Fat Boy Walks!

I am posting this silly photo just to show that Fat Boy can actually walk!

Although he does fall down a lot.......

He has decided that everything deserves to go into his mouth. He has a particular attraction to this little lamb toy.

Only the American readers will understand this. Somehow, in my head, I have hooked up the name "Fat Boy" with the theme song for the TV show "Cops". I can't help but sing it to him.

"Bad boys, bad boys

Whatcha gonna do, whatcha

gonna do

When they come for you"

Just replace "BadBoy"with "FatBoy" and you will see how it fits!

Fat Boy actually may more appropriately be named Bad Boy. He seems quite dominant for just 3 weeks old. He likes to use his weight to beat up toys and makes the cutest little grrr grrr noises whenever he does anything! He is starting to come to me when I tap my hands on the floor and we have him climbing over and under things. I have started to bring out all the musical children's toys to get him accustomed to different noises and different surfaces under his feet.

FatBoy will spend the day on Saturday with Dennis. I am off to a Heelwork to Music sheltie training day. No, don't worry, the world is NOT ready to see me dance with dogs. I am going just to learn some new ideas and some new party tricks. And just a chance to spend the day focusing on Hex and Zen. I will NOT be dancing with my dogs, I will leave that to more coordinated and musically inclined people! Dennis will take Fat Boy in the car (with Hob-b) for the morning while he target shoots at Bisley. The noise is far enough away that it will not scare the pup, but a good introduction to some different noises. And a good chance for a car ride and new scenery for the pup.

Dennis may also take Fat Boy to work on Friday depending on the weather.

Going to train my dogs today

Even if it rains, I am going to train my dogs today! I am such a lazy trainer, thank god I have good dogs! Here is the quote I am following this month:

Arthur Ashe (tennis player): "One important key to success is self-confidence. An important key to self-confidence is preparation."

Hex and Zen and I are gettting prepared! I have some sequences in my head that we need to work on. Hex needs work on picking up obstacles that require her to push away from me especially if I am behind. She would always rather curve in towards me and needs work on long straight lines. Zen is going to get some remedial work on her contacts and getting her to send to the bottom of the dog walk when I am somewhere else far far away!

I have heard from some of the pups owners and they all seem to be doing well. Here is a cute photo of Wizz visiting the local library. And a photos of Zeus sleeping with his new border collie brother named Anton.



















Fat Boy continues to do well. I am feeding him mushed up dog food a few times per day and he likes it. He is going to start coming places with me next week as I can't bear him being home alone!

I have thought of a cute registered name for him to play on Hob-b's registered name (which is Akadia Helluva Hob-b at Obay) and to play on an agility theme.

OBay Helluva Good Time! What do you all think? Any other ideas. All of Hob-b's relatives have a "hell" theme! Here mom is Hellsbells and her grand-dad is Hells Ablazin.

Can you find the Fat Boy?

Can you pick out the Fat Boy in the photo?

And I thought I did alot of work with the pups!

http://www.puppyprodigies.org/VideoClips.htm

Wow, I found this link on another blog and couldn't believe it! Poor Fat Boy, I have alot of work to do with him to catch up. Too bad he isn't actually walking yet!

I was really pleased to see this website, as it encompasses so much of what I do with my pups. It is good to see I am not the only one! I am going to sit down and go thru this website tonight and see if there is anything I can add to Fat Boys routine!

Miscellaneous

Fat Boy has now finally opened his eyes! He opened them a bit later than I am used to and waited until he was 14 days old. We were afraid he was so fat that he wouldn't open them! But eyes and ears now open, so my work begins again. But alot easier with just one puppy! We are going to move him into the kitchen this weekend, so that he has more contact with all the other dogs. I can't bear the though of him all alone in his whelping box. We will be calling him Billy-No-Mates soon.

When I started worrying about his "doggie" socialization, I remembered our last singleton puppy "One". One certainly has no issues with other dogs and is probably one of the more dog social pups I have had. So I think Fat Boy will be ok.



I hope I didn't scare anyone....this is NOT Fat Boy! hehehe My friend Eleanor sent me this old photo of "Price" who was her singleton puppy a few years back. Price (aka Priceless....we all know the cost of these c-section singleton pup...yikes!) is now a lovely bouncy Champion German Shorthair Pointer. Very well socialized and very energetic!

Here he is as an adult with his mom, Syndney and the sheltie crew. On the left is one of Jordan's puppies, Presto and in the middle is Joy's brother Dash. The sheltie on the right is Eleanor's latest addition called Ozma. She picked Ozma because she had a very similar pedigree to both Dash and Presto.




In this photo below is Hex's brother Max. Max doesn't do agility or obedience, but he rules the roost at Jill and Tims. Last week, Jill went to visit a friend with young son called Archie. Even though Max hardly ever sees children, he did so well with Archie and can be seen sharing both his bed and his toys! Isn't that the cutest?

Empty Nest

All of the Fab Five are now gone into their new homes. It is very quiet here and I feel a bit lonely. Fat Boy is now 2 weeks; so hopefully in a week or so he will start to keep me busy.

On the plus side, I now have time to start training Zen and Hex again as we are all feeling a bit rusty and out of shape. I have some New Year's resolutions to work on. One of which includes some regular training for Zen, Hex and I. The other includes trying to get fit!

I thought I would introduce all the new owners; each with their own special little hooligan...ooops I mean sheltie pup! I am very happy with all the new homes and hope that the pups give them many years of laughter and joy.

First we have have Andy and Kizzy (OBay Caught In The Act). Kizzy (formerly known as Dot) will be doing agility (and maybe dabbling in other rings) and lives with Andy, Nancy and a crew of Border Collies. Although the biggest of the litter, she still is not really very big and is running on the lower end of height charts. She has turned out really lovely and has a gorgeous structure. When Andy came to choose his pup, she wouldn't stop following him around. It was meant to be! You can read more about Kizzy's antics on her own personal blog at http://hudsondoglets.blogspot.com/

Second we have Han, Adele and Wizz (OBay Catch The Wind). Wizz (formerly known as Black Leg) will be causing chaos in Holland. She is a strong character and needs a firm knowlege of who is really the boss! Luckily Adele and Han are long-time sheltie people and know how to read shelties. Wizz has turned out beautiful and if her ears stay correct, I am hoping they will put her into the breed ring as a puppy. She also will be concentrating on agility.

Third we have Peggy and Zoe (OBay Catch A Rising Star). Zoe (formerly known as Carmella) is joining Peggy and Kelvin along with her big uncle Timmy (and hoping to do agility as well as he does!) and a sweet golden retriever called Jessie. Zoe is the pup I felt most like Zen in many ways. I am lucky that I will get to see Zoe most frequently as they live the closest to me. Peggy said that Zoe settled right in and acts like she has lived there her entire life.

Next we have Mary and Oz (OBay Caught Red Handed). Oz (previously known as Pickle) joins Mary, Dave and a crew of border collies, a lurcher and another sheltie. (You can read about Mary's other dogs at http://www.maryray.co.uk/dogs.html) Oz can be a bit naughty and likes the sound of his own voice, so I think he may drive Dave slightly batty. But hopefully his adorable attitude will win him over! What will Oz be doing? Well Mary does everything, so the sky is the limit. I know that Mary will bring the best out in him and I couldn't ask for a better owner of my special Pickle.

Last but not least, the littlest of the bunch. Kirsten and Zeus (OBay Catch Up). Zeus (previously called Tony) was the smallest but he never knew it. Forever climbing up on things (including full height a-frames in the agility field!) he always tried to be above all his siblings. He was probably the cuddliest of all the puppies, one of the few content to just be held. He joins Kirsten, Gert and a bunch of shelties and one border collie in Denmark. He gets to live on a lovely farm and will have a great life doing agility, obedience and maybe some breed showing. Kirsten lives close to Johanna (who owns the pups dad Tazz and grand-dad Monty) and so Johanna is happy to be able to watch him grow up!

Good luck to all the new owners. Just remember I am here for any questions or just to listen to how wonderful/bad/naughty/cute/fustrating they are!

Happy New Year

Wizz (aka Black Leg) will be the last puppy to go into her new home tomorrow. Her new owners are driving and taking the ferry over from Holland to come and get her. Once she is gone, I will post new photos of all the pups and their owners.

In the meantime, I get to play with Wizz a little longer. So she came with us to a lovely New Years Eve party given by Lesley (my agility instructor extraordinaire) hosted by Leslie and Sarah and their darling son Dylan Zane (see a "Z" name!) and catered by Lyn and Les who are fabulous cooks. The party was mainly agility folk (except for Dennis and Tony who were very patient) and Wizz got alot of positive socialization. She had lots of people playing tuggy with her and taking her around on her lead. She is getting better on lead although it is not her favorite thing right now; she would rather take the lead and go wherever SHE wants!

Ok, she had a few drinks but it was New Years Eve!


But she also got to be held by the great agility instructor/handler Lesley Olden! Hopefully this bodes well for Wizz's future agility career!

And she got to meet her first little child. Dylan Zane at first wanted to put Wizz in his mouth but settled on chewing her lead. Wizz seemed unfazed by him and it was a good experience for her.

This morning on New Years day we went for a great walk thru Petworth Park. Our friends Tim and Marion know Petworth Park well as Tim works at Petworth. We took Zen, Hex, Chi and their mom True as well as Grizz the lurcher on a nice muddy 6 mile walk. They loved it of course!

From left to right (Hex, Chi and Zen).

Puppy agility class

This is my puppy agility class. I teach this motley crew on Saturday mornings at Sue's sand school. I cannot do many private lessons at home lately during the winter as we are limited by weather and mud; but the sand school at Sue's house is great because it doesn't get muddy!


I thought this photo was priceless. Patch being slightly naughty and the two border collies trying to pretend he isn't there.....

Fat Boy

Now you see why he is known as "Fat Boy"......'nuff said?

Pups last day at home

We have had a busy couple of days. I had hoped to post photos of the pups and their new owners but have not had a chance to edit the photos yet. A bout of food poisoning has kept me out of action for a few days. I am very grateful that I got sick AFTER the puppies went! And I am even MORE grateful for the NHS and our local doctors. We have doctors who can come to your home at night! 3 am in the morning and feeling like you are dying in bed from pain and those doctors and their drugs are like heaven! Bless the pharmaceutical companies!

I am just up and around today and thought I would post some photos of the pups last day together at my house. For the pup's last three days with us we finally got some good weather and the pups were able to be outside and playing. They each got some good running around the garden individually with Hob-b who is a great playmate. They played a little with Zen, but Zen is a bit rough with them. Mostly they played together in the puppy pen and on their little kids ramp.



The pups loved to play chase games and king of the mountain on this children's slide. It was the best boot sale find!










Hob-b was the best playmate for these puppies. She is so sweet and gentle, I had no fears she would hurt the pups at all.











Oz just looking adorable! During his last few days at home he was "Pickle" when he was naughty and "Oz" when he was good.

Big Day tomorrow!

Four of the five pups go to their new owners tomorrow. It will be sad to see them go. They have been a fairly easy litter but I think I say that with every litter! (all 8 of them) This is the first litter that I have not kept a puppy and that feels strange. I think by next week when the last puppy goes I will probably have empty nest syndrome. Fat Boy (Hob-b's boy) will help but he will not really be very active for another 2-3 weeks.

We are calling him "Fat Boy" because he eats and eats and eats. He has more than doubled his weight in his first week. On a positive note, Fat Boy is also a type of Harley Davidson Motorcyle so it is not really a bad puppy name!

The pups are getting used to some new things over the past 3 days. Firstly, they are spending the nights in crates. This is started to help them adjust to the first nights in their new homes and to help housebreaking. I usually start this earlier but this litter had a bout of diarrhea and that made crate training difficult. They are well now and can go the night without fouling the crate.
Also, during the day after eating and play, I put them in crates when they start tiring out. Two sets of two pups to one crate and one pup alone. I mix and match them so that each one gets time alone. The first morning I did this was a very noisy 1/2 hour! They are getting better but still can be noisy if they don't think it is nap time......


Secondly, the pups are getting used to their collars and leads. I haven't done alot with that but they will tolerate the collar. I got these fantastic tuggy leads from www.yipeeee.com.

I think they will be great for the pups in their agility training. I have seen tuggy leads before, but these were the first I have seen that are a smaller size for shelties. Of course they all have to have matching collars and leads! I like these leads so much I have to get one each for Zen and Hex.

The last thing I have been trying to do more of is grooming the pups. Nail cutting is quite the task with these five hooligans. After they tired out this morning I was able to trim all 90 puppy nails! Now I need a nap and it is only 6 am!

Grooming shelties is an art in itself. Luckily 4 out of the 5 new owners are previous sheltie owners so I do not have to help them too much. But all my puppy owners soon learn that they cannot see me without my pulling out the scissors and brushes to groom the pup. I like a well groomed sheltie and have an obsession about trimming and keeping them neat. We took some photos during the pups first bath when they all looked like drowned rats! It is great when they are this small and you can bathe them in the kitchen sink!

Merry Sheltie Christmas!

This is the first year we have had sheltie puppies during Christmas. So we had to try and get some Holiday photos. Here is the Fab 5 all with their new call names (subject to change, of course!) They have had their Christmas baths, blow dry and grooming and are looking and smelling delicious!

Meet OZ . Officially to be known as OBay Caught Red Handed.

Meet ZOE. Officially to be known as OBAY Catch A Rising Star.

Meet Wizz. Officially to be known as OBay Catch The Wind.

Meet ZEUS. Officially known as OBay Catch Up!

Meet KIZZY. Officially know as OBAY CAUGHT IN THE ACT

Zen puppy dog treats!

Can you believe there are dog treats called "ZENPUPPY"??!!

I got a great box of pressies this morning from my friend Eleanor. And in the box were these boxes of "ZEN puppy" dog treats. Well these Zen puppies decided they liked them and tried to open them. We couldn't resist these photos. Do you think the company that makes them would like to sponsor us?






Black leg tries her hardest to open the box...and she is not too thrilled with the lack of results!

Meanwhile Zeus (aka Tony) just poses for his adoring fans.

And Mr. Pickle really liked the box that the pressies came in!

Names

Well the puppies have all been assigned! Phew! And some have names already. Hopefully they will all be going to their new homes next week. It will be so exciting to watch them grow and develop. They have alot to live up to but I have no doubt they will all excel in whatever they do.

Carmella will now and forever be known as "Zoe" OBay Catch A Rising Star. She will be the second OBay Sheltie to be living with Peggy. Peggy also owns Timmy who is Zen's brother. So Timmy will have his little niece coming to live with him. I looked up the name Zoe on the internet and it means "life" in greek. What a special name.

Tony will soon be known as "Zeus" and will be headed to Denmark to live on the most gorgeous farm out in the country It was at this farm that his grandmother, True, did some chicken hunting and .....well let's say it wasn't pretty! He will be spoiled by Kirsten and Gert and will be joining three other shelties and one border collie. Kirsten is a fabulous trainer and Zeus will be trained in agility and obedience. He doesn't have a registered name yet.

More names to come soon!

Hob-b and her little boy continue to improve. Our little brown boy has gained another ounce and is 9 ounces! Woo-hoo! It is such a relief when they start gaining weight and thriving. We can start the neurological stimulation tomorrow. I now have to start pushing him around like his littermates would, making him work to hold onto the nipple. Otherwise he will get lazy about nursing and get very fat!

This week the puppies are doing more trips out and about. Today Tony and Pickle took a ride into Billingshurst with Lisa. She took each one out separately and walked them thru the parking area and up near the stores. They met new people and walked on a lead and collar for the first time. She said both did well and acted confident. Tomorrow Dennis and I will take the girls out one at a time into town and walk them around. It is time consuming, but worth it to take them out individually and see how they react.

Also this weekend the pups will be their first baths, blow dry and grooming. We are hoping to get some cute christmas photos with them. That should be interesting as the 5 hooligans don't understand "stay" yet!

Ouch!

Poor Hob-b! She is becoming a good mom now; cleaning and staying with the little pup. But it hurts to watch him nursing so close to the sutures!

What a face! Now this is the color I have been waiting for......too bad it's a boy! A lovely red sable colour and a face blaze..Aaaaah heaven!

Hob-b and her boy

Hob-b started showing some interest in her little boy last night. Almost clockwork 24 hours since she came out of surgery. The pup is strong and nursing on his own. And, thank God, he has gained one ounce since he was born. He is now 8 ounces. Both little Hob-b and the little pup look lost in the big whelping box!

Hob-b is still not herself and not that interested in eating. This is worrying and I am handfeeding her anything she will eat. Her temperature is normal. The vet said this is normal but I will be watching her closely and bring her in if she doesn't start eating better by tomorrow.

Another "One"

Yesterday around 6 am Hob-b's temperature dropped indicating pups due within 12-24 hours.

So I took Hob-b in for an x-ray to determine how many pups she had. I was concerned because she is such a little girl. Well, the bad news was that she only had ONE puppy. The vet and I talked about it and decided to do a c-section right then and there as the pup seemed large in relation to Hob-b's pelvic opening. The risk of waiting was that Hob-b would have gone into labor and if the pup got stuck in the canal we would have to do an emergency c-section. That is much riskier for the mom and pup and I did not want to risk losing either. When there is only one puppy, those puppies tend to be larger (lots of room to spread out in there!) so we went for the safer option.

I was sad for Hob-b as she had to go thru that surgery but she seems to have come thru fine. The good news is that she has one healthy sable BOY puppy. (my dogs seemed determined never to give me another sable bitch!) He weighs 7 ounces and seems strong. Hob-b is not very interested in him at this point but that is typical for a mom just out of a c-section. She should start showing interest later today. Hob-b is groggy and sore but she lets him nurse and cuddle with her; she just doesn't clean him or get concerned if he cries. Breeders who have experienced c-sections before say this is normal for the first day. In my notes from Jordan (who had a c-section due to two HUGE puppies) I wrote that she showed no interest in the pups for around 36 hours. It is understandable because the bitch never went into labor and never saw the puppy or cleaned the puppy after birth. All Hob-b knows is that she woke up sore and uncomfortable and there was this wriggly brown thing suckling on her!

So "Little Brown Boy" joins the singleton puppy brigade along with "One" who was True's singleton pup 3 years ago. And singleton friends: German Shorthair Pointer "Price" and border collie "Ticket". With some work and knowledge, a singleton puppy can grow up just as adjusted as a pup with littermates.

With all the stress of worrying about Hob-b and pup, I didn't get much sleep last night. I slept downstairs with Hob-b to make sure the pup nursed all night. In addition, because Hob-b is not cleaning him, I have to stimulate him with a damp cotton ball to help him pee and poo. The best moment of last night was when I showed the new puppy to Zen! Zen would gladly take over for Hob-b right now and immediately started licking the pup and whining. I find it so funny that Hob-b was playing and help socializing Zen's older puppies and Zen would like to take over for Hob-b's newborn pup! I guess they both have their preferences!

New Friends

The pups have met some new people and new dogs this weekend. At first they were a little concerned about Lex the Golden retriever's size but her gentleness put them at ease.

The pups also got to meet little Hannah. Hannah is actually afraid of dogs, but everytime we have a litter she comes and visits. She starts out not wanting to go near them and eventually will hold them but she worries about their sharp teeth! When the visit is over Hannah becomes brave and actually gave one pup a kiss on the head. Bless!

Hannah gets a good hold on Dot!

Carmella doing what she does best..chewing on socks!

Pups are growing up

I haven't had a chance to post much on the blog lately. The pups are really keeping us busy now. We actually ran out of paper towels today! Gosh these pups are super dooper poo-ing machines.

The pups had a lovely visit this week from Adele and Han from Holland. They are long-time sheltie people and it was great to talk shelties all day. I hope that their first OBay sheltie gives them many years of happiness. They have tentatively picked their puppy, but I am keeping that a secret for now!

The pups have had quite a few new experiences this week. I took them for a car ride to the train station to pick up and drop off Adele and Han. I am not sure they heard much as they were sleeping! But I parked the car as close to the train station as possible and opened up the back so they could hear and see the train. I think I will do this again, possibly taking one or two pups out of the car and holding them while the trains go by.

They also had a nice trip out to Sue's house. After I taught the puppy class in the morning, all my students took a puppy and carried them out to the sand school. We put the puppies down and they immediately started to explore and play. It was a great experience for them and I was very happy with the way they handled the new environment. I worry alot about their socialization and their temperments. I only want the pups with good temperments to go to working homes. I know that I can only do so much, the rest is up to the new owners. But I try and do as much as possible in those first 8 weeks. And then I nag the new owners for the next 10 months to try and get them to keep up the socialization aspect!

Today the pups went for a ride with Dennis to his Clay pigeon shooting. (note these are CLAY pigeons, not real ones!) He will park far enough away that the shooting does not hurt their ears, but that they can still hear it. They will have their lunch in the car while Dennis shoots. I am waiting for them to return and to hear all about the adventure.

Here are the first official photos of Ho-b's puppies! They are due at the end of this week and I am hoping she doesn't go early.





Zen will now stay with the puppies if she has on her little shirt and pants. They prevent the pups from nursing. Still she is wondering "When are they going?".