Aw, bummer Pac. How old is she?
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Dawgluver
Chef Extraordinaire
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Oh no, so sorry, Pac. It's so hard to let them go.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
I'm sorry, Pac. I know how hard it is.
Aw, sorry Pac.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Each 4-H chapter specializes in a certain field. Either cooking, sewing, horses, dairy, swine, it all depends. I worked mostly with farm kids. I had one girl that delivered her bull and raised it from birth. She sold it at the Fair for more than $10,000. She came running back to the dorm sobbing her eyes out. The man that bought it removed it immediately from the Fair grounds. She didn't even get to say goodbye to it. He had the sperm count tested before buying it and made the offer when he got the results. Her father told her to sell. I will never forget that bull. She called it Baby Boy. What a misnomer! It was one huge Black Angus.
Our 4-H group didn't specialize. We each had our own thing to do and this was encouraged. My sister did artwork, I did leather working and sewing, even did a year with a heifer. Some did dairy cows, some sheep, some pigs. Mom taught the cooking and sewing component, Dad did the leatherwork and small engines. I learned how to judge cooking and sheep. Our group was very diverse.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
I like groups like that. You learn so much from each other. I had one girl who nicked her sheep with her clipping shears. She was getting ready for show and the wool had signs of blood. So I had my trusty spool of white thread and a packet of very pointy needles and sewed the poor thing up with blind stitches. Then I had to tell her how to get the blood out of the wool. No one ever saw the stitches.
I had a couple of kids that had a breed of sheep that are born without external ears. So many of the public accused the kids of cutting their ears off like you would dock a dog's tail. I finally had to have the sign shop make up a large sign for the public to read that this breed of sheep are born without ears. That in no way were these sheep harmed by the members of 4-H. A lot of the folks would argue with the kids when they tried to explain. Some were brought to tears. (Idiot people!)
Cheryl J
Chef Extraordinaire
I'm so sorry, pac.
I hope she has some quality time left with you. I know how hard that is.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
I think that used to be true when more families lived on farms, but the program has changed as society has changed.
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
It's sort of similar; we also have Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, which are private sex-segregated organizations with dues, uniforms, etc. 4-H is a program the Cooperative Extension Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and open to anyone age 5-18 (I think). The Cooperative Extension Service was created by Congress 100 years ago as a way to extend to communities the research results of the land-grant universities (every state has one) established in the late 1800s to conduct research into agriculture and animal husbandry. That's still the basic mission, although programs have expanded into home gardening, personal finance, and other more modern topics. The Master Gardener program is also a program of the Cooperative Extension Service.
For more info, here's Virginia's Cooperative Extension Service main page: Program Areas - Home - Virginia Cooperative Extension
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Mad Cook
Master Chef
That sounds an excellent set up
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
MC, we also have FFA. Future Farmers of America. The kids are taught in the public schools all about farming. They don't have leaders as such. The classes are usually for ten through grade 12 students. When I worked the Fair with the 4-H kids, toward the last five days of the Fair, the FFA students would come in with their animals. These kids attended the Fair with out a Leader or Supervisor. They are on their own. You could tell the difference between the FFA kids and the 4-H kids. The only supervision I had over them was that they had to be in the dorm by 10 p.m. That is when the doors got locked. And considering that there were about 100 men wandering the grounds cleaning and performing other duties, if there was a knock I didn't open the door. But I would report the missing girl(s) the next morning and they had to leave the grounds with their animals.
Let just one or two girls get sent home, and the lesson reverberated throughout the whole dorm. Any ribbons their animals may have won, would also come with money. And that money was their feed money for the coming winter. So since they couldn't feed the animal during the winter months, they had to sell their animal. Hard lesson for them to learn. But they remembered it next year when they returned.
I loved working with farm kids. They are so responsible. I never had to wake up the dairy kids. They knew when 4 a.m. rolled around. And they were out in the barns getting their animals ready for milking.
Quick story....
The State Governor was coming to the Fair for a visit. To try to remember who had to be waken at 4 or 5, or 6 or 7, with 200 kids in the dorm was almost impossible. So for the 4 a.m. kids I tied a piece of toilet paper on the right top side of their bunk. For the 5 a.m. kids, the left top side, and so forth on the bottom of the bunk for the other two times.
The Governor comes into the dorm and wanted to know why the toilet paper party. I had also just covered the whole dorm with sawdust in preparation of sweeping the whole dorm. I am sure you know what can be tracked in on the boots. The poor Director of 4-H was mortified. But once I explained the reason for the toilet paper, I later got a note from the Director thanking me for being so gracious. The next year they had ready for me a whole bunch of four different colored ribbons for the bunks.
Let just one or two girls get sent home, and the lesson reverberated throughout the whole dorm. Any ribbons their animals may have won, would also come with money. And that money was their feed money for the coming winter. So since they couldn't feed the animal during the winter months, they had to sell their animal. Hard lesson for them to learn. But they remembered it next year when they returned.
I loved working with farm kids. They are so responsible. I never had to wake up the dairy kids. They knew when 4 a.m. rolled around. And they were out in the barns getting their animals ready for milking.
Quick story....
The State Governor was coming to the Fair for a visit. To try to remember who had to be waken at 4 or 5, or 6 or 7, with 200 kids in the dorm was almost impossible. So for the 4 a.m. kids I tied a piece of toilet paper on the right top side of their bunk. For the 5 a.m. kids, the left top side, and so forth on the bottom of the bunk for the other two times.
The Governor comes into the dorm and wanted to know why the toilet paper party. I had also just covered the whole dorm with sawdust in preparation of sweeping the whole dorm. I am sure you know what can be tracked in on the boots. The poor Director of 4-H was mortified. But once I explained the reason for the toilet paper, I later got a note from the Director thanking me for being so gracious. The next year they had ready for me a whole bunch of four different colored ribbons for the bunks.
Thanks guys.
She's a little over 11. Getting around today same as usual for her age. My friend told me there's a lumbar/spine thing GSD's are predisposed to when they get older and arthritus sets into the spine. I'm pretty sure that's what she has.
She's a little over 11. Getting around today same as usual for her age. My friend told me there's a lumbar/spine thing GSD's are predisposed to when they get older and arthritus sets into the spine. I'm pretty sure that's what she has.
Addie
Chef Extraordinaire
Pac, I knew a cop that had an all white GSD except for the pitch black saddle on his back. It was a K-9 dog and I fell in love with him. (The dog, not the cop!) I hadn't seen him for a couple of months and I ran into his wife. I asked about the dog. She told me he had come down with severe hip dysplasia and had to be put to sleep. I started to cry right there on the street. So I can understand how you are feeling at this moment. I fail to understand how vets can do this for a living.
Pac, I knew a cop that had an all white GSD except for the pitch black saddle on his back. It was a K-9 dog and I fell in love with him. (The dog, not the cop!) I hadn't seen him for a couple of months and I ran into his wife. I asked about the dog. She told me he had come down with severe hip dysplasia and had to be put to sleep. I started to cry right there on the street. So I can understand how you are feeling at this moment. I fail to understand how vets can do this for a living.
Violet has the worst case of hip displacia our (previous long-time) vet has every seen. We were warned about it at 6 months but didn't have the $4,000 per leg to fix it then. They put her on glucosamine and said that she may have arthritis in her later years. She is 10 now. Four years ago she was acting like she was in pain so they took x-rays. Her sockets are worn away and her ball joints are jagged and separated from the socket buy a lot. The only thing keeping her walking is the incredible muscle structure that comes from the boxer side of her. The vet dubbed her "Violet the Wonder Dog" and uses the x-rays to show other dog owners the "worst-case scenario". Our new vet (because we moved and Violet hates long car rides) wouldn't believe it was that bad...until he took new x-rays last month. She is on heavy medication for the arthritis (just like her "Mom"), and we know it is just a matter of time as we will not let her go on once she is lame - Violet is an active dog and she can't go for her walk/runs, she will not be happy. I know that may sound heartless, but I think you all know how I feel about my girl. It will be a hard decision to make, but it will be purely out of love. In the meantime she has a very full and good life. She is laying across my feet letting me know she is there....even though treat time is still 40 minutes away!
jabbur
Master Chef
Our 11 year old shepherd/border collie mix is getting weak in the legs. He's having trouble getting up and down and drags the one leg often. He's also diabetic. Not sure how much longer we'll have him. There are times when DH or the son will have to pick him up to get him standing especially on the tile floor. I can't do it since he's close to 100 lbs. Last night he wouldn't eat his supper but ate enthusiastically this morning. I worry when he doesn't eat giving him his insulin. I have a glucometer but have never been successful getting a blood sample from his ear.
Dawgluver
Chef Extraordinaire
- Joined
- Apr 12, 2011
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Sorry to hear that, LP and Jabbur. Older dogs are the best.
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Pac, I knew a cop that had an all white GSD except for the pitch black saddle on his back. It was a K-9 dog and I fell in love with him. (The dog, not the cop!) I hadn't seen him for a couple of months and I ran into his wife. I asked about the dog. She told me he had come down with severe hip dysplasia and had to be put to sleep. I started to cry right there on the street. So I can understand how you are feeling at this moment. I fail to understand how vets can do this for a living.
That is a main part of the reason the suicide rate is so high among vets.
Mad Cook
Master Chef
That would be an excellent idea over here. So many farmers' children go on the university and jobs outside farming whereas years ago they'd go into the business when they left school. There are agricultural colleges but Uni and a law degree or medicine or whatever are more enticing to modern youth. There are a number of giant (by our standards) farms owned by conglomerates but a lot of farms, particularly in the hills, are small one-man-and-a-dog operations.MC, we also have FFA. Future Farmers of America. The kids are taught in the public schools all about farming. They don't have leaders as such. The classes are usually for ten through grade 12 students. When I worked the Fair with the 4-H kids, toward the last five days of the Fair, the FFA students would come in with their animals. These kids attended the Fair with out a Leader or Supervisor. They are on their own. You could tell the difference between the FFA kids and the 4-H kids. The only supervision I had over them was that they had to be in the dorm by 10 p.m. That is when the doors got locked. And considering that there were about 100 men wandering the grounds cleaning and performing other duties, if there was a knock I didn't open the door. But I would report the missing girl(s) the next morning and they had to leave the grounds with their animals.
Let just one or two girls get sent home, and the lesson reverberated throughout the whole dorm. Any ribbons their animals may have won, would also come with money. And that money was their feed money for the coming winter. So since they couldn't feed the animal during the winter months, they had to sell their animal. Hard lesson for them to learn. But they remembered it next year when they returned.
I loved working with farm kids. They are so responsible. I never had to wake up the dairy kids. They knew when 4 a.m. rolled around. And they were out in the barns getting their animals ready for milking.
Quick story....
The State Governor was coming to the Fair for a visit. To try to remember who had to be waken at 4 or 5, or 6 or 7, with 200 kids in the dorm was almost impossible. So for the 4 a.m. kids I tied a piece of toilet paper on the right top side of their bunk. For the 5 a.m. kids, the left top side, and so forth on the bottom of the bunk for the other two times.
The Governor comes into the dorm and wanted to know why the toilet paper party. I had also just covered the whole dorm with sawdust in preparation of sweeping the whole dorm. I am sure you know what can be tracked in on the boots. The poor Director of 4-H was mortified. But once I explained the reason for the toilet paper, I later got a note from the Director thanking me for being so gracious. The next year they had ready for me a whole bunch of four different colored ribbons for the bunks.
Mad Cook
Master Chef
11 is a good age for a GSD. They reckon 10 as average and a lot don't make that.
A lot of the spinal and hip problems are down to generations of breeding for showing so that the rear end is carried low on bent back legs. They are (supposed to be) routinely tested for hip dysplasia (at least over here) but there are a lot of rogue breeders. And yours has diabetes too. Poor thing.
Mine was an unofficial rescue. She was abandoned as a puppy on a sheep farm near where I was working and I took her on when she was about 3 months old. She was a sweetheart but so many are bred and bought by people who want a dog to make them look tough. I used to take Vashti into the field across the road, where there was public access, and walk along the river. We used to meet a guy with a GSD who threatened me that if I wasn't careful about controlling my girl his dog would kill her. Vashti used to walk to heel off the leash and always came when called so what he was calling "out of control" I never found out. His dog, kept on a tight choke collar and very short leash and the poor thing, was clearly terrified of him.
A good GSD (or Alsatian, as they are sometimes still referred to in Britain) is great with children. When I was a little girl one of my uncles acquired a huge GSD. His name was Christmas because he came to my uncle on Christmas Day without a name. He was as patient as Job with us kids. We could curl up with him in his kennel for comfort when we were in trouble for being naughty, ride on his back, dress him in bonnets, you name it he'd put up with it even when one of my cousins toddled up to him, fell over and grabbed his tail to save himself. Sometimes, when we got a bit over enthusiastic, we made him yelp but he never snapped or growled at us BUT he was downright dangerous with men he didn't know! Women weren't a problem but men - heaven help them!
I think that GSD's are the dog most like a horse
I'd love to have another but, sadly, Horse was attacked and mauled by one before I bought him, with the result that he is still scared of them 15 years on. No amount of careful introductions have ever cured him of it. When he sees one, even 100 yards away, he freezes and won't go forward or back.We used to have a children's (?) serial on television called "The Littlest Hobo" about a wandering GSD. Anyone remember it? I used to cry every time it was on"
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