This post is a bit late; but I have been a little pre-occupied! We didn't camp at the Easter show this year which was a good thing...it snowed! Luckily the small/medium ring was moved indoors as I wouldn't have wanted to be out running in the sleet/rain and snow that they had all weekend. I scribed all day Saturday for Lisa and was happy and warm wrapped in my special Hex skull and cross-bones fleece blanket.
Our friends Tim and Marion are certifiably insane as they camped in a TENT along with Lisa and Tony. At least Lisa had an excuse as she was judging on Sat and competing on Sunday. Tim and Marion don't even have a dog! haha Really hard-core campers! I was glad to go home each day and sleep in my lovely warm bed.
Thank to Tim for videoing Hex for me. He got all of her agility run and half of her jumping run. How fitting as he missed videoing the part of the jumping run where we made a blooper! HaHa I knew I liked Tim! Tim was also impressed with the interesting outfits of the dog people; dog people really know how to dress fashionably don't they?
Monday, March 31, 2008
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Little Girl Photos
I am hesitant to post too many photos of the little mouse but she is growing now and looks more like a pup and less like a mouse. Notice her ears are not down like the other pups; it is like she is days behind them in development. She is getting cuter and starting to show her personality. The funny thing is that she hardly ever makes a sound; unlike her littermates who are whingers!
Time to play
Bitey face boys! Notice I used the patented pointy finger even in puppy training while in my fuzzy pink bathrobe!
The pups are getting more active and I spend more time with them when they are awake. The play sessions don't last very long right now; maybe 10 minutes but they are coming more often.
They took their first trip into the kitchen today. They are starting to have little personalities. The Big Girl immediately moved out and explored the hallway but then got there and started whinging!
Some photos from last night. These are for Terry so she can see her puppy who will be called "Zest" aka Big Girl.
Thank goodness for Charity shops so I can get ridiculous baby toys very cheaply!
The skateboard always ends up a big hit with the pups. I do not know why but they gravitate to it and use it to stand on all the time. This is their first introduction to it.
Not so coordinated yet at three weeks!
The baby tunnel is actually some unused duct work. I need to find another cat tunnel; I had to throw the old one out as I used it for so many litters that it smelled too much like puppy pee-pee!
The pups are getting more active and I spend more time with them when they are awake. The play sessions don't last very long right now; maybe 10 minutes but they are coming more often.
They took their first trip into the kitchen today. They are starting to have little personalities. The Big Girl immediately moved out and explored the hallway but then got there and started whinging!
Some photos from last night. These are for Terry so she can see her puppy who will be called "Zest" aka Big Girl.
Thank goodness for Charity shops so I can get ridiculous baby toys very cheaply!
The skateboard always ends up a big hit with the pups. I do not know why but they gravitate to it and use it to stand on all the time. This is their first introduction to it.
Not so coordinated yet at three weeks!
The baby tunnel is actually some unused duct work. I need to find another cat tunnel; I had to throw the old one out as I used it for so many litters that it smelled too much like puppy pee-pee!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
pups 3 weeks old
Just a few silly photos! We are now opening the box more often and the pups wander up and down the ramp. It is quite a big ramp for little pups!
I like to add different toys each day to keep them seeing new things. It is funny how they approach them.
The Lil' Girl was 11 ounces today. She is now manic for her food which is good but she does some strange things while eating that are worrying. My emotions run up and down with her. (stop reading now if you do not understand what breeders have to go thru....) One moment I feel really positive and think "YES this girl is going to be something special". And the next moment I wonder "Am I doing the right thing?". There is a high chance that she will not be normal. And if the time comes that we realize that she has serious problems; we may have to make a tough decision. I wonder if I should have let nature make the decision; as everyday she grows it will be more difficult to let her go. I have gotten lots of good advice from longtime breeders. Good stories and bad stories; no crystal ball. The fustrating thing is that I can't even take her to the vet; as I do not think they will be able to help at all. How I wish I had a good "breeder" vet around here.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Hex's Girl-power harness
Many of you have seen Hex's special "Girl Power" harness. Here she is wearing it at Crufts while being fussed by a pirate child!
Well they now make them in pink! And purple! So I need to buy another one for Zen. Zen is a pink girlie girl unlike Hex who definitely suits Black! Here is the website: K-9 Shop
I am going to make an order but as the shipping is so expensive; I thought I would see if anyone else wanted one and we could share the shipping. Just an idea! I like them because there is just one clip and it is easy to get on and off while on the start line. BTW, you can get a variety of labels to put on it..I like "girl Power" and "crazy dog". They also have "sex machine", "drama queen" and "lover boy" among others! Ha!
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The "Big Girl"
We had some names for the puppies when they were born but the name did not suit her. So now she is just the "Big Girl" and I hope it doesn't give her a size complex!
The little girl is still growing and is now tipping the scale at 9 ounces. I wormed the other three pups yesterday but did not worm her as I think she is still too small. The other pups are near 2 lbs each! She is showing a little more interest in the mushed up puppy food; licking a little off our fingers on her own now. She is still way behind the other pups; I can only hope that is due to her bad start and not anything more serious.
The other pups are starting to move around a little. They wake up when I go to the whelping box and call their names "puppy puppy". We have set the pen up around the box in readiness for when they start moving around more. The mobile is set up over their heads but the music box on the mobile has broken; so I need to search the charity stores for a new one. We must have music!
Here are the two girls! Their grand-dad Monty (Toven The Full Monty) has passed on his upside down genes!
Agility-wise things are slow here. We had two weekends of shows where Hex did well but my heart is not in training. This is bad as we have the European Open try-outs in two weeks! So I did take her out today and do 10 minutes of agility. Hex is out of her skin; so keen to get out there. She is a little star and always gives it her all.
So,please, anyone who has some good difficult courses to set...please come and help me do some courses in the back garden! As long as we don't get more heavy rain, the garden is doing OK surface wise. At the same time you can help me socialize some fat puppies!I have a lesson with Lesley on Friday; so I am looking forward to that. And happy that I have no shows this weekend; so fingers crossed the weather will cooperate for me to do some serious training! (well as serious as we can get in agility!)
The little girl is still growing and is now tipping the scale at 9 ounces. I wormed the other three pups yesterday but did not worm her as I think she is still too small. The other pups are near 2 lbs each! She is showing a little more interest in the mushed up puppy food; licking a little off our fingers on her own now. She is still way behind the other pups; I can only hope that is due to her bad start and not anything more serious.
The other pups are starting to move around a little. They wake up when I go to the whelping box and call their names "puppy puppy". We have set the pen up around the box in readiness for when they start moving around more. The mobile is set up over their heads but the music box on the mobile has broken; so I need to search the charity stores for a new one. We must have music!
Here are the two girls! Their grand-dad Monty (Toven The Full Monty) has passed on his upside down genes!
Agility-wise things are slow here. We had two weekends of shows where Hex did well but my heart is not in training. This is bad as we have the European Open try-outs in two weeks! So I did take her out today and do 10 minutes of agility. Hex is out of her skin; so keen to get out there. She is a little star and always gives it her all.
So,please, anyone who has some good difficult courses to set...please come and help me do some courses in the back garden! As long as we don't get more heavy rain, the garden is doing OK surface wise. At the same time you can help me socialize some fat puppies!I have a lesson with Lesley on Friday; so I am looking forward to that. And happy that I have no shows this weekend; so fingers crossed the weather will cooperate for me to do some serious training! (well as serious as we can get in agility!)
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Happy Easter and puppy news
I know I haven't written much this past week and apologize for that as I know that everyone is interested in how the pups are doing. Please do not be afraid to ask about the pups; it is nice to know that people care!
It has been such an up and down 2 weeks. Once the birth was done and Crufts was over I thought it would be plain sailing for the first two weeks. Usually the first two weeks are the easy ones for the breeder! Unfortunately the little girl had other ideas and she has had us on pins and needles. There were so many days that I just thought we should stop working with her or, even worse, bring her to the vet to be put to sleep. But, I just couldn't give up on her...I may regret that decision as I do not yet know if she will be normal or if she will even make it. I still do not understand why she is having trouble gaining weight.
I do not have rose-tinted glasses. I know I may regret sticking with this puppy. I know all the stories about pups who were kept alive and then had issues. I know that I should just let mother nature take her course. I know all of this; but I just couldn't do it.
This weekend she seems to have turned a corner and has gained a little weight. She is now a whopping 8 ounces. She is nursing off the puppy bottle much better and we are even hand feeding her mushed up puppy food. I remember with "One" (our singleton pup from 4 years ago) that we put him on puppy food very early and this helped him gain weight and thrive whereas he had previously been lagging. "One" was different though; he always showed an extreme drive to eat and this little girl is not as keen.
So that is where we are at right now. Slightly more positive but still cautious. I still am not sure that she will make it. But I have already made the decision that I will probably hold onto this pup for longer than the others and make sure she is normal before I place her. The last thing I want to do is give someone a pup that I am not sure about.
As for the other pups...well they are just scrumptious! Their eyes and ears are now open and they are just starting to wobble about and make little growls and barks. So cute!
Here are a few photos taken today by Dennis. He stayed home all day yesterday and today to feed the little girl every two hours while I went off to a local agility show. I will try and get more photos tomorrow of the two girls.
This is the "Fat Head" who had us all worried about Zen during the birth!
This is "Linford" named after a famous british runner.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Just a quick post
Just a quick depressing post to keep you all updated. Our internet has been down so I have been unable to post or email; not that I have been realy excited about posting anyway..
The little girl is still not doing well and not gaining weight. I thought we were going to lose her last night; but we got up this morning and she was still with us..
Only time will tell how this story will conclude...
It is even hard to enjoy the other three fat healthy gorgeous pups as we are so stressed about the little one. The three fatties are great; they are happy and healthy and way too cute. Like three little beached whales most of the time!
Our internet will hopefully be back tomorrow.
The little girl is still not doing well and not gaining weight. I thought we were going to lose her last night; but we got up this morning and she was still with us..
Only time will tell how this story will conclude...
It is even hard to enjoy the other three fat healthy gorgeous pups as we are so stressed about the little one. The three fatties are great; they are happy and healthy and way too cute. Like three little beached whales most of the time!
Our internet will hopefully be back tomorrow.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Funny blog
This agility blog really make me laugh! I guess not everyone would find it funny; but I really do! She really captures some funny bits of the American agility world; with it's own idiosyncracies that make it so different from the UK version of agility. It really made me chuckle this morning.
Team Small Dog
I love her logo "Team Small Dog: Small, Fast, Kick Yer Ass".
The little pup still is little but she is very lively. I got some good advice from Diane G and at least have some rational thoughts in my head. Thanks also to Nanna for bouncing some ideas my way. All your good thoughts are appreciated.
She is not the smallest pup I have ever had. Little Drummer was only 3.5 ounces when he was born and luckily he turned out fine. But we have to watch the little ones both now and in the long term. One thing I have to say for this little girl: she loves to eat! Even when all the other pups are laying like fat beached whales off onto the side; she is still attached to Zen and often falls asleep with the nipple in her mouth!
Team Small Dog
I love her logo "Team Small Dog: Small, Fast, Kick Yer Ass".
The little pup still is little but she is very lively. I got some good advice from Diane G and at least have some rational thoughts in my head. Thanks also to Nanna for bouncing some ideas my way. All your good thoughts are appreciated.
She is not the smallest pup I have ever had. Little Drummer was only 3.5 ounces when he was born and luckily he turned out fine. But we have to watch the little ones both now and in the long term. One thing I have to say for this little girl: she loves to eat! Even when all the other pups are laying like fat beached whales off onto the side; she is still attached to Zen and often falls asleep with the nipple in her mouth!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
My agility system
Some photos from Crufts. Photo #2 is an illustrated example of the my famous patented "Finger Pointy" system. It is closely followed by my "FCA" system but that is a secret and I can't tell you about that one.
Update on the little one
I am still quite worried about the little girl. Unfortunately I think only time will tell....
She still has not gained weight although she is constantly nursing. She seems strong; they other pups cannot push her off a nipple. I went to the vet to get some Whelpie and a little puppy nurser. Well that was a waste of time, as she will have NOTHING to do with a rubber nipple! She is strong enough that I can barely hold her to get the nipple in her mouth.
So I really do not know what to think other than I hate this part of just waiting....
Monday, March 10, 2008
Crufts 2008 and puppies
Well Crufts 2008 is over. I cannot say I had the most successful Crufts or even enjoyed being there. One main reason for that; not at all related to my dog's results or performance! I don't want to get into the reasons as they are upsetting but I am more upset that I allowed someone else to ruin my special day with my special dog.
Here is a video of one of Hex's runs. She did really well for her first time at Crufts; I couldn't be more proud of her. She ended up in 2nd place in this run; just behind her litter brother Indy! Damn I keep getting beat by my own dogs! :-)
Indy went on to win the Small Crufts Agility Championships! I think this Crufts was meant to be successful for all the OBay Sheltie BOYS! Here is a video of Indy's (aka The Pocket Rocket!) two champ runs. We left before the finals so do not have the final run on Video; although we got to see the run on TV when we got home! Both Chi and Indy got alot of TV coverage this year! And the Tri-Star ESSC team had most of their runs on TV also!
I always find puppy whelping stressful. I think that I could do this for 50 more years and still worry about mom and pups. So far Zen is doing well but I am worried about one of the girls who is not gaining weight. She is nursing well and seems active but had lost 1 ounce after birth and has not gained anymore. Meanwhile the other three have already gained 3 ounces each!
Here is cute photo I took today.
Thanks to Lisa for watching the babies for me on Sunday. She even slept over on Saturday night to sleep in the room with Zen and pups so that I could have a decent night sleep before Crufts the next day. Lisa has some of Chi's videos on her blog along with some puppy photos. Check out Chi's Blog.
Also check out the Tri-Star Shelties runs in Medium Team finals at Crufts on Lian's Blog.
Here is a video of one of Hex's runs. She did really well for her first time at Crufts; I couldn't be more proud of her. She ended up in 2nd place in this run; just behind her litter brother Indy! Damn I keep getting beat by my own dogs! :-)
Indy went on to win the Small Crufts Agility Championships! I think this Crufts was meant to be successful for all the OBay Sheltie BOYS! Here is a video of Indy's (aka The Pocket Rocket!) two champ runs. We left before the finals so do not have the final run on Video; although we got to see the run on TV when we got home! Both Chi and Indy got alot of TV coverage this year! And the Tri-Star ESSC team had most of their runs on TV also!
I always find puppy whelping stressful. I think that I could do this for 50 more years and still worry about mom and pups. So far Zen is doing well but I am worried about one of the girls who is not gaining weight. She is nursing well and seems active but had lost 1 ounce after birth and has not gained anymore. Meanwhile the other three have already gained 3 ounces each!
Here is cute photo I took today.
Thanks to Lisa for watching the babies for me on Sunday. She even slept over on Saturday night to sleep in the room with Zen and pups so that I could have a decent night sleep before Crufts the next day. Lisa has some of Chi's videos on her blog along with some puppy photos. Check out Chi's Blog.
Also check out the Tri-Star Shelties runs in Medium Team finals at Crufts on Lian's Blog.
Saturday, March 08, 2008
4 puppies
After a long two days Zen finally decided to have the puppies this afternoon. I think she is now done as it has been 2.5 hours since the last puppy and she seems fairly settled. I was really hoping there was another one or two in there but it is just not meant to be. I feel bad for the people that were hoping for puppies. :-( I certainly understand the disappointment.
There are two boys and two girls; all weighing a healthy 8 ounces. The first boy gave us a scare as Zen was taking a long time to get him out. We had just called the vet and were contemplating rushing her off to the vet. We gave it one last try and Lisa held Zen while I pulled the pup out. He was fine and active and we have now named him "FAT HEAD" for getting his fat head stuck and making me crazy!
I am really tired and not sure how we will run tomorrow at Crufts but I am going to give it a good try! Luckily Lisa has offered to stay over tonight so I can get some sleep and will stay to keep an eye on Zen and pups tomorrow.
Friday, March 07, 2008
Chi won Crufts Singles!!!
I am so thrilled! Lisa and Chi have won the Medium Crufts Singels Final!!!!!!! I cannot believe I was not there and now will probably be banned from all competitions as they all did so well without me there!
I am so amazed that this little dog just recovered from his cancer surgery 3 months ago and now has won Crufts!!!
What a boost for Lisa's ego! I always told her he had the speed to win against everyone including the border collies and including Zen! Once they get it together there will be no beating them!
More details, photos and videos when they get home and I am not whelping pups!
I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am so amazed that this little dog just recovered from his cancer surgery 3 months ago and now has won Crufts!!!
What a boost for Lisa's ego! I always told her he had the speed to win against everyone including the border collies and including Zen! Once they get it together there will be no beating them!
More details, photos and videos when they get home and I am not whelping pups!
I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ESSC Tri-Stars
ESSC Tri-stars got 2nd in the medium team semi-finals!!! They are thru to the finals this afternoon! Fingers crossed and I hate getting the results thru as texts! I wanna be there! Waaaaaaaah!
They were beat by those darn medium blue merle border collies. Come on shelties you can win the finals!!!
I heard that Lisa's run with Chi was awesome! I so cannnot wait to see the video. Right now I am anxiously awaiting the news of Chi's run in the Crufts singles.
Lisa and Johanna are useless:they are both saying that their batteries are running out on their mobile phones. Do you think they are tired of hearing from me?? :-)
Here is a photo of the TriStar team when we qualifed for Crufts back in July. We were certainly the most coordinated team! Next year we need to find a sponsor so that we have matching jackets for Crufts. We got let down this year, so have to start asking around as soon as we qualify. (Yes I am postive we will qualify again! PMA~!)
And,yes, I am slighly going stir crazy at home which is why this post sounds a bit manic!
They were beat by those darn medium blue merle border collies. Come on shelties you can win the finals!!!
I heard that Lisa's run with Chi was awesome! I so cannnot wait to see the video. Right now I am anxiously awaiting the news of Chi's run in the Crufts singles.
Lisa and Johanna are useless:they are both saying that their batteries are running out on their mobile phones. Do you think they are tired of hearing from me?? :-)
Here is a photo of the TriStar team when we qualifed for Crufts back in July. We were certainly the most coordinated team! Next year we need to find a sponsor so that we have matching jackets for Crufts. We got let down this year, so have to start asking around as soon as we qualify. (Yes I am postive we will qualify again! PMA~!)
And,yes, I am slighly going stir crazy at home which is why this post sounds a bit manic!
I can't do it...
Last night my bags were packed and I was thinking of going this morning...but I just couldn't do it. Even Crufts is just not worth leaving Zen. She is doing nothing but her temps are just low enough to keep me on my toes although it has not done it's major drop yet. I have a feeling I will just be home staring at her all day.
Yeah I am bummed and I sobbed a little and felt a bit sorry for myself. (well I am not a saint!) I really wanted to run Hex in the Eukanuba; she had done so well all year and qualified for it with the most points of all the dogs. She would have been running last out of the 20 small dogs qualified. Tomorrow is our small team run and I will have to decide soon, depending on what happens today, about what I will do for that. And, then of course, Sunday is the champs.
I really missed going on Thursday and cheering for Johanna, Nicky and Daniel. They all did so well! Nicky and Indy winning the Small International competition, Daniel and Bailey winning the Small Starters competition (against all the adults!)and Johanna and One coming second in the medium starters competition. I have been promised videos and photos; fingers crossed!
In the meantime, some lovely lovely people (thanks!) sent me this photo they took of Johanna and One running at Crufts. Do you think he got that contact?
Yeah I am bummed and I sobbed a little and felt a bit sorry for myself. (well I am not a saint!) I really wanted to run Hex in the Eukanuba; she had done so well all year and qualified for it with the most points of all the dogs. She would have been running last out of the 20 small dogs qualified. Tomorrow is our small team run and I will have to decide soon, depending on what happens today, about what I will do for that. And, then of course, Sunday is the champs.
I really missed going on Thursday and cheering for Johanna, Nicky and Daniel. They all did so well! Nicky and Indy winning the Small International competition, Daniel and Bailey winning the Small Starters competition (against all the adults!)and Johanna and One coming second in the medium starters competition. I have been promised videos and photos; fingers crossed!
In the meantime, some lovely lovely people (thanks!) sent me this photo they took of Johanna and One running at Crufts. Do you think he got that contact?
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Hi Hi Johanna
Just to show off my Danish. Hi-Hi (I not really sure how to spell it!) means Bye-bye in Danish!
Johanna and Marianne left today to head up to Crufts. Johanna is competing tomorrow in agility with One, Tazz and Spooky.. They are picking up Emmy at the Airport on the way up to the NEC. Emmy is competing with her handsome blue sheltie, Biscuit, in the International Freestyle competition on Saturday. I saw a sample of his routine and it looks so very cute!
My house is very quiet and calm tonight which is good for Zen (and for Dennis!) Although Johannas dogs are very well behaved; things are never calm when you have loads of dogs in the house.
Here is a photo of Johanna and the three dogs she is competing with tomorrow at Crufts. Fingers crossed for Tazz, One and Spooky! I ordered Johanna to sit down and let Dennis do a photo of her. It is so hard to get Johanna to smile in photos!!
Johanna got her car packed up and it looked a little full. Marianne and I questioned her about just WHERE Emmy will be sitting when they pick her up from the airport? In her own special Johanna-way, she tried to convince us that there would be loads of room for Emmy AND her luggage. Hmmmmm, we were not convinced and I hope that Marianne gets a photo of the car with Emmy in it! Anyway, here is a photo of the car just before they headed off to pick up Emmy.
And here is the back of the car with all the dogs packed up to go! I just love her new car; it is really cool to have the fixed crates in the back. The dogs are so comfy.
As many of you know, Hob-b is headed back to Denmark to do some showing in the breed ring. Plus, Tazz is headed back home after his 6 month stay with me here in England. So now we are down 2 dogs and it seems really strange just having 4 dogs here. Hob-b will be back; hopefully sporting a new Champion title! Fingers crossed!
Here is the two little-uns getting ready for their great adventure! Ahhh, way too cute!
As for Zen and my own personal Crufts saga......no news yet! Watching and waiting and cannot make any plans! Hex and I will just have to keep paws and fingers crossed that we will get to compete at least one day at Crufts this weekend. The joys of breeding!
Johanna and Marianne left today to head up to Crufts. Johanna is competing tomorrow in agility with One, Tazz and Spooky.. They are picking up Emmy at the Airport on the way up to the NEC. Emmy is competing with her handsome blue sheltie, Biscuit, in the International Freestyle competition on Saturday. I saw a sample of his routine and it looks so very cute!
My house is very quiet and calm tonight which is good for Zen (and for Dennis!) Although Johannas dogs are very well behaved; things are never calm when you have loads of dogs in the house.
Here is a photo of Johanna and the three dogs she is competing with tomorrow at Crufts. Fingers crossed for Tazz, One and Spooky! I ordered Johanna to sit down and let Dennis do a photo of her. It is so hard to get Johanna to smile in photos!!
Johanna got her car packed up and it looked a little full. Marianne and I questioned her about just WHERE Emmy will be sitting when they pick her up from the airport? In her own special Johanna-way, she tried to convince us that there would be loads of room for Emmy AND her luggage. Hmmmmm, we were not convinced and I hope that Marianne gets a photo of the car with Emmy in it! Anyway, here is a photo of the car just before they headed off to pick up Emmy.
And here is the back of the car with all the dogs packed up to go! I just love her new car; it is really cool to have the fixed crates in the back. The dogs are so comfy.
As many of you know, Hob-b is headed back to Denmark to do some showing in the breed ring. Plus, Tazz is headed back home after his 6 month stay with me here in England. So now we are down 2 dogs and it seems really strange just having 4 dogs here. Hob-b will be back; hopefully sporting a new Champion title! Fingers crossed!
Here is the two little-uns getting ready for their great adventure! Ahhh, way too cute!
As for Zen and my own personal Crufts saga......no news yet! Watching and waiting and cannot make any plans! Hex and I will just have to keep paws and fingers crossed that we will get to compete at least one day at Crufts this weekend. The joys of breeding!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Invasion of the Danes
Johanna and Marianne have arrived from Denmark. They got in late on Saturday and you would think they would sleep late on Sunday! Not!
We did some training on an evil course designed by Johanna on Sunday afternoon. I have some videos of this and will try to post later. I tell you these Europeans know how to set up a fun course; even though none of us could get around it on the first try! Johanna worked Tazz for the first time since he has been with me since August. I think she was happy with his new contacts and start line stays which Tazz has been working hard at. But old habits are hard to break! I have good confidence that Tazz can do perfect contacts at Crufts on Thursday. Go Tazzy stud man!
Afterwards we did a nice walk to the pub. I took Pax and Hob-b,the two sable bark-alots. Lisa and Tony took Griz the perfect lurcher.
And Johanna took Spooky the Rare blue merle "Danish Hoover-nose Hound". Those Hoover-nose Hound dogs are very rare and they are in great demand in the agility world. I think if he produced medium sized "Danish Blue Hoover Hounds" that there would be a major crisis in the FCI. What would they do? They might have to ban any breeding of them!
The girls got some great exercise chasing Grizz the lurcher and Spooky the hoover- nose hound. With 3 extra dogs in the house; it is good to try and give the girls some extra exercise to mellow them out. No matter how good all the dogs are it is stressful to have so many dogs together. So I think each dog needs some extra attention.
I have met Emmy's blue sheltie boy Biscuit. He is a lovely boy and I would like to get to know more of him. Unfortunately he peed on Johanna's leg and my couch so he has been put in doggie detention! haha. Overall though he seems such a calm well behaved dog and a pleasure to have around. Funny thing though he stands on his back legs alot! Must be all that Doggie Dancing training! I hope to get some photos of him today.
In the evening we had a little game of Pictionary which was won by the Danes; but I am not sure there was not cheating going on... I must brush up on my Danish in order to find out! This was followed by a BBQ dinner by the master BBQ man Tony. Yum!
I love having the Danes come over as they bring such good pressies! I love pressies! What else would they bring but OBAY BEER! Yes, that is Zen on the bottle (figuratively and literally!)
Thanks to Lisa for these photos. You can go on Chi's blog to learn more about Danish Beer.
We did some training on an evil course designed by Johanna on Sunday afternoon. I have some videos of this and will try to post later. I tell you these Europeans know how to set up a fun course; even though none of us could get around it on the first try! Johanna worked Tazz for the first time since he has been with me since August. I think she was happy with his new contacts and start line stays which Tazz has been working hard at. But old habits are hard to break! I have good confidence that Tazz can do perfect contacts at Crufts on Thursday. Go Tazzy stud man!
Afterwards we did a nice walk to the pub. I took Pax and Hob-b,the two sable bark-alots. Lisa and Tony took Griz the perfect lurcher.
And Johanna took Spooky the Rare blue merle "Danish Hoover-nose Hound". Those Hoover-nose Hound dogs are very rare and they are in great demand in the agility world. I think if he produced medium sized "Danish Blue Hoover Hounds" that there would be a major crisis in the FCI. What would they do? They might have to ban any breeding of them!
The girls got some great exercise chasing Grizz the lurcher and Spooky the hoover- nose hound. With 3 extra dogs in the house; it is good to try and give the girls some extra exercise to mellow them out. No matter how good all the dogs are it is stressful to have so many dogs together. So I think each dog needs some extra attention.
I have met Emmy's blue sheltie boy Biscuit. He is a lovely boy and I would like to get to know more of him. Unfortunately he peed on Johanna's leg and my couch so he has been put in doggie detention! haha. Overall though he seems such a calm well behaved dog and a pleasure to have around. Funny thing though he stands on his back legs alot! Must be all that Doggie Dancing training! I hope to get some photos of him today.
In the evening we had a little game of Pictionary which was won by the Danes; but I am not sure there was not cheating going on... I must brush up on my Danish in order to find out! This was followed by a BBQ dinner by the master BBQ man Tony. Yum!
I love having the Danes come over as they bring such good pressies! I love pressies! What else would they bring but OBAY BEER! Yes, that is Zen on the bottle (figuratively and literally!)
Thanks to Lisa for these photos. You can go on Chi's blog to learn more about Danish Beer.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Thanks Eleanor
My friend Eleanor mentioned recently that she was looking at some old photos of our littermates Joy and Dash. Yes these were actual PHOTOS pre-digital era! As most of my photo albums are back in New York I asked her to scan a few of Joy as a puppy. She sent me these the other day and I just cried when I saw them. I still cannot believe she has been gone for over a year. I miss her.
This was our Christmas photo 1992 when Joy was just 6 months old. In the photo (L to R) are Noel (my first sheltie), Holly (Joy's mom), Joy and Tess (our rescue GSP).
This was the 1st birthday party for Joy and her three litter-mates. In the photo my nephew Patrick is trying to hold them all together. Gosh he looks so young! (L to R) Brandi, Bell, Joy, Holly and Dash. We had such a good day at their birthday party! That was a fantastic litter to have as my 1st ever sheltie litter. Not only were they great dogs but they had great owners who became great friends. How lucky I have been to have such special people own my dogs. Happily, Bell and Dash are still around and will be 16 in May.
And finally our Christmas card in 1993. As soon as we would have our first snow of the year I would rush Dennis outside to take our Christmas photo for that year! You couldn't tell from the photo but Tess was afraid of cameras! She came to us at around 6 years old and she was a stray so we do not know her background. I figured her previous owners must have been over-zealous photo takers.....hmmm. Haha!
This was our Christmas photo 1992 when Joy was just 6 months old. In the photo (L to R) are Noel (my first sheltie), Holly (Joy's mom), Joy and Tess (our rescue GSP).
This was the 1st birthday party for Joy and her three litter-mates. In the photo my nephew Patrick is trying to hold them all together. Gosh he looks so young! (L to R) Brandi, Bell, Joy, Holly and Dash. We had such a good day at their birthday party! That was a fantastic litter to have as my 1st ever sheltie litter. Not only were they great dogs but they had great owners who became great friends. How lucky I have been to have such special people own my dogs. Happily, Bell and Dash are still around and will be 16 in May.
And finally our Christmas card in 1993. As soon as we would have our first snow of the year I would rush Dennis outside to take our Christmas photo for that year! You couldn't tell from the photo but Tess was afraid of cameras! She came to us at around 6 years old and she was a stray so we do not know her background. I figured her previous owners must have been over-zealous photo takers.....hmmm. Haha!
The nesting stage
I took Zen's tempeture for the first time on Friday; I usually start the temp taking one week before. So now it begins to feel serious! Poor Zen just sees the thermometer in my hand and tries to hide.
So I am in my nesting stage! We set up her whelping box and this started me off on a cleaning/clearing out spree! The charity shops should love me as I brought them bags and bags of stuff. I mean just how many "dog" towels do I need? And don't get me started on how many duffel bags, tote bags, briefcases and pieces of luggage we have hidden all over the place! Off to the charity shop for them!
One minute I look at Zen and she seems huge and the next time I look she doesn't seem big. So I really don't know how many pups are in there; we will know soon enough. My sister is now not allowed to have one until she learns her sheltie colour genetics...she mentioned last night that she didn't want to pick out a new collar for the puppy until she knew what colour it would be!hahahahahahahaha If a sable pup pops out of Zen we are in big trouble! And the Kennel club might have some strong words to say to me.
While we were on the phone talking about colours of puppies; Zen came over and handed me her skunk toy. So I decided it was a sign and if by some strange chance Zen has a black and white puppy... it is mine! (dont' worry guys it is highly unlikely!)
We are expecting Johanna and Marianne tonight and really looking forward to seeing them both along with the gorgeous sheltie One. They are bringing two BLUE dogs with them also (BC Spooky and sheltie Biscuit) but we won't discuss the fact that there will be blue dogs in my house. Yuck! ;-)
So I am in my nesting stage! We set up her whelping box and this started me off on a cleaning/clearing out spree! The charity shops should love me as I brought them bags and bags of stuff. I mean just how many "dog" towels do I need? And don't get me started on how many duffel bags, tote bags, briefcases and pieces of luggage we have hidden all over the place! Off to the charity shop for them!
One minute I look at Zen and she seems huge and the next time I look she doesn't seem big. So I really don't know how many pups are in there; we will know soon enough. My sister is now not allowed to have one until she learns her sheltie colour genetics...she mentioned last night that she didn't want to pick out a new collar for the puppy until she knew what colour it would be!hahahahahahahaha If a sable pup pops out of Zen we are in big trouble! And the Kennel club might have some strong words to say to me.
While we were on the phone talking about colours of puppies; Zen came over and handed me her skunk toy. So I decided it was a sign and if by some strange chance Zen has a black and white puppy... it is mine! (dont' worry guys it is highly unlikely!)
We are expecting Johanna and Marianne tonight and really looking forward to seeing them both along with the gorgeous sheltie One. They are bringing two BLUE dogs with them also (BC Spooky and sheltie Biscuit) but we won't discuss the fact that there will be blue dogs in my house. Yuck! ;-)
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