Christmas Is For Children And Dogs

 

Penny's brother Charlie and his "little sister".  Good dog, Charlie Brown.

 

Another Road Trip

We did it!  Everything that needed doing got done, although I wondered if we could get it all fit in, along with a busy week at work.  Yesterday was our trip to Rochester for BAER testing.  I was late getting out of my own eye exam so had to deal with rush hour traffic and was half an hour late for our appointment.  Because the pups behaved so perfectly, we actually finished up on time.  Good dogs!

Again not a peep from anyone while traveling.  Can't believe how good they are in the car.  They rode quietly, sharing a bone or sleeping.  We used a solid crate again as they are warmer and more secure, and a lot safer when traveling in bad weather with pups in the car.  No accidents in the crate and they waited until we set up their pen in the exam room.  All three pups were great about the restraint required to insert the little electrode needles, and sat without fussing for the test.  So glad we have options for getting this done without having to sedate the pups.  Results were as expected, pups were bilateral hearing.  All working ears.  I knew this from hometesting, but it's always nice to get it confirmed.

Tango (was Jack Pine) has his BAER appointment and checkup on 12/27 at Meg's wonderful Vet in Northern Illinois.  He's got two Cavaliers as roomies now, and Meg says he is doing well.

Stephanie wanted to take Schelly as soon as possible, but I suggested waiting until Saturday since the pups have had such a busy week.  Next week Schelly will be moving to Texas with Stephanie and Dal Tate.  Good thing Schelly seems to be a good traveler!  Fulton leaves on Saturday too, so poor Summit will soon become an only child.  She'll stay here for awhile before departing for a new home as it's not safe to ship pups over the holidays, even if the weather allowed for it. 

And on Sunday Fern Louise comes home from camp.  Max will be so happy to have his wrestling buddy back!

Road Trip

Pups had their Vet check yesterday, and were such good travelers.  Never a peep from any of them, although someone DID get carsick on the way home.  Hopefully it was not Schelly who is scheduled to leave for Texas with Stephanie next week.  It could be a long trip with a car sick puppy!  Pups were brave and friendly and got handled by many new people.  Dr. Valenti checks EVERYTHING.  Eyes and ears, bites and mouth, hearts and lungs, and even patellas (knees).  She takes their temperatures, examines them thoroughly, checks testicles on boys, vulvas on girls (looking for vaginitis), and weighs them.   Don't recall ever having pups that traveled so quietly.  Good puppies!

Tonight we go for BAER testing.  I can hometest my puppies and know that this group has bilateral hearing, but we always confirm it with BAER testing.  Hopefully the weather cooperates as I'm not keen on driving in snow with puppies. 

Reclaiming My Life

The Oldsters, Watson (13+) & Josie (10+)

Somehow I need to get caught up around here.  The cold weather that kept us home, the pups that kept us busy, and all the company we enjoyed so much have put a major roadblock in my preparations for Christmas.  The cards were finally ordered last night (I always send cards and do not resort to the on-line ones), and the tree I purchased last Sunday is sitting in water but has no decorations (yet).  I do very little Christmas baking, but this year I've done none at all, not even the Harvest Loaf Cake (a wonderful pumpkin bread) that I normally make this time of year.  No lights up on the porch, and minimal decorating indoors.  We're exchanging very few gifts as a family this year, and Ron & I purchased a new TV as our gift to one another.  Donations to Salvation Army, Great Harvest Food Bank, and Union Gospel Mission will take care of much of the rest of my "shopping".  It's not that I feel "Scroogey", it's just that I haven't had time for much else yet.

This noon the pups go in for their health check ups.  My Vet does very thorough exams, and the pups will get lots of handling from all the Vet Techs.  Tomorrow evening they get their BAER hearing tests, and on Friday night they get their last visitors.  Friday's visitors owned two of our dogs in the past and are on the waiting list for a pup from my next litter, but it has to be a boy.  They owned a lovely black spotted dog of ours that looked very much like Max, so I know they will really enjoy meeting him.

On Saturday Fulton and Schelly leave for their new homes.  Fulton will stay in the area and live with another liver Paisley boy.  Schelly will be leaving for Texas next week with Nena's owner who is relocating (Nena is the dam of the litter.)  That will leave me with Summit, at least for awhile.  Plenty of people who want her, I just have to decide who will eventually get this lovely puppy - and I'll have a chance to enjoy her for awhile longer.

Next week I will get ready for Christmas!

Winding Down

Love this little brown boy, and it was soooo tempting to keep him.   Max would certainly have enjoyed it as he's had a great time playing with the pups.  Such a sweet puppy this is!  Hope when I am ready for a puppy I have a top quality pup (hopefully a brown boy) with this type of personality!  We're making plans for Fulton to join his forever family, probably this weekend.  They are waiting to do their Christmas picture, so Fulton can be in it too!  Fulton will come back later for show training, and will join us on some dog show weekends next year if everything goes well. 

Fern is on her way out of season and will be rejoining the family this weekend.  We've missed her, but it's been a lot more peaceful without her as she keeps things stirred up (even when she's NOT in season).  Max will be delighted to have his best friend back.  He's enjoyed all the company we've had for the past month, and is doing a good job of being Official Greeter.  Watson has aged out of that position, but Max seems to be a worthy successor.  I'm so pleased with his temperament and personality, and hope the new pups bring their families as much joy as Max and his siblings have brought theirs.

Lots of plans for spring including dog shows, as I want to finish Max and Ferns' AKC Championships.  Both are UKC Champions and have the two majors required for their AKC titles, so it's a case of picking up the additional points they need.  Weather permitting, our dog show trips will include Indianapolis and St. Louis where the entries are generally good for the Specialty weekends.  When Max finishes, he goes back to obedience as I want to show him in Rally and Obedience.  Fern will start her Lure Coursing career at the coursing events next year.

Assuming Amery passes her health testing, a litter is planned from her next year too - and maybe there will be a puppy for me in her litter.  Jess will be breeding Amery's sister Gemma (last year's DCA BoW) too, so I'll have a couple of litters to pick from.  If you're waiting for a Paisley puppy too, I hope we'll have one for you next year!
 

Decisions

Saturday was The Day.  Donna flew in from St. Louis and Meg drove in from Chicago on Friday, and on Saturday Jess joined us for puppy evaluations and pictures.  We find that taking "stacked" shots on the table and watching Jess stack the pups while I take pictures from all angles gives us a lot more information on each puppy.  We can see the proportions, angles and the way the puppy "fits together", and also the way each puppy handles the situation.   Puppy pictures are a LOT of work, but provide a great record of each litter, since we always take pictures between 6 & 7 weeks.  We've found that most pups eventually go back to the shape and proportions they displayed at that age - although many of them go through a lot of stages along the way!

No real surprises here, and the pups were as good overall as we had expected.  Some litters have nothing I would be interested in showing  (we call them "learning experiences") but as long as the pups are healthy and have good dispositions, that is fine.  Most of our litters have a couple of show potential pups.  We're more critical than many breeders because you can actually show any registered dog that does not have a disqualification according to the breed standard, BUT a "show potential" pup is one that is worthy of being shown and has a good chance of winning if it lives up to it's potential.  I kept waiting for something to go wrong with these pups.  It didn't. 

As of now I have nothing to place in pet homes this time around.  Sorry to all the people who have been waiting to find out if there was a puppy for them.  Fulton is actually going to a pet home, but with the provision that I can show him.  I may eventually do that with one of the girls, but there's nothing for sale outright, at this time.

That's Donna pictured above, holding the puppy Jack Pine who is now "Tango".  Tango looks and acts so much like his sire Henry who is Donna's dog. 

The pup on the right is Summit, who is absolutely spectacular in a stack.  We have to wait to be sure that her spots continue to clear (they are still rather fuzzy) but sire Henry went through that as a pup, so we assume she will be fine.

I will check with everyone on my list to find out if the have found a puppy elsewhere, need some referrals, or want to wait for our next litter(s).  Both Jess and I will probably do a litter next spring/summer, and with the way it goes in dog breeding we may end up with only companion pups next time!