Hectic!

Found out at 8:00 PM last night that Eddie would be picked up at 7:30 AM rather than noon.  A bit of scrambling, but things are ready for him to depart.  He's sure cute, and has the nicest little personality.  Tries so hard to be good.  He'll fit in nicely with Patti's family, I think, and when he comes back it will be time to place him in his forever home.

Lucy is doing great and Jess is very excited about showing her this weekend, assuming we get there.  Wish they would take the snow out of the forecast!  It will slow everything down and make our departure time even more of an issue.

Argus's wife-to-be is not making things easy and may need to be bred at a time that is not going to work for us to do a collect & ship.   When he was campaigned regularly we managed to get breedings fit into our schedule.  Now that he is rarely shown we may have a conflict on one of his occasional show weekends.  Might be time to try the first frozen semen breeding - once it's shipped, it's there to be used as needed.

I'll be missing another fish club meeting tomorrow.  They always seem to be the Thursday before dog show weekends.  I'll get back eventually!  I have some new fish to BAP (that's the breeders program where you get points for spawning and raising different kinds of fish), including several that I worked a long time to spawn.  Hope to accumulate enough points this year to move to the next level of breeder awards.

Did I mention that I purchased a Betta?  I raised them for several years and got Betta-ed out.  80 individual jars of young fish I was raising really was way to much work with all the necessary water changes.  I purchased many fish from SE Asia and had some beauties, including a Best Of Show winner.  Haven't had any of the long fins for quite some time, but broke down and purchased a lovely brilliant blue Half Moon style fish at the unlikeliest of places - Petco.  I went back last night hoping his turquoise brother was still available, but he had been sold.  Amazing to find two such gorgeous fish mixed in with a shipment of "pet quality" Bettas.

Lucy Is Doing Well

Lucy wants Stella to play.

Lucy went off with Jess yesterday morning and settled in quickly at the office.  Poor Stella the Cavalier was less than thrilled with Lucy, or perhaps Stella prefers her Dalmatians in liver rather than black!  Jess was very pleased with how quickly Lucy caught on to things in a new situation and is looking forward to showing her.  Lucy arrived in good weight and with reasonable toenails, things that are often issues with family Dals.  Patti has worked very hard on the latter, as her kids were inclined to share their snacks with Lucy, who also learned to help herself off the counter - we call that Counter Surfing.

Lucy is not impressed.

We have changed her diet to a better quality food - chicken meal as the first ingredient is a red flag - chicken meal is NOT the same as chicken when you see it in the ingredients list on a bag of dog food.  Because she is blowing her coat right now (bad timing, Lucy) she'll also get salmon oil and a coat supplement called Dog Bloom.  All Dals benefit from added salmon oil, or even regular fish oil.  If Lucy belonged  to us she would be eating a raw diet, but no point in switching her over for two months although neither of us enjoy cleaning up the big smelly poops that go with kibble-fed dogs.  One of the nice things about feeding a raw diet is the small, dry odorless stools that break down into powder rather than turning to brown plastic lumps that last forever.

We're pleased with Lucy so I went ahead and entered her at additional shows, but the rest of the week is still up in the air.  Eddie leaves on Wednesday which will be good.  He and Mariah are both good pups, but together they can get on your nerves.  She likes to pick on him and make him squeal, which I don't appreciate.  Funeral is Thursday, so there's still a chance we can go to St. Louis, but we'll have to leave late and the forecast is not very encouraging.  Fingers crossed that the Dal girl will not be ready to breed until next week, but don't suppose we'll be that lucky!

Full House

Mariah's back and the house is certainly lively and she and Eddie race around like lunatics.  She spent a week with Lisen & Jerry, their Brittany and a cat.  We call these visits "camping", and they are very good for young dogs.  Makes them more self relient and confident - important for young showdogs-to-be.  Mariah's looking good right now, moving much better than she did a month ago.  Now she just needs to GROW.  Such a peanut she is.  Rawfed pups grow more slowly than kibble-fed pups, so I am used to that.  I just wonder what size she'll end up.  Both Argus & Sugar are very average sized Dals, but Argus had at least one small sister, and there is a lot of variation in size in this breed.  Because Josie is taller than the boys, and Coral is about the same size as Argus & Watson, Mariah looks like a midget around here.  I suppose she is due for a growth spurt. I HOPE she is due for a growth spurt! 

It's hard to watch promising puppies grow up as very few grow up "all in one piece" and most go through stages.  She's almost old enough to show, but no where near ready for that.  Hopefully in time for the National in May.

Lucy is supposed to arrive this evening and it will be crazy here then!  She'll go to Jess tomorrow morning for training and conditioning, and Eddie will leave for Canada with Lucy's family on Tuesday.  Hope I survive that long!