Just got a text from Ashley that Oscar won Best of Breed over the other Swissies at the Southern Maryland Kennel Club Dog Show. Over two million people lost power in DC, but somehow the dog show goes on.
The swissy is headed to Richmond, Virginia to take part in the Maryland Dog Shows. Confused? The shows used to be held outside in Maryland, but they got moved to an air conditioned indoor location this year. Last year as a puppy at those shows, Oscar took best of breed over the 2011 #2 & #3 greater swiss mountain dogs in the country with his handler Ashley. Oscar and David are hoping for a similar result this year.
A fun weekend of water skiing and banana boating was scheduled for me, but at the last minute, Oscar’s plan to participate in the dog show fell through. Unfortunately, the hotel that I was staying at does not allow dogs. Almost cancelling my plans on my birthday weekend, I thought of a great idea. What if I changed my weekend plans to one day instead of two days, send the swissy for consecutive sessions at his gym, and they watched him overnight? Perfect! I dropped Oscar off at Water4Dogs, the Equinox/New York Sports Clubs for dogs. He took his swimming lessons and stayed in a room that they made up for him. I figured he would be so tired from his workout that he would fall asleep as he usually does afterwards. The next morning he went for another swim session, and then I picked him up. Children go to camp over the summer, so why not a swissy?
Like most New Yorkers, Oscar prefers a shower instead of a bath. Ever since he was given a bath at home as a 10 week old puppy, Oscar The Grouch has lived up to his name, refusing to step into the bathtub. It is not an easy task to fit a 120 lb Greater Swiss Mountain puppy into a bathtub, especially when he will not even step foot into the bathroom. Oscar expertly uses all his weight pulling and wiggling skills to not get near the area.
Oddly enough, Oscar is okay with the hose, and will even try to catch the water in his mouth. As long as the weather is nice, the bathing situation works out. Watch below as Oscar gets shampooed and hosed outside of my friend’s house in Staten Island so that he could look his best for the dog show.
Oscar The Grouch is very grateful for this Father’s Day. Over the past few months, Oscar’s grandfather (David’s father) has been having heart issues. On Wednesday he had heart surgery, and the swissy is very happy that everything went well. There were many days during his puppyhood when Oscar stayed with his grandfather in Brooklyn, and they both would of been devasted if the surgery did not go well. Oscar looks forward to his grandfather’s release from the hospital once some post-surgery issues clear up.
Oscar The Grouch appears in this week’s AKC Weekly Winners Gallery showing off his Best of Breed win in his hometown of Long Island, NY. The AKC emails the Weekly Winners to over 100,000 dog show fanciers globally.
Some dogs would be content to just relax at the beach for the weekend. Not Oscar. On the drive home from the beach, Oscar & David stopped in for some sheep herding fun. Over the Christmas break, Oscar received several Sheep Herding lessons. Remembering his training, Oscar put the sheep in their place. Afterward he celebrated with two female Australian Shepherds who were cheering him on.
Sheep Herding is not just for swissies. Many dogs can enjoy doing it. The trainer we used is Chris Davies in the Delaware area.
During Oscar’s second day at Dewey beach, the swissy went for a nice run on the beach with his new friend Kody the Golden Retriever. On his way back to the beach house, Oscar dropped by the Starboard, a bar/restaurant that is known for their Sunday brunch, and picked up a Starboard dog collar as a souvenir.
Most New Yorkers head to the beach during Memorial Day weekend, as it signifies the beginning of summer. Oscar is no exception,
and joined David this weekend at Dewey Beach, which is on the Delaware Shore and about a three hour drive from NYC. Once he got in town, Oscar wasted little time and headed to the beach to watch a beautiful wedding and roll around in the sand. Then the Swissy took the scenic route back, walking by the bars and meeting new fans. Oscar is becoming so popular that people from NYC who were on vacation in Dewey Beach, shouted “that’s Oscar” to their friends.
If you are planning a dog friendly vacation, David and Oscar highly recommend going to Dewey Beach. This is one of the
few beach towns that allows dogs on the beach. Dewey Beach is like the Hamptons, but for the Virginia/DC/Maryland/Delaware area. If you decide to vacation there, be sure to say hello to the swissy!
Being a typical New Yorker, Oscar wanted to go the gym to get in shape for his upcoming summer dog shows. David, who used to be a personal trainer, knows that swimming is one of the best exercises. Oscar and David went to Water4Dogs, which is a water sports training center for dogs. Oscar’s trainer, John Larson did an amazing job teaching Oscar how to swim. He kept on reassuring Oscar that he could do it and within a few minutes, the swissy was swimming up a storm. Taking only a few breaks, Oscar got the workout of his life, building up muscle and burning calories on the first of his soon to be weekly swimming lessons.
If you live in NYC, I highly recommend Water4Dogs. They have a social swim, so you may see Oscar The Grouch, greater swiss mountain dog there.
For a video of Oscar doing the swissy swim:
Oscar The Grouch goes Best of Breed over other Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs at the Dog Show today in Oyster Bay, Long Island (at Planting Fields Arboretum). If you live in the area, Oscar will be showing in the working group at about 3pm today. Help cheer this Swissy on!
At 1 pm everyday, like clockwork, Oscar wants to go down to the lobby. Why? To say hi to the mail lady, Cathy. Watch as this swissy does whatever she asks:
David and Oscar agree, Cathy is the best mailman, period!!
Over the past month, Oscar has knocked on Rocco The Bulldog’s door several times but quickly becomes a sad swissy, as Rocco has moved away. This week a new neighbor moved in, Dexter The Golden Retriever puppy. Now after every walk, Oscar wants to visit Dexter to see if he can play. Dexter is just 10 weeks old but it looks like the start of a great friendship.
Now that Oscar has received his excellent OFA rating, it was time to experiment with some working dog activities. Only a half hour away, in Rockland County, there was a GSMD weight pull organized by a local swissy club, SCONE. With some encouragement, Oscar was able to pull more than ten times his body weight in a practice setting. Oscar is easily capable of pulling that much plus additional weight, but I have to get him used to the actual process, as he never done it before.
For a video of Oscar doing the weight pull:
Thank you to Nicole Kerrigan for organizing the event and Laurie Carmody & Kelly Nevin for working with Oscar.
After speaking with LA based producers, a new primetime tv show that will be airing on one of the big three networks came out to follow Oscar around earlier this week. This swissy is keeping his paws crossed. Stay tuned…
Oscar’s nose is healing great! At the vet’s office for a followup, Oscar meets an Appenzeller Mountain Dog! Also known as the Appenzeller Sennenhund, they are the rarest of the four mountain dogs (Greater Swiss, Bernese, Entlebucher being the other three). They weigh about 50-70 pounds which is half an Oscar. The owners recently moved from Europe and now live in New York giving Oscar a new friend.
After three weeks of anticipation, Oscar received his OFA tests back today. Oscar’s hips are rated excellent (the highest rating) and his elbows and shoulders are normal (as were his heart and eyes in the past). Although the vet said everything looked great at the time he took the X-rays, he does not determine the actual rating. The X-rays are sent to a team of three independent doctors who make the decision, so the actual results could be different. David is overjoyed that Oscar now has his full swissy clearances.
It’s very important to not buy a dog from a breeder without clearances. If a dog fails their clearances it’s optional to disclose. With bernese or greater swiss mountain dog it’s essential to have the hips, elbows, shoulders, and eyes done at a minimum. A breeder being a member of a national club such as the Greater Swiss Mountain Dog Club of America (GSMDCA) or the Bernese Mountain Dog Cub (BMDCA) means nothing as clearances are just guidelines, not actively enforced.
It has been pouring rain outside over the past two days, and it feels like winter is back! I worked from home all weekend, and Oscar missed his long walks outside. I introduced him to his latest toy, Elmo, to break him away from boredom. After a game of fetch, the tired swissy went to sleep, allowing me to get my work done.
When I first got Oscar, I was afraid that he would not play fetch. When I visited his breeder’s house while Oscar was two weeks old, his father was not interested in playing fetch. I know that every dog is different, and luckily my greater swiss mountain dog is the complete opposite. Oscar can play fetch and tug-of-war for hours and also has a toy fetish. The crate that he slept in as a puppy has now become his personal toy chest. Everyday he somehow chooses a different toy to play with, but Tigger is definitely his favorite!
Last night, the weather was great outside. Oscar is his usual swissy self saying hi to people and dogs from the neighborhood. Walking down the block, Oscar goes to say hi to another dog, a 10lb munchkin sized dog. Well this munchkin bit his nose! Seeing some blood and scrapes along the rest of his nose, I took no chances. Rushed upstairs to grab my wallet and drove as fast as I could with Oscar to the vet before they close. The vet cleaned Oscar up and gave him some animax so the wound can heal faster. I will be using that in conjunction with Snout Soother (nose balm for dogs) to speed Oscar’s recovery. I learned my lesson to always be on guard and have some basic dog first aid supplies like Animax handy.
On Monday, Oscar The Grouch went to Madison Square Park. At the park he met Jim who lives in Washington state and owns two female swissies. While in NYC, he wanted to meet Oscar. Jim told me about all the agility he does with his swissies, which may be something to try with Oscar in the near future. While at the park, Snapple, the female swissy (Oscar’s crush) stopped by causing double swissy trouble as other dogs passed by to say hello.
Oscar The Grouch appears in this week’s AKC Weekly Winners Gallery showing off his Award of Merit at the Connecticut River Working Dog show. This is the second straight year Oscar was awarded an Award of Merit at these shows!
Oscar somehow works his swissy magic and finds another girlfriend. He does not discriminate, of course this greater swiss mountain dog likes the 5-15lb variety!
Freshpet has featured Oscar’s review of their ready to make cookies on their website, twitter and facebook. Oscar The Grouch is a grateful swissy for his new status as a food critic.
Once Oscar turned two years old, he was able to get his OFA tests done. OFA for a swissy should involve x-rays of the shoulders, hips, and elbows to clear them for breeding purposes. Yesterday Oscar and David woke up at 5:30AM to drive to Pennsylvania to meet with a vet who specializes in OFA. There was another greater swiss mountain dog ahead of us, who was nervous in the waiting room and had to be sedated. Oscar was not nervous, but he was rather cunning, wanting to walk out the door. I think that he was imagining that he was about to get a bath. Oscar’s turn finally came, and he went inside with the vet. The vet came out after 10 minutes with bad news and informed me that Oscar wiggled, threw his body weight around, and tried to escape twice. He felt bad about sedating him because Oscar was not some vicious dog trying to bite him; he was just trying to escape from the room, not realizing that it was only x-rays. He said that Oscar could have won the award for the worst patient ever. The front desk receptionist added, “And he’s been doing it for 30 years”. Once Oscar got a little sleepy and the x-rays were completed, the doctor said everything looked great with his tests!
To celebrate Oscar’s 2nd birthday, a basket filled with dozens of dog cookies baked by David was displayed in the lobby of Oscar’s Manhattan residence. With over 100 dogs in the building, the only barking to be heard was for more cookies.
The ready to bake cookies were a gift sent by FreshPet for Oscar and his friends. David has never baked before, but he wanted to ensure that Oscar had a great birthday. It was easy to bake the cookies. The oven was turned on, the cookies were put in, and 10 minutes later they looked and smelled just like real cookies! David was tempted to try them, but instead he let them cool as Oscar waited patiently to sample his treat. Once he got a taste of one cookie, the swissy started doing tricks in order to get a second cookie. The only thing missing from these cookies was a picture of a greater swiss mountain dog on the box!
Be sure to stop by for a treat if you are in the neighborhood tonight!
Two years ago, Oscar the Grouch, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog was born. It’s been a great two years from puppy to Grand Champion. But it almost never happened. Oscar’s mother Halo needed a C-section. The emergency vet had complications and most of the litter was lost except for Oscar and his two sisters. I am grateful everyday for having Oscar in my life. We experienced so much together, dog shows, sheep herding, dog parks, puppy day care, driving from NY to Florida together, GSMD national, Westminster, making the front page of the Wall St. Journal, etc. Once you go Swissy, there’s no going back.
Oscar loves visiting stores with me. When I trained Oscar, I made sure to have random people, especially store workers give him dog treats, which I provided to better socialize him. Happy that Ralph’s Ices (best ices in Manhattan) has re-opened, Oscar tried to place an order for dog treats. The worker happily gave him his order, as she did not want a “grouchy” dog at the window!
After finishing his walks, Oscar always tries to run to my neighbor’s door to visit Rocco the Bulldog. Rocco will bark back and a play date is usually set for the Swissy and Bulldog. Unfortunately, today is a sad day because Rocco is moving away.
Rocco, who lived on my floor before Oscar, was a dog friend who Oscar grew up with. As a 12 lb puppy, Oscar ran away from Rocco, but later they became great friends. Whether they were playing tug of war, fetch or begging for treats, they always had a great time. Rocco will now be moving 15 blocks away, so they will see each other again, but it will never be the same as watching Oscar run down the hall to ask if Rocco could play.
With great weather today, Oscar walked to Madison Square dog park. Oscar is usually the only Greater Swiss Mountain dog at the park. Today there happened to be two other swissies there. First Oscar met Jack, an older male swissy. Then right after Jack left, Snapple (a female swissy aka “the girl next door”) came by. Unfortunately, by that time, Oscar was tired from the two mile walk and from playing with all the dogs that passed by.
Oscar The Grouch is thankful for all of the support his fans have given him. Some fans have e-mailed us with questions about how to handle veterinary issues. Oscar and David would like to answer all of their questions correctly. In order to help do so, we are announcing the addition of Dr. Audrey (the Vet)!
Beginning in two weeks, Dr Audrey will be writing a weekly column for Swissy Island. She will also be answering questions about dogs, so please have your questions ready! Stay tuned, much more is on the way…