Jest Another Day in Pear-A-Dice - Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm in Alberta

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

Thanks for the kind words about the girls!

You guys make me laugh...so far the only "destruction" we have had the girls perform (wondering if they will do well with Rick and his Parking Building??); is the attempt on the two flags (worth like a dollar, eh...hee hee), and one older dog toy! They managed to get the stuffing out of the dog toy...ACDs are infamous for turning stuffy plushies into pelts...but that is fine, they actually sell pelts now! Emmylou has fallen in love with one (squirrel) that crinkles like plastic...she will love the skunk you stuff with a no cap and no paper label water bottle that our son bought Fixins.

I will have to watch that Em...last night she kept coming over to take toys from the toy box in their joint room and before both Lacy and I knew it...she had ALL the toys...hilarious!

No issues on the ACDs getting out from where we put them. HyBlade was the only dog I ever knew that was able to rip brand new fake fur material...He'd grip it and throw every once (50 pounds) of his into tearing it...he managed to tear three pieces in his life time...a record with us.

Chainlnk...HyBlade would pull his lips back, and grip it with his front teeth and pry backwards! Bugger. He pulled one door out of shape but I sat on one side, him on the other and laced up that door. He had that pull side to his character...he helped me plant more shelterbelt trees in 2000, Caragana saplings...I'd put on in, he'd go behind me about six back and help see how securely planted they were...never knew it until he caught to me and I looked back...inside with Rick is where he went (NO, not with the guy that gives me the best portion from his dinner...NOT stay with HIM!). I finished and some 15 years later, no worse for wear and nobody would be the wiser unless I told them!

Feeding time at the zoo yesterday...I am feeding in each pups designated area...no chance of food related fights...yeh, NO food fights thanks!

Lacy J​

These exercise pens are designed for the extra tough to stay put dogs. Not indestructible for sure...nothing ever is...that black rubber toy material, Fixins bit off chunks, not a black Kong mind you but still. The Kongs have never failed us but I do throw out the older ones, like over ten years old.

Emmylou​

So far in the food department, Lacy leaves some of her kibs, whilst Emmy eats all of hers. I will move them to feeding in the kitchen, lay down wait, I put bowls down and tell them eat, they eat side by each and I can put my hands in each bowl, no bites over food possession...no fights over food bowls.

For our current setup for each pup...one exercise pen plus two panels--ten panels that are 48 inches tall and two feet wide, four pieces of one by wood to surround the pen and keep it from being pushed or pulled around too much by dogs, a crate, fake fur crate pad, a rubber floor mat, stainless water pail, stainless dog bowls, newsprint for young pups learning to potty, good quality dog toys like Kongs and Nylabones (nfi)... prices below were round about fifteen years ago...prices have dropped on some items, risen with others (I now water with stainless steel dog pails hung with a safe clip in the corner)...these prices are CANUCK BUCKS too!

​

:

Here is another article I wrote and am quoting some info from.

:

The Den​

- CRATE: 400 Vari-Kennel (36" long x 24" Wide x 26" High - Called a "Large" size about $125) or a 300 size (32" long x 22" Wide x 23" High - Called an "Intermediate" size about $95). If the crate does not have a raised floor with a side indentation for fluids to gather, purchase a crate grate for about $23 as most crates do not have the grating in them when you go to purchase one. The grate can be ordered separately to fit your crate, is made of metal, usually black and this allows the dog to have a perfectly flat (though drainable, if accidents happen) surface to lie on. Otherwise the dog has those plastic bumps sticking up through the crate, not comfortable.

I prefer the 400 kennel which is actually large enough to put two ACD's in if they get along well and the kennels for my vehicle are a 300 size. ACD's are a medium sized dog, 17" to 20" at withers, 35 to 65 pounds. When the ACD is a pup, put a safe cardboard box inside the crate and your pup will feel that this large space is more homey. Remove the box or upgrade to larger ones as your dog grows. If you get another brand than Vari-Kennels, do get one with a metal door as the ACD will chew on the plastic doors and destroy it. Get your crate before the ACD arrives, then you will have a place to start training right away.

Put one of the watering holes inside the crate or you can use a large waterer like the ones they have for gerbils, only bigger, hangs on the door, though these may tend to drip and wet the bedding. Dogs must have access to fresh clean water at all times. My ACDs get up to get a drink at night at all hours, so they must need it. Like a kid at night, "May I have a glass of water?"

I am a firm advocate of crate training your ACD…there are so many plusses to a dog that crates. You can take your dog out visiting and you will have brought along their home-comforting den. At night, when it is time for sleep, they can be crated up and they will not patrol at all hours protecting you from the ghosts and goblins only they can see. A crate with the door left open is a welcome retreat for your ACD…they can retire to it at any time for a nap or a time out session…respect that this is their sanctuary and do not let others invade their personal space. Dogs feel naturally more secure in a crate. The confined space would make us human uneasy, but dogs prefer it as it is most natural to their need for a den. They feel safe because it provides them with an area of a certain space that they feel they can adequately protect. If you need to confine the dog because you are painting the stairwell and do not want dog print motifs on the hardwood floors, the crate provides you with a simple way to do this.

Crate training is really simple since your dog naturally desires a "den." Just remember to always make the crate a fun place to be. Feed treats, put safe doggie toys in it, and start out confinement slowly. Ignore the dog if it acts up, pay extra special attention to the ACD when it is good and quiet in the kennel, feed treats through the door, etc. Make the training short and sweet and lengthen the time gradually. Leave the door open and let the dog wander in and out. Tell the kids to leave the dog alone when it is in the crate. It is having a time out and this is its safe zone, not to be invaded. Never put your ACD in the crate in anger. Before the dog has a chance to get under foot if the house is busy, put the dog away. Praise good behaviour, ignore the bad.

I do not condone crating dogs for any more than a couple hours in the daytime. Eight hours at night for sleeping, sure…but make sure when you "let the dogs out" you immediately take them out for potty. The crate is a fab tool for housetraining as you know the moment the dog is outta their den, they are gonna need to go. The need not to soil the den is very, very strong in dogs and they get quite upset if they mess up their crate. If the dog has an accident in their crate, it was not their idea to have this happen. The fault is yours alone for not taking them out when they needed to go. "Bad, bad human!"…swat with folded newspaper. Crates provide you with a container to take your dogs in your vehicle and also on the airplane and to the vets.

- DOG BEDDING can get pricy, but I got a few at places like Zellers (nfi) for $17 on sale, the better quality ones can run you in the $50 to $75 category but are NICE!: Use fake fur or one of those crate pads that have a zippered closure (pups can and will chew this, so maybe graduate AFTER two years old to this kind). Two are nice as you can do laundry but still have one in the crate.

Once you are set up with the stuff to handle ACDs ... it is all a matter of when you are home, BE with the dogs. The only place they want to be is with YOU...lots of destruction happens when people come home and don't bring the dog out of the confinement area...this cause them to go ape and being ape, I have heard many had ACDs climb like monkeys out of chain link kennels. Some resorting to electrify the metal...yuck!

Have ACD, let dog be your shadow...your Velcro dog, your best buddy...pretty simple. Can't be with a dog, usually I suggest no ACD then.

Off I go to do just that...nap time is over for the sweet girls...

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[scottcaddy]

Well, I guess getting a ACD is out of the question then.
So I will enjoy yours Tara!!
Scott

 

[CanuckBock]

Heel low:

I wrote this when it was 03:30...in Sydney...

So the girls are down for a puppy nap.

Great morning! Well OK, I am running on maybe 1 to 2 hours sleep...Love Bug Lacy decided to keep fussing, but so be it. I love a stubborn tenacious B-dog...so bring it on! Emmy even got into a bit of howling too..."Make Lacy stop, eh!" But so it goes with puppies getting use to a new place, and to me, WOW...BOW WOW...we are not only talking the other side of the Planet, Down is now Up...Down Under is now the Great White North, but climate will be different, the seasons are the opposite...winter in Oz, summer in Ab...yeh. That the pups are even functioning and being happy and healthy just blows my mind!

I know if it was me, I'd be eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating and whining terribly!

So the morning was AWESOME...bit of kibbles with yogurt for the first breakfast...then out to potty. Emmy is better than Lacy at the moment, but I expect either or to have issues on and off again. Really happy we decided to put down the newsprint. Got a call on Tuesday that the runner we have paid for and ordered should show up on Friday or by Tuesday next week! No biggie as Emmy's area is fully papered up...and wonders of wonders, I guess I chose right...she has had one poop and two pees but Lacy, well who's counting, she has had a few. One of the things to watch is the consistency of their dumps and been excellent...considering their ordeal to get here...marvelous does not even cover how good that is. I laughed as the breeder told me in one of her updates, "pups are pooping well" or some such report like that. Forget the exact words but not something you report to regular run of the mill puppy owners..."poo is good!" But most every breeder knows that good poo is a good sign that you got "GOOD things going in, GOOD things going out!" Funny how we gauge that in so many areas of animal husbandry...you know you got a keener that has experience if an animal goes ill..."What's the poo looking like?"

So back to the Ram Pasture and our escapades after first breakfast...I saved up some road side invasive scotch thistle...so in the Ram Pasture we went. The girls played with the puppy playground items (toys and equipment), racing back and forth between me the hacker and them the players. Pups played while I took my trusty hoe and chopped the thistle...raked it up into piles (dries out and is nasty to get running thru!) and even got a large blue container fulla them nasty plants filled up for taking away later--about three massive piles--I expect some to grow back but stopping from the flowers going to seed should be a good approach to take. Laughed at the girls, first few hacks and right in there to see if what I was "harvesting" was any good...they decided, "NOPE...ugly stuff that needs to get gone!"

So after that, it was raining a bit, so back to the porch for a towel dry...where we went inside to get their confinement areas cleared up and re-papered. Washed out new stainless water pails, filled and replaced the water from yesterday. Surprising how very often pups drink (and pee...ha ha ha...what goes in, must come out!). All that with pups, little nap, little eat, little drink, little pee, little poop, little of this and that but a WHOLE LOTTA play...play, play, play and BITE...gotta taste yer world, eh! ACD is life support system for jaws. They have awesome manners about not biting me, but each other, free for all and Emmy eats tall grass, particular on that, has to be long (not nibbled by ruminants) grass.

So inside we were and the furnace came on while I was washing up dog bowls. Well Emmy thought the warm air from the floor vent was gonna EAT her...evil air! So I stopped washing up and sat beside the vent and made like no biggie...Lacy came over and plopped herself on me...she does that lots, the ears fold back, she gets a dreamy sucky look to her and she licks you...wants love, wants to be held and hugged...love bug...totally. Lacy is not afraid or even very aware of the warm air but Emmy is...but with us sitting right there and no big deal, Emmy conquered the forced air (been cold, overcast and rain off and on, so the furnace kicked in eh!). Next thing we learned about inside...MIRRORS...oh my...reflections!

Have one of those full length floor to ceiling almost mirrored doors on a closet. Well holy Toledo...Emmy came bounding in and screeched to a halt..."There's a BOO dog...yikes!" And she let out a growl..."And it's a MEAN DOG...see its growling at me!" So Emmy turned back and peaked around the corner...same bad dog in the mirror, not pleased! Lacy was already there and staring at her image...her image was of a kindly love bug red dog..."Ah, lookit how friendly that one is!" Yeh. Lacy the Love and Emmy the cautious thinker one..."Bite it before it bites you!" Rick already says we are going to have to watch Emmy...Lacy is right there up in your face, but Emmy is reserved and will stand back and observe...not so sure she is gonna like you right off. Lacy will bowl you over with kisses, Emmy stands back and lets Lacy do the Welcome Wagon while she observes and decides if this is worthy of her attentions.

So after learning about forced warm air and mirrors, I thought, well they sure don't look tired...so we went back out and did goose chores. Was a good set of first trials to do regarding training for Chore Dog workers. They had been there already yesterday in their collars and brace chain to meet with Pearl...so they knew where they were going. Did really good and the geese, were excellent, they kept way back from the lil' mongers, so it gave the dogs confidence...new smells, new places, new buildings, all that jazz. All new--must be overwhelming to them to say the least. Then we headed to do the Mandarin chores, and besides the ducks spooking and flying up a bit, it went well too. A few pees outside, catch them going, I say "Get busy"...and "GOOD girl!" so potty training is doing fine.

Have them sit at the door before we go out, noted they hesitated to go thru the doorway when opened...this would be a dominance listening behaviour. Many canine behaviouralists warn, don't let the dogs go before the human, thru doorways and on the end of the lead walking some route. You are suppose to be the Leader and the Leader is suppose to, well LEAD the pack. So got the girls sitting before they can go out the house door. I can see the breeder laid the groundwork for that one...as said, both waivered at the open door, so I guessed I was missing the important SIT and you may go out. I do that now when we go in...SIT and you can come inside. I already KNOW they will forget everything and anything we teach them right now, but well, the OBM's are not here for 2 to 3 years...so I can expect the light in them dog brains to flicker on and off...pending who knows what. One day, angels (or is that one moment in time?), the next, devils...doing whatever, whenever. The foundation of manners and commands learned now, to be forgotten and remember as per rules on chaos, eh.

So a SUMMARY for half the first part of the second day in Pear-A-Dice - attended de-thistle-ing of the Ram Pasture and played, helped do goose, swan, ruddy, and Mandarin chores (check mark for well done!), and played, pottied and played, learned about forced air from a floor vent (not so scary!), and mirrors (sorta...we still have one half thinking there is an awful growly blue dog in that mirror, but one half thinks the red dog is sweet and lovey!).

Little novelty things with daily life, me washing dishes at the kitchen sink, me loading washer and dryer in the house, putting laundry away. Repapering the containment areas, learning the dog room is not a permanent prison<--bwa ha ha.

Girls are awake, heard a snuffly barky...off we go...to enjoy the day, eh!

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[CanuckBock]

Well, I guess getting a ACD is out of the question then.
So I will enjoy yours Tara!!
Scott

Once you are setup for the monster dogs Scott...getting two more, well the scars have not really healed (them Heelers?) up too much...so you just dive right back in. Sorta like the shocked rat syndrome, we know nothing else, eh!

So I absolutely DARE anyone NOT to feel the virtual puppy breath in these photos...and a very wee bit sorry from moi too...
​

Help...I have fallen and I can't get up...<<whimper>>...someone PLEASE HELP ME!

I am being held captive...you DO all realize I cannot MOVE or I will disturb the puppies. Now do I hear anyone saying, "Ah you poor person...well do I??"

Doggone & Chicken UP!

Tara Lee Higgins
Higgins Rat Ranch Conservation Farm, Alberta, Canada

 

[Bunnylady]

Uh, oh. I have a couple of cats that will settle on me if I make the mistake of sitting down - I call them "the barnacles." Looks like you've been barnacled, Tara!

 

[drumstick diva]

Tara don't forget the eating lessions. I want to see how you can control two dogs at once. Lay down - waiting to be fed. No biting human hands in the dish, eating only from their dish.

Cockers are/were so very different. A "NO," not even loud, would stop everything. None of them ever cared if I touched their food or dishes. Only had one scrappy red pup that tore into any puppy that approached her dish. While she would go after the offender - the other puppies finished her food. She got better on her own as she matured. They didn't pull hard on the lead (I only used light show leads - no chain) and taught them to stay with me by rapidly changing direction which would trip them up.

You can say I was spoiled and thought all dogs are like that. My sister's rescue pup is a hellion - she only had Cockers before and is clearly out of her league.

This is so exciting to me to learn how to handle larger, stronger dogs. When does your son get to meet them?

 

[drumstick diva]

Hope Tara didn't teach them anything important when we couldn't be there to watch.

 

[scottcaddy]

Hope Tara didn't teach them anything important when we couldn't be there to watch.

Tara wouldn't do that to you, Me yes, as I don't do the Great White North anymore.
Meeting and greeting all of her different critters isn't all that important.
I'll bet she is 'bout tuckered out and them puppers are going strong!
Pic's will show up in due time, just like them girls did.
Loves ya Diva,

Scott

 

[CanuckBock]

Here's a reason why we breed for natural immunity in Marek's Disease...

[URL]http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43612/title/Imperfect-Poultry-Vax/[/URL]:

:
Study: Poultry at risk from ‘leaky’ Marek’s vaccination

Scientific experiments with the herpes virus strain that causes Marek's disease in poultry have shown, for the first time, that some types of vaccines allow for the evolution and survival of increasingly virulent versions of a virus that could put unvaccinated individuals at greater risk of severe illness.

While many human vaccines – such as common childhood vaccines – work perfectly, others could be improved. These 'imperfect' vaccines still prevent the vaccinated host from getting sick but do not prevent the transmission of the virus. In the case of Marek's disease in poultry, this led to the survival of increasingly virulent versions of a virus in the population, putting unvaccinated individuals at greater risk of severe illness. The research has important implications for food-chain security and food-chain economics, as well as for other diseases that affect humans and agricultural animals.

 

[perchie.girl]

I wont have my chicks vaccinated... Partially because of the above.... and partially because IF I Get Marecks I want to know so I dont pass it on and I can close my flock forever.... We can eat the eggs and meat... But once my flock was gone I wouldnt replace.... Fortunately I have the option because my property is soo isoloated.

deb