Fielding Toller puppy inquiries

We are expecting a litter soon and I am currently fielding calls and emails from prospective puppy people. I fret a great deal about matching each puppy to the correct home and take the process of vetting prospective puppy people very seriously. Some people have only two questions; “Do you have any puppies available?” and “How much?”. While these are both valid questions I am prepared to answer, if they are the only two questions I am asked they don't do much to convince me the person is a great puppy prospect. We are deeply vested in our puppies, as are most Toller breeders. Producing a litter takes a great deal of effort, from researching pedigrees to honestly evaluating the structure and temperament of your breeding prospects, to obtaining health clearances, to caring for the dam during pregnancy and the puppies and dam after whelping. We hope to place our puppies with people who either have or will develop a strong passion for the breed, regardless of whether they are looking for their next field or performance dog or simply a family companion. It is very rewarding when I am contacted by a person who has done their research and asks discerning questions.

When communicating with prospective puppy people I don’t generally go on about how wonderful Tollers are. I imagine I might even sound a bit curmudgeonly as I take pains to explain how they are different in temperament than Golden Retrievers, the breed they are most often compared to. I am prepared to discuss the various health issues which challenge our breed, as well as answer any other questions about Tollers. If the person is in the area or willing to travel, I encourage a visit, though note our “kennel” is our home. I also have questions about the person’s interest in Tollers, expectations in a puppy, past experience with dogs, household routine, and even thoughts about vaccination and feeding.

Last year I received a call from a woman who asked me if I would consider breeding a dog who did not have their championship. I was quite surprised by her question but responded “yes” without hesitation. I sensed she was disappointed by my answer and our conversation was not long. I hope she found the puppy she was looking for. While my goal is to produce Tollers who meet the breed standard and are capable of finishing their championship, not all the Tollers I consider for my breeding program possess that title. Sometimes the owner lacks interest or resources, sometimes the dog simply doesn’t enjoy the sport and it shows in how they conduct themselves in the ring. As I was mentored, I look at the whole dog; health, conformation, temperament, working drive/desire/bidability. All are important but must be considered in balance.

Riley at the BYC

Over the Memorial Day weekend I traveled to Michigan for Region 2's supported entry. Known as the "Backyard Classic", this annual event has existed longer than Tollers have been recognized by the AKC. The BYC is always a combination of conformation and field events at a minimum. It is a great chance to catch up with Toller people both inside and outside of our region, to reconnect with old friends and acquaintances as well as make new ones.

I asked Riley's owners if I could bring him along to show as a Special and they readily agreed. Riley is June's only sibling. He is a handsome dog who (pardon the cliche) literally leads the life of Riley with his wonderful family the Eggers. He has not been shown since he finished his championship, but I thought it would be fun to take him out. To my surprise he was awarded Select Dog at the BYC's supported entry. This gives him the first five points towards his grand championship. His beautiful and talented niece Eta was awarded Select Bitch in the same show.

After the show, our friend Brad took some pictures of Riley for me.

Resource Guarding in Tollers

Resource guarding is a normal but generally undesirable behavior concerning something the dog considers is in his possession. Guarded objects may be food, treats, toys, bones and furniture, or may even be a person, since a person can be a valuable resource to a dog. The “guarding” may take the form of a stare or growl, or it may be a more serious response such as a bite. If your dog exhibits resource guarding behaviors but has not yet shown a proclivity to bite, I highly recommend the book "Mine! A Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs” by Jean Donaldson as an excellent resource for owners who seek to understand and mediate these types of behaviors in their dogs. Your breeder may also be a good and knowledgeable resource, and should be contacted if you notice signs of resource guarding. However, if your dog exhibits resource guarding behaviors and has already shown a willingness to bite, please seek the help of a qualified professional. The Association of Pet Dog Trainers is a good place to locate a qualified trainer: http://www.apdt.com/petowners/ts/default.aspx.

Resource guarding is not unique to Tollers but I do believe it is more common in our breed than in some others. For this reason, we incorporate resource control into the socialization work we do when raising a litter. Some examples of resource control exercises we practice are:

• Trading toys and bones or other desirable chewing objects with puppies
• Being present during the puppies mealtimes and adding tidbits to their bowl so they associate the approach of a person at mealtime as a positive event
• Turning away from puppies who are too pushy in demanding attention and deciding when to focus attention on a puppy

When the puppies leave for their new homes the groundwork to mediate resource guarding has been laid but is not complete. In fact, it is something that should be incorporated into your training throughout the life of your Toller. To remind new owners of this and to facilitate the learning process, we send out a handout to our puppy people which includes exercises to continue in the puppy’s new home, even when no resource guarding behavior is present.

Here are some additional links you may find helpful:

http://ahimsadogtraining.com/blog/resource-guarding/

http://www.peaceablepaws.com/articles.php?subaction=showfull&id=1282180133&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&type=Pat

http://www.chazhound.com/forums/t5923/ (the last two posts)

Tobago the wonder Toller



"Helping" around the house

I do believe his family coined that phrase, but I wouldn’t dispute it. As the puppy formerly known as “Oak”  closes in on his first birthday he has provided much wonder and joy for his owners.

He won over his “older sister” Toller housemate Trini within minutes of their first meeting and has helped her bloom socially. He has wowed the neighbors and just about everyone else he has met with his buoyant personality. Since he left for his new home he has been in training for conformation, field, obedience, rally, agility and frisbee. He recently obtained the first point toward his AKC championship with his owner Amanda on the other end of the leash, much to her surprise and excitement. The pictures I’ve seen show he is maturing nicely. I’m looking forward to seeing him again at this year’s BYC.



Hey, what happened to my stick?





Am I swimming yet?

The pictures here are just a few of the many wonderful photos his owners have sent throughout the past year.



Frisbee dog!

Not a puppy anymore!

More on names

Rosie – Rosie came to us as a 3.5 month old pup from Evelyn. We couldn’t imagine calling her anything other than the name Evelyn had chosen as her puppy name. It turned out Evelyn had chosen her registered name too – Lonetree’s Just My Style. It was a name that suited her, though if it had been left to us we were ready with Lonetree’s Jalapeno Rose, after her sweet and spicy personality.

June – Naming June was an involved process. She was the only female in a litter of two, born on June 1st. We had been calling the puppies Johnny and June (after Johnny Cash and June Carter) and I decided the name June would suit her. But how to match that up to a registered name starting with “D”? I was at a loss. Then I came across a reference to a poem by James Russell Lowell that seemed a perfect fit:

And what is so rare as a day in June?
  Then, if ever, come perfect days;
    Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune,
      And over it softly her warm ear lays.
      -  from The Vision of Sir Launfal (http://theotherpages.org/poems/lowell01.html)
And so June became Zephyr’s Day in June.

Lark – Another puppy name that became permanent. As I had not originally intended to keep something from the Breaker ex June litter my joke is that I kept her “on a lark”. As for her registered name, early on I had determined if I were to keep anything from this litter, the registered name would be Zephyr’s Evelyn Echo. A not very subtle homage to the breeder of my two original Tollers, Gem and Rosie, and especially appropriate because Gem’s much more famous brother Sailor is both the paternal grandsire AND the maternal great-grand uncle of this litter.

All about June

June has been a pistol from the time she popped out of Ghillie’s womb. The only female in a litter of two, she left her brother behind – literally! – when she began scaling the puppy x-pen around 6 weeks of age. I raised it once, from 24” to 30”, but decided not to raise it further as all evidence pointed toward June continuing to climb her way to freedom with simply a bigger drop to navigate after reaching the top. Curiously, she only seemed to attempt this when I was home. It was this combination of agility, determination and social attraction that made me want her to stay.

As a puppy, June’s most often employed nick name was “the devil”. She was a force of nature, as one of my friends put it. She greeted visitors like a freight train and used the living room furniture like a training ground for a future possible assent to Mount Everest. This was not encouraged, of course, and on the many occasions when June could not settle herself she earned some time in her crate. I generally crated her in the bedroom, same as her nighttime accommodations, and her vocal protest was clearly audible three rooms away. We endured her displeasure with gritted teeth, knowing that to let her out while she was vocalizing would only serve to strengthen her remonstration. I worked harder with June as a puppy than any other dog we have had so far. I remember walking her down in the backyard to enforce the concept of a reliable recall. From puppyhood, I drilled in a wait and release command for her supper. Always happiest in motion, June’s greatest struggles in obedience revolved around the stationary exercises; sit, down and stand stay. We worked at these for nearly a year before she achieved any degree of reliability.

At 5.5 years old, June has settled some but remains the most animated, provocative Toller I have ever owned or bred. She is mainly handicapped by my ability as a trainer/handler. Not only does she want to work, she needs to in order to be a contented member of the household. Thrilled as I am with her performance potential, I realize her high drive and exercise requirements would make her extremely challenging at best in most households. The same traits I treasure make me very careful when considering potential studs for June. While I’m not looking for a couch potato I do seek to temper June’s drive with a dog who takes things a little more in stride. Breaker was a good choice for June’s first litter. Two puppies have their AKC Championships and a third is only a point away, two of them have multiple agility titles, one has a WC, CD and RN and two are hunted over. All have much of their mother’s spirit but are tempered by their sire.  I’m confident my second choice for June will produce similar results, and I’m looking forward to her planned litter for 2011.

Milestones

Through a combination of hard work and good luck, I've recently had the pleasure of witnessing two milestones in our Tollers. The first is Gem. She turned 16 on February 21st. Considering the average lifespan of a Toller is 12-14 years this is significant. Gem has survived her littermates and other canine contemporaries and even some of her puppies. George and I feel very fortunate she is still with us and doing so well for a dog of her age. Some of it is good genes; I've been told it is not uncommon for Tollers in this line to live well beyond the average expectancy. I imagine some of it is luck as well. While overall Gem has been a very healthy dog, she has had a few illnesses along way though so far we've been able to successfully combat them all. Most recently, a few weeks before her birthday, she was diagnosed with old dog vestibular disease. When she couldn't get up on her own I feared the worst. We drove her to the emergency vet shortly after digging ourselves out of a record blizzard. As I held her in my arms I thought, if it was time, the best thing I could wish for her would be to go in my arms before we reached the vet. But as usual, Gem surprised us all and a few weeks out from her diagnosis is getting around almost as well as she did before, only occasionally leaning a bit to one side and still needing a bit of extra help on the stairs. She still comes to the breakfast table for a piece of banana and some yogurt from me and a piece of cereal from George. She knows when treats are forthcoming and unless she is deeply asleep never fails to make an appearance for hers. While we know we won't have her forever, we are grateful for the time we have had and continue to enjoy, our shared experiences, and all she has taught us.

The second milestone is I finally finished my first Bred By Exhibitor champion, Lark. To my amazement she finished with four majors, which is quite an accomplishment when most of us are thrilled to simply obtain the necessary two. At present, Lark is now known as UAGII CH Zephyr’s Evelyn Echo RN NA OAJ NF. That Lark is my first BBE champion is very fitting. She was named for my mentor in the breed, Evelyn Williams. And Lark’s pedigree is something of an homage (echo) to Evelyn. My foundation bitch, Gem, is a littermate to a much more famous dog in our breed, Sailor (Lonetree’s G Parklake Sailor). Lark is the result of breeding a Gem granddaughter back to a Sailor son. The result has been a very special litter of pups. I finished Lark’s sister Eta (CH Zephyr’s Eta Carinae CD RN WC) two days after finishing Lark. Because of how hard Eta’s owners have worked with her in the field and obedience ring, Eta's championship finished her Rusty Jones award requirements. Guess it's time to get out in the field and obedience ring with Lark and catch up.