Finally summer has started in Belgium! Last weekend was really hot, 32°C at least, so we decided to enjoy the warmth and visit the Schipperke-Day at Beringen, organized by the Belgian SchipperkesClub (www.schipperke.be).

To keep Wookie cool, we got her wet using a hose that was installed there especially for the doggies. I think she actually liked it! Some pictures!

Wookie and I.

A totally wet Schipperke!

Shake-shake-shake!

Some three weeks ago we went on a trip to Disneyland Paris for three days. And even though I have to admit it really is “the happiest place on earth”, it isn’t for doggies… Actually I can understand: everything is so very very clean over there, you can eat off the floor everywhere.

In fact, you can take your dog to Disneyland Paris, he just can’t enter the parks. Right outside the entrance, they have a residence for pets. Every pet has its own separate spot, partly inside, partly outside. It will get food and water. You have to take it out yourself, but that’s not too much to ask if your friend can be near you.

I considered this option before leaving, but since we were staying in one of the Disneyland Hotels, we couldn’t really do that to Wookie. In the Hotels you can’t take your pet either, so that would mean that during the day she’d have to stay in the cage, and at night she’d have to sleep in the car. So we decided to let her visit my parents for a while…

Wookie got a great treat!

Sunday night before we left we took her over to my parents. She knows them all too well and is really fond of them. She wasn’t really alarmed, until we went out and left her there. She was a bit sad and angry, and sat and cried at the door for a while. But luckily my parents immediately started to play with her. We also bought her a great treat before we left, so the bitterness passed pretty quick.

My parents loved having her over. On the first night she was a bit nervous, but we brought all her toys and the bench she sleeps in at home too. That way she felt pretty comfortable soon, and she went to sleep like a baby. I think my parents got up before she did! She didn’t give my parents a hard time at all. In fact, I think they weren’t very keen on returning her to me… I should consider buying them a Schipperke…

What to do when you go on a trip but can’t take your dog?
Hopefully you know someone that will take care of your friend for a couple of days, friends or family. You better make sure that dog and temporary new owner are a bit used to each other, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises.
Nevertheless if you can’t count on someone you know, there are alternatives. PetsHotels are hotels for dogs where they will take care of your dog while you’re gone. They usually have cages partly inside and partly outside, so your dog can get some fresh air. They get food an water (usually the stuff you bring, so he has the chewies he likes). And they clean out the cage every day. Make sure you visit the petshotel where you’ll leave your friend, just to be sure. And trust me, it’s perfectly normal to feel your heart break when you leave your pet there… just remember that they’ll take good care of him and you’ll be getting him back, and you’ll both be super happy!!

Whether your dog stays with someone you know or in a hotel, it’s important to make him feel at ease. Take all its toys and its bench to sleep in (if it has one), and maybe a blanket that smells like ‘home’. Scents are really important to dogs. Maybe you can buy them a new toy for when you leave, so you won’t feel that guilty…

When it comes to going to Disneyland Paris with the dog: I guess there are hotels in the neighborhood that allow dogs. You’ll have to take it to the Disneyland Park Dogs Residence during the day, but at night at least it won’t be alone.

Every year lots of people leave their faithful friend behind when leaving for a vacation… Whatever you do: DON’T do that!! There are alternatives to leaving your dog behind! People who leave their dog are not worthy of any friendship at all! A dog can’t survive on its own: not only because it just can’t take care of itself, it just won’t live without your love… So don’t leave your friend to die! You need to plan a trip for at least two: even if your dog cannot join you.

The mad adventures in Wookie’s little life keep on coming! Even before I had time to explain about her trip to the seaside, I have to tell something else! Today, the 1st of May 2010, she was appointed best Schipperke puppy at the dog exposition in Antwerp, organized by K.V. Brabo!

Before you get all proud and happy and stuff, I have to admit that next to the best, she was also the only Schipperke pup to compete at this exposition. There was another Schipp, Gwendolyn van het Kumtichshof, but she was subscribed to the open class, for grown-ups. (A bit sad, isn’t it, for a Belgian breed, to have only 2 Schipperkes at the exposition…!)

I do have to admit that I’m actually very proud of her… Because she was the best Schipperke, she was able to participate in the circle of honor for pups at the end of the exhibition. In this final presentation, all the best dogs in the same category compete against each other. But we weren’t really in our place there… All the other dogs were trained to do dog shows like this. They didn’t seem tired, never tried to lie down or sit down, they stayed calm and stood there in any way their handler wanted them… It’s like they never did anything else in their life. All the other owners were rather bitchy towards each other… Wookie and I were just happy to be there!

Wookie and me in the circle of honor.

Of course we didn’t win best of all pups, but that hardly ever happens to a Schipperke. Schipps don’t need a lot of grooming and all, so if there are perfectly groomed dogs, you can practically already move towards the exit. Although, you never know. The judge might like small breeds, for example. It happened to Wookie’s father once!

Any way you look at it, no show is ever the same. A competition is always a bit subjective, and depends more or less on the judge you have to face. Either way, Wookie had a mad adventure today! She’s lying next to me in her sofa, while I’m in bed. I don’t know who’s tired the most! Haha!

Wookie is MY favorite! Don’t need a competition to know that!

Yes they can, although I’m not really an expert in that field. Wookie isn’t motion sick, she never was. Almost six months ago now (time flies!), we went to pick her up in Ghent, which is about an hour drive away from where we live. She was sitting on my lap, looking outside to other passing cars. At eight weeks she was already intrigued by traffic, putting her front paws against the window of the car to be able to see even better.

Last Sunday we went for a weekend at the Belgian coast. We booked a hotel for one night where we could take her – it’s not easy in Belgium to find hotels where dogs are welcome, no matter how small… Wookie now has a place in the backseat of our car. She weighs about 3,5 kg now (3,3 lbs) and that’s a bit too heavy to keep on your lap for about an hour… At first we feared that she wouldn’t like to move to the backseat, but she likes it there. She now has TWO windows! Haha! But when she’s very tired, she can lie down on a towel we keep in the back.

“I’m waitiiiiing…”

But, as said, we’re lucky to have a dog that’s not impressed by cars or gets car sick when we have to drive somewhere. A lot of dogs (Schipperkes, but also other breeds) tend to get travel sick on car trips. (As did our former dog, a Border Collie, that baptized my new car in the first week… luckily it was in the trunk, but still…) It’s not easy for a dog to keep standing on all four in a moving vehicle. And mostly dogs are quite enthusiastic when they get to join you to go outside, so they’re aroused, but at the same time they might not really like that big, noisy thing that takes them somewhere, they might be afraid of it. And what they see through the window doesn’t always match the movements of the car… They can’t interpret it the way we can.

There are different ways to help prevent motion sickness to some extent.
The younger you get the dog to like a car, the better of course. You can try to calm him down near the car to go play near it, or give the dog food next to the car. If you don’t give it too much to eat, you can go for a quick drive (no more than for example to the end of the street) while you keep playing and talking to it. That way it’ll associate the care with “great fun”, instead of “oh I’m going to get sick again”…
If your dog has a bench it uses as a “safe haven”, you can put that in the car. That way the dog might think of the car as a safe place too.
There are medical ways, you can ask your vet about them. There are pills, just like the ones they have for humans. And there are spays that spread pheromones, which is a certain scent mother-dogs omit in order to calm the pups.
I’ve read somewhere that a little piece of fresh ginger might work too…

No guarantees however, it seems to be that car sickness is different with every dog. While there are dogs that need to look outside all the time, there are dogs that do better lying down. Some need to eat before a car trip, with others you’ll definitely find the food in the car a bit later… You need to observe the dog very well and try to find a solution for yours.

Wookie however couldn’t be bothered with cars. She loves to drive. Whether she’s lying down, standing on her hind legs, or she’s sleeping at my feet on the passenger’s side, she’s always fine. I guess we’re lucky the breeders took them out for short drives when they were very small. All of them together in a laundry basket. Hehehe…

As said, we were going to the seaside. I’ll write about that later on!

Last Saturday we visited Wookie’s dog-mommy and dog-daddy in Ghent, where she comes from. We bought her from a breeder, Van de Moesdongen, who raised Wookie the first eight weeks in a very social way. She lived inside the house, not outside in a dog run or something. This means that she was used to all kinds of things you find inside the house: electricity cables, chairs, rugs, … all stuff that she wasn’t supposed to chew on. The breeders had four dogs of their own, and getting to know other dogs at a young age is very important in order to get your dog socialized enough.

Cobe van de Moesdongen & Eleni van het Kumtichshof.

Of course she wasn’t perfect when we got her at eight weeks. Accidents were bound to happen, because playing is so much more fun than running over to find the paper where she was supposed to do her thing on… And she did bite some things into pieces, like a cute keychain I had hanging from my bag… But I believe she was somewhat ahead of other pups the same age.

Her home-mates were three other Schipperkes (mom, dad and grandma from dad’s side) and one big Rottweiler-Dobermann mix… or something like that, because it was an abandoned pup they found somewhere along the road and they decided to keep it. It’s a real darling, size doesn’t matter! When Wookie was just a few weeks, she only saw her mom of course, but later on she played with all four friends around, and her little brothers and sisters.

Near the end of eight weeks you could really see that Wookie’s mom got tired of them. Five pups are rather heavy: they constantly fought for her attention, stole her food, and tried to get her toys… From a certain point onwards, a bitch usually doesn’t really “take care” of her pups anymore. Not that she wont defend them, but she believes them to be able to take care of themselves from then on.

Strange to see that Wookie and her parents don’t recognize each other anymore! From the moment we walked in, Wookie’s mom attacked her, as if to make clear from the start who’s boss around there. Eleni’s companions could play outside, but Wookie had to stay in, as if to say “don’t you dare to feel at home here”…

Eleni keeps an eye Wookie…

I was afraid that we’d have to keep an eye on them both all the time that afternoon. Eleni proved to be a rather dominant bitch, so we knew she’d take the lead. But Wookie has learned to give herself up, so after some growling and snapping, Wookie went down on her back, and everything seemed to be ok from then on.

 …but after a while they hug each other!

I think Schips are a bit racist. They only like to play with their own kind! I’ve never seen Wookie as happy as Saturday. Usually she likes to meet other dogs, but not really enthusiastically… She ran around the whole yard, she seemed unstoppable, she kept on running! Her mom and dad wanted to play to, they’re still young (I believe about 5 years). Grandma didn’t really like all that fuzz, she and the big dog went to lie down in the sunshine.

 Biiiiiiig yard!

We also know that they don’t recognize their daughter anymore because of the fact that after some four hours of playing, Cobe seemed to get indecent interest in Wookie…! We didn’t take any chances and went home… the poor fellow! Haha!
Apparently a mix of father and daughter isn’t necessarily bad. A mix of brother and sister on the other hand is a very bad idea. But anyway, it’s still a bit early!

Soon Wookie will be jugded at the Antwerp Dogshow. The breeder believes she’s growing up to be a very nice Schip, and her chances in Antwerp are really good. Wookie’s dentals are perfect, she only needs to be ok with standing on a table. I’ll tell you more soon about her first Dogshow in Ghent last February!

We had a great sunny afternoon, and we took a very very tired doggy back home with us. We believe she had great fun too!

Maybe it’s a good thing that I didn’t immediately tell the public dog run story. It would have been a rather sad story, because she really didn’t like the place at all…

A dog run is a public spot where dogs can socialize with each other. We have one nearby our home, which is great for Wookie since we don’t have a yard. Dogs can be unleashed at a dog run, so they can play off leash without restrictions. In Belgium you’re obliged to keep your dog on a leash at all time in public places normally, so more and more public dog runs are created. It can be a great place, if every owner looks after his dog and keeps the place clean.

Wookie at the dog run.

Anyway, however great the place is, although it’s size is bigger than ten yards in our neighborhood, Wookie hated going there. At three months we took her there for the first time. She was the smallest of the visitors present, and she immediately had lots of fans. Other owners were curious about the breed – Schips aren’t that known in Belgium although it’s originally a Belgian breed! The other dogs found her interesting too, they were surprised to see a little rascal running around. Most dogs at the run are Labrador Retrievers or Border Collies. Her wet-nosed friends wanted to sniff, but they all seemed to scare her. Wookie constantly hid between our legs and even snapped at dogs that came too close to her…

We were a bit surprised, because she actually grew up with a big dog. The breeders we got her from owned a big Rottweiler. Wookie and her four brothers and sisters enjoyed annoying the hell out of that poor old good boy… They teased and ran around until the big dog growled, then of course they would run and hide…!

At the dog run she just ran away, which wasn’t such a great idea, because to the other dogs this was like a tag game…

Fortunately we kept on going to the dog run with her. We though that it was very important that she’d get to know other dogs, and adjust her behavior towards them instead of just running or hiding behind me. She is rather bossy and it’s important that she learns she can’t always make up the rules! (Although I must admit it sometimes broke my heart… She can howl rather sadly…)

Things changed some three days ago. She really enjoys running around over there now. She learned to lie on her back if she gets dominated instead of trying to fight a bigger dog off. She sniffs her friends, and they can sniff too. She doesn’t get mad anymore if another dog comes closer. And she’s making friends! (She’s 5 months now, maybe she’ll be in heat any time soon, maybe that can explain her sudden change in behavior at the park…? Not really sure, should read into it some more first!)

Meeting a Jack Russel!

Schipps are a rather small breed, but that doesn’t mean they’re “small” in attitude towards their humans and towards other dogs. It’s important that you get them social, and the only way to do that is to take her out to places where they can discover new things. Even though they might look scared at first, even though they can get into something that looks like a “fight”. Dogs try to make up who’s boss when they meet, they might jump each other or even try to bite, but they’re not going to kill each other. Best is to let this pass. Especially if you’re taking a pup: one way or other dogs “sense” it’s a puppy, so they’ll show it who’s boss but without too much trouble.

You should really keep up, they’ll thank you for it afterwards… you know, that thankful smile when they’re sleeping at home afterwards. I wonder if she dreams about her new friends…?

Wookie dreaming sweet dreams… <3

It’s been quiet for a while on this blog, mostly caused by all kinds of renovations in my apartment.

After Newyear we started in the kitchen. I was so very happy when they told me that in a day everything would be arranged. You are of course willing to forget the weeks before the actual installation, when you have to demolish your old kitchen on your own. Consequence: dust flying around, falling down everywhere it can, lots of noise and pieces of kitchen everywhere (the hall and especially the balcony looked like a dumpster…). The morning Ikea came to install everything, they found out that the guy who came to check whether everything fitted into the little space we had, didn’t do such a good job… The kitchen on the map didn’t fit… That’s when it starts for real: you go back to get the good pieces, but they’re not in stock, so you have to wait three weeks, … One day became approximately two months…
I don’t want to complain about Ikea and their kitchens though, it’s really nice stuff, couldn’t have got it anywhere else for that price. Nevertheless I missed the guys from “Extreme Home Makeover” a lot!!

And after that I started working on our home office which needed redecorating. And then the sleeping room. And the balcony. And all sorts of closets. Once I start I find it difficult to stop apparently…

Either way, Wookie still lives with me and she’s doing fine. She’s a happy chappy, but she has grown up so very quickly! She’s starting to look like a real Schipperke. First of all her muzzle started to change: she used to have a little bear’s nose, but now a larger, longer dog’s muzzle grew there. Then she lost all her puppy-hair, making place for a harder top coat and a softer, fuzzier undercoat. She’s even developed a real Schipperke-collar! Her baby-teeth have gone too, but I didn’t mind that so much, because the small ones are really sharp! You should have seen my hands! Now she has bigger but more rounded teeth. I even found three of her baby-teeth that fell out whilst playing. Very cute…

See how big I got?!

You’ll read more about Wookie’s reaction on the change in her environment (she used to sleep in the kitchen) and her new looks in a short while!

Wookie and I would like to wish you all a very happy 2010!

Although we’re rather young and we like a good party now and then, we opted to stay at home this year. It’s the consequence of having a young puppy at home. We had a little party at home, with good food, good wine and a great view at the fireworks outside.

The reason I wanted to stay at home, was that I thought that Wookie might be afraid of the sound the fireworks made. My previous dog became very impatient when it heard loud noises, like thunder or pops like those at new year’s eve. We were never at ease that night, because Goofy would get very scared and try to hide anywhere from the sounds.

But luckily, Wookie couldn’t care less. All over Antwerp fireworks could be seen and heard, but she just played all night. When they started shooting arrows, she was actually sleeping. After the third arrow she opened one eye, and when we walked out to take a look on the balcony she followed us for a moment. But it seemed a bit too cold so she just went in again and played with her toys inside.

The breeders tried to get them used to loud noises, by firing a gun somewhere outside to see the pup’s reactions. They used to look up, but when they noticed their parents being at ease, they didn’t really make much of it. That’s probably why Antwerp’s fireworks didn’t really impress her much.

We did actually like it very much – my apartment is on the thirteenth floor, so I did have a pretty nice view!

It snowed on the third day in the new year, and since yesterday was my last day of vacation, we decided to take a walk with her. And although it was very cold, Wookie liked it very much! She even liked her walk better than a few days ago, when the park was all smudgy and muddy. She sniffed around, and liked it a lot!

Wookie really looks adorable in the snow, doesn’t she?

When we got home, she decided to take a nap to get warm again. I dried her paws, they felt very cold, but she didn’t seem to care on the walk.

I started working again now, so hopefully she won’t forget about me while I’m at work…

Yeah! Wookie is finally home! Eight weeks seem to take forever when you’re waiting… We’re really grateful to the breeder for letting us visit so often…

We went to pick her up Wednesday the 23th of December, as to give her some time to get to know our home before the busy days around Christmas. She’s been a very good doggy in the car on the way home. Things outside seemed very interesting, she climbed on my arm to be able to look out the window even!

At home, everything was like a playground to her, of course… Especially the Christmas tree… She really liked the ornaments down below, but when you find her trying to catch them you must reprimand her, although it really was kind of cute… Funny thing is we bought her dozens of toys but those didn’t seem as interesting as our tree, the blankets on the couch or some of the surround system’s cables… In the mean time she’s starting to learn what’s hers and what’s ours, and she sticks to her stuff now…

Going to sleep was another obstacle we had to overcome. We had a little bench and the idea was to keep that bench in our sleeping room, to give her the feeling that she wasn’t alone. After half an hour of whining, she went to sleep, only to be up at five, some four hours later… and I hate mornings… a lot… The second night was even worse, she cried as if someone was killing her… And again, at five o’clock, “rise and shine you guys, I’m awake, here me?!”… We decided to give her a new place to sleep in the kitchen, ‘cause there really wasn’t much progress… But she likes the kitchen it seems, she’s been quiet for two nights now. I think she’s more comfortable with it because she used to sleep in the kitchen at the breeder’s too. She’s very happy to see us in the morning however!

After nine weeks, Wookie already is housebroken. Again, we have to thank the breeder for putting so much effort in teaching Wookie and her brothers and sisters all these little things. She does her thing on the newspaper we put out, and we’ll keep a dog’s box as we live in an apartment. It’s a good idea to keep a safety net in case of emergencies.

Today we went to the park. Wookie didn’t like the leash at all! At first she was really terrified, she wouldn’t move and looked pretty scared… But once she was at the park, things worked out fine. We’ll try a little walk every day from now on, just to get her used to it.

Anyway, she’s adorable, we really love her… Apart from biting our fingers and sleeping, she loves to play with foxie, one of the toys we got her before she arrived.

I think Wookie’s the best Christmas gift ever…!

So, Wookie is a Schipperke. But what’s a Schipperke?

It looks like this:

The Schipperke in the picture above is Cobe van de Moesdongen, Wookie’s father.

As you can see in the picture, Cobe doesn’t have a tail. Nowadays, all Schipperkes bred in Belgium have a tail, since docking is prohibited since 2006 due to the ratification of the European Convention for the Protection of Pet Animals. The Schipperke’s tail is rather long, and it’s worn in a curl on the back of their back. Usually docking had a reason: either practically or esthetically. In the Schipperke’s case, the former is correct. A tail is somewhat a weak point, another animal can bite it.

The Schipperke’s history is not to be found on the water, as it’s name may suggest, but in the cities. The word “Schipperke” has long been mistaken for “little sailor”, the literal meaning in Dutch. Later on was discovered that Schipperke actually meant “little sheepdog”, “scheperke” in Dutch, but mispronounced, leading to the mix-up. The Schipperke is indeed the littlest sheepdog in the world.

As said, Schipperkes are Belgians, and their known history goes back to the 17th century. The Schipperke was typical of Brussels, it lived amongst the people and it was especially popular with leather workers. They used their Schipperke to show off their craftsmanship by making them brass or leather collars.
Also, Schipperkes were sometimes used as vermin catchers in the fields, because they are very fast and nimble animals.

These little guys do have a big ego however. They love to pretend they’re big, and they’re very active. Schipperkes notice everything, and when they think something’s going on, they immediately intervene one way or another. As a guard dog they can be interesting too, since they don’t hesitate to bark if something seems wrong. They don’t really like strangers, but if a Schipperke is socialized the way it should, they won’t get aggressive. You can always try and make it less nervous, but I’m almost certain you won’t be able to turn it into a lap dog!

Schipperkes have a black double coat. Underneath the stiff upper layer there is a fuzzy undercoat. Schipperkes need grooming almost daily, especially when they’re shedding their coat. They loose their undercoat two times a year, resulting in loose hairs in the upper layer.

Schipperkes are friends for life. They usually get about 13 to 15 years old.