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Paws for Puppy Tales - July 2021
Updated: Aug 1, 2021
7/25/21 Last chance for a July entry so may as well. . . . . this is the weekend that Kathy is (and I could have been) showing in St Joe, MO.; also yesterday being our annual family picnic at Beaver Lake. Even though Emily opted out due to a new tattoo that she couldn't get wet (Matt always a NO), and Jenny and John a no due to conflicting plans, and Kristen because of Gage's dental procedure the day before, so just Jim and I from our immediate family there,' it was a perfect day for hanging out in the lake and visiting with other family members. The turn out seemed a bit smaller than some in the past, but still a nice enough gathering.
In the past week or so we've had young cardinal fledglings in our backyard that I had to protect from Dolly, Winston, and Skye. Found them when Dolly was guarding "her prize"; I know there were two, possibly 3 of them. I'm pretty certain I saw 1 or 2 fly off one day and thought they were gone, only to find another one (or one of the original??) still in the yard. It was there for 4-5 days after, and a few times I wondered if I noticed problem with one of it's wings, wondering why it was taking so long to fly off. Well, after not seeing it or the mama cardinal for a day I was so sad/disappointed to find the poor thing dead in the yard along the back fence area where it had mostly stayed. Not sure how or why it died, but for all I did to try and keep it safe I was very sad to see that it didn't make it.
The day (Aug. 3rd) for Crisler and DK to arrive in the U.S. is getting closer and closer!!! I'm so happy that John will FINALLY have his new family all together. They are scheduled to arrive in the early evening and plans are for us to meet them the next day, having them here for dinner along with any other of the "kids" that might want to join us. Hoping for nice enough weather to grill burgers and maybe eat on the patio. Such a big change for Crisler and DK leaving their family there in the Phillipines, coming to an all new (better I think) country. And just only a week or so after arriving, DK will be starting school. Hopefully as the saying goes, kids are very versatile and he will have a quick and easy adjustment.
In dog news, my 3 have been just hanging out at home being normal dogs with no dog shows this past month. I've even been slacking on their baths and sometimes brushings, which is not good especially in Skye's case as she has been very matted the times when I finally did brush her out. She will get bathed today and I'm going to put her in oil hoping to keep the matting down and preparing her coat for the show coming up in Colfax, IA in two weeks. She will be having her first birthday on the 11th of August and STILL has not had her first heat cycle.
Dale Hunsberger's puppies out of his girl Faye and Winston are about 10 weeks old now. I'm getting anxious to see our pick of the litter and hope he turns out to be a good show prospect. If he is, I assume Kathy and I will hold on to him to show rather than selling him right away. Haven't really discussed it; I'm just assuming. She is also holding onto 3 of Rosa/Winston pups for possible show. Tina/Justin's River seeming to be staying to small in size for breeding, and Major, who is with Valerie Smidt right now still does not have his testicles dropped and I'm guessing they aren't going to, so he & River will likely end up being sold as a pets. Half of the sale price for them will be mine since I whelped and raised that litter.
I think that's it. . . . . end of the month, so the last of my July blog entries
7/14/21 Talked with Kathy on the phone yesterday. She told me the other day that she let Major go home with Valerie Smidt (brussels griffon lady at shows) because she thinks that she would be able to get his testicles to
come down. On the phone Kathy went on to explain that Valerie had interest in acquiring a Biewer Terrier and was interested in showing them. When Kathy told her what the going rate was, Valerie wasn't so sure and Kathy mentioned to her then that if she got Major's testicles to come down, Kathy (and I; speaking for me) would be willing to let Valerie show him to his CH and/or GCH. Not sure what that does exactly for Valerie, except giving her a puppy to show, but with her paying the show fees, I don't see any real "deal" for her except for the fun of showing a Biewer Terrier without paying for one???? Don't know that that deal is set in stone or just an option for Valerie, and until or unless she gets his testicles in place it's all still up in the air anyway. Valerie and some of her friends that were at the show in Ottumwa told Kathy about some "stuff" that was supposed to help in getting the testicles to drop, so Kathy ordered it and had it sent to Valerie. We will meet up with her again when we show in Colfax, IA in early August and keep are finger crossed and hopes up until then.
Swimming yesterday was a little bit of heaven on earth once again; Friday should be our next swim session. Later today Jim and I are picking Emily up from work to take her to dinner to celebrate her 20th birthday coming up on Friday, the 16th. She and a friend are taking a road trip to Kansas City so celebrating with her a few days early. Matt has opted out of joining us for dinner which makes both Emily and I sad. Seems he has no interest in joining in on any family gathering anymore. I am at a loss as to why it seems to slowly be getting less and less likely for him to join us for things. Seems we only hear from him when he needs something. :(
7/12/21 The first of the family (vs dog show) weekend has passed. Dodie & Charlie's anniversary party was very nice and a good time. Their "heavy hors d'oeuvres" were definitely enough for a meal and delicious. Open bar and coffee and desserts were available as well. Each of their adult kids did a very nice personalized presentation in honor of their parents. Meanwhile in Ottumwa, IA, Kathy was showing just Gem and Marshall. Kind of surprisingly, Marshall beat his mama Gem both days for BOB. With Marshall being shown by Kathy's husband Dave, Gem was able to be shown in the NOHS shows and did get a group 4 on Sunday. That is an additional 20 NOHS points for her and Marshall got 2 points total for his BOB wins, so at least this made the trip worthwhile. Gem has not been placing well for quite some time; not sure what the deal is. She is due to come into heat soon; with her GCH title achieved, maybe she just needs to retire to motherhood.
This weekend also brought a severe thunderstorm during the night on Friday into Saturday. I woke up (on the couch) to the power going out, high winds and rain. The tornado sirens went off for a short while; learned after the fact that they went off due to straight line winds. Thankfully no trees or large limbs fell in our yard, but we did not have power for almost exactly 36 hours!!! We were lucky that the weather those following days was not unbearably hot so the house didn't get uncomfortably warm. Today is Monday and we hear on the news that there are still some 40,000+ people in our county without power!
7/5/21 Nothing really new to report; just thought I would start the July blog before the month slips away. Time seems to just fly by! Rosa/Winston 6 puppies are 10 weeks old today. They are still here with me for a few days and happy to say they are all doing really well. They all seem to be eating their fill of both kibble and wet food and only "nurse" at the beginning of each free run time. I really don't know that Rosa has much milk left but she still allows them a minute or two each of these times. Afterwards, she plays with them all teaching them the right ways to play and when to back off. Aside from raising Tina's pups, it has been a while since I've had a mama and pups around, but I must say that Rosa seems like a superb mama in raising her pups. Whelping 6 pups on her very first time (first 4 all by herself), adapting to motherhood easily, no milk issues, and continuing to allow them to nurse for so long. . . . . she seems a natural, and I love it. I can't seem to remember exactly how Tina was, but I assume maybe she and her pups went back to Kathy before this time since I can't remember her having the same awesome mothering instincts like Rosa has???
Was excited earlier this week when Kathy started a group message on FB including Dale Hunsberger so that we could see current pictures of Winston's other puppies out of Dale's girl Faye. The two pups were born on May 13 and are now a little over 7 weeks old. Both are pretty cute, but especially pleased with our pick of the litter. From what I can see from the photos he looks to be maturing nicely. His face coloring might be just a shade darker than Winston and more of it, with a small white muzzle. So far so good, and I'm hoping he continues to progress well, ending up having a good bite and all of his boy parts drop down where they should be. Dale did not know their current weights but said both seem to be pretty robust puppies.
Since the show in Waverly, Ia. my excitement/fun (besides the puppies entertainment) has been our sister time at Mark & Karen's pool twice a week. Having free use of it not just once, but twice a week this year, swimming for 4 or more hours each time, it is almost like having our very own pool! Definitely so thankful for Mark & Karen's generosity in sharing their pool with us. The 4th of July came and went with no big to-do. I think our family gatherings have gone by the wayside now that the grand-kids have gotten older. It's hard to get everyone together (some seem not interested in coming at all), even at Christmas. It truly makes me sad/disappointed, while at the same time relieved not to have to prepare and host them. At this point in our lives I feel like it is the kids' time to be the host/hostesses.
That's it for now. With family events taking precedence for two weekends in July, there will be no dog shows for me until early August! Disappointed to be missing two shows taking place those exact July weekends and having to be idle in showing for about a month. But the family gatherings (Dodie & Charlies 50th Anniversary party and the Yeshnowski picnic at Beaver Lake) are something not to be missed.