Preparations

Why does it take so long for me to prepare to leave town for two days?  Lack of practice?  For three years I was often gone for 2 - 3 weekends a month.  After sitting home since May it seems to require an amazing amount of effort to prepare for a quick trip to Ohio.  And I'm flying, taking no dogs.  Guess I am out of practice.  Hopefully I will have less trouble getting ready for 3 days in Kansas City next month!

I always make a list for Ron, what to feed the dogs, supplements if any, and what needs to be done with the fish.  The fish will all be fine for a couple of days as there are no new babies right now, BUT the Marmorkrebs will need feeding, especially the hundreds of new babies.

Marmorkrebs are self-cloning crayfish, not a natural species apparently, but something that turned up in the pet trade in Germany.  Lots of unanswered questions about their heritage, but they're here to stay.  I had received 6 youngsters when I purchased fish last summer, but had no idea they were old enough to produce offspring until I discovered some in a tank - tiny miniature crayfish.  Once I started looking I discovered that one of the other females (they are all females) had hundreds of tiny babies attached to her abdomen.  Oh my!  So algae wafers will need to be dispensed to the 5 tanks that have crayfish inhabitants.

Had to remember to charge everything, including cell phone, camera battery, Nook reader, and iPOD.  How did I survive without them?  Computer, iTunes and iPOD were not communicating last night so I could not download a book I purchased for the trip.  I'll solve that issue next week, I guess.  Technology can drive you nuts!

Laundry done, things ready to pack, but decided that I need a new carry on as mine might not measure in - as happened to Jess coming back from Westminster.  The size is correct but the wheels make it too long.  Drat.  Let's see, I can pick one up on my way home from work.  Assuming I remember.  Add it to the list.  Because I am used to having a mini van and quite a bit of room, I have trouble packing a small suitcase.  Now I can learn to pack an even smaller one.

See ya.  I promise to take pictures of Nati's pups, Argus's grandpups.

Out Of Time

Spent my free time fighting with my computer this morning.  Good news is that the new one is supposed to arrive with Eric next Monday.  Could have gotten it Friday, but I'll be on my way to Cincinnati to see Nati's pups!

Letty has a new toy and not even Josie can steal it from her.  Think I may have to remove the squeaker to keep my sanity! 

Rare Golden Dalmatians?

Still no computer and no word from my nephew.  Would be nice if he'd let me know what's happening here.  Guess I should have stuck to my original plan and bought my computer at Best Buy.  Oh well, this one is still clunking along.  Hopefully it holds out a bit longer.

Off to Ohio this weekend, a quick down and back to visit "Nati" and her pups.  Really looking forward to seeing them, and spending a bit of time with Ann & Dave.  Anyone still looking for a puppy?  Nati has 9 of them and I understand a couple may still be available.  Let me know what you're looking for and I'll keep you in mind when I evaluate the babies.  Two black parents, but lots of livers and a few blacks.

Speaking of color, here's an interesting one.  I have a number of pictures of Bailey on my computer.  She's a liver-nosed lemon - nope that's not light liver spotting, that's lemon.  Or perhaps it's orange, but we normally refer to all of these dogs as lemons, with either black or liver noses.  Some lemons are a rich deep shade of orange, sort of a pumpkin color, while others are so pale you can barely see their spots.   Bailey has interesting two-tone spots with a darker edge and a lighter center.  Very unusual.

Lemons are much more common than tris and long-coats, but most show lines do not produce them.  An English dog who produced lemons came to the US about 30 years ago and lemons were more common in show lines for awhile, and we saw quite a few of them during the popularity boom in the 80s as some of the commercial breeders were coming up with them.   Again, this is not an exceptable color for the show ring, but some people really like them.  There's a simple cheek swab DNA test available that can be used to see if a dog carries the genes that produce lemon.

Years ago we saw an ad in the classifieds for "Rare Golden Dalmatians".  Now that's marketing!

Doodling

My new computer did not arrive yesterday. . .  I'm so disappointed, but Eric is sick, and everything is on hold.  Hopefully this one holds up just a bit longer, but it's getting increasingly hard to boot up in the morning.  It's normally left on most of the time, but has taken to shutting itself down at night.

Like most people these days, my pictures are on my computer and never get printed, but what a treasure trove!  I've been looking through the ones that were on my previous computer that crashed.  I had them switched over to this computer by the Geek Squad, but have not gone through them in years.  Forgot all about some of them - like this tattooed fellow!

The pictures also include quite a few long coated, odd colored and interestingly patched dogs, pictures sent to me by people who know my interest in such things or found the color pages on my website.  I'll start using them in my blogs.

This handsome fellow is a real tri-colored Dalmatian.  A tri is not black and liver spots on the same dog, but rather  black & tan or liver & tan spots in the same areas they would show up on a black & tan non-spotted breed like a Doberman.  Note the tan spots on his cheeks and lower legs.  This is not common in Dalmatians, and is not an accepted color, but well marked tris are very handsome dogs!

Is It Monday Already?

What a fun weekend, and lovely fall weather too.  This is the best time of the year with cool nights and brisk sunny days.  Wish it could last forever, but will settle for a couple of months before winter attacks.

Laurie arrived on Saturday to spend the weekend, just as Jess arrived with the Cruise/Penny pups on their way back from BAER testing.  We got some lovely pictures of the pups, especially Amery who will go home with Laurie and come back in the spring to be shown if she is ready then.  Really like the boy Ellsworth too, who will be a fine mover and has a particularly appealing personality. 

Letty went home with Jess for an overnight, so she could meet the German Shepherd girls Simmie and Pepper who are very good with puppies.  Being the snooty sort she was NOT impressed with being thrown in with her little nieces and nephews.  She met Jess's puppy visitors, was thrilled to see Don again (what a memory she has for friends), and spent some time in the indoor/outdoor run.  Meeting the Shepherds and Penny was very good for her.  We call it Puppy Camping, and need to make arrangement for her to stay with friends in the near future.  Camping makes a dog more adaptable and self confident, and makes it easier for them to accept any future changes.

Dinner with mom on Saturday at her favorite Olive Garden.  We went early and didn't have to wait quite as long as we usually do.  Nice meal and lots of laughs, and a particularly good drink called an Italian Margarita - highly recommended!

Laurie and I took Argus to the Dog Park on Sunday morning and he had such a good time with his friends.  Totally blew us off though, other than checking in from time to time.  Think we need to work on our recalls!  Am so glad I found this place, and have thoroughly enjoyed watching the dogs interact.  Lots of sporting breeds yesterday, so lots of hard running which pleases Argus.  Breakfast at White Castle on the way home.

Later we went to visit Jess & Don, enjoy the dogs, and retrieve Letty, but also to collect on my Mother's Day Gift.  Wine tasting and excellent appetizers at a nice little restaurant in St. Croix Falls.  Again, lots of laughter and a good time had by all.  The leaves were just beginning to color - it's going to be gorgeous in another week or two.  "They" say we will have excellent fall color.

Such a fun weekend!  Thanks Ron, Laurie, Jess & Don, mom and assorted dogs.  I had a great time. 

Weekends are too short, but really looking forward to my new computer arriving tonight.  I spent some time going through all the old photos and documents on my computer and found some great stuff for this blog.  Stay tuned!

New Computer Soon

My new computer should arrive on Monday and in preparation for the changeover I've been going through all the junk that's accumulated on the current computer.  Thousands of email addresses!  Who are these people, and how many of these addresses are actually still valid?  Just amazing how large my address book is/was, and how many multiple addresses I have.  How do I know which address to use?  I deleted hundreds (thousands?) of addresses and it still needs more pruning.

Because I want to move my Word documents to my new computer, I went through those too.  Why did I save some of this stuff?  Why did I even write it?  What did I use it for?  Turns out that over half of the documents are Ron's but at least his are prefaced with his name so easily identifiable.   Hopefully he'll go through his documents tonight.

And my emails, oh my.  Why did I save some of these things?  Just amazing.  I deleted many of the folders and their contents, but still have to go through those containing emails, articles and information about stoneformers, LUA issues, deafness and allergies.  There's some good stuff in those folders, but mixed in with a lot of trash.

Because I rarely print pictures, my computer hosts thousands of pictures.  Show photos, pictures I've taken, pictures that have been sent to me, and pictures that I have found and saved.  They are all backed up on my little Click Free, so I can find them if I need them, but I might as well just have the ones on this computer moved over to the new one.  Or not?  Maybe I should start fresh, but I often use pictures for this blog or for Facebook, and it's nice having them handy.

My understanding of what can be moved and what needs to be re-installed is sketchy, so I'll let Eric advise me on those issues. Willmaker, iTunes, Audible downloads, things like that.

OK, enough of this.  I finished this blog, selected Publish Post, and the screen went blank.  Blogspot had not saved the whole thing, but at least part of it was available as a draft.  Do I blame Blogspot or my computer?  Or both?

Time to go feed dogs.





Eric was loading the software including Windows 7 last night and will be bringing the computer over on Monday night. I'm really looking forward to the 23 inch monitor too. I have dual 23 inchers at work, and this one seems so primitive - even though when I purchased this flat screen monitor it seemed very "state of the art". But that was 4 1/2 years ago and things have changed so much!

Fussing About Facebook

Much of the evening was spent cursing the changes that just showed up on Facebook.  Facebook Junkies really hate changes, fuss and fume whenever they happen, and threaten to leave.  They don't of course, being hooked on Facebook.  These changes are pretty significant, but I'm sure we'll adjust.  Grudgingly, of course.  In the meantime, creativity was out in full force!

Pups Are Such Fun

Missed my blogging yesterday, but the computer is being so difficult that sometimes it's just not worth the fight.  It's a 4 1/2 year old Gateway and has given me good service, but is coming to the end of its usable life, I suspect.  All my stuff if backed up in case of a crash, but the biggest problem right now is when it shuts itself off and is almost impossible to turn it back on.

Letty is doing very well as an only pup.  She's moved to a crate in the kitchen and we'll take down the puppy pen this weekend.  She's been in the pen at night up until last night, but moved upstairs for the whole night and did just fine, no fussing at all.  House training is going extremely well, with only a couple of accidents, and those were our fault because someone was not paying attention.  She's very good about doing her business outdoors, and it catching on to using the dog yard rather than the lawn.

Jess will be driving the Crupens (Cruise/Penny pups) down for BAER testing on Saturday, then stop by so we can do another set of puppy pictures.   Letty will enjoy having someone her own size to play with, although she's doing well with Argus and Josie.

Another adventure coming up on Sunday when Letty goes along to Jess and Don's and stays in the outdoor run with her little cousins while we go for lunch and wine tasting.  It will be good for her to be a dog for a few hours, and I want her to meet the Shepherds as she has very little experience with other breeds and is pretty intimidated.  The Shepherd girls have been very good with Jess's pups, so they'll be perfect for introducing Letty to strange dogs - or wolves!

Pups are such fun!
 

And Then There Was One

Lucas left for his new home on Saturday, and Letty became an only child.  She's managed it well and I'm trying to find the right balance between enjoying her and spoiling her!  Not always easy, as she is so incredibly cute I am often tempted to pick her up and carry her around!

Training is going well, and she understands that "hurry, hurry" means she should pee outside.  Now, if she would only do it in the dog yard rather than holding out for grass.  Only one accident, and that was my fault for not paying attention.  Now, to work on the rest of it.  Ron is pretty good at house training and he does the "day shift", so as long as he remembers to watch her we should continue to make good progress.

I wish Letty was a bit more outgoing with strangers.  It sometimes takes her awhile to warm up to new people, although once she is comfortable she remembers her "friends".  She really doesn't care to be handled by people she doesn't know, but because she is so incredibly cute everyone wants to pick her up and hold her.  Most of our pups love everyone, so this is a new experience for me, and I have to remember to work on it.  Letty needs to go to "camp" soon, to stay with friends for a few days to break some of the dependency she has on me.  We also need to work on meeting new dogs.  Time to check out a Puppy Kindergarten for her, a "nursery school" for puppies.

Training is going well and Letty quickly caught on to "Sit", "Down", "Come". "Watch" and "Stand".  Amazing how fast pups pick things up at this age.    It just takes a few minutes at a time, but of course I have to either crate the adults, or take her outdoors by herself, as everyone wants to share in the training treats!

Growing Up In Pieces

The Arboks & I met up with Rosie & Weather last night.  Interesting to see how the pups are developing, each following a different pattern.  Letty is still pretty much together, still moving quite well, and her tail is looking somewhat better.  Lucas is starting to look like a string bean but still moves pretty well, a bit loose-jointed but not bad.  Weather has grown the most and is lovely to look at but her beautiful gait is gone for now as she has started developing in pieces and her proportions are off. 

Argus at 4 months

It's interesting to watch pups develop, each of them a bit differently.  We always joke that once you make your selection, it's better not to to re-evaluate the pup again for quite awhile, as most pups go through some ugly stages.  Best to just enjoy and train the pup, and hope that eventually the pieces will fit together again!

Argus was a rubber band as a youngster, no body, no chest, as rubbery as can be.  But cute!  Watson grew up all in "one piece" and always looked good, but that's the exception.  As Letty goes through her growing stages, I will have to remind myself to admire the cute, and not worry too much about the finer points!

Lucas goes off tomorrow to his new home.  Rather than going to Jessica, as Don wants to keep one of the Crupens, he'll be placed locally and we will keep show rights.  Lucas is a handsome pup, happy and sweet, and will be fun to show, and we know that Eloise and her family will do a great job of raising him to be a good citizen.  He will be their 3rd Paisley boy.  We'll take a look at Lucas occasionally to see how he's coming along, but mostly just let him enjoy his puppyhood as a well-raised pet.  When he's ready to show, we'll borrow him back on weekends.

Now it will be MY job to keep Miss Letty entertained, and house-training begins seriously tomorrow as she moves to a crate in the kitchen.  I'll make the pen much smaller, but leave it up for awhile so if I am going to be gone for more than half a day she can be in her pen rather than in a crate.

Next Comes Winter

Frost on the deck rails, already! Ugh.  Unfortunately the forecast was correct and it did indeed freeze last night.  It's 34 degrees now, so it must have been light.  Hopefully the uncovered plants survived here, but outside the heat island of the Twin Cities the veggie farms will have suffered severe casualties.  My daughter says it's 28 degrees in Osceola.  Hope this does not hurt the apples, as many varieties are just now ripening and coming to market.   What a strange year we have had weather wise.

A batch of Stuffed Peppers was a good excuse to use the oven last night and warm up the kitchen!   Last week I found a recipe that was easy and delicious.  This week I modified the recipe to make the peppers a bit healthier, substituting brown rice for white, ground turkey for beef, and low fat cheese for regular, plus I cooked the peppers first to make them more tender.  Turkey, peppers, rice, black beans, Ro-Tel and cheese make this a fast and easy recipe to put together.

Time for the Arboks to go outside.   They will not be impressed.  Lucas leaves for his new home on Saturday morning, and Letty will be an only puppy.   Can't wait!  Lucas is a doll, but it will be nice to be able to concentrate on Letty who is so clever and eager to learn.  Best that I teach her good behavior before she figures out the bad stuff on her own!

Freeze Warning? Now?

Turn on the treadmill!

Two nights ago I taught Letty and Lucas to run on the treadmill, not for exercise but for learning a new skill.  Pups are so smart at this age and catch on so quickly.  I should be teaching sit, down, and stay, but this kind of stuff is so much more entertaining!  Whenever they are loose in the basement now, the Arboks head for the treadmill, just in case I might want to turn it on and ply them with cookies.

Time for a second vaccination too.  Has it really been a month since the first one?  One more thing on my list.  Am meeting up with Rosie on Thursday so hopefully we can get current pictures of Weather.  Am anxious to see her again. 

Dog shows this weekend, but I just can't get excited about them.  Only Argus entered and he really doesn't need to go.  He'd enjoy it of course, but he'd also enjoy going to the Dog Park instead of a dog show.  

Hard freeze warning for tonight, so it's time to bring in the houseplants and cover some of the yard plants.  If it were later in the fall I'd leave them uncovered, but some of the perennials and blooming nicely right now and I hate to lose them this early.  The 40 year old Christmas Cactus and Jade Plant will go back out after this cold snap, and this weather will insure that the former sets buds and will flower well again this year.

When I think of all the tomatoes and peppers and all the other produce not quite ripe or ready to sell, I worry about all the people whose livelihood depends on vegetable sales at the various Farmer's Markets.  What a weird year weather-wise!

Puppy Sunday

15 more minutes of outdoor time for the Arboks, then Argus and I will head off to the dog park for a good run, then on to White Castle for breakfast.  Love our Sunday routine and Argus seems to know when it's Sunday.

A most productive Saturday with lots of cleaning, rug washing, and puppy socialization.  Because Letty is not particularly outgoing, very brave about situations but not very interested in people, I'll put extra work into her as a pup.  This is not a personality type I am used to working with, and one that I have not seen before in Argus kids (who normally love everyone), although Virgil/Herbie is very similar.  Letty definitely has a mind of her own, and her life plan does not seem to include fawning over strangers the way most of my dogs do.  She'll say Hi and accept treats, but does not climb up their bodies and cover them with kisses.

Yesterday she went to a new pet store and did well, was fine about being petted, and fearless as she stalked through the store checking out the merchandise.  A small furry dog barked and her and she did not back down or panic as she had when a HUGE furry Goodedoodle loomed over her the previous week.  Need to find some small friendly dogs for her to interact with.  Where can I borrow a Cavalier?

Today is Lucas's day to go out.  He's a soft, sweet, squishy boy who loves everyone and acts just like his dad, assuming that everyone wants to meet and admire him.

Later Jess and Laurie will bring the Crupens (Cruise/Penny) pups over so we can take pictures - a bit early, but it will be good socialization for them.  Later Laurie and I will head off to Sea Salt for an awesome fish dinner. 

Ron is fine, will be back in a few days.  Coral misses him and wonders where he is.  She's his special dog and she expects to spend her evenings sitting on the sofa beside him.  I've made sure the oldsters get their daily walks, but I know they will be relieved when Ron shows up.  Me, I've had a nice vacation of sorts.  Some My Time, or maybe it's Me & The Dogs Time.  I needed that!

Time Out

My house is so quiet, just me and the dogs.  Well, THEY are not always quiet, but you know what I mean.  Had been hoping the pups would continue to sleep until 7:00 AM, but they've moved that back to 6:30 and you can bet they will opt for a 6:00 wake up call tomorrow, Saturday.  Because they still sleep in a pen in the basement I'm not yet a puppy doorman, but that will change in another week.  Time to get serious about housetraining pretty soon.  Wonder how many puppies I have trained over the years?

After a difficult winter, a stressful spring, and an irritating summer, I decided that Ron and I needed a break.  He has a condo, but spends most of his time here.  An ever increasing amount of time.  Have always suspected that was because of the dogs, not because of me, but that's OK too.  It worked fine when I was off to dog shows every weekend, but with Argus retired and me home so much more it became way too much.  I found myself angry all the time, needing some space, some My Time.

Two days later I am so much more relaxed, sleeping better, enjoying my house and yard.  I can eat what I want and when I want - sauteed zucchini at 6:00 PM, ham salad on toast at 8:00 PM, whenever the mood strikes me.  A weekend to myself, with just my spotted friends for company sounds wonderful.  Laurie will be back Sunday afternoon and after taking puppy pictures of Jess's litter, we can go to Sea Salt for dinner, which will be fun.

Hopefully this is just a temporary situation, but it was exactly what I needed.  With all the stress at work, I do not need it at home too.  Life is so full of changes . . . 

Dog Birthdays



Which toy should we play with?


Argus seemed to enjoy his birthday! He went along when I picked up Laurie at the train station.  She had to catch a later flight, but everything fell into place, and she caught the light rail to the station closest to my house.  Handy!  Although we went out for burgers without Argus, we did bring home an Angus Deluxe for him to share with his housemates.   Everyone approved.  A trip to PetCo resulted in two new toys, although the one that quacks may drive me crazy before the dogs destroy it.

Why is it that we celebrate dog birthdays?  Is it for the dogs or for us?  Fun for all!

Laurie will spend the morning at the house which the dogs will enjoy, and Jess will pick her up later.  Laurie gets to spend the weekend at Jess & Don's, playing with Penny and the pups while Jess and Don go camping.  Jess and Laurie will be back here on Sunday afternoon so we can take puppy pictures of the Crupens (Cruise/Penny pups), then Laurie and I hope to go to Sea Salt on Sunday evening. Looking forward to seeing the Crupens again.  Busy weekend for all.  Wish I did not have to go to work this morning.

Happy Birthday, Buddy!

It's Argus's Birthday and he's 6 years old today!  How can that be?  Seems like only yesterday he arrived from California, a happy-go-lucky, flop-eared puppy.  What adventures we've had!

Before Argus, I'd lost interest in dog shows. I started showing dogs as a teenager, finished my first champion in 1968, bred many homebred champions, campaigned several successful specials, and was suffering burnout.  Time to get out of showing dogs and just keep a few Dals as pets.

But I missed my show friends and went to the National just to socialize.  Then I saw "Marlin" - what an absolutely lovely dog, and he went back to and resembled my beloved Rob.  A Marlin pup would be nice!  And I saw "Olivia" for the first time, getting an AoM from the Veteran's Class.  She went back to "Jocko" and other Paisley dogs.  I had judged and given majors to a number of her littermates, and absolutely loved her, so I asked my friend Carrie Jordan if Olivia would be bred again.  And when she was bred to Marlin I reserved a puppy.  It was to be a puppy bitch, but I really prefer brownie boys, and Argus eventually came to Minnesota.  And I went back to showing dogs never realizing how much Argus and I would be able to accomplish.  Thanks Argus!

Tonight we'll do burgers on the grill, one for each of the dogs, with ice cream for dessert, and then we'll go down to PetCo so Argus can pick out a new toy. Ever a puppy, he still enjoys his toys.  Later he can go along to the airport when we collect one of his favorite friends, Laurie who will be going to Jess's to visit Penny and her puppies.

No Time

Poor time management skills this morning.  No time to blog and I really need to write to get my mind in order as it is going to be a very busy week with the Arbok's to deal with, Laurie staying for a day or two, so much going on at work, and Ron with a nasty bug that won't go away but leaves him mopey and useless.

Why the heck won't Ron go to a doctor?  Time for a major showdown here, yet again.  I dread these confrontations but it's the only way things actually get done. He's a good guy but SO stubborn and I have run out of patience with this kind of behavior.  He has good health coverage and needs to use it.

Lots of time spent with the Arboks this weekend, taking them for individual visits to local pet stores and for individual walks.  Tried an excellent recipe for stuffed peppers - came home from the Farmers Market with so much good stuff, made a batch of veggie mix for the dogs, and the peppers for us.  Excellent!  Got the basement put back together and spent some time doing fish chores.  Took Argus to the dog park, went to the fair, took Gram out for burgers and beer and Groveland Tap, and even did a bit of house cleaning.

Now, back to work.  Laurie is coming for a few days, and I will see Penny's pups this weekend.  Need to think of things to do with the Arboks, but Laurie can put some time into them too, which will be good.

No time for proofing.  Hope the grammar is OK!  Arbok pictures tomorrow.

Good Links

Think I'll start adding links -

Dalmatian Club Of America

The Whole Dog Journal

Farewell To Virgil Arbok



Virgil and Letty

Virgil leaves for his new home tonight.  He'll be living with a couple of adult dogs, a Dal girl & a Weim girl.  He's a very handsome fellow with a mind of his own.  He's not the lap sitting sort, but is friendly and brave - and a bit stubborn.  Fortunately he's a chow hound too and will do almost anything for food!

This weekend I will make the puppy pen smaller and dig out a couple of puppy crates as it's time for Letty & Lucas to eat in dog crates rather than from a communal bowl.  I'll wait a bit longer before I start crating them at night, since that would probably mean getting up with them at night and I'm not ready to do that yet!  By ten weeks they'll be sleeping in separate crates. 

Lots to be done with them this weekend too.  Separate car trips with visits to Petco or Chuck & Don's.  Leash walks through the neighborhood.  Finding some kids for them to interact with.  We'll also work on restraint exercises and begin teaching sit and down. They both know their names, and respond quickly to the high pitched "puppy puppy" call I use when I feed them, so we will also start working on recalls.

The adult Dals have been very good with the pups, so the pups will get more free time in the family room.  Josie sometimes get a bit boisterous and the pups dive under the dog bed to avoid her dancing feet, but for the most part it works just fine.   It's too hard to work on house training three, but Lucas & Letty will start learning house manners this weekend, since I can easily tuck one pup under each arm.  At least for now!  They're growing fast though!

No Blogging Today

Yesterday was immensely stressful.  No time or energy for blogging.  Hopefully the day goes better than yesterday did.

Fun With Puppies

Playing submissive for dad

An absolutely miserable day at the office, late getting out of work, and then caught up in rush hour traffic when I finally did hit the road.  Came home to Ron sneezing and coughing with another cold or allergies (it's hay fever season with the ragweed in all it's glory), a hairy house that did not get vacuumed or dusted last weekend, and a yard that needs mowing . . .

BUT, my puppies were glad to see me and are looking so good right now.  Love the personalities on both Lucas & Letty, and they are so CUTE.  Sent off an email to Robin to be sure she is coming for Virgil this weekend, as I'm looking forward to having fun with just my two pups.   And a three-day weekend!

Because Lucas will be staying with us until Jess's pups are placed, I need to start working with both Lucas and Letty.  Time to dig out a couple of small crates and start crate training, house training and all the fun stuff that goes with pups.  We're going for short leash walks every evening, and stacking a couple of times.  Started teaching the sit-for-a-cookie, but Letty is not particularly interested in treats.  Virgil however was delighted to learn that.

The pups are doing really well on their raw diet, but will get a couple of kibble meals this week.  I bought a bag of Pro Plan Selects Turkey & Barley and have some soaking in the refrigerator. Kibble must always be fed soaked and with lots of water when it's given to Dal puppies.  Am sure they will like it just fine, although clean up will not be nearly as neat and tidy as it is with raw-fed pups.

Finally got the paperwork off to AKC, using the "whole litter option", registering each puppy with it's name and owners.  AKC has a cash flow problem and one of the reasons is that people don't bother to send in their individual registration apps.  When the breeder registers a litter, each pup gets an application for individual registration, but many people don't bother to send them in.  The whole litter option insures that each pup is registered.  Lucas is now Paisley Choco Chip Ready For Broadway, a combination of both parents names.  Am pleased with the names for both Letty and Lucas, although they will always be Letty Arbok & Lucas Arbok to me!

And Then There Were Three

Not the three pictured here, Lucas, Sloan and Letty, but really like this picture that Ron got last week.  Weather and Sloan have departed for new homes and Virgil will be leaving soon.  It's been such fun!

Health checks went well and the pups got thorough exams - eyes, ears, mouths, throats, bites, patellas (knee caps), shoulders and hips (for normal range of motion), heart rate, respiration, etc. Have ever had such thorough puppy exams before.  The pups checked out well and behaved nicely.  A pen was set up for them in the exam room, which was so much easier than carrying them in and out one at a time.

On Saturday we went down to Rochester for BAER (hearing) testing and there were no surprises there.  We knew we had 4 bilateral and 1 unilateral hearing and the testing confirmed that.  Unis function just fine but have trouble locating the source of sounds. We were very pleased with the litter stats overall, as we had no patches or blues, excellent trim and some spectacular spotting.

Rosie drove up to meet us in Rochester and as expected she picked Weather as her puppy from the litter, allowing me to keep and place Sloan for her since I had a good home waiting for him. Reebok went home with Rosie too, so the house is getting quieter!

I had planned to keep the companion pups until 8 weeks, but because Tabitha is a stay at home mom there really was no reason to make her wait until the following weekend to pick up Sloan.  If she can raise pups as well as she raised little Simon, he'll turn out well!  Simon was a doll.  Sloan's name is now Lego and we hope to see him in the Rally ring and possibly Agility someday.

So that leaves Letty, Lucas & Virgil.  Robin is supposed to pick up Virgil next weekend, and Lucas will stay with me for a few more weeks, eventually going to live with Jess and Don.  In the meantime, I'll start working with Letty and Lucas, teaching them to sit, stand and walk on leash.  The sooner you start training a puppy the better, but mostly I'll just enjoy them!

Thanks to Rosie for allowing me to lease Reebok and breed her to Argus.  It was such fun!

Not to be forgotten, Argus and I did our usual dog park visit on Sunday where he made more new friends.  I had hoped that by playing with dogs at the dog park he would not be so determined to "meet" all the dogs we see on our walks.  Didn't work that way as he is more than ever convinced that he should meet and become friends with every dog!

Good Bye Reebok

Reebok playing frog

Tomorrow Reebok goes home.  Rosie will meet up with us in Rochester to see the pups again, and take Reebok home with her.  Rosie will decide who she's taking as her share of the litter, and whether or not she will let me place her second pick pup in one of the excellent homes I have waiting.   Assuming she selects Weather, I have offered to keep her for a few more weeks, as Rosie's life is pretty busy right now.  Because Ron is home during the day, the pups get a lot more time and attention here and there's lots more things I want to do with them.

Reebok has been an excellent guest and we will miss her.  She fit it nicely, had excellent manners, was not noisy, and is an excellent house dog.  Ron suggested that we could volunteer to keep her (he loves girl dogs) but I explained that she was not for sale, that Rosie probably wanted to get her ready to compete for her Grand Championship (once Rosie's ankle is mended), and that I want a puppy, not one more adult dog.

Health check up today, a visit to Winsor's clinic and Dr. Valenti who did their dew claws and the x-rays when Letty hurt her leg.  I KNOW the pups will get lots of extra socialization today!

An Early Start

Weather at 6 weeks

Blogging early today as I've already been up for an hour.  Not because I had to get up, but because I couldn't sleep.  Heaven knows I need the rest, but if I wake up at 4:00 or later I just can't get back to sleep and I hate to lay there and let worries crowd my mind.

Nothing that actually NEEDS to be worried about (knock on wood) but all the little concerns that crowd my mind and seem so much more serious while tossing and turning in bed.  It's a stunning morning, so with a lovely cool breeze coming through the patio door and a cup of strong hot coffee to enjoy, things all seem so much better right now.

The pups are quiet in the morning (so far) until I wake them to clean their pen and feed them.  The radio that's tuned to a rock station covers up the small household noises and the basement is quiet and dark.  I'll feed the adults, then do some major cleaning of the pen, and dispense a lot of hugs.  The pups are very happy to see me and everyone begs to be picked up.   Hopefully the pen is not too gross, but the pups are dealing with coccidia right now, a protozoan infection common in pups.  I'm sure it lives in my elderly basement as well as my yard, so I'm used to dealing with it when we have pups.  It causes loose stool which makes pen cleaning a little messier and requires LOTS more newspapers, which reminds me - I MUST find some more newspapers today.  Pups are cheerful and feel fine, other than eating a bit slow occasionally.  Things should be better (as in more solid) today as the medication takes effect.  Weather was the first to show symptoms and Letty the last.  OTHERWISE the pups are going great.

Reebok goes home this weekend (she's a good dog but I will be glad to send her home), but I've offered to keep Rosie's pups for an extra week as her life is pretty busy right now.  Whether I keep 3, 4 or 5 pups doesn't make much difference in the amount of work.  I want to work on noises a bit more as Weather is a bit sound sensitive and I want to get her used to more noises before she leaves.  She seems to have gotten over the a$$hole who gunned his motorcycle next to the puppy pen when I took them down to meet up with Rosie.  The pups all sat and watched the shop vac the other night and offered to attack it if I would let them out of their pen.

The pups are spending increasing amounts of time outdoors now.  Not in the morning before I go to work (don't want puppy yapping to disturb the neighbors) but they go out at noon for an hour or two (Ron brings them in after I go back to work), when I get home from work, and again at dusk.  They are quick to pee when they hit the grass, so are catching on to that.  If I lived in a rural area they would be outdoors full time now, but that's not possible for us.

When the litter is outside for the last time, the pups come in with me one at a time to explore other parts of the house, interact with the adults, and get a little training and some one-on-one.  It's important the pups learn to be comfortable without their littermates, and it's an important part of socialization.  It also gives me a better chance to evaluate their individual personalities.  Letty who is incredibly brave about everything, Lucas who is equally brave but more independent, Weather who is a bit more cautious and will stop and think like Rob used to do, Sloan who is brave enough but would prefer to sit on my lap, and Virgil who explores but drops his tail when he encounters new things. He and Weather will get more indoor time for the next few days. Weather is more cautious about the big dogs and worries about being stepped on, while Virgil LOVES being in the midst of them.  Tonight I'll have all the pups loose with all the adults at the same time, so they get used to ducking out of the way when things get lively!

No new puppy pictures, I've taken none since Sunday.  Better remedy that tonight!  Wish I could get a picture of Reebok playing and trying to get Argus to join in.  The minute she sees the camera she stops and comes over to me, so guess it won't happen.  She's going through the Post Puppy Crazies now, doing laps in the family room and even playing with toys (which she rarely does otherwise).

The days are stressful at work as the new accounting system is anything but SWIFT, and the conversion from old to new had lots of glitches.  We're slowly mastering the new procedures, but everyone keeps encountering roadblocks, and we're getting so far behind in our work, waiting for problems to be worked out.  I try to concentrate on the things that go right, and how much I have learned already. Sounds as if we are going to be authorized for overtime which will help a lot.  There is so much to do, and the new processes require many more screens and steps.  I could sure use the money and once the pups have gone on to their new homes I'll probably work an extra hour a day.

Poor fish are getting short changed here, and I have had little time to watch them. They're getting fed, but I really need to find the time for some water changes!

Sorry!

Letty at 6 weeks

Oops, I was skimming through my email this morning and discovered that I had 6 unanswered puppy inquiries.  Sorry!   I will try to get to them tonight.  Several of them are probably the result of people coming across my blog, so I just wanted you to know that I will respond.   Don't think I have any puppies available unless someone changes their mind at the last minute, but I will be glad to give you a couple of referrals.   Penny's pups are also spoken for I think.

We will probably have puppies here again early next spring after Lucy is bred.  It will not be my litter, but I will be involved in the puppy placements and will have the litter here for BAER testing since there is no place to have that done where Lucy's owners live.  I've already taken several reservations on that litter.

And NEXT year Pauli will be bred.  She'll be four then, and it will be time for her first litter as we don't want to wait too long.  She's had fun being a show dog and has done really well, and we hope she'll be a good producer.

It's interesting how much Weather looks like Pauli, and how much Letty looks (and ACTS) like Lucy, and I'm delighted that Argus is producing such lovely daughters. 

PUPDATE!  Just heard about an Argus grandson available to a pet home.  He's just a couple of weeks older than the Arboks, is very well socialized, BAER tested and ready to go.