Glad and Sad days

Winston did great at the shows so far on this five day weekend in Doswell. (I like Doswell! It is close to home and a very nice well run indoor arena.) Yesterday, Winston got Winner’s Dog, and today he got Winner’s Dog and Best of Winners! Clyde and See See each got Reserve today. So Winston got a point each day!

Both days I had to hurry home. I skipped getting our win picture taken because my 18 year old kitty, Mel Gibson, is dying. I cannot believe he keeps hanging on. He has gone down to skin and bones, and he seems to be semi-conscious. I made the decision to NOT put him to sleep because he is so afraid of strangers. I don’t want his last moments to be filled with fear. He does not seem to be in pain, so I just keep petting him and telling him what a good kitty he has been, and how much I love him.

Mel Gibson at 18, before he got sick.

Jane

After having 11 puppies, many female dogs would take a long time to recover. After she had her puppies, Jane’s coat looked pretty shabby, and her teats were stretched beyond recognition! I can’t believe how good she looks after just 6 months! Her coat is back to that dense luxurious feel, and her abdomen is tucked up again, like she never had puppies! One telltale sign though is that her chest is dropped down low. Notice that the lower outline of her chest behind her front legs is considerably lower than the point of her elbow. This is desirable in the conformation of a GSD, and many breeders will wait until after their female has pups to show them because that nice curve of the sternum becomes more pronounced. If you go to the home page, you can see a pic of Jane when she was about 9 months old, and she looks so different! See See favors her at that age.

Jane will be 8 years old in a couple of months

Johnny and Jane took a trip

Johnny and Jane were born in WV where I used to live. I just sold the house; the closing was on Thursday. So we were there one last time. They got to hang out at the house and run along the creek down in the bottom. We were comfortable there for a few years, and then they adapted well to Virginia. I had very mixed feelings about selling the house, but it was more than I could manage on my own. We made the trip there and back in one day. I still had stuff to pack up, and I got a car dolly and towed the car home. I was exhausted! Special thank you to my neighbors, Gail and Nancy, for letting Nellie, Winston, Clyde, and See See out to potty while I was gone!

Jane, always attentive, in front of the living room where she was born
Johnny chilling on the front porch of the house where he was born

More success with ears!

Connie’s ears gave us all fits. They were taped and taped again. They got better, she was teething, they came down, we tried the breathe right strips, and then tried it again, and finally that lazy ear came up! She is so pretty with her ears up! Thank you for sending the pics Peggy! Gosh I hope they are up for good!

You can see where the hair was clipped, but it’s already growing back.
Connie at 6 months

Good outcome with ears using strips!

Mustang, aka Chief, the only longhaired male in the litter, had some real trouble with his ears as you remember from previous posts. With the assistance of the breathe right strips they are now standing nicely. You can see in this photo that the hair inside the ear we supported hasn’t grown back yet. Because he is longhaired, we had to use clippers so the strip would stick. Soon his owner will forget about how worried he was about those ears! Thank you, Lou, for your dedication and attention to the process, which turned out to be easier than we thought.

Mustang, aka Chief, at 6 months with perfect ears!

Guess what Clyde told me.…. DANGER, DANGER!

We had a big storm last night, and a tree fell on my fence, leaving a low place where a mischievous puppy might be tempted to explore and get out of the yard. So I went outside with Clyde, See See, and Winston to supervise. The puppies chased Winston around for a bit while Winston carried a stick up high. They started to get down to doing their business, and then Clyde jumped into the air and started barking at something on the ground…. GOOD BOY CLYDE!!!! No people or pets got hurt, thanks to Clyde, and maybe the storm. I wonder if I would have gotten to the dogs in time if i hadn’t been outside with them because of the fence.

This is a good example of why obedience is so important. Even though they weren’t finished outside, they all came when I called immediately, and I was able to get the shovel and kill this copperhead, which was right in the middle of the back yard, where all of my dogs go out to potty several times a day.
Clyde takes after his Uncle Johnny, who has intuitively alerted me many times to life threatening situations, not to mention scaring off people who thought twice about seeing me as a victim. Please comment if your dog has ever saved you or your loved ones!

Quarterhorse, aka Cooper, is doing great and lives with an older female playmate

His owner reports that he has a great laid-back temperament, and loves their 4 year old son. I love to get reports like this!
I heard from Maverick’s (now Ranger) family too, and I’m waiting on pics…. These reports are what make parting with my sweet puppies bearable.