Whoe Stole Facebook?

My morning is not off to a good start as I can't access Facebook. Wonder if it's down (can sites go down) or if I am having computer issues. Have to admit that I am hooked on everyone else's business.

Tiny Tim the dwarf tree got dressed up last night. Decided to go with twinkling gold lights, but that's all so far. He looks good, but needs some sort of star - but not the big ugly multi-color one I use on big trees. Or maybe he will just wear lights. I'll probably add some small ornaments, but maybe not. . . It might have been my imagination, but I could swear that Tim swelled with pride when I plugged in the lights and saw how beautiful he was!

Got my new perm and had my visit with Lou, plus a glass of wine. How many places can you get your hair done and have a glass of wine too!

Another Tuesday

Sounds as if my mother will be released from Transitional Care on Thursday. Now, if the social worker calls me back today, perhaps we can make arrangements for home health care and keep mom out of assisted living for a bit longer. No point in her giving up her apartment and her friends in the building any sooner than she has to. Yesterday she sounded like herself for the first time in weeks.

Christmas cards are almost done, with the bulk of them already mailed. Always think I will do a chatty funny Christmas letter, but never seem to get that accomplished. Tiny Tim is in his Christmas tree stand, waiting to be decorated. I needed a new tree stand this year, and even the smallest stand cost me twice what I paid for Tim! I need new lights too, with narrower wires. The strands I have look as if thy could be used to lasso and hogtie a steer, big thick things that will look out of place on tiny Tim. Our local Snyders is taking back unwanted Christmas lights (no idea what hey will do with them, probably just dump them in a landfill) but I will go that option with a bunch of unwanted unused lights.

Baby fish are all growing well, most tanks are in pretty good shape too. I replaced a number of flourescent lights this fall and the plants are doing well too. Have a 29gallon tank to redo this winter, but not sure what I will put in it. Am buying some wild livebearers through a seller on Aquabid with delivery after Christmas, so I need to re-arrange some of the existing residents and free up some of the smaller tanks.

Jaime's growing well too. Wish he had a straighter tail, but he's certainly a handsome little guy and fits in here so well. He's teething right now, but so far is just chewing on his toys - KNOCK ON WOOD.

Please Don't Tailgate!

Another snowy morning and traffic accidents galore. I'll soon be out on the road, praying that no one is following me too closely. Why do people tailgait? What if the driver ahead of them has to come to a sudden stop? It's bad enough on dry roads but downright idiotic on wet or snowy roads. Tailgating also means that other drivers can not merge to enter or exit the roadway. Do they not teach this in Driver's Ed, or does everyone forget this this immediately? Such a simple precaution that would save lives, and prevent accidents & injuries.

A MNDOT snow plow was hit this morning when a semi tried to pass it on a snow covered road, hit the wing & dragged the plow. WHY? So you follow a plow for a few miles and lose a few minutes. In this case the plow driver was seriously injured and presumably the semi driver lost a lot MORE time. Why are people so stupid about such things?

And I won't even go into cell phones. Pissed off already. . .

Better Late Than Never

Oops, I forgot again. Just too much going on around here right now, and my routine is all screwed up. Got a fair amount of Christmas shopping done though, which is a relief. Need to work on cards tonight though. I don't always have the Christmas Spirit, but surprisingly this year I do.

Couldn't decide if I was going to use the artificial tree or buy a real one this year, but I hate spending so much money on a tree that gets tossed in two or three weeks. I also HATE putting lights on trees, and putting all the stuff away after Christmas. Bah Humbug. Oops, what about Christmas Spirit? I stopped at a tree dealer this afternoon and saw my tree. I was thinking a Charlie Brown tree, an inexpensive spruce with widely spaced branches (easier to decorate) but bought a Tiny Tim tree instead. A very small tree with a crooked trunk and unevenly spaced branches - and he was only $9.00, what a deal. It will be easy to put lights on a small tree, I won't have to pack (and unpack) so many ornaments, and he'll be both handsome and appreciative with decorated! Merry Christmas, Tiny Tim!

The grand dogs did well this weekend, with Keno picking up his first major. He's a brother to Viva who finished in fine fashion last fall, out of Joy who is due to come back to Argus for a repeat breeding in just a few weeks. Keno now has 11 points and one major. Another winner also in Florida is Cassie, from Argus's second litter. Cassie had a couple of singles with her teenaged handler but hasn't been out much this year. Dad tried Cassie in the ring this weekend and won back to back majors! Way to go, Keno & Cassie! It's been a very good year.

A Letter From Camp

The picture is Argus as a baby. I found it when I was going through all the junk on my desk a couple of weeks ago. He was such a cute baby! Hard to believe he is already 4 years old. It was nice when Ron took a lot of pictures as he did not get "red eye" the way I do with my digital.

Jaime is back home as life has settled down some, at least for awhile. We try to send all the young dogs "off to camp" with Jess, so they can meet other other breeds and learn to handle new situations. That's a very important part of the socialization process. Jaime sent me this note while he was staying with Jess & Don this past week. Note: Stella is the office Cavalier, and the wolves are two German Shepherds.

Dear Family -

I am sneaking onto to Jess' computer while she is in the warehouse pulling an order.

Camp is great! So many fun things to do, dogs to play with, people to jump on and places to run around.

Let's see - there is Stella, the funny little orange (?) and white dog. She's always really interested in me until I turn around, squash her to the ground and slowly pull on her long hairy ears (do those things come off?)... She also has a really cool tail to chase! This morning, I must have pulled too hard as she said some nasty things to me and showed all of her pearly whites.

Then there are the wolves - dad told me about those. Simmie, the elder wolf likes to bounce around me and gets this kind of glazed eyed look when she plays with me. I really like it when she picks up a toy and we can play keep away... This morning I got the toy on a rope and she was none happy - she came over, snatched it up and said some nastey words. Pepper is my best friend - we play out in the snow and have a great time - she's only put me into the snowbanks a couple of times. I steal her toy on a rope regularily and then tease her with it.

The house is really cool - there is lots of room for me to run around, though I think Jess gets tired of me racing around with a squeaky toy in my mouth. There is a big, soft dog bed that I love to wallow around on and I don't have to share it!

The people have been great! Don lets me in and out and I play outside while he is pushing that white stuff around. I love to try and climb on his lap and lick his face too.

The people where the little orange and white dog is are great. I always run to visit Dan first thing in the morning and he makes a big fuss over me. Ashley throws my ball and Mary just gives me treats. This morning I met a new person David, and he give me a treat right away and I am his best friend now!

Camp is going well - food - nothing great, but the rest is good except that I have to get out of bed really early in the morning..

That's all from here and don't worry about me, I am having a great time. Jess says she will try and get pictures of me here in the next day or two.

Love -
Jaime

TGIF

So glad it's Friday. This was NOT an easy week, although everything did go pretty well all things considered. Below zero again this AM, but due to be in the 20s this weekend which means some of the snow will melt and become ice, making for slippery dog walking. Need to get Ron out and walking tomorrow, so am prepared for a weekend of nagging. "His" dogs really need to be walked as they are used to going every day and have not been walked since Tuesday. Coral, Watson & Josie are his responsibility as he is supposed to walk every day and would never exercise just to exercise. I'll discuss this with the dogs and tell them they too need to nag tomorrow!

Worked yesterday morning which felt good. I actually enjoy my job and get great satisfaction from it. Hope to work a whole day today and have to remember to pay my money for the Holiday Party - how can that be coming up so soon? I have done NO Christmas cards and no Christmas shopping yet - maybe this weekend?

Went to mom's apartment yesterday to pick up some clothes, check through her bills to see if anything is due, and go through the refrigerator. Tossed a lot of no-longer-fresh veggies, put some other things in the freezer, left the fruit for now since we have no idea what happens next. Watered the plants and turned down the furnace. Will go back tomorrow I guess as I now have her mailbox key. I have enough trouble keeping my own life organized, so am not real thrilled about this.

No idea how long she'll be in transitional care, but was most impressed with the place she is currently staying. Very nice room, clean & convenient, staff seems to be on top of everything. The lower paid help leaves a lot to be desired, but I guess that's true everywhere. One of the girls put mom's toothbrush, etc. in a drawer, but did not empty the water out of the glass so the bottom of the drawer was all wet, ruining her small flashlight. How could anyone be THAT dumb? Today I will call and get some information on assisted living establishments since mom may not be able to go back to her apartment.

Really hoping I will be able to get to the shows in Chicago the weekend before Christmas. Hope to meet up with Ginger & Cheryl which would be fun, and it would be nice to see them both before Christmas.

We Made It!

At least we got through yesterday, although I wondered about that for awhile. The weather made things a bit more difficult, but everything got taken care of, and today will be filled with new projects and perhaps new challenges.

We got up early allowing time for bad roads and got to the hospital without incident. It was slow and slippery, but most people were driving sensibly. I dropped Ron off, parked the car, checked back with him in the South Section, then went to visit mom in the Central Section. A few elevators & some long hallways apart, but at least the same hospital. Mom was doing well so I had coffee with her, then went back to check on Ron who they had already taken in for prepping. Stayed with mom for awhile, and happened to be there when the doctor stopped by to discuss the results of her MRI. Her spine was in bad shape which we already knew, old compression fractures, flattened discs, and lots of arthritis. New hairline fractures, nothing really broken apart and in need of setting, just small painful things that required time and physical therapy. Transitional care for awhile, and "perhaps" able to go home again later. The case manager was checking into nursing homes.

About 11:00 a call on my cell to tell me Ron was out of surgery and ready to visit. What? I thought his surgery was going to BE at 11:00. Went down to visit him and found out he would be released within the hour, so I went back to update mom, and gather up my jacket and purse. All Ron's vital signs were fine, so they gave him a Percoset (sp?), made him wait a few more minutes and then set us off in a wheelchair. The plan was for me to park him inside the door, then go to retrieve the car. By the time we got to the elevator he asked me to stop because he was feeling dizzy. We waited a bit, then I suggested we stop at the coffee shop and get him coffee & a muffin. We went down the elevator, I parked him in near the coffee shop, and when I got back he looked a little funny and told me the sun (?) was bothering his eyes so I turned his chair away from the window. Suddenly his head dropped to his chest and he turned pure white. OMYGAWD! At least he did this in the hospital and not the parking ramp, so I shouted, "Can anyone help us?". Three people came running, a doctor, a nurse, & an orderly who were in the coffee shop. Ron was totally out for perhaps 30-60 seconds and they said his pulse was "thready". He went back up to recovery for observation. Could not be readmitted if his vital signs were good, which they were, so I parked him, left him "hooked up" and I went to update mom.

While I was explaining things to mom the case worker came in to tell me that there was a room available at the nursing home we all preferred, the closer one, one that mom had stayed at before. Yay! They would arrange for a medical van to take her there. I felt bad leaving her on her own, but had to promise I would stay with Ron for at least 12 hours, so I said Good Bye AGAIN, went to retrieve Ron and this time our departure was uneventful.

Dogs were fine although somewhat annoyed at being left - they are so spoiled. Got Ron settled in and went out to shovel. Had asked a friend if she could help out, but no sign of her (but that's another story) so I shoveled everything, knowing that I was risking a recurrence of my tendinitis, as my shoulder had been bothering me a bit of late. I was right about that! Hopefully some coddling will keep things from progressing, but it sure hurt hurt by evening. Ice & heat & rest last night, and it feels somewhat better now. We shall see.

Had a call from Al in Costa Rica wanting an update, got a call from mom to say she was settled in and things were good, shared her phone number with everyone and went to bed.

Blizzard Warning

Not a storm watch now, but a blizzard warning. Maybe 7-10 inches of snow and strong winds. Ugh! Should be an interestting couple of days! Mom got checked into the hospital last night, MRI scheduled for today. Kris and I were so very impressed with her doctor who questioned, listened and acted. A very positive experience. She was terrific. I'll give mom a call shortly, then go over and check in on her.

Jess will pick up Jaime from me today and keep him for awhile until things settle down here. We'll take Ron's car home today & park it in his condo garage for awhile. One less car to move for the snow plows later this week. And tomorrow Ron has to go in for surgery. At least he will be at the same hospital as mom! It will probably mean a long day for the dogs as I may not be able to get home at noon, depending on the roads and what is happening with mom & Ron. Hope I survive this week!

The dogs are watching me as a type. It's a few minutes past their 7:00 breakfast time. The minute I make eye contact with them they will all leap up, grab toys and start playing. Our funny little routine. Argus & Josie do that the minute I walk in the dooor at night. They will leap up from where ever they have been napping, grab a toy and start to tug. One day I had Ron pick up all the tugging toys before I came home. It just about drove Josie crazy and she looked frantically for something to tug on. Very funny!

A Busy Week Ahead

At last, a new picture for my blog. Phil sent several really cute pictures of Como, who is a sister to Penny & Charlie. Como went to Phil as a tracking prospect, and she is pictured wearing her tracking harness. Como was a very striking super-sound pup with a terrific attitude but missing some of her nose trim, so she went as a "performance dog", a dog purchased for training in tracking and/or agility, obedience, fly ball or one of the other performance events. Phil may also do some obedience work with her but his primary interest is tracking and he's a tracking instructor as well as training his own dogs. Como lives with his older Dal Sophie, and is also a companion, not just a working dog. Because Dals are active, smart & enthusiastic, they thrive when they have a job to do.

Doctor's appointment for my mother today. Her back has really been a problem for the past several weeks, it's getting worse, and we don't think she can live alone right now. Our family is small, no one lives close enough, and my sister & I both have to work. We don't have senior friendly homes so mom can't live with either of us. Hopefully she can move to a nursing home for awhile, and then back to her apartment. I spent most of the weekend with her, and my sister is there now.

Ron has surgery scheduled for Wednesday. Hopefully everything goes smoothly for him as he has some other conditions that are also a concern. His surgery will be a the hospital right near my office, so I will probably come and go during the day as I can NOT sit in a waiting room without losing my mind.

AND we have the issue of SNOW, due to start tomorrow, and possibly heavy. That will certainly make everything just a bit harder. Ron is the shoveler here, so I will be filling in on that too. Wonder if we have any neighbor boys who shovel? I've never paid anyone to do it, but this might be the first time depending on how things go with mom & Ron.

Jess is taking Jaime for a few days as I can leave the others for 8 or 9 hours, but I don't like doing that to a puppy. He's a great little dog, really easy to manage, so Jess should enjoy having him Jaime for a few days it will be great socialization for him to live with the Shepherd girls and go to the office with Jess.

Hopefully everything goes smoothly!

Another Sunday

Writing this from my mother's where I spent the night again. She seems to be back to her normal self, thank goodness, but not sure she can manage her medication and meals on her own. I'll be in and out today, and my sister will come in to spend the night and part of Monday. Not sure what happens after that. My personal opinion is that she should be in a nursing home until her back is better. Or something. Kris & I will have to discuss the options tonight. I increased her Vicodin since she is now eating, and I am dispensing her medication. Hopefully that makes her more comfortable.

Got quite a lot done yesterday, including matching Liberty up with her new mom Elissa. I'll give them a call today and see how things are going, but she's a friendly dog and Elissa's boy Memphis is well socialized with other dogs and grew up with the late Madison. As long as Liberty doesn't steal his ball, he should be fine with the addition. Hope it all works out. Liberty seems like a happy well adjusted dog, dispite all she's been through lately.

Cooked a turkey & made cranberry sauce yesterday. Love those leftovers. Hot turkey sandwiches, ummmm.

Did some water changes while I was home. Fish are doing fine. It's nice that they do OK with less time & attention, and Ron is good about tending the dogs when I am not home. Did have a chance to walk both Argus & Jaime, but I need to put some training time into the puppy. My goal is to be able to show him at the January fun match.

Also put up the wreath and the new lighted spotted dog with a gift package in his mouth. The dog sits right inside the porch door, although is supposedly weather proof. He required some assembly which was a bugger to do. Knew he must have been made in China, as the parts didn't fit very well and he's sure cheaply made, but pretty cute. Not sure whether or not I will do a tree this year. Suppose so, maybe just the artificial one, although I sure hate putting up the lights! Ugh.

Good news from Wendy, Pauli's new owner. Wendy showed her at a couple of UKC shows yesterday and Pauli won both Groups and a Best in Show. A nice start for them. The UKC folks will be getting tired of liver spotted Dalmatians, as Argus went Best in Show at the two UKC shows he was in this fall.

I need some pictures for my blog!

Oops, I Forgot . . .

Just occurred to me that I haven't posted for a couple of days. My schedule is off and I haven't had my quiet morning hour to drink coffee, check email, Facebook and update my Blog. Ron, dogs & I are all fine, just too much happening. My mother is having problems dealing with pain medication, so my sister, daughter & I have been taking turns dealing with her. NOT easy for any of us, and mom is mad because we have taken away some of her old pills that she was taking along with her current pills. Also limiting her pain pills as she "forgets" what she has taken and when she last took it. I know this is a common problem with seniors as I have agonized along with a number of friends who were dealing with similar situations. Not pleasant and sometimes downright unpleasant. Fortunately Kris, Jess & I are all on the same page, as are mom's neighbors who check in during the day. It's not doing much for my frame of mind as I can't sleep in her guestroom where the furnace keeps cycling on and off and keeps waking me up. ARGH!

On a happier note, I got Liberty picked up and she's a great dog. Am sure Elissa and Lance will really like her. I feel bad that her family had to give her up, but they have enough other things to worry about right now. Jan asked if Liberty's new owners would call her later, just to let her know that the dog was doing fine. Of course!

Ron scheduled for some surgery on Wednesday so these issues with my mother must be resolved by then. Fortunately Jaime is house trained and settled in and is a good dog and easy to manage. I promised Argus & Jaime they would get longer walks today for being such good dogs about having their schedule thrown off.

Won't be going back to mom's until this evening, so in addition to playing catch up here, getting Liberty to Elissa, and walking the dogs, I'm cooking a turkey. I NEED some Comfort Food this weekend.

Snow

I am NOT ready for this!

And unfortunately I don't have time for blogging this morning. That will get my whole day off to a bad start.

A New Girl In Town

Nope this is not the new girl, this is Penny. Penny is the Argus/Nikon pup who went back to Virginia with her mother and Laurie. Laurie sent pictures and a video last night, and it appears that Penny is growing up to be a very striking dog. She's certainly inherited her father's shiny coat and has a very striking outline, especially for a pup! Laurie and I joke that she suuuurrrree looks more like Josie (who is spayed) than she does her mother. Funny how the genes fall into place. Her brother Charlie is much different in type, with a broader skull, lots of bone and a chunky build, more like his gggrandfather Morris.

The new girl is Nena, who was Piper, sister to Jaime. Stephanie brought her out to class last night for us to evaluate. Nena is definitely a keeper, brilliantly marked, sound and a nice solid temperament. She should do well in the ring, and give Stephanie a good start in the breed. Glad it worked out for her to come to Minnesota.

The chilled semen shipment went like clockwork (thanks FedEx) and Tess was "bred" yesterday afternoon. Meg used a different reproductive vet and picked up a lot of interesting information on the process. Because of the high cost of shipping dogs, it is becoming more common to send chilled or frozen semen rather than having the bitch fly in to be bred. Assuming both the bitch and stud owner have access to a good specialist, it can also be a lot easier for both parties, especially if the weather makes shipping difficult.

The litter that I was interested in contains 3 puppy girls, so I may be buying myself a puppy for Christmas. It will have to be a very good puppy though!

One Down . . .

One of the items on my To Do List is taken care of. A call from Meg to inform me that Tess needed to be bred on Tuesday, so Argus & I went in to visit Mary-With-The-Magic-Hands to make a "donation". Argus likes to have a dog to look at during the procedure, but it does not have to be a Dalmatian, in season or even a female. Last time it was a girl Dachshund, yesterday he got to admire a little neutered male Havenese. Everyone had a lot of fun with this on Facebook. The collection was processed pack with dry ice, and will be delivered by FedEx this morning. Fingers crossed that Tess has a large healthy litter.

The dogs got their early Christmas gift from Mark & Ginger last weekend, a new dog bed that is big enough to hold three at a time - IF Coral feels like sharing. She was most impressed! With the two large new beds there is room for everyone, and Josie no longer has to pace around looking for a place to nap on cold evenings.

Fish all survived my absence and Ron did a good job of feeding all the baby cichlids. 5 tanks, 3 different kinds of food, but everything went well. The Firemouth babies that I left with the parents are all gone, as expected. Rather than keeping the babies in a safe place, the parents let them come out to the middle of the tank where they were probably easy pickings for the Angels or the other 3 Firemouths. The babies that got moved to a tank of their own are doing fine.

Fish club meeting this Thursday, the great plant sale. The club buys thousands of plants wholesale and members can get them for really good prices, plus there are varieties we would not ordinarily see locally and certainly could not afford. It's a members only event and a popular one. Aquatic Gardening is a big hobby these days and some of our members have gorgeous plant-only tanks, and many have planted tanks where the plants are the focus and the fish are just there as a minor attraction.

Is It Monday Already?

Man, am I tired! Got home shortly after 1:00 AM, and got to bed by 2:00 AM. Car is only partially unloaded, so I have that to look forward to after work. Decided to take 2 hours of vacation this morning and sleep in for an extra hour or so, but driving 500 miles home leaves me still tired. At least the roads were dry! Last year I came home in heavy snow and had to stop for the night about halfway.

Had a very nice weekend, both fun and successful. Mark & Ginger were there on Saturday, and we went out to dinner to celebrate Argus's Group One. Ginger came up alone on Sunday and of course we were the last group on Sunday, so I did not leave for home until 5:00 PM. Fortunately Argus did well again, placing 2nd in a very competitive NS Group. Definitely a good weekend! Good dog, Argus!

Puppy Jaime had a great time, and really enjoyed staying in a motel room and playing with all Argus's "motel room toys". His manners were perfect and he learned to pee and poop quickly on leash - a most important thing for future show dogs to know! His Aunt Ginger took him "shopping" at Sunday at the vendor stands and let him pick out a new toy for both himself and Argus.

We had an unpleasant experience at the Sunday show with one of the Dals growling at the judge and getting excused. I absolutely hate that, and am so angry that this dog is still being shown. Common sense would suggest that if you are lucky enough to finish such an animal, you would count your blessings and NEVER EVER take him near a show ring again. Unfortunately, ego seems to trump common sense . . . I thanked the judge for excusing him so quickly, and she commented that she was very surprised as she rarely sees that anymore. Most of us work so hard to breed friendly happy dogs with stable temperaments and then we have this kind of thing happen. It hurts ALL of us. Makes ME angry.

Dog shows were originally developed as a way to judge and compare breeding stock, yet we see spooks and aggressive dogs and even sterile dogs being shown. Such things never cease to amaze me.

This promises to be a busy week as we need to send chilled semen off so Tess & Argus can have a long-distance honeymoon, I desperately need a haircut, and I have to drive way-the-hell-and-gone to SW Minnesota to pick up a Dal girl I am rehoming because her owner is dying of cancer (very sad). Fish club meeting on Thursday, things have been super busy at work, and then dog shows in St. Cloud this weekend, a REALLY bad panel. Why did I enter?

Such A Nice Holiday

Really had a nice Thanksgiving with my family & everyone's significant other. It was fun to meet Eric's new girlfriend Angela who fit in perfectly. She & Eric share an interest in motorcycles & cars, she works in health care as does Eric's mother (my sister Kris) & she shares the whole family's interest in animals, does dog grooming on the side (just as Jess does) and even feeds a raw diet to her Doxie. Amazing. Certainly was a lot of laughter and the weird humor that is so typical of our family gatherings. All the food was delicious, my new recipe for sweet potatoes drew rave reviews & second helpings, and we discovered that Costco sells excellent pies - also amazing! Jaime & his "cousin" LD got along well, and GSD Simmie did not intimidate him at all. He ran giant laps around the house, didn't get carsick, and was certainly a social butterfly. LD & Jaime had crates in the laundry room and behaved perfectly. Mom did well and is really appreciating the souped up borrowed walker - lots more bells & whistles than her own.

Today I slept late (7:30 is late), drank coffee in bed, and finished the new Jonathan Kellerman mystery that is costing me $.25 a day to rent. Well worth it! The remnants of the cranberry relish I made for yesterday goes great with peanut butter toast. I'll putter around today and do odd chores, then leave about 4:00 for the weekend shows. We'll just go as far as Rockford tonite, then on to Kankakee tomorrow morning as we have afternoon judging. Not a stellar panel for us, but one of the judges had given Argus a previous group placing, and we did well there last year with a group placing each day. All Specials competition again this weekend. May be a wasted weekend show-wise, but Mark & Ginger will be there, I'll pick up my winter supply of ground frozen veggies for the dogs, and Jaime will learn about motels & traveling. Hopefully I won't be coming home in a snowstorm again this year!

"When do we eat?" Jaime wonders. When he's hungry or when he sees that I am about to feed the dogs, he dashes into his crate and sits there wagging his tail, waiting to be fed. For dinner tonight he will get Merrick's canned "Thanksgiving Day Dinner", made with turkey, sweet potatoes, green beans & Granny Smith apples. I feed canned food occasionally for variety and as a treat for "special occasions.

We're off to visit Don & Jess in a few hours, picking up granny, and taking along Jess's friend Sue and puppy Jaime. My sister Kris & husband Bob & nephew Eric & his girlfriend will also be there, along with the two resident GSDs Simmie & Pepper, and Kris' rat terrier LD. A full house indeed! Don is doing the turkey on the grill, and everyone is bringing their favorite holiday dish. I tried two new recipes, one with cranberries & one with sweet potatoes. Kris always brings creamed onions, and mom normally brings the pies. I always carry on the family tradition of the hostess getting flowers, as my brother always did before he moved to Costa Rica.

Hope everyone has great turkey day! I've sure got a lot to be thankful for!

Progres

Was not looking forward to doing Jaime's nails last night as he had been soooo difficult the first time and I had to lay on top of him to get the job done. Last night was so much better, and he wiggled just a little but let me cut them with no resistance. Next week I'll put him on the table to do his nails, but I want him more comfortable about the table first. We started working with the Happy Legs, to teach him to stand still on the table. He's such a wiggle worm, like his dad was. House training is going well, with just an occasional accident due to lack of supervision. Leash walking is fine and he rides in the car well and even jumps in the back of the van. We'll see what he does with a longer trip tomorrow. He may go along to the dog shows in Illinois if the forecast continues to look good - too hard to travel with a pup in bad weather.

I'd been meaning to ask Judy about smiling, as I noticed right away that Jaime can smile. Argus does not smile and the only smiling Argus kids have smiling mothers. Yep, Judy responded that Jaime's mother Read is a big smiler which explains it.

Jaime's sister Piper is supposed to arrive late this evening. Not a great day for a puppy to travel with all the Thanksgiving traffic, but Stephanie wants to have the 4-day weekend to get started on her training. She'll be able to take long lunches to go home and let Piper out at noon, so this should work out fine. Stephanie & Mauro have done a great job with Tate, and are ready for a serious show dog. Fingers crossed that Piper looks the part.

Next week I will be driving to SW Minnesota to pick up a Dal I sold two years ago. Her owner is in a nursing home with terminal cancer. They are reluctantly giving up Liberty as Jan spends her days with Del at the nursing home and there is no one to care for Piper. Jan says she is a great dog, friendly and beautiful, perfect in the house, and very affectionate. She was a very licky pup, and apparently still is, with a kiss for everyone. Liberty will go to live with Lance & Elissa & their Dal Memphis. They lost Dal girl Madison to old age last year, and are ready for another Dal girl. Hope this works out for everyone. Jan & Del just want to know that she has a good "forever home" where she is loved and appreciated.

One More Day

One more day of 50 degree weather and it's already 45 degrees at 6:00 AM. Suuurrreee has been a nice fall, with temperatures well above normal all November. This is generally a very gray month too, but we've had lots of sunshine as well. Sure makes the winter shorter when it does not start 'til December. In less than a month the days even start getting longer!

Yesterday was a very VERY long one starting with a call from Jess who had just spoken with my mother who had just called 911. ARGH. Mom hurt her foot a few weeks ago BUT was walking on it more than she should have been, using a cane rather than her walker and probably compensating a lot, so it screwed up her back. Yesterday her legs hurt so much she couldn't get out of bed and she was afraid she had a spinal fracture (she'd had several compression fractures after a fall years ago). Nothing broken, and the Dr. wanted to move her to a nursing home where she would get some PT, but Health Partners declared her to be be ambulatory and would not pay for a nursing home stay. While this was being worked out mom was trapped in one of the little emergency room bays and was finally released at 4:15 with a heavy duty painkiller.

Hard to know the right decision on a situation like this one. A nursing home stay could have been convenient for all, but probably not necessary. It's one of those costs of health care that can be argued both ways. Assuming the painkiller does the trick, she IS ambulatory, but if her senior building had not had a wheelchair I would never have gotten her to her apartment yesterday. She can use a walker but the hallways are mighty long! I took her home, made her dinner, got her settled in her chair watching the news. Once the painkiller kicked in she was going to shower and go to bed. Walkers are handy things!

Through it all, mom was pretty cheerful. Said the thing that kept her going was the promise of Don's teryaki turkey for Thanksgiving. We'll have to settle for store bought pies rather than her homemade ones, but hopefully we will all be together for Thanksgiving. (And spell check doesn't tell me how to spell teryaki - that looks wrong.)

My sister isn't one for email, and it's sometimes hard to reach her by phone, but now that she is on Facebook it's a lot easier to stay in touch. Jess posted something about Gram yesterday morning, and I got a call from Kris before I even had a chance to call her. Handy. Now if I could get my sister-in-law in Costa Rica on Facebook, we'd be all set.

Have to figure out which cranberry and sweet potato recipes I will use for Thanksgiving. I normally try at least one new one every year and can count on my brother-in-law Bob to enjoy sweet potatoes whatever way I make them. Subscribed to Cooking Light this year and have found a number of interesting recipes - just need time to cook!

Jaime is doing well, although I now call him James or James Lee. Everyone has a nickname here. No guarantees that he won't still poop on the rug on occasion, but otherwise he is pretty reliably house trained. Really fits in well and Ron likes him which helps. Jaime could be Argus all over again, but hopefully I get him a little better trained for his first National than I did Argus! It looks as if Stephanie will be getting Piper soon, but not soon enough for Stephanie. This has not been an easy process. Pipers for sale but I'm not sure that Suzi really wants to sell her so things are moving slooowwly, v e r y s l o w l y.

Having fun with baby fish, spawns of three different types of cichlids. The original HRP babies are about 3/4 of an inch long, but rarely seen as their scatty parents chase each other like loonies around the tank and the babies stay out of the way. The other HRPs have very efficient attentive parents and lead a very regimented life. I removed the baby Comps from their parents' tank as I was concerned the tank mates would eat them if they ventured very far from their shell home. In a tank of their own they are safe, get more to eat and grow much faster - Comps are a very slow growing species. The Firemouths spawned last week and mom brought her kids out this past weekend. I removed about half the fry to raise in a separate tank, and left half with the parents. They've done a great job of protecting their offspring so far, but I'm sure the Angelfish will pick them off when the opportunity arises!

Fun Weekend

Wasn't our most successful weekend in the show ring but it was a lot of fun. Not a judging panel I would have driven anywhere to show to, but worth trying on a local weekend. Argus went Best Of Breed both days and showed really well after his month long layoff. Not much we can do about the judging panels, I guess.

Argus, Sam & Rita did Meet The Breeds both days and really did well. They all kissed kids, played with other dogs and Argus got to meet a woman in a wheelchair, his first experience with wheelchairs, and he did just great.

Short on time this morning, but at least I've got a cute picture for today's blog.

Off To The Dog Show

Just enough time to eat my breakfast, swill down some coffee and do a quick blog, then Argus and I are off to the dog show again. Argus had a great time yesterday, very glad to be back after a month off. He will not enjoy retirement someday unless I find something else for him to do, like Rally or Obedience classes.

Plans are falling into place for Tess to be bred to Argus again, using either chilled or frozen semen. Although we have the frozen collected and stored, none of it has been used yet. Need to bank some more too, before it is too late.

Discovered that the Firemouth Cichlids had spawned and mom brought her hundreds of fry out to hunt for food last night. Mom and dad kept the Angelfish away, as they would be glad to snack on the babies. For that reason I removed some of the fry to raise in a small tank of their own, safe from hungry mouths!

Flood!

So much happening right now and I really need my sleep . . . Had been asleep for a couple of hours last night when Ron came dashing (naw, Ron never dashes - Ron came walking) up the stairs to tell me we had a flood in the fish room. I was instantly awake, wondering if one of the bigger tanks had ruptured a seam or something nasty like that. 30 or 40 gallons would certainly be a mess! 1;13 AM. On my way down the stairs I remember that I had left a siphon between the 20L tank inhabited by the A. compressiceps and the 2.5 gallon tank that holds a batch of fry. I remove 1/4 of the water from the fry tank every day and transfer in a like amount from the parent's tank which gets regular water changes. It helps me keep the water parameters in the fry tank more stable. I instantly knew that I had forgotten to remove the siphon and the fry tank had overflowed. That meant the maximum amount of water on the floor would be "only" 20 gallons, but I also knew the siphon only went a few inches into the tank - I hoped. Whew! Only about 4 gallons on the floor, but did mean a fair amount of mopping and a lot of wet towels.

Floods are unfortunately a regular occurrence in my fishroom, and one of the reasons my tanks are in the basement. Various of our fish club members have reported floods in their apartments which is even worse. Ugh. I used to keep the fish in a 2nd floor bedroom, but knowing my tendency to forget things, I always feared water damage. Much safer to keep my fish in the basement. That's what happens when you try to do too many things at once. Ah, multi-tasking is the work for that. I'm not good at it!

Lots happening here right now as Tess has come in season, so Argus and I will be taking one or more trips to the reproductive specialist in order to send chilled semen to Oregon. This is a repeat of the litter I lost to CHV last year and such a lovely litter it was. Hopefully everything goes smoothly and that Tess has the appropriate antibodies this time.

Looks as if Stephanie may be getting Jaime's sister Piper, which will be fun. She's ready for a serious show dog and I worried about Piper going to waste in Texas.

Good news from Vickie that Ellie is pregnant this time, pups due in a couple of weeks. That was another chilled semen breeding. With the high cost of shipping dogs now, this is certainly a more affordable option. It cost me over $500.00 to have Tess shipped here (one way) last year, and less than $300.00 for a chilled semen shipment.

A Name For Jaime

I was looking for a picture of Tate to send to Jennifer who owns Tate's brother Puck, and came across this one. Can't remember if I already used it in the blog, but it's such a cute picture I'll just use it again. The picture was taken at the Public Safety Open House in Blaine this fall, and Tate is sitting with his favorite fireman. Tate came back from a less-than-perfect home and has done wonderfully well with Stephanie and Mauro. Now we'll be taking back a 2 1/2 year old Dal girl whose owner is suffering from severe health issues. I've got a home lined up that wants to give her a try. Hopefully she comes back with her personality and disposition intact and will do well in a new situation. When I sold her two years ago Indy was a really cool 5 month old pup with an excellent temperament, a daughter of my silly little social butterfly Watson. All dogs deserve forever-homes where they are loved and appreciated.

Have been trying to decided on a name for Jaime ever since his arrival. Since his breeder uses the kennel name Atlantis and wanted that first, it limited my creativity. Ron & I were sitting at a restaurant last night when the name came to me. I had to borrow his pen and write the name on a napkin so as not forget it - I sometimes think of good names in the middle of the night and can't remember them in the morning. Jaime's registration application will go in today, requesting the name Atlantis Paisley By Proxy. Love it!

Jaime is doing fine. We all survived his first nail trimming which was a challenge. 4 month old pups can be so resistant! He's very forgiving however, and immediately forgave me for "torturing" him. Have the paperwork here for signing him up for a puppy training class. In general I am not fond of the classes offered at pet stores, but our local Petco has very good trainers, and Gem did well in their puppy class last year.

Tonight I need to put together some literature to take along to the dog show on Saturday, as Argus, Sam & Rita will be participating in a Meet The Breeds event.

Morning Snapshots.

Time for some new pictures. Maybe Jaime driving the big dogs crazy with his constant pestering - I laugh and remind them that THEY used to be just as obnoxious. Or a picture of Watson camped out beside Jaime's crate because it contains a rawhide that he covets. Or Josie watching Argus covetously as he chews on a Kong with a dog biscuit inside. Or Coral hunkered down on the dog bed with her face buried, hoping the puppy can not see her. The sun isn't quite up yet, but as soon as it is all the little birds will visit the (heated) birdbath on the deck ledge and splash the water out while enjoying a warm bath. The thermometer says 31 and the deck is covered with a very thin frosty glaze, not as thick as the impressive layer of frost yesterday morning. The coffee steams in the mug beside me, the cinnamon-raisin bread in the toaster is starting to scent the air, the new furnace is blowing warm air with impressive velocity, and so the day begins. Hope it is a good one, but Mother Nature will be doing her share again at sunny and 50.

Paperwork

Gotta send Jaime's Futurity nomination off today as it has to be done before his 4 month birthday on the 21st. A litter is nominated before it is whelped and all show potential pups are individually nominated by 4 months of age. Sent his breeder a reminder, and found out she had forgotten all about it, so hopefully she gets the others done in time. It's a shame to take a promising pup to the National and have to "sit out" the Futurity because someone forgot to submit the paperwork. Futurity wins are actually worth a fair amount of money, about the only money to be made showing dogs. If both parents have CHIC numbers the award is doubled.

Went to the OFA site yesterday to see if Jaime's mother's test results had made it to the database, as the agreement when I accepted Read for breeding was that she would eventually have a CHIC (health registry) number (she'd had all her health testing before she arrived for breeding). No results at all in the database, although I have copies of her hearing test and her eye test. Apparently they never got submitted to OFA. Her hips were done before breeding and the results were good according to the vet who does lots of OFA x-rays on show dogs, but OFA rejected them for "technical issues", usually positioning, and Read has to be redone. By the time they heard back from OFA she had already been bred so they had to wait to get the hips redone. Now she is due in season soon and I am still waiting. Good intentions don't always go along with satisfactory follow-through.

Update - things are getting done. Yay!

Catching On Quickly

Jaime is doing well and learning fast. Having two days to work with him really helped, although I got a lot less done around the house than I should have! It's really important to put the work into young pups as you can never go back and do things quite as well later, and he already has some catching up to do. It's such a fun age though, and he's such a cheerful little guy and so responsive. He's quickly learned that a loud "Errrr" means to stop whatever it is he is doing.

Two days without an accident - good dog, Jaime, but it really means that we were watching him closely. He's out of his crate when we know he recently peed, and is crated or outdoors when no one has the time to keep an eye on him. He's teething now, which means he wants to try out his teeth on inappropriate items, so the supervision prevents other incidents as well. Pups are a lot of work, but it's so much easier to prevent bad habits than to fix them later. He's already much better about keeping his feet off the edge of the counter, and because we never leave food out when we have a puppy around, he won't have any successes at that either. Once a dog has gotten a few prizes off the counter, it's a lot harder to convince them to stop foraging.

Jaime went for a car ride and a visit to Chuck & Don's (pet food store) yesterday. The gals who work there really like Argus, so I decided to take his son there rather than to Petco where I normally socialize my pups. We'll do Petco next time. Knew Jaime had been getting carsick, but I suspect he had only gone for longer rides, so we will do lots of short trips and let him out to have some fun when we arrive. It's important that he enjoy trips rather than dreading them, or it will take a lot longer for him to be comfortable in the car. He rode in Argus's big crate with a blanket, a towel, a rawhide and some toys, and didn't make a peep. I stopped at the library, told him I would be right back, but did not make a fuss over him as emotional departures trigger separation anxiety. He was chewing on a toy when I got back so we drove right to Chuck & Don's. I snapped on his leash, and he walked through the door with a bit of apprehension. Everyone said, "Oh, a puppy!" and I warned them that I had just gotten him and that he might be a bit queasy from his car trip. Not to worry! Jaime greeted everyone with hugs and kisses and acted as if they were all old friends. Everyone offered him a cookie and he sat readily on command, then had a great time exploring the store and meeting other customers. The only thing that made him nervous was a big obnoxious dog who made me nervous too. Guess he needs to meet some of Argus's doggy friends in the neighborhood.

New furnace gets install today, so I'll go into work a bit late, after the installers arrive. Hope they don't find any "extra" costs. . .

Making Progress

Jaime is doing well here, not a single accident yesterday. That means WE are paying attention, but also that he seems to be catching on quickly. Wonderful crate manners which really makes a big difference too.

Jess & her friend Sue came over to socialize Jaime & help me get pictures of him. Jess is good at working with untrained pups and we managed to get some nice pictures of Jaime, so he now has his own web page at www.paisleydals.com/jaime

Jaime learned a lot yesterday about stacking and being handled, and we are playing catch up on his training. Started working on sit and down, and especially on restraint. Until he is better about restraint it will be tough to do his nails, or teach him to have his mouth examined for the show ring. We went for a nice walk and he did well on leash after we played a game of "watch-out-for-the-feet". Today we will take a short car ride to the pet store. Because Jaime gets car sick, he will be doing lots of short trips. May try either ginger snaps or liquid Benedryl to see if they help with the carsickness. We'll probably go over to the college campus too and start working on a recall - come when called.

Jess & her friend Sue enjoyed watching the Honduran Red Point family. There are about 35 youngsters in with mom and dad, just tiny little guys about the size of fruit flies, but oh my are they active. Mom & dad try to keep them in one area, but they babies are all over the tank hunting for food. Both parents will pick up babies in their mouths and move them back to the nest area, but the babies don't stay there for long. Some kinds of cichlid fry seem to pay attention to mom & dad and stay together is a specific area, but NOT the little HRPs. Great fun to watch.

Progress

How many dogs have I house trained, I wonder? Hundreds I guess, as I have trained many dogs who went on to new homes, like Naughtia & Gem & Pauli. Each one is a bit different to work with, and most catch on quickly although some take longer to develop sufficient control of their bladders. I always tell my puppy buyers to just stick with it and be patient, although many of them report that their pup only had a just a few (or even no) accidents in the house. It's all about supervision.

Jaime seems to be catching on, although we had a couple of accidents yesterday. It's actually easier to train a younger pup as they need to pee more often and you have more chances to praise them for doing it right. Jaime is (supposed to be) crated when not being supervised, but of course it's easy to get distracted and suddenly, "Whoops. Too late". My projects for the weekend include working on house training, getting some pictures, cutting his nails, and taking him for a walk to see how he responds to things in the neighborhood. I'll start him on the grooming table for hands on, and to begin teaching him to stack.

We're working on the basic stuff now, waiting patiently to be let out of his crate (he tends to paw the door), not jumping on the dog yard gate, feet off the counter, and no jumping on me. It seems as if all Argus kids have springs in their feet and a determination to jump on people. None of the adults here are Counter Cruisers and Jaime will be "unlearning" that habit - he's actually catching on to that quickly. Probably thinks his name is "Errrr, OFF"!

Cloudy today, but warm and not windy. Hopefully I can get a few more bags of oak leaves ready for composting. Also need to get the basement cleaned up a bit as the new furnace gets installed on Monday and my basement is pretty cluttered. I'll have to move one of the aquariums that is night next to the furnace, but thankfully it's only a 10 gallon tank.

A New Puppy In Paisleyland

So far, so good. Jaime arrived last night and seems to be settling in nicely. Can't believe how smoothly things went for shipping! Because of the late arrival time he came to the baggage office rather than the cargo office. I tracked the flight arrival time and got to the airport about 10 minutes after the plane arrived. Ron sat in the car at the curb, prepared to move it if security complained about it being parked there, but that was not a problem. Jaime's crate was already inside and the paperwork was ready for me to sign. The whole trip took half an hour. Good job, Continental!

He's certainly a handsome little guy and seems to have a nice disposition. Pretty mild-mannered so far, and a little cautious, but has handled everything very well. Argus is particularly delighted to have a new pup to play with, but Jaime is still a little intimidated by the four adults, especially boisterous Josie who has brought him all of her toys to check out. So far he's playing by himself, but it won't be long until he is comfortable with the other dogs. Thought I'd have to take the day off, but I think Ron can handle things today. Jaime can spend the day checking things out and getting used to our routine.

Hopefully Jess can make it over tomorrow so we can try to get some stacked pictures and see how he moves on a show lead. Certainly is a promising pup!

Puppy Night

Well, am I ready for a puppy? Assuming all goes well, Jaime arrives tonite on the late flight from San Antonio, by way of Houston. Unfortunately there are no direct flights so he'll be stuck in a crate for a long time. Fortunately he is used to being crated, and pups normally just sleep through much of their flight. Because of the late hour we will pick him up at baggage claim so he should be unloaded quickly, and the airport will not be real crowded at that hour. I'll take the dolly along so I can pull his crate out to the car as I don't want to traumatize him by walking through the airport NOR do I want to have to clean up after him if he can't wait. Poor little guy will be glad to get out of his crate.

He can have a crate in the kitchen with the other Dals as I have an empty one now that Pauli is gone. Hopefully I won't have to sit up with him all night, but am prepared to take Friday off work if necessary. That would give us three days to work on serious house training. Hopefully that goes quickly. Most Dals are very easy to house train. Jess wants to come over & see him, so perhaps we can get some pictures. I know the adults will all be OK with him as they are good with puppies and visiting dogs and were great when Charlie was here.

Gotta pick up some puppy food too, Pro Plan Turkey & Barley which is a good choice. Because he won't be staying permanently, I'm not sure if I will switch him to raw. It sure cuts down on stool volume though - I was reminded when Charlie was here that kibble fed dogs seem to poop more than they eat! How can that be? Raw fed dogs have small, solid, virtually odorless stools. That's especially nice before they are reliably house trained.

We had a lovely day off yesterday. Slept late (and coffee in bed), then off to the Casino for a couple of hours of slot machines and a nice lunch. I only lost $16.00 playing quarter poker slots, so I did pretty well, and the money I spent was just accumulated pocket change, although I had to cash in my nickels & quarters for bills. Shows how long it has been since I've gone to a casino.

Another perfect day for running Argus on the college campus and he got to run off leash and tree a few squirrels. Not many people over there which was nice. Came home and raked again, this time bagging the oak leaves. It's supposed to be windy for the next few days with rain tomorrow, so hopefully more of the leaves will come down and I can rake them before the snow comes.

Tried out a new recipe for chili, a turkey chili with black beans & corn and it came out very well. The original recipe makes 15 servings so I halved it - sort of wish I had made the whole thing as the leftovers should be good.

Pups & Exercise Balls

Jaime is coming tomorrow night. It will be fun to have a puppy for awhile. Wish I had the time and room (and energy) to bring up his sister too. That's Piper on the left. Suzi is looking for a show home for Piper, and she'd be a great addition for anyone. Dark eyed, sound, great depth of color, and what sounds like a charming disposition. I'd really like to co-own her with someone in this area, but just want her to end up in the right situation.

Holiday today! Ron & I are off to Mystic Lake to waste a little money in slot machines. Haven't done this in years, so hopefully they still have nickel slots.

We had a good chuckle yesterday at work when an official (but poorly written) email informed us that we could NOT use exercise balls as desk chairs. What??? Had no idea that people did such a thing, but Googling the topic resulted in many interesting articles on the benefits of replacing your office chair with an exercise ball. Told Ron that I was replacing the computer chair with an exercise ball. He was not impressed. Apparently this is really popular - but I am way out of the loop.

No Time For Blogging

Short on time this morning, as I am trying to put the pieces into place for Argus's daughter Piper to go to a show home. Have several people interested. Suzi sent some great pictures of Piper, and I do think she would work out well for either party, and I would like to have her in the Midwest. Several very pretty shots of her moving, plus some free standing shots too. Lovely girl. I'll probably regret not taking her myself.

Another beautiful day! Such terrific weather we are having right now.

Tomorrow is Veterans Day, a holiday for us. Suggested to Ron that we go gambling at Mystic Lake Casino. Haven't done that in ages!

Puppies & Coats - Not Puppies In Coats

What a cute puppy! The dog on the right, standing with his older, obviously very tolerant housemate, is theArgus/Read pup who was known as Light Blue, one of the two pups I thought were especially handsome in an over all lovely litter. Sounds as if he has settled in well, and his new mom has included me in the pictures she's sent to his breeders Suzi & Judy.

Charlie (Argus/Nikon) paid a visit to the Vet and got his rabies shot. He'll be starting obedience classes and needed his shots up to date. I had suggested the vet clinc where the pups got their check ups & DNA blood draws, and they ended up with Dr. Jim as their vet. Perfect! He spent lots of time with them, answered all Brooke's questions, and Charlie behaved well - except for the courtesy nail trimming, which does not surprise me at this age.

I received an email from one of the blog readers asking an interesting question I thought would make a good posting. She wrote,

We've noticed that some of the Dals we've met do not have the same type or feel of coat that ours has. One of them has a thick, coarse coat and its hairs are a bit longer than our girl's. Then another has the softest fur I've ever felt. It is smooth as can be and the hairs are so short and thin. What makes for the differences in hair length? I always thought that all Dals' coats looked and felt the same but I now know different! And also, one of the black-spotted Dals that we met had dull black spots and then the other one's spots are so black they look like wet ink. What causes the variation in that? Is one better than the other- or more preferable- in the show ring?

Although part of it is nutrition, most of the difference in coat length, texture and depth of pigment (that's the richness of the color) are genetic. The 4 Dals here right now all have slightly different coats.Liver Argus has very short fine soft glossy hairs and a really dense coat. Liver Coral has a short coat, not quite as thick as Argie, not quite as soft or shiny. Liver Josie has a longer harder coarser coat than the other two livers and her color is a darker shade of brown. Her father Peter also had a hard crisp coat but it was short. Black Watson has a bit longer coat (longer than Argus & Coral, shorter than Josie), super thick and soft, and his spots are shiny but not quite as shiny as those on Argus. The really satiny black spotted dogs with the super shiny soft coats I call "blue-blacks", the dull ones I refer to as "bad blacks" and the rest of them are just "black". The soft shiny livers are usually the red or mahogany in color, the duller ones are usually chocolate or brown. Genetically we are dealing with a short-haired black or liver dog (we won't get into lemons & long coats & such), but there are a variety of modifier genes that change the length, texture, and thickness of the coat, and shade of those colors.

The Dalmatian standard says the coat is "short dense fine and close fitting, neither wooly nor silky. It is sleek glossy and healthy in appearance". Because the Dalmatian lived in the stable and ran with carriages, he had to have an all weather coat, tight fitting so the rain ran off and he didn't pick up burrs. The densest coats are the hardest to bathe because it's difficult to get them wet to the skin at first, and because they have more hairs it takes longer to dry them. Dogs with those coats tend to shed more (they have more hair), but generally have healthier skin!

Sunday Sunshine

It's supposed to be cloudy and warm today, but right now the sun is out. Another perfect day would certainly be nice - yesterday's weather could not have been nicer. After such a lousy October, November is shaping up to be a decent month weatherwise. So far!

The dogs are sure enjoying the new donut bed I purchased at the Springfield show. Have been looking at beds all summer trying to find just the right one, and this was it. It's rectangular rather than round, so it fits in better and is just the right size for two dogs, generally Watson and someone else, either Josie or Argus.

Got mom dropped off at church and will pick her up later after she goes to breakfast with friends. This only happens when I'm in town, so she'll get there next week as well. She could arrange for Metro Mobility or take a cab, but . . . Oh well. Picked up her groceries after dropping her off. The van from her building takes them shopping on Tuesdays, so I just picked up the heavy stuff including a bag of pototoes and a bag of Harrelson apples (for Thanksgiving apple pie). Ron is off paying his condo one of the infrequest visits to retrieve his mail and water his plants, so I have the house to myself. Dogs just ate (pork, turkey, mackeral, cooked sweet potatoes, mostly left overs) and are taking their post-breakfast, pre-walk snooze.

I've been catching up on fishy chores the past couple of weeks, washing sponge filters, cleaning glass tops, siphoning gravel, moving fish around, doing some replanting. Tanks are looking better although I have three tanks that should be totally redone, a 29 gallon and two 20 longs. Problem is where to put the fishy residents, as I want to add new fish to those tanks and perhaps use them for spawning or grow out tanks.

The new Purple Spotted Gobies are doing well and growing quickly. I was pleased to get a group of them at the auction, but now have to keep my fingers crossed that the group of 5 contains both sexes. Not sure that Mike has any other youngsters in case I don't end up with at least one pair. Normally if you get a group of fry and grow them out you end up with at least one pair, but not always. I was especially lucky with the N. multifasciatus - 6 young fish, 3 pairs who are all raising youngsters in their shell homes. Clown fish would be easier in that respect. Any two clown fish will become a pair - pretty handy!

Puppy Coming Next Week!

Jaime will be flying in on Thursday evening. Not sure if his sister Piper will be coming too, but perhaps. Suzi has been sending the pups off to stay with co-breeder Judy, so they are getting the extra socialization that is so needed at this age. I'll keep Jaime long enough to get him to class and get him used to dog show sights & sounds, and make a city dog out of him. Then we'll decide where he will end up. Suzi is very excited about his potential, so hopefully he has the makings of a show dog - but if not he will be a very handsome pet.

Because we have been off for a couple of weeks, Argus's record with AKC is up to date and I ran a report. Pretty cool and only costs $8.00 for his whole show career. Because I have a couple more goals for him, I wanted to check his complete record. He currently stands at 73 Bests Of Breed (6 of them Dalmatian Specialties), 2 Bests In Show, 17 Group lsts, and 28 other placings, a pretty nifty record for an owner-handled Dalmatian. Good dog, Argus! For next year, I would like a Canadian Best in Show as he has AKC, UKC and IKC/IABCA Bests, to go with his 4 championships. I'd like him to have over 100 Bests Of Breed, a few more Specialty wins, and "maybe" another AKC Best In Show. Another AKC Best would tie him with my "Morris" and I'm not quite sure I want that to happen . . .

Running Late

Got home from fish club late, still had a dog to walk and some fishy chores to accomplish, so I'm running on empty this morning. The new Trader Joe's coffee is good though. Got tired of my regular Eight O'Clock brand and am going to try some of TJ's varieties.

The meeting was well attended, and Mike did a great presentation on all the interesting and informative fish-related websites. It was quite interesting and I visited one of them before going to bed, a video site called Bubble Vision. Fabulous.

Jaime is coming next week and I have a couple of people possibly interested in his sister Piper too. Wish I lived close enough to see her so I could share more information. A well bred black spotted bitch from a super nice litter could be so useful, but I don't need an Argus daughter as I would prefer something suitable to breed to him if I do buy a bitch. Hopefully Judy (co-breeder) can get some decent pictures of her for me to share.

We're Up And Running!

At last! The website is back up and seems to be running OK, the domain registrar is changed, AND my email seems to be working although OK although I already notice more spam than I was getting with Network Solutions.

That's Watson hogging the sofa while poor Ron tries to squeeze in too. It's Ron's own fault though as he has allowed Watson to run the show. It's a good thing none of these guys are very dominant, or they might not even allow Ron a corner of the sofa!

Fish club tonite, my first meeting in a long time. I've got several species of fish for the BAP table. N. multifasciatus and G. metallica, a cichlid and a livebearer species. By donating young fish I bred, I'll earn points towards the next level of breeder awards. Yep, even fishkeeping can include competition of one sort or another.

A Major For Naughtia

A major for Naughtia last Sunday under one of our favorite judges. An excited phone from Ann who had driven (from Ohio) to shows in Tennessee. Bet the trip home was really easy! Naughtia has 7 points now, almost halfway to her championship. 15 points are required, including two "majors" which are wins of 3 or more points at one show. The number of points available at each show is based on the number of dogs and bitches who are shown, with only 1 dog and 1 bitch getting points. The maximum number of points available is 5, and most shows have far fewer. Dal entries are down, and it's often difficult to find majors, which can mean a lot of driving. Ann has some 2-point shows coming up for Naughtia, and is thinking of going to Michigan where there may be majors later in the month. It would be fun if Naughtia finished this year, but next year would be fine too. We're just pleased that Ann is hooked and Naughtia is doing so well!

When Tom Demma and I did a co-breeding of Boji to Argus, we split the litter between us. He took Rita as his first pick, and I took Ben. Then he took Sam & I took Naughtia. We both liked Lucy too, and she went up to Canada to live and be shown in breed and junior handling. I sent Ben to Diane to be shown, and later sent Naughtia to Ann. With Naughtia doing so well in the ring, I imagine that we will have to bring Lucy down next year to show. It would be fun to finish 5 as it was an exceptionally nice litter. I'm not big on showing everything "showable" just to pursue titles, but in this case all 5 dogs really are top quality.

Thanks to everyone who responded about the website. MAYBE by tomorrow it will come up with the correct address! This has been quite the learning experience. And once the site is back, I need to learn new software and start bringing the site up to date - but that's another story.



I need to do a bit of fishy research this weekend as I am really wanting an Elephant Nose. Nope, not on me. An Elephant Nose is a really odd looking fish, and I saw some nice looking healthy ones for sale last week. If I could get a tank redone, I'd give one a try, but they are good-sized fish with special needs, so it's not a decision to be taken lightly.

A Pup For Me

Looks like I will have a pup, at least for awhile! Suzi is going to send Jaime (Green) up here, probably next week. If I knew I had a place for one or the other of the pups, I would suggest that she send the girl up here too, but I haven't the time or energy to deal with more than one pup at a time.

Website Still Missing

I was surprised at how many people think my blog is down. Apparently they always connected to the blog by going through the website, rather than just creating a link to the blog or saving it in favorites. Hopefully the website will be back by Thursday. Everything appears to be intact, but it will not appear under http://www.paisleydals.com/ until the domain transfer is complete. It is currently hosted by Yahoo at http://paisleydals.com.p6.hostingprod.com/

(I'm posting this to see if this link works from anyplace other than the Yahoo site.) Not sure if the final move from Network Solutions to Yahoo is instantaneous, or if it take a bit of time. If it takes some time I may be unable to use my email for awhile, since that is tied to the domain name and is also being transferred between the two parties. I was assured that it would work out fine - we'll see!

That's Penny at the top of the page. Although she is Nikon's daughter, she looks like a Josie pup! Laurie will be taking her to handling classes so that by the time Penny comes here to be shown, she'll know a bit about dog shows. Hopefully they can find a few fun matches too. Charlie starts obedience classes in two weeks, in Dawn's class as I had suggested. Dawn teaches a standard class, no clickers, no head collars, just basic obedience training which works nicely with Dalmatians. I'll have to stop down and watch the class from time to time.

Jaime is probably coming next week, so I'll have a pup to work with for awhile. If you are reading my blog, and interested in a handsome black-spotted puppy boy, he will be available after I get my puppy fix!

Yesterday I sat through a 6 hour meeting on vendor issues in the new statewide accounting system. The amount of work & time & preparation involved in a project like this is just mind boggling. The presentation was actually pretty interesting, but the part that affected the way I do business took about 10 minutes. I'll be back there this morning but probably not spending the whole day. My desk is a Code Red and looks like a disaster area!

Time to feed dogs. The turkey necks are not thawed enough to use my cleaver on yet, so I guess their rmb (raw meaty bone) meal will be chicken necks. We're out of their favorite chicken backs, although I ordered another box yesterday. Wish I could always get the smaller turkey necks, but this batch was the baseball bat size. Really good for their teeth, like a doggy toothbrush, but I prefer to chop them in half before feeding. We tried a number of ways to do this including knives, scissors & an axe. Finally purchased a big sharp cleaver so I can whack through them in one blow. Hope no one was watching on Saturday morning when I was out on the deck in my pajamas with the necks on a bread board on the deck rail. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Each neck cut cleanly in half. At least it doesn't take long!

Sunshine, Finally

Such a lovely time of the year. Finally we are getting some nice autumn weather. Yesterday was just perfect, today should be more of the same. However, yesterday was Sunday so I could work in the yard and take an afternoon walk with my favorite dog. Today is Monday and I will be sitting all day in a meeting on the new accounting system. Sounds like fun . . .

How can it be November already? Hopefully it will be a pleasant month rather than an introduction to winter. November is supposed to be a gray cloudy month, but it will be tough to beat October for gray & cloudy. Brilliant sunshine and 55 degrees would be just fine!

Mom is adjusting well to the broken foot, just a small bone. She has to wear a "boot" and take it easy, but no cast or restrictions. We took her to dinner at TGI Fridays and watched part of the Vikings game on the big screen TV. Left before the end of the game, so listened to it in the car and when we got to her place things were still worrisome so we stayed in the car listening until the final touchdown. Go Vikings! Whether or not one likes Brett Favre, it's been an exciting season so far.

Mine!

Give it to me! Mine! Coral is quite convinced that all new stuffed toys belong to her. This stand off lasted several minutes, but Watson finally gave up and let his mother have the toy.

Pretty quiet Halloween, with only a dozen or so trick-or-treaters. Probably a combination of cold weather and concern about H1N1. Now to figure out what to do with all the candy bars, as Ron always over-buys and this year we have LOTS of small candy bars left over. If they stay here we'll eat them, which neither of us needs. Last year I took them to work and gave them to Anita who keeps a candy stash for the office. A small candy bar from the candy dish instead of a large candy bar from the vending machine saves both $$$ and calories. Anita gets a lot of donations after Halloween! I'll keep a few in the freezer for when the chocolate craving strikes.

Got lots done yesterday, mostly indoors since it never warmed up. At least it was sunny! Ron cut the lawn, likely for the last time. I need to finish cleaning up the flower beds today, but there's no need for raking as the mower got all the maple leaves, and the oak trees have not even thought about dropping their leaves yet.

Just waiting on my website transfer. My part is complete. All the pages appear to be intact on the Yahoo web server. Just waiting for my domain name transfer to catch up with it, which should happen about Wednesday. We'll see if it happens the way it is supposed to. Because my email address goes along with my domain name, I'm a bit concerned about that going smoothly, and worry about being "disconnected" from the world!

Still no decision on Jaime. I made an offer, but nothing has happened yet. Kind of a pain as the puppy is getting older and really needs a home of his own, rather than living with a brother & sister. Am also a little concerned about where the sister may end up. It's not my litter but as the "paternal grandmother" I feel some responsibility here. Oh well. Have to admit that it is nice to only have adult dogs to worry about.

Parenting

Gotcha. Nope, not human parenting, but rather cichlid parenting. Fishkeepers enjoy cichlids for many reasons including size, aggressiveness, hardiness, beauty, and the fact that they are "natural" rather than "man made" fish. Not all cichlids are large, aggressive, hardy or beautiful, but most of them are excellent parents. While many livebearers will eat their own fry, and egg scatterers just drop and go, many cichlids stake out territories, guard the eggs, and one or both parents participate in the care of the resulting offspring. Very cool to watch!

Last year I purchased a bag of young Honduran Red Points from a fish club member and grew them out to adult size. One did not survive but the other 5 grew up to become very handsome fish, especially the dominant pair. Wish I could find a picture on the internet showing HRPs as handsome as mine with black and metallic blue bars. The two males have orange tails and the three females have orange on their bodies. With brilliant color and tons of attitude the dominant male is a pretty as any saltwater fish and practically glows in the dark and his vibrantly colored mate is almost as striking.

Several weeks ago I moved the 5 HRPs to a larger tank, hoping they were old enough to breed. They settled in quickly, terrorized the resident Swordtails, ate all the cherry shrimp, and a pair quickly set up housekeeping in a terra cotta cave. Last weekend the female brought her fry out to search for food. Too cool. She tried to keep them together but they were ready to explore, and their father stayed busy keeping the other HRPs at bay. I'd wondered if they could raise fry in a tank with other fish but decided I'd rather not take the chance on losing them all, so removed the other fish from the tank, but added a couple of ancistrus (suckermouths) because algae was becoming a problem.

A week later everything seems to be going well. The babies are scattered all over the tank, so mom chases them down, catches them in her mouth, and spits them out in an area where she wants them to stay. Really fun to watch. They keep escaping, and she keeps bringing them back. I've never seen baby cichlids who did not stay with their parents, so I'm glad I removed the other fish or these babies would have been eaten long ago. I'm not sure how many there are, somewhere between 8 & 12 I think, but they are growing well and provide much entertainment.

I moved the other 3 HRPs to a tank of their own and it's interesting to see that the other male has now colored up a lot and I am sure he has grown since becoming number one in his own tank.

Memories

Love this picture, my all time favorite. It was just a quick snap but it looks composed, and came out just right. Ron caught the dogs looking out the patio door. We used a piece of lattice as a gate when the door was left open. That's Eloise & Rob and their offspring Morris & Marla, all American/Canadian champions, all beloved house pets. Rob did some nice winning and was a top producer with 60 champion offspring, and known for his fabulous temperament. Eloise was also a top producer and Ron's soul mate. Morris was/is the top winning liver Dal male of all times (Argus has not caught up with him yet) and Marla was a Group winner and my all time favorite Dal girl. I still miss all of them, especially Rob who has been gone for 9 1/2 years. I remember that because Watson was born just a few days after Rob departed.

How privileged we are to be able to share our lives with wonderful dogs. Each is so different yet so special in it's own way, but some leave their paw prints on your heart and touch you in a way that no others can. Rob was that way for me and I still shed tears when I look at his picture or think of him. I have a picture of him in the dining room by the computer and I often look up at it as I think about Dalmatians.

Rob was in my thoughts yesterday when I went over to Lou's to get my hair cut. Each time I walk through the door I hope that little Yorkie Precious will still be there to greet me with wiggles & kisses. Precious is an elderly puppymill dog who has had a variety of health issues over the years, but has the sweetest disposition. I've never had much time for Yorkies, but knowing Precious has given me an understanding of why the breed is so immensely popular. She's an absolute doll.

Precious was still there yesterday, but I knew that it would probably be the last time I'd see her. She's winding down now, and although she was still waiting to greet me I could see that she hadn't much time left. Lou said the last couple of days had been bad ones, and this was the first time I'd been there when Precious hadn't started demanding her dinner at 5:00. She just sat there & shivered, a distant look on her face, doughy feeling with retained fluids, with her freshly groomed coat already gummy & dull. Lou's life is like a soap opera and the one constant has been Precious who has seen her through an ugly divorce, several moves, job changes, financial problems, and an up & down marriage. Lou's life seems to be going well now, good job, nice house, stable marriage, so perhaps Precious has fulfilled her role in Lou's life and is free to leave. Hopefully she slips away quietly in her sleep, sitting on Lou's lap. She deserves a peaceful final chapter. Go softly Miss Precious, you've made a difference in many lives and will certainly be missed by all your friends.

No Shows, Yet Again

Dawn sent me this picture of Reegan with Sam going Best Junior at a local show a few weeks ago (I wasn't there). Reegan & Rachel co-own Sam & Rita (Argus/Boji kids) with Tom & Dawn, and finished their championships. They show the Dals in Junior Handling as well. Both girls have qualified for Westminster, but will take smaller dogs to show there, as it is a lot easier to fly and to get around NYC with something smaller than a Dal. Fooey. But the logistics are one of the reasons Argus & I are not going either - that and the totally unacceptable judge assigned to Dals.

Took the preliminary steps necessary to get my domain name transferred from NS to Yahoo. My website IS now hosted by Yahoo, it's just not tied to my domain name right now. Hopefully in a few days

Argus & I will be home again this weekend, in fact we'll be home for the next couple of weekends. Just no place I want to show him within acceptable driving distance. Two sets of shows later in November, two show weekends in December. Judging panels are not very exciting for any of the weekends, but weather permitting we'll be there.

Need to get to Kankakee the end of November as Ginger will be bringing my winter supply of frozen ground veggies & fruit mix for the dogs. Because we feed a natural diet, we use the veggie mix to add to the meaty portion of their diet. I can make my own, but Ginger does it in vast quantities and her mixtures contain 20 or more different kinds of produce. She'll fill up my new cooler, the one Argus won for going BoB at Chicagoland. I didn't have room to take it home as there were three dogs and two people and all our things in the mini. Just Argus and I going to Kankakee, so there will be plenty of room then.

Do I Want A Puppy?

Do I want a puppy at this time? Jaime is still available so I guess I had better make the decision now. I asked for current pictures and got these cute ones. They don't exactly tell me what I really want to know, such as what his croup looks like and does he have straight front boning, but they do show me that he is handsome and happy. Several other similar pictures, but none that are really "show type", displaying the pup's outline. I just had a special feeling about this little guy when I saw the puppy pictures, so perhaps I just need to put my money where my mouth is and have him sent to Minnesota. Do I need a puppy? Nope. Do I want a puppy? Perhaps.

Jaime would come here with the idea that I'd find him a co-owner if he's show quality, someone who could show him, or would be willing to let me show him. If he's a pet or has performance potential, I could find him the right situation. I don't need another boy at this time, although I MUCH prefer male Dals, and I suppose when I keep one again someday it will be another liver. What I really want is a liver boy, what I really need is a black-spotted girl.

I DID just reserve a pup from a litter that has not yet been born. Heard of a very intriquing breeding, and dashed off an email to get my name on the list. Might be something there for me. We shall see. I've got Penny & Charlie to show next year, and possibly Lucy too, but they are all Argus kids and a need a different pedigree piece too.

Fingers crossed that Ellie is pregnant. They should know pretty soon. Vickie says they just received her CHIC number from OFA. Cheryl reports that Ella also has her CHIC number, and will most likely be bred to Argus later. Last year we had liver Lily & black Lilly in to be bred to Argus. Now we may have an Ellie & an Ella. Ella is a Watson granddaughter, just the kind of pedigree matching I like doing.

Making progress on the website issue. I may have a site again one of these days. I actually got a call from a Supervisor at Network Solutions and he was extremely nice - and patient too. Last night I spoke with a Tech at Yahoo and he was also very helpful. Things are looking up!

Sue

Still No Website

As I figured, my website is gone. Two more communications from Network Solutions, one inviting me to call them and and another do-it-yourself message that tells me if I redelegate my domain name to the new website host I will lose my email address. Why should I? The domain name will still be registered through them, so why should it make any difference? This is all too crazy. When I call today I will get some flunky in India with no knowledge of the problems I have encountered, and no actual working knowledge of what needs to be done. Just a list of stock answers to stock questions that I already KNOW won't help me. I've now gotten 5 different solutions, none of which work and most of which don't even address the question I have asked. I thought by leaving my registration with Network Solutions I could preserve my email address, but that does not seem to be the case. What a mess. I don't want to have to understand this kind of crap, I just want it to work correctly. I'm SO pissed. And why the heck was I never notified that Geocities would pull the plug on websites???

Other than that continuing aggravation, things are going well. I spent the evening redoing several tanks and moving the extra Honduran Red Points out of the tank with the new babies. Mom & dad HRP are working really hard to protect their offspring so I made it a bit easier for them. Only other inhabitants are a couple of ancistrus that I added to remove the algae on the back of the tank, and a couple of Amano shrimp who survived the addition of the HRPs to the tank. The red swords that previously lived there are doing fine in a smaller tank with some of their non-red relatives, and all the cherry shrimp who also lived there seem to have been eaten. Fortunately, several of the other tanks are well stocked with cherry shrimp.

Have not seen one of the Firemouths for a few days, so hopefully she is guarding eggs. If not, I'll do a massive water change this week and try to get things moving along. Not sure they can raise fry in a tank with 5 Angelfish, so may have to siphon out any babies and raise them separately. No other tanks large enough for 5 large Angels.

Today I will call the furnace people and confirm that I want a new furnace. The price seems reasonable and it certainly won't be cheaper next year.

It's supposed to be near 60 today and sunny. We'll see. Think I need to leave work early and get some yard work done as this may be my last chance as it will be cold and windy and possibly snowy later in the week. What happened to fall?

Monday

No time for blogging, darn it. Went to bed early last night (stayed up too late on Saturday settling in the new fishes) and got up early this morning to work on the web-site issue. I've done everything I can, but I'm afraid I will be totally redoing my site - which isn't all bad I guess if the domain name transfer ever gets resolved. If that weren't enough, my printer committed suicide, swallowing a big stack of paper all at once and now it thinks it's jammed but it's not.

Good news here is that the mama Honduran Red Point came out with her fry and introduced them to the tank yesterday. Mom & Dad are keeping the Aunts/Uncles at bay and are very attentive parents. Very cool to watch cichlid parenting.

Why Do I Keep Fish?

Had a great time at the Minnesota Aquarium Society Auction. Really glad I went. It was great to see Greg, Ken, Doug, Chuck, Bob, Tom, Jenny, Steve and all my other "fishie friends". I've really missed the monthly fish club meetings and the 3-times-a-year auctions. I was very active in the club as well as the Minnesota Fishkeepers list until we started campaigning Argus, and then there just wasn't enough time for everything. Because Argus will be out less next year - he'll still be shown, but not campaigned as extensively - I hope to be able to attend more "fishy functions".

When I posted to Facebook that I had purchased 5 new species of fish, an old friend commented that it seemed so strange that I was interested in fish. Many of my current friends know I have a double obsession (Dals & fish) but Ducky & I used to travel to shows together years ago and I've just gotten back into fish during the last 6 years. Like many 60s kids I was a fish keeper and have always maintained an interest in the hobby. When my High School class came down from Moorhead to visit the capital, we also visited a major shopping center, probably Southdale. While my classmates were checking out clothes, make up, sporting goods & record stores, I found the wonderful pet shop and purchased a copy of Dr. Axelrod's Aquarium Encyclopedia.

Because I never do things in a small way, while I was actively showing dogs I rarely kept fish, but when I was suffering dog show burnout some years ago I decided to "get out" of dogs (the showing part) and enjoy a fish tank or a few Bettas. Oops, doesn't work that way! I found the Betta sites on the Internet, learned about & purchased show type fish, joined the fish club and learned about other kinds of fish, added a few tanks, attended a fish show, and the rest is history.I got hooked (pun!) on fish, but never really got out of dogs. Just cut back for awhile. Didn't plan to special another dog either, but Argus turned out so well I (almost) had no choice, but could not give up my fish, so I do both. I've got somewhere between 35 & 40 tanks of fish, a fish room in the basement, plus lots of other tanks that don't quite fit in the fish room.

One of the neatest parts of fish keeping is learning to breed a variety of different species. Breeding behaviors vary tremendously and fish can be a challenge to breed & raise successfully. Because many species are extinct in the wild, and many more will soon be added to that list, these fish will only exist in the tanks of hobbyists. Learning to breed & maintain these species while making them available to other fish keepers is a fascinating hobby.

My favorite fish are puffers & gobies & wild live bearers, but I enjoy them all. Fish behaviors are fascinating and it's a challenge to keep many of them. Fish tanks are fascinating little eco systems and creating them can be such fun. Fish keeping is far more than keeping living creatures in glass boxes, and fish keepers are often passionate about their charges. I truly enjoy my fish as well as my dogs, so I spend my time trying to balance two expensive & time-consuming hobbies.

Fish Club Auction

Had meant to work in the fish room last night, but ended up saving all my web pages to a flash drive in case the transfer to the host is not successful. At least I will have all the old pictures, and I saved the pages as complete web pages, with coding and pictures. That worked kind of slick actually, although it remains to be seen how if I can upload them if needed. Got a great deal on the flash drive with 16 gigabytes of memory. It was marked down $50.00 (last year's model) plus I had a $10.00 coupon, so the whole thing cost $29.95 plus tax. Definitely a good deal!

Am off to the Minnesota Aquarium Society Auction in a few hours. I've got some stuff to sell (no livestock though) and a couple of empty tanks in case I am tempted to buy something. I'll take along a big styrofoam container though, knowing that I am ALWAYS tempted. I've missed the last 3 or 4 auctions, so really looking forward to this one.

Hollie & Peter

Received this great picture last week. This is "Peter" Ch. Paisley Perpetual Motion (L) and his owner Hollie. (Pete is the sire of our beloved Josie.) We kept Watson & Peter from Coral's first litter, with the agreement that Watson would stay and Jess could finish Peter's championship and then we would place him in a suitable situation. He finished with a great record and later went to Hollie as a Junior Showmanship dog. They had a wonderful JS career, and Hollie finished his Canadian Ch. going BoW at the National, but when Hollie first went off to college Peter had to stay behind with Hollie's parents. Arrangement were eventually made for Peter to live on campus with Hollie and her friends, so off he went to college where he has reportedly been an excellent student! Hollie plans to be a Vet someday, and we hope she will always have a Dalmatian companion.

As Peter & Watson are now 9 1/2 I often wish I had repeated the breeding they are from. We tried a chilled semen repeat breeding and Coral missed, and when I was ready to do another natural for her last litter, Kramer had just been neutered (he was 10) . That breeding was by far Coral's best, with the two boys plus their major-pointed sister Cookie (killed by a car when she jumped the co-owner's fence) being the only three in the litter. Both Wats & Peter had great records, and could not possibly have better temperaments. Sigh . . .

More rain, no sun, what's new? This month is shaping up to be the wettest & coldest October EVER. Ugh.

Making progress on the website issue, get an email response from Network Solutions & a call back from Yahoo. Fingers crossed that this all falls into place and my website does not disappear. I've learned a lot this week, but am still really annoyed that I did not know that Geocities would pull the plug. Would have been nice to have a bit more time to get this done - but on the other hand, being a procrastinator I might have waited until the last minute anyway!

Plans are falling into place for Pauli who is working out well in her new home. She will hit a few show weekends next month and start learning the ropes of traveling with a professional handler to dog shows. I suppose she will beat Argus on occasion next year, but we are proud that he produced such an outstanding daughter and glad that she will have a chance to be campaigned and that *I* don't have to do it!

That's Gem on the left, the Argus/Lily daughter that I used to own. She's doing well in her new home, catching on quickly to training, and doing a bit of modeling on the side. This is a page from a children's book.

Haven't heard anything from Suzi about the puppies, so not sure whether they will be coming to Minnesota or not. Have to admit that it is awfully peaceful here with just the 4 oldsters, but I really want to see the Argus/Read pups get into the right homes.

Wendy says that Pauli is fitting in well with the Labrador boys, so hopefully she will have be a permanent resident at Wendy's. Wendy & Jess can plan Pauli's future show career - she sure looked great the last time I saw her. Pauli, I mean! ;-)

I've figured out the website thing and what needs to happen, but getting in touch with Yahoo Small Business & Network Solutions to coordinate things seems to be impossible right now as my emails go unanswered. Guess I will have to try waiting for hours on an 800 number . . . Am running out of time here. Geocities websites supposedly get pulled next Monday, and the way things are going the transfer will not be compete by then so my website will disappear - even though I have paid Yahoo the money for hosting it. Could be that thousands of others did not know about this, or waited until the last minute, and both companies are swamped. Had not realized that Network Solutions was the registrar for most of the domain names for websites on Geocities. Because there are apparently problems with Yahoo email right now, it could be that the volume (of everything!) is just too large. We shall see.

I've often thought about redoing my website, but probably would never have gotten around to it. This way I might have no choice! I set mine up in the 90s and did my html coding by hand. Things have changed a lot and putting up a new site should go faster, but I have over 100 pages on my site, and hundreds of pictures - many that I have no where else. I'll pick up a portable storage drive or whatever and download my pages this weekend, just as a precaution. I've already got the most important ones on this computer. What a pain . . .

I've been working on the fish tanks this week, along with fighting the Website War. Hope to get to the fish club auction this weekend, and although I am incredibly broke I expect to bring home some new aquarium denizens. Many of my fish are elderly, and I actually have several empty cycled planted tanks for new fish. What I really need are some new heaters though. The tanks that are not in the fish room require heaters as my basement tends to be chilly. My Firemouths & Honduran Red Points are in the spawning mood, so things are getting lively.

Websites & Such

I found out LAST NIGHT that my geocities hosted website will disappear on 10/26. They are killing off Geocities after all these years and millions of websites. I have no idea why I was never informed of that - I've had my website there for over 10 years! Panic city! My domain name is registered by another company and I have my mail forwarding from them, so it goes to SueMac@domainname. I'm sure that I'm being ripped off pricewise, and I haven't a clue how it all fits together, but I have a strong feeling that *I* will disappear on 10/26/09. Guess I had better sign up for a hotmail account at least. I'm waiting for responses from Yahoo Small Business who I have selected to host my website, and from Network Solutions who registers my domain name (and charges me vast sums for my email service). If all goes well I can have my domain name redelegated to my new site location and everything will work out just fine. But I'm not betting on it! Sure would have been nice to know about this in advance. I just learned about it by chance.

Hopefully this all works out, but if I disappear for awhile, I will be back! If you send me an email and don't hear from me for awhile, you can always leave a note here. Cross your fingers please.

Dog Shows & Cat Shows

Well, if I only went to dog shows to WIN, this weekend would have been a bust. Lost both days to lovely liver girls that Argus has beaten many times in the past. Now they've each beaten him twice. Oh well. They both placed in the really tough NS group, so it was gratifying that both judges REALLY liked them at least. Argus showed OK the first day, but exceptionally well the second, by far the best of the specials. Sorta hate wasting a really good performance though. We did have a good time with Mark & Ginger & Laura. Argus visited the motor home several times and got to "crush" Uncle Mark and did not mind sharing his motel room with son Charlie. That's Charlie & Argus pictured above. Charlie was well behaved for an exuberant 5-month old, and is reliably house-trained and extremely good in a crate, so he was not hard to travel with. Not good on a leash yet, so we added a "thinking collar" to the mix and it made walking much easier. Super happy friendly pup, just like his dad was, and lots of show potential as well.

We ate a couple of meals in the motor home and enjoyed Ginger's Mexican Lasagna. She assures me that it's easy - it sure is delicious. Must get the recipe to share. Am sure I can lower the sodium and fat levels with a bit of ingredient manipulation. We also found an excellent barbecue-style restaurant, and the food was great there too, especially the chopped brisket. And today I start a diet. Ugh, just a few pounds to shed, but I hit the top of my allowable range. My weight hasn't varied by more than 5 pounds for over 30 years, but once or twice a year I have to take precautions.

We all attended the Springfield shows last year (more successfully I might add, as Argus won back-to-back Group Ones) and enjoyed the cat show being held on the fairgrounds at the same time. We went again this year, and it was great fun. We all got some Christmas gift ideas for cat-owning friends, and Ginger found a cute chess set with Dalmatians at pawns. One of the judges noticed our Dalmatian sweatshirts and interacted with us during the judging. One of the main differences between dog and cat shows is the cat judges carry on a conversation while they judge, which can make the judging both entertaining and educational.

Bought a really nice donut bed for the dogs, but have not decided if it is a Christmas gift or if they will get it sooner. One of our dog beds is a reject from a daycare center that Mr. Dumpster Diver Ron rescued and repaired. Because it slides around the floor, and I expect to break my leg tripping over it, I really want to replace it if I can do so without hurting his feelings.

Charlie's owners picked him up last evening. They missed him which was good, as 5-month-olds are a lot of work. He's a good puppy and will be a great dog some day. I had some suggestions for feeding & training & nail clipping, and sent him home with his "thinking collar" so Brooke would be able to walk him more easily. Hope she can get into Dawn's beginners obedience class as Dawn teaches with the traditional methods that I think work so well on Dals Charlie is the first Argus kid I've had here who is really a little Argus in all his mannerisms and I was glad to see that as I want another Argus again some day. I love the perpetual puppy personality and the endless enthusiasm. That's just the way I like my dogs, although I would not want a whole household of quite such happy dogs.

I've been really fortunate to own two dogs as special as Rob & Argus. TWO once-in-lifetime dogs. Very different, but very special. I've loved the rest of them, but Ron & Argie share the #1 Spot in my heart.

Laurie sent this picture of Penny with her cat Sasha. I'd tease Laurie about only sending me pictures of Penny when she's resting, but that's probably all I'll be getting of Penny's brother Charlie! Had big plans to get stacked pictures but it has not happened yet. If the weather was better I'd be working him on the grooming table but it's too cold. (He will go up on the table to get his nails trimmed this morning, when I do everyone else.) It's really hard to get candid shots of my dogs - the minute I look their direction, everyone starts watching me. If I pick up a camera they all want to check it out. What a bunch of busybodies, but that's Dalmatians.

Charlie has done well on his visit to Grandma. Michael & Brooke have put a lot of work into him and it shows. Charlie is reliably house trained which sure helps a lot, and very good in a crate. Thank goodness he's not a whiner. Loves his toys so it's easy to have him loose in the family room without worrying that he's getting into mischief. He particularly likes Josie's sturdy fabric toys and spends hours amusing himself. Josie & Argus invite him to join in their tugging matches, but so far he has watched from the sidelines although he wrestles with both Argus & Watson.

Charlie is eating Pro Plan Selects Turkey & Barley Puppy Food as I had suggested and he's doing well on it. If I fed kibble rather than raw that's what I'd be feeding. He's old enough to switch to the adult version (puppy food provides "more than enough" of everything) and I picked up a bag to mix with his puppy food. Amazing how much people pay for quality dog food, but that's not a place to cut corners. Charlie is at the age where he is growing fast, so I increased the amounts he is eating for each meal and he'll go home a few pounds heavier. Pups should be kept lean but when they are growing so fast it's sometime hard to keep up with it and you suddenly find a pup looks thin. He's burning more calories here too. We use the "eyeball method" of feeding rather than measuring out precise amounts. I try to check each dog before every meal and decide if they need more or less.

Time out to feed dogs. Ground lamb (with bone) plus veggies & salmon oil for my dogs, 2 cups of kibble with 3 cups of water for Charlie. Because he is eating kibble and because he is a Dalmatian, we add lots of water to his food to keep his urine properly diluted. If he was having a problem with urate crystals, or was not a good water drinker we might add even more. Keeping Dals well hydrated is normally the key to preventing urate-related problems. Dry food should ALWAYS be covered with water. Most Dals will never have an issue with urate crystals or stones, but using common sense goes a long way towards never having a problem.

Guess we will be heading out to Springfield Illinois later this morning, for Sunday & Monday shows (I normally just show on weekends, but the Monday judge was someone I wanted to try). Car is packed & clothes are ready, but I still have to groom Argus. He probably won't need a bath as he had one last week, but I'll wipe him down with a warm wet towel. Needs his nails done and his whiskers trimmed, but that's about all. I'll use my little clipper to do his face as that's a lot quicker than using a scissors and does a neater job. Because Argus has a "new coat" his hair is very short and he doesn't need any other trimming, except for the end of his tail perhaps.

Am beginning to think I will skip the SD shows next weekend so I can attend the fish club auction. I've connected with some of my fishie friends on Facebook, and realize how much I miss them. Hard to have two such time-consuming hobbies. Judges next week are a bad one and a questionable one, so not hard to skip except that it is a nice big NS Group worth quite a few points - which wouldn't do me much good if Argus doesn't place!

The 101 Dalmatians Musical

Jess & I went to see the musical last night as it opened in Minneapolis this week. We sat in the "cheap seats" and I'm not sure whether I was out of breath from climbing four flights of stairs to the 2nd-from-the-back row of the balcony, or it's just that the air was thinner way up there. We joked that we should have brought along a bucket of dog hair to fling into the air so that hair could settle on the audience! The orpheum is a lovely old theater and the show appeared to be a sell out.

Although it was entertaining, I would have to say I was disappointed. From the media hype one expects that the Dalmatians play a relatively large part in the production but that is not the case at all. This production is based on Dodie Smith's book, so the adult dogs are Pongo, Missus Pongo, Perdita & Prince and they are people wearing spotted clothing - not dog suits but white tops & slacks randomly splashed with spots - and yes Prince & Perdita appeared to be liver. The "puppies" are kids who might have been 8 - 14. Cast members were dressed as other breeds, and the "poodles" and the "sheepdog" were pretty good but it was hard to recognize the others.

The songs were all original I believe and some were pretty catchy. The dancing was quite good and it was interesting to watch. The sets were clever and the staging nicely done especially at first, but later in the production the lighting seemed to be off and you could see the stagehands in the background moving things around. Have to admit that I got a little bored during the second half. The kids who had come to see Dalmatians sure did.

And the Dalmatians? In the beginning we saw the shadowy actics of a real Dal before we met the spotted cast. At the end of the first act we saw all the Dalmatians in stage for perhaps a minute. Some were sitting, a couple were dashing around the stage. We assumed we would see more of them during the second half, but that did not happen until the very end, when the Dearlys were in their new home and we saw the dogs playing around in the garden. We saw one dog at a time move across the stage, some of them doing clever things, some of them just dashing around. One did a semblance of weave poles which was cute but lasted perhaps 5 seconds. It was hard to tell what most were supposed to be doing and the whole segment lasted perhaps 2 minutes. That's all folks. Somehow with Purina as a sponsor I expected DOGS.

When the cast came out for a curtain call, I assumed we might see the Dals then, but nope, just the folks in spotted suits. The highlight was Cruella, who was definitely the star of the show. Her cat was well done too. Cruella could have studied under Glenn Close and put a lot into her performance. The kids loved her.

It was entertaining if you like musicals. If you don't enjoy musicals, DON'T go just to see the dogs. Hopefully, with experience the dogs will play a larger part in the show, but I suspect they are only meant to attract media attention (through the rescue dog thing) and make this look like a family show - but some of the adult humor (and it was funny) belies that.

Charlie Comes To Visit

Well, things are a bit livelier here this morning with Charlie as part of the Paisley Gang for a few days. Brooke & Michael dropped him off yesterday evening and Charlie settled in nicely. I almost forgot how much work 5-month-olds are, but he's such a pretty pup and is really well behaved for his age. His owners have done a great job so far, and Charlie is reliably house trained (now if I could convince him to use the dog yard rather than the lawn) and is quiet in a crate. The rest of it we can manage. The older dogs all accepted him with no problem and Josie & Argus try to include him in their games, but he's not too sure about tugging with a couple of rowdy dogs. Charlie was assigned to Pauli's old crate and slept through the night without a peep. He came with a supply of kibble (eating Pro Plan Selects Turkey as I had suggested) but I'll probably need to pick up a small bag as he will burn more calories while here, plus he's at the age where they grow before your eyes!

What a pretty pup! So far he's living up to expectations, with a beautiful face, lovely spotting, plenty of bone, gorgeous legs and feet, good tail, good mouth and a terrific personality. Looks as if he's pretty sound for his age too, but hard to tell indoors. Doesn't look a lot like Nikon as his cosmetics are more like Coral's (his grammy) but he does look like an Argus kid. He's got more bone than Argus, but had lots of bone as a baby. So far so good. Hope I can get some decent pictures of him, but anytime I kneel to get a shot, I have all the dogs in my face. What a bunch of busybodies.

Told Ron he was in charge of dinner last night and we walked down to Luci, a nice Italian place a few blocks away. I had the Specials, and wow! The soup was a warm butternut squash puree' - oh my! Absolutely delicious! I used a piece of their great bread to get every last drop of soup. Naw, that's not tacky, just appreciative. The pasta was fresh fettuccine with caramelized onions, crimini mushrooms, bacon & truffle oil. I always save part of my pasta for lunch the next day, but I may eat this for breakfast. Awesome. It's such fun to have a really good meal occasionally.

Tonite we see the musical version of 101 Dalmatians. Should be interesting. People playing the parts of Pongo & Perdie, but 15 Dals are part of the cast, many of them rescue dogs, plus a few from show people. Sounds interesting - expect a review tomorrow. www.jspa101dalmatians.weebly.com

Think Argus & I will just hit the Sunday & Monday shows in Illinois as those are probably the best judges for him, plus two days is more than enough for Charlie. We'll get a chance to see Ginger, perhaps Mark, and Laura too, and I will see how Charlie handles motels & dog shows. No immediate plans for Charlie, but I'm hoping he will look good for the National next year.

Playin' Around In Farmville

Can't believe I just spent half an hour on Facebook and got hooked into playing "Farmville". Oh dear. I should have heeded the warnings!

Charlie comes this evening and my life will get busier. It will be fun to see him, but pups are like grandkids - you can enjoy them, spoil them, and then send them home. Have to decide if I will take him along to Bloomington Illinois or just skip the weekend. I'll probably go for just Sunday & Monday, especially if Mark & Ginger cancel out.

Ran the AKC stats through September last night and Argus is still #4 Dalmatian, behind three dogs with professional handlers who are out every weekend. It's been an excellent year for us.

I received this poem last night as part of a puppy inquiry that seemed a little suspicious, with no details about the owner or even a name, but I enjoyed the poem.

The families dog was bought for a guard,
Chained to a post in a chilly back yard,
Housed in a shed that was airless and dark,
And every few weeks had a run in the park.
When boredom set in with no fun and no work,
One day it broke loose and went quietly berserk.
Pa couldn't fathom just why it went wild,
As it flattened his wife and then bit his child.
The police were called in to sort out the mess,
And the whole sorry tale was released to the press,
The Rescue Society was really annoyed,
So, the dog was rehomed -- and the owners destroyed.

Do I Want A Puppy?

Am trying to decide if I want to take advantage of the opportunity to obtain Green "Jaime" one of the puppies from the Argus/Read litter in Texas. I would either show him or place him up here as a companion, and even if I decide to show him he'll be placed with a co-owner so he has a home of his own. We've had really good luck with co-ownerships over the years and have finished championships on a number of dogs that way. Works nicely for everyone. A pet owner gets a top quality dog that would not otherwise be available, we have a nice dog to show but don't have to add another dog to the household, and the pup has a great home plus lots of dog show adventures. Dals handle these situations beautifully and are always delighted to see their "other family". Anyone interested in working with me on this?

Charlie (Argus/Nikon) comes to spend the weekend while his family goes out of town. Because I am probably going to dog shows, Charlie will get broken in to the dog show routine. Makes for a lot more work, but it's a good opportunity for me to work with him, watch how he responds to different situations and see how he is developing. Brooke assures me that Charlie is a good traveler, and because he is crate trained he should be fine in the motel. It will also remind me how much work pups are, before I have to make the decision on taking Jaime on!

26 degrees this AM and frost everywhere. The plants that were not dead yesterday most certainly are today. The little plastic greenhouse I made last week worked well and the herbs survived the weekend, so they were harvested yesterday and I tried my hand at herb vinegar, using both red wine & white wine (not mixed together) vinegars. The rest of the herbs got frozen, to be added later to spaghetti sauce or the dog's veggie mix.

Am supposed to show in Bloomington Illinois this weekend, where Argus won two large very competitive groups last year. Unfortunately the judges are not nearly as good for us this year, so I could easily stay home. Friends are camping at the shows though, and it will probably be the last time their motorhomes are out this year. If the weather improves it will be fun. We could use some Indian Summer here!

Fish Fun
I moved my gorgeous Honduran Red Points (Cichlids) to a larger tank several weeks ago as I want to spawn them. Such stunning fish they are, metallic blue stripes with orange tails on the males and orange tummies on the females. I searched the internet for good pictures of them, but I can't find any that are nearly as attractive as mine - this must be an extra good strain. I've raised them from tiny babies, and ended up with two pairs plus an extra. They went into a 20 gallon tank with the Chinese Red Swordtails, and have now settled in and taken over. The poor Swords are reduced to living at the top of the tank where they are still occasionally hassled. The Cichlids have paired off and should be spawning soon, so I need to remove the Swords before they are hurt - or harassed to death. Most Cichlids care for their fry and the parenting behavior is great fun to watch. More Fish TV.

The Right Decision

It was hard to decide which shows to do last weekend. Two options - Kansas City with two specialties and two all breeds (one specialty held with one of the all breeds so actually three shows to enter). A specialty judge I dislike (intensely) who was also doing the group on Saturday. A specialty judge I would like to show to, an all breed judge I would like to show to, and an even worse group judge. Chicago provided a specialty judge who had previously liked Argus, and then a long night time drive to Mason City Iowa where the Group judge is one I had wanted to show to, IF I could get out of breed. I chose the Chicago option and then second-guessed myself for three weeks. There are so few decent show weekends coming up I really needed to pick the right option for the weekend. Really wondered abut my decision when the forecast originally looked like rain & snow for Iowa - real fun driving from Chicago to Iowa in the dark in rain and snow.

But it all worked out fine. The weather was OK, and so was the driving. Argus went Best Of Breed at the Specialty, his 7th Specialty win. Showed OK, but was obsessing over one of the Veteran bitches who he decided might be in season. We kept it together though, and Argus gave me good stacks and moved well. His co-owned Ginger was there to see him win. Because the show ran late (obedience & rally always take too long), and there was a raffle afterward, we did not get out of Chicago until 5:00. Took the longer northern route through Wisconsin because I was worried about rain & snow in Iowa (they had neither) which added perhaps an hour but all 4 lane and perfect roads. Jess & I had lots to chat about so the trip was easier than expected.

We had a very short night, getting in at midnight with Jax having been crated for "too long" (according to him) and he was a royal pain in the room. Too much crate time he said, and he really wanted to join Argus on the bed. No way. That's Argus's special treat on dog show weekends. Jax & Pauli both traveled well, but I could have strangled Jax on Saturday night. He won his puppy class but needs time to grow up, and will be doing a regular obedience class this fall/winter. Pauli showed beautifully and looks really nice! We can't wait to see how she does with her new handler Laura next year. I suppose she will beat Argus along the way, but we'll take that in stride. We're pleased that he has such nice kids.

Sunday went well. Cold but not windy, and the young dogs got to spend lots of time politicking in the show building. They were not entered but had a great time. The other Dals were absent, so Argus won breed with no competition. Non-Sporting group was not large but contained the #1 mini Poodle, plus very competitive professionally handed Frenchie, Bulldog, & Tibbie, a group winning Bichon, a nice looking Shiba who had won the group the previous day & others, so it was no walk in the park for Argus. He rose to the occasion though and show extremely well. Jess said that he gaited as well as she had ever seen him move, and I was very pleased with his performance.

It all paid off as Argus won the Group, his 11th this year under 11 different judges. Made for a very nice weekend! That may have been our last really good weekend of the year, as the judging panels for the rest of the year do not look to promising. We shall see!

Frost Is On The Punkin'

Yesterday I fashioned a little greenhouse for my herbs. Oregano, thyme, basil & parsley are still growing well, and I need to preserve some of them, either by drying or by making some herb vinegar. Some leftover short wire fencing for the framework, covered with clear plastic. With a bit of luck the herbs should survive the cold this weekend, and hopefully we will have some Indian Summer later this month.

Pauli came back last night, not permanently but because she is going to Chicago with us and Jess will be showing her in Specials. Wendy dropped her off later in the evening and I took the precaution of crating the other dogs first. Not because I expected fighting, but because it cut down on the confusion. Pauli was thrilled to see us (the nice thing about co-owned Dals is they can go back and forth and are always delighted to see the "other" party). Pauli's first project was to visit Coral's crate where she flung herself on her back and played submissive. She has always had very good doggy social skills which make things a lot easier in a multi-dog family. I let Watson out first and all he wanted was to see if Wendy was still there so he could greet her. Argus sniffed her over and was disappointed to find that it was just Pauli and not a visiting lady. When I let Josie and Coral out Pauli went over to the dog bed, flung herself on her back and let the other girls sniff her over, and then everything was just fine and it was as if she had never left. I love watching the social interaction amongst dogs, and really enjoy reading their body language.

Jess and I are both working this morning and she already has Jax with her as she took him to handling class on Tuesday and Thursday. She'll come over with Jax and her luggage when she gets out of work and will bathe and trim Pauli then. The car is loaded except for suitcases, hanging clothes, and food and water for the dogs. Thicker crate blankets this time of year too!

Tomorrow we show at the Chicagoland Specialty, Jax in Sweeps and the classes hoping for his first points, and Pauli & Argus in Specials. Chicago is a one day affair, so after judging (and hopefully pictures!) we will head off to Mason City, Iowa where Argus in entered on Sunday. Group judge is probably good for us, but getting out of breed is the issue. Fingers crossed for a good weekend. Ever since entries closed I have regretted choosing Chicago instead of Kansas City for this weekend, but oh well. I hate the either/or weekends where there are two tempting judging panels I have to pick from. Then the next month will have nothing but crappy panels.

Am debating whether or not to have Suzi send Jaime (Green) up from Texas. I don't want a male puppy, but I worry about her trying to deal with 3 litter mates. Way too much work and too hard to socialize 3 at a time. I could enjoy, evaluate and socialize the little guy and then sell him. Perhaps I could even find a good co-ownership home for him so we could show him next year. It might be wiser to bring the female pup up here though. Gotta think this over.

Needed - Stone Former & Sib

The Dalmatian Club of America is looking for urate stone formers to contribute DNA samples to a research program that that will be supported in part by DCAF (the DCA Foundation that makes grants to health studies). The project need 15 stone former/non-stoner littermate pairs and all it requires is a little blood from each dog. The goal is to see if we can find out why some Dals form urate stones while the vast majority do not. Dogs that have had issues with crystals do not count as actual stone formers - we need dogs that have blocked because of stones. The only dog of my breeding that I know of is a 13 year old, and I am hoping that his owner will participate, as the owner of one of the brothers is already willing to do so. Because of his age we need to do a blood draw soon, for obvious reasons.

Please, if you have dog of mine who qualifies will you let me know? If you have a stone former that is not my breeding but would be willing to participate, perhaps a brother of his can be located. This is really an exciting project! Here is the official request as well as some additional information.

Participants Needed for Stones Study

DCAF is sponsoring a study to be conducted by world-renowned stone expert Dr. Joe Bartges of the University of Tennessee. This preliminary study will require 15 pairs of male Dalmatians. One of the pair must be a confirmed stone former and the other should be a litter brother who has not formed stones. All that will be required of participating dogs is a blood draw for DNA analysis. There is no cost to participate. The study will be investigating why some Dalmatians form urate stones and others do not. If you are interested in participating, please contact me at http://www.blogger.com/.

1. What hypotheses are being tested? All Dalmatians have a breed-wide metabolic risk for forming urate stones but not all do so. There must be other unidentified factors involved. Thus, it would be prudent to screen the entire genome for differences between urolith-forming and non-urolith-forming Dalmatians. To limit genetic diversity, this preliminary study would involve 15 pairs of siblings, one who has a history of forming urate stones and one who does not. 2. What testing will be done? The genome will be screened using a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) array. A 5ml sample of blood will be collected into an EDTA-containing collection tube. A microarray analysis will be performed on DNA isolated from nuclear material using a recently available DNA chip. 3. Where will the testing be done? The SNP chips will be processed at the University of Tennessee through the Affymetrix Core Facility. 4. Will the non-urolith-formers be given an ultrasound to prove they do not have stones? No. This is a very preliminary study and the only distinction between the pairs will be that one has been confirmed as having formed uroliths and the other has not. The SNP technology will be used to identify where we need to do further research. 5. Is there a cost to participate? No. 6. What information will be needed to participate? At this time all we are trying to do is come up with at least 15 matched pairs. Once the list of possible participants is passed on to Dr. Bartges, he will contact them to get any further information he requires.

Thank you.
Kathy McCoubrey, Director DCA Study Group on Urinary Stones

Dome Magic

Whew, what a week. First the Twins come from way back in the division to win something like 13 of they last 17 games and tie Detroit for first place. On Sunday a record number of fans filled the dome and the place rocked. If the Twins had lost it would have been the last Twins game for them at the dome. But they won and the fans went wild! Then on Monday the Vikings played the Packers and won, another very good, very exciting game, and ESPN had a record number of viewers. Everyone was still exhausted from staying up late on Monday night to watch the Vikings, but last night even more fans filled the dome to watch the Twins & Tigers play for the division championship and at the end of 12 innings the Twin won in what was one of the most exciting Twins games EVER. The much maligned dome is going out in style!

Argus's "storage bill" arrived yesterday, the yearly fee we pay to keep frozen semen in storage, I think in liquid nitrogen. We "banked" enough for five or six breedings, but need to make another deposit when finances allow. This will give us access to Argus when he is no longer available, or it can be shipped off to be used elsewhere. Using frozen is a lot more expensive than using fresh chilled, but it's a nice option. My beloved Rob was sterile by the time he was 6 1/2 and I never had the foresight to have him collected, something I have regretted many times.

Ugh, way too curly! New perm which I will hate for the first few days. Always fun to visit with Lou for perms & haircuts. Lou lives a life that should be a soap opera, weathering more than her share of bad luck & catastrophes, but is one of the most positive people I have ever met. It's always interesting to visit with her Yorkies, and she currently has three. Precious is a poorly bred dog from a pet shop with a variety of health problems, but is as sweet as can be, and is doing OK at 13. Beau came from a puppy mill, has a very aggressive non-Yorkie type of personality and does not appear to be purebred - long and low, heavy boned, with big floppy ears. He'd love to bite me if he had a chance, so the feeling is mutual! The baby Star came from a private breeder who did everything right. Not show people, but a caring backyard breeder who put a ton of work into doing things right. Lots of socialization, appropriate vet care, selling with a contract. She's a doll, a very sound, typey little munchkin with a wonderful personality. She's the kind that will make anyone want a Yorkie.

Lou showed me a gift certificate she had gotten from her Vet for all the referrals she have sent him. Very nice! It's a one-vet, privately owned clinic, and it sounds as if the vet and his staff are quite special and have certainly treated Lou & the Yorkies well. One of my puppy buyers went there and always spoke very highly of the clinic - think perhaps I will try them a few times. Lou moved into a new house last year and was so pleased with it until she discovered that her property is infested with snakes. Just Garter Snakes, but Lou is deathly afraid of snakes. No convincing her that they are harmless and are "good snakes". They have seen dozens of snakes, and Beau routinely kills them in the yard. The snakes probably live under an old shed in the yard, so Lou is having the shed removed - even though it is in perfectly good shape. Apparently the neighborhood is infested with snakes - have never heard of that in the city. I laugh about her fear of snakes but I am almost as bad about centipedes!

Cold & Wet

46 & still raining. I vowed that I would NEVER complain about rain, ever again. BUT the dogs would prefer no rain when they go out at 6:00. At least Dalmatians do not have oily or and doggy odor. It's supposed to be windy later. Thank goodness this is not SNOW, but the weatherman said that may be possible by the weekend. Says it will melt when it hits the ground - probably.

Wasted way too much time on Facebook last night, but I'm trying to learn my way around. Have to admit that it was fun. Connected with a couple of old friends including Merrily "Ducky" who had several of my dogs and co-bred a couple of litters with me (and now owns an Aussie) and Lisa who had two of my liver dogs. When the last Dal died Lisa could not bear the thought of another Dal reminding her of Hillary, so she bought a Pudelpointer! Hopefully she will be ready for another Dal someday.

Someone at the open house on Saturday got this cool picture of Argus admiring Willow, the little rescue dog I had listed here a month of so ago. Lorry adopted Willow, named her, and brought her along for us to see. A very cute dog with an excellent personality. She had obviously been someone's beloved pet before ending up homeless at a shelter in Des Moines.

Not Exactly Barefoot Weather

Took the dogs out about 10:00 PM neglecting to put on my shoes first. Ack! Not exactly barefoot weather! Suddenly the yard feels like an iceberg and just two weeks ago I was complaining that it was "too warm". It was 43 degrees when I went to bed and is 37 now so I just carried the 30# 38 year-old Jade Plant indoors again. It summers outdoors but I do not have a sunny spot for it inside so I hate to bring it in before I have to. A few fall perennials still blooming and the grass looks fantastic but the huge green tomatoes are not ripening very rapidly in this cool cloudy weather. Time to harvest & dry some herbs too. A big pot of multi-bean, calico bean or whatever-you-want-to-call-it hot dish sits in the fridge. For some reason I always make that when the weather turns cool. Leftovers forever, yay!

The menu for the cafeteria at work sometimes offers "Tater Tot Hotdish - Minnesota's own casserole. Excuse me? Casserole? We do not have casseroles in Minnesota, we only have HOTDISH. Obviously the person who writes up the menu is NOT a Minnesotan!

As expected, I did not get as much cleaning done as I had hoped, BUT the kitchen & family room are clean, as is the largest aquarium that houses 6 impressive Angel Fish & 5 beautiful Firemouth Cichlids. That's my Fish TV tank. I can sit in my little chair and watch those guys in their 55 gallon tank. It would be fun to watch "natural behaviors" but the fish spend the first 10 minutes clustered at the front of the tank, nose to glass, watching me, hoping to eat. Had to go fish food shopping yesterday as the food supply was running low. Flake, cichlid pellets, pellets for bottom feeders, more algae wafers and some frozen bloodworms. $35.00 for fish food! I threw out some opened containers that had been sitting around for too long, as fish food like dog food should be fresh. Sometimes I even buy large packages of flake and keep them in the freezer - like most everything else, it's a lot cheaper to buy fish food in bulk.

Can't Believe I Did It
Joined Facebook that is. Vowed that I would not do it, that it was silly and a waste of time, but I kept getting invitations and was curious to see what it was like and how it worked. Certainly an odd way to accumulate "friends". People I don't even know. Friends of friends in many cases. Am unsure how to handle the requests to "be friends" from people I don't think I know. What if I DO know them, but can't can't remember them? I hate to seem unfriendly by not responding appropriately. Does one just accept everyone as a friend? Is that why some people have hundreds, even thousands of "friends". Very strange. What does it says about society? Are we so lonely that we depend on faceless Facebook friends? Of course they may not be "faceless", assuming the picture in their profile is actually them - which appears to be highly unlikely in many cases. Sure a lot of people out there who look like dogs!

Firedogs, Spotter, Bad Vets, and Guppies!

New Spotter is available on-line! Many many GORGEOUS pictures. http://www.thespotter.org/

What a great way to spend a Saturday. The Public Safety Open House at the Fridley fire station was lots of fun and the dogs did great! Dogs in attendance included Ch. "Argus", Ch. "Watson" CGC (canine good citizen title), Ch. "Pinky" CD (obedience title), Ch. "Bella", OTCH "Stella" Can CDX (obedience trial champion & Canadian CDX), Ch. "Dobie", and "Tate" CGC/TDI (therapy dog). Pictured above are Tate, Pinky, Argus & Watson (who temporarily forgot how to sit). Stella & Dobie were back in the cars as 13 1/2 year olds get cold & tired, and Bella was in season (but that's another story) and that would not have been fair to Argus & Tate . Watson has done a lot of PR stuff and can always be counted on to have great company manners, but this was Argus's first experience. He did a great job and was perfect with all the kids. Because Watson is already 9 1/2, it was good to see that Argus would be able to step into the PR stuff when Wats ages out.

After 3 days of drizzle it looks as if the sun may come out today. The grass is really long, as I fertilized a few days before we got the heavy rain last week. Also put down some grass seed which should be doing well too. More rain due tomorrow, so I may have to mow wet grass today. Hopefully no rain for the Chicagoland Dal Specialty next Saturday!

A Bad Vet Story
Heard a scary story of what sounded like negligent Vet work. 13 year-old Stella had a bout of diarrhea earlier this summer and was getting dehydrated. The vet pooh poohed (a pun!) the seriousness of the situation and sent Stella home with advice to "feed her W/D" (a fiber based weigh loss diet that sometimes helps firm up stools). This was NOT a simple case of loose stools, and Stella was stretched out on her side on the floor. The vet didn't suggest IV fluids or blood work even though he could see she was dehydrated - it was Saturday and apparently his priority was going home. He said if Stella didn't get better she could always go to the Emergency Clinic. What the H???? Stella went into kidney failure due to dehydration, and ended up at the Vet School on IVs for a week! She's very very lucky to have survived! I told her owner that she needs to put that experience in writing and at least submit it to the clinic manager. Needless to say, Colleen is looking for a new vet! She has been going to that clinic since she purchased Stella from me as a puppy, and I recommended the clinic to her.

I've been taking my own dogs to that particular clinic for 43 years, ever since my family moved to St. Paul and we took the family Beagle there. Things changed a lot though when my vet (who owned the clinic) retired, and it went from a privately owned clinic to one owned by a corporation. Fortunately, there's still a couple of good vets there but if the only vet available was the one who saw Stella or one of the others who I dislike intensely, I would most certainly take my business elsewhere. The clinic where we do reproductive work is a wonderful place, and I would gladly switch to that one if only it were closer. We are also fortunate to have an excellent emergency clinic a few miles away, and my few experiences there have been very positive.

Speaking of reproductive work, the progesterone tests said that Ellie would be ready to be bred on Friday (two days after ovulation), so on Thursday Argus & I went to visit Mary-with-the-magic-hands and he made his contribution. The semen is collected, processed, packaged, and sent FedEx for next day delivery. The tracking number indicated the delivery was signed for Friday AM, and on Friday evening Ellie's owner called to say that her vet said the collection looked really good, and Ellie's procedure went well. Fingers crossed for puppies early in December! Such a deal. And all Argus got to look at was a little Dachshund girl, but that worked just fine. Usually he gets to admire one of Mary's Frenchies when he is collected!

Fancy Guppies
I've been busily collecting the baby fancy guppies and now have about 3 dozen of them in breeder nets floating in the parents' tank, as well as another dozen in a separate tank. Hopefully some of them grow up to be as fabulous as their father. If I had had time for fish shows this year, he might have been a star. Hopefully the local fish show will not be the same date as the Dalmatian national next year as I plan to grow up some of these guppies to see if I have any that are show quality. Here's a video of guppies similar to mine, although my best male is even more brilliantly colored and has an even larger tail,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtvr446zu10&NR=1

Doing Dalmatian PR

Decided that Argus & I needed a weekend off from dog shows so that he would hopefully be at his best for the Chicagoland Specialty next weekend. Just couldn't get excited about gloomy weather, Lincoln Nebraska, and iffy judges. Hopefully Argus's daughter Hottie will go WB/BoB and pick up her last two singles, as Argus was the only Special. Nice to have a weekend at home and I hope to get some fish chores and website chores done.

The boys and I are going to the Fridley Fire Department Open House later this morning. Hoping I can talk Ron into going along too so he can be responsible for Watson who loves doing this kind of stuff; otherwise I will take turns with the boys. Its' important that Dal Clubs and Dal owners do PR whenever possible. The breed still suffers fallout from the popularity boom/slide in the 90s, and it's important that we get friendly, well-socialized dogs out so the public can see what Dals are really like. Fortunately we have a number of club members who are willing to make their dogs available for opportunities like this, and because I will be available this weekend I had better participate. Am sure Argus will enjoy doing this just as much as Watson does.

Sounds as if Pauli is doing well, other than teaching Labrador Trey how to hunt, dispatch, and eat rabbits. Dals take "varminting" seriously and she was demonstrating the "survival skills" that most Dals come equipped with. I suspect Wendy was less than pleased!

It Never Rains But It Pours

Almost two inches of rain yesterday, and a bit of it in my basement. Ron forgot to check the gutter downspout after he mowed and the flower bed was full of water, some of which was finding it's way through the seam between the new and old parts of my basement. Fortunately I found it early enough to prevent any serious problems. Living in an old house with a neighbor who does not have gutters on my side of her roof (I get all her run off), elderly gutters on my house (that have to be watched), an imperfectly sloped lawn (nothing I can do about it), and an imperfect foundation, I always have to be careful. We've had a few bad experiences with water in the basement, but only when we've had massive rainfalls and a blocked downspout or a crack that needed to be filled. With practically no rain at all this year it's been easy!

Dinner at mom's last night, and everything went well except the prolonged trip out there in the pouring rain. Would be handier if she lived closer, but she's in a really nice building in a safe neighborhood, which is a blessing. And other than some minor grumbling, she's happy there. I picked up a Papa Murphy's "lite" pizza (chicken, bacon, artichoke & spinach with added mushrooms), and mom made coleslaw and baked an apple pie with our favorite Haraldson apples. Excellent! We brought along a bottle of interesting wine, Sunfire Merlot from . . . IOWA! I had a glass of the wine in the Amana Colonies and liked it well enough to buy a bottle. Everyone agreed that it was quite good.

Short on time, trying to decide whether or not to head off to Lincoln, Nebraska. Argus & I may need a weekend off. Still haven't posted my excellent new recipe either.

Hot Water!

Yay, I have hot water this morning and that's a big relief. Ron called yesterday to say that we did not "seem" to have any hot water. Because there's only the two of us and a 50 gallon water heater, I can't recall that we have ever run out of hot water. No hot water? My fault! I did it! While talking to Jim The Boilerman on Monday, I had jokingly noted that my water heater was getting up there in years and was probably due to go out. Did it? Did I make it happen by saying that and then NOT knocking on wood? I KNOW I should never say things like that. I'm not superstitious but . . .

So I stopped at Sears on the way home and got prices, stopped at Menards and got more prices. Way too much, at least twice or three times what I paid to have the current one installed. Argh. Came home, found the manual (amazing), read the manual, read the label on the water heater and noted all the WARNINGS! Got brave and took off the panel to find the pilot light. Thank God, it was working. Being paranoid about explosions and fires, I was not looking forward to trying that. Read everything again. So why was it not heating water? Must be broken. Wasted another hour researching water heaters on the internet. Still no idea. Gotta buy a new one, but how to afford a water heater AND a new furnace. Went to dinner, walked dog, sat down in front of the water heater again. Hmmm. Little dial is set on Pilot. What other options are there? OFF. ON? There it is, under the dust. Switched the little dial to ON, and WHOOSH! It will either blow up now, or heat the water. And this morning I have hot water. YAY! The mystery is how the water heater happened to be set at Pilot rather than ON. We NEVER EVER fuss with the water heater. Another mystery.

Argus found a new treasure last night. Several days ago he came home with a special prize, a squashed Hi-C juice box. I made him leave it outside, but he picked it up the next evening to take along on our walk, I presume always watching for a suitable burial site. Last night he forgot the box and had nothing to carry and started hunting the gutters, for something, anything, and came up with a prize. I could see cardboard so knew it was not a dead thing, and he was not inclined to let me take it (I didn't push) so I figured it might be a cigarette package, his favorite. We did our two miles, he peed on trees, greeted several other dogs, and never let go of the prize. When we got home I reminded him it was NOT coming in the house and took it from his mouth. A DOUBLE! No wonder he was so pleased with his find - a Marlboro pack AND a squashed Caribou Coffee cup. Very special indeed. So now he has all three treasures laying in the grass by the front steps, handy if he wants to pick one up on the way out tonite. Such a guy.

Love the face shot of Argus that I added this morning. THAT is the real Argus, with sparkling eyes and a near-smile!

Lots of new baby fish to attend. Last year I purchased some stunning Red Delta Guppies from a local Discus breeder. Terry had invested in good stock and was offering the option of "show quality" or "pet quality" guppies. Snob that I am, I purchased the show quality fish and they were stunning. Really lovely. A cherry red male with an enormous tail, and three beautiful females with bright red tails - yes, females in some show strains are by no means drab. The Guppies have done well in a 20L tank with some fancy LD08 Plecos and lots of Cherry Shrimp. A few youngsters have survived and are quite handsome, but decided I needed to raise up more babies so I could select for any show quality youngsters to carry on. Guppy parents tend to eat their youngsters, so I have been removing the babies and putting them in small net tanks attached inside the parents tanks. Have about 25 of them now, which should be enough, but means fish to feed three times a day and more water changes for that tank if I want the youngsters to thrive.

No Time To Post

All's well, but not much time this morning. Nothing happening, except for an excellent new recipe tested last night, and the fact that Ellie is almost ready to be bred so Argus will be taking a trip to the Reproductive Vet probably tomorrow. I broke down and turned on the furnace because its 38 degrees outside. Whew, the big green tomatoes did not freeze.

UGH!

42 degrees, that's a bit too low. Was waiting for things to cool off and feel "fall-ish" but this is a bit much! Chance of frost in the suburbs tonite. Wonder if I should pick the green tomatoes tonite? My timing was perfect on the fall fertilizer and the grass seed last week before the rains. Had a few thin spots on my lawn that required top seeding - now if we can just get some normal rainfall the rest of the year, although a couple of deluges would be better.

Furnaces checked out OK yesterday, the old boiler still in good working order. Nice considering that it was installed in the 50s. Forced air furnace is still in working condition but well past its anticipated lifespan, so I can decide if I want to replace it at MY convenience or in an emergency situation when the mercury switch goes out (and can not be replaced). Guess I will get some estimates and think it over. Obviously prices are not going to come down, and my income as a state employee is certainly not going to go up - I'm lucky that it is staying stable. Jim The Boiler Man said the new forced air furnaces are NOT as trouble-free as mine has been as the metal is thinner and there are computerized parts to go bad. I always have maintenance questions for Jim. I'm more than willing to pay for his time to understand the switches and relays and couplers and such. We also talked about organic gardening, canning, and raising rabbits! Nice guy, but hopefully I will not need to see him for another 3 or 4 years when the boiler needs a check up! That's one nice thing about living in the same area for so long - you find service people you like and have confidence it, but now I have to hope they don't retire while I still need them!

Four dogs is so easy! House seems so empty! Such a compatible group too and peaceful. There's even enough dog furniture for everyone. Argus does the obligatory three barks when someone comes in, Coral yaps a few times if she is paying attention, and then it's quiet. I miss Pauli as my biking buddy, but don't miss all the carrying on when she felt it was necessary to make announcements.

Went through the refrigerator last night and collected all the elderly veggies to cook up for the dogs. I could have put them in the food processor too (veggies need to be ground, frozen or cooked to be digestible for the dogs), but they like their veggies cooked on occasion. Mixed with ground turkey and an egg, plus a squirt of salmon oil, this will make a nice breakfast. For dinner they will get turkey necks. These necks are big suckers, not baseball bat size but larger than I prefer to feed and I'll take them out on the deck and apply my large cleaver (being very careful of my fingers!) (I once went to work with blood and bits of turkey on my face & glasses when I chopped up necks just before leaving for the office!) Turkey necks provide good chewing exercise and teeth cleaning for the dogs, plus these pretty meaty as turkey necks go. Or maybe they will get the ground lamb with bone. We generally feed one meat meal and one of meat with bone every day. That takes care of the calcium needs and the cal/phos ratio is correct. We add no extra calcium or bone meal, even when feeding growing pups.

Where Did Summer Go?

Group Tugs start young! Thanks to Judy for sharing this picture of three of the Argus/Read kids. Hopefully the two pups arrived safely on Friday. I didn't have a chance to get out to the airport to welcome them in, but hope to stay in touch with their new owners and eventually see my granddogs.

Such a weather change - summer to fall in a few hours. It's COLD here this morning, and windy as well. Good that I called and made an appointment to have the furnaces checked out this morning. Am sitting here with my fingers crossed (hard to type that way) hoping I will not have to replace the old forced air furnace. Jim is currently cleaning the elderly boiler, but he told me years ago if you take care of boilers they work forever. Hopefully that is true of mine. The forced air furnace under the newer section of the house is quite a few years past it's expected lifespan, so I am prepared to have it replaced this year if needed. Argh! Guess that's what home equity loans are for . . .

Nice weekend in Illinois. As anticipated, Saturday's judging was a wash and Argus went Best Of Opposite Sex to a lovely liver bitch. Laura and I did the touristy thing and visited Anderson's Japanese Gardens in Rockford. What an awesome place! Absolutely spectacular, and the weather was very nice, other than being overcast at first. Sun came out later and we set up chairs in the parking lot at my motel and enjoyed chips, salsa and beer - and sunshine & perfect temps. Nice to catch up with Laura in a non-dog show setting. Because we had late judging on Sunday, Laura & I went back to the Gardens on Sunday for their fabulous brunch, the best I can ever remember eating. We sat on the deck in the sunshine, overlooking the gardens. Absolutely lovely. Who would have thought that Rockford had such a gem! Argus won the breed on Sunday and went on to place in a super tough NS Group, so I was most pleased. Trip home was WINDY, with lots of rain in western Wisconsin too, but of course the rain slacked off by the time I got to St. Paul, and we only had a bit of drizzle in my neighborhood.

We were delighted to hear that Argus's son Krash finished his championship out in the Pacific NW, going Best of Breed over a Special (finished champion) each day for his final two points. Krash is Pauli's brother, and finished with a fine record that included two specialty majors. He's the first showdog for his owner Jordan, who caught on quickly and did a great job! That's 5 new champions for Argus in the past two months.

Penny & Charlie Are Doing Well

Nice to get updates on both pups in the same week! Charlie graduated from his Puppy Class and earned his AKC Star Puppy award. Penny also graduated from her class out in Virginia. Sounds as if both pups are doing well. We'll be puppysitting Charlie for a weekend in October, so of course we'll take pictures then. Brooke sent along some very cute pictures of Charlie, but in a really small format - have asked her for a larger copy of one of the pictures - just lovely.

Charlie has been camping with his family this summer and been out in the boat, while Penny has gone along with her mother & Laurie to horseshows and stayed in a motel. The more things a puppy does now, the more confident, adaptable & secure it will be as an adult. Charlie's mom Brooke is looking forward to starting the regular puppy classes when Charlie is 6 months old. As we go in to winter, that will be a perfect way to continue his socialization. Socialization and training is not just something to do with a little pup - it continues for the life of a dog, and dogs (like people!) should always be learning new things.

Argus & I will be leaving for Chicago after work. The forecast yesterday said rain all weekend so I did not bathe Argus as his new coat is sparkly white and will clean up easily. He got his nails ground & whiskers shaved, but that's about all he required. A towel-down before the show should be sufficient although I may spray down his neck before I leave, to remove any traces of a collar groove - yes, he wears a collar and tags during the week. All my dogs wear collars & tags in addition to being microchipped. We're staying in Rockford, IL and commuting 35 miles to the show which is apparently in a town with no motels. I had expected that all the Dal folks would be in Tennessee for the Cumberland Specialty but that is not the case and I hope to get together with old friend Laura. I made up a batch of salsa and will take along chips and some beer too, just in case!

Am bummed that we are not going to Cumberland this year, site of TWO Specialty Bests Of Breed AND an All Breed BEST IN SHOW last year, truly my best dog show weekend ever. Because Argie's breeder Carrie is judging one of the days, Argus & I are doing Chicago shows instead. Nothing very exciting coming up this fall, so hopefully we can just do enough winning to stay well up in the rankings.

Wouldn't you know it, the panels for 2010 are looking good. Guess we may have to do this all over again.

The Driest Ever

Unless things change this weekend, this September looks as if it will be the driest - EVER. So far this month the official rainfall is 0.01 inches, a trace that did not even get my deck wet. The few times a storm front has come through and looked promising, it broke apart just west of the Twin Cities and either went around us or disappeared. The promised two days of rainfall last week gave us exactly nothing. Similar forecast for this coming weekend. We shall see. We're back to being 7+ inches below normal for the year, with our only rainy spell last August when we had several days of rain. My brother was here at the time, so my mother has suggested that he needs to come up from Costa Rica and bring rain with him again!

Because the rainfall patterns the past couple of years have been so strange, and because we ended up over 7 inches below normal for LAST year, we are losing trees and people are not even paying attention. Seems to me that it would be a lot more cost effective for the city to send out notices to home owners, make statements to the media, put notices in newspapers, or just plain water trees than it will be to have to replace those trees someday. This city is full of boulevard trees set in narrow strips of grass or small squares of grass in the sidewalk. One assumes there is a way the sidewalk trees can be automatically watered, but that does not seem to be the case. I drove down Larpenteur Avenue in Roseville and saw blocks of recently planted, very dead little trees. How sad! Quite a few of the 20 -30 year old maples in my neighborhood have died the past few years, victims of negligence I presume.

How much would it cost a home owner to save a tree? A dollar spent for watering it for a whole season, and a few minutes of time. To save a tree that provides beauty and shade, improves the streetscape and also the quality of our lives!

Wendy reports that Pauli is doing well, getting used to the routine, and certainly not acting homesick. It is amazing how quickly most dogs adapt to new situations. Pauli seems to respect Bandit the older Lab, but bullies Trey the younger one. That's to be expected I guess, since she was always the bottom dog both here and at Jess's. Am sure she is enjoying having someone to boss around! And to body slam! Pauli never did that here, but one of Jess's Shepherds Pepper got her jollies body slamming Pauli, so now its her turn to try it. New furniture rules to learn, and always to sit at the door before going out. Actually things Pauli knew when I was home, but with Ron in charge (hahahaha) no one sits and waits at the door, and furniture is OK too. Mixed messages for the poor dogs, and not fair, but Ron has always been less trainable than the dogs!

Cats

Darling Josie. Josely Posely, my perpetual puppy. Such a cute funny dog. Josie should have been a Lab or a Golden as she goes nowhere without a ball or a toy in her mouth. She will retrieve anything as long as she can find someone to throw it, but her greatest delight is catching things - balls, toys, frisbees. Her specialty is dramatic over-the-shoulder catches, and she never ever misses. Right up there with catching comes "varminting". Josie's the most determined hunter here, and no squirrel or rabbit is safe if she's around. One of these days a neighborhood cat will meet its end in Josie's jaws when she catches it hunting in my yard. I'm sure she would co-exist nicely with a house cat as many of her offspring do, but free-roaming cats are fair game and Ron has already rescued neighbor- hood cats that came over the fence to prowl in my yard.

Why is it that dog owners generally manage to be responsible, but so many cat owners can't? We never have free-roaming dogs in the neighborhood, and if we see an unleashed dog we know it has accidentally gotten out of someones yard. Don't think we have seen a loose dog all summer and both Ron & I do a lot of walking in the neighborhood. We rarely even notice where dog owners have not cleaned up after their dog anymore - most people now seem to carry cleanup bag, thank goodness.

Cats on the other hand are everywhere. I see them coming & going through porch windows, find my neighbor's cats in my flower beds & fenced back yard, watch them stalking songbirds under feeders in the winter and watching for birds from the tops of privacy fences. I listen to their fight songs on hot summer nights and often detect the amazingly strong odor where males have sprayed, sometimes even my front steps. AND I regularly see signs posted on phone poles, lamenting lost cats that are sadly missed by their family - maybe they should have kept it in the house, do you think? And every month or two, on my way to work, I SEE one of those cats, squashed on the road, black & white & red all over.

What A Mess!

Why does my family room always look like a play room? Why do the dogs never put their toys away? Why is the toy box too small for all their toys? Why are dog toys so expensive? Why do we BUY those expensive toys? Why are Dals so tough on their toys? Why do they actually like plastic bottles as much or more than their toys? Why don't we just give them plastic bottles to play with and save all the money we spend on toys???

Made a reservation for a room in the Chicago area for this weekend. Judges look OK, but I'd rather be going to the Cumberland Specialty. Carrie is judging there however, and of course I can't show Argus to her! Saturday's judge will be doing an upcoming specialty, so I might as well find out if there is any point in going to that one. No class entries, just 4 specials. Hard to pick up breed points when there are so few Dals being shown.

Have been working away on my website, although it won't look much different yet, other than some changes to Argus's page. Sure is easier to update a blog page. Have thought about adding blog addresses to the website tour, but just don't have the time for that. Maybe this winter.

On Sunday I treated my car to a total cleaning, inside and out. The inside REALLY needed a serious vacuuming and cleaning, and I was amazed how good it looked when they were finished. It was well worth the money. Now to keep it clean! The car was full of crushed acorns, as the boulevard Oak tree I park under had a bumper crop this year, the street is full of crushed acorns, and they are tracking everywhere. Some kind of aphidy critters on the tree too, so the car is always covered with sticky droplets. And then there is the dog hair. Argus did a total shed starting in August, and really left a lot of souveniers behind.

Pauli seems to be working out in her new home, so far . . .

Good News!

Good news from Canada, where "Lucy" the 5th of the Argus/Boji kids had a very nice win, going BoB over the Special and on to a Group 2, shown by Junior Handler Grace. Lucy is a sister to champions Ben, Rita & Sam, as well as Naughtia (4 points). Lucy was a beautiful pup, and although we have not seen her since she went north, a number of friends who have seen her assure us that she turned out well and has a terrific personality too. Because her family is so busy with "kid things" Lucy may have to come down here to stay for awhile if we want to get her finished in the states. Her owner Patti would willingly bring Grace & Lucy down here for shows, but there's no class competition right now, and the weekend of our Specialty they were tied up with school and work-related issues. Well, looks as if Grace can get the job done in Canada, and we'll worry about her American championship later.

I'm really delighted that three dogs from that litter are showing with Juniors. It's excellent advertisement for the breed, showing that (well-bred) Dalmatians ARE good family dogs and good with kids.

Apparently Dog Owners Day at the Washington County Fairgrounds on Saturday went very well. Hopefully I will have some pictures to add tomorrow. Jess said that Dals Watson, Tate, Sam, & Pinky did great PR and appeared to have a good time too. Events like that are also good for giving show folks a chance to meet nice dogs in other breeds. Because Dals have gotten some bad PR over the years, and because there are a few Dals with snarky temperaments, it's good for everyone to see what Dals are really like. It would be hard for anyone meeting silly Tate to believe that Dals are anything but happy clowns.

And speaking of Tate, we are delighted that his owner Stephanie decided to give it a try and go for Tate's CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and TDI (Therapy Dog) certifications. They passed both! Nice going! I need a picture of them too!

Hard to believe that the Argus/Boji kids will be 2 years old next week. Ann reminded me of that when she mentioned that Naughtia would be showing on her birthday. A major would make a great birthday gift! I bet Dawn will refer to Sam & Rita as "the puppies" forever though, but in Dawn's geriatric household, being two IS a puppy.

A Day Well Spent

Waiting for the coffee to brew so I'll start this now and come back later & add to it, plus add a few pictures. Because I don't have to go to the dog show again today, I volunteered to pick up mom and take her to church, so the day is starting early. Sleep late? Hahaha

Argus & I did the UKC shows yesterday, two shows in one day which they sometimes do in Canada too. Because the shows are smaller than AKC shows, one judge can do the whole entry for a show ad they can do a second show in an adjoining ring. I'm sure there are larger UKC shows that require multiple judges, but not in this area although the UKC shows are becoming more popular. UKC (United Kennel Club) accepts a number of breeds that we do not see at AKC (American Kennel Club) shows, including something called a Klee Kai. A Google search says -

(Klee Kai, AKK, Mini Husky, Mini Alaskan Husky) The
Alaskan Klee Kai was bred with the intention of creating a companion-sized
version of the Alaskan Husky. They are technically considered to be a small
Alaskan Husky, though they physically resemble the Siberian Husky. They come in
three different sizes- standard, miniature, and toy. Most Alaskan Klee Kais have
a gray and white coat, but they are also offered in red and white. Solid white
coats are also available, but they cannot be registered.

Interestingly little dogs, and rather nice looking, but the they sure are hyper little guys.

Another interesting thing is that UKC shows have Standard Poodles in the Gun Dog Group, and shown in attractive short clips rather than the comical clips seen at AKC shows. They also accept parti-colored Poodles (AKC shows and the Poodle Club Of America standard require Poodles to be solid colored) and I saw a handsome black & white Poodle shown as a separate variety called a Multiple Colored Poodle. Very nice!

Argus had shown twice (one day) at UKC shows earning a Best In Show at the first, and a Group 2 (behind an "adequate" Cavalier at the second). This time he did even better, going Best In Show at both shows under judges who were MOST complimentary. It was great fun and Argus showed very well, and really enjoyed being in the "Companion Group" (rather than the Non-Sporting Group as he is at AKC shows). Because most of the dogs in the Companion Group are toy breeds, he must have looked pretty odd out there with all the little guys, but since he loves small dogs it was fine with Argus!

We could have gone back today to try for a couple more Bests, but the wins yesterday gave him enough for his UKC championship, which is all we were after. Because the UKC shows don't have any ranking system other than breed points (the number of dogs of the same breed defeated) there's really no temptation to try for additional Best In Shows and Argus's UKC career is over. Short, but sweet!

Home Cooking
The nice thing about feeding a homemade diet to dogs is all the flexibility. Although they normally eat a combination of some kind of raw ground meat, ground/crushed veggies & fruits, raw meaty bones (chicken parts or turkey necks), canned fish & raw eggs (not all at the same meal, of course), I sometimes cook for them, just for fun. The only rule is that meat with bone is never cooked as cooking makes the bone indigestible. This morning I had a big zucchini, a huge slightly over-ripe tomato, half an elderly pepper, some celery that was getting limp, and some ground turkey (but not enough turkey to feed four dogs). So they got an omelet - actually more of a frittata, I suppose! I cooked up the zucchini, pepper, celery & tomato in olive oil, adding some oregano leaves as well. If I'd had garlic, I would have added a clove of that too. When the veggies were soft I added the half pound of ground turkey and four beaten eggs and let it all cook up together. Looked a little weird but smelled good, and the dogs were most impatient about waiting for it to cool. They loved it of course, a mostly veggie meal. Tonight they will have a mostly meat meal, eating ground lamb with bone, green beans, and salmon oil.

Feeding dogs is really no different than feeding a family. A variety of fresh healthy foods - except that the dogs get their meat raw, eat a larger percentage of meat, and can not digest chunks of vegetable (which is why we grind or cook the veggies). It's NOT Rocket Science.

Argus Pups Coming To Minnesota

I was pleased to hear that several of the Argus/Read pups will be coming to pet homes in this area. http://www.arguskids.blogspot.com/ Hopefully I will get a chance to see them and meet their new owners. Sure am tempted to make Suzi an offer for Light Blue or Green. It always amazes me that so many people insist they will only consider a female pup when male Dal pups are so delightful and adult males are so charming and funny. Give me a Dal Boy ANY DAY! More fun to show, and more fun to live with. Of all the girls I have owned, only Marla & Josie have been as much fun as the boys have been. If I could only have one Dal, it would most certainly be a male.

It's nice having a good Italian restaurant only a block or two away, two of them actually as there are sister restaurants half a block apart - "Luci" and "Luci Ancora". Particularly handy when roads are bad, and also nice to know that if I have an extra glass of wine I don't have to worry about driving home. Honest to gosh, they do have the best bruchetta and Ron swears by the Caesar salad (don't care for it myself). The homemade fettuccine was excellent last night - I'd sure order that again. Crowds seem to be down in restaurants, but the ones that offer good food, good service and good value will hopefully survive!

Because I will be in town this weekend, we'll be able to pick up my mother and take her to dinner. Mexican? Italian (I could eat pasta every day)? Steak or burgers? I also had Ron pick up some Marsala as I have always wanted to make Chicken Marsala. You can tell it's fall (at least on the calendar) as I am getting the urge to try recipes again. AND I need to have a few more BLTs, as I have the expensive cook-in-the-bag bacon, and a bowl full of perfectly ripe (today) Big Boy tomatoes.

Another Beautiful Friday

Another beautiful Friday morning. Watson & Argus are outdoors hunting mice, their current obsession. There are mice (and who knows what else) in the alley so the dogs dash out every morning to hunt along the fence line. When I went to bring them in yesterday morning, Argus was "playing" with something which he gulped down before I could take it out of his mouth - have to say I am just as glad I did not have to pull out a slimy mouse! Josie used to catch and kill them and leave the bodies for me to step on in my bare feet. Ugh! Now they eat the evidence.

Josie & Coral are in the family room, Coral nestled down in the cushiest dog bed (she's not an early riser) and Josie playing with a small rubber mouse that she can only have when there is no one to compete for it. The dogs all love to play with the squeaky mouse, but get too competitive and I worry that someone will gulp the toy to keep it away from the others. So Josie plays like a 54 pound cat, tossing the mouse in the air and pouncing on it. I hope she will stay a puppy forever. I've never before owned such a playful middle-aged girl. Such fun and so endlessly entertaining.

The backyard is fragrant with the smell of Nicotiana (Flowering Tobacco) which reseeds every year and creates billows of tall plants with fragrant flowers. The Nicotiana takes over the raised flower bed this time of the year, but that's fine. It's a rather handsome plant, and the smell is fantastic.

Pauli went off with Jessica yesterday, to stay with her German Shepherd friends for a few days and meet up with Wendy on Saturday. Pauli will go along with Jess who has organized the Dal booth for the AKC event on Saturday. (Be sure you attend if you are local - it sounds like fun. See the flyer I posted earlier this week or email for additional information). Wendy will be working at the Labrador booth and will visit Pauli periodically and introduce her to the Lab boys in a neutral setting. If all goes well, Pauli will go home with Wendy. She's going "on approval" as we always do with adult dogs if we place them. It's important that a dog fits into it's new home, and although Dals are amazing adaptable we want to be sure a new situation will work. If you snuggle with an adult Dal, take it for walks and FEED IT, Dals normally settle in almost immediately! I updated Pauli's webpage last night too. Maybe if I do one page a night I can get my website up to date. www.paisleydals.com/pauli

Argus & I will be attending a couple of UKC shows (as opposed to the AKC shows we normally attend) in hopes of finishing his UKC championship. We hit the same shows last year, earning a Best In Show on Saturday, but we did not go back for the Sunday show. That was the day my gorgeous Argus/Tess pups started dying of Herpes (a respiratory disease in dogs, very uncommon and very unpreventable) and the beginning of one of the hardest weeks I have ever endured. Not sure I will ever get over watching a litter of 8 gorgeous pups die before my eyes, knowing there was not a thing I could do to save them. But we moved on.

A Blog For Argus Kids & A Celebration Of Dogs!

I created a new blog, this one just for posting pictures of new Argus pups when the owner does not have a website. I created it because the person who does Suzi's website was not getting the puppy pictures up - and they showed up right after I posted mine. Surprise! You can see the pups at http://arguskids.blogspot.com/ Suuurrrreee are cute!

No Argus pups due for awhile now, but a number of visiting ladies planned for later this year.

I received this in the mail because I recently sent Penny's registration application in. My daughter Jess is orgainzing the Dalmatian portion of the AKC Canine Experience, so if you are free on Saturday, stop by to say Hi to Jess & "Watson", Stephanie & "Tate", and Colleen & "Pinky". Bring your whole family and your dog too, and enjoy a Doggy Day!

• Dear AKC®-Registered Dog Owner,
  As the owner of a newly registered dog, the American Kennel Club® invites you and your dog to participate in an AKC Canine Experience educational event on September 19, 2009 at the Washington County Fairgrounds, 12300 North 40th Street, Lake Elmo, MN, 55042.
  Join fellow dog owners and longtime dog experts to learn the basics about AKC dog events. Then, have the opportunity to practice showing your dog at an AKC-Sanctioned Match in a relaxed environment.
  Members of AKC-affiliated clubs from the surrounding area will be available to meet with you and discuss a variety of dog show topics. Additionally, the AKC Clubs in this area will be offering free educational programs to teach dog show basics. This will be followed by a sanctioned match where you can show your dog. Exhibitors may run their dogs through an Obedience or Rally course as well. The AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program will be explained and evaluations will be offered. A dog supply vendor will be onsite with an assortment of products available for purchase.
  What to bring:Bring your whole family and dog at least three months of age with current vaccinations, AKC registration or PAL/ILP number, dog lead, water and bowl, and crate (recommended if you have one).
  Planned educational activities include a continuous flow of:
  Meet the Breeds
  Handling classes for both adults and children (Junior Showmanship)
  Grooming tips and demonstrations
  Dog Show procedures
  Dog Show entry assistance
  Equipment advice for show and grooming
  AKC Canine Good Citizen (CGC) evaluations
  Therapy Dog International
  Obedience and Rally run-throughs
  Agility Demonstrations
  Licensed dog show superintendent information concerning dog shows in your area will be available
  The educational programs begin at 9:00 AM and through noon. The all-breed conformation match show entries will be taken from 9:00 to 11:00 AM with a start time of noon.
  For additional information click here or contact Pat Cunningham - (218) 828-1690 or sugarbush-dogs@juno.com.

Summer Forever

Eight consecutive days of temperatures above 80 degrees. In September. In Minnesota. Amazing, especially following on the heels of a really cool summer. And still no rain here, even though the Gov wants a number of northern counties declared disaster areas because of torrential rain. Too Weird.

I'm starting to get the urge to check out Aquabid.com but if I do it I KNOW I will order some fish. Hopefully the fall fish club auction will be held on a weekend that I am home, and I can buy some new fish locally. Don't NEED new fish, just WANT new fish. Something different. Miss my fishy friends too! My regular fish have survived a summer of minimum maintenance and seem to be doing well. No major losses, not even amongst the older fish, and a few babies have been born and survived. Haven't removed any fry from the parents' tanks, but I do have several kinds of livebearer fry, including Black-chinned Goodeids. My tds meter broke last week(actually it probably needs a new battery), but I haven't a clue how to replace it and can't recall where I put the directions. I use it to check the parameters of the water before doing water changes as most of the fish get "fixed up water" with epsom salts, baking soda, and marine salt mix added to tap water.

The First Day Of The Possible Snow Season

Yep, that it is. Forecast calls for another 85 degree day, but the weatherman says this is the first day of the possible snow season. Wish he had mentioned what year we got snow on September 15th, and whether it melted immediately or accumulated. That would be just a bit much. The weather has been boring here, everyday the same, warm and sunny. Why can't we save a bit of this for later?

Project for the week is researching furnaces. My small forced air furnace in the newer part of the house has lived well past it's expected date of demise, and I would rather replace it at my convenience. The old boiler that powers the radiators in the older part of the house needs to be checked out too. Both furnaces have been working just fine, but it's time to start thinking cold weather. Ugh.

Pauli's checkup went well and the results of her bloodwork will be back today. She's been eating one meal a day of raw and one of Pro Plan plus ShowStopper, a coat supplement, and looks great. Because Pauli has eaten raw from the day she came here, I'm making the slow transition in hopes that she won't totally blow her coat. Pauli was perfect at the Vets, but is not the happy- go-lucky politician that her father is. More of a serious sort, like her mother. Her sister Hottie is much more like silly Argus. When Pauli got home, she threw herself on her back so that Coral and Josie could sniff her all over. As low man (bitch) on the totem pole, that's a requirement. Coral & Josie are not very pushy, but they do make certain demends of Pauli, and because she has good dog sense she goes along with it.

I'm putting together a blog page for Read's pups so I can put their pictures up since the still are not on Suzi's website. I'll post the link tomorrow. Very pretty pups.

Sunday at the dog show was a good bit less successful, as Argus went Best Of Breed but didn't place in the Group as I am not part of the good ol' boy network. Unfortunately, politics can be part of dog shows and some days you just grin and bare it. Argus showed exceedingly well again, so I was very pleased with his performance both days. I was also pleased with my own, as I sometimes don't have my act together and handicap my dog. It works both ways! Just hate using up a good performance under a judge who can't be bothered.

Had fun watching Juniors both days as Reegan & Rachel do a great job with the two Argus/Boji kids. That's Reegan (with Sam) on the left, and Rachel (with Rita) on the right. That's co-owner Dawn sitting in the chair. Both girls are in Open Intermediate for the next two years, when Reegan will move up to Open Senior. Rachel just "aged out" of Open Junior, and this was her first weekend in Intermediate. Rachel & Reegan have been involved with Sam & Rita since they were pups, and Rachel put most of the points, plus two Group placements on Rita. Rachel took over Sam when Tom's work schedule started including weekends - we were all delighted as Sam was going through an "obnoxious teenaged boy stage" and Reegan whipped him into shape right away. It's great fun watching both teams in the ring.

A Good Day At The Dog Show

A very nice day for Argus & his kids! A Group One for Argus, his 10th this year - he continues to be the #1 Group winning Dal for 2009. His daughter Hottie (Pauli's sister) picked up another point and won the BredBy Group. Daughter Viva (ex Joy) finished her championship somewhere in the east, and daughter Echo (ex Lilly) picked up her 2nd major in Kansas and now has 11 points & both majors from the Puppy Class in her first 5 shows, shown by her owner Carol. Pretty cool day!

Argus showed exceptionally well yesterday, I could not have asked for a better performance. His new coat is coming in and he's really looking good again. This has been so much fun! I called co-owner Ginger on the way home from the show, and she suggested that such a nice win deserved a tuna steak - he loves canned tuna. Didn't have time to get one picked up yesterday, but I will do a tuna steak on the grill for him tonight! Usually we celebrate with cheeseburgers - a Group One earns him a cheeseburger with bacon, but last night he had to settle for a can of sardines on his dinner, but he gets a tuna steak tonight. Nope, he's NOT spoiled!

Ugh, Early Judging

Local shows this weekend, local being Rochester which is about 80 miles and 4-lane all the way. Typical Minnesota small entry in Dals. Not sure why I didn't enter shows in Kansas where they drew several days of majors and have a reasonable panel, but I guess it must have been the issue of driving distance. 1 1/2 hours as opposed to 10! The Group promises to be tough here, as we have Top 10 dogs in many of the NS breeds, PLUS a Shar Pei Specialty. Oh well. Not many reasonable panels coming up this fall, so just as well that Argus had a great spring and early summer.

Another bad forecast as our 50% chance of rain faded to 30% and actually resulted in nothing. No rain since that lovely rainy week in August. And who bothers to think about the trees that will go into another winter suffering drought stress? Everyone should be watering trees this fall, but few will, and the media can't be bothered. And what about the City Forrester? We've lost a fair number of well established maples the past few years and they are not dying from a contageous disease, but rather from benign neglect. And they continue to plant trees in urban areas, in tiny little plots of dirt with no hope of getting sufficient water even in years of normal rainfall!

Puppy Time

Looking for a pup? Have I got a deal for you! No, unfortunately these beautiful babies are not in my backyard. They live in Texas and are just about ready to go to new homes. If you are looking for a healthy, well-bred, carefully raised, properly socialized pup you might want to check them out. 9 pups, 7 boys & 2 girls, 2 patches, 0 blues. The pups were BAER tested yesterday and 8 have bilateral hearing and 1 is a uni(lateral) meaning it hears in 1 ear. (Common in the breed, absolutely fine as a pet, not handicapped in any way. Unis can also be shown and even bred with care.) Both mom & dad have had all their health testing and have exceptional personalities. I am VERY proud of this beautiful litter sired by Argus.

Owner Suzi writes - "This litter is beautiful and very funny puppies. They love to play and play. Get dirty and run in the water. Also sit in the water buckets. they hate to go to sleep. One or two are always trying to wake up someone and get them to play. It is sometimes a hoot to get up at 3am and tell the puppies to hush and go to sleep. Tonight they are going into their crates for the first time and I am ready for that. They will join the other dogs in my dog room as the adults are filthy and wet from playing in the rain and mud. We took photos of all the show sides of the puppies. The spotting pattern is beautiful on all of them. The patch puppies are nicely structured. I really like the green, orange, red, light blue and purple boys for show. The pink girl is our only choice for show but she is a very nice package. Let me know what you think. their eyes are black and their spotting is inky, inky black."

Can't wait to see the new pictures. Sure wish I could go visit, but of course I would come home with a puppy - and I do not need another Dal boy yet, even though I love the spotted boys. If these pups are as silly, happy & loving as their father, they will bring much joy & laughter to their eventual new homes! If you are interested in additional information on the pups, you can contact their breeder Suzi Casey at atlantisdals@yahoo.com or me at SueMac@paisleydals.com.

Pauli & I went for our regular bike ride last night. I'll miss that when she leaves for her new home. We've been biking two miles a night since I first broke my toe and it sure has been good for my knees. After a summer of wearing sandals and flip flops, I have absolutely no knee problems (they are normally complaining by this time of the year). Might have to consider a stationary bike for winter use, although I much prefer riding in the fresh air, admiring how well my dog moves, hoping that I will see the squirrels before Pauli does! Actually, she's great with a bike and easy to roadwork. Argus goes with the bike once a week but prefers walks, so he can sniff, pee, tree squirrels, collect and bury bottles and paper cups, invite other dogs to play, and search for his favorite cigarette packs.

Don't miss the flyer in the previous entry, posted last night, an event not to be missed!

Responsible Dog Ownership Day & AKC Canine Experience

The Last Hummer Of Summer

I saw him about dinner time, The Last Hummer of Summer. Ron called me to the deck, knowing I was bummed that I had not seen any yet, the last day we ever see hummingbirds at the flowers or the nectar feeder. A number of them had stopped at the feeder earlier that day taking advantage of the easy energy source before leaving on their amazing journey. How such a tiny bird travel can 2000 miles to its winter home in Central America is astonishing, but so is the fact that the Ruby Throats leave the Twin Cities on September 9th!

The countdown has begun on Pauli, who will be going to her new home soon. Jess will pick her up from me next Thursday, and Wendy will get her from Jess on Saturday, as Argus & I will be at dog shows. Pauli will be "trying out" because we want Wendy and her Labrador boys to be sure they really want to live with a strong, smart, determined, active and somewhat stubborn Dal girl! Assuming that it works, Pauli will have her "forever home" with Wendy, will get to be a show dog next year with Laura, and assuming she passes her health testing either Jess or I will probably breed her sometime in the future. If Wendy decides she's really a Labrador person, Pauli also has a backup situation and could go to Ohio for a show career, coming back to me later. We shall see how this plays out. Ron will be glad to have one less dog around, but I am already thinking about adding a puppy, of course! I prefer liver boys, but probably need to concentrate on black-spotted girls.

Pauli goes in for a checkup on Monday, and a rabies booster. She has always been a totally healthy dog, and has only been to my Vet a few times. This time she'll also get a blood panel, just to make sure everything looks good. She's switching over to Purina Pro Plan Selects Turkey & Barley, which is the food I would use if I did not feed my Dals a raw diet. She's an easy keeper and likes her kibble just fine.

Yesterday was dog food pick up day, and my order consisted of #10 of bison heart, 40# of chicken necks, 20# of chicken backs, 20# of ground turkey thigh, and 20# of ground lamb with bone. Combined with the ground veggie mix, eggs, salmon oil and occasional supplements, the dogs will be eating well for the next few weeks!

Very Sad News

We got the news yesterday that Argus's sire Marlin had passed away. He died of kidney failure, not something that normally happens with Dals unless they are elderly, and Marlin was only 5 1/2. The problem with kidney failure is that the dog does not act sick until the condition is quite advanced, and a blood panel will not pick up the problem until then. (The BUN and Creatinine readings on a blood panel are used to monitor kidney function.) Marlin had stopped eating, but because he lived with several bitches who were in season, that was assumed to be the cause. (Many male dogs don't eat under those circumstances.) By time his family realized that he was actually ill, Marlin was in end stage kidney failure, but dogs do not recover from kidney disease anyway. You can only buy then extra time if you catch it earlier.

In addition to being a beloved pet who slept on his owner's bed, Marlin was an exceptionally good sire with several multi-Best In Show sons (Argus & Major), a DCA BoB winner (Argus), a Top 20 Winner (Major) and a Top Producing Sire (Andy). A number of his offspring are proving to be exception producers as well, so Marlin with live on through his descendents, but will never again sleep on Heather's bed. How very very sad.

Perfect Day For Picnic

Another awesome day, upper 70s and sunny, with a light breeze. Am sure I will never see another summer with so many perfect days. If we had gotten a bit more rain it would have been ideal, but rain is in the forecast again, so hopefully it happens. The potato salad, 3 bean salad and kabobs all turned out perfect, and mom brought along some good home made salsa as well (chopped tomatoes, chopped sweet onions, chopped cilantro, and lime juice). Metro Mobility got her here promptly and I took her home later. A perfect end of summer picnic.

Kinda wish I had gone to the State Fair, but got lots done at home and the dogs all look and smell so nice after their baths. Coats are all in really nice condition now, thick and shiny. Josie and Watson got past their short-term allergy attack, thanks to Benadryl and Cephalexin. Went to Menards to get some "ideas" - why is it that IDEAS = $$$$$ ? Really need a new rug though and found just what I wanted. Now, where to find the money to buy it. Got mouse bait (they always try to move into the garage for the winter), a wasp trap (now baited with fruit juice and a bit of raw chicken), and weed killer. I try to Go Green, but haven't found a "green way" to deal with clover & wild violets in my lawn grass.

The metal parts of the new deck furniture got a coat of car wax yesterday, but I can see a bit of rust on the joints already. Have a feeling I will be less than pleased with the way this furniture wears, BUT the chairs are so comfortable and the furniture looks great. Obviously not as well made as it could have been, and where do you suppose it came from? So annoying that everything seems to come from China. I try to buy American, but many times that is not even an option.

Yesterday was Argus's Birthday. Four years old, how can that be? He was just a silly, big eared, rubbery puppy and now he is a silly, big eared adult! He greatly enjoyed a can of tuna with his dinner, one of his favorites. Chuck & Don's was closed for the Holiday, so he'll have to wait 'til this evening to pick a new toy. Guess I should have purchased the toy he tried to shoplift at the dog show, but that's another story.

Happy Labor Day!

My plan was to go to the State Fair today, but all plans are subject to change. The temptation to get an extra hour of sleep, and the need to get some yard work accomplished won out. It will also be a perfect day to bathe the three oldsters outdoors. Ron has a persistent cold that is dragging him down, and the fair is more fun when you go with someone else. And mom is coming over for a picnic later today. She's arriving by Metro Mobility, and I am taking her home. It's certainly a handy way for seniors to get around.

My favorite Better-Than-Deli Three Bean Salad is marinating in the fridge - the secret is adding finely chopped onions to the vinegar and sugar so the beans (green, yellow, kidney, lima & garbanzo) pick up some the onion flavor. Not sure why I add the garbanzos as I don't care for them unless they are smashed up for hummus but they "look nice"! The limas are my own touch. Hated them when I was young and they caused several "food wars" when I refused to eat them and had to sit at the table for hours staring at the untouched beans that were picked from the Hunter's Lunch (ham, corn, limas, tomato sauce) that my father liked so well. Guess I finally learned that if I plugged my nose and swallowed them whole I couldn't taste them!

Fun show weekend and reasonably successful, as Argus went Best Of Breed both days and placed in a highly competitive group on Sunday. He made the cut on Saturday, one of six dogs pulled for further consideration, but blew his chance at a placement by leaping for the bait when he should have been baiting and wagging as the judge took a final loop. Argus does keep me humble, and is certainly no push-button show dog. Argie's daughter Hottie was entered on Sunday, and picked up another point toward her championship. Rosie would like to try and finish Hottie this fall, but we are running out of shows, and especially out of majors.

Weather could not have been nicer, the best I can remember in 40 years of attending the Des Moines show. Usually hot and humid, occasionally cold and rainy. This year it was 80 and sunny. Perfect. Good shopping show and my friend Bill from Dogwise booksellers had his booth. Being a compulsive book buyer, I could not resist purchasing a copy of "The Well Adjusted Dog" by Dr. Nicholas Dodman (Director of the Animal Behavior Clinic at Tufts), and "Pet Lovers Guide To Cat & Dog Skin Diseases" by Dr. Karen Campbell. Both look extremely interesting, and both topics are ones that I find facinating.

It was fun to see John & Jen from Kansas who were starting a handsome young black-spotted boy with a great personality. Their motel had a free bar (drink cards for the people staying there) so I joined them for Happy Hour and we went to a Mexican Restaurant later. Crummy food, but good company. Great motel, good rates - think I will stay there next time.

My reservation was at a Super 8 but when I went to check in I found that the $10.00 a night dog fee had to be paid in cash, along with a $25.00 supposedly refundable deposit. I don't carry much cash when I travel, always charge my motels, and found the requirement annoying. I've stayed at dozens of Super 8s and never encountered that before so I decided not to stay there after getting assurance from the clerk that I would not be charged for the first night, and went to the Motel 6 I've stayed at many time. Not nearly as comfortable, and no free breakfast, but always a good place to stay and the chain generally caters to dog people.

Pretty Puppies & BLTs

Got some nice pictures of Jax yesterday, although I still have not figured out how to place the pictures exactly where I want them. Because I code my website by hand, I can read some html code, and perhaps I can find the time to go in and play around with that. Hah! What I need to do before that is update web pages for Argus and Pauli and create a web page for Jax - and all the other Paisley dogs who do not have their own web pages. Back when I could play around with my website at the office (and before I had TOO MANY FISH), everything on my website was always up to date. No one at work ever minded, as they seemed pleased that people were "playing around" on their computers and improving their skills. That is no longer the case of course, and extra-curricular computer time is not acceptable. It's not as if I have any spare time at work now anyway. Maybe this winter, after I get done with dogs, house, and fish. We'll see.

Anyway, Jax is looking really good now. The chiropractor found several problem areas that were affecting the way he moved, stood, and sat. Such a pretty little guy, a lovely combination of the dogs in his pedigree, and combining so many of my favorites including Rob, Watson & Argus. Very full of himself, with a nutty sense of humor like his father. He'll be a cocky teenager and will need to be squelched a bit, but should grow up to be a really cool dog like his dad. Doing another obedience class this fall or winter should be perfect. It will get him out and help reinforce his owners' ability to manage him, especially in stimulating circumstances.

More pictures of Read's beautiful pups - what a gorgeous litter! Once the pictures are up on their website, I'll add a link. Julia does the Atlantis website and does a great job.

First BLT of the season! My Big Boy tomato presented me with a fantastic tomato this week, and has a dozen more coming along nicely. Because the summer has been cool, the tomatoes have been slow to ripen, so hopefully we do not get an early frost. I lost an earlier tomato to slugs, but I trimmed a lot of the extra branches and leaves so more sun hits the fruit and hopefully that will also keep the slugs at bay. I could put down a bowl of beer and drown the little bastards, but that's a drag.

Because I hate the mess of doing bacon, I checked out the "convenience bacon". The pre-cooked did not tempt me, but the nice little packs of ready-to-microwave bacon looked interesting. Certainly was a lightweight box for costing over $4.00, but looked like a non-greasy alternative. Ron was planning to have a SLT - a Spam, lettuce & tomato sandwich (don't laugh until you try one) so I only needed 4 slices for me. We don't buy plain white bread either - Ron likes onion rye and I normally eat some kind of whole grain bread with bits of crunchy stuff, the kind that makes excellent peanut butter toast - so I bought HALF a loaf of white bread. Who would have thought you could buy half a loaf of anything? So, I'm saving a few bucks by growing my own tomatoes, but buying spendy convenience items to use with them. Oh well.

The bacon comes in a plastic bag with a paper towel and 4 slices of bacon, more than a dollar's worth of bacon, but absolutely no mess. It did nuke up crispy, and all the grease stayed in the bag. Not the tastiest bacon I have ever had, but good enough, and the sandwich on toasted white bread, with Miracle Whip (we did not grow up on Mayo), lettuce (I used Romaine since we NEVER buy Ice Berg) and a big slab of a perfect tomato was excellent. Think I will have one again this noon!

Puppy Faces & Beautiful Eyes

Judy sent pictures of some of Read's pups by Argus and now I have to figure out how to manage multiple pictures on this template. Hopefully they will be able to get some stacked shots as I am dying to see these beautiful pups in profile. The pups certainly have gorgeous faces, excellent markings and lots of bone. They also have beautiful dark eyes. BAER testing will be done this weekend, so fingers crossed that they all hear.

An Old Wive's Tale says that liver-factored black dogs always have lighter eyes than dogs who are pure for black. That's nonsense, of course. Liver factored black dogs "might" have lighter eyes, but dominant black dogs might also have light eyes. Because liver dogs genetically can't have a range of eye color quite as dark as black dogs (the genetics that affect the spot color also affect the eye color) some breeders don't realize that dark-eyed livers can produce dark eyed pups in either black or liver, when bred to black dogs with good eye color. The darkest liver eye color is a deep brown, but livers can never have the near-black eyes occasionally seen on black spotted dogs.

Argus had medium eye color, a rich shade of gold with no tendancy to be yellow. His black spotted sire has medium-dark brown eyes and his liver dam Olivia has gorgeous dark brown eyes like our Morris had. Because of this, Argus can produce good eye color on his black spotted pups, and most of them have lovely dark eyes. Read has beautiful dark eyes, and her Argus kids will be liver-factored blacks with dark eyes.

Pauli has lighter eyes than Argus. Although her liver mother also has good eye color, there are several light-eyed blacks in her pedigree, and they are responsible for the lighter eye color, not the fact that she has liver parents. Several of Pauli's liver littermates have much darker eyes. Actually, Pauli's eye color is quite good, just not as dark as Argus, Josie & Coral, and it's getting better. Interestingly, although the eyes on black-spotted Dals sometimes lighten over time, the eyes on livers almost always get darker.

Dog Nails

Ugh. Everyone needs their nails done tonight. I try to do dog nails at least once a week, but somehow missed last week, except for Argus. Not one of my favorite chores, although the dogs are pretty OK with it. I've got an Oster grinder that I can use, but it takes longer than just cutting the nails. For years I used the Resco guillotine-style clippers, but they must be made in China now. . . Seems as if the blades get dull sooner, they don't cut as cleanly as they used to, and the whole thing falls apart. After wasting money on three bad clippers in just a few months , I switched to a clipper made by Bamboo, and a year later it is still working well. Strong & sharp & sturdy. Wonder if "Consumer Reports" could do an article on dog nail clippers?

Cutting nails is a lot easier for me in the summer as I have a grooming table with a grooming noose set up on the deck for year around use. Taking the dogs outdoors one at a time, with a pocket full of treats and a bottle of Quik Stop, I can do them all in less than 10 minutes. Because I have AMD, Pigment Dispersion Syndrome and a few other eye disorders (or is it just that I am getting old???) I need good light to trim nails. In cold weather it's tougher for me to do a good job unless we brave the elements, brush the snow off the table and try to avoid frozen hands. If I use a grooming table in the basement, the light is bad. Bringing the outdoor table into the family room is a hassle, so if I do nails in the family room the dogs generally sit on a rug by the patio door for decent light. Sounds as if I am making excuses for not doing nails, but they DO get done regularly. It was easier when Jess lived at home - it was HER job.

It's interesting how the length of the quick varies from dog to dog. Argus has extremely short quicks and it's easy to take his nails way back. Morris was like that too, and even as an old dog he always had short quick and short nails. Murphy was the first Dal I had with those super-short quicks, and Cheryl used to joke that she bred to Murphy for short toenails.

Pauli on the other hand has long quicks, always has. Even though her nails are done every week, she will always have longish nails. Until I started biking her I could always hear her nails on the floor, even after I had just cut them. Since she has been biking, they are a bit shorter, but still bother me. I "could" bleed them, cutting them back a ways and try to keep them that length, but that's messy and painful and not something I enjoy doing. Because she has excellent feet and narrow nails, Pauli's feet look fine.

Josie also has the long quicks, but she has longer toes and thick ugly nails so her feet don't look as nice as Pauli's. Because her toes are not as arched as Pauli's, her nails don't click even though they are longer than Pauli's. We just try to keep Josie's nails "under control". Coral has those same long nails, but she too has gorgeous tight feet. Wats is somewhere in between and is the worst about having his nails done. He doesn't fight it, just tries to collapse on the grooming table. That's his passive-aggressive personality at work.

Argus was very bad about his nails as a youngster. Never really fought and never ever tried to bite, but he vocalized. Oh how he vocalized! Made the most amazing noises, singing and crying and crooning as if he were being killed, all the while wagging his tail. I quickly found out that was Argus's response to stress of any kind. Sing about it! When he had his hip x-rays done for OFA he did the same thing. Sounded as if he was being killed. That's my Argus. Can't remember when he last responded vocally to anything, but I know some of his kids have very large vocabularies! Argus is great about his nails now, swapping kisses for cookies, and standing patiently for clipping or grinding. I use the grinder for indoor show weekends, just because it give the foot a nice look when the nails edges are smoothed off.

Willow Finds A Home & A Name

The sad little liver Dalmatian girl who was at the Humane Society in Des Moines now has a new home and a new name. When Karen shared the pictures last week, wondering if any of us recognized the dog, I immediately passed them on to several friends who were interested in adopting an adult Dal. On Saturday Lorry went down and picked her up, and things seem to be working out well. Senior Dal Chip is delighted with the new addition to the family, while middle-aged mixed breed Dusty is not so sure. Willow must once have been someone's beloved pet as she knows a number of tricks, including how to beg. We'll probably never know how she ended up homeless, but her life has certainly changed for the better. I love happy endings!

Jess is dog sitting this week, has puppy Jax at the house while his family is out of town. Jax is the handsome Argus/Lilly son that Jess co-owns with friends, and this was a good time to get some training issues resolved. He's a well-raised puppy with a wonderful personality, but has an annoying problem Jess needs to resolve before we start traveling with Jax. Although he is OK when crated at home and was crate-trained from a young age, he is really vocal about being crated elsewhere, and makes an amazing variety of odd sounds. We KNOW the vocabulary comes from as Argus, but fortunately Argie never fusses about anything. Jax lives behind an Invisible Fence, and Jess heard that dogs who are raised that way may have a problem with solid barriers. Seems strange, but would certainly explain Jax's issues. I mentioned the theory to a friend who has two co-owned dogs with the same issues, and they too live behind invisible fences. Has to be more than a co-incidence. Jax is doing better, as Jess is able to take him to work with her and address the problem in a variety of situations. Hopefully by the Chicago Specialty next month this will be a non-issue.

Fish club meeting this week, but I will probably miss another one. Just too much to get done around here during the week. The problem with hanging around fish people is that I will get the urge to BUY FISH and I don't have the time for more. The fishroom has several empty tanks now, planted tanks that are still running but fishless. The three big water barrels are filled and ready for some major water changes this week, but on Friday I leave for dog shows in Des Moines. If the Aqualand in DM is still in business, maybe I will stop in and get a fish fix there!

Too Much Rain

What a fun weekend! Surely not the most successful one we have had, but a very enjoyable one. Argus and I went for two days of the Amana Cluster, held at the RV park in the Amana Colonies in central Iowa. The cluster got off to a very wet start when 5 inches of rain fell on Wednesday and 9 more fell on Thursday. Four of the rings are outdoors, so when the shows started on Friday, things were more than a little wet! Meg H drove the motorhome and said that when she arrived their parking spot was under water and the pens were set up in 4 inches of water - fortunately they were given a somewhat drier spot later.

Dal judging was indoors, so we lucked out! Argus lost breed on Saturday to a nice liver dog who is sired by one of my dogs (a frozen semen breeding). It was the first time he had beaten Argus, but he's a nice dog with an excellent temperament and we all cheered for him in the group. Argus won breed on Sunday and showed well in the group, with Dal friends cheering him on. We were entered for Monday as well, and the breed judge is one I wanted to try, but the group judge does not seem to care for Dals, so we came home. Friday and Monday shows are tough for owner-handlers who must take vacation days.

We stayed with friends Steve & Cheryl who have a lovely home way out in the boonies. The place is over run with deer (like Wisconsin & Minnesota there are waaaay too many deer in Iowa) and I woke up on Saturday morning to see Argus sitting like a statue on the end of the bed watching 4 deer walk across the yard. He was obviously quite amazed! On Saturday evening we went into Amana and had a lovely meal at one of the fine restaurants. Jager Shnitzel was my choice, slices of pork tenderloin in a cracker crumb crust, covered with mushroom gravy. Wow! No calories there. ;-) The meals are served family style, so we each had our meat entree plus the server brought bowls of mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, coleslaw and sauerkraut. Wish I had their coleslaw recipe! We ordered dessert to go, and I really enjoyed my German Chocolate Cake - haven't had that since I was a kid and mom used to make it. The Amana Colonies are known for their fruit wines, but I did not see any bottles of my favorite elderberry, so I purchased a bottle of the wine I'd had with my dinner, a very good Merlot-type of wine. Just think, decent Merlot in Iowa! Who'd have thunk it?

Had a chance to chat with the professional handler who may be taking Pauli next year for her potential new owner. Laura seems very pleased with the idea and is a wonderful handler, so we shall see how things fall into place here. I feel that Pauli deserves to be specialed, but I don't want to campaign another Dal, and do better with males than with bitches anyway. It would be fun to cheer Pauli on without having to travel every weekend! Argus is not retiring at the end of the year, but will be shown on a much more limited basis next year.

We had a rather frightening adventure on the way down to the shows this weekend. Because I travel alone a lot, I am pretty careful about where I stop to get gas and exercise the dog. Waterloo Iowa is not one of my favorite cities (except for the fact that Argus won his first Best In Show there) and parts of it are pretty scary. I did some sightseeing there last year, and later got lectured to by a friend who lives in the area who advised me to stay out of certain areas, as the city is apparently a major stop on a drug running route. Ouch! In Iowa! Anyway, I did not stop at the normal place for gas, and stopped at a station south of town. The clientele was a little "iffy" but things were OK until I decided to walk Argus. As I headed towards some trees in the alley, a guy came down the alley being dragged by two Rottweilers who were snarling and lunging. I quickly put Argus back in the car until they passed, then took him out and headed in the opposite direction, toward a side street. There we encountered a car containing a red-nose Pitt Bull that tried to come out through the partially opened window. That was enough. I put Argus back in the car and told him to cross his legs for awhile.

Two more points for Argus's daughter Viva down in Kentucky. She now needs just a single point to finish. Good luck next weekend Viva!

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Where Did Summer Go?

Cool weather moving in, temps in the 60s. So what happened to summer? Although I do not care for heat & humidity, we had very little of either this year and I'm not quite ready to wish summer farewell. Certainly was an inexpensive cooling year as the air conditioners were used very sparingly. Heating season may be EXPENSIVE though, as it may require a new furnace. Ugh. Suppose I had better get them out to take a look. Better to get it done early in the season than to be without heat in January.

Dog shows this weekend in the Amana Colonies. I'll be staying with friends Steve & Cheryl if I go down. They have a lovely house and beautiful flower beds, and have done a great deal of landscaping since my last visit. Lots of wildlife too, especially deer and wild turkeys. Not sure I am going down though, depends on the competition. Judges are not very good for us, and there is no point in traveling that far if the "no-longer-retired" dog is entered this weekend. We'll take him on under most judges, but the panel this weekend is not particularly promising. He'll crash and burn soon as he hates dog shows, but I can't see wasting my time and money until then. It's unfortunate that ego got in their way, but that's not uncommon in this sport.

Argus's new coat is coming in nicely, and he's looking really good. A few excellent judging panels coming up this fall. The new "Dog News" magazine shows that Argus is still ranked #4, and his son Ben is #8. Pretty good considering how little we've shown this summer and how poor the judging panels have been. It worked out well to hit so many shows during April through June when the panels were good for Argus. It's an odd sport, one where amateurs and professionals compete in the same venue. The primary disadvantage is that professionals make their living at it and are out every weekend while the rest of us have regular jobs and can only show on weekend. The increase in "circuits" with weekday shows only stacks the deck in favor of professionals. Actually, I use the term pretty loosely, as some of the professionals act like anything but!

Several people have expressed interest in the homeless Dal girl in Des Moines, so we are hoping that something works out for her. We have not located her breeder yet, but have a good lead on that too.

Poor Watson is moving pretty slow these days as he hurt his leg flinging himself off the deck after some sort of critter. Seems a bit better with crate rest and baby aspirin, but if he's still favoring it next week a trip to the vet is in order. As if rabbits and squirrels were not enough temptation, we now have an abundance of chipmunks too, so the dogs are always in hunting mode when they go out. I could never convince Ron to make them sit at the door and the deck gate before going out, so they scrabble and jostle one another on the way out if they think something needs to be chased out of the yard.

Homeless!

This poor little Dalmatian girl is currently in the animal shelter in Des Moines, Iowa. Dal friend Karen took pictures and sent them out to breeders in this area in case anyone recognized her. Because Dals are so distinctly spotted, they can easily be matched to their puppy pictures, and all breeders keep puppy pictures for their records. I'll check through my pictures tonight in case she is one of mine, but the spotting pattern does not look familiar. She's certainly a nice looking girl, with pretty spots in an attractive shade of liver. She's passed the testing, is suitable for placement, and is available for adoption. If anyone reading this is interested giving her a forever home, I'll give you the contact information.

Several years ago another liver Dal girl turned up homeless. She was found wandering on an Indian Reservation in north central Minnesota, with scars from dog attacks and buckshot. At first we were told that she appeared to be a young dog and had been recently spayed. Didn't match anything of mine, but the face markings were familiar and I kept looking. Bunny was actually 10 years old (and had been spayed at six months)! She had been placed with a Vet Tech from the Vet clinic I went to, but when the Tech moved away we lost contact and I had heard nothing of Bunny for 9 years. One can only imagine what she had been through. A friend who lived in the area went to pick Bunny up, we paid her fees and medical expenses, and Cheryl decided to adopt Bunny. Three years later Bunny is still doing well. She was a full younger sister to champions Taylor, Morris, Marla, and others from Eloise's last litter, and was born on Easter, hence the name.

Allergy Season

"I think my dog has allergies," she said. "You mean because he chews his paws constantly, always has ear infections, rubs his face on the rug, and now he's scratching like crazy?" I responded. "I told you a long time ago that his foot licking and ear infections were probably related to allergies, and this is just about the worst time of the year for most allergic dogs in this part of the country."

Buddy is a designer dog, a Schnoodle. Remember, one of the reasons people buy designer dogs is because they are supposedly healthier than purebred. Hahahaha. You ought to ask about Buddy's vet bills. To be fair, he was not purchased for that reason, but because he was small, cute and needed a home. But, he is pretty miserable right now.

We discussed some of the home remedies she could use to make Buddy more comfortable. Bathing him with a hypo-allergenic shampoo, using an oatmeal-based cream rinse, cold water rinses to cool his skin, and the use of antihistamines. Seasonal allergies in dogs are the canine version of hay fever. While humans have histamine receptors in the mucus membranes, causing running noses, watery eyes, post nasal drip and the like, it's the skin that is affected in dogs, and they get itchy. Really itchy. Some dogs like some people have year around allergies, but many of them (like Buddy) are much worse in the summer due to pollens, molds, mildews, and other "outdoor" problems. Buddy is worst when he is up north at the trailer in the woods. There are many other possibilities, like new carpeting, fabric softener, rug cleaners, dog shampoo, you name it, someone is allergic to it. Dogs too. One of the big problems for dogs as it is for people is house dust mites. (Remind me to shake the rugs and vacuum tonight!).

Antihistamines can be quite effective for dogs, and most Dalmatian owners carry Benadryl when they travel. If a dog pops hives, starts to scratch, or gets stung by a bee, quick use of an antihistamine can make him more comfortable. An allergic reaction that disturbs the skin surface can also leave a dog vulnerable to a staph infection. The staph is always there, it just causes problems when the skin surface is damaged from allergies or itching. A pyoderma caused by a staph infection normally needs to be treated with an antibiotic, so it's much better to prevent the problem in the first place!

Dogs can also have food allergies, but food allergies cause only 5% to 8% of the allergy problems we see in dogs. It's more likely that a dog would have a food intolerance and develop gas, loose stools or vomiting. My Josie does have a food allergy though and can not tolerate beef. Any kind of beef product, including a nice beef bone will make her incredibly itchy for several days. Beef is the only food that affects her that way.

Josie also has mild inhalant allergies, and in late May, and again in mid-August she will develop bumps on her forehead - remember, the histamine receptors on on the skin. She does not wheeze, cough, sneeze or get watery eyes like she would if she were a human. If I am proactive and have her on antihistamines at the time, nothing happens. If I am careless, she will pop hives and if they are not resolved quickly she will develop small hard dry pustules - Dalmatian Crud. A staph infection that "normally" responds to Cephalexin.

Some dogs get very itchy from inhalant allergies, like poor Buddy the Schnoodle. The Beagle I had as a kid was that way, and would scratch frantically in August. I've never owned a Dal who did that, other than Josie's response to beef. Dals seem more likely to pop hives and later develop the little staph bumps on the top of their heads and/or down their backs. I suppose Dals in flea-infested parts of the country are more likely to have the all-over itching, as many dogs quickly become sensitized to (allergic to) flea saliva.

While Benadryl is the most commonly used antihistamine for dogs, not all dogs respond the same way, and it may take some experimenting to find the right antihistamine. The others generally used are Hydroxizine (available by prescription from a vet) and Chlor-Trimeton (the generic chlorpheniramine maleate is much cheaper). Antihistamines can be sedating, which is not always a bad thing!