sleeping together

 Butch had disappeared for four days. This is the day he came home. Ginger loved him so much.

Ginger at the beach

 

Above a video of the walking/sit

Shutzund I was having a difficult time with Sophie, the walking/down. You have your dog heal at your side while in motion you give the command sit, which she did great. You leave your dogs side walk about 15 paces away, walk back to your dog give the heal command and continue down the field. You then give your dog the down command. For some reason Sophie would only sit. Ted of course corrected me, he told me to go home and practice with her. He said tell her down, as soon as she's in the down position say yes and throw the ball. I practice this with her so much, the next time I did this routine, I said sit and she went down, Ugh! Ted was happy of course, it was clear I had been working with her. I was a very happy camper!

A GREAT DAY

I've decided I will be going back and forth from the start of her training to current dates.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2010

At last, I had a wonderful day. We got on the field to do the Schutzund pattern. Sophie did it correctly and with such enthusiasm. There are days when nothing seems to go right, today was not one of those days.

Below is an explanation of Schutzund training.

Schutzhund (German for protection dog) is a dog sport that was developed in Germany in the early 1900s to test whether German Shepherd Dogs exhibit the traits necessary for police-type work, rather than simply evaluating a dog's appearance. Today, many breeds other than German Shepherds can compete in Schutzhund, but it is a demanding test for any dog and few are able to pass successfully.

Phase	Description
Tracking	The tracking phase tests not only the dogs scenting ability, but also its mental soundness and physical endurance. In the tracking phase, a track layer walks across a field, dropping several small articles along the way. After a period of time, the dog is directed to follow the track while being followed by the handler on a 33 foot leash. When the dog finds each article he indicates it, usually by lying down with the article between his front paws. The dog is scored on how intently and carefully he follows the track and indicates the articles. The length, complexity, number of articles, and age of the track varies for each title.
Obedience	The obedience phase is done in a large field, with the dogs working in pairs. One dog is placed in a down position on the side of the field and his handler leaves him while the other dog works in the field. Then the dogs switch places. In the field, there are several heeling exercises, including heeling through a group of people. There are two or three gunshots during the heeling to test the dog's reaction to loud noises. There are one or two recalls, three retrieves (flat, jump and A-frame), and a send out where the dog is directed to run away from the handler straight and fast and then lie down on command. Obedience is judged on the dog's accuracy and attitude. The dog must show enthusiasm. A dog that is uninterested or cowering scores poorly.
Protection	In the protection phase, the judge has an assistant, called the "decoy", who helps him test the dog's courage to protect himself and his handler and his ability to be controlled while doing so. The decoy wears a heavily padded sleeve on one arm. There are several blinds, placed where the decoy can hide, on the field. The dog is directed to search the blinds for the decoy. When he finds the decoy, he indicates this by barking. The dog must guard the decoy to prevent him from moving until recalled by his handler. There follows a series of exercises similar to police work where the handler searches the decoy and transports him to the judge. At specified points, the decoy either attacks the dog or the handler or attempts to escape. The dog must stop the attack or the escape by biting the padded sleeve. When the attack or escape stops, the dog is commanded to "out," or release the sleeve. The dog must out or he is dismissed. At all times the dog must show the courage to engage the decoy and the temperament to obey his handler while in this high state of drive. Again, the dog must show enthusiasm. A dog that shows fear, lack of control, or inappropriate aggression is dismissed.

Sophie and I are currently working on the obedience and protection phase. We will be starting the tracking phase later this month. I hope to compete with her in October.

Sophie learning the protection phase of Schutzund.