A Bit Quieter Around Here

Things are a bit quieter around here this week as Fern is off on a "camping trip".  She came in season last week, bad timing on her part.  Girls in season normally move to the basement and get four walks a day, but things are too busy for that right now and the snow and cold really make that a chore.  Instead she is staying with a friend who has a huge fenced yard and an Australian Shepherd girl about the same age as Fern.  There is nothing that Fern enjoys more than Chase Games, so she and Tally are having a blast.  Tally lives with an elderly Aussie, so normally has no one enthusiastic and active to play with.  A good experience for Fern to adjust to a totally new situation.  Sounds as if she is doing well.  A variety of experiences are very useful for young dogs, and help to make them adaptable as well as self confident in new situations.

Max sure misses his buddy Fern.  Although Argus and Josie will play with him for awhile, they won't play endlessly like Fern does.  Good experience for Max too, and a perfect chance to separate the two of them for awhile. 

Not a very sharp picture, but the shot below is Max with his winnings from last Saturday when he went to a couple of UKC shows and won the Companion Group at both of them.  He finished his UKC Championship earlier this fall, so was entered in the Champions class this time.  UKC Championships are much easier to win that AKC titles, but the shows are fun and it's good experience for a young dog and I was pleased with how he showed.  Also had a good time catching up with long time friends.

Pups are doing well on their weaning, but I do wish that Nena would stop producing so much milk!  I want to send her home soon and would like to get the pups on four meals a day, but if I do that they will look like Walruses as Nena is still providing them with a LOT of milk.

Max got to come downstairs last night and play with the pups.  He was SO GOOD!  Very careful with them, and he got down to their level to play.  They climbed all over him and bit his ears and tail, and he just laid there wagging his tail and smiling.  Need to get some pictures of that this evening!

I worked on stacking all the pups last night, trying to decide if any of them could be promised to pet homes.  Normally most of the pups would be marked as companions by now, but not this time.  Like last year's Argus/Holly litter, the overall quality in this litter is really high.  Was surprised at how good they looked stacked.  Fulton especially surprised me as he's such a chub and appears to be Mr. No Neck.  He stacks up beautifully and has a terrific outline.  Although it is temping to keep him, I'll probably let him go locally on a co-ownership and keep show rights.  He'll live with another Paisley dog, a brother to the pup's grandma Leica, as well as to Penny's dam Nikon.  Because Max is just a year old, I probably should wait a bit longer to add another dog to this family, and I know elderly Watson would be pleased not to have another pup under foot this winter!