Hello Leerburg folks,

It’s been quite a while since I posted but I have been reading the archives and buying more DVDs as I have a new dog in my life.

Heiland has passed - a condition that was unable to be fixed and it took me quite some time to get over the huge void he left. I really don’t want to go into the details as it’s just too painful.

So I would like to introduce Bak, my long coat shepherd who is just a joy.

He came to live with us when his owner, a soldier, was going back to duty. At that time he was 7 months old (he is 13 months as of tomorrow) and didn’t have a lick of training in leash walking, or basic OB.

He did know how to shake hands as there were 3 little girls living with him and he was allowed to eat off their plates.

He ran loose in the neighborhood and was never crated. When I picked him up and put him in a crate he took to it joyfully, not even a whimper on his first night.

Peed in the house the first day and because he was leashed to me that was the only day.

I used all that I have learned and am still learning from you all in training him and his reactivity to other dogs was gone in 2.5 months.

I hope that you good people will help me when I come across problems as you all did before.

I am looking forward to belonging to the LB community as I have missed it.

Best, Maggie


http://i898.photobucket.com/albums/ac184/MacClavey/IMG_7406-possible-entry.jpg

Edited by Maggie MacDonald (08/15/2014 10:01 PM)
Edit reason: insert photo

Of course we'll help!



PS

Bak is a lovely dog.

Welcome back with open arms.
Bak looks a lot like my Trooper other then Trooper having more then the saddle in his coat.
As Bak matures the coat can still change a bit.

Thank you Connie & Bob. Your words mean a lot to me. Looking like Trooper is quite the compliment as Trooper is one beautiful dog.

I am now trying to think of something to train him to do so I can enter the contest.

He is a delight to train and just to have fun with. He gives the best kisses and loves to lie on my feet in the evening.

Beautiful photo and beautiful dog, congratulations on your new boy

Thank you Tracy for your kind remarks.

Well, an exciting day on the home front. At 10 past midnight Bak got skunked.
I was so grateful I had the recipe that Betty had posted .. so I knew what to do and had all the products in the house. Because he was skunked on the back patio, the smell will no doubt linger for a awhile.

Bak got most of it his right eye .. kind of red and he is scratching at it. Should I be concerned about his eye?
Edited to add that Bak is no longer scratching at his eye - I kept flushing it out and he is a lot more comfortable.

I got him coated in the mixture for 5 minutes and then hosed him down ... now burning sage and boiling up fresh rosemary.

It's going to be a long night .. any special product I should wash the towels, bathmat, quilt in?

Bless him he knew we were trying to help him so he was very good during the procedure.

Should I redo the mixture on him tomorrow? I ran out of the Hydrogen Peroxide and there is nothing close open that would carry it or I would give him another treatment tonight.

Thank you for any tips.

Edited by Maggie MacDonald (08/16/2014 03:44 AM)
Edit reason: add info re. eye

 Quote: Maggie MacDonald

Well, an exciting day on the home front. At 10 past midnight Bak got skunked.

And I think my lot stink when they roll in fox poo!

Haha Tracey - fox poo isn't something I had to deal with yet

All is well now - I took him to the groomers and they did an exceptional job on him - he cheated on me and gave them kisses.

Just going to throw out the material that got the skunk spray on it. Ruined the screen in my door as that was where he got skunked.

Did Bak have a leather collar on? No matter how you clean them those can stink every time they get wet for a very long time. Trust me!

Thanks Bob,

No it was night time and he didn't have a collar on. Happy about that as I have the leather one with the handle on it from LB.

I got some suggestions in a PM on how to get more of the scent out so things will be back to normal in a bit.

The best thing to come out of this is that I didn't think he would do well at the groomers and he loved it. Good training for his upcoming CGC.