Famke is a Coursing Freak!!

This past weekend Shannon and I took the Fabulous Field sisters, Famke and Cola, to a CAT (Coursing Ability Test) in Lincoln, NE.  When we had to have the girls inspected (they have you gait the dog to check for lameness and if your dog is an intact girl they check to make sure she's not in heat) Famke saw the lure and some of the sighthounds out coursing and promptly went insane.  I could not even gait the dog because she was digging in with her front feet trying to move toward the lure. LOL 

It is completely fascinating to me to watch the reactions that various breeds have to lure coursing and being on the field.  Many of the sighthounds are very animated but quiet before their runs and might bark a little at the start line.  Some dogs yip with excitement, some bark, some scream and some (namely Famke) do this awful ear piercing, rapid fire, high pitched bark that makes you want to glue her lips shut.  Once she is in the field waiting her turn, she does not stop yapping until I release her on the line.  She LIVES to eat and will not even take a treat from me when she is in the coursing zone.  Wow...just wow.  

She ran her little heart out and followed that lure like her life depended on it!  I have video but all you can see is a little brown spot running in the distance. LOL She got her third CA leg for her CA title!! So now my little peanut is officially:

Ch Capriole's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun BN, RN, CA, TT, CGC/TDI!!! 

So proud of my sweet girl that puts her whole heart into everything she does!!

Lookit those ears!!

Conformation Isn't for Sissies

Flirty had her first official AKC conformation show this past weekend at the big Des Moines show.  Our local Dane club had our Specialty on Friday so we were able to show 3 times on Friday...two shows and Sweeps.  We have been working on conformation here and there but I will admit that my focus is much more on obedience. :) My main goal for the show was to create a great first experience for Flirty and to have a good time with my dog!

I am happy to say that we were successful with that goal and that is where our success ended. LOL As we were getting ready to go into the ring for our class, 6-9 month old bitches, I realized that I was going to be going into the ring with two of the top handlers in Danes.  Nothing like baptism by fire. LOL Needless to say, I was a wee bit nervous.  Flirty picked up on my tension and was a bit squirrely at first but then she settled in.  We got last in our class...all three shows. LOL Not a surprise by any means but we both got better with each time in the ring.  And Flirty's attitude was AMAZING the whole weekend.  She was her happy, sassy self the entire time.  

We also did "Meet The Breed" on Saturday and Flirty made lots of new friends.  She really enjoys meeting new people and his happy to introduce everyone to the Great Dane lean by swinging her bum into them and leaning on them for lovin.

We will continue working on conformation and having fun together!!

Maybe we'll try some dock diving!

We had the opportunity to take the girls to another Doggy Swim last week and once again it was way too much fun.  I brought both girls this time and I was really interested to see what Famke would do since she had gone to one of the Doggy Swims last year and had fun but would not jump in the pool from the side.  She would wade in and swim but would not jump in.  I have no idea what changed but the minute she saw I had a squeaky tennis ball she was allll about jumping in the pool from the side.  I think she jumped in and retrieved the ball about 25 times in a row!  She was obsessed with it and watching her jump in was hysterical! I was hoping that watching Famke jump in would have given Flirty the confidence to try it but she wasn't interested.  Flirt decided it was her mission to wait until Famke swam back to the side and then steal the tennis ball...every time!  Poor Famke, she is so incredibly tolerant of her little sister. Flirty also enjoyed jumping on Famke and dunking her under water in the shallows. 

 

 "Throw the ball Mom!!!"

 

 

 "Wheeeeeeee!"

 

"Mission to dunk Famke...complete!!"

Flirty the Water Dane

 

Last night one of the local pools had a Doggie Swim night before they drain and close the pool.  I have brought my dogs to these events every year and they just LOVE IT.  It was Flirty's first year at the pool and she had SO much fun. I had to actually drag her out of the pool when it was time to leave.  

 

 

 She did have a bad habit of wanting to steal the other dog's toys though.  To her credit, she would only steal them for a second and then drop them back in the water. She had the most fun chasing dogs that were chasing after balls and such. 

 

 

 Flirt walks on water!! This group of dog lovers were really getting a kick out of Flirty's epic pool zoomies.  

 

 

"Aw Mom can you quit making me pose so I can go back in the pool!!!"

Earning Her Keep!

I am always telling the dogs that they should be doing something around here to earn their keep...you know emptying the dishwasher, doing some laundry, washing the windows...something! Well the request usually falls on deaf ears but I think that Flirty may have actually heard me!

I was Shop-vacing the basement today and Flirty came up and took the hose from me and started to vacuum herself! I was so excited!! Unfortunately, she seems to only be interested in vacuuming a small area.  Hmmmm...if I am really honest with myself I think she is really only interested with playing with the vacuum.  ;) And yes the Shop Vac is actually on in this photo.

Opened an Etsy Shop!!

I started sculpting custom dog sculptures again! I was sculpting a good bit before we had Jackson but it kinda got pushed to the wayside.  I got an urge to start again and I am so happy that I did.  I am really enjoying myself and it feels super when the person that ordered is happy with the piece.  Best of all the little extra income helps pay for doggy events!

My Etsy shop is The Canine Couture .

Here are a few pics of sculptures I have done recently.

Presenting....CHAMPION Capriole's Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

I can hardly even believe that Famke is a Champion now!! A small group of us traveled to North Dakota a few weeks ago and came back with two Champion Field Spaniels.  My best friend Shannon also finished her boy, Phaser.  It is really hard to find majors for Fields (except at Nationals) so we had to do a little traveling but it worked out perfect!  It was a three day show and a really lovely show site.  It was a fair grounds but the grooming and show buildings were exceptionally clean and air conditioned! It wasn't super crowed with people either.  

On Friday we had THE nicest judge I have every shown too.  He was an older man but still had plenty of pep in his step and had a smile on his face the entire weekend. You could clearly tell he LOVED judging dogs.  On Friday Famke got Winner's Bitch for her 1st major and went on to get Best of Breed.  I was stunned and we had a great time in the group ring.  Famke LOOOVES to show and she honestly thinks that everyone is there to see her and cheer her on.

On Saturday Famke got Winner's Bitch again for her 2nd major and her Championship!!!! She was pointed out before the show and just needed those majors.  The judge told me she was lovely and was happy for us and we got her Championship under her.

I didn't move her up on Sunday because we wanted the major to hold for the girls and for a hopeful crossover major for Phaser.  Famke got Winner's Bitch again and Phaser got the crossover to finish his Championship!!! What a great weekend indeed!

I truly feel blessed to have had Famke as my first conformation dog.  She was a total natural and took to conformation with ease.  We didn't even do that much training and she just seemed to know what to do.  She also LOVES to show.  She truly struts her stuff out there and charms the judges.  And I feel beyond lucky that my first conformation dog is now a Champion being completely handled by me!! 

Now if she could just teach Flirty how to do it. ;)

Here are her win pics.

Wow looong overdue update!!!

I can't believe I haven't updated in almost a month!  Good grief!  

Well in fantastic news it seems that Flirt's palate surgery was a success and and when we had her rechecked 3 weeks after the surgery everything looked great!  (Knocking on wood) she has not had any more nasal infections and no complications from the surgery.  The surgeon would like to sedate her and exam the area one final time when she is done growing to see how things look.  I am just thrilled that she is doing so well now! 

Flirty is growing by leaps and bounds although she is still much lighter than the other girls in her litter.  She is only about an inch shorter but more than 15lbs lighter!! But the other girls are BIG girls too so it's not just that Flirty is small.  

We have been having so much fun in puppy class and working on conformation training.  Wow-wee I was SO lucky to have Famke as my first conformation dog (she seemed to naturally know what to do) because Flirty things this standing still training is silly.  Actually she is doing pretty well with the stacking portion but the gaiting portion is a total riot.  She leaps and spins and twirls and sasses me.  Yeah I have my hands full. LOL

The AKC is now offering a "beginner puppy 4-6 month old class" in conformation now for the babies and Flirt is entered in a show in Michigan July 7th.  Her breeder and her litter sister will be there as well which will be wonderful.  I am excited for the breeder to see her and for the girls to see each other again.  It is an outdoor show, which will be mighty interesting as well. LOL

Here are a few updated pics of our Flirty.

Where did my wee Dane puppy go??

Goodness our wee Flirty is growing like a weed!! She seemed SO tiny when I brought her home and then all of a sudden she went through a huge growth spurt.  Now she actually seems to be growing right before our eyes! 

We had a bit of an interesting month and I just hope and pray that we are able to move past what we had to deal with and can look to the future.  Here's the story...The day after I brought Flirt home at 8 weeks she started having green nasal discharge.  She didn't have ANY other symptoms but I rushed her off to the vet and she started antibiotics.  We assumed it was some sort of upper respiratory infection.  Discharge went away a few days after starting meds and all was well until about 3 days after the meds were done...nasal discharge came back.  Back to the vet and a new course of antibiotics.  Exact same thing happens.  At this point I am getting pretty annoyed that we can't seem to get rid of the problem and she acts completely normal otherwise.  

The final time the nasal dishcarge came back I noticed that when she was drinking water out of her bowl there was a little bit of water and discharge coming from her nose while she drank. We went to the vet, yet again, and the vet gave her a thorough physical exam, including looking in her mouth.  Clear chest, no fever, good color...nothing but the nasal discharge.  I told the vet what I noticed about Flirty drinking and he agreed that wasn't normal.  He had me hold her and he opened her mouth REALLY wide and we found the problem.  She had an issue going on in the back of her throat/mouth...WAY back there.  You would not see it unless you opened her mouth all the way, pushed  her tongue down and looked deep in there..  On the left side of her throat there was a skin adhesion where there was a flap of skin adhered in the wrong spot....which was allowing food particles/ and water to get up into her nasal cavity.  Which of course was causing the recurrent infections up in there and the recurrent green nasal discharge. 

The vet said he had never personally seen anything like this and recommend I go see a surgeon.  We went to see the surgeon a few days later and he confirmed what my vet saw.  The surgeon also mentioned how unusual the problem was. It is very rare for there to be a soft palate issue without the hard palate being involved and Flirt has no issues with her hard palate.  This was something that could only be fixed with a surgical repair.  :( They happened to have time that day and we decided to do the surgery right away. (They had me withhold food that day before her appointment just in case they had to sedate her to see the problem)  So the surgeon reconstructed that bit of her throat and put in dissolvable sutures.  We are hoping and praying that the surgery holds and they won't have to go in again to redo it.  We have to go back the 1st week in June and they will sedate her and look at the site.  She has had to have her food softened since the surgery and no hard chew toys or bones.  She recovered amazingly fast from the surgery and from the minute I brought her home that night you couldn't tell she had anything done.  

Here are a few pics of our little big girl. :)

My pretty girls!!!

Flirt is living up to her name and she is SO dang sweet. She wants to snuggle and cuddle everyone and then when you least expect it she is bite you with those shark teeth. :)

Famke and Flirt are so cute together and watching them play makes my heart happy. :)

Flirt is Home!!!

Ok 28 hours of driving in two days with a 6 year old child is WAY TOO MUCH!! LOL Poor Jackson was a trooper but trying to keep him happy and myself sane made the trip a bit hairy. Luckily he was able to hang out with Grammy while we went to the breeders house to get Flirt.

We had a GREAT time at the breeder's house. Mimi (the breeder) has to be one the sweetest people I have ever met. She is so very kind and genuine. We lucked out with gorgeous weather so we were able to hang out in the sunshine with the pups and her adult danes. I have the sunburn to prove it.

The minute I held Flirt in my arms my heart nearly burst. She is truly my dream pup and I will never forget that moment for as long as I live. She showered me in kisses and then snoozed on my lap. All of the pups were extremely social and loved getting loved on.

Flirt's Mom, Karma, is a total doll. She is a more petite Dane but so very sound and athletic. It looks like Flirt will take after her Momma which is perfect for what I want in a performance Dane bitch.

We also got to meet Flirt's Auntie Cameo (Karma's half sister), Flirt's Grandpa Dublin, and Flir'ts Great Grammy Gypsy who is almost 9 and looks and acts like a 2 year old. Mimi's Danes are known for their amazing temperaments and you could clearly see it in her dogs at home.

Flirt is just wonderful. The perfect amount of sassy and sweet. LOVES to cuddle but then will also tear around the yard in mini zoomies (ACK THE CUTE!). Famke ADORES her already and they have been playing nearly non-stop.

She has slept thru the night since we picked her up and is doing awesome with housebreaking. Good puppy!!

The BIG announcement.....Introducing....

Our new baby Dane girl..."Flirt"- Saravilla Chroma She Hung the Moon!! This pup was in the works well before we unexpectly lost Falkor. In fact, we were hoping for a pup from this litter even before the breeding took place!! Phew talk about a long wait. :) We've been watching "Flirt" closely since she was born and the breeder thinks she will be a wonderful pup for us. She has turned out very nicely structure-wise has a wonderful temperament with just the right amount of "sassy". ;) We plan do conformation and performance events so hopefully she'll be a dual ring girl!

We will be driving out to Ohio next weekend to pick her up and I couldn't be more excited!! I can't even fall asleep most nights because I can't stop thinking about her. Jackson is thrilled about having another puppy in the house and I think Famke will love having a buddy again. She has been very lonely since we lost Falkor. :(

No dog can ever replace our beloved Falkor but I am really looking forward to having another Dane in the house. It feels so empty without one. And I am really looking forward to the the smiles Flirt will bring us and the puppy antics we will revel in. :)

Changing up the blog a bit

I am changing up the blog a bit. It is hard to see Falkor's name in the title and blog name. I know I should change the blog name, but I don't think I'm quite ready yet. I think I will just leave it for now.
Most days I still find it hard to believe that Falkor is really gone, but I am able to smile at some of the memories instead of instantly bawling. We all miss him so very much.
There may be a new addition to our family in the near future. It was actually in the works well before we lost Falkor. But I'm not going to do the big reveal until I know for sure. I think I am afraid to jinx it! But if you all could keep your fingers and paws crossed for us, I would greatly appreciate it!

Falkor, my very own Luck Dragon

When I found out that Falkor's litter theme was The Dragon's Lair, I was so very excited. One of my favorite childhood movies "The Neverending Story" has this huge, dog like flying dragon in it named Falkor. I always LOVED that name and I thought it would be perfect for a Dane pup.

From the minute I held Falkor in my arms, I knew he was meant for me. I had so many plans for us and I could wait to get started. We started puppy class the week I brought Falkor home and he was so eager to learn even from that first night. Falkor thought training was the most fun thing in the world and he picked up on new things with lightening speed.

He was a joy to train and a joy to have in the house. Jackson was only 2 years old when brought Falkor home and for a short time I thought I was maybe a little crazy for bringing home a Dane puppy. But I was wrong...Falkor fit into our family with ease. He actually came home at 8 weeks already housebroken and was didn't chew things or dig in the yard. Believe me I know how lucky we were. :)

Falkor was such a fun dog! He did everything with joy and enthusiasm. That tail was ALWAYS wagging, which is the reason why all the corners in our house are covered in protective foam. We had to deal with happy tail on more than one occasion. But Falkor couldn't help it. When he wagged that tail he had to wag it enthusiastically too.

My hopes and dreams for Falkor including doing agility but knee issue prevented us from pursuing that dream. That was really hard for me but we had a blast training in obedience, Rally, tracking and freestyle. Again as with everything else, Falkor took to all this training like a duck to water. He got his CGC at the tender age of six months. We worked on Rally and Falkor got his Rally Novice, his Rally Advanced titles, and two legs toward his Rally Excellent title. In keeping with Falkor's zest for life with had an issue with zoomies during his recalls so I waited a while to try for his CD. Even though those darn zoomies made me want to pull my hair out at the time I will look back on those memories with a smile on my face now. He was quite a sight tearing around the ring with those big lips flapping and a huge grin on his face.

We got our CD in the fall in three tries. I was SO proud of him and as always he wagged his tail the entire time. We also tried for the American Temperament Test Society test in the fall and Falkor passed that as well. My favorite memory of that test is Falkor giving the people at some of the testing stations wet willies. He even licked the judges face after the test. :)

I feel like our time was cut way too short and I feel cheated. Falkor and I had so much too look forward to together. But I feel lucky to have shared my heart with such a truly one of a kind dog. He always gave me everything he had and then some. I will never forget that big ol' grin or to sweet brown eyes looking at me asking "What's next Momma???". Rest well my big ol' honk we love you so much.

Wow this is so hard....

The shock has begun to wear off and the reality is starting to set in. I can feel the weight of the loss sitting squarely on my shoulders and sometimes it's so heavy that I can't move. The house feels empty and painfully quiet. I keep thinking I see Falkor out of the corner of my eye and then reality hits me in the stomach.

I have lost beloved pets before, but Falkor is the first that was taken SO young and with no warning. I am still angry and feel cheated. The time we get with our pets is never long enough but 3.5 years is is like the snap of the fingers. We had so many plans and so many adventures to look forward to. I was so excited to get to go with Falkor to my first Dane National this year.

Thank goodness for Famke. She is such a ray of sunshine and incredibly sweet. She has been wonderful therapy for all of us.

Everyone has been absolutely wonderful and I truly appreciate everyone's kind words and condolences. Dog people get it.

I know it will eventually get easier. But knowing that and actually getting there are two very different things.

We love you Kumar and miss you SO much buddy!!

Falkor 5/19/2008-2/15/2012

I can't even believe that I have to write this post. It is with a heavy heart that I share with our blog friends that we lost our beloved Falkor yesterday. Everything was normal yesterday morning....the dogs happily ate their breakfast, sniffed around the yard for a while, and then snuggled up by the fire together. I came home from dropping my son off at school and as Falkor was walking in the kitchen blood started to pour from his nose and he slowly collapsed to the floor. I was able to get him up but he was very wobbly and weak. I got him into the van and as I drove to the vet Falkor was very quiet in the back. When we arrived at the vet and the staff came out to help me unload him. As we were unloading him the vet couldn't find a heartbeat. They tried CPR but couldn't resuscitate him. The vet found that he had a tumor on his spleen (hemangiosarcoma) that had ruptured and caused him to bleed out. He had no symptoms...we had no warning. :(

To say I am shocked and saddened is a huge understatement. I feel cheated and I am angry about it. The reality is slowly sinking in and I feel lost. The house is way too quite, it feels empty.

I will write a proper tribute for Falkor once I am able to gather myself a bit. There is a huge hole in my heart and it just hurts too much right now.

Hug your dogs tight!!!

Famke and Falkor's new trick!

Falkor and Famke LOOOOVE to play and they do some very interesting things when they play. I used to call Famke a lion tamer all the time because she would Falkor put his mouth over her head and neck. I decided to try and put it on cue and have many attempts I finally caught in on camera. It is difficult to get them to both cooperate at the same time. :) Famke will usually get into position and then Falkor just nose butts her and barks to get her to play. Silly dogs!

Famke Struts Her Stuff

We had a conformation show this past weekend hosted by the Central Iowa Kennel Club and held at the Des Moines fairgrounds. We usually enter this show because it's in our backyard and we get to hang out with lots of our friends. Famke hadn't been in the conformation ring since September so I thought it would be a good idea to get her back out there anyway.

On Saturday there were 5 bitches entered but only 4 showed up and I nearly passed out when the judge pointed to us for Winners Bitch! I honestly was not expecting to win and it was a very nice surprise. It's not that Famke didn't show well, she showed beautifully, it's just that she is little on the small side and looks less mature than other bitches her age.

Then on Sunday Famke was winners bitch again with 3 girls entered! It was another pleasant surprise and she showed her little heart out again.

Famke is a total joy to show! I have no idea how I lucked out with such a natural show dog as my first conformation prospect. When I first got Famke I had just planned to show her in conformation for fun and to learn more about it. I learned about the whole conformation game while showing her and she was a natural right from the beginning. She LOVES it and she is so darn happy and animated while showing that you can't help but smile. She seems to feed off the attention of the judge and onlookers.

I have been struggling with the decision about whether or not to spay Famke. After her heat cycles she gets into this weird funk where she is spooky, noise sensitive, and fearful, which is NOT her. And this weird funk lasts for months. Not so much fun for a performance dog! Now I am trying to decide if we should hold off spaying her to pursue her championship. She has 9 or 10 points so far, so she still needs two 3 point majors. We have only been to two shows where there were majors in Fieldies...the 2011 National and a huge supported entry show. We haven't had much opportunity. It is really hard to find majors for Fieldies in the Midwest so I would have to do some traveling. Ughh I just don't know!

Decisions, decisions!!!

AMAZING photos of my pups!

The VERY talented Leah Petesch of Sizzledog Photography took these pics of the dogs out at Jester Park this past October. It was a freakishly warm day (nearly 80 degrees!!!) so we only got one photo of Famke with her mouth closed because she was panting the whole time. We hiked all the way into the park with Famke but only took pics of Falkor near the parking lot. It was BEYOND packed with people and there were way too many ding dongs with their dogs off leash for me to able to bring Falkor on the hike. I was beyond thrilled with how the pics turned out and I hope to maybe get some nice winter pics or spring pics once everything is nice and green again.

My all time favorite picture of Falkor. I LOVE this pic!

Love that she caught this shot. :)

Love how you can see her back paw. :)

Pretty girl posing. :)

Goals for 2012!!

One thing I do love about the new year is all the possibility it brings. I enjoy making goals for the new year! Here we go!

Falkor
It's difficult to write about my plans for Falkor because there were so many plans that I had that won't ever come to fruition. Because of Falkor's knee issue, we won't be able to pursue training for our CDX. That makes me sad but I've come to terms with it. I do think that we might try for our UKC CD. It will depend on how things go with Falkor's comfort level around other dogs. He has been doing SO much better but we'll see how things go from here.

I would like to get the final leg for his Rally Excellent Title.

I would love to buckle down and really work on tracking. I have said the same thing for the past two years but maybe 2012 will finally be the year!

Our biggest plan is to work on Freestyle! Falkor absolutely LOVES freestyle and he seems to have a knack for it. I am hoping to plan a routine for the 2012 Great Dane National. I think it will be big fun.

Famke
I plan to work towards getting a CD with Famke. We have lots of polishing and tweaking to do to get where I would like to be. Famke has the potential to be a great little performance dog and I just hope I don't screw it up. LOL

Perhaps try to get her Rally Advanced title.

Work on tracking as well.

I think we will still dabble in conformation as well, but pending the rest of her health testing we may be getting her spayed. Her cycles themselves aren't that bad, maybe a bit annoying but not the end of the world. BUT Famke seems to get realllly weird after her cycle. She get's spooky and edgy and just not like her self. After her last heat she got weird and it lasted for months!! She just finsihed her last heat in November so we will see how she is in the upcoming months. If it happens again we will be getting her spayed sooner than later.

We have lots going on and I am looking forward to the new adventures 2012 will bring us!!

Fieldie Family Fun!

On New Year's Eve, my best friend Shannon and I traveled to Famke's breeder's house to visit a bunch of the fieldie family . Peter, who is one of Famke's co-breeders, came down from Canada with his 11 field spaniel kids. With all of our fieldies together we had a total of 22, yes 22 dogs!!!!

It was wonderful to get to meet Famke's Grandparents and bunches of other relatives. All the fieldies that were present are related to some degree. Yeah our breed has a gene puddle. LOL It was a blast and completely amazed me that with 22 dogs together there were only a few snarks!! Famke was completely exhausted the next day and Falkor was pissed he had to stay home. :)

Famke's littermates (minus one that lives in New Jersey) From the left - Giddy, Cola, Famke and Ellie.

Famke kisses and brother Giddy cashed out on my lap.

A few of the fieldies that were present. We couldn't get everyone together in one pic. LOL

Holiday Whirlwind!

WOW how is it 2012 already??? The holiday season literally flew by in a blur. We had a very nice holiday, but I always feel a little blue after all the fanfare of the holidays is over. I think it is helping a bit that until yesterday we had unseasonably warm temps and NO snow!! Weird but I will take it. :) I am looking forward to getting back on track with training and having some sort of schedule again. I am excited for what 2012 may bring!

The pups had a wonderful Christmas and we actually got to go out and play at the park on Christmas because it was nearly 50 degrees!! The dogs loved it and it helped tire them out some. Falkor dog some Dane size dog toys (a HUGE fleecy fuzzy man and a HUGE fleecy fuzzy ball) and plays with them all the time. Famke got a new treat dispensing toy and a honking duck toy, and she will not share either of them!

" I shall call him Squishy and he shall be mine and he shall be my Squishy"

"Oh Squishy makes a fun sound when you squeeze him!"