Grey Ghost Gazette

Grey Ghost Gazette
News and Notes from the Iowa Weimaraner Rescue
May 2013
Volume 4, Issue 1
Message from the Director:
Special Interest
Articles:
• Message from the
Director
• More Info on Bloat
• Rescue Me Seminar
Recap
• Success Story - Mya
• Training Tip
• Available Dogs
Happy Spring….or should I say Happy Long
winter for those of us in the Midwest!!
Although the weather hasn’t been the best,
Iowa Weim Rescue volunteers have been
busy changing the world for Weims!!! We
have held several meet and greet events,
said congratulations to many new Weim
families and welcomed lots of new Weims
into IWR. It is our past adopters, supporters,
and fans who keep the spirit of changing the
world for Wiems alive. This spirit was
recently felt through the support we received
when Willie, my foster, recently bloated.
It was a normal Saturday, doing errands,
tending to house work, and cooking dinner
when I noticed Willie pacing from one room
to another. I tried to comfort him, but he
seemed very uncomfortable. Willie had
started to salivate and become more
agitated. I took him outside where he began
to retch and try to vomit. I immediately
recognized these signs as bloat and called
our local vet clinic. There it was confirmed
by x-ray that Willie had bloated and possibly
had torsion of his stomach. Our local vet could
not perform the surgery, so I loaded up Willie
and made the 2 hour drive to Cedar Rapids, IA.
Yes, the closest place with a 24 hour
emergency animal hospital! We arrived with
the staff and surgeon waiting our arrival and
Willie in really good spirits. They were amazed
at his bright eyes, wiggly tail and easy going
demeanor. Willie’s blood work was still within
normal range, which meant he had a good
prognosis of making it through surgery. His
surgery was flawless as and well as his
recovery and Sunday night I brought him
home. Not every dog with bloat is a lucky
Willie story…bloat is one of the worst medical
emergency’s dogs can have. Recognizing the
symptoms and acting quickly is the only
chance of saving your pet.
A lot of things were against Willie that day, but
he has an angel. I think his angel is his forever
family, wherever they may be, waiting to adopt
this special, goofy, silly lucky Willie.
More info on Bloat
In all cases where there is the slightest suspicion
of bloat, take your dog to a veterinary hospital
immediately. Time is of the essence. Bloat is a
life-threatening emergency that affects dogs in the
prime of life. The mortality rate for gastric volvulus
approaches 50%. Bloat can occur in any dog at
any age, but typically occurs in middle-aged to
older dogs. Large-breed dogs with deep chests,
including Weimaraners, are anatomically
predisposed. Follow these recommendations to
decrease the likelihood of bloat occurring:
o Divide the day’s ration into three equal meals,
spaced well apart.
o Do not feed your dog from a raised food bowl.
o Never let your dog drink a large amount of
water all at once.
o Avoid strenuous exercise on a full stomach.
o Maintain your dog’s appropriate weight.
Willie, Mandy’s foster
Visit webmd.com or aspca.org
for more information on bloat.
Willie having his staples removed
a week after surgery.
Grey Ghost Gazette
Page 2 of 6
Important Highlights from Rescue Me Seminar
The second annual Rescue Me seminar was a great success. In all, there were 48 attendees from across Iowa and
Minnesota with representatives from area humane shelters, breed rescues, training clubs, and Iowa State students. We were
fortunate to have had a great panel of expert presenters: Chelse Wagner, CPDT from Dog’s Best Friend training facility out of
Madison, WI; Angela Tague Pet Behavior and Enrichment Coordinator for the Animal Rescue League of Iowa in Des Moines,
IA; Clint Knox, Trainer from Canine Craze in Urbandale, IA; Dr. Bianca Zaffarano and Dr. Alison Foster Iowa State
veterinarians.
We would like to share some ‘take home’ messages from the seminar.

Chelse Wagner on Body Language: Canine body language can be more easily
understood by looking at the body as parts (eyes, weight distribution, mouth) and
understanding what each individual signal communicates. I encourage everyone to
observe their own dogs (take pictures, videos) and watch other dogs (friends’ dogs,
videos on Youtube) to continue to observe body language.

Chelse Wagner on Body Handling: Dogs give signals to warn and avoid conflict. Avoid
punishing/correcting a dog who is giving a warning signal. (One caveat to this rule: you
may need to step in/body block/give verbal correction between two of your own dogs
who warn, but quickly go to fighting. Have a professional trainer help you make this
decision.) If a warning signal is given (or stress signal such as yawning, lip licks, etc.)
before the dog becomes reactive: try to diffuse the situation or get your dog out of the
situation. Next, use this information to form a proactive training plan to help your dog
with whatever triggered his warning or stress.
Chelse Wagner

Chelse Wagner on the Reactive Dog: Dogs use reactivity (barking, lunging, growling) to create distance between
themselves and a trigger. Dogs may also use reactivity to get a trigger to stop moving so they can come and gather
information (sniff/observe). Through proactive and positive reinforcement training, reactive dogs can progressively
handle a trigger in a non-reactive way because they feel more relaxed and can remain in their ‘thinking brain.’

Clint Knox on Clicker Training: Clicker training knocks down the communication barrier we have with our dogs. By
using the clicker as a training tool, you can communicate with your dog more clearly and teach him faster. A lot of you
are probably using a conditioned reinforcement of "Yes" or "Good Dog." The clicker is the same thing but sends a
much clearer message to the dog. The order with training is very important. When done in the correct order, you can
eliminate food and the clicker as training progresses. Remember, the dog has to offer you a behavior first- you click
to mark the behavior and then reach into the bag to reward (behavior, click, reward). Having food out first or dangling
it front of the dog is luring, and this is a double-edged sword; it works great, but only when the lure is present.
Remove the food and the dog will not do the behavior. The dog should learn to offer the behavior because the
behavior, and the choice the dog makes, is rewarding. If you're going to spend time training the dog, try to use the
clicker so the dog will retain more of the information.

Canine Nutrition: Just as seen in the human population, an increasing
number of our pets are becoming overweight or obese which leading to
health problems and an early death. Many of our assumptions regarding
canine nutrition are based on myths. For example:
o Corn is bad for dogs (when processed it is highly digestible
and is a god source of protein).
o A holistic diet is better for our dogs (there are no government
regulations that define a holistic diet)

Clint Knox
Diet foods are necessary for weight loss (protein is key in a weight
loss program).
Page 3 of 3
Grey Ghost Gazette
Success Story – Mya
We lost our first and only Weim, a male named Charlie, at the ripe old age of
14 ½ last July. My husband and I had both just retired and to be honest, after
working full time our whole lives while raising four kids and a Weim – we were
kind of looking forward to being footloose and fancy-free for the first time in
35 years. We had no intention whatsoever of getting another dog! Charlie,
although he was obviously fading, was in good health and was our constant
shadow right up until the very end. We were ready, we knew we would lose
him soon, and we were prepared to move on.
WELL! No one told me how quiet the house would suddenly be. I never really
thought about how much of my day I spent talking to the dog. I found myself
wondering what the point of our big fenced-in yard was now. And why even have
a fireplace if you don’t have a dog to sleep in front of it?! Within a few days, I
was sneaking onto the computer late at night and searching through Petfinder,
tears pouring down my face. I felt so guilty! Charlie had just died and here I was,
already looking at a replacement. But I kept looking. I knew I didn’t want to start
with a puppy again, but beyond that all I knew was that I was thinking of a small
dog. When I finally broached the subject to my husband, we talked and talked
and tossed around all possible scenarios. Should we or shouldn’t we? Chuck
finally ended it by saying that if I was sure this is what I wanted to do, it was
okay by him – but he did not want one of those yappy little dogs. If we were
going to get another dog, it needed to be another Weimaraner!
Nobody needed to tell me that twice; I was off to Petfinder again! Last August, when I typed in a Minneapolis zip code looking for a
Weim, Mya’s picture was the first to pop up. I’m sure my breath caught when I looked at her picture because she looked so much like
Charlie -- if he had had a spunky, feisty little sister, it would have been Mya! Plus, she was gorgeous and 30 pounds smaller than
Charlie. This seemed too good to be true! We got our application in right away and said we were interested in Mya. Director Mandy,
who happened to be fostering her, soon called.
Okay, so Mya had some issues. She “screamed,” Mandy said, when she didn’t get her way … threw temper tantrums. We are
teachers, we have four kids, this did not scare us. We drove to Decorah to meet Mya, and we were sold! But now, we had to be out
of town for a couple of weeks, due to commitments that couldn’t be changed. We had to wait and just hope that no one else adopted
Mya in the meantime. Then, there was the question of what was best for Mya. Would she be happy as an only dog? Were we the
right people for her?
By this time, I was basically stalking Mandy. I think she decided to let us have Mya, in the end, in order to save on her
already limited free time and her phone bill! But you know what? It all worked! We are SO admiring and in awe of the entire Iowa
Weimaraner Rescue organization, from beginning to end. It is because of the hours and hours volunteers spend that we now have a
beautiful, intelligent, loveable Weim that we adore. The time taken to figure out what makes each dog tick and what environment will
be best for them, really pays off. The articles and ideas of what to do with Mya when we got home were so helpful. We are on the
IWR website and Twitter feed almost every day, again getting so much useful information.
Do some of our doors have marks on them from where Mya has gotten
anxious and scratched? Does she sometimes help “wash” dishes left on the
counter? Did she gobble up the Cheerios that I was going to eat in the car on
our way to dog class this morning while I ran back to get my sunglasses? Oh,
yeah. But all those things can be fixed or replaced. We are just so happy to
have a walking partner again, a pal to go to the dog park with, a living clock
that lets us know every day when it’s getting close to 5:30, just in case we’re
forgetting feeding time. In other words, we are happy that we made the
decision to get another Weimaraner and happy that we stumbled on IWR just
when we did.
Charlie taught us the skills needed to live with a Weim, and we feel there is
nothing better we can do to honor his memory than to put those skills to good
use by loving another Weim. From the moment we first saw her picture, Mya
was the one for us, and she is proving to be everything we had hoped …
spunky, feisty, a bit brazen, and a real character. We are thrilled with her,
and she lets us know that she’s pretty happy here, too!
-
Charles & Susan Olson
Grey Ghost Gazette
Page 4 of 6
Training Tip – A Story about Kennel Training
Do you think crates are cruel? Do you swear you’ll never put your dog in “jail?”
Read the story of a family with a new dog.
The family swore "crates are cruel," and maintained "we will never put our
dog in prison." Weeks passed, and the family took their new dog to the
emergency clinic for removal of a dish towel. They never even noticed the
towel was missing, and the dog almost died. The family still maintained
that "crates are cruel,” We'll make her space in the kitchen smaller.
A month or so later, the family took the dog back to the emergency clinic.
The dog’s mouth was torn up and he required surgery for removal of
slivers from chewing the gate and kitchen cupboards while family was in
town. The family was still convinced that "crates are cruel.” They said, “We
will have a steel gate installed - in the kitchen.” Are you tabulating the
dollars yet, let alone the trauma to the dog and the kids, with two
emergency surgeries and hiring a custom carpenter to replace the
destroyed kitchen cabinets?
Almost a year later, the same family was back at the vet with a brand new
dog. The first dog was electrocuted by chewing the cord to the microwave
after pushing the cart aside to reach - they suspect - a bit of food dropped
behind, exposing the cord, which the dog thought was a nice new "toy.”
This time . . . the family said "Please, tell us how to use a crate!"
“Used properly, a crate is an
effective short-term tool for
managing and training your dog.”
-
The American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has a
great article on how to crate train your dog. http://www.aspca.org/Petcare/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-articles/weekend-crate-training
Weimarunner 5K
Saturday, June 29, 2013 8:00am & 8:30 am
Raccoon River Park · 2500 Grand Avenue West Des Moines, IA
This is the second year for this
fundraiser event for the Iowa
Weimaraner Rescue. We will host two
races on Saturday morning. Both 5k's
will be timed. We will have the first
group of JUST runners take off at 8am.
The second group will be
runners/walkers and their dogs taking
off at 8:30am. Any breed is welcome!
We'll have music to start you on your
way and bring you in to the finish.
Water stations will be set up at each
mile around the lake, snacks and an
awards ceremony at the end.
Visit www.iowaweimrescue.org to
learn more about the race and register.
Weekend Crate Training,
ASPCA.org
Page 5 of 3
Grey Ghost Gazette
Dogs Available for Adoption
Visit iowaweimrescue.org for more details on these dogs and to learn more about our rescue!
Bradley, 4 years old
Willie is a 5-year-old male Weim. He is a rather large and
handsome dog. Willie is searching for a forever family that can
provide a calm, stable, and structured environment. He tends to be
on the excitable side when great things happen (like car rides,
company coming to the door, preparing for my daily walks, and at
feeding time). His foster mom works with him daily on these things,
and she am proud to say that he has most of them mastered.
Williie is house and crate trained, and knows many basic
commands (he attend formal dog training classes and was s rock
star at class!) Treats are the key to his heart and he will politely
obey your commands when you offered food. Willie has been
living peacefully an indoor cat, and would prefer a home where
there are no young children. Will LOVES belly rubs, neck
scratches and ear massages, but shys away from having his back
and sides rubbed. Willie does have allergies and is on a special
food that is made out of duck and potatoes. His new family will
need to monitor his skin closely. Willie am a quirky Wiem with lots
of love to give his perfect forever family. Willie is the dog featured
in the Message from the Director article on page one. Willie is
fostered in Decorah, IA and his adoption fee is $150.00.
Willie, 5 years old
Ace is a 1-1/2-year-old silver male Weim who is full of love! Ace was born with a defect to his
front left leg. He has limited movement of the elbow and wrist but still uses the leg as if nothing
is wrong with it. At first Ace’s foster family treated him like he was handicapped, but believe
them, he will change your mind quickly! Ace's leg does not affect his attitude in the slightest
and he is full of spunk. Ace was raised in an outdoor kennel until he came into rescue; he has
since transitioned to living in a home very well. Ace is house trained and knows the commands:
sit, stay, come, off, and no. He is working on the “down” command, and off-leash recall. Ace is
great to have in the house, spending 90% of his time playing with his toys and wrestling with his
foster brother. He gets along great with other dogs and he will need to go to a home where
there is at least one other dog. Ace has not lived with cats and has had experience with children
age 12 and above. Ace has some separation anxiety and he takes an inexpensive anti-anxiety
medication daily. His forever home will need a constant human presence (someone who is
retired, works from home, owns a home business or someone who can take him to work with
them). Ace does not like to be crated when no one is home and can be destructive when left at
large. He truly is a wonderful Weim, who loves people, doggy day care and being active. Ace is
fostered in Waterloo, IA and his adoption fee is $250.00
Ace, 1.5 years old
Wedge,
5 years old
Wedge is a handsome 6 year old weim who is quickly
adjusting to indoor life. He is very affectionate and loves
pretty much everyone he meets. He loves long walks at the
park but tends to pull so a gentle leader is a must. He needs
work on most manners but is a very quick learner and will do
just about anything for a treat. He’s currently working on sit,
down, stay, come and leave it. He’s not quite ready for his
forever home though but stay tuned for future updates! Wedge
is fostered in Des Moines, IA and his adoption fee is $150.00.
Contact Us:
Iowa Weim Rescue
906 W Pearl St.
Decorah, IA
E-MAIL:
Zoey,
5 years old
[email protected]
To submit info for this
newsletter or inquire about one
of our stories please contact
Sarah at
[email protected]
Blue,7 years-old
Meet Zoey, a lovable but timid five-year-old girl. This tends to make her cautious
when meeting new people, especially men. While she loves to romp and play
outdoors, she will quickly settle once back inside. She needs a family who will
commit to at least one good walk daily. Her off-leash recall is excellent. However,
Zoey has a high prey drive, so a home without small animals would be best. She
does well with older kids, but has not been exposed to young children. Her low
energy/activity level suggests that may work. Basic obedience training is a work
in progress. Zoey does not pull on-leash, making her a wonderful walking buddy.
She loves going for car rides. While she is crate trained, she does not like being
crated for extended periods of time. Zoey may be amenable to a home with
another dog (if it were a laid-back male that would allow her to have her own
space). Zoey is a true Velcro Weim. She needs a home that can provide her with
time and patience to help her become confident. Zoey is fostered near the Des
Moines area and her adoption fee is $150
Blue is a 7-year-old, 70 pound gray male. He is a very sweet and obedient boy. He is house
trained, and when he wants to go outside he will put his paw on your lap. Blue is well
behaved, calm, sleeps on a dog bed at night, and he is quiet indoors (but will let you know
when someone is at the door). Blue loves to be with people, but he has had limited exposure
to other dogs. It is advised that Blue’s forever family be well versed in correct dog-to-dog
introductions, as he tends to be a bit fearful of other dogs initially. Blue loves to go on walks
and would make a nice running partner. Blue loves to play fetch with a ball indoors and out,
and when he is done playing, he will usually put the ball back in his toy box. Blue loves to be
outside with his family, but he doesn’t like being left outside. He is very gentle with children
and if he has played long enough will get up and take a nap in another room. Blue has
anxiety issues when placed in a crate, and he would do best in a family with someone who is
home most of the day, or where someone works from home. He continues to work on his
crate manners and has been trusted at large for short periods of time. Blue knows the
following commands: come, sit, stay, lay, shake, get it, find it, settle, wait, and leave it. He is
very eager to please and would love a family of his own. Blue is fostered in Ankeny, IA and
his adoption fee is $150.00.
Visit our website to learn more about all of the dogs that are available for adoption.
Also, find us on facebook (search for Iowa Weim Rescue) to see
additional photos and read more about our foster dogs.
www.iowaweimrescue.org