Thursday, May 31, 2012

Key City and Other Miscellani

Last weekend was fun, fun, fun although not in the sun.  It was storming when I left at 2 am and continued past the Minnesota border.  I was lucky enough to be able to back up to an open air shed and set up both the dogs and my tent under it for the weekend.  So we all stayed dry for the festivities.  Lemmy hogged the airbed but proved to be a very good tent camper.  The rest of the crew did a great job of behaving.
Becky and her grandson Caleb joined us on Sat. and brought a delicious lunch including homemade pickles of which I made a pig of myself on.  Caleb walked dogs for me which was awesome, especially since he got Charlie to potty on leash, a huge accomplishment that I have yet to duplicate.  Peppi, Mary and Brian hung out under the building for the afternoon and we all had a great time playing with the puppies, going over them and chatting up a storm.  Which of course we also had a bit of stormy mother nature as well, but nothing horrid thankfully.
Declan was reserve winners on Sat to Gus and we all had a great time and missed the rain by "that much".  On Sunday Declan was Winners Dog for 2 points, leaving him in the 1 point to finish club.  Again, a lovely fun time followed by a quick dash to strap all the crap back down on the SUV and head out as the weather had turned hot and horribly humid.  With no a/c in the car and dogs outside at home I wanted to get the heck outta dodge as soon as possible. 
I did come home one dog heavier.  Well not much heavier, as he is just a puppy.  Becky was kind enough to let me bring home the tri smooth boy from the Hobbs-Sally litter, so he will now be known as Northern Oaks Maiwae Wide Receiver aka Cruz (or Cruiser as he is quickly becoming).  He is one week to the day younger than Ava so I will be having oodles of fun in the fall showing them. 
There will also be another set of pups here at Maiwae following Spice's litter that is due July 15th.  Sahra and I are leasing a wonderful girl to breed to Declan.  I'll have details later on but would expect those pups to be here by Sept. if all goes as planned. The latest foster here will be meeting her potential adopter in another week, she has been a great dog to have and will be the last foster until Fall and all the puppies are on the ground and older. 
And to finish, more good news I start my new job in town with that wonderful 15 min. drive on Monday.  Woo-Hoo!  No more driving for 2 hours a day to work!!
Until next time...

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Puplets

I'm so excited and happy!  If all goes as planned and she conceives, Spice and Bryce will be parents again around July 15th!  It's going to be an "Ice" themed litter - you know Sp ICE and Br ICE.  I know too cutesy for a July birthday but I do love a good litter theme.  All roughs with the possibility of all colors except white, although some white factoring and some normal eyes--and if we get a few more Reid-like babies all will be wonderful with the world.  Now if only Bryce has done as asked and sends us more girls. 

On the other puplet front-Miss Ava is growing up and despite having to re-tape her Charlie slobbered ears every other day has firmly planted herself in the middle of the trio of tri boys for play time.  Uncle Biscotti has taken on the role of protector and chief babysitter which makes me giggle every time I see him trot out behind her trying to round her up and keep her out of trouble. 

I pulled out the E-Z up yesterday, dusted it off, gave it a few dozen shots of WD40 and worked out a way to raise it using leverage so I can set it up by myself.  Dusted off the tent and put it together to be sure all the pieces are there and rounded up a few tarps, xpen mats and shade cloths--Yeppers--we are off to a dog show in a couple of weeks and I am camping.  Gotta work on knocking off those last points on Declan and there is a fun match for baby Ava to attend.  Of course the dogs that aren't good in kennels will be along for the ride-Lemmy, Trace and likely Charlie.  Charlie doesn't eat kennels like the other two but he does dig and it's a pain in the hiney to have to fill his holes, especially in my freshly mulched kennel runs. 

Until next time...

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Tryin' Again

It's hard to believe that on June 13th, Baby Reid will be two years old.  I think he will always be Baby Reid to Sahra and I, even though I can just lift him onto a grooming table.  Reid turned out just lovely and has charmed nearly everyone that has met him.  And I am happy and somewhat disgruntled :-) that he has a new bestest friend that he loves more than me and Sahra combined.  That would be Sahra's son, Lance.  Dang fickle dogs.  

As usual I have changed mental lanes without signaling, that wasn't my original thought process on this post.  Oh and on another side note, latest foster Collie, Lacey went to her new home in WI today--what a wonderful match, it made me teary eyed happy to see her and her new owner together.  I'm probably going to take a break from fostering for a few months - see the next paragraph for details!

Since the Baby is nearly two I have decided to go ahead and breed Spice again and she surprised me by deciding to come into season now instead of my anticipated July-ish date.  She will be re-bred to Bryce (Reid's daddy) in the hopes that this time around we get some GIRLS--note to Bryce--GIRLS please!  When she first came into season I was happy because that meant a break between Spice's puppies and the planned Lolli and Splash babies.  Apparently Lolli is uncooperative and decided that if her sis was going to be a mom, by golly she wasn't going to wait and is about a week behind Spice.  This may turn out to be a good thing because if Spice had her way she would have those babies, ship them to Lolli and go back to her business of being, well being Spice.  She's not a bad mom, she does really well until about 4 weeks and then it's, "hey I did my part, your turn now".  I guess I now know my potential summer schedule--which is okey dokey because after Declan finishes I have a long wait until Avie-baby is ready to show.  On a very, very happy note, if Spice has her puppies I'll have 2013 National Specialty class puppies to show!  Of course Sahra will have to groom them, but then that's the agreement--right Sahra?? ;-)

Until next time...