Training

Spent yesterday at training, learning the new accounting system that we won't need come July 1 when we are all laid off.  Well, just learning part of one component of the new accounting system.  The rest of this lesson today.  Then two more days next week, to learn another portion of the system.  This is a "from the box" accounting system that does not really address the way we do business.  Instead of designing a system that does what we need, we will be trying to change our work processes to fit a pre-made system.  Rather like trying to put square pegs in round holes.  When we take these classes, we hope for pieces that are relevant to our jobs . . .

Class ran until 3:30 so I went back to work for awhile, trying to stay ahead of the game.  Because I have no backup, my work waits for me.  So does JoAnn's work, since she retired and her work became my work.  And the Republicans want state government to cut 15% of the work force.  Hahahaha.

No movement on the layoffs.  The Republicans met with the Governor to make another non-offer at compromise.   Unless they stop reciting the "no new taxes" mantra, this will be a long and expensive strike.  Why SHOULDN'T the ultra rich pay their fair share?  Why shouldn't they pay the same percentage in taxes as I do? Even the preparation for shut down is expensive and time consuming.  And wait until the 4th of July weekend when all the parks are closed . . .  That will be just the beginning.  Critical services are most likely to receive emergency funding, so the state patrol and the prison guards will be working.  There are quite a few essential services that need to be provided, but building roads is not one of them.

Josie gets her bandage off tonight.  She's been wonderful about leaving it alone, but will surely be glad to have it off!

Need More Coffee!

My get up and go has gotten up and gone.  Just can't get started this morning.  Even went to bed early, before 10:00 PM which is early for me.  Slept really hard but kept waking up from weird dreams, like an aquarium flooding the car floor and guppies hiding under the seat.  Wonder what prompted that?  Pizza at 7:30, followed by Chocolate Pecan Crostini?  Need more coffee.

A nice birthday dinner with my mother who celebrated number 87 yesterday.  We stopped at Davannis to pick up our favorite sausage, mushroom & onion pizza and drove out to mom's in the rain.  Came home in the rain, sent the dogs out in the rain, and woke up to rain.  No complaints as long as it stays out of my basement.  Still raining, but we needed it.  Need more coffee.

Things are very busy at work as I do my regular work, JoAnn's regular work (she retired a few weeks ago), close out federal projects, plan for the shut down, encumber/purchase as many r/w parcels as possible before the shut down, and train for the new accounting system that will go live July 5th.  IF we are not shut down.  I've still got 2 2-day classes to attend, Thursday & Friday this week, and Monday & Tuesday next week.  Bad scheduling, but you have to take them when they are available.  Looks like I'll be coming in for some evening and/or Saturday catch up.  Nope, no overtime either.  Oh well.  Need more coffee.

I'm going to need the shut down to catch up on my rest!  If it doesn't last too long I'll be OK, but sure worry about all the people who are just scraping by, especially the young single parents in the lower paying jobs.  The working poor are really going to be hurt by this, but if the Conservatives prevail the working poor are going to suffer a lot more later on.  Stand your ground Governor Dayton!   Need more coffee!

Reebok is settling in well and seems comfortable with us now.  Have not been able to get a cute picture of her though, because the minute I look in her direction she gets up and comes toward me, exactly like Argus.  They seem to constantly be saying, "Did you want me for something?"  Hope a few of these pups end up in performance homes as they sure ought to be focused on their trainers!

Need more coffee!

Health

Watson - Little Scarface

Watson used to be called Little Fathead and his great grandpa Morris was the original Fathead.  They got the nickname because of their blocky heads.  Watson could also be Little Scarface as he sports a sizable scar over his left eye.  A few years ago Watson had a growth on his forehead that we had surgically removed.  I chose not to have it sent out for a biopsy because I would not have treated Watson for cancer if it had been cancerous  I can't see putting an already middle-aged dog through long, expensive and painful treatment to give him maybe another six months of life.  Perhaps a young dog, but not an older dog.  He's been fine ever since, so we dodged the bullet.

Coral's horny growth was not sent out either.  Dr. Ann said it was most likely benign and again I opted to just have the growth removed and to enjoy Josie for the rest of her natural life.  She's doing great, has left the wrapping alone, and her cheerful outlook on life is not diminished in any way.

It's very fortunate that Dals are one of the breeds with comparatively low cancer rates.  Cancer is not uncommon in dogs and is unfortunately very common in some breeds.  In general is more common in larger breeds.  I just read an interesting article on the subject and was pleased to find that Dals had the lowest cancer rate of all the medium and large sized breeds in the survey.  Their rate is actually very similar to that of many of the small breeds.

Although several health issues in Dals are well known including deafness and urate stones (although the latter is routinely blown out of proportion) Dalmatians are actually an extremely health breed with a very low incidence of many of the health issues that are common in other breeds.  They are also comparatively long-lived and the vast majority of well cared for Dals live to be 12 - 14 years of age, with a fairly good number of them living even longer.   

Reebok Arrives

Dinner with mom & Ron

Lovely weekend, cool and partly cloudy, perfect for yard work.  We got about 1/4" of rain but could use a serious thunderstorm right now as everything is getting dry.   Lawn looks fabulous, the flower beds are done, and just some pots left to plant.  I even planted the alley this year because I'd like to earn an Alley Garden award.  If the neighbor would stop backing her truck over the flower bed it would be a little easier though!

Reebok & Ron

Reebok is here and has settled in quite nicely.  She looks "quite" pregnant for still having a month to go, so hopefully she'll have a nice sized brood with plenty of attractive, healthy, out-going pups to pick from. She's a real sweetheart, very mild-mannered and easy going.  So far we have just run Reebok with the boys who are being very nice to her.  Not sure if I will introduce her to Coral & Josie.  Silly Josie will insist that Reebok should play, and I don't think Reebok is feeling very playful right now, plus Josie is supposed to be taking it easy, easier said than done!

Need to decide how to set up the basement for puppies, and what to use as a whelping box.   Generally it's a cardboard carton reinforced with a lot of duct tape.  It's hard to find them for free, but suitable boxes can be purchased from a place that provides shipping cartons of all size, some of them double-walled and very sturdy.

Illyodon cortesae

New fish arriving this week, Illyodon cortesae, an endangered goodeid from Mexico.  I found them on Aquabid, got them for a reasonable price, and selected 6 fry rather than a pair as I like watching young fish grow up.  The Empire Gudgeon lost her mate, so she will be giving up one of the planted tanks and the little goodeids will move in there.  The Gudgeon will move to the widow tank that contains singleton fish or those I am no longer trying to breed.  I have a small widow tank and  large widow tank, since some of the larger ones would EAT some of the smaller ones!

No time for proofing, hope this reads well enough!

Recovery



Josie is trying very hard to stay awake!

 Josie had her surgery on Thursday and everything went well.  The bill was even less than anticipated!  She had a small growth removed from her cheek (only because she was being put under anyway) and a large horny growth removed from her foot.  She's got stitches both places but seems to be managing everything well enough.  No scratching or licking (yet, knock on wood) so no need to use an e-collar.  Hardest thing will be keeping her quiet as she really wants to play!

Got a great picture of poor Josie brooding on the dog bed while the other dogs were all outdoors.  Because the incision is on the bottom of her foot, and because footpads tend to heal slowly (according the the Vet Tech) we'll have to be careful for quite awhile.  No walks, no rough playing, no running around the dog yard (or digging holes) with Argus. 

Poor Josie wants to be outdoors with her friends

We need to come up with ideas to keep Josie busy and happy, as she's a very playful athletic dog who spends much of her time wrestling with Argus or playing with toys.  Fortunately she loves treat balls and similar toys that can be stuffed with tasty tidbits, and will spend hours working to get at the food.  Those toys become "bones of contention" however, and we have to supervise, provide an equal toy for each of the other dogs, or have Josie in her crate or out by herself.

One for each, as Coral says all treats are HERS!

The proverbial "pink slip" arrived yesterday, announcing that I, like all other non-essential state employees, would be out of a job on July 1st.  Hopefully this will not last too long, but I completely support Governor Dayton's stand on the budget issue.

Up early tomorrow to pick up Reebok and get her settled in here.  I'll take Argus along with me so he will accept the fact that she is no longer in season, and she will be comfortable with him.  She'll move to the kitchen this time (she was in the basement while she was here for breeding) and we'll run shifts at first until we know for sure that she will get along with Coral and Josie.

Posting Early, Or Is It Late?

Lily Pad is an Argus/Lilly daughter.

Because Josie has her foot surgery on Thursday morning, she has to be dropped off at the vet clinic before I go to work leaving no time for blogging.  Not sure how long she'll stay and whether I'll be picking her up at noon or after work.  She never favors the foot unless she bumps it on something, but it sure looks ugly.  Josie is very stoic so it's hard to know if it causes her any pain.  Hopefully she will not have to wear an e-collar for very long as it will hurt her feelings.  She's such a sweet sensitive soul I hate to see her embarrassed.  Hope this all goes smoothly.

Coral did not eat her breakfast. Coral never misses a meal, but has been eating with less enthusiasm lately. She just sat and looked at her meat, veggies & egg, even when I added some tuna to the mix.  Hopefully it was just an upset stomach, as she ate her chicken back for dinner.  If she skips breakfast again I w'll take her in for blood work.  Her kidney values had changed a bit when she had her last blood work, and chronic kidney failure is common in elderly dogs.  We need to recheck her BUN & creatinine levels, and perhaps her liver enzymes too.  One nice thing about a raw diet is that it is easily adapted to deal with a variety of health issues, and for things like age-related kidney failure high quality protein is important - meat & egg protein is MUCH higher in quality than a grain-based kibble diet.  Of course if the dog won't eat . . .

Argus & Penny are both entered at Chicagoland this weekend, but probably won't get there.  Penny was just bred, and I really can't justify taking Friday off work - just too much to get done.  With Josie having surgery and some questions about Coral, it's probably best that I stay home.  Because I was to retrieve Reebok from Rosie this weekend, I'll have to make other plans for that.  I still have another day to make up my mind.

Thought I'd be dying to get to a dog show by now, but that's not the case and I'm enjoying my weekends at home working around the house and in the yard.  Guess it WAS time for a break.  We'll need to do some shows his fall when Lucy comes back to finish her championship, but until then perhaps I can manage just fine.

Black Or Liver?

Black Lucy & Liver Penny are half-sisters

Puppies this summer.  Reebok is due in July, Penny in early August.  Thank goodness my daughter Jess will be raising Penny's pups.  I once did two litters three days apart and survived, but I was younger then, and Jess still lived at home.  Both litters were mostly liver boys!  Oh my!

Reebok could be liver factored and produce liver pups bred to Argus, but I'm betting she isn't.  There is a DNA test available to test for color (it would also tell me whether or not she might be carrying lemon) but we'll know soon enough about the livers, and lemon is not very common in the breed and not likely to show up in this pedigree.

Liver Penny was bred to liver-factored Cruise.  Because his mother was a liver, we knew Cruise would do both colors when we bred Josie to him 5 (6?) years ago.  Penny has two liver parents, Argus & Nikon.  Nikon also has two liver parents Ed & Coral.

There was a time when liver Dals were relatively uncommon, except at MY house as I have always had at least a couple of liver Dals.  We had lots of livers in the local show rings because the breeders here started with dogs from me - generally livers.  Now livers are very popular in the show ring, and liver companions are quite common in most parts of the country.  I've always had plenty of reservations for liver pups, and never have a problem placing them.   So many people have come to be interviewed certain that they wanted a black female, and ended up with a liver male and been very happy about it.

Brownies are beautiful!

Books & Birthdays

Ah, the fun of selecting a new audiobook.  As a member of http://www.audible.com/ I get one credit to use every month and always look forward to that.  I keep a Wish List and watch the just-published lists for interesting additions.  There are many book sales on Audible, but I use the credit to purchase full priced books or at least one of the more expensive ones, and buy the sale-priced books out of pocket.  It's nice to have a backlog of unread books in "My Library" on the Audible website.  Today's purchase was the newest John Sandford mystery featuring Lucas Davenport (Lucas "lives" in my neighborhood), "Buried Prey".  Can't wait to start it.

Journey still enjoys treat toys at 15.

Happy Birthday, Journey!  15 years old today!   Last year there were still 5 littermates alive and well, but at least 3 passed away between the ages of 14 and 15.  We are so fortunate to have such a long-lived and healthy breed!  15 is not unusual for Dalmatians, and a few live even longer than that.

Journey lives in North Carolina and still has a career as a Therapy Dog, and in fact she "went to work" yesterday, but today she gets to stay home and be spoiled.  She is very fortunate to be owned by Pam, who takes excellent care of her dogs.

And Suddenly, It's Summer!

Hostas are lovely in June

An absolutely perfect weekend!  Temps about 80 degrees both Saturday & Sunday, brilliant sunshine, and low humidity.  We got lots of yard work done, cooked on the grill, and I got the dining room & living room thoroughly cleaned.  Even got the webs out of the ceiling corners (while worrying about spiders dropping on my head) and cleaned the hardwood floors on my hands and knees.  Wish I could afford to have them refinished - or had the energy to do them myself, but . . .

Biggest project of the weekend was getting the two window air conditioners installed.  One of these years we will be unable to manage the unwieldy things, but we managed it again this year.  NOT a job for seniors!  Each year I hold by breath when I turn each one of them on, wondering if they will still work.  Both are getting elderly - as I recall, we purchased the large one when Rob was alive.  Actually, Ron purchased the large one because the heat was bothering Rob that summer - and Rob's been gone for 11 years.  The technology has changed a lot, and the newer models are lighter and more energy efficient, but Mr. Frugal (Ron) figures that if they still work, why replace them?  I'm the one who pays the energy bill, but there's no point in arguing.  As long as the house stays cool . . .

Argus blowing bubbles in Lake Como

I promised Argus that when he was done being campaigned we would do Pet Dog things together, things like swimming in the city lakes and the Mississippi River, things we never did when he was being shown.  Because there is always the risk of a cut foot, coat problems related to less than pristine lake water, and ear or eye infections, I kept him out of the water, knowing that he would LOVE to dabble in the water.  I kept my promise.

On Sunday morning after dropping my mother off at church, we stopped to walk around Lake Como in St. Paul.  My folks owned a house a few blocks from the lake, so I had taken that walk many times - but not for at least 30 years.  My, how things have changed as far as city lake management!  Natural vegetation has been re-established along the banks, the walking and biking paths are separate, traffic has been rerouted, the Pavilion has been redone, and the lake looked and smelled so much better.  We walked the lake, stopping to let Argus swim & dabble.  He loved sticking his head under to blow bubbles, and raced up & down the shore, and in & out of the water like a puppy.  We had such a good time, we re-walked the lake in the other direction.  Argus practiced his sit-stays while I took some flower pictures, "talked" to some other friendly dogs, and had a thoroughly good time.  Promise kept! 

Please, No Storms



Iris time!



Severe weather in the forecast.  Hope they are wrong!  The proverbial "strong storms" . . .  Ugh.  The forecast for rain has been off the mark for the past week, so our luck is due to run out.  The yard is looking so good right now with the Coral Bells and Iris all flowering and the young Hostas just lovely.   Several people brought Peonies to work, so it must be the time for bad weather.  My mind has stored so many images of once-gorgeous Peonies squashed flat by heavy rain or shredded by hail.  That's probably what keeps me from adding them to my yard!


The fish all bagged up and ready to travel

Wish I could figure out how to edit some of the html coding on these blog pages, as I can't aways place things exactly as I wish.  I can manipulate coding on my own web pages which are hand-coded, but can't always figure out how to change coding that is generated for these blog pages.  Maybe when I am laid off in July I will take the time to update my skills!  Interesting that most everyone at work has a list of projects they want to accomplish during the lay off.  Yes, everyone seems to be expecting that will happen.

At the fish club meeting last night we had a speaker on salt water aquariums and the potential for making money by breeding marine fish and propagating corals. With the the popularity of reef tanks, the coral business is particularly good. Rather than depleting the reefs, coral is commonly grown for resale.  Breeding marine fish is far more difficult than breeding freshwater fish.  Proper conditions, spawning triggers, and appropriate food for incredibly tiny fry are far more difficult to manage, but it is being accomplished with an increasing number of species.  Raising Clown Fish has always been on my To Do List, and Clowns are supposedly "easy".  Or comparitively easy!  We'll see!

Got my fish safely bagged and auctioned off.  The Synodontis petricola brought the best price of course, but were purchased for a fraction of their retail price.  Am pleased they went to Rodger.  The Limias sold quite well too, and Dale who got them will do a good job.  He often purchases the fish I BAP since we like similar types of fish.  I was able to purchase a bag of very unusual Corys, bred by Rich who is a fabulous fish breeder, and a bag of "pedigree" Green Terrors (they are considered pedigree when they come with location information - where they (or their immediate ancestors) were collected in the wild.  Fun to see my old friend Garrett now sporting some interesting tatoos, and made arrangements for friend Alex to come over and pick up the rest of my Limia melanogaster. 

Getting the Fish Keeping Bug back!  Need more fish!

Something's Fishy

Fish club meeting tonight!  It's been a long time since I've gone to a meeting - they always seem to conflict with something, generally getting ready for a dog show.  With Argus retired from active campaigning, I need to get back to all things fishy!  I have four empty tanks right now, still up and running and ready for new inhabitants.  A number of my fish are elderly too, so it's time to add some new young fish.  Yes, I let my fish live out their days in peace and do not normally hurry their exits.  Several of my Cherry Barbs are over 5 years of age, and Edd my Puffer as well.

Four species of young fish to take along to the meeting tonight for the BAP table.  Members get points for spawning and raising different species, the number of points dependent on the presumed difficulty doing that particular species.  The bags of fishes are auctioned off to club members, and the club uses the money to support it's various activities including excellent speakers.

Assuming I get them all caught and bagged, I will be taking along Synodontis petricola, Gambusia affinis, Limia tridens, and Black Mollies (they are a hybrid and have not official Latin name).  We have to take at least 4 fish, and because I have only the 5 Mollies I will take them all.  Love the little Mollies - hope the parents spawn again.

Really need to get back into serious fish keeping.  I miss my fish club friends, and am ready to try some new species.  I have 300+ BAP points and need 500 to get to the next breeder level.  I think these are all 10 point species except for the Petricola which will be worth more.

Good news on Josie!  The growth is a large wart with a long root.  It will require surgical removal (scheduled for next week) but she'll be fine.

Where Do The Robins Go?

Baby Robin perched on the dog yard fence.

The baby Robins must have left the various nests over the past weekend.  Hopefully they survived the ordeal, as we encountered several of them in risky situations.  This one was perched on the back fence, while another landed on the deck near the patio door, probably caught up in a gust of strong wind.  Fortunately the dogs didn't see either of them. 

We always get several broods of Robins in May/June, before the adults all disappear during the heat of the summer.  No one has explained to me where the Robins disappear to, but they do, and although we see many of them in spring and early summer, we see very few later on.  Where do the Robins go?  Hopefully the prowling cats don't have anything to do with it!

Vet appointment for Josie tonight.  She has a horny, warty growth on her foot, coming out of the side of her pad.  I've been watching it for awhile and it had not changed and appeared to cause her no discomfort.  Suddenly it's started growing, and when I came down yesterday morning I noticed some tiny drops of blood on the family room floor.  A bleeding nail I assumed, since the dogs had all had their nails done the previous evening.  Then when Ron & Jose were playing catch in the family room, she banged her foot on the side of the chair and it started to bleed.  It was the warty area, so that must have been the source of the blood the night before.  We'll see what Dr. Ann has to say about it - was glad I could get an appointment with her.

Josie with her Grandma Coral

Of course I immediately think cancer, but hope the overgrowth of tissue is something less serious.  Concerns me that it's grown quickly this past week.  I've always said I would never put a dog through cancer treatment, but would just give supportive treatment, enjoy the dog as long as it was relatively pain free, and then let it go with dignity. Hopefully I will not be forced to make this kind of decision with Josie any time soon.  Having lost both Morris & Sid to old age in the past decade, and seeing that in 13 year old Coral's future, I am not prepared to give up charming Josie as well.

Please include Josie in your prayers.

Holiday!

. . . But let us never forget those brave Americans who gave their lives that we might live in freedom.


A Do-It-Yourself Dalmatian kit

So much accomplished already this weekend, but my To Do list is still way too long.  Yard is looking terrific, tomatoes & herbs are planted, lilies & rhubard transplanted, lattice fence covering the new chainlink (looks a lot less institutional), a wood strip added to the new privacy fence gate so it really IS a privacy fence, deck in cleaned, kitchen & family room swept (oh my, the hair!) & scrubbed (on hands & knees) but so much left to do.   With most of my weekends at home in the forseeable future, I have no excuse for not getting caught up!

Immediate project is what to do with the dog yard.  I made it larger, including what was previously part of a flower bed, but now I have to figure out how to keep Josie from digging holes.  Really don't want to bring in another load of rock, and not sure if the existing rock will cover all the mud-to-be.

Not a perfect weekend for a picnic, but we decided yesterday would be the most suitable and it was.  Wonderful chicken kabobs from Whole Foods - a one day sale at $3.99 a pound - that's $6.00 off the regular price.  They were excellent!  It was a good excuse to make my always-good 4-7 Bean Salad (depends on what I have on hand), and my mother made her excellent potato salad.  Why do we all prefer potato salad like our mothers made?

Have been fielding puppy inquiries this past week.  It's nice to have pups on the way!  Rosie quite sure that Reebok is pregnant - I was sure within a few days of breeding her.  She'll be back in two weeks and we're expecting pups in July.  Penny's hip x-rays were good, so she'll have her CHIC number soon, and the dog we want to use had a sperm count done (he is an older dog) and everything looked good.  So, Reebok & Penny will hopefully have pups about a month apart, Reebok here, Penny at my daughter Jess's.  All four parents breed ring champions with their CHIC (health testing) numbers and wonderful personalities.  Am guessing Reebok is not liver factored (she could be, but I bet she's not) so her pups will probably be all blacks.  Liver Penny is being bred to liver-factored Cruise, so she should have pups in both colors.

Hopefully things will fall into place for Lucy to be bred this winter or next spring - have two reservations on her litter, plus her family wants to keep a boy.  After so many years with so few pups, we're really rockin' now!

Rhubarb Pie For Breakfast

Although leftover Pizza and apple pie (not generally eaten together) are two of my favorite breakfasts, Rhubarb Pie ranks right up there too, especially with hot coffee.  We had fresh homemade pie with my mother late last evening, but were feeling the affects of a wonderful dinner and couldn't give the pie the attention that it needs to be fully appreciated.  This morning I can!  Awesome!  I grow the Rhubarb and mom makes the pies, although she says her pie making is coming to an end as it gets harder to read the recipe and get the measurements correct.  This one was certainly perfect though!

Yesterday turned out to be busier than expected.  When I checked Facebook at noon, I had an invitation from Heidi of Caribe Restaurant inviting Ron and I to a food bloggers dinner hosted by Dole, at their restaurant.  They'd had a cancellation and decided to offer the tickets to us, as good customers.  What a thrill!  A chance to meet "real" bloggers, and have an awesome meal as well.  We accepted and really enjoyed the occasion.  Pictures tomorrow.



The new fence is in place

Although we had been told 5 to 7 working days for the fence to be completed, I had stressed the fact that because I had multiple dogs, sooner would be MUCH better.  It worked!  The fence went in yesterday, and other than a few minor glitches things went well.  The estimator had not ordered that style that I had intended, but this one looks great and I am quite satisfied.  He also botched the chain link portion of the order, so the posts were not tall enough for the existing chain link that was to be re-used - so we ended up with new chain link too.  While the installers were waiting for the new chain link and the new gate to be delivered, they added some extras to the board fence, things that would have taken us a lot of time, but so easy to do with their specialized equipment.  Love it!

Employees As Livestock

Yesterday was NOT a good day.  Because we had a meeting scheduled for 7:30 I went in early anticipating something important.  NOT!  Our director announced that she was moving a couple of the managers, so all the peons (she didn't say that, but it was inferred) would have their cubes moved so we could remain under the thumb(s) of our fearless leaders.  Great timing too, people retiring, others filling in on their jobs, and everyone attending classes for the new accounting system.  Like we all have the time and inclination to move.  No consideration of who needs room for filing cabinets - we get to walk down the hallway to retrieve our project files, rather than having them handy.  My 5-foot cabinet which is totally filled will not fit into my new cube.  To make things even more fun, my co-worker JoAnn is retiring, I'm currently doing her job while she uses up her vacation days, and I have to fit HER files into my new space too.  And the new cube is smaller than my old one - because the cubes near my fearless leader are all "standard" which means too small to work in.

I love my job, but hate the fact that employees are consistently treated like livestock rather than individuals.  That's not true in all offices, but has become a tradition in ours.  It's also been a tradition that when "they" want someone to leave, that person is bullied until it happens.  Subtle bullying, hard to prove, but obvious to the individual and their co-workers.  We are watching it in action right now.  Time for a meeting with the new CFO - we'll see if she is actually what she seems to be.

In all my years of working here, I have never had a really good manager.  I have had nice ones, hard working ones, managers with people skills and others with the personality of a wolverine, but I have never had one that combined all the appropriate characteristics of a good manager.  We have them in our office, so I know they exist, but it's not likely that I will ever have the chance to work for a person I can admire both as a manager and as a person.

Several of us were lamenting the fact that we did not take the retirement package, and wondering if we would survive the next year.  Things will only get more stressful with the budget issues, not enough workers, and the new accounting system.

Gotta start buying more lottery tickets!   

De-Fenceless

The yard looks pretty weird right now

Posts are set and a temporary fence is up.  It consists of light-weight mesh fencing between our yard and the neighbor's and old exercise pens strung along the alley.  The side fence is strong enough to keep the neighbor's Westie from wandering into my yard, and the ex-pen creates a boundary.  Now at least the dogs can be off leash with supervision, and all approved of the change..

Being without my fence sure leaves me feeling vulnerable.  I particularly miss the chain link along the side of my house, and double-check the lock on the side door every time I walk by.   Argus has been told that he must be extra vigilent until the fence is replaced.  It's uncomfortable having my yard open to the alley, but it did provide the opportunity for a nice chat with a pleasant neighbor from across the alley who I haven't spoken to in several years - privacy fences DO have some disadvantages.

It's been three days now and no sign of some virulent form of e coli, BUT I will not be eating medium-rare burgers at a bar anytime soon.  Thanks for your concern.

The morning got off to an early start as we have a "required" meeting at work at 7:30 - my normal starting time is 8:00.  Because the legislative session ended with no budget in place, lay off notices go out next week, effect July 1.  Presumably the meeting concerns that situation.  In a better world, the new accounting system would NOT go live on July 1 as it will just make everything so much more difficult when we finally come back.  Hopefully the Governor stands his ground on this, and if we go out EVERYONE goes out, except for those jobs required for our safety - patrol officers and prison guards come to mind.  Although no one can afford to be out of work for weeks, everyone is preparing for it.  Yesterday we were discussing the projects we have lined up for the enforced vacation.   LOTS I could do around here, as long as I would not have to spend any money to do them.

Puppies?

Waiting

Looks like it's going to be a very busy summer.  After years with no pups, or just one small litter, we are doubling our options this year.  Penny came in season earlier than anticipated, but we're going to go ahead and breed her too.  Reebok's pups will be raised at my house, Penny's pups at Jess's. This will be Jess's first litter, although she's helped with many over the years.  Penny's health testing (ears, eyes, thyroid, cardiac) is all completed except for hips and elbows which have been rescheduled for today.  A dog must be two years old for OFA to rate their hips, and Penny just turned two.   She's being bred to an older dog, so he is scheduled for a sperm count later this week, just to be sure he's up to the job.  Hopefully both processes will have good results!

When OFA evaluates and processes Penny's hips she will be assigned her CHIC number.  I love the little bumper stickers that OFA sends out with the certificates.

Health-Tested Parents For Healthier Puppies

www.offa.org

How Dumb Was That?

Woke up this morning feeling a bit nauseated.  KNEW I wasn't pregnant (!), so what else could it be?  What did I eat?  Was it food poisoning again?  Salmonella from handling raw poultry?  What did I eat over the weekend?  Oops.  That burger?  How could I have been so stupid!  I'm pretty health conscious and quite well read on the subject.  I pride myself in (normally) making good choices.  After working in the yard all weekend, we went to our favorite neighborhood bar last night.  Ron had his normal Wild Rice Turkey Burger and I selected the Light (1/4 lb.) Burger with all the fixings - and without giving it much thought I asked for it medium rare.  I NEVER order burgers that way, only steaks.  What was I thinking?  The burger seemed a bit soft and tasteless, and when I checked I could see that it was very pink inside and decidedly under-cooked (even for medium rare).  So what did I do?  Added more ketchup and ate it.  What should I have done?  SENT IT BACK!  The Waffles Fries were good, as was the Cosmo, Ron was chattier than usual, and we had a good time.  I gave it not another thought - until I woke up feeling queasy.  Although I'm not a hypochondriac, I know this will be preying on my mind today . . .  Bet I don't do this again!

The fence guys are supposed to arrive at 11:00 or call if they won't be here on time.  Am betting they will be late and won't call.  Hate to waste my vacation time waiting for someone.  It's been a lot of work, but I guess we are ready.  Now to survive 10 days without a fence.  Although there will be a temporary fence, the dogs will be going out on lead as no temporary fence will stand up to a Dal pursuing a rabbit, squirrel, or the neighbor's cat.  Hope the neighbor's Westie will also be kept on lead, but the fence ought to hold her.

Argus and Mariah

Mariah is doing well in her new home.  Gets along well with her Dalmatian housemate, but still a bit uncomfortable with the Aussie.  The biggest adjustment will be the fact that her new owner will be at work all day.  Mariah is used to having Ron around, and going in and out all day.

Josie and Argus have been incredibly playful all weekend and I've returned some of the dog toys that Mariah was determined could be destroyed.  Josie is delighted to have her favorite catching toy back, and Argus races around the kitchen/family room with the squeaky rabbit. A pair of knotted jean legs left from a newly created pair of cutoffs became two additional dog toys.

The Northern Lights Azalea

The yard is gorgeous right now.  All the rain has made the grass grow like mad and fill in the thin spots, and the Hostas are so lovely when they are young and fresh, and before bad weather, slugs and sun take their toll.

The Rhubarb is doing well, and the first harvest was delivered to my mother who will make a Rhubarb Custard Pie later this week.  Hopefully the plants are not damaged by the fence project.  A number of perennials were moved and others are surrounded by small fences in hopes they won't be trampled.  Hopefully the yard, the dogs and the people all survive the project!

Very Early Saturday

Goofing around in the ring

Saturday's blog is being written Friday night while I wait for a load of laundry to dry.  Went to dinner with Ron, came home and went to bed early, but had to get up to walk Argus & Reebok and to finish my laundry.  Tomorrow starts early as I return Reebok to Rosie for a couple of weeks while the fence is redone. Reebok will return next month and then we'll start planning for pups.   She's been a great guest and I've enjoyed having her.  Although shipping chilled semen is a lot easier than entertaining a visiting bitch, I have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know many lovely Dal girls over the years, and it's given me a bit of extra insight into the temperament and personality differences within bloodlines.

Love the cute shot of Argus that illustrates this blog.  Our friend Prue caught that from ringside at DCA while Argie and I were in the ring waiting to be judged.  He's such a silly brownie goofball guy.

Mariah arrived safely in Arizona, and her new owner Kay seems to be please with her and says if I change my mind I can NOT have her back.  That's just as well considering that the odds of being able to ship from Phoenix to Minnesota, by way of Houston, are slim to none this time of the year, and we were extremely lucky that we were able get Mariah out today.  Am so pleased that I found just the right home for her, and it came about because of this blog.

It's looking more and more like the State Of Minnesota will be closed for business come July 1st.  A newspaper poll said that 87% of the respondents felt a shut down was likely.  "They" say most of us our just one paycheck away from poverty.  Am not eager to have that confirmed!

Yes Laura, There Is STILL An Audrey

Audrey is alive and well.

This picture is for Laura, who wondered if Audrey had appeared again this year.  Yes indeedy!  Apparently you can't keep a good Cup Plant down.  She looks to have survived the winter in good form and is quite a robust little thing already.  Hopefully Audrey will not grow any taller than the 12 feet she achieved last year - she'll interfere with the phone wires if she does. 

On my list of projects is redoing the raised flower bed Audrey inhabits, as her huge root mass shifted some of the timbers last year.   Hate to move her as she obviously does well in this spot, so perhaps we will just make the planter wider, to accommodate her needs.

Argus wonders what is going on here!

The dog yard project is proceeding well.  Ron removed the board fencing that we put over the chain link when the neighbor observed that my yard looked like a prison camp - somehow I doubt that 42 inch chain link would hold prisoners for long, but we covered it up just for her.  The chain link along the side of the dog yard will be replaced by all new privacy fence to match the back fence we are replacing. 

The digging is complete, the perennials have been moved, and the fence guys are scheduled to start on Monday.  They'll take down the back fence, set the posts for the new privacy fence, and reset the posts for the remaining chain link.  Eventually they will return and put up the new fence - hopefully that won't take too long as we will be without a fence for that period.  I'll put up a temporary fence, but of course the dogs can't be left out safely until the new secure fence is up.  Means we'll be doing a lot more walking.

Amazingly, the bitchy neighbor has been as nice as can be.  It probably won't last but I'll appreciate it for now.  And I'll keep wearing my Amy Klobuchar & Mark Dayton tee shirts when I deal with my very staunch DFL neighbor!

Mariah is on her way to her new home in Arizona.  Honestly did not think we could pull this off because of the (justifiable) temperature restrictions on shipping animals, but Continental Airlines was very nice to work with and Mother Nature co-operated.  Dropped her off at 4:00 AM - who knew airports were that busy so early in the morning!   The airline personnel could not have been nicer and hopefully everything goes smoothly for her flights.  The timing was good as Mariah would have been the most affected by the lack of fencing.  She LOVES being outdoors, no matter what the weather.  We'll miss her a great deal as she was a good fit for this household, just not quite what I wanted to keep and show and possibly breed from.   So, we still have an "open spot" in Paisleyland.

Hopefully Rosie can meet me tomorrow and retrieve Reebok for a couple of weeks.  I'm really tired of four extra walks a day, and Reebok is tired of living in the basement.  When she comes back to have her pups here, she'll move into the family room with the others, and be a full time house dog if she can get along with Coral & Josie.  If she's bitchy with them she will just run with Argus & Watson.  I don't like running shifts and prefer to have all the dogs run together, but sometimes it's not an option when bringing in an adult dog.  My dogs accept anyone who comes to stay, so I'm hoping she'll fit in.

Thinking puppies!

Still Digging

Argus winning his 3rd Award Of Merit

One of the memorable things from DCA this year was all the compliments received on my attire.  I am not a shopper, and normally dress very casually, but this year I had two spectacular outfits to wear.  The one worn for the Top Twenty included a gold-sequined jacket.  It had been purchased for the previous year's Top Twenty, but I had to sit that one out with my broken ankle.  The long jacket worn for Best of Breed judging retailed for more than $300.00, but like the Top Twenty outfit it came from a next-to-new shop, and cost less than $20.00 - and came with the tags still on it!  A black/red/brown/gold Paisley pattern, with metallic threads.  Such fun!

Another night spent digging in the yard, but we are almost there.  Tonight I'll do some transplanting as the dog yard will get a bit larger and include an area currently planted with Hostas and elderly Asiatic Lilies - given to me by my brother's girlfriend almost 40 years ago!

Reebok will go home to Rosie for a couple of weeks.  Don't need an extra dog here while my fence is down.  It will be tough enough managing the regulars with no fence.  She'll be back in June, pups due in July.

Odd, Spell Check does not include the word Hosta/hosta.  How stramge.

. . . and It Was Not Continued

Argus competed in the Top Twenty

It suddenly occurred to me that because of computer problems I never completed the posting about the National.  Checking back I discovered that lots of good things were omitted.  I haven't ordered my "official" show pictures yet, but have some nice ones taken by friends to include.  It is amazing how many people take pictures wherever they go.  I'm sure that most of those pictures stay on the devices that were used to take them, or get downloaded to a computer, and very few ever get printed.  This was the first year I noticed iPads used to take pictures and video too.  Ah, technology.

Argus won the Stud Dog Class for the third year in a row, what a thrill!  Each year he has gone in with two of his beautiful daughters.  Rita & Pauli in 2009, Penny & Nena in 2010, and Penny & Lucy in 2011.   The judge Mr. Sabella commented on how much fun he had doing the Stud Dog Class, what an excellent sire Argus is, and what lovely type he produces.  He does.

The Best Of Breed competition was outstanding, with over 80 of the top Dals in the country competing (these are the "Specials", dogs who are already champions).  The judge divided the males into 3 groups and the bitches into either 2 or 3 (I forget) so that the ring was not overcrowded and none of the dogs had to stay in the ring for long periods of time.  She selected "keepers" from each group - that is called "making the cut" and then brought those dogs back for further judging and additional cuts.  Argus and his offspring Krash, Penny & Cassie all made it through the first two cuts.   Krash & Penny went out on the third cut, but when I looked around Cassie was still in the ring with Argus and many of the top winning Dals in the country.  Cassie and her owner/handler John were attending their first DCA, and Cassie is the first dog that John had shown to her championship.


Cassie & John, with Argus & me

 The judging continued and Argus & Cassie were still in the ring.  There is only one Best of Breed, and this year it went to a handsome young black dog who is professionally handled and has had a fine career.  The judge has the option of giving out Awards of Merit to the top 10% of the Specials.  As I looked around the ring and counted the number of dogs who were still in competition it looked as if there would be enough AoMs to go around.  Success!   Argus won his third consecutive Award of Merit (and was Best of Breed in 2008) and this year, the first year he had champion offspring in competition, daughter Cassie won one as well.  What a thrill.  John's daughter Liz took this picture of Argus & Cassie wearing the award sashes. 

A very successful National!

We're Back!

Lucy & Jess at DCA

A new modem and millions of cookies deleted, my computer seems to be running normally again.  I can even upload pictures to my blog.

So much catching up to do here, so many changes have taken place in the past week.

Reebok has been bred to Argus with pups due in July.  I'll have to sit down and figure out the exact date.  She'll go back to Rosie for a few weeks while my new fence goes up, then come back to have her puppies here.  We are SO ready for puppies.  The guess is that she is not liver-factored, but both Rosie and I are hoping that she is.  Her father is pure for black, her mother is a liver factored black.  We could do the cheek swab test to find out if she carries liver, but we'll find out in 9 weeks.  Actually, one litter is not really a sufficient sample, so if she has liver pups we'll know she IS factored, but if she doesn't have any liver pups we won't be quite sure that she's not.  (My liver Gremlin once had 10 black puppies by liver factored Ringer.)

New fence project starts the week after next.  It turned out to be a lot bigger project than anticipated, as I have to move the fence on one side of my yard (it's between 2 & 8 inches over onto the neighbor's property).  It's a perfect time to replace some of the chainlink with additional privacy fencing.

Mariah's wound

Mariah's leg is healing nicely and we are still hoping to get her to Arizona.  The problem of course is the temperature, as dogs can't be shipped when it's over 85 on either end of the trip, and Arizona is already HOT.  She's been wearing an e-collar at night, but has left the stitches alone and has not bothered with the wound.  The stitches will come out in a few days.

Someone posted the following question to my blog.    "Why is mariah considered small? doesn't the standard say between 19 and 23 inches? if she is already almost 20 inches as a puppy, isn't that normal? just wondering! "

That's a very good question indeed!  Mariah is "too small" for my taste.  She is not growing and does not have enough bone to be taller than she is.  She would not be disqualified in the show ring, but she is smaller than I prefer to show.  I want my bitches to be about 22 inches tall and weigh about 45 pounds.  Mariah is less than 20 and weighs about 35 pounds.  She's actually going to a home (assuming we can get her there) where she might eventually be shown, but I am selling her as a pet.   Our "Peaches" was about Mariah's size, and although she did win some points she was "too small" to finish easily.  She was an excellent producer, had 7 champion offspring, earned a CD in obedience, and lived a long and healthy life.  Dogs don't care whether or not they get to be show dogs.

The standard is a guideline, and for all practical purposes we can show almost any dog that does not have a disqualifying fault. That doesn't mean that all those dogs SHOULD be shown, only that they CAN be shown.    Many people show dogs who I consider to have totally unacceptable spotting, dogs with terrible toplines, or nasty tails.  That's their right.  Tiny bitches can also be shown and fit the standard for size.  I just choose not to show them.   A breeder needs a mental picture of what the breed should look like (not can look like), needs to compare her dogs to that picture.

Update

Well hopefully the new modem that is on its way from Qwest will solve my balky computer downloads and impossible uploads.  Because the average lifespan of a modern is 3 years, and mine gave me 5 years of service I can hardly complain.  Don't know why I assumed it would last forever.  I find my laptop/Netbook less than user friendly and have trouble seeing the screen and using the flat keyboard, so my blogs may be shorter for awhile.

Mariah did not leave for Arizona on Tuesday, but her leg is doing well and she's not fussing with the stitches.  She wears an e-collar when no one is around, but is learning to mange that.  Kay is working on the transportation issue, and we still have hopes of getting this worked out.  If not, she will be available a lot closer to home!  Such a good girl she is, but still small at 19 3/4 and 36 lbs.  The perfect size for a lapdog!

Reebok is doing well and is very easy to entertain.  There's lots of coming and going in the basement as my fish, the laundry, freezers and such are down there.  She's enjoying the 4 walks a day and we have explored all the alleys in the neighborhood.  No loose dogs which makes it a lot easier to walk bitches in season.  We ran a progesterone test on Monday and it came back at 6.03, which meant she was probably ovulating at the time.  Eggs take 2 - 3 days to ripen before they can be fertilized, so we are exactly where we should be.  Tried a breeding last night and all went well.  It would have been a day or two early, but the sperm lives with 4-5 days, so if we did not get another breeding we would probably be just fine.  We'll do two more breedings to maximize the chances of fertilizing as many eggs as possible - having the maximum number of sperm available when the eggs are ready to be fertilized..  Pups are normally born about 63 days after ovulation or 61 days after conception.  I have traditionally let the dogs pick the days, but it is nice to have science to fall back on too.  I could take Reebok in for another prpgesterone test, to see if the levels are continuing to rise (it will tell us that she did in fact ovulate) but with a young healthy bitch we will assume that everything went as it should,  Thinking puppies!

Things Never Go Quite According To Plan . . .

Am still unable to upload photos on my computer, and I've got some good ones to post.  If I can't get that fixed tonight I'll be forced to call in the Geek Squad. 

Saturday got off to a good start.  Puppy Eddie and I met up with Lisen, and she decided to ride along when I continued my road trip to pick up Reebok.  Lisen traveled to a few dog shows with me many years ago, and hopefully we'll be doing a bit of that in the future.  Rosie was right on schedule with Reebok who had a "cold tail", the first one Rosie had encountered.  Lots of theories about the cause of this problem, but I suspect it happens when a wet dog (recently bathed or swimming) shakes itself and slams its tail into something, causing a bruise.  The limp tail generally lasts for 2 or 3 days and causes few problems - except on dog show weekends!

Eddie is doing well at Lisen's and is exceptionally gentle with her grand daughter.  Because he lived with 4 kids and all their friends at the Pellas, he is very well socialized with children.  Reebok is doing very well too and I really like her, although I hope she does not mind walking in the rain as it is pouring here right now.  She's quiet and very sweet, and has been the perfect guest so far.  Because she's in season, she's in the basement with all the aquariums, so there's plenty of coming and going plus she gets 4 walks a day. 

Lucy went home with the Pellas yesterday and will be back for the fall shows, so almost everything fell into place.  Almost.  Mariah was supposed to fly off to Arizona on Tuesday to her new home with Kay.  Delta has a flight embargo (no live animals shipped) after 5/15 so we had to get the shipping done this week.  The weather was cooperating with a cool day scheduled for Tuesday (it has to be less than 85 degrees at both ends of a flight) and there was a flight that would work for both of us.  It was meant to be, or so I thought . . .

On Saturday evening Mariah went off with a friend of mine for a play session with doggy friends.  She came back with a large bloody gash in her front leg.  Because it went so deep the two sides of the wound were seperated and it obviously needed suturing.  Animal Emergency Clinic was backed up for hours, so I took her in early Sunday morning.  Happy Mother's Day!  Good thing I did as she required two layers of stitches, absorbent ones in the muscle, and 7 regular stitches in the skin.  Ugh.  Almost $500.00 for an unfortunate accident, but something that had to be taken care of.  As I tell people who are contemplating a puppy, dogs should be considered a luxury, although for many of us they are essential luxuries!

Because it's important that Mariah not bother the injured area, she has to wear an e-collar when she is not being supervised.  I would not want to fly her wearing one, and I doubt it would be acceptable to the airline.  Not sure that it would be safe to send her without the collar as she might bother the wound and pull the stitches.  It might also be hard on Mariah to adjust to a new situation while wearing the e-collar too, so this probably is not going to work.   A bummer for all, as I thought this would be that Perfect Home I was looking for for Mariah!  Stay tuned!

Argus knows he has a visiting lady but has not fussed about it at all, so Reebok is probably not quite ready to be bred.  Because of her jammed tail I don't want Argus trying to breed her before she needs to be bred.   Hopefully we can get in at Winsor's today for a Progesterone Test, to tell us how close she is to ovulation - but more on that later.  This blog will be covering dog breeding, whelping & puppy socialization - assuming everything falls into place!

And we need pictures!