Great weekend on the field and in the ring

I've gotten real lax with my blog since I lost Gossip. Kinda lost my heart. . .but this week has been too good for my kids

Two Saturdays ago, Gibbs' new mom Kathy & I met up to go coursing. I wasn't running anything personally, but took Bonnie's First for her, we had an absolute blast, even if her dog felt inclined to give me a sponge bath for the 2.5 hr drive, guess he didn't like the smell of my soap LOL

Wendy & Frank had come out with Nacht & family, so it was a nice day with great friends, weather was a bit too warm, but the zoimobile with the AC on kept the kiddos nice and cool. . .Some amazing runs, with Nacht forgetting Grandma was there(after climbing up me to give kisses) and putting in some runs reminiscent of not being a FCH LOL Gibbs runs like a herd of horses, the ground almost shakes as he thunders around, not light on his feet like his sister Jenny, and First's daughter Shimmer was bound and determined to take off before the T of Tallyho LOL After the dust had settled, Gibbs managed to pull out a 1st of 7 for a 3 point major win! Kathy was and still is in denial, she made sure they checked their addition, wouldn't believe anyone who told her he had some nice darn runs and earned it! The shocking part was seeing Nacht, who is not a newbie, who is almost 2/3 of the way to her LCM, pick up a 2nd for a point! They both made me pleased!

Sunday, I went alone. The course was tough with the visual barriers and the high grass, and when Ziva & Tipperary cut at the wrong time, they got severely unsighted, but Ziva did manage to run well enough to pull out a 2nd of 5 for another single. I had gone hoping to get a QC on Frankie, but this event didn't start til 10-10:30 despite having an 8:30 roll call, and when I left at 5:30 on Saturday, they still hadn't done BOB runoffs! NO way I was sticking around. But was real proud of my kids!

This weekend I chose to make it a lazy weekend, got a mad dash trip out to OH, drop off a dog, see friends, look at stud dogs, and zoom back, but Ziva went away with Kari to do some training to be a show dog. After blowing out both knees in the last almost 2 yrs, I've come to terms that until I get in a lot better shape and get my knees both rehabbed, that it's better to let Kari do the hard wrok. I didn't expect much from my Z girl, and she did exactly what I'd expected yesterday with trying to be a GSD and run ahead of Kari, but her cousin Payton (Mandolin Mielikki's Aloha) won his first major by going WD/BOW under Ms gallant!He started off this year by going RWD at GNY's specialty, has picked up the rest of his singles, and now just needs one more major! He is by of SBIS BIF DC/Can Ch Mandolin Mielikki's The Dance SC, CD, TDI out of Witchcraft spirit of the Tsar.

Today, Ziva had her trotting shoes on, and actually settled down for Kari to go WB for 2 points :) She'll be out now and then this fall, and then seriously this winter, in between my trying to finish her FC. Really hoping she'll be my first personal DC(Her uncle Mir and Payton's sire were my first official DC's, but not owned by me)

So nice week for my kiddos! Fall is settling in, weather is cooling down, and hopefully we will be welcoming a gorgeous litter of puppies this fall. Time will tell!

Shows & Auf Wiedersehen Nacht und Gibbs!

The last two weeks have been so busy


Two weeks ago, I drove down to VA for a show with Ziva & Gibbs. . despite my worries, they were pretty darn good, my good knee? Gave up the ghost, on the thousandth down and back it said NOPE, and suddenly sharp pain was going thru it, the judge made me move her around yet again and then another down and back, even tho I had tears from the pain. . I stacked her, and he came over, I was fearful he was going to ahve us do yet another, and he told me not to worry, he wouldn't force us to move again, and we won our class. Nice gentleman, he made sure I had someone who could take her back in, cuz I could barely move by this time.

Had to hand her off to a sweet young lady Kari had brought with us. . .unfortunately, the ONLY time I ever hand her off is when we are going racing, so she was full speed ahead. . oh well, she behaved decently considering she hasn't been out in a year, and this is only her fourth time out period LOL so I was pleased with her.

Nacht moved into her new home after her new owners picked her up at the dog show. She's coming out of her shell and starting to blossom, especially without her devil sister beating her up in the yard. Her new home is GORGEOUS! I want to move there. Once she settles in, she'll be back out working on her LCM & her FC!


Then the following week, Gibbs moved to his new home. he jumped into the back of her car and didn't look back, squeaking his toy all the way home, where he emptied the toy box, and terrorized his cousin Titania LOL Second day he was there, I get an email asking if he had an off button LOL He had his new mom laughign so hard she hurt. Such a nice testimony to his goofy a** personality and perfect to help her heal after losing his great uncle about a week before she picked him up.

So the backyard is kinda empty. . .Nacht was a quiet soul, Gibbs was a loud, bright, obnoxious one. . you couldn't help but notice him trotting around the backyard, with his jolly ball flung over his head.

I look forward to see what both these pups do in their new homes. I miss them, but I know they're in WONDERFUL homes!!!

Another one leaves the nest, just in time for horrid weather

Some people say that the hard part is letting puppies go. . I say the hard part is waiting to find out if the new owners love them as much as I want them to.

I've only ever had one dog returned because the owner was odd, didn't give him time to settle in(his new home, he settled in within a few days, the 1st home didn't even give him 12 hrs), but I still worry in sending dogs far away, will he/she be exactly waht the owner wanted? Will the personality fit? Will he/she be a good puppy, etc, etc, etc.

As I think I mentioned, the perfect sounding home for Aurora finally fell into my lap. .after two loons, one person who decided the pedigree didn't have enough champions so couldn't be a show quality puppy, one who's life fell apart and she opted out of buying her, the perfect home seems to be here. .and Aurora left for her new life in the Midwest.

Thankfully they have had Borzoi for a few years. . so they know what to expect with an 18 month old hairless girl LOL She blew her beautiful puppy coat just in time to move to her new home. They were so excited to get her home and to get her ready for the show ring this fall, but that doesn't alleve the worries.

But, my worries seem to've been needless. .she is working out really well, enjoying playing with her cousin, playing with the Aussie, and quickly fitting herself in. Every text I get from them has me smiling. . .silly sweet Aurora has found herself the best of homes. In fact, she weasled them into letting her sleep outside her crate last night, next to their bed LOL

I am looking into getting a passport to take Nacht to her new home, would love to visit Germany, even if only for a weekend, get some real good German food, bring home some REAL Eiswein :) And just waiting for the Princess to come into season and trying to endure this UNGODLY weather!!

Grins is crated in the house during the day right now, Touchet lays around like a slug. Can't believe she's 12.5. . .with luck, she'll be my first 'teen', the rest have finally gotten brains and don't exert themselves much. . .wish I could hide in the AC bedroom til this all broke! Was hoping to go coursing this weekend, but nope, not with the heat without index being high 90's on Saturday!

I am not in Texas, it should NOT be over 100 without heat index!

longest 24 hrs ever

I have so many blogs started, just haven't finished them and posted them. .

Last week I endured 24 hrs of HELL. . .the longest 24 hrs ever.

Nacht needed 6 points going into the weekend. .unfortunately there's no other ASFA until the end of June, and I'm hoping she's in Europe by then. . who knows, been hoping she'd be in Europe for awhile. . .unfortunately there was a conflict, with LGRA put on by my friends. I felt obligated to support them, since they were in the front field. . .and was just going to not worry about the ASFA, and hope it was cool enough in June to run and that she'd be here.

A friend said they were going, and after thinking about it a bit, she had liked him and been very outgoing and friendly with him the last time she'd seen him, had let others slip and catch her, I didn't think anything of there being problems when i asked if he minded running her.

Unfortunately when I handed her off, even tho I thought I had packed everything, her brain stayed home. Her teenage hormones were taking up all the brain space. . (she was in season in April)

Now, she ran Saturday at LGRA, was fine with all sorts of people handling her, walking away, boxing her, etc, etc. . .so she MUST'VE had her brain then, but somewhere between Saturday evening and Sunday morning,she misplaced it. Maybe Gibbs borrowed it for the day, but I have never had a bitch become such a complete nincompoop during her 'slump' as Nacht did Sunday. . .and things that hadn't bothered her before then did, tho getting attacked by a basenji probably didn't start her day off(thankfully the bad dog came away with only tail feathers). I don't know exactly what happened, was told she acted spooked that day, and suddenly I had a missing dog. . .

ANd thus starts the worse 24 hrs EVER.

I wasn't there to see what happened after she decided to play keep away coming in for BOB, been told conflicting stories, so not going there. . what all stories agreedupon was she got away thru a gape in the fence.

I got the call on the way there, and that trip, which normally takes about an hour, felt like it took 3. . .when we got there, they showed us where she had disappeared into. A heavy thatch of overgrown woods in the middle of farmland. . not a huge batch of woods, a couple of acres with house and a paddock of whitetail deer. They'd already talked to the landowner, and so I went traipsing thru the woods.

Four hours of here puppy puppy puppy. . .stopping to sit in the AC for a bit and rehydrate and then go out again, my friends drove around, talked to people, gave out numbers, while I walked the woods. Wanted to make sure someone was on the outside in case she went out hte back or sides. . .

Four hours, not a sign of her, mind you, she was wearing her pink blanket, but not a sign, tripping over dead wood, vines, getting attacked by wild rose and berry bush thorns, brushing against who knows what?

Oh yeah, did I mention I was in shorts? I am so glad I started to wear tennies to events since I hurt my knee, more support. . so I at least had them on and not my crocs of last year. . .I left Sunday looking like a survivor of a battle of cats. . .and praying I hadn't walked into poison ivy. Unfortunately, I think I did.

We decided that she probably was collapsed somewhere in that mess. It was somewhere around 90 with high humidity, and she had on a heavy black fur coat. . .needing fliers to hand out, and unable to do much more as walking that area in the dark was a leg breaking opportunity, we headed home.

Got her microchip registered and went to findtoto.com.

This is a WONDERFUL website. You put the zipcode of the area the dog was lost in, and pick an option from 250 calls to 10000 neighbors to call in that area, and an automated phone will call everyone in that area they can get hold of and leave them a message with a description of the dog, your number, and other pertinant information. It is a wonderful tool, ended up being unneeded, but I know it has helped others bring their dogs back home.

Homeagain gives you a flyer and Bonnie ran that to kinkos as I was so exhausted and stressed I was dead on my feet and sick to my stomach. . part of that was probably I hadn't eaten anything since 11 that morning. . tried to sleep, didnt' happen, up early with plans to brush a bunch of dogs, take her bed and a bag of food over with the flyers and seed the area with food and hair into an empty paddock on the land owner's property when we get a call.

She was SPOTTED!! First sign of her since she'd slipped into the woods. Workers at a speedway about half a mile away from the woods, headed back towards the coursing fields, were trying to lure her in with water. I was ready to jump in the AC-less Neon but Jim convinced me to wait a few minutes until he got ready so we could go out in the Prius which has AC, glad I did, as by the end of the day we needed it. Less than 20 mins later on our way there, they called back to say she'd been caught.

When we got there and she saw me, she couldn't stop talking, moan moan moan moan, and then she went to Jim and did the same thing. Not sure if she was saying OMG You came back for me, or OMG, I promise NEVER EVER EVER to do that again. . .

Seems she stayed in the woods as far as we can tell all night Sunday, and then headed across the fields saturday morning. . the workers found her curled up under the ambulance with her coursign blanket tangled around her backlegs. Got her out of that and she took off to hide in the bathrooms which is where she was when my two friends who were at the field for the event got there.

She seems no worse for wear, not even her paws seem sore. She's started on metronidazole for giardia, just in case, and she enjoyed being a house dog for a week, making sure her stools are ok, as we had no idea what she may've eaten. She is now back in with her siblings.

Thank heavens it was really less than 24 hrs, she went missing about 1 pm Sunday, and was caught by 10 Monday. . but it was the longest 21 hours I've ever dealt with. . .other dogs I know of have been missing for anywhere from 4 days to never found again, or if found, dead on road, so I'm glad it was ONLY 21 hrs. . .but it was the most horrendous 21 hrs ever.

Putting her collar and leash on her put her brain back with her, cuz she was back to her normal self when we got out to thank people at the field. Didn't want to leave my side, but back to mooching people she wouldn't let touch her the day before. . evil child

She will not be going running for a few weeks, her coursing was crappy post season anyways, so it'll give her time to get over this slump and cement her brain back into her head.

THe adventure seemed to affect me longer than her, I had stomach upset for a few days, but we're both back to normal. . .silly little Nacht

Potomac Valley Borzoi Club Supported Entry

On to less depressing news

I made it thru our supported entry without a hitch in MY giddy up :) A new knee brace, new tennies, and my knee didn't hurt until the long a**ed trek back to BFE to get in my car. I was very very pleased.

Dei has become somewhat of a ham now that she's 'retired'. . .she strutted herself around that ring, being pointed out for Best Veteran in Sweeps as the oldest Borzoi entered by a few years(next oldest just turned 8!) The judge was very complimentary of the condition she was in, and how muscled she was, even for a 10.5 yr old Veteran! Dei thought the day was great, as if she nudgy'd someone they'd pay her attention LOL

Nacht tickled me pink by following in sister bella's footsteps and acting like a little pro(for me LOL). Kept at a nice trot even when someone behind us kicked the gate, kept her stack, didn't get bothered by having her bite checked, nada. . considering I haven't taken her to a handling class at all for fear of screwing up that knee, I was beyond tickled at how well she behaved, and she went on to win her class of three in Sweeps & in regular class.

Tomorrow is BCGNY, so here's hoping everything goes well there. . .it unfortunately has chances of rain. This show is either rainy or miserably hot. Bathed the girls last night, so tonite is primping them and packing the rental van. Friend's van is in the shop for a new tie rod(EEKS, glad we found that out before we left for the day!) Then up at o dark thirty and off for the day.

Then a nice weekend of doing nothing. . after getting charbroiled last week at my practice, I'm glad to just be able to relax, to charge my batteries for next week. . me, 5 Borzoi, possibly 1 RR, and the weather for the II looks LOVELY!!!

home is where the heart is

I have developed a strong belief that a perfect home will always come up for each of my pups/dogs. . .when someone inquires on one of my dogs, if they're not gungho gotta have it, I've come to the decision they don't need my puppy/dog. . .

I want my homes to WANT said dog, not just kinda, but with all their heart. . .Maybe I'm overly cautious, but I don't want bouncebacks. .1 bounce back in almost 14 yrs, one sold back to me(and one death, something you just don't expect) in 8 litters, that's a good track record, and I want to keep it that way.

The only time I didn't go with that, I was pushed to wait the prospective wishy washy buyer out by my cobreeder, who assured me it was a good home, and well, I finally told said buyer to forget it, go elsewhere.

I don't normally place my adult Zoi. . but with my current pack, most of them can do more than one thing, so we can interact with each other their entire life doing fun things. First they run, then they start showing and obedience training. . .

Kani unfortunately doesn't fit in any of that. . she does not have enough prey drive to run, she's too submissive to people, you let her go, she goes and rolls over on her belly in front of someone, her seasons are so erratic and short(5-5 1/2 months) that she never carries enough coat for long to be shown, nor does she have a show ring personality. Because of her short seasons I worry about pyometra amongst other things so since she's had one lovely litter, I have been toying with the idea of spaying her and trying to decide about placing her, but she is so cute and sweet and such a great puppy sitter, I just couldn't do it. She is so darn special as her father's daughter, I couldn't do it. I hate letting dogs i've grown out this long go. Numerous people who've met her brother Dandy emailed me inquiring on her, but I just couldn't do it.

That changed this weekend.

When we moved to MD, there was a college kid working at Bonnie's kennel. Kani fell in love with him, she adored him to no end. She would turn herself inside out everytime she saw him, and if I'd been willing to part with her then, he'd've stolen her in a heartbeat.

This weekend, Kyle came down and picked Kani up. . his family had lost one of their two dogs, and they wanted a Zoi. . both parents work out of house, so a house trained, cat safe Borzoi was the best bet. . and I made the hard decision to let her go. Even to the minute he pulled out of the parking lot I wondered if I was doing the right thing.

But the giant Grins sized grin on her usual submissive petite polite grinning face when he came in the door told me i'd made the right decision. I have never seen her grin so huge as when she saw him Saturday. Her entire body wiggled in excitement, she crawled into the comfy chair with him and just looked sooo content. She hopped into his car and didn't look back.

Got an email this morning that everyone absolutely loves her, she's already curling up on the couch with Kyle's little(Teen) sister taking naps, isn't sure of the Greyhound and ignoring the cat. . .she may even go to school with his mom who's a teacher, which she would absolutely LOVE as kids are her thing. . I couldn't've designed a better home for her if I'd tried.

The perfect home came along. It just doesn't happen overnight. I've had others who wanted to take her and give her a forever home, but it just wasn't what my gut said to do, this time, my gut said yes. It made my month to know she's loved and in what sounds like a perfect home.

When I breed a litter, I know that I may end up keeping puppies longer than I'd really like to, because I am so picky, thus the Holiday litter is 13 months old, and Aurora is still with me. She is an easy going, happy, sweet puppy who's showing some interest in the running game, so it's not a big deal for me. Compared to Bellsabub(my keeper Bella who is an evil lil witch LOL), she is a perfect little angel. Bella is the better built dog, but Aurora is just too sweet and everyone loves her.

As I mentioned before, I've had two fruitloops inquire on her but my gut said to run away, I am so thankful I did. They ended up being personalities I didn't want to work with. Life is too short to deal with loonie puppy buyers LOL

A few months ago, a lovely lady I met on line inquired about GIbbs, she fell in love with blacks. . but i told her he was way too much dog for her, just NOT the right dog for her. He's too busy, too speed ahead, that he needed a home where he'd have a job other than holding down a couch. Unfortunately all the homes who've been interested in him are people who want 'just a pet'. . there's nothing wrong with that, if the dog will fit the home. . .Gibbs needs a home that'll job with him, do Obediance work withh im, something that'll keep him busy, he is not a sedate dog, not unlike his father. She thanked me for my time and my honesty, and we have become friends

I could've easily've sold him to her, but again, I don't want my puppies coming back barring the owner's death. I think Gibbs would've driven her nuts and then some LOL. Hell, he drives ME nuts somedays. . .and I would've had to figure out how to get him back from California, no thanks. . .so I helped her get one of the Pickle Hill dogs, and she's in love with little Nikki.

Unbeknownst to me until recently, she fell in love with Aurora, but as a person who's only had rescues, she had the mindset (not a bad one, as she's not anti breeder) that made her feel slightly guilty about buying a dog, so she thought of adopting another one of the Pickle Hill dogs. Unfortunately the California borzoi owner who was supposed to bring back another PH dog for her got into a horrid accident and that trip has been postponed indefinitely.

She talked to someone I know about adopting their foster, but backed out after hearing someone else really wanted her,and there were Pickle Hill dogs in california needing homes. Problem with them was their custodial owner is. . well .. no nice way to say it, so we'll go with Odd. .. the custodial owner blew up when rescue got their hands on the unregistered dogs that were on the farm, saying it would destroy the Pickle Hill heritage, that even tho they were paperless, they could still be bred, and you could make money doing it, because Borzoi went for $1200 in California. If that's true, I'm sure those are registered pups from champion parents! Not unregistered unknonwn pedigree puppies!

She had an unregistered male that Nikki's mom wanted to take, but kept jerking her chain about wanting to place him, but not wanting him neutered, (yes, it is a soap opera! LOL) and finally Nikki's mom gave up and one thing lead to another, and she came back and asked if Aurora was still available.

Back and forth conversation with her using me as a soundboard whether she should go ahead and push for the rescue out in California or buy Aurora. . she kept asking for advice, I kept telling her "go with your heart." I'd love to place Aurora, but I'm not going to push someone one way or another. It's their decision, and if they really want the puppy so be it, but if they can't make up their mind, I have no desire to place said puppy with them.

At which point she demanded why couldn't I be a pushier seller LOL. I'm not a good salesman, that's why Aurora's still here LOL I could've promised the one buyer YES she'd be a top quality show bitch, YES she'd definitely finish, and had her sold back in August if I was a better salesman LOL

Her hubby told her they had extra money now that they'd quit smoking, to get her if she wanted to LOL That it would be nice to have a dog without baggage that rescue dogs come with

Another home I wasn't looking for specifically, but I knew the right home would come along. This nice lady's been in love with Aurora since her pictures first went up, but poor Aurora's had home after home fall through or be denied by me. . .she told me if she'd known I had no problem placing what she considered a gorgeous dog in a pet home, she'd've gotten Aurora instead of Nikki, LOL that's ok, Aurora'll have someone her age if this sale goes through.

Until the contract and deposit is in hand, I've learned not to consider a dog sold. . .if it works out, I know AUrora'll be in a wonderful home, if it doesn't, she'll stick with me and enjoy placing with her sister's and running when it gets warmer. She is pretty enough to be shown, or pretty enough to be a couch ornament, her future in that way doesn't matter to me, only thing that does matter is a great home

Happy New Years

A large number of people I am happy to call friends lost special family members last year, myself included. .I so hope this new year will be magical and better to all of us, because not sure I can take another crappy year like last year.

Yesterday, I packed up the car with Nacht and Joannie, a puppy Bonnie & I co own, and headed to Hanover for Nacht's inaugral run. . unfortunately she was the only open, but that gave her two nice runs by herself before running for breed. Unfortunately, Nacht is smart, and I think she may've been the only one who didn't take a nose dive on the slick field because when the footing was uncertain, she'd slow down, and once it was back to being firm, she took off like a bat out of hell.
For her first run ever, at 12 months and a handful of days old, I was very happy, even tho she did lose BOB to her nice distant cousin(They both go back to Stardust) Weston, she ran nicely, even tho she was put off by Roy's screaming Bug. .

Joannie was a social butterfly, enjoying herself completely, met some SIlkens, some RR's, some whippets(She thought their doggy blankets were funny squeakie toys), and was just a wonderful little brat, tho at the end of the day, I was looking for the off button on that puppy LOL. . She showed some lure interest, and seems to be a very smart food motivated puppy, so I'm looking forward to seeing how she progresses. She road well in the car and for her first time out in the public, she was just about perfect. I was very pleased . .

weather was bitter, but I enjoyed myself. . .unfortunately Nacth's sister chose now to come into season, OTOH, thankfully she chose the dead of winter LOL. . .looking at other events to take Nacht to, her new mom in Austria is very tickled that she's running.

Hope everyone has their dreams come true this year. . .and have the bad mojo go elsehwere!

Happy Holidays

Well, I got a semi decent xmas: Didn't get what i want, but you can't get them back once they're gone. . .but it was semi decent

Secret's DM:
1st. The Wait is OVER!!!

I hate waiting

I am not the most patient being

So, when I sent in Secret's OFA DM test 12/3, the next three weeks were hell on my nerves

Why?

Because the results of this test could so affect the choice of stud dog, my first choice may or may not be a carrier since his grandfather sired a number of carriers, so it was really important to me to get these results.

She's not due in til March/April, but I wanted to do the test ASAP. .not sure when the stud dog owner'll do him. . but now I know it doesn't matter for breeding purposes who I will breed her to. . as she's clear :) So as I said in my previous post, even if he's a carrier or hell, an affected, I will use him.

Now to work on the older dogs. Not that I'm going to breed any of them except maybe Grins again, but the more dogs we have tested, the better idea we have of the gene pool. . and well, Grins' mirror cousin is an "at risk", so a bit worried there and Dei's half sister was a carrier, soo it is important. . .Also helps clear litters(The holiday & NCIS litter)

A load of my mind, just in time for xmas.. .not that I didn't have other loads to occupy my mind:

2nd
Poor Dei had a strange wart pop up. I thought it was a tick, yeah, I know, WTH was I thinking, a tick in December? But that's what it looked like. . so THursday Bonnie took her to the vet's(I couldn't get off work the day before a holiday), and I waited on pins and needles. She's 10, so anything odd comes up I will be a worry wart(Excuse the pun LOL). Thankfully Dr Knickman says it's just a skin tag, but we're having it removed when she goes in for a dental next month. He said she looks really good for a 10 yr old. I have to say, she looks way better than her mom did at this age. Lost Kyra at 10 yrs, 3 months, the way Dei looks, she is going to live beyond that, barring anything going wrong, you can never tell. She's currently enjoying life as a house dog. Too many old dogs in the dog kitchen, and she's too naked to be a yard dog, so she's been guarding my desk at night, and she's holding the floor down quite well!!

3rd:
Two Fridays ago, I noticed the heat sensor on the car was fluctuating. . and not just slightly, it would raise up to half way, drop down, raise up, drop, all while just driving in town, wasn't doing anything extreme with it. Came straight home, took it to the Car Vet the following Monday, and got the bad news: Head Gasket. . .the early Neons were known for bad head gaskets, damn Dodge never did a recall on it, even tho it is a widely known problem. Thankfully, the Car isn't going to cost me anywhere near as much as I'd worried, even with a new timing belt, water pump and the headgasket. .and hopefully I will get it back Monday and it'll last me another 50K. . .not that it didn't ruin Xmas, but oh well. It's my 13 yr old car and only has 76k on it, can't complain too bad.

And the last tidbit that wasn't a worry, but made xmas a decent one. . I now have 4 opens to run. . we held a practice yesterday, and Ms Nacht & Bratty Bella got their ASFA Certs. Bella looked really great, running like a little blond adult. Bonnie looked at me after Bella came off the field, totally ignoring her yardmate who was a little brat and tried to play with her and asked "You're keeping that one, right?" Oh yeah. . .most definitely, keen as Grandpa Brooks and great uncle Grins. . .it'll give me something to do with that one until she matures, she's currently very very coltish, vs Nacht who is looking much more mature.

Depending on weather, will go get their QC's next weekend, but that gives me Ziva, Jenny and the two girls(And Reba when she's not in season) to run. After not having an open dog to run since Grins back in 2004, it's soo nice to have a few . LOL Secret had a nice practice too, shocked BOnnie with the speed on the straight(did an almost 200 yds straight then turns), look forward to getting her out some more before she comes into season. We'll try Aurora next time(My knee said no more in the cold wind) and maybe Gibbs now that he's had time to mentally mature. It was a lot of fun running the lure again, ran it for a Shihtzu, a Samoyed puppy as well as a crapload of Afghans and our BOrzoi.

4th:
I think I have a new OB dog. .Jenny. . this bitch has learned to open the dutch door. .. so, next month, we will start Rally and agility training as my knee allows LOL. . .she's unfortunately a house dog at night due to her neck injury(Think she got T-boned by her idiot brother), she doesn't have the undercoat the others have and with subfreezing weather, she'd be a Jennycicle. . .this morning, she let ALL the old dogs into the house. .too smart for her own good. Maybe we'll start doing some training tomorrow LOL

Had a quite day at home, usually go for a walk on xmas, but no car meant we took a nap and just relaxed. . .tomorrow we might get hit with snow, oh joy, I was so hoping none this year LOl

Hope everyone had a safe happy holiday

PVBC's specialty

I keep writing 'em, and keep forgetting to post them

I had a long, surprising weekend at the show weekend before last. . .

Saturday was PVBC's fall specialty. I didn't want to enter. This had been the show Gossip was going to be in coat for, we were going to go for that 2nd & 3rd leg of our RA, so many plans, down the drain, but Bonnie convince me, so I entered Bella (9-12 puppy) and Dei(almost 10 yr old veteran), I had nothing competitive for the other classes, so that was it. .

Bella's never been shown by anyone but me. . .but she behaved like a little trooper for a good friend, behaving herself pretty much, tho by WB after sweeps she'd had enough and was getting squirrly. But overall, I was very happy with how she showed, not being a twit, behaving like a good little girl.


Dei hasn't been shown in years, but she is looking so damn nice. . still races around the backyard like a bat out of hell, still jumping on top of 3 ft tall dog houses, still playing hard with her kids, nobody believes her age, in fact, they thought she was Gossip's sister at her retirement race back in September. No, she's not as fast as she was when she was younger, but she definitely ran better than some of the dogs at the LGRA nationals!

Her movement suffered after a neck injury when she was young, and she became lifty, nothing like she was as a really young bitch at the 2002 Nationals, that coupled with her dry mouth in the ring(her lips would stick to her teeth, and was painful when judges checked bite), caused me to retire her from the ring, but we had noticed recently that her movement had smoothed out. . unlike other older dogs, her movement had IMPROVED with age, and so I figured, what the heck, I wanted to support a good friend who was judging sweeps, so why not. .

Watching her in the ring, friends outside the ring couldn't believe her age, and she moved like a dream, taking Best Opposite in Sweeps to the male a few months younger who went on to win the entire shebang, so I don't mind losing to him(and his owner & breeder are just the greatest people!). She was having so much fun and the applause just made her shine more.

She went on to win her veterans class, but by BOB she quit. . it was a long day for a dog not used to showing. .but I was very pleased. . I brought home so much loot!

Unfortunately, each stride in the ring caused hair to start falling out LOL Or I'd be looking at fall specialties to enter her in. . hopefully she'll look this ncie come next spring for the nationals. .

The nice weekended ended with Ziva coming into season, evil little brindle brat.

There were tears cried that weekend, people I hadn't seen since Gossip died, but I'm still so thankful for all the friends and people she helped me meet

Practice!

As I'm attempting to stay cool in the horridly hot weather we are receiving, I thought I might catch up on my blog :)

Last weekend I packed Ziva, Reba (Mielikki-Mandolin's Pahu Pahu JC GRC), First (Celeritas Bellatrix of Silkenswift GRC), Gibbs(dork boy extra-ordinaire) and Aurora & Bella in my friend's van, and headed up to NJ for a QC/JC/Practice. The club was holding the QC/JC's early, unlike the local club who does it after the event, thus making it the hottest part of the day for a young dog, and it was our first chance to do so, so I really wanted to get out and see.

Got there about 8:30 and it was already getting warm. Ugh, set the xpen up for the babies, left the other dogs in the AC car and waited our turn.

AKC changed rules earlier this year for entering Open. Originally, all you had to do is get your JC(Junior Courser) and you could run in the regular event, even tho they did recommend you practice with other dogs. Unfortunately, there were people who thought JC meant they were ok to run in Open, and jumped the part about practice runs to make sure your dogs ran clean. I personally have made sure to have an ASFA Cert paperwork in hand before ever running in open, but not everyone was as conscientious. The QC(Qualifying Courser) is essentially the same as the Asfa Cert, and makes people get that practice run in before running open.

So, poor Reba got to be the QC dog for both Ziva & First, everything else we have is too old or in season LOL She handled it well, even tho she's in her slump from her season. She's a good silly red head.

I wasn't sure if Ziva would run, but she shocked me. Her practice we'd had last spring hadn't been quite as good as I'd hoped, but her QC run was really nice, even with Reba playing field cheater, she totally ignored her, and kept going. She's back to being a bit unsure with another dog, but I'll just make sure to run her with some known clean dogs for awhile, and definitely not Lemans or Serrano who scream LOL She is soo much like her mother in softness.

First's run was brilliant, and she will do her breeder proud if she runs like she did. THe judge was very complimentary of both the girls.

Gibbs had quite a decent JC run. I chose a JC with him, as he suffers ADHD right now. Silly, happy, dorkie as hell puppy, his brain doesn't stay on one subject for longer than a few seconds. He needs some focusing work, and will continue running by himself for awhile.

Then I got the babies out.

Aurora's going to make someone a great dog, she is not afraid of anything, went right up to the RR puppy who was bigger than her and play bowed, bounced off his head, and didn't get worried when an older pup joined in. She thought the entire crowd was there for her. She shmoozed, made lots of friends and jsut had a grand old time.

Bella's more suspicious, not afraid, but not willing to jump in without looking. By the end of the day, both girls were play bowing to one of Fergie's puppies and having a lot of fun. They met everything from a young litter of RR, to whippets, to RR of all shapes and sizes and age

Then we got to the line, and my sweet little Bella, who has been perfect on leash, became a little hellion, radar ears came up, she lunged at the end of the harness and was just raring to get the bunny. I had no clue if any of these pups would run, as Mom is a tofu dog, she has no desire to chase anything I've tried her on, but Bella was channeling her grandfather Brooks(DC Mandolin-Mielikki's the Dance SC, CD) and WANTED THAT GOSHDARN BUNNY!!!!

I handed Aurora off and slipped Bella, who took off like a bat out of hell, tearing down to the pully, where the bunny stopped, as they're flipping it around, she is bouncing off of it, tearing at it, having a great time, to the point they had to carefully start it to bring back, as she was refusing to let off of it LOL. I truly hope she keeps than enthusiasm and grows up to her potential, as she looks like she's going to be a fun dog.

Handed a very unhappy Bella off and slipped Aurora, who took off also, but when the bunny stopped and didn't move right away, she came back to me. Not a bad thing, Great Uncle Eros is the same way, it's only fun when it moves, but we'll keep working on focus with her.

Put them in the car, where everyone promptly flaked out, and left. I was gone by 11, and it was too darn hot by even then.

Unfortunately, no pics as we rushed thru it all to get done before the heat, but hopefully next time!

Was going to head out coursing this weekend to get Jenny's QC, run Ziva(I hope to have her pointed for the NLCC), but with a heat index of almost 110 expected tomorrow, temps over 90 on Sunday, we will be staying home!

First show!

A puppy's first show can be tramatic, to either you, or the puppy!

Kyra was a dork her first show, she was happy, enjoying herself, the first judge we ever showed to did not have a sense of humour and snarked at me that I needed to train this puppy(she was 6 months and a few days old LOL). He's on my never again list LOL

Rinka was so bad, Pat ripped her leash out of my hand when I left the ring, only to hand her back and say she would NEVER show her ever. . as a peer said, you could see the Devil dancing in her eye. She was attacked at a show a few months alter by three weimeraners on 6 ft leash, and was never the same again ::SIGH::

Then there was Races, who behaved beautifully at his first show, the 2002 BCOA National Futurity, until the harpist at the corner of the down and back would pluck a cord, then he whirled to figure out where the noise came. LOL

His nephew Gibbs thought at his Debute that the world was there just to see HIM!!! He is sooo much like his father, what did I truly expect? He'll be a veteran before he sees the ring again LOL if a dog could gate with his eyeballs behind his shoulders, he did in the ring, to stare adoringly at his handler. . LOL

OTOH, we have Gossip, who walked into the show ring at just over 6 months, handled by a stranger, and behaved like she'd been doing it forever, same with her sister.

You truly have no idea how they'll behave, til you get them there, as how they behave in handling class doesn't always translate to the show ring.

So I entered this show with some trepidation despite Bella having behaved herself at her 1(LOL) handling class, fresh memories of Ziva & Gibbs being total idiots their first time in the ring vivid in my mind as I waited with Ms Bella, who was 6 months and 13 days old at her debute.

I don't usually enter babies in local shows, but this one had a puppy group, so I figured what the heck.

We arrived early. This show is a huge metal pole barn type setups, which can be rather scary to dogs, even adults, Eros HATES this show venue with a passion. Thankfully, we were very late in the day on the last day, so a lot of the dogs had cleared out, no barking corridors coming into the building. Also meant we didn't have to wait along all day for group, groups started at 2:45, we were in the breed ring at 3, so it was perfect. As it was, hounsd weren't in til 5, can you imagine how long the day would be if we'd been in at 8?

We walked around the building, allowing her to see the strange dogs, from the French Bulldog to the Great Danes, walked thru the vendor booths, where she made a lot of friends, including a nice vendor who gave her a bag of liver. We then headed back to the ring, which couldn't've been situated better, last ring in the row, down near the emptying grooming area. And we waited, yes, I tempted the gods on being there so early with her getting bored, but Bella laid down and went to sleep, not even bothered by Steed when he tried to be a hormonal dork with a baby.

I am so thankful we entered a small show, as well as were surrounded by wonderful Borzoi people. . there were four girls, each in their own class, so WB was a decent sized for a regular show around here, and nobody raced up on Bella's butt, nobody did anything to scare her, unlike a well known breeder who had ran stomping up on Ziva's butt at Trenton. They were all WONDERFUL!! And I was so thankful for it, and they were all very complimentary of my silly sweet puppy.

Then was the long wait for group, but Bella handled it well, fell asleep in my lap when I sat on the floor. Judges kept having conflicts with the regular group, but we finally got in, and it was almost as big of a group as the regular group, whippet, and saluki, and PVBC, beagles, basenji and more. .. we were behind a Foxhound and in front of the Saluki, and they were wonderful with her too. .

She was the youngest in the group by over 2 months, and looked it, but she took it all with style, handling like a dream. We didn't get a piece of the pie, but all I'd wanted for the day was for her to have fun, and to behave herself, and she did both. . .

All in all, it was a very successful day for my little blond bombshell. Lots of compliments, from a handler to my peers, so I was very pleased. . she promplty came home and beat up her sisters LOL

She'll be back out next month, I managed to hurt my knee on the concrete, so am goign to take it easy. But there's another puppy group coming up, and she will be there :)

Gossip & Tony's weekend

One of the hard decisions, hard as in being honest with myself, I've had to make is that I do not do Gossip justice in the ring

The backstabbing nastiness I ran into up in NY/NJ, has really soured me in showing, no not everyone, there were some wonderfully sweet people, but there were some really downright nasty ones. . .and I just don't enjoy it, nor with my health, can I do justice with her, as she can move out. . so I made the decision after seeing Kari Macloskey with Bonnie's AM(who's now moved into Kari's house and heart) and decided to send her out with Kari

I have never used handlers. . .but the show ring is worse for me than the OB ring is. . .I'd much rather have fun with her in the Rally/OB ring than deal with the stress of the show ring. . .Four years away from showing with only dabbling in it, I've forgotten so much about judges. Kari loves to show, Gossip loves her, so it's a match made in heaven. . except I miss my spottled girl.

This weekend was our first weekend apart. . and the house is empty without her bounciness. . .but she's getting loving from Kari and is learning the dog show thing. . .and is coming home pointed in the ring :) She got to dabble in the group ring, was a bit confused of why there was somethinjg other than Zoi in the ring, but otherwise was a very good girl :)

While his cousin was showing, Tony went to his very first I'm entered race meet, and did his owner proud considering he's 13 months and some days old and those long legs don't go all in the same direction sometimes LOL He picked up his first .5 of a GRC point, considering he's running against cousins Kyrie & Ryder, he's got big shots to run against, so it's nothing to sneeze about. Baby Drummer got to practice, ran a Silken puppy into the ground, and schmoozed with his adoring masses, so they both had a wonderful weekend

march, what a busy month

what a busy week last week was

Started off with a whirlwind trip to NC and back in less than 36 hrs. Ouch. . .left here and the weather was horrid, high winds, cold rain, lost electricity 5 mins after I left. . my poor salt tank got hit, lost my favorite salty. . .will look for another one as soon as the 105 is finished for my birthday :) Tony & gossip in the backseat, Drummer in the crate in the front seat. For an 11 wk old puppy, Drummer was an ANGEL!! A little singing, then I'd hear a huge sigh and flop as he plopped back down. Tony was the perfect little traveler too.

Weather was nasty until we hit the WV/VA border, then it eased up, but still overcast.. VA is lovely, and made me miss NY, but weirdly reminded me more of Germany. There were some great landscapes, but nowhere to pull over and snap a photo, so just enjoyed them as I drove. . once we hit the NC/VA Border, the skies cleared up and the sun came out.

Drummer saying hi to Ripple the silken

We finally got there at like 3:30 Saturday. Placed Drummer in the back yard with two silkens, two boxers and a boston, and within 10 mins he was racing around like he'd always been there, totally totally in love with the silken who is 2 wks older but about the same weight.

Brixs & Ripple

Introduced Tony to his new mama and put him in the backyard, where he was surprisingly gentle with the two pups, didn't leave him long or alone, before putting him up for awhile and bringing Gossip in.

Gossip and Manning

Manning, my friend's cat, decided Gossip was THE THING, and kept following her around the house, attacking her tail. She ignored him until he got close, and then he was subjected to the same thing her cats are: a face washing, not impressed, he bolted for a seat and laid in wait until she went to sleep, then he snuck up, and started chewing on her feet. LOL She's such a good girl, she just ignored him.

Got to see the Brooks/Sage kiddo Payton. As puppies, he and Kani were twins, he's gotten more cream/red in his coat now, she's still a very naked silver brindle. He's also huge, especially in comparison to his sisters LOL It was so nice to spend time with his mom, she's an absolute trip and adores the boy.

Payton 4.5 yrs old, sorry, didn't level the camera

Turned around 10 am the next morning and headed home, again, was beautiful until I hit the VA/NC border, then got overcast. The Potomac was horridly overflooded, brown rapids with thick chocolate caps as it crashed along its beds. really wish I could've pulled over to take a photo, as it was gorgeous, but alas, nowhere safe to pull over and with a promise of a nice dinner at my favorite restuarant was just wanting to get home.

Bella brat getting the bunny

Got home and I SWEAR those girls doubled in size while I was gone. They were not happy with the rain, first day in the boarding kennel, and refused to go outside to potty, but the rest of the week was gorgeous and they have been very good little monsters, going outside to play and potty. I am so very pleased.

Even better, they've met other breeds, including some border terrorists, that bark bark bark, and the girls are NOT at all bothered by them, bouncing around to say hi to them. My attempts to make them bomb proof is really seeming to work, as even Drummer has not been phased by much in his new home.

Joy meeting her uncle Misha, who she'll be living with


Friday I visited with Joy's new home and then repacked my car, removing over 20 toys from the trunk, collection that has grown for 8 yrs from when Obie was running and winning so much to Gossip's toys, what Surya hasn't stolen that is lOL I now have room back there!! WOW!!! :) Went to bed, and tried to sleep.

Gossip saying hi to a Fergie Puppy

It's cheaper with my car for me to drive and back then try to find a hotel in NJ for under $50 a night that accepts dogs. OTOH, I hate getting up that early. 4:30 rolls around and I SOOO do not want to get up. Gossip was up and ready, so much like her uncle Obie in that aspect, if it were a show date, she'd know somehow and not be ready LOL. Load the car up with dogs and head out.

I dressed in layers, but those layers came off as soon as I got there. Some people looked at me like I was nuts, but by 10 they were telling me I was the smart one LOL It was a beautiful almost 80 degree day, clear sky, beautiful field, nice entry of 11 zoi after one of the FTE failed her training run.

Lots of great races across the breeds, with dogs making the line judges job hard, but for the most part, beautiful clean racing all day long. The high point races with Orleans, Focus, Gossip, Mrs Peel & Padua were amazing(no, not all at once, but they all ended up in high point at least once). Gossip kept fooling with Focus' mind by letting her lead til the last 20 yds, where she'd suddenly put on a burst of speed and cross the line pulling away from her competition. She has started a new HORRID technique at the end that involves throwing herself down on her side on top of the bunny and sliding into home base. And yet again, she decided to macrame herself with the line. Enough to make you shudder the way she does it.

Jim Saklad got some awesome shots I'll post as soon as I get them, including a series where you see Focus is ahead and then see Gossip go GOODBYE!!! LOL

Her cousin Dillon(his grandfather is Mir, brother to Gossip's sire Races) had a wonderful weekend, picking up 3 GRC points his first time out. It's so funny, one of his breeders keeps track of racing thru facebook LOL I post the race by race results as they come about. LOL I love the internet and my iphone!

Racemeet ended with Gossip taking 4 NRC points, Focus 2 NRC points, Padua placing third (1 NRC & 3 GRC), Dillon & First tying for fourth, and Reba coming in 5th,c an't remember the rest off the top of my head.

Sunday, earlier roll call, trip starting off by my car getting the first bunny of the day, ewww, the sound of it rolling around in my tire, dumb bunny. Get there, less dogs, but an even more beautiful day.

Gossip ended the weekend undefeated, tho if she keeps up this waiting til the last moment to fly by the dog ahead, she's going to end up misjudging. . .and with 7 NRC points. Reba & First tied on Sunday, taking 3rd & 4th behind Dillon, for 1 point each. Reba then promptly came into season LOL We're never going to get those last 2 points, First is due for season, but will hopefully hold off for the coming weekend.

Jenny came and smoozed, got used to the box opening, ran through the box for the bunny, and was just a wonderful silly girl. Her, Gibbs, Ziva & the piranhas will all get a chance on the bunny this weekend at PVBC's event.

Got home to hear that Tony had a nice weekend smoozing at his first NOTRA, and got to chase the bunny a bit. He's a little unsure of which way his legs go, so will need some more maturing, but looks promising :)

So all and all, a nice week!!

puppies & things

The monsters continue to entertain me, growing like weeds, and being evil little sh*ts LOL

The snow is still too deep to take them to the puppy pen, so they've been visiting an xpen on the driveway all day on the weekend if I'm home, and a few hours in the evening if it's warm enough. . .the weather is sooo unpredictable right now, some days it's nice and warm, others it's WTF is my jacket? We are soo over this crap.

They continue their bombproofing, and I realised this morning as I lovingly cursed their lovely little butts as they promptly trashed their play pen, destorying the papers I had placed so neatly in there for their pottying pleasure, they are bombproofing themselves. The heavy papers make a lot of rattling noises as they bounce, trounce, jump and race around on it. I'm goign to go look at baby toys tonite and see if I can find some rattling ones lOL. ..

The contractor brought his young son over, and even the shyer pup Joy thought he was the greatest thing int he world. . he was lovingly mauled by puppy tongues LOL

Kani is finally done with going in with them, but up until last few days(they're 9 wks old today) has demanded to be as close to them as she could get without being in with them.

They had their first 'be a show dog' session this weekend. My handler friend came over and helped take photos of my 6 babies, Bonnie's 7 babies, and then of the 4 yearlings on the property. The babies were like wrangling 'jello ferrets'. .bounce bounce, twist, I really really wanna lick your face, move twitch, bounce bounce LOL. Thank the heavens for my great camera, click and hold, it takes 16 photos in a row. LOL was a total pain going thru them all to find the good ones, but at least I didn't have to do another photo shoot

Before Kari showed up to help me, I introduced the puppies to the bunny, as you can see, Joy thought it was a lot of fun

Joy pouncing towards the bunny.

Got homes lined up, hammering which one are you keeping? Will know in a few weeks. . whichever one is keenest on the litter :)

The brave new world & celebration

The weather was beautiful this weekend, the sn*w melted, quite a bit of it YEAH!!! Since it was so nice(heat wave of 40!) I put up my expen from hell(8X8 pen, it's the one from hell cuz it's a pita to move around, doesn't fit in my car, but was a $50 steal) out on the driveway (only dry place to do so right now), topped it to keep any birdies out and give them shade(they range from 8-almost 11 lbs now) and plopped their little butts in there. . new world to view, different sounds(barking and howling adult dogs, cars coming ni and out of the driveway, sounds of birds), and they romped and had a blast. . .finally collapsing into the two crate halves I put out there for them. . .stayed out all afternoon Saturday and all morning Sunday, and will be doing mroe of this at night as long as weather's nice, unfortunately tonite we're expecting freezing rain ::SIGH:: They need this.

I expected them to come in and collapse, NOPE! Zoomed around like they'd slept all day LOL
They also started their leash breaking. . some of them took to the harness the 2nd day with proud trots to their xpen, some of them channeled a mule LOL I use an Ezwalk harness, helps you walk them along without them choking themselves on a collar. Bella, Aurora & Nacht all pretty much trotted with me. . Drummer, Joy & Silver all said NOPE!! LOL

Thanks to an idea given to me by another blogger, that morphed into antoher idea, I tossed a new toy into the puppy pen this morning. A water bottle filled with a handfull of kibble. Crunchy and loud, and when I left, they were having a blast playing keep away. Will have to keep water bottles to replace this one, as it was a huge success. I also gave them one without a cap with kibble in it to play with.

And thanks to a fellow Obedience person, I was able to change my training tactics with Gossip to work on the three steps back for Rally :) RA here we come!!!!

training, bomb proofing, etc, puppies

One of Kani's faults is being very soft/submissive. .been trying my best to make sure these pups have a lot of confidence. . lots of noise making. . from bags flapping over head, to dropping paper on their heads, to knocking on the whelping box and smacking the bowls around. Also trying to figure out how to make a weeble wobble. . a board with a ball underneath that when they step on it, it shifts. . helps gain confidence.

She has been an absolute best of mama's, even tho one of them bit her hard enough to give her an owie. . long as they leave that alone, she will lay there forever, but I did have to remove her as she ended up on antibiotics. Two weeks away from them, and she still demands to be inside next to the box. . she'll go in and let them nurse her saggy empty teets, but she's finally started growling at them, which is a good thing, that's how we think she got the wound to begin with, not telling them when they are rough.

Gossip is still very very infatuated with them, tho she's no longer requiring going in the box to nosebump them before she goes out to go potty. She definitely can't wait to have her own Goslings.

The littlest angel(she was 8 ozs at birth) is still the smallest, but she is now known as the littlest monster. She was the first out of the box, and she was constantly getting out of the box, and in fact, until they were 5 wks old, the only one who would get out to be with mama, she didnt' want to nurse, just wanted to cuddle with Kani. I always knew when Kani was out of the box as Bells would start screaming until she got over the box edge and was with Kani . if Kani moved back in teh box, she'd scream her little head off as she got herself back OVER the box LOL.

Combined at 4 wks, they weighed half of Kani's weight. . poor wee Kani.

My attempts at bomb proofing them has backfired tho.

Only one of them seems to be as sensitive and submissive right now as mama. The rest are now just sitting there when I drop the paper over their head. . LOL. . makes it hard to get them to move in order to clean their whelping box. They just stare at me with their little black eyes. . .lol, oops. . .they don't even lift their heads when I go in to clean up after them, and the other night I was so tired I didnt' realise Drummer was behind me til I stepped on him .. ouch. . felt so bad. . .

It's so darn cold that there's no way these little ones can go outside. Hate dead of winter puppies. . .never had them before. . always managed to have them wehre they were 8+ wks old when the dead of winter hit or they were born late dead of winter so it was warmer when it was time for them to go out. So having to figure out other ways to handle the mess 6 growing little puppies make. . and was amazed when wee wee pads worked. . soon as I put one down, they toddle their little butts over and poo on it. The current ones have sticky tape on the bottom, so when you stick it to their box, they can't pull it out and play with it. Not that they don't try LOL Picked them up some toys the other day, and they are in love with their squeakie slipper and are trying hard to play with the big yellow rubber ducky that I figured would be unplayable with for a few more weeks. IOW, they're so darn cute with that giant rubber ducky I can't stand it LOL

My eyes keep being drawn to the feisty little grey brindle and the bratty little creme girl. I'm always drawn to the brats LOL. . who needs an angel, those make great pets, I like the little brats LOL Of course, a number of people interested in this litter are drawn to them or the boy, who is currently unavailable until Pat decides about him.

So darn cute, but sooo darn evil . . .
(this is a combo of two posts I've written but never got posted LOL)

Motherhood & Puppies

When you prepare for a litter, one of the thigns you have to prepare for, is if the mother sucks at motherhood. . .

Thankfully, I've only had one who sucked. .and that was poor Sage. . .her puppies were born 5+ days early by csection because they were in distress. Two placentas had detached and the puppies were decaying, poisoning their littermates. Considering there were 12 puppies crammed into little Sage, it's no wonder. . we lost a total of 5, which I'm amazed at, considering her mothering instinct never kicked in, their heart rates were so low at birth. .the other 7 came to live with me and Storm took them on, nursing 14 puppies with glee. .

I never bred Sage again, worried that she truly was a bad mother, and worried about her two daughters, since bad mothering seems to be genetic from talking with other breeders. . .and thus when someone inquired about leasing Kani, I wanted to make sure she woudl be a good mother. No way did I want to send her across country and curse someone with the nightmare Pat went thru with Sage. .. thankfully, I had nothing to worry about.

Kani's been a great mom. . .the puppies are growing and flourishing quite well. . .little eyes opening. . .She's quite careful when she lays down with them. She's funny, she's ok with the three house dogs walking by, but anything else gets a bark. .which is really funny, cuz I've never heard her bark, she moans and talks but not barking LOL She's also grinning more, which has me in stitches. Now she can be leased, and I can spay her. . 5.5 month season suck. . .and after witnessing two pyometrias, not something I want to tempt. She's a sweet dog, love her built. . .and her puppies are gorgeous.

Wish there were more boys, but at least the one is big and strong. And turning gold. It's so strange to see such a light litter out of such two dark parents LOL. Definitely an interesting array of colours. . I love the little light brindle girl, she's got SPUNK. . which as anyone who knows me can tell you, I really like.

Gossip thinks they're interesting. .even going in and laying down with them when Mama was outside. . she is goign to be sucha great mama. .. she doesn't like it if i make one of them mad LOL. . silly goose.

Timmy has enjoyed his month home with his sibs, spending most of the day out racing around the big puppy yard. He's put on some muscle mass. First dog I've sold to an apartment home, and I can see the difference between him and his sibs. It is truly amazing. . his mama comes home this week, and I know she will be SOO happy to see him

And last note for the day. . I can't believe my beautiful GOlden girl, Touchet, is 11. . .turned it earlier this week. . she doesn't act it, was out flirting and foot stomping with the boys 1/3 her age LOL Do so hope Gossip gets that longetivity. It's one of the reasons I wanted Touchet :)