puppies. . you put so much thought, blood sweat and tears and time into them, into creating them, and then you have to wait, hope you picked the right one. . .
unlike a number of breeders, i refuse to pick when they are little. . .sometimes I'm drawn to a certain one, but I try and think with my head and to do that,IMHO, you have to wait until they're older, see what their personality is, see what they
grow up into, see what their prey drive is.
Two of the pups over the years I've been drawn to, ended up being the wrong choice. Both from the same litter, Poet was missing too many teeth to be showable in this area. Yes, her half uncle Mir finished with that many missing teeth, but in the NE it's a lot harder than other parts of the country, and her sister Titania didn't have a temperament I wanted to breed on from. . oh well. . .both are in wonderful homes. . .
By waiting, you also get a better idea of what puppy would be great for that home. . Timmy is one of those examples. . none of his siblings would've done well in his home, not calm enough, too busy, too rambunctious, but Timmy's always been a thinker, a watcher, an observer. He's fitting into his household quite well and got a clean bill of health from a greyhound vet in the area.
This weekend, I took the puppy who I watched grow up and prayed she'd be the one to turn out, to her first show. . .Ziva is everything I wanted in this litter and she handled her first show as a pro. Nothing really bothered her, Saturday she was the perfect little trooper, behaving herself, wasn't the judges type, but I didn't think she would be. .Sunday she was a hellion, channeling her half Aunt Rinka by not putting two feet on the ground at the same time, she was a great comic relief and the regular judge told me I'd have a lot of fun with her, once she grows up and settles down.
at this age, you're wishing they'll hurry up and be competitive, but the thing is, they grow up too fast, by the time you know it, they're veterans, and then you face the thought of losing them.
Seems when you have veterans, when one is doing better, another gets ill.
Pandora's going on 14 months past DX of thyroid. She had a bad bout of ??? $200 later and vet couldn't give me a clue. Started putting her in a 600 crate if I wasn't home, with food, water and kitty box, and gave her pepcid and some SubQ's for awhile, and she's bounced back, gaining weight as of last week from what she was at in May.(they didn't weigh her when she was hospitalized for the above vet visit). being away from ehr brat brothers allows her to eat and potty in peace. . .
When I got home from the LGRA Nationals, I found Umbra with a raspy breathing. . .worried he'd gotten soaked and chilled, I ran him to the vet, who didn't like what he heard. Xray showed pneumonia. . .and a shadow over his heart. Two of his sibs have died from hemangiosarcoma heart hit my feet. .
there's nothign you can really do with cardiac hemangiosarcoma. . you can spend thousands for surgery and chemo, and it may not give you anything longer than the original forecast. Even if I had the money, the outcome is so poor it's just not worth the stress of putting him thru it.
This has been the unhealthiest litter of all my litters so far. . .it's not known if it's genetic or not, it could've been the environment, there's just no information. . .and it's so frustrating and heart rendering. The xray today showed it's even bigger.
Umbra is my first BBE CH, my first owner handled BOB over top winning specials. . .no, he's not everyone's cup of tea, but he's my boy, made even more special by his mother's untimely demise. . .He's a litter I hadn't wanted at the time, an oops, and boy the stress that litter brought lasted months. . but I'm glad I've had the joys he brought me. One of my all time favorite times in Borzoi was making it down to the last 7 at the 2004 Nationals, surrounded by old timers. .. me the only 'nobody'. . .
I'm trying to prepare myself for the inevitable, as it's only a matter of time. . .Long as he's happy(and he seems happy right now), we'll keep going. . but this sure put a damper on my enjoyment of this weekends specialty. . I couldn't watch the sweeps, as we should've been in that ring.
Hug your dogs, cuz you never know
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
LGRA nationals
It was cold, miserably, wet and chilled.
We had mud all over. Thick, icky, squishy, slippery mud.
But it was fun and worth it.
Despite the fact that in the last 8 wks, she'd had her toe amputated and came into season, Gossip did well. She tied for 4th with Comet, her cousin. She may've placed higher if she hadn't had the hard hard collision she had with another cousin named Sammy(Mir X FLyte). She got to the bunny a few lengths ahead of him, and he couldn't stop, t-boned her, flipping her a number of times before she came up, soaked to the skin in cold rain. Walked her out, put her in the car, and turned on the heat. They both seemed to be fine, but the next morning, they were both very sore. 1st race of the day, she lost to the eventual meet winner by a nose, 2nd she won, third she tied for Wizard. And since Wizard, as I've mentioned before, is my gage if she's doing well, usually isn't within smelling distance to her, something was 'off'. Will say she was NOT AT ALL impressed with the freezing rain. Considering I couldn't feel my toes nor the toe warmers I stuck in my boots, I gotta say I don't blame her.
Sunday she spent curled up in the car with Grins, happy not to come out in the rain.
Some nice high point racing, very little problems with dogs on the field, tho there were a few DQ's that weren't caught, unfortunately. I was at the box, and had to go get a hat, as with the rain, it was getting to be hard to tell if that was an IG at the finish line or a rain drop LOL
So, all and all, great weekend, made new friends, talked with old friends, got to see dogs I've only heard of but never seen. I really like Comet, a Mir grandson, may have to take Kani to him down the road. . .
Now to prepare for rally and Ziva's first dog show this weekend!
We had mud all over. Thick, icky, squishy, slippery mud.
But it was fun and worth it.
Despite the fact that in the last 8 wks, she'd had her toe amputated and came into season, Gossip did well. She tied for 4th with Comet, her cousin. She may've placed higher if she hadn't had the hard hard collision she had with another cousin named Sammy(Mir X FLyte). She got to the bunny a few lengths ahead of him, and he couldn't stop, t-boned her, flipping her a number of times before she came up, soaked to the skin in cold rain. Walked her out, put her in the car, and turned on the heat. They both seemed to be fine, but the next morning, they were both very sore. 1st race of the day, she lost to the eventual meet winner by a nose, 2nd she won, third she tied for Wizard. And since Wizard, as I've mentioned before, is my gage if she's doing well, usually isn't within smelling distance to her, something was 'off'. Will say she was NOT AT ALL impressed with the freezing rain. Considering I couldn't feel my toes nor the toe warmers I stuck in my boots, I gotta say I don't blame her.
Sunday she spent curled up in the car with Grins, happy not to come out in the rain.
Some nice high point racing, very little problems with dogs on the field, tho there were a few DQ's that weren't caught, unfortunately. I was at the box, and had to go get a hat, as with the rain, it was getting to be hard to tell if that was an IG at the finish line or a rain drop LOL
So, all and all, great weekend, made new friends, talked with old friends, got to see dogs I've only heard of but never seen. I really like Comet, a Mir grandson, may have to take Kani to him down the road. . .
Now to prepare for rally and Ziva's first dog show this weekend!
Sunday, October 4, 2009
pet homes
Pet homes
I love my pet homes
Regardless of how they turn out, if they're missing teeth, if they have a bi-colour eye, if they have a ring tail, they don't care.
And I have some absolutey WONDERFUL pet homes.
My fourth litter, I put into the contract, that they had to have their puppies heart & Thyroid checked at the age of 5. Eyes can be harder, but these two a normal vet can do. That litter, the Gossip litter, turned 5 end of last month, and Hecate & Aspen have both already had their vet checks done, and their hearts were ascultated clear. We're waiting on their thyroid checks. But I wanted to THANK Agnes & Sheffia for following thru with their agreement so quickly! Secret & Gossip will be done this winter(they are either in season or just came out, so have to wait for the thyroid). I expect the last two pets to be done this fall, but was so tickled to find out these two were done ASAP :)
I truly believe you don't know the true health of your bloodline if all that gets tested is the show/breeding dogs.
I love my pet homes
Regardless of how they turn out, if they're missing teeth, if they have a bi-colour eye, if they have a ring tail, they don't care.
And I have some absolutey WONDERFUL pet homes.
My fourth litter, I put into the contract, that they had to have their puppies heart & Thyroid checked at the age of 5. Eyes can be harder, but these two a normal vet can do. That litter, the Gossip litter, turned 5 end of last month, and Hecate & Aspen have both already had their vet checks done, and their hearts were ascultated clear. We're waiting on their thyroid checks. But I wanted to THANK Agnes & Sheffia for following thru with their agreement so quickly! Secret & Gossip will be done this winter(they are either in season or just came out, so have to wait for the thyroid). I expect the last two pets to be done this fall, but was so tickled to find out these two were done ASAP :)
I truly believe you don't know the true health of your bloodline if all that gets tested is the show/breeding dogs.
Vets
Not all vets are created equal. Some think their crap don't stink, others are more modest and willing to learn, and others are worth their weight in gold. I've met some that fit in all the criteria.
Timmy's a very sweet, calm puppy. He is just like his namesack: doesn't jump before he thinks and very thoughtful, not a spazz like Tony LOL.He has the perfect personality to be a therapy dog, which is why he was sold to this home, his future is as a therapy dog for autistic kids.
Timmy's new owner took him to a vet close to the house. It's a 24 hr vet, so it was convenient and she figured it'd be nice to have background there if he ever needed an ER vet. . .the experience left A LOT to be desired.
Before he left my hands, he visited my vet, he was checked over, heart listened to long and hard, and got a clean bill of health, wormed, weighed, etc, etc. I was told he was in good condition.
This vet jumped all over Timmy's poor mom, first for him being 'too thin', telling her you should never be able to feel the hipbones or ribs on a dog. . um, with a sighthound, if you can't, they are FAT!!!
Then there had to be something wrong with this puppy, cuz he wasn't an obnoxious jumpy brat. No, he's a puppy who's had his breeder work hard with him to be a good puppy on leash, a puppy who's been coursing, racing, to vets, pet stores and out about in an attempt to civilize the little beast. I remember his Uncle Obie & Uncle Bob falling asleep at my feet while we waited for Bob's checkup LOL A dog who is sure of themselves is not going to freak out at the vet's. . And a well trained puppy is going to act like a well trained puppy not an unruly beast.
Then it was well obviously your breeder doesn't know what she's talking about, this isn't normal. . had poor Timmy's mom all upset. Then she got derogatory because of Timmy's age. Cuz he was soo old (7 months) obviously he isn't from a good breeder. Sorry lady, not all of us sell our puppies at 4 wks and shoot them out the door ASAP.
She kept telling TImmy's mom there was something horribly wrong with Timmy because he was too thin and not acting 'normal'. But gave her no hints of what it was, just took $300 did a WBC test and shot her out the door. . I was on the phone for an hour with Timmy's mom that night.. . she'll be taking him to another vet, who another puppy buyer of mine goes to in the area.
Vet's like this drive me nuts. .And I've ran into some doozy's in my lifetime. There was the ER internists who, after Grins ran his back off, wanted me to do an additional $1800 worth of tests, from tick panel to leukemia. We knew what was wrong, we knew how it happened, we felt there was no need for those tests, and when asked, he admitted it would not change the course of treatment, so I decided no go on the tests. He accused me of not loving Grins. . .HELLO!?!?!? Well, it's what, 4-5 yrs later, Grins' is alive and healthy, so who was right? I mean, they already got an additional $1800 out of my pocket, what more did they want?
Then there was the a**hole who when I asked him years ago about sighthound sensitivity to anesthesia, that I shouldn't 'worry my pretty little head' over it, it was an old wive's tail. Mister, you might have a degree, but that does NOT give you a right to be condescending towards me.
Unfortunately, many vets have no clue what a healthy sighthound should be. If it doesn't look like a lab, it's not in good weight. I used to disagree with my old vet all the time, cuz he thought my dogs were too thin. We can thank the purina condition chart for that. Wish there was a way to make them create one for sighthounds.
Grrr, so want to go to Boston and smack this vet. . .his mom did ask me about why I waited so long to sell my puppies, and I told her: they go with all their shots, they get more exercise left with their siblings, and it helps them be more civilized, and this last one she said she agreed on. Friends of hers had gotten puppies younger and they were typical hell raising puppies. Timmy's been the perfect puppy, very calm, very sweet. Not a hellion on 4 paws like some 8 wk old puppies can be.
Timmy's a very sweet, calm puppy. He is just like his namesack: doesn't jump before he thinks and very thoughtful, not a spazz like Tony LOL.He has the perfect personality to be a therapy dog, which is why he was sold to this home, his future is as a therapy dog for autistic kids.
Timmy's new owner took him to a vet close to the house. It's a 24 hr vet, so it was convenient and she figured it'd be nice to have background there if he ever needed an ER vet. . .the experience left A LOT to be desired.
Before he left my hands, he visited my vet, he was checked over, heart listened to long and hard, and got a clean bill of health, wormed, weighed, etc, etc. I was told he was in good condition.
This vet jumped all over Timmy's poor mom, first for him being 'too thin', telling her you should never be able to feel the hipbones or ribs on a dog. . um, with a sighthound, if you can't, they are FAT!!!
Then there had to be something wrong with this puppy, cuz he wasn't an obnoxious jumpy brat. No, he's a puppy who's had his breeder work hard with him to be a good puppy on leash, a puppy who's been coursing, racing, to vets, pet stores and out about in an attempt to civilize the little beast. I remember his Uncle Obie & Uncle Bob falling asleep at my feet while we waited for Bob's checkup LOL A dog who is sure of themselves is not going to freak out at the vet's. . And a well trained puppy is going to act like a well trained puppy not an unruly beast.
Then it was well obviously your breeder doesn't know what she's talking about, this isn't normal. . had poor Timmy's mom all upset. Then she got derogatory because of Timmy's age. Cuz he was soo old (7 months) obviously he isn't from a good breeder. Sorry lady, not all of us sell our puppies at 4 wks and shoot them out the door ASAP.
She kept telling TImmy's mom there was something horribly wrong with Timmy because he was too thin and not acting 'normal'. But gave her no hints of what it was, just took $300 did a WBC test and shot her out the door. . I was on the phone for an hour with Timmy's mom that night.. . she'll be taking him to another vet, who another puppy buyer of mine goes to in the area.
Vet's like this drive me nuts. .And I've ran into some doozy's in my lifetime. There was the ER internists who, after Grins ran his back off, wanted me to do an additional $1800 worth of tests, from tick panel to leukemia. We knew what was wrong, we knew how it happened, we felt there was no need for those tests, and when asked, he admitted it would not change the course of treatment, so I decided no go on the tests. He accused me of not loving Grins. . .HELLO!?!?!? Well, it's what, 4-5 yrs later, Grins' is alive and healthy, so who was right? I mean, they already got an additional $1800 out of my pocket, what more did they want?
Then there was the a**hole who when I asked him years ago about sighthound sensitivity to anesthesia, that I shouldn't 'worry my pretty little head' over it, it was an old wive's tail. Mister, you might have a degree, but that does NOT give you a right to be condescending towards me.
Unfortunately, many vets have no clue what a healthy sighthound should be. If it doesn't look like a lab, it's not in good weight. I used to disagree with my old vet all the time, cuz he thought my dogs were too thin. We can thank the purina condition chart for that. Wish there was a way to make them create one for sighthounds.
Grrr, so want to go to Boston and smack this vet. . .his mom did ask me about why I waited so long to sell my puppies, and I told her: they go with all their shots, they get more exercise left with their siblings, and it helps them be more civilized, and this last one she said she agreed on. Friends of hers had gotten puppies younger and they were typical hell raising puppies. Timmy's been the perfect puppy, very calm, very sweet. Not a hellion on 4 paws like some 8 wk old puppies can be.
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