December 29, 2013
We made it through Christmas and Gaston got home last night from visiting his family. It was about time he got away and had a well deserved rest. It has been a very busy time. Rita whelped her pups on Dec 21st. She had a difficult whelping and after 28 hrs of stage one labour we ended up at the vets on Sunday. After 3 shots of Oxytocin and some skilled pulling by my vet, we had three pups - all girls (I really wanted a boy). The vet thought she was done but I didn't. We took an x-ray to be sure and I was right! One more pup to go.

It was curled with it's back turned to the opening of the cervix. The vet was sure that it would never pass through the birth canal in that position and wanted to do an immediate C-section. I was uncomfortable with that and wanted to give Rita more time before we opened her up. The vet didn't seem happy about having to return on Sunday and open the clinic again for the "inevitable" C-section but I hung tough.

So we literally boxed Rita up with the three girls and I left for home. I took the box to Rita's room and began unpacking the girls. What do you think I found? There were now four pups and the last one was my boy! He was born on the way home. So happy I trusted my instincts.

The first pic is of Rita and her girls at the vet's just before we took the x-ray. The second pic is everyone boxed up for the ride home.

 
 
Rita is an excellent mom, although extremely protective. Every time I reach into the whelping box, she grabs my hand to give me a warning that she is not too happy with me - she actually bit the vet. Rita's pups are thriving!


 
Things calmed down until Christmas day when Beauty went into labour in the early morning. She worked extremely hard and I was just wondering if it would be another trip to the vet when the first pup popped out. It was a black boy! So excited to get a black Beauty and that will be his name - "Patapin Black Beauty". He was big and strong.

Next was a smaller mahogany girl followed by a very tiny clear girl. Wow! Three successful litters, luck must be changing. I spoke a little too soon as Beauty never settled with her pups and was restless with constant panting and moving around. Nothing had changed by the morning and the pups were losing weight. The tiny clear girl looked like she might not make it. Fortunately I always have goat's milk on hand when I whelp, just in case. I started supplementing with a 1 ml syringe every 2 1/2 hrs.

Today, the black boy looks good. The dark girl is doing much better and the clear girl is still touch and go. The black boy has a very strong suck as well as the dark girl. The clear girl is a challenge to feed but I am keeping her alive. Beauty will now go in with them and clean them but spends most of her time laying outside watching. She is still quite anxious and panting. I have done all the recommended things in an effort to help her and I have no idea what's wrong.

I will do the best I can with the goal to keep them going until Beauty settles down and gets some maternal instincts. This is a pic of her pups after 24 hrs. They appear bigger than they actually are.


 
So now for some news. With all the horrible luck I was having I became obsessed with the thought that the next thing would be my kennel burning down. We have supplemented the furnace with a wood stove for over 15 years. The dogs love to lay around it and absorb it's heat as the kennel can be drafty on cold
windy days. It always worried me. Some days it would smoke, others it would burn out prematurely and some days it would over heat. Then there was my over worked husband having to cut down the trees and chop the wood for the wood. You must remember that he almost cut his leg off with the chain saw in July. It also involved filling up the wheel barrel with the wood that was stored in the drive shed and cleaning out the ashes.

I decided that it was time to take control of my destiny. I reviewed many options with my heating company and final settled on overhead radiant heat - similar to what they use in hockey rinks and other cold venues. Well, I couldn't be happier! It actually heats the whole kennel with constant heat. I keep the heat circulating with the overhead fans. There are no drafts. It is installed over the wood stove so the dogs don't know the difference and they still lay around the stove. Best of all is that it only costs pennies a day. Unbelievable! It was expensive but really, can you but a price on safety and peace of mind? I think not.


 
Oliver was good company when I was alone. He would climb into the armchair and watch TV with me. He didn't see many programs as he was soon snoring. Such a good boy!


 
I had to fix poor Frankie's ears a third time but they are finally looking good.

 
 
This is Rhonda and Al's girl. I decided to call her Sunshine. She is maturing into a beautiful show prospect.


 
Best for last - I received many wonderful Christmas greetings from owners. A lot had pics. This is my favourite. Lauren and Krista sent pics of Coda and Tucker's first Christmas. Does it get any cuter than this? These lucky boys have just started agility classes - something I have always wanted to do. I can't wait to hear of their exploits and have already asked for pics.

 

Life is good..
 
December 22, 2013
I got home on Monday night. I got progressively stronger as the time passed while I was away. I was actually coming apart when I left and could barely control my shaking. I also had a hair trigger temper. All the injustice of the last two years built up and I am full of rage. Pity the poor girls at the Hertz counter where I picked up my car. The numerous glitches weren't their fault but I had to grit my teeth to get through it.

I have heard that stress can make you sick. I always thought that I was strong enough to withstand anything. I still think I can - but one thing at a time. I had multiple loss and tragedy over two years and it built up. This year I felt like I was jumping from tragedy to tragedy. My life was controlling me and I had lost purposeful control of my life.

I am much better but certainly not myself. The two main symptoms have dissipated. I no longer shake. I had also lost the ability to sleep. Before I left and during my time away, I would wake up on the hour and would get up between 3:00 and 5:30 am. I never felt tired and my mornings were very productive. I have been home for six days and last night was almost a normal sleep.

The only thing left, that I am aware of, is the incredible anger. Any insignificant thing can trigger it. Until that passes, I am best to be left by myself.

It's not all gloom and doom. I did stop to count my blessings. I have a warm nurturing place to go to get away and my husband could not be more understanding or supportive. Gaston is the true meaning of unconditional love. I also have my dogs. They used to be the source of pure joy with the rare occasion of sadness. Lately they have caused me seemingly endless pain. I am hopeful that this will turn around and 2014 will be a better year.

One last comment about writing my blog. I write it for myself. It is the only place where I can work out my feelings. Some might wonder why I am so focused on feelings. I used to be a mental health therapist and social worker. It is my formal training and experience. It comes easily to me and has been a life savor

Now to move on to happy news! I am going to focus on puppies this week. This is HB on Tuesday. She was feeling poorly and wouldn't put her ears up, which is a sign. I knew she wouldn't be long. She was restless and very clingy.


 
I wasn't far off as HB whelped her litter yesterday. I was watching her in the house and she kept going to the door. She wouldn't pee but seemed intent on getting to the kennel..I took her out with me and she immediately dove into her "whelping couch". Some may remember that HB whelped her entire litter in this same couch a year ago. She made herself comfortable and I knew she was ready to let nature take its course. I took this pic with her nose sticking out.


 
She had three beautiful girls in the couch and I brought her into the house with them. When I came in to check an hour later, there were four! She had the boy I wanted so badly. I know that she didn't look very big in the first pic but HB is long and they were all spread out.

This is HB just before I reached in and found the boy. She looks exhausted but content. Such a good mom.


 
Today, everyone is thriving. I am overjoyed. It is the first good thing that has happened to me in a long, long time. The dark pups are the girls and the lighter pup is the boy.


 
Now, if only the good things continue. I have two more litters due any day. First is Rita. Rita is a short backed girl and is just bursting with puppies. She is super clingy and stopped eating last night. I predict pups by tomorrow morning.


 
Last is Beauty. Beauty never changes and is always the same sweet, loving girl. She still watches TV on my lap in the morning. But now she takes up a lot more space.


 
If all goes well it will be the best Christmas ever!! Please send positive thoughts our way.
 
December 01, 2013
Where to start? My doctor's apt was productive. During my visit, he helped me to understand that I was using the internet to distance myself from my feelings as well as dull my feelings. It was one of those light bulb moments. I have never spent so much time on my iPhone and can see that it was fast becoming an addiction.

He reinforced that I need a complete break from Minpins, my daily routine and the internet. I am leaving tomorrow for two weeks in Florida. I am only taking a phone that Gaston purchased in the States so I can make local calls when I'm there.

I also realized that the timing of the latest tragedy was at the worst possible time. I have always suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder and have a hard time staying up beat during the late fall/winter. Therefore my coping resources are diminished.

I return on Tues Dec 16th. I will ask my webmaster if he might be able to update my site on Dec 17th. If he is unable to do that, the next update will be as usual, on Sunday Dec 22nd.

Then only nine more days of 2013. I managed to breed and show for almost 15 yrs with very few tragedies. The last two years have been a nightmare. I remember thinking that 2013 just had to be better than 2012 (three potentially fatal car accidents, losing Abi before my eyes and more) but it was worse. I am a believer that bad things happen in threes. If that applies to years, then I don't see how I will be able to continue.

I found out this week that fellow breeders have been following my blog and a lot know about my most recent loss. Apparently nothing has been said as I haven't "announced publically". That will never happen.

I have no way of knowing who reads my blog. I have always assumed that it was close friends and the families who have purchased my dogs over the years. I was initially upset and embarrassed that my "private" thoughts and happenings are out in the dog world. There is very little in my blog that I would share with another breeder at a dog show. If I am going to be judged, these are the people who will do it.

As nothing posted is every confidential, I will take my chance with my peers. It is not going to hurt for them to realize that I am human. Anyone who doesn't like what I post can stop reading.

I have had many heartfelt private messages. Only one person suggested that I "should be more careful." I momentarily burned red with emotion but have realized that his comment may have resulted from cultural differences.

I will now explain my fence. When we moved onto this 13 acre property it was surrounded by oak, three board horse fencing. The house sits on one acre in the centre of two six acres paddocks. Before I moved the dogs over, I had 5 ft chain link fencing installed around the acre that surrounded the house. Knowing Minpins, I had the installers bury the fencing six inches into the ground. This fencing has remained secure.

I then spent an additional nine thousand dollars to have the installers return and bury heavy duty mesh fencing into the ground around both six acre paddocks. That was a lot of money that long ago but well worth it for my peace of mind. I enjoyed years of safe walking on the property until small openings began to appear around the edges. This happened as the ground wasn't as level as the house and openings occurred as the earth froze and thawed. We were vigilant in closing these tiny openings but there were times when the Minpins were even more vigilant in finding them.. Far fields look greener and once they had a taste of "freedom" they actively sought out even the smallest crack and would dig to make it big enough to squeeze through. I have heard that bats can squeeze under a closed door and my Pins must be part bat.

Walking and maintaining the fence has become a weekly ritual. I do my best.

Now, let's move on.

Prize update - Prize had another placement breakdown. This was caused by two reasons. The first was that he still had deep unresolved issues from his first placement breakdown. These had to be worked through slowly and consistently. The second was that the woman would not do anything that I suggested to help Prize. The last time I spoke with her, I was in tears of pure frustration. She would say she understood, she would say she would implement what I told her, then she would do what she wanted to do. She kept repeating the same things and was expecting different results. The whole thing came to a head over Prize's house training. I finally told her to bring him back. I repeated that twice and she returned him. She didn't listen to me right to the bitter end. I told her to put Prize in a crate in the car when she brought him back. I told her this because when she picked him up, she brought a friend to hold him and she reported that he was upset and unsettled during the ride. Did she listen? Of course not. She recruited another friend, who Prize hadn't met, to hold him in the car. This has been the first time I have encountered this situation and I still can't comprehend what she was thinking or why I couldn't get through to her. Such a bad experience.

Good news is that Prize is home and it is like he never left. He is happy with one big exception. Prize is now overly attached to me. He follows me everywhere. and every time I stop walking he presses his body against my leg. It is so sad. I have always believed that every dog deserved their own forever family. There is nothing that can replace that sense of belonging and the one on one attention. Is Prize now going to miss out on his own family?? I hope not.

Now for the happy Minpin happenings. It has been a long haul but Deb, with entire family in tow, picked up Manley from Quarantine, He is now settling into his new family. I spoke to Deb for almost an hour last night. I look forward to many regular updates and pics. These pics of Manley, taken a few hours after he arrived home, need no explanation

 


For a change of pace, I took this one last night. I managed to pick up a giant table this summer and it is where I keep all my dog bedding. This is the table just before I started to make up the beds for another night's sleep. Cowboy has decided that the huge pile of beds make a wonderful nest. He roots around and eventually burrows down into the pile where he can vanish for hours.


This is Chance. He left at the beginning of the year. I decided to post this pic to show how gorgeous and happy he was. Then I noticed the lead. It is a timely lesson. Joe was having problems house training Chance, so I told her to keep him on a lead until she could trust him.. She now reports that everything seems under control but will continue to use the lead until she is sure the behavior is solid. This is one of the many things that I told Nancy to do with Prize that she didn't do.


On to darling little MJ. This puppy is the spitting image of Manley, temperament and all. My hope right now is that he will grow big enough to be able to follow his dad's footsteps into the ring. If not, he is going to make someone a very special addition to their home. Although the smallest pup, MJ thinks he is the biggest. He loves to climb up on the table and sleep with the big guys. [


Even though MJ thinks he is a big guy he is really just a baby at heart. He is the only puppy who hasn't given up on getting a drink from mom. Even though the others have figured out that Fanta's milk has dried up, MJ tries as hard as he can to see if he can squeeze even one little drop out. Just look at the the huge effort he makes - so determined and so focused! <g> And of course, Fanta, ever patient.

 


Simon and Frankie are the only two that weren't born at Patapin. They have formed a close and loving bond. I often find them snuggled up together. Frankie is so passionate about Simon that I caught him holding Simon down so he could groom/kiss him all over his head. I must admit that I have never seen such devotion.

 


Lots of opportunity to smile around the kennel. Yesterday, I found Cowboy doing his best toy imitation. Many would have been fooled but not me! The toy box has become one of his favourite places to hang out. And yes, he is the one who also likes to hang out in the dog bedding on the table. Cowboy is nothing if not versatile.


Finally, back to the puppies. Little Serious is a full sister to Siri. She couldn't be more adorable. I am so excited that her ears are going to stand. After my horrific experience with Frankie's ear crop, if her ears stay up, I will not get her cropped. I haven't shown a natural eared dog since Mouse, many years ago. He finished quickly with a Group 4 placement.


Now the most important thing. I need to find lovely Sara a home. Sara is the little girl who was born with the deformed front leg. She climbs, runs, terrorize her siblings and inhales her food like a maniac. She is the one that I coined as "handi-capable". Sara is in no way handicapped by her leg. If her leg had been normal, she would have been pick puppy. She is the smartest, the most adventurous, the most affectionate and the most demanding of the bunch. (yes, she is a bit of a brat) I am up in my office doing the blog and I heard Sara howling at the foot of the stairs. All the other pups were curled up in their bed. She wouldn't stop, so I gave in and went and got her along with the others. Now she is content. lol BTW, this is my first litter who haven't mastered the stairs by now.

Sara is a special girl and I know that there are many special families out there. Please let me know if you would like to meet Sara. This is Sara with her brother and sister. Sara is on the left.


Sara today

One last thing. If you just can't get enough of the Patapin drama, you can invite me to be your FB friend. I post there a lot.
 
November 24, 2013
I lost Siri on Wednesday. She wasn't waiting at her crate at bedtime. She is often a naughty girl so I wasn't too worried. I put everyone else to bed before I started looking. After having no success after 10 minutes, I got my husband up to help.

Gaston and I searched for two hours in every conceivable location - closets, basement, complete house, then fence line on both sides, north and south paddock, barn, driveshed and every nook and cranny in the kennel.

I was getting more and more panicked and hit clenching terror had set in.

Finally I asked Gaston to walk the side of the road. He came back 20 minutes later and said he found her - immediate elation and relief! I asked where she was and then he told me that he found her in the middle of the road in front of the north neighbours. He said it looked like she had been there for a while.

I have no idea how she got out or when. I didn't walk the dogs today as its below freezing.

All I can think of is that I had been out to the driveshed for more wood twice today.

She must have slipped out then. But then she would have ended up in my securely fenced north paddock where I walk all the dogs safely at least once a day. I will never know how it happened but will wonder forever.
 
I could go on and on about my reaction and what her sudden death has done to me. Of course everything was compounded by all the loss I have suffered this year, most recently Rhonda's litter. Also "losing" Manley hurt. By no way is his moving to Australia tragic but he was one of my three heart dogs and it was a loss none the less. Siri was the second heart dog. Now I have one left - Mazie. She is my only connection to Leggy after her shocking death last summer. To be honest, I find myself worrying constantly about Mazie being next.

Severe grief is interesting. It has caused me to be able to go about my routines as I feel disconnected from my body. I feel like I am outside looking down. I am devoid of emotion. What happened to Siri seems like it happened to someone else. The person doing the chores, caring for the dogs, posting on FB and returning and sending emails is someone else.

The only "symptom" is a deep burning knot of pain in my stomach. I think that is where everything is contained right now. I did notice this morning that I haven't gotten dressed since it happened. Only time was when I had someone arriving to pick up a dog. I dressed and showered at the very last minute and when she left, I went right back to PJ's.

If I don't snap out of this soon, I realize that I will have to make a doctor's apt. I just have too many responsibilities around here. I must make sure that I am healthy and fully functional.

These are my two favourite pics of Siri. One is where she was watching over me as I napped at a dog show this summer. The other is just Siri being Siri. She could jump the wall that keeps everyone else out and would come bursting through the dog door as soon as I got up in the morning. She just seemed to know. Then she would proceed to make herself comfortable Here, she is sound asleep in her favourite chair.

 
 
I have had to take several breaks during my account of Siri. For some reason I kept breaking down in tears. Fortunately the detached person is back and I will now continue on and share some of the good things that have happened this week.

oops momentarily forgot about poor Frankie. It's a long story but dealing with his ears has been very stressful for me. He seems to have had a reaction to the Skin Bond and/or the adhesive on his crop. Then on top of that, the cup dug into his head and caused a very deep, infected laceration. The outside of his ears look like raw hamburger. Frankie is very upset when I try to take care of them. They seem to be as painful as they look. If he can spot me coming to get him, he runs away and I have to chase him for a few minutes. Then he screams and fights desperately to get away when as soon as I pick him up. I feel so helpless as there is nothing I can do to make it better.

Now for the good things - Prize left for his new home with Nancy on Friday. Nancy brought a harness for Prize identical to the ones that Laura bought her two pups. Doesn't Prize look so proud and Nancy so happy?? I will talk about his adjustment next week.


 
Nancy will also be coming back for "handicapped" Sara in a couple of weeks. She is quite the girl. All four pups were squabbling over one pig's ear. All of a sudden it went quiet. I turned around to see what happened and this is what I saw. Sara had chased them all away and was enjoying the prize all by herself. Can you say dominant??


 
Now to share some of the puppies amusing antics. I drink my coffee, read the paper and do my grocery list in front of the fire on Friday morning, while the puppies run around. I suddenly looked up to see Rhonda's girl had managed to get up on the coffee table. Not only that but she decided that she would like a drink of my bottled water. I managed to grab my camera in time but but before I was able to put it down, she had knocked the bottle over.


 
Then little MJ entertained me while he was chewing his first bone. He is so perfect but oh so tiny. If he doesn't have a growth spurt, he will be available.


 
Lastly, we have what I refer to as the bunk bed caper. People who have seen this pic say it looks like Rhonda has managed to hide from the puppies in order to get a bit of rest. If that is the case, she picked a strange but amusing place to hide. <g> Nov 24


 
November 16, 2013
********WARNING!!!!

At the end of this update I talk about the heartache of being a breeder. I was going to post several pics but decided that one graphic pic said it all. For anyone at all squeamish or just someone who is upset by seeing a pic pups who didn't survive, please discontinue reading to the end or don't read this update at all. My hope is that by finally getting it out, I will be able begin to heal.


Now for the good things.

Deb sent a pic from her last visit with Manley. She apologized for not taking more pics but said she wanted to use most of her precious time (visits are 30 min only) focusing on Manley. This pic warmed my heart. It reminded me that Manley is a big cuddler who loves his "people". It was proof that Deb has become one of his people. Just the look in his eyes tells me that Manley, in only several, weekly, half hour visits has managed to form a loving bond with his new mom. We just passed the half way mark. Deb tells me that the time is going quickly with her but it seems endless to me.


 
The puppies now come to the kennel for half the day. They roam everywhere and get on and off the couch like pros. This is a pic of Rhonda on the couch. I think she may have been trying to take a break from the pups and got up onto the couch, but there was no escaping them! In the pic, Rhonda is nursing two of Fanta's pups - the black girl and little MJ. Rhonda is a warm, loving, nurturing and ever patient mother


 
Rhonda is also a bit of a comedian. I put a very tiny sleeping bag down for the puppies. I figured that it would be a tight squeeze to get all four pups in the bag. Before the pups even had a chance to explore the bag, Rhonda zoomed over and squeezed her big body into it. It was my first laugh of the morning.


 
I was surprised and pleased to see that Rhonda's little girl has her ears standing all ready! In anticipation of an eventual ban on cropping, I am trying to incorporate natural ears into my breeding program so it was exciting to see.


 
repeat warning**** Graphic pic comes after next posting.

Now for one of the most adorable puppy pic that I have ever seen and I have seen hundreds. One of the reasons that it is so unfortunate to have a singleton is that puppies crave comfort and contact with their littermates. This pic says it all, I mean could these pups get any closer together?


 
It is true that breeding healthy, happy puppies can be one of life's joys. Watching them grow and mature is so rewarding. It is exciting to watch for the one stand out pup that will be my next show dog and yes, possible BIS. (I never give up the dream!}

But is not for the faint hearted. I have had some of my worst moments from my dogs. When something unexpected happens it puts me in the very depths of despair. I have never felt more pain, heartache, or shed more tears than when I have a tragedy, and I have had plenty. There have been times when I have seriously questioned if I have the strength to go on. Rhonda's litter is an example of one of my worst moments.

Rhonda developed a huge belly when she was in whelp. She was in tip top condition right up to the moment she went into labour. She never missed a 30 minute walk nor did she stop eating (as most do) just prior to going into labour.

Rhonda had been in the house for a couple of days as I got increasingly excited about the upcoming event. Then she began showing signs of being in labour around 8:30 am. Most of my bitches haven't been so accommodating and I have spent many sleepless nights whelping puppies.

The first pup born was a healthy boy. So exciting because I had hoped to get a new stud out of Rhonda and Al to carry on their lines. The next pup was a very tiny girl. So tiny in fact, that I knew that it was going to be a lot of work keeping her alive. Then Rhonda stopped. No contractions and no puppies. She didn't seem to be in distress so I waited almost four hours before getting concerned. It is not unusual for bitches to take long breaks in between whelping puppies.

Fortunately my vet had prescribed me something to help with a bitch who isn't having contractions or contractions aren't strong enough to be productive. It is called oxytocin. It is not recommended for inexperienced breeders and must be used with caution. I gave Rhonda an injection and after about five minutes her contractions began. Oxytocin doesn't always work the first time and you are allowed to give up the three injections the appropriate time apart.

I gave Rhonda her second injection and productive contractions soon began. She had three, large, perfectly formed pups in less than an hour - two girls and a boy. As I do, I removed the sac from the first one and began rubbing and flinging him to get everything started. After about five minutes, I was frantic as the pup remained totally unresponsive. I worked for another 20 minutes, trying everything including placing the pup in tepid water and drying it vigorously. I didn't put the first pup down until I saw that the second pup was coming. I placed him in a warm bag with a heating pad while I assisted with the second pup.

Again, I had the identical results as the first pup. I was frantic and pulled out all the stops on recessitation. When the third pup came, I put her alongside her brother in the heated bag. It was another girl, perfect to the eyes but totally unresponsive. By this time I was walking in circles as I tried to get her breathing and I was crying pretty hard. Again, nothing worked. I put them all next to Rhonda to let her try, along with the other two pups. She licked them and nudged them. Nothing.

Finally, when I accepted reality, I tried to take them away from her but she wouldn't let me. She became frantic and followed me as I walked away. So I gave them back to her. By morning, Rhonda had also accepted reality and I was able to remove them while she concentrated on the two living pups.

The boy was nursing well and I was feeding the tiny girl, every two hours with an eye dropper. I use unpasteurized goat's milk with a bit of syrup added. She was cooler to the touch and every time I went in to feed her, she had moved to the outside of the whelping box - two sure signs that a puppy is fading, or dying. However she was still eating, so I continued on.

In the meantime I was concerned that the healthy boy might have a distended stomach. Before I had time to be overly concerned, I found him dead two hours later. Such a shock! Such a terrible blow to my fragile emotions! I didn't announce the litter and still haven't been able to talk about what happened, even to my closest friends. It still brings me to tears when I think about it.

However, soon after, I noticed that the girl seemed to be getting bigger. A couple of days later I went in to feed her and she was latched onto mom. I was still pretty numb to realize what a miracle this was. Today she is feisty, healthy and gorgeous. She actually the one with the natural standing ears pictured above,

I was going to put up a pic of the boy that didn't make it but reconsidered. This one pic of Rhonda with her complete litter of five is enough. You can see how exhausted and distressed Rhonda is. The tiny girl and the boy are on the left. So, so overwhelming sad.


 
November 10, 2013
I was going to tell the tragic story of my last litters today but there have been just too many good things happening so where to start?

It is always good to start off with puppies, everyone's favourite including mine. This a pic of Fanta's litter taken this morning in front of the fire. If you can't tell, they are all curled up into a big beige teddy bear. It's interesting to note that although Rhonda's girl has had play dates with Fanta's gang since the beginning, she knows that she doesn't really belong. When the playing is over and everyone is tired, R's little girl climbs back in her pen whether mom is there or not.


 
Manley might have left but he has left me his clone to take his place. This is little MJ (Manley Junior) His ears are almost up and he is the spittin' image of his dad. So exciting to watch him grow up.

 
 

Still on the subject of pups, Fanta's little girl Sara, with the deformed front leg, is simply incredible. She is the biggest, boldest, smartest and most active one of all. The pups are now coming to the kennel under supervision. Much to my surprise, I looked over last night and couldn't see Sara playing on the blanket with her littermates. Then, I spotted her right in front of my face - she had climbed up on the back of the couch for a little nap. You can see the others playing on the floor behind her. A few hours later I again found her curled up on the couch. Such a smart, determined baby. She knows that the couch is way more comfortable than the floor! told my friend Meredith that I would have to come up with another word as Sara certainly wasn't handicapped. She suggested "handicapable". I think it fits perfectly!

 


Rolling right along, Sara has found the perfect home! Nancy, who had to put her little Zena down last week made a visit to see my dogs. She had emailed that it wouldn't be until spring until she would be ready for another but since she was only 1 1/2 hr away, she wanted to come and take a look. First thing she did when she walked in the room was scoop up little Sara and hold her to her cheek. I noticed tears in her eyes as she cuddled her close. Talk about love at first sight. Sara was the one she wanted. Such a wonderful match. Nancy is a nurse who only works two days a week. Her husband is home full time. They never leave their dogs alone and if they can't take their dog, they don't go. One person is ALWAYS with the dog. They never let them out of their sight. Now how special is that? They have had three Minpins who have all died before their time with congenital problems that Nancy and her husband have spent thousands of dollars trying to fix. This time Nancy was determined to come to a reputable breeder.

Yes, Sara has a deformed front arm but she is thriving, healthy and happy. She has already adjusted and as she was born that way, Sara doesn't even realize that she is different. Right now she thinks she is better than the others and she might be right!

Now please sit down for the most incredible news of all!!!!! Nancy had seen Prize's story on my blog and was curious to meet him. Prize has done an amazing job of recovering from his nightmare ideal. probably a better job than I have. He is just slightly more timid and more clingy to me. I brought Prize in as Nancy was looking at puppies. THE most amazing thing happened. He gravitated right to Nancy and then her husband. Didn't even seem to have a preference. I didn't even give them treats to tempt him over for introductions. Prize would stand to be petted and when either one would stop petting him, he would nudge their hand to keep going - you all know what that is like. Then he was asking to be picked up. I could barely believe my eyes! This is Prize approaching Nancy.


It couldn't have been more different than his experience with the first family. On their first visit, they were here for three hours before he would come to them. I gave them cookies and finally resorted to roast beef to tempt him to come over. I just thought that was the kind of dog he was and it would take a while. How wrong I was! Of course now I am blaming myself like crazy for not knowing better. When they left with him, I was 85% sure but not 100%. That is so unlike me not to trust my gut. Bad, bad me.

Of course, Nancy took to Prize as easily as he took to her so they are taking him as well. I am getting Prize neutered on Tuesday and they will pick him up when he has recovered. I have to keep pinching myself to believe this is actually happening. My worst nightmare has turned into a beautiful dream.

Now for an update on Manley. Deb is amazing. She has spent every minute with Manley that she is allowed, taking him toys, treats and delicious stew. On her last visit, Manley was allowed into the exercise yard for the first time. Although it was burning hot, he did enjoy his first taste of outdoors. One week down and three to go. This is a pic of Manley gazing longingly at freedom in the distance. Still miss him a lot.


 
Lastly I have decided to place my last black boy. Brazen is the only pup out of Beauty's first litter. He has his mom's personality through and through. he is all wiggly and affectionate. He loves to lay on my lap, belly up, just like his mom. Brazen is active, intelligent and turns himself inside out trying to please. I have kept him for so long because of his beautiful pedigree. However, he he has a very wide front and swings his legs when he moves. I just can't bring myself to breed him like that, no matter how good his pedigree is. He was born on January 26, 2012. I am getting him neutered along with Prize on Tuesday. My faith has been renewed in finding good homes for my young adults!

The first pic is Brazen guarding his bone by the fire. He has the "this is my bone and don't you dare come near it" look in his eyes. Just then we went on a walk and brazen brought his bone along. He stopped every now and again to give it a chew. lol

 
 
November 03, 2013
Starting off with some happy news, Angus has found a wonderful home. My blog was updated on Saturday and Angus left Sunday so I apologize to everyone who inquired about Angus throughout the week. I have also had a serious inquiry for Sara. They are coming on Tuesday to meet her. They are an experienced Minpin home and spend 24/7 with their dogs. Will let you know how it goes.

How better to have a cheerful, lighthearted blog than to talk about puppies!! This is a pic of the little chubbies eating. Although they still latch onto mom any chance they can get, they are gobbling up my puppy stew mixed with premium canned puppy with gusto!


When it goes in, it has to come out. Each time I have a litter, I swear that I am going to train them to go on artificial turf. I have made efforts in the past but I haven't succeeded because I was inconsistent and they had opportunities to go on the floor when they were out playing by the fire. This of course undermined everything I was trying to do in their run.

This time I had everything covered. From the first time I took them out to play I surrounded their dog bed with turf. Lo and behold - it is actually working!!! They go every time their feet touches the turf. I am so proud of myself.


I added a mirror to my bag of socializing toys this time. Here is an adorable pic of one of the girls discovering the mirror for the first time. You can almost hear her say, "Wow! A new friend who looks just like me


I put all the pups in a dog bed and Rhonda moved in to mother them all. Sadly, Rhonda lost 4 of her 5 pups at whelp and just seemed to know that their should be more. I will tell what happened in a later blog. Rhonda was in her glory as she fed, cleaned and cuddled with them all.


I have also started taking them out to the kennel as their socialization progresses. This is Rhonda and her one girl looking out at all the other dogs.


One last pic of two girls playing kissy face. They are incredibly entertaining at this age.

It's been refreshing to be able to write a blog that is full of happiness. Thanks to all who stood by me in recent times of troubl.
 
October 26, 2013
I'll start out with my special needs puppy girl, Sara. Sara was born with a deformed front leg. It bends at right angles at the elbow, towards her body. I tried splinting it at the start as I thought it might be constricted tendons but it soon became clear that it was just an anomaly Fanta had three pups on September 24th and Sara is the clear red. She was a stand out from the very beginning. She was into her mom's food at six days old which is unheard of. Sara was also escaping from her crate and motoring across the floor at about the same age. She was and has always been the biggest, strongest and most brave.

Sara not only gets around as well as the others, she is usually first in line. She roughhouses with the best. She has a voracious appetite and enjoys life to the fullest. Right now, Sara is walking on her elbow. As she matures, she will begin to hold that leg up and move on three legs. As a three legged pup, Sera will have a happy, full and normal life. As you know, I am very particular about where my puppies go. That's nothing compared to my expectations for Sara's new family.

The following pics depict Sara from birth until today.

     


Sadly, it's been a pretty awful week. I had been looking forward to my friend Chia's visit for weeks. He is from Malaysia and purchased one of my Pins eight years ago. We have remained in contact and have become close friends. Chia was in Chicago on business and flew into Detroit. I picked him up at the Detroit airport to bring him home for a three day visit. We talked excitedly about all the things we were going to do as we travelled to Port Huron to cross the border. We crossed the border and were directed to Canadian Immigration. It was there that I realized that my world traveler friend had forgotten to get a Visa. Of course he was refused entry into Canada and sent back. This took more than two hours. Such disappointment!!

We decided that Chia would stay in a hotel in Port Huron and I could visit him there with the dogs. I inputted the Comfort Inn into my GPS and it wasn't until it was too late that we discovered that it was taking me to the Comfort Inn in Sarnia. So we ended up back at the Canadian Security check point AGAIN!! I was terrified about what would happen to us now. After another two hours at Canadian Immigration Chia was once again refused entry to Canada but not until they had threatened to arrest him. So stressful!! I have never been on the wrong side of the law before and it was worse than I imagined.

I took Chia to his hotel, got him settled and headed home. This time I ended up in a 1 1/2 hour line up on the bridge. I had left my house at 7:00 am and got home at 2:00 am - totally and completely exhausted.

The first pic is of Chia at Canadian Immigration before we found out he couldn't enter Canada. The second pic was taken by our waitress in the restaurant where Chia gave me the souvenirs that he had brought. I have the beautiful, hand painted batik on with the other things displayed in front on the table. Chia looks happy but I look like a dead fish. I am just not good at hiding my feelings and I looked pretty much the way I felt - awful!

 


The other experience was literally a horrible nightmare. I was elated that I found Prize a home and the family left with him in a crate at 6:00 pm. I pottied Prize before they left and told them not to let him out of his crate until they got him in the house. They lived in Woodstock so it was a 2 1/2 hour drive. About 10:00 I got a call from the woman saying that they had stopped 1/2 hour from home and took Prize out to pee. Prize panicked and they lost him into the night at a Tim Horton's along the highway. Prize had been gone for three hours by the time they called. I said I would be right there but they told me not to come as they had enough people looking for him. As I raced to look for Prize I didn't believe that he would ever be found. I mean a small black dog, lost in the night, with a three hour head start - what were the chances?

When I got there a trucker pulled up and saw that there was a group of people in the Tim's parking lot with flashlights. He asked if we were looking for a dog and reported that he had seen a small dog near a truck yard about 5 km away. I took off and the family made a wrong turn so I got there first. I set off calling Prize and after less than five minutes I saw a little black dog coming towards me in the distance!!! That was an absolute miracle and I was elated. Prize was terrified and it took me a while to coax him into coming to me. I scooped him up and he was shaking like a leaf. I walked back towards my vehicle and the woman was sitting in her car. Everyone else was standing around. I told her that Prize wasn't in very good shape and I was going to take him home so he could recover in a familiar environment. She immediately screamed that I was not taking her dog!!! I kept walking to my vehicle and people were crowding me in an effort to slow me down. . Three cars took off and by the time I got there they had me barricaded to the curb with a car in front, back and side. They were all screaming that I was not going anywhere and they were calling the police. I was in the middle of an angry mob.

I was terrified that I was going to get hurt so I drove up over the curb onto the grass and ended up back on the road. As I drove away everyone jumped in their cars and started following me. Luckily I drive a big powerful SUV and I floored it. I had soon left them far behind When I got home my husband said I was to call the London police. I spoke to a Constable for almost an hour and regardless of what I said he kept repeating that I would be charged with theft for taking their "property" without their consent. I hung up and wondered if I would actually keep Prize safe if it meant getting a criminal record.

The next day I received an email from the woman saying that they still wanted Prize but were prepared to accept my decision as long as they got a full refund. The abrupt change of heart was understood when the Constable called and told me that he had contacted them and spent a long time convincing them that they needed to be reasonable. I am so glad that I explained my position to him in so much detail. He was listening after all.

I now have that frightening experience behind me but Prize is still suffering the effects. He has gone from second in command to the bottom of the totem pole with the other dogs. He has lost all his confidence. I am sure he will recover in time as will I. I have posted a pic of Prize and the couple getting ready to leave. Little did I know what was in store for me in a few hours time.


So there you go - within a few days I found myself on the wrong side of the law twice. Doesn't get much crazier or more stressful than that!

Just to add to my stress, Manley had his final vet appointment today and will be leaving for Australia on Monday. I will miss him terribly. They say that having pets reduces stress and causes you to live longer. It is also true that enough stress can make you sick and even kill you. I am hoping that the two will even out and I will be here for my dogs for a long, long time.

Hopefully things will settle down and we will be back to normal by next weekend. I have lots of adorable puppy pics I am dying to share!
 
October 20, 2013
The most exciting news this week is for my readers. Unfortunately a big disappointment for me became a wonderful opportunity for someone else. Angus was going to be my new stud and show puppy but I discovered that his bite was level rather than scissor as required to show. It breaks my heart to place this amazing puppy. He has the best temperament I have ever seen. The first time he was out of the kennel, I took him to a big, noisy, country Fair. He wasn't fazed by the huge crowds of people or the loud noises from the Midway. Tail never went down. He approached everyone and met his first child. After sniffing her hand, he went right in and gave her a big hug. I couldn't believe my eyes - such rare behavior. He is also one of the most beautiful blacks I have ever seen so he is the whole package. I think he will be scooped up quickly so if you have been wanting a black boy for a while, the first qualifying home gets Angus.

Still on the good news, Prize left today. He went home with Dionne and Kurt, who have a five year old boy, Nathan. They are a simply amazing couple who not only convinced me to entrust them with Prize but actually made me feel excited about doing it. I am just so happy for Prize. He has been waiting for a long time for his forever home but that was mostly due to me being so particular. He did have a lot of inquiries.


 
Of course it has become impossible to do a blog update without mentioning Siri. She is such a unique girl, certainly one of a kind. I had my good friend Chia come to visit from Malaysia. Siri took to him right away and and sat on his shoulder in the car as we toured around, seeing the sights. Chia was instantly enamored and I had to search his bag this morning as he threatened to steal her.


 
I was entered in a show this weekend but I only went on Saturday as I wanted to spend as much time with Chia as I could. Siri was a bit annoyed to be defeated by little Simon as it was Simon's first time in the ring. Simon completely devastated the competition which included a male Special. Siri wasn't too shabby as she was Winners Bitch, Best Bred By Exhibitor and also beat the male Special by going Best of Opposite Sex. Now Siri is only one point from finishing. She could have finished on Sunday but it was Chia's last day and good friends are more important than dog shows. Can't actually believe I actually said that!! <g>

After all the excitement, Siri relaxed in front of the fire this morning on her favourite chair. She is such a Diva!!!


 

Only sad news for me but happy news for Deb is that Manley leaves one week from tomorrow. I will miss him terribly.
 
October 13, 2013
Big news this week is our new puppy, Angus. Angus will have been at Patapin for one week tomorrow. I have been trying to establish a black bloodline for some time now. Angus has an amazing pedigree and Is actually related Fanta. Angus and Fanta have the same sire. His name is Keeper and is definitely one of my favourite black boys. Angus has a lovely head and a beautiful expression.


 
Just about everything is about Angus this week. He has a wonderful temperament a fit in quickly and seamlessly. I took this stacked pic of Angus on one of our walks. Such a pretty boy. He has an apt to get his ears cropped next week.


 
After we got back from Angus' first walk I was standing while I checked my emails. I looked down and saw this little bundle curled up on my shoes. Talk about instant bonding! I mean how could you not love that??


 
I bought the Pins a new toy box at a second hand store and Angus was the first one to check it out. The toy box is a big hit. Now I need to teach them to put their toys away before they go to bed. I will keep you posted on my progress. lol


 
The last pic of Angus melts my heart every time I look at it. I took him to a local Country Fair this morning. It was his first time out being socialized. The Fair was noisy and hectic. We weren't there long when Angus met his first child ever. After smelling her hand he did something that astounded me. He ran right in and gave her a big hug. I mean, does it get any cuter than this?


 
I am confident that Angus will give me many beautiful puppies. After I make my show picks there should be some left over for the people on my list that are patiently waiting for a black baby Black girls are the most in demand by families wanting a pet with black boys a close second. I could sell dozens but then I am not a volume breeder. I breed for myself and the show ring. Then I search until I have found exceptional homes for the ones that don't qualify.

The only other Pin that gets a mention this week is little Rita. I found her all curled up on a metal box on the patio. Because it is metal it was the warmest thing around. She stayed there for over an hour. Such a sweet girl.


 
Lastly is a new endorsement. Rosa has sent me regular updates since she picked up Romeo almost three years ago. Romeo is Fanta's litter mate and was the only one that wasn't show quality in Leggy's litter of four who all finished their championships very quickly. Check him out! Oct 13/13
 
October 06, 2013
Once again I will start with the puppies. Fanta and Manley's are thriving! They are chubby, strong and super healthy. Also, they are super evolved. On day 4, I had to put a barricade across the bottom of their whelping box as I would come into my office and find the two girls half way across the room. The earliest I have had to do that with other litters was at two weeks. Even more startling is that at day 8 I found those same two girls eating Fanta's food!! Now that is absolutely unheard of. I shared that on FB and all my doggie friends agreed that they had never had puppies eat soft food before two weeks old. Even more amazing was that it wasn't the puppy canned that I mostly feed but raw, ground beef. They were gobbling as fast as they could. You will see a pic of all three, then a pic of the black girl with her head in Fanta's bowl and then the clear girl devouring some spilled ground beef.

Speaking of pups, Laura, who made the frozen teething treats for Coda and Tucker, sent pics of them in their new cuddle sacs. She saw them here and emailed later to ask where I got them. She ordered two from my friend in Texas that makes them. They are lined in pure wool and are luxury at it's finest. She told me that they must remember mine as they crawled right in and curled into contented little balls.


Then something that makes me very, very happy!! Prize found his forever home this weekend. His new family visited from Woodstock. The mom is home full time which you will recall is my favourite kind of family. They have a five year old called Nathan. In addition to having someone home full time, they impressed me in just about every other way. Once they had made their decision about Prize, we went out on the patio to meet the other dogs from a distance. Nathan wanted to sit on the wall, then he wanted to dangle his legs over and finally he would have happily jumped right in if mom didn't keep a tight hold on him. As you will see from the pics, Belle stole the show with her hugs and kisses. You are about to see a pic of Belle kissing Nathan, and then she cleaned the dad's face. The last one is of Nathan petting Siri, the mountain goat. They were very impressed that Siri was able to climb the brick wall to meet them.Siri has been doing this for months and is the only dog that was able to master that feat. Now I can't keep her out of the house.

I can't believe that Manley will be gone at the end of the month. I have started to pay attention to some of his favourite toys to send with him. Right now, the baby dinosaur is number one.


 
We will end with Manley's dad, Al. Al is dominate dog and runs the kennel. He feels free to steal anything that he wants from the others. One day last week I put some kibble in an empty milk jug. The Pins were having fun pushing it around the floor, trying to get the kibble out. Al decided that he wanted the jug all for himself. Even though the jug was just was as big as he was, Al grabbed it and went racing off to put it in his crate. So funny! You should have seen the looks on the other's faces!


 
September 29, 2013
Let's start off with some puppies! Fanta whelped on September 24th. Proud daddy is Manley. Manley starts his journey to Australia on October 28th and I made sure he left something behind to remind me of him. We now have a black girl, stag boy and clear girl to carry on on his behalf. I'm sure going to miss the little guy.

The black girl and stag boy are strong and healthy and perfect in every way. The clear girl is strong and healthy but she has a deformed front leg - something I have never had before. After doing some research I thought it could be constricted tendons, so I put a tiny splint on it to keep it straight. Her bones are made up of cartledge at this age and it went on easily. She hasn't complained one bit. I change it every second day.


Fanta pups on day three


Clear girl just after she was born


puppy with improvised splint
I have a feeling, that this sweet girl may have special needs as she grows and will require a very special home.

The hooligans were up to no good this week. I had a part for the wood stove delivered and it came in a big box with foam packaging. I went into the house to have lunch cam back 30 minutes later and this is what I walked into, They haven't had this much fun since they destroyed a 12 pack of paper towels.


If that wasn't enough, the very next day I came home with a gigantic plastic bag full of a dozen new crate pads. I left them on the table in the bag but that didn't last long. I had barely turned around and they were at it again. In the act of pulling and tearing the bag, they managed to wrap up Sprinkles. She looked like a sausage in clear plastic. Of course they then started to torment her and poor Sprinkles was completely helpless. I know that it is Manley on top. I can't recognize the one on the bottom as he was moving and twisting so fast he is just a blur. Can you see poor Sprinkles between Manley on top and the one on the bottom?

Finally Sprinkles escapes, none the worse for wear.


We have been having beautiful weather and I want to share Simon's latest glamour shot that I captured on a walk. He was fixated on the neighbour's donkeys and stacked right up like a star.


We are still going for our last walk at 8:30 but now it's dark. I take a big lantern and off we go. I took this pic last night of us going down the path.


Cowboy has decided that he is going to supervise me as I mix their supper. He manages to get up on a ledge in their sleeping room and watches me through a screened window. The window overlooks the bigger room and directly at me as I stand at the sink and get things ready. This is the most exciting time for everyone and he wants to watch every minute.


 
Last one is revisiting how spoiled my pups are that are already in their new families. Last week we saw Nate sprawled out on a luxurious dog bed from the Westin Hotel. This week Laura sent me a pic of the "pupcicles" she made for her boys who are teething. She froze ice cubes onto narrow chew sticks and they loved them! In my book these are spoiled, lucky boys and this is certainly the first time I have ever heard of anything like this. lol
 
September 22, 2013
I decided not to replace my laptop. I had nothing but problems and it frustrated me to no end. Now that I have gotten used the shock of having it and my printer hit by lightening, I say good riddance laptop. My plan is to get an iPad. I absolutely love my iPhone to the point of borderline addiction.

I have a show coming up in Monroe MI this weekend and have entered Siri. I am taking Simon for socialization and hope to be able to enter him soon.

In the States you need 15 pts and two majors to finish a champion. It's much more difficult than Canada. Siri has five pts and no majors so she has a long way to go.

Not much is happening around here as I concentrate on puppy watch. I can't believe how much I am enjoying the normalcy. My goodness, it's been two weeks without any drama. I hope it continues.

As far as puppy watch goes, today is day 63 for Rhonda. She is SO large and uncomfortable that I predicted she would have whelped by Friday. I then remembered that she whelped on day 63 last time so maybe today. I hope she starts soon and spares me an all-nighter.

She was lying beside me on the couch this morning while I had my coffee and watched the Morning Show. One pic is worth a thousand words as you will see. You can also see (if you look behind her back leg) that her milk has come in. Come on Rhonda girl put us both out of our misery.


 
Just as I was preparing to sign off I received a wonderful update from Shirley. She picked up Nate one year ago November. When you check out the endorsement page you will see that Nate is living the life of Riley. I work my butt of to find the perfect home for each puppy and it pays off every time I hear from the new owners. We never compromise at Patapin.
 
September 15, 2013
Let's get the bad news over with. We had a terrible thunder and lightening storm on Thursday. When I sat down in the kennel to do my blog yesterday, I discovered that my fairly new laptop and even newer printer had burned out and were dead as door nails. Aside from the financial loss, I lost all my dog pics which was even more upsetting. One day I will learn my lesson and back everything up but this week there will be no pics.

Last night I was watching an educational show on dogs. It showed three breeds from the moment they were born to the time they were three months off. When they were showing the whelping, which was very graphic, my dogs started going nuts. I soon realized that they had recognized the sounds that new born puppies make and were frantically searching all over for them. I have two bitches due to whelp within the next 10 days and the mothers were completely inconsolable. Soon, most of them realized that the sounds were coming from the TV. They froze and had their eyes glued to the screen but the moms kept jumping at the TV which is up high on a counter. I jumped up and switched to another station as I was afraid they were going to hurt themselves. It was fascinating to watch. It reminded me that my dogs are a constant source of education and fun.

The excitement starts next weekend with Rhonda due to whelp on Sunday and Fanta soon after. Rhonda is much bigger than she was last time when she had four lovely pups. We are also hoping that Fanta will pull off an all black litter! Can't wait!
 
September 08, 2013
Where to start? A lot happened this week. First, Manley’s news has been announced. His new mom Deb posted an amazingly powerful “announcement video” accompanied by the most stirring music. It was certainly worthy of the little guy. I have grown very close to Deb and her family which is the only reason I am able to let Manley go all the way to Australia. He leaves on Oct 18/13. It is bitter sweet as he is one of my favourite and his leaving will definitely leave a hole in my heart. However, you can tell from the pics that it is a wonderful family. Their warmth just shines through. I also have no doubt that Deb will keep me right up to date with pics and stories of his exploits.

 


Also exciting is that Rhonda and Fanta are in whelp and due the third week in September. Fanta is bred to Manley so he will be leaving a part of himself behind when he goes. I bred Rhonda to Al. It is a repeat breeding of the litter that produced Siri. I don’t believe in repeating breedings but Siri is so exquisite that I couldn't resist. I am hoping for a male that is as striking as Siri as once Manley goes, I won’t have a stud here at Patapin.

 


On a productive note, I finally got Cowboy’s teeth fixed. He had lanced canines which means that his canine teeth pointed forward, parallel to the roof of his mouth. Not only did they push his lip out on both sides but they trapped food, hair etc. and made his breath bad. Of course, as is my pattern, I captured everything on my iPhone. The first one is a pic of what his teeth looked like before I took him. The second one is the vet working on pulling them and the third one is the actual teeth.

   

As you can see, they were big teeth and it was a big job. Cowboy had a very swollen muzzle and bled from his nose. I am sure he must have been in a lot of pain but he is very stoic and didn’t let on. He will be on anti biotics for 10 days.

On a lighter note, I made a new batch of dog stew this week and mixed it in a baby bath tub. I had a big audience of hopeful Pins and they weren’t disappointed. As soon as I put it on the floor they zoomed in and started frantically licking as they jostled for position. I call this pic “Pigs at the trough” and I am sure you can see why. lol


 
Still exciting was that Siri took a Group 4 under Alan Ewles at the show last weekend. It was a very strong, established Group consisting of the top specials in their breed so I was very excited. I have decided to activate my Show News page and you can see the winning pic there.

However there is a candid shot that I will share here. After the photographer too the pics, I made a gesture to hug the Judge and said that we should have taken a pic this way. Much to my surprise the Judge grabbed my by the waist, pulled me close and the photog snapped the pic. As you can see, Siri turned around and wondered what the heck was going on. So nice to come across a Judge with a sense of humour.


I am sure you noticed that I had a tragedy free week and I hope it stays that way until the end of the year. After what’s happened so far this year I deserve it!!
 
September 02, 2013
I am just overwhelmed with sadness and will dedicate this blog to Sera. Sera went to my good friend Meredith and quickly became the apple of her eye.

Two months ago Meredith lost her stud and came very close to losing one of her girls to suspected poisoning. They had been in her front yard and suddenly became violently ill with explosive bloody diarrhea and vomiting blood. Intensive vet intervention saved Della but she was gravely ill for many days.

Last week it hit Sera and she was rushed to the vet. Sera had a very low temp and a low heart rate. She was kept in an incubator on a heating pad and an IV.


 
Her heart stopped several times the first day but the vet got it going again with injections of atropine. She seemed to rally overnight but at 4:00 pm on the second day her temp dropped and her heart stopped for the last time.

Sera has had a necropsy and there will be extensive tissue testing and analysis. We are hopeful that it will shed some light on what this is.

Right now Meredith is living with the horrific reality that someone is throwing poison into her front yard!

Meredith posted this obituary for my precious Sera.


 
I did hear from Ruth and Rusty and you can see what she sent on the Endorsement page. Sept 1
 
August 25, 2013
Let’s start of with what we are doing right now. Just before I sat down to do my blog, I handed out cooked cobs of corn to everyone. Next to raw marrow bones, it’s there favourite thing in the world. Cammi is under my computer desk and is working on devouring her second cob.

Since you can’t be here to see what’s going on, here are a sampling of the others enjoying their treat.

   


Thursday was grooming day (again) for Belle and Silver. Belle was so matted that they had to shave the back of her legs. I felt like a neglectful mother but it is Belle’s own fault. She wades in to the muddy pond at least once a day and stands there for up to 15 minutes. Then she comes out covered in dark sticky mud. I try to brush her every day but she won’t let me do her tail or the backs of her legs. When I try, she swings her big head around and grabs my wrist between her jaws. She applies enough pressure to make her point and lets go when I give up and stop trying to brush there. Of course she is an angel at the groomers and delights in making me look bad.


 
Silver needed a bath and a trim. She hates it with a passion. I stayed with them this time rather than leaving and coming back. It seemed to help.


 
The news is starting to leak out so I might as well start referring to it here. Manley will soon be going to his new home in Australia. This is a very big step for me but the family entirely won me over. It is an unbelievably expensive and complicated process. They have a problem with accessing new bloodlines in that country and I can see why. His new mom has agreed to keep Manley on the diet he eats at Patapin. I sent her this pic of Manley diving into his dog stew at bedtime. The thing on top is a raw chicken neck.


I have a wonderful couple from Manitoba who are interested in Cowboy or Prize. The man seemed very surprised at how reasonable they are. When I told him the price he mentioned the possibility of taking them both. I will know their decision in a week. I have added pics of their heads beside the stacked pics under Available on my homepage. I wanted to show their lovely expression.

Things are almost back to normal here. Gaston was given permission to drive by his doctor on Friday and he will be able to return to work after Labour Day. He still has to under go a lot of tests so fingers crossed that things will be OK.
 
August 18, 2013
After a nine hour drive, we got to Temiskaming in the dark. I found myself totally lost in the middle of a residential subdivision. I found a house with all the lights on and rang the door bell. A man, woman and child answered the door. I asked for directions to the show grounds. The man started telling me where to turn and after a full minute of winding directions I must have looked completely confused so he said – “Let me get me coat and you can follow me over there. It’s not often that confused and bedraggled works for me but this time it was a godsend!

I parked in a secluded spot, put the x-pens up, set up the crates, got the dinner ready and put Mazie, Simon and Siri to bed. Then I crawled in myself. The dogs woke me up at 6:00 and I stuck my nose out the door to discover torrential rain and strong winds. It was 7 degrees! OMG, not my idea of weather geared to showing a Minpin. To make matters worse, there was a knock at my door and a man told me that I was parked in a prohibited area and had to move. Of course that meant that I had to go out in the horrendous weather, pack up my x-pens and move – NOT a happy camper and not off to a very good start.

We were in early and the first Judge decided that Siri was too big for a six month puppy and didn’t even look at her. We got dumped and shivered our way back to the Roadtrek to dry off and wait for the next show. It was two shows per day for three days. We went back in the ring at noon. The rain slowed down to a drizzle but the winds were even stronger and it hadn’t warmed up at all. The high winds scared Siri and she went WILD in the ring. I got so flustered trying to control her that I ended up dropping the lead. (I am not making this stuff up). Of course by the time I caught her we were as good as done and got dumped again. This time it was to a few snickers from some “mean” spectators who rather enjoyed my dilemma.

To add to the general misery, Mazie woke up with one eye swollen shut. I brought Mazie as I wasn’t sure if she was a finished Champion or not. I hadn’t kept track of her points and hoped to get some more points just to be sure. Of course, I brought all my meds except something for eye infections. At the first show, a fellow exhibitor had polysporin for eyes and helped me put some in Mazie’s eye. At the second show, a professional handler heard why Mazie was absent and offered some stronger, more effective meds. We put some in in the afternoon, just before bed and again the next morning.

By show four, Mazie was well enough to enter so I showed her. My girl showed her heart out for me and won! That was worth two points and I am pretty confident that Mazie is now finished. [I was showing Mazie last summer when Abi was killed suddenly. I did not handle it well and everything just about stopped around here. It took me over six months before I was able to climb out of my dark cave and start to face the world again. I brought Mazie back out but drew a total blank on how many points she had accumulated prior to the tragedy.]

I have added Mazie to my Wall of Champions. I just took this pic today. Isn’t she beautiful?


 
The weather improved for shows four, five an six and Siri slowly warmed up to her potential. She started out with Reserve at show four, Winners for show five (2 pts) and Winners, BOW Breed and a Group 4 at show six. (4 pts), ending up more than half way to finishing with a big six points. I didn’t stay for a pic as there was a big line up and I was anxious to get home but I will post two that I took in the Roadtrek. I was trying to nap and looked over to see Siri watching out the back window. She looked gorgeous and didn’t even notice as I picked up my phone and snapped two pics. Siri’s head and neck assembly take my breath away.

 
 
I must admit that on the nine hour drive home I kept telling myself that I had fun. Showing dogs is fun......showing dogs is fun......even with...........an 18 hour round trip, wet freezing weather, embarrassing myself in the ring, treating an eye infection and wasting entry money, spending almost $300 on gas and another $300 on entry fees.......it’s fun – right? Fun, fun, fun!!!!!

Gaston update – His father and sister arrived from Sudbury to take care of everything while I was away. He got his staples removed in his leg and is now walking without his crutches. He has an echocardiogram booked for next week to start assessing the damage to his heart.

This is Beauty and I watching TV this morning while I drank my coffee. Beauty watches TV upside down. I get to see not only the TV but all of Beauty’s under parts. <g>

Can’t wait to see what this week brings.
 
August 11, 2013
Well, a week has gone by and we have settled into our new routine. Gaston has a nurse who comes to the home to change his bandage and that has happened twice. He is due to have his staples taken out by the surgeon in another week. While he has been getting stronger, I have risen to the challenge. Who knew what a good job I would be able to do cutting grass, changing the pool water, getting up every day at 6:30 for the dogs, driving to Detroit Airport with the last puppy etc. These were Gaston’s responsibilities and I was surprised to discover that he is pretty territorial about them. It is killing him to let go and just relax. I also think that it’s killing him that I am doing such a good job. <g> I have had to stop him from over exerting himself on a few occasions. I mean, this is what got us into this mess in the first place. He has always pushed himself beyond his limit. Men!

I decided that I will go to my three day dog show after all and I leave tomorrow. It is an eight hour drive up north and I will be camping in the Roadtrek with Mazie, Siri and Simon. Gaston’s sister and father will be arriving to take care of him until I get back. Can’t say how much I appreciate that. I do need a break and will come home refreshed and ready to go again.

The little black boy went to his forever home with Joe on Saturday. I took him to Detroit and he flew into Joe’s welcoming arms in New Hampshire. I was barely back home when she called. To say she was happy with “Chance” would be a huge understatement. I had the absolute pleasure of listening to her go on and on and on about how wonderful he was. (every breeder’s dream). Joe took a big chance sending money to another country for her new puppy. She said that she took a chance and so she named him Chance. I am sure I will be posting a lot of her pics and updates so stay tuned. This is the pic I took of Chance just before he was put on the plane yesterday.


 
All the new families loved their puppies. I just put an update on the Endorsement page from Laura with a pic of the two puppies she named Coda and Tucker. Go take a look. I work VERY hard to find the very best homes. This what makes it so worthwhile.

It looks like I will have to go back and get Simon’s ears shortened. I sent this pic to his breeder and two close doggy friends for their opinion and they all agreed with me that they are too long for his head. They stand beautifully but make him look like a rabbit. <g>


 
I was walking the dogs this afternoon and noticed that Sprinkles didn’t come back. It looked like a storm was brewing so I went back and scanned the field. This is what I saw. Just a pair of ears sitting in the grass a long way away. Hopefully you can see her.


 
I am going to end on a non-doggy note. This year we will have a bountiful crop of apples and pears. The branches as actually touching the ground from their heavy load of fruit. Sometimes I just don’t realize how lucky I really am. Aug 10.


 
August 04, 2013
I am still pretty shaken up as I prepare this weekend’s update. I went off to Ohio on Wednesday with Siri for her first dog show since she turned six months. On late Friday morning, I got a call that Gaston had almost cut his leg off with the chain saw while cutting wood at the neighbour’s. Luckily she was home and called the ambulance. While he was in emergency they did routine blood work and discovered that he had also had a heart attack. I packed up and checked out of the hotel and headed back immediately. The five hour drive seemed endless. Our property is like a fortress with all gates locked for safety reasons due to the dogs. They had been alone since early morning and definitely sensed something was wrong. It certainly hit home how vulnerable we are if something happens to either one of us. I almost went to the Alberta dog show this weekend and goodness knows how long it would have taken me to get home from there. I am thinking it would likely have been two days during which the dogs wouldn’t have been fed, put to bed, had their water changed etc. Such a terrifying thought!

Gaston has a history of heart disease and had two shunts put in and a triple by-pass three years ago. We won’t know how much damage he has done to his heart until he has a stress test in September. Outcome could range from nothing more needed to more open heart surgery. In the meantime he is on crutches and is not allowed to drive until after his stress test. Running this place is a two person operation with Gaston doing 80% of the manual labour. Things are going to change dramatically here at Patapin. I am a very strong person and able to rise to the challenge. This is a pic of his leg after the orthopaedic surgeon sewed him up during surgery.

This is a pic of us waiting for his doctors to come by and update us on his condition.

It is what it is and there is nothing we can do until his stress test. The month will be filled with appointments including getting his staples out etc and helping him get stronger. In the meantime life goes on, so here is a sample of last week’s happenings.

On a lighter note, the most amusing thing that the Pin’s have gotten into in a long time is what I call the “paper towel caper”. I went to have a quick shower and when I came down 10 minutes later and this is what I found.

The paper towels are kept in a big closet in the family room which also contains all their toys. I must not have completely shut it and they pried it open and pulled an unopened bundle of paper towels into the middle of the room. Then they went to work! Of course it’s interesting that none of the toys were touched. <g>

This one is Silver all curled up in her new favoutite place. Silver has lived with Minpins most of her life and I think that has become one in her own mind. <g>


 
Now for the cutest thing I have ever seen. As I mentioned, Laura made the decision to take one of Beauty’s boys as well as one of HB’s boys and flew in from Sask. to pick them up. This is by far my favourite scenario as I believe that Minpins do better with other Minpins. Laura sent me this pic of newly named Cody and Tucker having a nap. Now if this isn’t one of the sweetest, most heart warming things you have ever seen, I don’t know what is!


 
To further prove my point that Minpins do better in pairs I also received a similar pic from Tiffany. Tiffany got Rex from me over three years ago. Then she came back a few weeks ago and took Pink. Pink needed her own family desperately and I was ecstatic and relieved that she was going to such an excellent home. This is a pic of Pink and Rex napping.

Almost every bit as heart-warming as the one of Cody and Tucker. They say a picture is worth a thousand words and I know that I have more than made my point that Minpins do better in pairs!!!

To end on a high note, Siri won BOW Thurs and Friday in Ohio before I had to leave. I was So proud! Some many ups and downs. Can’t wait to get off the roller coaster that has become my life.
 
July 28, 2013
We have had a very busy week filled with very good news. All the puppies have found wonderful homes. Such good homes in fact that I can be nothing but relieved and happy. Laura from Sask inquired about a red boy. One of HB’s boys and Beauty’s red boy were still waiting so I sent her pics of both. Laura couldn’t pic between them and loved them both so what do you do when you can’t decide? Why you take them both of course! <g> Laura and her daughter Kristyn flew into Toronto on Friday, rented a car Saturday morning and arrived early afternoon. They came bearing a large bundle of treats, toys, collars and harnesses for their new babies. They stayed all afternoon getting to know their new boys and getting all their questions answered. They tried the new harnesses on each one and we laughed as they tried to jump and roll to try to get the harnesses off. This is the older boy when he finally settled down. He looks quite serious (and quite cute) in his new harness.

The black boy, who is still waiting to fly off to his new home, thought he would help them get the harnesses off. He would tug on the harness as hard as he could and the results were hilarious. This is a pic of him trying to pull the harness off the younger boy.


After a thoroughly pleasurable afternoon they set off for the first leg of they long journey home. The plan was to spend the night in a hotel closer to the airport and fly home on Sunday. This is the traditional pic I take when my pups leave with their new families.


So now we just have Beauty’s black boy. The pups were all sleeping together so we let him sleep with his mom last night. Today he has been letting out little whimpers as he looks for his buddies. So sad. I took this pic of him on the walk today. Every time he sees the camera he runs at me as fast as he can and jumps up.


Now for the best news since Pink found her new home....................Romeo found his on Saturday evening! I have been pretty puzzled that more people aren’t taking advantage of the older pups/young adults that are looking for their own families. They make such seamless and rewarding additions into almost any situation. This is Romeo’s leaving pic with his new mom Rochelle and surrogate dad Quintin.

I couldn’t take it outside as always as it was raining. Rochelle sent me a heart warming update on how he was adjusting this morning. See it on the endorsement page.

I also got a wonderful update from Tiffany about Pink. I can't stress enough what wonderful companions older puppies make. I still have Romeo's brother Cowboy and two black boys waiting for their homes. Don't miss out.

It was an exhausting Saturday but one of the most rewarding and enjoyable ever!

Now for some odds and ends........................This is a pic of Mazie enjoying dinner in Charlottetown last Sunday. She was so proud to be allowed to sit at the table with Doris and I.


The pond is slowly drying up and getting more mucky Belle however, is still determined to wade in for her swim. This is a pic of Belle after we got home from our last walk. I don’t even try to clean her up any more. It’s just a losing battle.


I am going to finish of with showcasing my lovely Simon. He is so stunning that I sometimes can’t believe my eyes and have to pinch myself. If I can ever get him trained there is a lot of excitement and fun in my show future.


 
July 21, 2013
I am doing my blog from PEI. I have combined business with pleasure, I flew out Friday with Mazie and Doris picked us up at the airport in Charolettown. I entered Mazie in the Ladyslipper dog show. She only needs two more points to finish.

I took this pic of Doris when we went to her cottage last night. Doris has her two rescue Pins on her lap called Max and Mindy. I don't think I have ever seen such gigantic Minpins. Doris is providing a loving home for these two puppy mill survivors. Only problem is that Doris is like too many people who confuse food with love. Max in particular has gotten quite obese. Even at the risk of offending her I had a serious talk with Doris this morning about the many dangers of over feeding. She assures me she will cut their food back. I have my fingers crossed


 


I found a big stuffed horse at a dog show and brought it home for the puppies.
Just as I suspected, it was an immediate hit!


Tiffany came to meet Pink and brought her two young boys. It was a wonderful opportunity for the puppies to be socialized. The black boy was their favourite and they played with him the whole time they were here. Young boys and puppies have one thing in common - they both love stuffed horse chairs!
 


Best news this year!!!
Tiffany and her family fell in love with Pink and took her home to be part of their family. Here they are just before they left. Finally, Pink has a home and it is a wonderful place for her. Well worth waiting for.


This is lucky Pink posing with her new family. If you look, you can see Rex. Tiffany adopted Rex from me about four years ago.
 


Linda and her son Ryan picked up the first red boy to leave. Linda is home all day and will be an excellent mom!


Even big girls love the new chair!
July 13, 2013
I am going to start off with a couple of brags. This the pic from Siri’s big Best Baby Puppy in Show win last weekend. I posted it on FB and a lot of my fellow breeders commented favourably. It’s been a long time since I bred something this nice. I am pretty proud of her.


 
Then we celebrated with a glamour shot. I was very surprised that it turned out so well. When I look at it (and I do from time to time) the word stunning comes to mind.


Three puppies have found excellent homes. One red boy, the black boy and the red girl. The red boy will be leaving on Monday. It is always so bitter sweet. There are two red boys still available. This is a pic of one red boy sunning himself on the blanket. Such a pretty boy.

This is the second one. He ran at the camera when I was taking the pic.

In this pic he is contemplating whether he will jump in for a swim.


Tiffany (who has my Rex) is coming on Monday morning to meet Pink. I have sent pics and told her all about Pink. Tiffany sounds excited so I hope it works out. This special girl has waited far too long for her own home. The whole family is coming, including Rex. It will be fantastic to see him again. I am SO hoping that they take her and I will share the wonderful news next weekend. It’s been over four years since I have seen Rex. I wonder if he will remember me?

I took Siri and Simon to visit Brill last week. He has always been one of my favourites. Jean lives only 10 minutes from me and I try to visit once every summer. I hadn’t seen Brill for over a year and I wondered what his reaction would be. Well, that crazy guy went nuts! Whining, tearing around, kissing my face and this must have gone on for more than five minutes. Jean and I got a good laugh. This is a pic of Jean holding Siri. You can see Brill laying on the chair beside her.

Simon must be exploring somewhere.

I am going to a show this weekend. It is two hours away and I am staying in the Roadtrek overnight. I am showing Siri. It is her last show as a Baby Puppy. I am taking Simon for socialization and training. I hope to have an exciting announcement next weekend.
 
July 07, 2013
I am at a show this weekend located only 12 min from my house. We started on Friday and the last day is Monday. Gaston brought the Roadtrek over and set it up for me. I have a huge outdoor pen for the puppies and have been bringing them over every day for socialization. They are getting big with the first one leaving on the 15th. for his new home.

Siri got two Best Baby Puppy in Groups and one Best In Show. I was pretty excited as she beat the adorable Frenchie who had been previously undefeated.

I also had the show photographer take some glamour shots if Siri that I will post next weekend.

I have also been trying to train Simon at the show site. I haven't done much with him as his ears have been bothering him. Last week during a walk I looked over and Simon had struck a pose. He really is an exceptional boy as you can see.


I had Silver freshened up at the groomer's last week. It has been so hot and humid that I have had extra fans going in the kennel. Silver was perched in her favourite spot and the big fan was blowing her ears back and forth - much to Silver's enjoyment.


I still have the little red girl looking for a home. So surprising as the girls are always the first to go. So if you know of anyone.........,,,
There is also one show prospect boy that I am willing to place in a show home. Buzz is a sound boy who makes a nice overall picture. He has good bone and is very typey. Someone would have a lot of fun with him in the ring. (Buzz). July 6


 
June 30, 2013
Things have settled down this week. We had a very hot and humid few days. At first it was a nice change from the cool overcast weather but it did become oppressive. I have so many industrial fans in the kennel that it feels like you are in an airplane hanger. lol

I have had an inquiry from Western Canada for a boy puppy. It is an excellent experienced home and fingers crossed that it will work out. This is a recent pic of Beauty's red and black boy. They are almost two weeks younger than HB's boys and will be ready to go in late August.


 
I am excited that Sprinkles has come into season. I am sending her down to Jude to be bred to her grandfather, Keeper. This is a close line breeding of an outstanding dog and I have high expectations!


 
Belle is truly a big baby. She loves to "nurse" on her favourite stuffed animals. She has done this from the first day she arrived at 11 months old. Her previous owners told me that their theory was that Belle had been weaned too early. In this pic, she has her four favourites lined up as she hangs on with both paws and suckles away. This is Belle's definition of heaven.


 
I made my bi-monthly trip to the butcher last week to stock up for the dogs. I buy bones, chicken necks, backs, fronts and ribs. Now you know why my dogs love me so much. lol.


 
Siri is in a four day show this coming weekend. If I can channel all her wildness into positive attitude Siri will do well. This is a recent pic. She is not fully extended in the rear but you can see why I am excited. June 30


 
June 25, 2013
We had company and a very hectic weekend so the update is late. It is also in a different format as it was easier that way.


This is my new puppy, a future Patapin stud.
His name is Simply Simon. I am in love.
 

Honey Bees pups are contemplating their food. Look how big they are getting. It looks one will be a show prospect and one boy is sold. I am surprised that the little girl hasn't been taken hey. Girls are always the first to get snapped up.

Manley hurt his paw. He got about 20 feet into his walk and then this happened. You can tell he is very unhappy as he has his ears back. Poor boy. I carried him the rest of the way.

Gaston's dad and his dad's girlfriend came for a long weekend.
This was taken at the end of a river cruise that we took them on.

I ordered some more dog sleeping bags and they arrived on Saturday. We are in the middle of an extreme heat wave so they won't be needing them for a while.
 
June 16, 2013
We just had an uneventful week for the first time in a long time This morning, I took a couple of pics as I was having my coffee in front of the fire place, with all the puppies and moms. I was at the Pet Smart yesterday and discovered that Martha Stewart's toys were heavily discounted. That makes to price close to normal as the original prices are always astronomically high for her products. In most cases you pay for the name. I picked out one called the Chicken Coop that claims to be an "intelligence building" toy. Simon and the black boy puppy had a session working on their IQ

I am going to be in real trouble if Simon gets any smarter. Results are pending.
 
While this was going on, Beauty was enjoying the warmth of the fire while enjoying her two favourite toys of the day. One is some kind of stuffed animal and the other is the cardboard roll from the paper towels. <g>


One of the all time sweetest pics I have ever taken happened in the kennel during the week. I looked down to see Rita hugging her puppy while her puppy was hugging his favourite monkey toy. I liked it so much that I posted it on FB yesterday. According to the large number of comments and Likes, I was not the only one who found it special. I think you will agree.


Our new pup, little Simon, is thriving. This boy is all heart and quickly fit in like he was born here. I took him for his first walk with the entire gang and he took off like a rocket. This is a pic of the tiny fellow speeding along with the big and little dogs. It's been a long time since I have been so impressed with a puppy.


HB's pups are six weeks old which is my favourite age. They are constantly playing and wrestling with each other. They make ferocious noises as they do puppy battle and I laugh every time. They play hard and then they collapse for a deep nap. I took this pic of one of the boys having a rest. He is looking for his forever family and wants you to know that he also has a brother and sister who are waiting as well. They will be ready to go at the beginning of July. This is an exceptional litter and the weather is perfect to add a furry addition to your family.  June 16


 
June 11, 2013
I was at a show in Caledonia on the weekend. The highlight of the weekend was that four month old Siri won the Best Baby Puppy in Group. Not only that but she got a lot of positive comment from Judges and fellow exhibitors alike. Here is her winning photo. Doesn’t she look like a pro and not a baby who was in the ring for the first time.


I also added a new puppy boy. A breeder friend approached me months ago when she bred a special litter. She heard that I was looking for a new stud and she suggested that she give me pick boy from this litter in exchange for a pick girl from me in the future. DeDe was persistent with updates and the end of the story is that I picked up little Simon – Patapin Simply Simon Desera, at my US vet where she had taken the litter to be cropped. So poor little Simon had his ears cropped, a new home, new food, and was sleeping alone in a crate rather than with his siblings. On top of that, I left for the show right after I picked him up so he camped in the Roadtrek with Siri, Mazie and I. That reminds me...Mazie went BOS two days and then WB, BOW on the last day. I was proud of her. Continuing on about Simon, he didn’t complain one bit, such a calm, stable puppy. I call him my little angel and I have fallen madly in love with him. I took this pic of Simon, sleeping in the Van.

You can see what I mean – pure sweetness.

I am going to cut this short and will try to do more next weekend. June 9
 
June 02, 2013
I am starting off with bad news. Rita’s puppy was was strong and chubby and thriving. Then when he was only eight days old, he died suddenly. I was upstairs at the time and found him almost immediately. He was still warm so I tried for 20 minutes to revive him. He “gasped” a couple of times and I had hope but now I just think that it was a reaction to my efforts to get his heart going. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Rita was inconsolable. She wouldn’t let me take him so I gave him to back to her hoping that she would adjust with a little time. As soon as I did, she laid down beside him and was content. It broke my heart. 

 


I went back at bedtime and tried again. Rita was so upset that she bit my finger, drawing blood. She then put her paw over him. I left them for the night and by noon the next day, she still had him clutched in her paws. The pup was turning black and I knew I had to think of something. I went and got Beauty’s red pup and gave it to her. As soon as she put her attention on the new pup, I scooped her boy up. She seemed OK with the switch but not Beauty. Maybe if Beauty had a big litter, she would have been OK but she only has two so she would have none of it. I took Beauty’s pup back to her and Rita started frantically searching the house for her pup. She was down in the family room and spotted HB’s pups in their Pita Pocket. HB wasn’t with them at the time and Rita zoomed in and curled around them. HB’s pups are more than three weeks old and are eating solid food. HB was starting to lose interest and would only nurse them a couple of times a day. Regardless, she was a bit put out by Rita taking her pups over. Any time she would get near, Rita would ferociously charge out and scare her away. HB finally got the message and is content to hang out with me instead.

HB has adjusted and Rita is in heaven. She loves her new family and they love her. They are nursing all the time now so they are getting a longer period of time to be mothered. Rita is very attentive and I am sure that will be good for the pups. It has certainly been good for Rita. If you look closely at the pic you can see that one of the pups has it’s arm around it’s new mom.


This is a pic of HB’s pups that was taken before tragedy struck. They come to the kennel with me now and stay in a crate on the counter. It was a very hot day and this is the littlest boy, all sprawled out without a care in the world.

It didn’t take long for his big brother to come over and lay beside him to start a game.


The pups also had fun with their first bone last week. I get rib bones in bulk from the butcher. They swarmed all over it as soon as I gave it to them. Fortunately the bone was long enough for them all to have spot to lick.


I drove to the dog show yesterday and Siri rode shot gun. I couldn’t resist taking a pic. Probably not the safest thing to do when driving but I managed to keep one hand on the wheel. I just love my new iPhone. June 1


 
May 26, 2013
Again, we are starting off with puppy news! After coming to the conclusion that Rita was having a false pregnancy, she actually did whelp a small dark red boy overnight on May24th. My husband opened Rita's crate Friday morning to get her up and she popped her head out and tried to bite him. Now we have accepted that some dogs just aren't "morning dogs" but this was a bit much. Gaston brought her crate into the house and it was just as he has suspected - Rita was protecting her boy. Both are thriving and tails and dews are scheduled for this evening. If you look closely, you can just make out her pup at the bottom right.


Beauty's pups are another week older and you can see that their eyes are "cracked". That means that in a couple of days they will be open along with their ears. At that point I move them downstairs from my office and life begins!


HB's pups have transformed into little dogs and are lots of fun to watch. They are practicing their bark and do a lot of growling as they play fight. The two boys and one girl are strong, sturdy pups and it will be exciting to watch them mature.


Until the weather turned cold at the end of the week, we spent most of our time outdoors. The dogs are still adjusting to the warm temps and every once and a while everyone flops down for a nice rest in the shade. I join them for a few minutes and then we are off again.


A continuous source of stress for me is maintaining the fence so no one ever escapes. Thirteen acres of fencing is a lot and it has become a daily activity. Unfortunately sometimes I only realize that a small space has opened up when I see one of the Pins outside the fence line. The two high risk areas are along the road and bordering the neighbours property. The dangers of proximity to the road are obvious and my neighbour has donkey's that like to kick. As soon as I spot this, I get a tight knot in my stomach and my heart starts racing. Pins are fearless and you would think they actually had a death wish. Not only will they dash across the busy road but they love to torment the donkeys' by dancing around their legs and yapping at them. When this happens, you can picture me chasing them down the side of the road or around the donkey pasture. Of course they love the excitement of getting out and my pursuing them only adds more fun to the experience. I am pretty sure that the first one that will be kicked by a donkey will be me! <g>

We have spent thousands (yes thousands) of dollars on fencing and reinforcing the fencing but can't seem to make it 100% safe. Of course when you have a Pin whose goal in life is the escape, it is almost impossible. Mazie is one of those Pins. When we go on walks she actually runs the fence line looking for the smallest crack. The girl is obsessed! She is the "escape finder" and will often lead the others with her. This terrifies me. So, I am nothing if not creative. In a last ditch effort to thwart her efforts I have put a plastic vet collar on her. It is light weight and doesn't bother her but it does make her too big to go through small holes. I am pretty confident that this will do the trick.


We are going to our first dog show in a long time next weekend. I am showing Mazie as she still needs points for her Championship. When I lost Abi last summer, I stopped everything and pretty much shut down until just recently. Little Siri will also be making her debut in the Baby Puppy class. Fingers crossed. May 26.
 
May 19, 2013
Once again, I will start with the most exciting news. Beauty had her puppies on May 14th. It was a difficult whelping and Beauty was having a lot of trouble pushing the first one out. She tried for so long that she tired herself out and stopped pushing all together. I had to help Beauty by giving her an injection of oxytocin. This stimulated strong contractions but she still couldn't manage. The tail and back legs were coming first (breech) and I had to help her again. When I saw the tail and toes, I grabbed them with a wash cloth before they had the chance to slip back in again. Then I pulled gently every time she pushed. It took four or five pulls until I succeeded in pulling out a large red boy. He seemed to be the problem and about an hour later Beauty whelped a black boy with no difficulty.

Beauty's belly was large enough to have had a half dozen pups but I soon came to realize that she was done. That was it - two boys. Beauty was quite agitated after she was finished and kept popping them out of the way with her nose. She wouldn't lay still to allow them to latch on. She just kept circling around them. In an effort to settle Beauty down, I gave her some liquid calcium and that helped. It still took two more days until Beauty really settled and became the good mother that she has been in the past.


While we are on the topic of puppies, a week has made a big difference in Honey Bee's pups. Their eyes and ears are open and they have been gobbling soft food out of a bowl. I have started to stimulate them and take them downstairs with me in the morning. I sit them in front of the fireplace and I play my toy instruments (flute, horn, tamborine) to get them familiarized with unusual sounds. I give them toys and let them lay on crunchy paper This makes noises as they move and provides a different tactile sensation. They are not walking yet but I imagine by next week they will be much more mobile. They will begin to play fight which is my favourite stage. Nothing cuter than small pups toddling around and "grrrring" at each other.


 
The weather has been warm and sunny all week and we have taken full advantage. I can't keep the Pins out of the ponds. I stand and life guard while they jump in. This is Cowboy who is the main water baby. He likes to get right in there.


The pond is surrounded by dried reeds. The Pins think that this results in their own fun obstacle course. They run over the reeds, slipping and sliding all the way. See how many you can spot in this pic. (Answer in next week's blog.)


Sometimes they slip off the reeds


 
Siri's ears got infected and I had to take them down so they could heal. By the time the the infection was gone, scar tissue had formed and this pulled the ears right out of shape. I obsess about having beautiful crops and could barely stand to look at her ears. This happened once before and I went to my vet in Ohio and she fixed them. This time my vet was out of town and I was panicking. I managed to convince my local vet to help me. I had watched Anne (Ohio vet) carefully and was confident that I could manage on my own. My vet took care of sedating Siri and I cut into the scar tissue to loosen up the contractures. Then I re-taped the ears into perfect position. I am pretty sure that my American vet would have been proud of me. My vet thinks that I have enough skills/knowledge to become a vet tech.
 
I am pleased with how Siri is maturing and it looks like I am going to have a lot of fun with her in the show ring. May 19


 
May 12, 2013
The puppies are now a week older and are the strongest puppies I have ever had in a litter. When I put them on a blanket to take pictures, they struggle to get up on their wobbly legs and take off. <g> All this and yet their eyes won't be open for another two to three days. I must make a correction. There are two boys and one girl. I must have been wishful thinking when I took my first peek. The dark red and the smallest clear red are the boys.


In the pregnancy department, Rita looks like she has a bellyful and has only a few days to go. Beauty has a week longer than Rita before she whelps but her belly is equally impressive.


Beauty


Rita

After having almost a week of sun and above normal temps we have plunges back into the cold and rain. We took full advantage of the warm weather and went on several walks a day. It was the first time I noticed that the dogs even went on their own walks. They normally won't budge unless I go with them.

This is a pic of the Pins "helping" me fill the birdhouses on the picnic table. Much to my surprise, their help consisted of eating as much as they could before I got the lids on. Good part was that I usually spill a lot on the table but you can see a couple cleaning that up for me as well.


I anticipate that we will be announcing some new puppies in next week's blog. Can't wait. May 12
 
May 05, 2013
Let's start off with the most exciting news! Honey Bee had her puppies and she did it in the most unusual way. On day 60, I found her burrowed into the couch with only part of her head sticking out. She seemed determined to stay there, so I left her alone until bedtime, when she came out on her own to have dinner and go to bed.


The next day at around 5 pm, I found her in there again. This time she had burrowed a lot of the stuffing out to make room and there was only a nose sticking out.


I finished putting everyone to bed that day and realized that HB hadn't come out on her own for dinner and bed. I checked the couch and couldn't see anything, so I put my hand in where her nose had been. Lo and behold I found HB all curled up around three warm pups who were nursing their hearts out. I left them alone until I fed the big dogs and was ready to go in the house. I took everyone out, put them in one of my wool lined sleeping bags and settled them in the whelping box I had prepared days ago. Everyone adjusted well - just like they had actually been born in that very spot.

I took this pic today. The pups were born on Tuesday and are five days old. There is one light red boy and two girls. They are strong, healthy and content.

I highly recommend couch-whelping. <g> There was no panting, no pacing, no refusing to eat and most surprising - no mess! HB is a bit of a nervous mother so she picked what made her feel the most secure. Honey Bee did it her way! I do believe that breeders often interfere too much in what is such a beautiful, natural process. Barring complications, mothers always know best.

The weather has been gorgeous all week and I took advantage by snapping more pics on our walks. This is Belle in her favourite place. By mid summer, this pond is almost dried up and Belle takes full advantage when she can. It is not unusual for her to stand in there and look around for 15 minutes at a time!


 
I also took one of Siri without the colourful wrapping that she arrived home in - see previous blog for that pic.

I think she looks pretty good. Soon after this pic was taken, Siri got an infection in her ears, in spite of me giving her an anti-biotic every day for 7 days as the vet recommended. Of course that makes them very sore, which makes Siri miserable and obstreperous and makes me more miserable and much more obstreperous! We are taking it one day at a time.
 
I also took an amazing pic of Cowboy. I hadn't really realized what a gorgeous boy he has matured into. CB is available and would love to have his own family. He is 10 months old.


 
It was a pretty good week! May 5
 
April 28, 2013
It's been a busy week. Siri is growing up quickly and had her ears cropped on Tuesday. She arrived home in a colourful head-dress that could be removed after 24 hours. I am not sure if you can tell by the pic but she is still pretty sedated..

Nine other dogs accompanied Siri on her adventure. They had a combination of dentals, rabies and neutering.
 
Friday was the absolutely nicest day so far this year. The dogs didn't want to come in for their walk and played themselves out.


This is Siri, on the edge of the manure pile. You can see that she is recovering well from her trip to the vet.


I tend to do a lot of my routine chores in the kennel when I am hanging out with the dogs. I have, on occasion, washed my hair. However last week was the first time I used dog shampoo. I highly recommend Bark Basics Chrystal Clear shampoo. This must be what it means to have "gone to the dogs."

I took advantage of the wonderful weather to snap a few more pics of the dogs. This is Sprinkles. She is all grown up now and has turned out to be quite a beauty. Those ears would hold their own in any country where cropping is banned.


I also took a pic of Pink. She is Sprinkles' sister. She used to have one ear up and one ear down. Now both are tipped to the front. I think that it makes her look adorable. Pink is still looking for her forever home.


Maybe by this time next week I will have some exciting litter news. Honey Bee is looking like she could pop any minute. April 28
 
April 21, 2013
We had some very sunny warm weather early in the week and then snow and cold this weekend. I took the dogs for a walk in the sunshine and Belle was over- joyed with the weather. She showed her elation by doing several rolls in the grass. You can see that she has a Minpin audience.


I have started training Siri and took her to her first training class on Tuesday. This little girl sure knows how to strut her stuff - she is a natural. We can't go back this week as Siri is getting her ears cropped on Tuesday. I will try to get a pic so you can see what I'm so excited about.

Honey Bee is getting bigger and bigger. She is due at the end of the month. This is a new pedigree for me and I can't wait to see what she will produce. I gave up on Beauty being pregnant but now I see a belly. She is also due around the same time and then we will know for sure if she is and how many black babies might be in there. Announcements with pics will come out when the girls whelp.

Last night I took the dogs out for a quick pee before putting them to bed. Just as we were heading back in, Belle and Oliver took off for the back of the North paddock, barking their heads off. Almost immediately they were followed by a trail of yipping Minpins. It seemed to take forever for them to start coming back in. When I thought they were all in I started putting them to bed with their dinner. At the end, there were two empty crates - Romeo and Fanta's. I called and called them with no success. I was sure something bad had happened and woke up my husband to help me look for them. Ten minutes later he chased Fanta back to the kennel door but just before she came in she made a U-turn and headed back out into the dark. Five minutes later he came in with a wet and muddy Romeo and I told him that he had to go back out for Fanta. Fanta is the hunter in the family and I figured that there must be something out there. Hubby went back to bed and I soon followed. When I got in the house he told me that either Belle or Oliver (probably Oliver) had killed a rabbit. He found it in the yard on his way back into the house. Apparently Belle had carried it home without Romeo and Fanta knowing it. They kept running back in an effort to find where it went. I can certainly live without all this excitement at bedtime! April 21 
 
April 14, 2013
Finally, Sunday brings the very first day of warm sunny weather. It has rained every day for the last 10 days and me and the dogs had cabin fever bad. We took full advantage of today to take some pics of some changes around here. We set out and managed to maneuver our way around all the flooder areas in the property. The dogs ran like they hadn't been out all year.

Silver, Oliver and Belle went for their spring pampering yesterday. Our groomer isn't open on the weekend but they opened Saturday just to take these three incredibly tangled and bushy challenges.

Oliver was the most changed - and voted most improved. Every April, I have his huge, thick winter coat taken/shorn off for the warm weather. Most people have never seen a Komondor look like this. He is the groomer's favourite customer.


Silver now finally looks like the beautiful poodle she is rather than a gray bush. She is second most changed. I keep forgetting what a lovely dog she is - both inside and out.


 
All bathed and brushed is Belle, who just looks like a fluffier, shinier version of herself. Of course Belle couldn't wait to drown her lovely coat in our overflowing pond. All that is left is her pure white, de-tangled tail. sigh


 
The other big happening was yesterday. Siri went to her first dog show and I entered her in the Sanction match. This little girl is barely 12 weeks old but strutted her stuff like a seasoned adult. I can't believe how much attitude is contained in that little body. I have always wanted a "natural" show dog and it looks like Siri is it. I hadn't planned to show anything this year but Siri demanded to be shown. You can see her first time on the table. It was the first time she had been touched by someone other than me. Siri stood her ground like a pro and didn't move a muscle.

It takes a lot to meet my high expectations and I was just SO impressed with her..

Siri pranced around the ring like she owned it and stopped and stacked with her tail straight up in the air.

She may not be the nicest Minpin I have ever bred but I'll bet that I am going to have the most fun with her.

An update on our upcoming spring litters could be a lot better. It doesn't look like Beauty or Rita are pregnant. However the one who is definitely pregnant was a bit of a shock. I caught one of my males tied with HB before I realized that she was even in season. It was so early that I had a very good chance of it not taking. Well, that's just the way my life is. I carefully bred Beauty and Rita by the book and nothing happened. HB gets herself accidentally bred one time and she is pregnant. Fortunately she is older than most having their first season and she is a big girl. She is due at the end of the month.

Maybe this breeding was meant to be and I will have a whole litter of show stoppers. April 14
 
April 07, 2013
After I sent in last week's blog to be posted, the two last puppies left for their forever homes. Steve picked up his black and rust boy "Silas". When they arrived, it became clear why they insisted on a black puppy. The family appears to prefer black in general. Both were dressed in all black and you have to look pretty hard to see little Silas peeking out from their arms. He blends right in! <g>


 
They very last send off was Ana and her family. Ana was the one who "surprised" me when the family came for an early pre-placement visit. When I opened the door, she remarked on the fact that I was expecting them this time. Their pup is going to have lots of fun playing with the three children.


 
I have bred two more litters, a black one and a red one, due in May. It will be an excellent time of year to have puppies and then I will be done.

Liz sent me a wonderful one week update on Sheira. It is on the endorsement page. When you read it, I am sure that you will agree with me that it is definitely hard to believe that Sheira has only just turned 11 weeks old. We still have our lovely older pups and young adults looking for their forever homes. Over the years I have received many inquiries from people interested in an older dog but I never had any available. Now that I do, everyone is only interested in a puppy. Isn't that the way life goes? April 7
 
March 31, 2013
Pink and Sprinkles came back on Friday. They were over the top excited to see me and fit back in like they never left. Marie was tearful and you could tell that it wasn't an easy decision for her. She had nothing but positive things to say about the girls and referred to them as her "little sweeties". This just stresses the importance of making sure you think everything through before committing to a Minpin. It is a BIG decision. My goal is lifetime homes and this is the first older pups that I have placed that have been returned. I am still wondering what I may have missed in selecting Marie. It is even more important to make sure that the next family that is interested in Pink and Sprinkles will be their forever home.

The puppies are leaving this weekend and everyone will be placed by Monday morning. The first to arrive on Saturday was Ruth and her family. They were all smiles and their excitement was obvious. They are going to call their boy Rusty. It feels wonderful for me to see a deserving puppy go into an excellent home. They get so much good care and socialization here that I pick homes where that will continue.


Next was Tommy and his parents. They live in Montreal and told me that Tommy had insisted that they come up to meet the puppy. Tommy will be working from Montreal soon and the pup will stay with his parents. He just wanted to be sure that the bonding started right from the very beginning. Tommy has a black and tan nine year old male called Rocky. His new addition will be called Monty. You can see from the pic that Rocky is much much bigger than Monty and I told them that they will look like Mutt and Jeff.

     


Monty all snuggled up with Rocky.

Last to arrive was Liz and John. Liz have always been my most exuberant new mom. They are calling their black girl Sheira. There are pics of Liz and John on the blog from when they made a visit. Liz sent me this one after they got home yesterday.


One leaves today at noon and the last one on Monday morning. The house is going to seem empty.

I am keeping one red girl to show for myself. She is spunky, full of mischief, intelligent and very pretty. I just couldn't resist and will register her as Patapin Irresistible, calling her Siri. Right now, she reminds me a lot of Abi - big paws to fill - so we will see how she matures. I am not sure how well Siri will adjust to her littermates leaving. We might have a couple of sleepless nights.

The weather is warm and sunny and thankfully all the ice is off the pond, so no more swimming for Romeo. Happy Easter everyone! March 31

The Endorsement page has been updated.
 
March 23, 2013
We might as well get the bad news out of the way first. It is not another tragedy but still very disappointing and sad. Marie is returning Pink and Sprinkles. Marie lives alone and works nine hours a day. I won’t place dogs in a home where they will be alone all day unless the prospective owner has a solid plan in place to occupy the dogs during the day. Marie had a wonderful plan that included taking them to the local doggy day care once a week, having her mother take them one day and taking them to work with her. She also planned to sleep with them. Marie called to say that her extended family support system had crumbled and she was becoming overwhelmed. She wasn’t comfortable taking them to work due to house training worries. During the conversation it also came out that Marie goes to the gym three times a week after work and often goes to bed at 9:00 pm, leaving little time for the girls when they have been alone all day. Marie candidly admitted that she hadn’t thought things through well enough. Of course, in hindsight, I was too confident that Marie would be fine as she did have two Minpins in the past. She absolutely did the right thing by calling to return them. All reputable breeders take all their dogs back – no questions asked. It is just sad that it had to be Pink and Sprinkles.

Some may still find this hard to believe but Romeo finally did it. The warm weather continued and of course Romeo headed out onto the pond without a care in the world.

I stayed at the edge of the pond to life guard and tried coaxing him back to land. Much to my amazement Romeo managed to motor around on the thin ice for quite a while until the inevitable happened. Yes, you guessed it – much to Romeo’s surprise he fell through the ice! He looked quite shocked and immediately started to dog paddle towards shore. I encouraged him along and was determined not to get wet unless he got into trouble. It had a happy ending – Romeo made it and I didn’t get wet. Here he is, splashing away.


 
The pups are thriving and have turned into little dogs. Although they devour their bowls of food every night, they are still determined to nurse. Both moms spend the night in the kennel and them come in first thing in the morning for the day. The pups are delighted to see them and they all pile on the first mother they can catch. Here is a pic of Fanta nursing all six pups.

You can barely see her under all those little bodies. She is a dedicated and patient mother.
 
I have started taking the pups out to the barn with everyone else. They have a great time! Here is a red pup standing on a stump.

I was also able to get a pic of Silver sitting on the top of a pile of big logs. The sun was shining on her and I think the pic is beautiful.


 
Time is passing quickly and I have done a pick up schedule for Easter weekend. The visits start on Saturday and by Monday at noon everyone will be gone – very bittersweet. March 23
 
March 09, 2013
This week has brought more heart wrenching news. As I mentioned last week, BB had been ill and I was taking her to the vet first thing Monday morning. Even though she was so ill, BB wagged her tail when I told her that we were going for a car ride. After a thorough examination, the vet diagnosed BB with an infection in her uterus, or pyometra. I had bred her to Al three weeks earlier and every breeding triggers a big drop in the immune system. This is to stop the uterus from rejecting the fertilized egg as a foreign body and not letting it attach to the uterine wall. Although it is rare, this does open the bitch up to an infection if anything gets into her uterus during that time. Pyo is every breeder’s nightmare as the treatment includes two painful injections into the muscle every day for a week. These injections cause projectile vomiting, diarrhoea and the bitch stops eating and feels awful.

The only other “treatment” for pyo is spaying and therefor losing any opportunity to have puppies from BB. As a show breeder, I purchased BB for her wonderful pedigree with plans to breed her to Al. Even though it was very disappointing to lose her as a breeding girl, I opted to have her spayed. BB was also the one who had been attacked in the kennel and I figured that this sweet, sensitive gentle girl had gone through enough. I waited while the surgery was being done and was stunned and numb when he came out to tell me that BB had died from complications during surgery. ( An added kick in the gut for breeders is that I had a “$2,600 bill for taking my dead girl home. Pyo spays are doubly expensive as it takes the vet a lot of extra time to make sure he has gotten rid of all the infection before he sews her up). Initially I couldn’t absorb what I was hearing. Once it sunk in, I wrapped BB in a towel to take her home to burry her on the island on my property with the rest of my Pins. I had to sit in my vehicle for almost an hour before I could drive and cried on and off for two days. The tears have started again as I type this now. The longer I do this the harder it is to “handle’ the devastating tragedies. There has just been too much loss lately.

However, life does go on and walking always helps, so I spent a lot of time walking the dogs this week. The warm sunny weather was a good news bad news situation as it was pleasant to walk but the ice on the two ponds was melting like crazy. That means that they are becoming a hazard.


 
Minpins have no fear and certainly no common sense so while we were in the north property where the ponds are, I watched them closely. Any time they ventured onto the thin ice I called for them to come back and said no to them. It might still be thick enough in the centre but along the edges it is very fragile. Just look at little Mazie who has no trouble at all................yet!.


 
We moved into the south side which is safe and when we were about half way around I heard a gut clenching yowling. It almost sounded like how the boys yowl when they see a girl in season and can’t get to her. I do have girls in season but just to be sure, I quickly headed back. I didn’t hear anything else and didn’t see anyone in the yard but I opened the rear door to the kennel. This door exits directly on the south property and I wanted to be absolutely sure. I am the kind of person who checks and double checks most everything I do but I am really OCD when it comes to the dogs.

I opened the door and right at my feet was soaking wet dog, all twisted out of shape and silent. I grabbed a towel and scooped him up. I panicked when I found that he was stiff and certainly didn’t relax into my arms. He was shivering like a machine gun and he was so bad that I couldn’t tell who it was. Once we were inside, I took off the towel, lifted my sweat shirt and put him next to my skin. That is the very best way to re-warm a dog properly. I walked around with him, speaking softly into his ear before he stopper shivering. Soon after I was able to “unfold” him and discovered that it was Romeo. He was still in shock so I put him in a wool lined sleeping bag and held him in one arm while I spent another 45 minutes on my laptop. Romeo was so mentally worn out that he immediately fell into a deep sleep. By the time I was finished, I put a relatively normal Romeo back on the ground.

I was almost in shock myself when I realized that he had hung behind us on the walk and fell through the ice. The first miracle occurred when he was able to pull himself onto land and the second miracle was that he made it to the back door. Although sunny, with the wind chill, the temp was well below zero and he had begun to freeze. If Romeo hadn’t been able to get out of the pond, I may never would have known what happened. If we have another hot dry summer, he may have appeared when the water level dropped in the pond. I can’t even imagine how terrible that would have been.

The next day we went on another walk and guess who was the first one to venture out onto the ice.................why of course, it was Romeo. If any of you think that a dog will learn anything from having a bad experience, you can forget that right now. Of course I learned a lesson and now I always make sure they are ALL with me at ALL times.

My webmaster, Gunter tells me that he is about to have a week long well deserved vacation. There won’t be an update next Sunday as usual. Maybe he will be able to manage the next Tuesday but I will let him put in the date when he puts my blog up.

The next update will be March 23.   March 9
 
March 03, 2013
Gaston got home Sat evening and I coped magnificently without him, if I do say so myself. He is going to have to be careful now as I always thought Gaston was indispensable. <g>

Saturday was a big, big day. It ended up with the best news ever but I will get to that. Liz and John were coming from London to see their black girl, Sheira and had told me they would be here at 10:45. Marie was also coming from Brantford to check out my older pups, so I told her 12:30. I figured the timing was perfect. Problem is that just because I am highly structured doesn’t mean that everyone is. Liz and John had plumbing problems and arrived almost an hour late. Liz took Sheira and John held the black boy and they sat down on the couch in front of the fire. I soon realized that they wouldn’t be going anywhere for a long time. Liz’s passion for Sheira was probably the most I have seen in a long, long time. It was very heart warming to watch her cuddle her little girl.

John helped socialize the boy and they got on so well I am now calling him JB for John’s boy. <g> The black babies are far behind the reds in confidence and I didn’t fully appreciate what a big difference all that attention would make until they left. An hour later, I heard the most pathetic howling coming from the living room. It was Sheira, with her head pointed to the ceiling demanding to be picked up! I told Liz that she had created a monster. <g>

The doorbell rang at 12:30 and it was Marie. I took her into the living room, that is divided from the fire place area in the family room by dog fencing. We could all see each other and could talk if we raised our voices. I went to the kitchen to get something and when I came back, Marie had hopped over the dog fencing and joined Liz and John. Both had had Minpins for a long time and the conversation increased to an enthusiastic discussion about.......what else?............Minpins! They were soon exchanging pics.

It was clear that John and Liz hadn’t got their fill of the pups, so I bit the bullet and agreed to bring in the older puppies to meet Marie, a couple at a time. I was pretty apprehensive as bringing dogs into a situation with three strangers and puppies that they never met spelled chaos if not disaster. So, first in was Pink and Sprinkles. Pink took right to Marie and was soon sitting on her lap and giving her kisses.

Sprinkles was a different story. She was a total brat and was exhibiting her worse behavior. She stood back and barked and barked and barked. As we were all experienced dog people, we totally ignored her. Normally this tactic would extinguish the behavior but Sprinkles was still barking and barking and barking. After what seemed like an endless amount of time she calmed down but would have nothing to do with Marie. Now the condition on the girls is that they go together and Sprinkles was not cooperating.
 
Next I brought in Romeo and Cowboy with the same condition that they go together. Wouldn’t you know it.....Romeo loved Marie as soon as he laid eyes on her and Cowboy barked and barked and barked. Of course this got Sprinkles going again. Now don’t forget that all is this is happening on the blanket in front of the couch where Liz and John were holding puppies. By this time I had brought the red puppies out and they were bouncing around on the blanket. Maybe not quite disaster but we certainly had attained chaos.

I looked over and Sprinkles and Romeo were both on Marie’s knee and were simultaneously kissing her face. I then threw caution to the wind and brought in Prize, who was the dog that Marie initially inquired about. Prize stood back and didn’t make a sound. I do believe that he was in shock!

By this time, John was telling Liz that they better get going. I am sure that Liz would have stayed the night if I had offered. <g> By the time they walked out the door Liz had established a strong bond with her little girl. I am also pretty sure that if the black boy hadn’t been sold that John would be taking him as well. John reminds me of a gentle giant and it was wonderful to watch him with JB.


 
I walked Liz and John to the door and when I came back Marie told me that she wanted to take Pink so we had better see if Sprinkles would warm up to her. About twenty minutes later, Sprinkles was sitting in Marie’s lap. She wasn’t giving her kisses and turned her head away from Marie and looked away. I explained to Marie that Sprinkle’s behavior was more normal than Pink’s. In the Minpin standard their temperament is described as “aloof with strangers”.

Marie and I felt that Sprinkles would soon come around when she got them home. Later that evening I got an email from Marie that the girls were playing. Pink was following her around and Sprinkles was playing hide and seek. <g>

If I could announce it from a mountain top, I would.....Sprinkles and Pink found their forever home!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo Hoo.

Marie looked so serious in her pic with Pink that I decided to put this one on as well. It shows her beautiful smile as she was holding a puppy.


The only bad note is that BB is not feeling well. She laid in her crate the whole time, with the door open. It was not a good sign that she didn’t even stick her nose out to check things out. I think I said it was Rita that got attacked by the dogs but it was actually BB. She is a very soft and sensitive girl and hasn’t been the same since. I think there is more going on right now in addition to the trauma as she was even more lethargic today. I have started syringing Ensure for Kids into her mouth every two hours. I was afraid that she was going to become dehydrated. Since the last time feeding , she seems a litter brighter but still pretty sick. I will be sitting in the vet’s office first thing in the morning. Prayers and healing thoughts please. March 3
 
February 24, 2013
Sadly, little Pixie died on Thursday afternoon. She was 32 days old. When I got home last Sunday, it was obvious that she had started to decline. She was thinner and got agitated when she was not with Fanta in her warm sleeping bag under the heat lamp. I accommodated this by leaving her alone with Fanta all day and brought her brother and sister out in front of the fireplace with the toys, to play with Rhonda's pups. Fanta would not leave her side and remained cuddled around Pixie while Pixie nursed on and off. I did not see Fanta leave Pixie at all the entire week.

I would pick Pixie up when I got up in the morning and talk to her and then put her back with mom. Then I would do the same in the afternoon. On Thursday afternoon, I put my hand in the bag and she was cold. Fanta was still cuddled around her and wouldn't let me remove Pixie so I left them together for several more hours during which Fanta continued to cuddle and clean her. Finally, at bedtime, I distracted Fanta with a raw chicken wing and scooped Pixie up and out of the bag as I returned her two pups. Fanta seemed to adjust without incident. The difference in Fanta has been amazing. She now joins her boy and girl by the fire and even asked to come on the walk today. It was apparent that she knew that Pixie didn't have a lot of time and wanted to spend every second with her. The two of them touched my heart and I will never forget.

Pixie had a good life and never suffered. She was always warm, full of mild and cuddled by mom. Here is a pic of her in happier times - she was 24 days old here. You can see the concern in Fanta's eyes.


 
I am looking forward to Marie coming next weekend to see Prize. She expressed interest in him several weeks ago but the bad weather has delayed her arrival. She emailed that she is very excited to meet Prize. If there is a connection, Prize will have his own forever home.


 
I hope that will be the start of some of the other older puppies/young adults finding homes. It's ironic that I have had many requests for older Pins over the years but I never had any at the time. Now I have some of the nicest ones ever but no interest. Such a shame as they adjust seamlessly and make wonderful family companions.

I spend a lot of time with the puppies but still try to get out to the kennel for several hours a day to keep the adults company I usually spend from when I wake up to about 3:00 pm with the puppies. Then I go out to the kennel and stay with the adults until I feed them and put them to bed at 9:00 pm. My husband gets home at 6:00 pm and when he is finished with his dinner, he cuddles and plays with the puppies as he watches TV until his bedtime.

The pups are now "little dogs" and we are doing "little dog" things. Although I never wean my pups (I let the mothers do it when they are ready) I do make soft food available to them on a regular basis. As soon as the food went down for the first time, they all dove in.

Now, this changes their poo and the moms don't like cleaning up after them, so they start to go on the papers. Then my work starts as I change papers several times a day. All the pups are paper trained when they leave here. The other thing that has started is my least favourite thing - nail cutting! When I got back, their nails were long and curled at the ends. When I put them on my clothing they stuck - their paws were like little Velcro pads. Nail cutting happened on Wednesday and Rhonda's were fairly tolerant but Fanta's protested at the top of their lungs. I have never seen a minpin that liked getting their nails cut. My husband and I do the adults. He holds them and I clip the nails. It's a good thing we have no neighbours as most scream bloody murder and I am sure someone would have called the Humane Society by now. It takes a long time as they all run and hide when they see the clippers come out so we play hide and seek until they are all done. As soon as I finish, they get a treat and move on like it never happened.

Another sign of growing up is that they become escape artists. I came down one morning and one of Rhonda's pups was running around the living room. There were three in the pen and one naughty boy had escaped. When the pups open their eyes, I bring them downstairs and set up their new home in a plastic pen. I leave one of the panels out and attach a barrier at the bottom that enables mom to jump in and out but keeps the puppies in. A heating lamp goes at one end with a comfy bed and a sleeping bag. The rest is covered in newspaper and I put in a water bowl. Then I throw in a few toys and their home is ready. This is a pic of the puppy run with the barrier that the boy climbed. We had to add the fourth panel and a bungee cord so we could close everything off at night. You can see that just behind the barrier.


 
Not everything about caring for dogs is fun, rewarding and challenging. Of course it is always very hard work but last night was one of the lows. It was getting close to bedtime and the dogs decided to swarm me and smother my entire face and head with nuzzles and kisses. Rita was behing my head on the back of the couch. Somebody must have crowded her as she fell off the couch, onto her back and let out a scream. That set off the pack instinct that all dogs have to kill anything weak and in distress. By the time I got off the couch and around to where Rita was, they were all savagly biting at her. Rita was completely helpless and the dogs were in a frenzy. I reached down to pick her up and when Rita felt my hand on her back, she swung around and bit my thumb right to the bone. I pulled back and began kicking the dogs off with the side of my foot screaming No!! and Back Off! while I reached down again and managed to scoop her up. With blood running down my arm, I put her in a crate on the counter as I tried to settle the dogs down. When it was quiet, I took Rita out and examined her. She was holding up one of her rear legs and I could see puncture marks on her shoulders. I put her back in the crate, prepared the food for everyone and put them to bed. I decided that Rita should sleep in the house so I could properly examine her in the morning. Because of her leg, I put her in her crate to carry her up. In the other hand, I carried a tray with the four food dishes that I had prepared for the girls in the house that were in season. Half way up the sidewalk in a raging blizzard, Rita's crate broke open and she fell out. I put the tray of food down, on the sidewalk and picked her up and carried her in the house. Then I came back for the food but Oliver had beat me there and had eaten it all. I picked up the tray and empty dishes and walked back to the house, very close to tears of frustation. Certainly not my finest hour. February 23, 2013
 
February 19, 2013
I got home late Sunday night safe and sound. I visited with the dogs in the house and checked out the puppies. Since I left, BB and Mazie have moved in with Cammi and the two litters of pups. They have come into season and the very best way to protect from an unplanned pregnancy is to keep them completely away from the boys. When girls are in season they seem to pee a lot more - just little bits at a time, more like marking. Also, for the first several days they bleed so it is almost impossible to keep it all wiped up all the time. Thank god I don't have carpets.

The pups had grown like weeds and I could tell immediately that my husband did an excellent job of keeping their socialization on track. The pups approached me happily with tails wagging. This is the beginning of the cute stage and I couldn't wait to get up and play with them in the morning.

So, the next morning, I am sitting in front of the fire in my dog hair covered pajamas with all the puppies and their toys when the door bell rings. Hoping that it isn't someone selling something, I answer the door to see a man, woman and boy standing there with big smiles on their faces. It was Ruth and her family who drove all the way from Oakville to see their red boy. Now they did mention coming on Monday but when I left town, we hadn't set a time and I figured they changed their mind. Always flexible....I ran upstairs and changed, wrestled Cammi, Mazie and BB into crates and let them in. There was five minutes of pandemonium and then thing settled right down. They are experienced dog people and knew just sit and be patient until Rhonda approached them She was initially upset and protective but was soon licking their fingers. We had a great visit and it just confirmed how important it is for me to hold out for the right families.


 
When they left, I put the the pups back for a nap and went to my office and checked my emails for the first time. Of course, there is was....an email sent earlier that morning saying that they "were on their way." <g>
 
My concern for the tiny black girl has grown. I had expected to see a big difference but she didn't appear to have grown at all. She was thinner than when I left and was obviously way behind her litter mates developmentally. When I took some pics, she didn't like being away from mom and was soon crying for Fanta


You can see how concerned Cammi is in the background
 
As I have never seen anything like this, I have posted a couple of pics on FB to tap into the expertise of my breeder friends. If I get any info, I will let you know. Right now, I don't think that she has much longer to live and I am taking it day by day. She is still eating well and is perfectly happy when she is with her mom under the heat lamp. I am sure that her hopeful owner will be completely devastated. Breeding dogs is comprised of ups and downs. Fortunately the ups outweigh the downs and that's what keeps us all going. This is a pic I took today of her with her brother. They are 3.5 weeks.

 
 
Everything else with the puppies is great. The reds are more advanced than the blacks as they are a bit older. They are running around and play fighting like crazy. They make a comical grrrrring noise when they play and are so much fun to watch. I picked up a couple of red pita pockets and they love them. Minpins love to be cozy and covered up when they rest. Here is a pic of what I saw when I lifted to lid on the pita this morning.

 
I was on the floor playing with the pups and looked over and saw something that surprised me. There was one of the red pups all cuddled up, "nursing" from Cammi. Cammi was looking all maternal even though she is nine years old and her nursing days are well behind her.


 
They have all their teeth and mature quickly. I try to savour every moment as it won't be long until they leave for their new homes. Here is a pic of the red girl. and one of the black boy.

    
 
This time when I went out to the kennel the dogs went crazy to see me! Gaston had them all out for a bathroom break when I got there and the kennel was empty. They wandered back in a few at a time. They couldn't believe it when they saw me and came rushing over, excited, barking and jumping up to be picked up. Things didn't settle down for more than an hour. I had to pick each one up and have a little one to one time. Then I sat on the couch and let them swarm me with kisses. At the same time, I had four of them trying to wash my face with a couple more trying to clean out my ears. You don't really know how much excitement and happiness comes from arriving home unless you have dogs. February 19, 2013
 
February 08, 2013
Last week's update was more boring than I intended as I had sent my webmaster two new puppy videos to put on but he was unable to install them. This week I will try to use more pics. I have been busy, busy, busy with puppies! They are growing like weeds and have passed the stage when mom can take care of all their needs. Now that their ears and eyes are wide open and they are toddling around, they need to get out of the whelping box and be introduced to the world. They have even started to play, which is adorable.

The tiny black girl is only 1/10 the size of the others but is meeting all her milestones. She has no trouble holding her own with her very much bigger siblings.

 

I get more optimistic about her survival every day. Socialization has begun and I now take them out in front of the fireplace in the family room and play with them with toys and squeekies. They are near the TV and they enjoyed listening to the cartoons this morning with all the high pitched energy and crazy sounds.

 
 
They are all sold but one and the excited new owners are anxious for pics so they can watch them mature. I am doing the best I can considering that I appear to be a slow learner when it comes to mastering my new iPhone. A couple of new owners have generously given me tips on how to do things and I appreciate it very much. I think that they have started to get the idea that it just isn't coming easily to me.
 
This week, I sent Sera to my friend Meredith in BC. Meredith is just getting started in her breeding program and she absolutely loves Sera's bloodlines. It was bitter sweet but Meredith raises her Pins the same way I do, as family members and not in cages or runs. She also has the most integrity of anyone I have ever met. I am known to not sell "show" dogs and that is mainly because I will not let my dogs go into kennel situations. Once they have all the stimulation and freedom that they get here from birth, they would be miserable sitting in a cage or a run. I don't have anything against well run kennels and puppies that are born in kennel situations and know no other life adjust quickly. Just not mine.
 
These are two head shots of Sera that show her exceptional beauty.

 

Then Meredith sent me a pic of Sera on the day after she arrived with some comments. That is now on my endorsement page, so have a look.

I will be away until late on Feb 17th and my husband has taken the week off to continue with the puppies' care. I believe that there are early windows of opportunity that do close if the pups are left alone with their moms in the early weeks. My webmaster will do my update on Tuesday after I return and I think I we will both be surprised at how much they have grown and matured. When I go away, I like to take a break from the internet, so don't expect to hear from me until Feb 18th at the earliest. I am actually expecting new owners to visit that day to see their pups and look forward to meeting them.
 

February 03, 2013
The puppies reached another milestone this week. Rhonda's pups opened their eyes on Friday and Fanta's pups are beginning to open today. They are right on track as they are younger by two days. Today is a big day for Rhonda - she is leaving my office and moving downstairs with her family. She has been taking care of her pups in the bottom half of a big vari kennel. I leave a small heater on at all times as it is very important that they don't get chilled. Her pups are so big that they fill up their current home and they need more space. They also need more stimulation as they can see and hear now.

Fanta's pups are all over the map. One girl is giant sized, the boy is medium sized and the other girl is tiny, tiny. 

When the little girl didn't grow, I was concerned that she might not make it. She is getting stronger every day, so much so that I docked her tail and removed her dewclaws yesterday. Her littermates were done two weeks ago but I wanted to wait until the little girl was stronger. She made it through with flying colours. Her prognosis is still uncertain but I am beginning to feel more confident that she will make it. I will wait a few more days until I move Fanta downstairs.
 
I have had a very frustrating week trying to get used to my iPhone 5. I haven't had nearly the success that I hoped. The person at Futures recommended this phone as it was "user friendly."

The weather has been bitter cold this week. I am noticing that the Pins are spending more time outdoors and without their coats! I am surprised that they have acclimatized so well. I feel sorry for them as they haven't been in the house since Rhonda whelped. I try to spend several hours with them every day. I sit and watch TV and they pile on - across the back of my neck, under each arm, under my chin, on my lap, and across my legs.
 
January 27, 2013
Another week has passed and our focus has been on Fanta's little girl. She is indeed an enigma. I don't think she has grown much - maybe a bit but she is strong and has no trouble getting to mom to feed. Sometimes the smallest puppy keeps getting pushed out of the way by the bigger ones. Her suck is strong and she is warm. These are very good things. I would just feel better if she started to grow. Her pups are 8 days old today. The boy and second girl are thriving in every way.


I have started to inject her with Ringers. I use a very fine needle and inject the full syringe twice. Once on each side of her shoulders. When I have finished, she looks like she has two big balloons. The electrolytes slowly adsorb and give that little bit extra. I think I will call her Mira for now. Mira comes from Miracle. It is the name of a small red girl that I literally brought back from the brink of death. Fanta's girl is in much better shape but maybe calling her Mira will be a good omen.


What is dying around here is my camera and that does upset me. I have had my Kodak for at least 10 years and it has never let me down. It takes great pics that are very easy to download and edit. It is extremely reliable and is responsible for every single pic on my blog and website for 10 years. I tried to replace it once but just couldn't get the hang of the new camera. Now my camera is burning batteries like crazy. I pay almost $20.00 for the long lasting re-chargeable ones. I put one in the camera and after only 6 to 10 pics, the battery is dead. I have now burned 8 batteries to get only a handful of pics. That is bad news for me as I don't adapt to change well.

I was going to take a pic of Rhonda's four who are growing like crazy. I can't believe how strong they are. They look like little bull dogs. Rhonda is such a good mother! They are 10 days old today. Their eyes and ears will open sometime next week.

There is a red boy and girl available with the possibility of a black boy in 7 weeks. Also, don't forget about the older pups and young adults.
 
January 22, 2013
Rhonda whelped on Thursday. She had four big healthy pups. There is a dark red girl and a clear girl and a dark red boy and a clear boy. Rhonda is an excellent mom and the pups are growing like weeds. I have a deposit on one girl and I am holding one boy as a possible show prospect. I won't know until eight weeks if he will be available or not.


 
Fanta whelped on Saturday. She had two black girls and a black boy. They have thick, shiny coats. One of the girls is quite a bit smaller and I am keeping an eye on her. I have deposits on both girls and I am holding the boy until eight weeks to see if he is a show prospect. He may become available at that time. So, bottom line is that there is one red girl and a red boy available right now and a red boy and a black boy possibly available at eight weeks.


 
Of course, there are also older pups and young adults in both colours waiting for their forever family. The benefits of getting an older dog is one of the best well kept secrets

I received a wonderful update on Ginger and Cooper from Jennifer, with two pics attached. It has been added to the Endorsement page. You will see why I like to place two pups together. I also prefer to place a pup in a home with another Minpin. I mean just look at those pics and you will be a believer.

The weather has been well below freezing for days now. The Pins will come outside, run around for a few minutes and zip back into the kennel through the dog door to lay down by the wood stove. Gaston spent the weekend cutting down trees and chopping them into fire wood. He now tells me that we have enough for the winter. I am relieved that he has managed this huge accomplishment without cutting something off. Gaston lost half of his thumb and one finger three years ago when he was using the snow blower on the driveway. He does tend to be accident prone.

Stay tuned and we can watch the puppies grow up together.
 
January 13, 2013
This is the week that leads up to the whelping of our three litters. These will be the last litters that will be bred at Patapin for a long, long time, if ever. As you all know I am trying to get my numbers down as more dogs = less attention for every individual dog. Sadly, I haven't had much success finding homes from my website.

Right now, no one seems interested in the older pups and young adults. However, I have had many inquiries from people about the upcoming litters. Of those, at least 80% want a black girl. These are the most popular pets, across the board by far. I have accepted one deposit and there is no way that Fanta is going to have enough pups to please even a very small fraction of inquiries. The people who will get a puppy are those that are satisfied with any healthy, well adjusted puppy, regardless of colour or sex.

As you can see, Rhonda has a belly full and is not due for another week. Fanta is due five days later and doesn't appear to have nearly as many in the oven.

 


I will be away for the week leading up to the whelping and when I get back, I am going to change my strategy. Years ago, when I first retired, I put an ad on Kijiji. I was flooded with inquiries and found several excellent homes. Most "reputable" breeders frown on this as something only done by puppy mills and back yard breeders. I have always thought that this was a crock. There are lots of people who read Kijiji who appreciate a fully guaranteed, fully registered and socialized puppy. The key is good screening. Due to the fact that I was trained to screen homes for children in one of my careers, I am skilled in this area. So, I am looking forward to my Kijiji response.
 
This week was pretty much uneventful. Part way thru, the weather got very mild. This is a pic of us walking before the weather got warmer

and then the snow melted and the grass appeared.


Rhonda and friends splashing in the puddles left by the melting snow
The dogs loved it as they had missed their daily regime of running like crazy on the entire 13 acres. This is Silver digging madly in the soft ground. The soft dirt was simply chocked full of delicious smells.


Two Pins are hoping that Silver will pop out a couple of mice.

We have incorporated the drive shed where to firewood is cut and stored, to our walking routine. The floor is covered with saw dust and everyone loves it in there. The Pins think it's a big litter box just for them so we make a visit every night before bed. It will be the perfect place for them to do their business and will be hugely appreciated during the coldest weather and blowing winds this winter.

This is Romeo checking out the wood pile.


 
I received a lovely update this week and it has been added to the endorsement page. It is the perfect example of how successful I am in finding the perfect homes for my special Pins. My dogs thrive in these special homes and it is the only way I can sleep at night. Of course, it does slow down my home finding but I am prepared to wait as long as it takes for the perfect fit.

Again, I will be away from my computer for a week. However if you are interested in one of my dogs, especially a new puppy, please email me anyway. There won't be much time between my return and the births. Can't wait!!
 
January 06, 2013
Unfortunately this week was flawed when an unstable and jealous mediocre breeder attacked me without provocation on one of the general information Minpin lists. She attacked, kicked me off the list before I could defend myself and then when other more reputable breeders tried to defend me, she shut down the whole topic. I was a bit disappointing when I was told that a breeder "friend" that lives in the same area gave her the info that she distorted and used against me. Apparently this person was more upset than I realized when my dog defeated their current pride and joy. Most breeders are good people and have enriched my life immensely. Like any area of life, there is the occasional bad apple. This bad apple just turned out to be the most toxic and scary person I have ever encountered in my entire 63 years.

Now, on to better things. I have decided to use my blog to showcase the beautiful Patapins that are waiting for their forever families. Every week, I will showcase a few, in no particular order. Everyone you see here is fully immunized, tattooed, CKC registered, crate trained, lead trained, confident, stable and fully socialized. Some are also young Canadian champions. This week, I have selected Prize, Pink and Sprinkles.

Prize is only eight months old but wise beyond his age. He is intelligent, thoughtful and very calm. Prize doesn't demand my attention like some of the others. He will sit back and watch me as the others crawl over my body, nipping my nose and licking my face and the inside of my ears (yuk). When he sees an opening he springs up and presses his nose into my neck and relaxes his body in a wonderful hug/cuddle. Prize has good bone and excellent concentration would make an excellent performance dog. He is playful and affectionate and one of the nicest boys I have ever produced. He would be very content and grateful to be part of his own family.

   


Then we have Pink and her sister Sprinkles. These girls are seven months old and are very close. If there is one, the other is never far behind. Ideally I would like to place them together. Both have natural standing ears. I don't get those very often and it's my favourite look. As you can see, Sprinkle's ears are stronger than Pink's. If Pink is tired, one ear will droop which gives her a comical, somewhat bemused expression. Although the girls are almost identical, Sprinkles is much darker. Her coat has dark highlights and is simply stunning. These girls are extraordinary. They are small but perfectly conformed. Pink and Sprinkles are affectionate, intelligent and love to play. Their antics provide me with several guaranteed laughs every day. Pink has also been spayed.


Pink


Sprinkles

Of course, there are others including several young,beautiful red red boys. One, Romeo just became a Can Champion and he did it in just two weekends of showing!

Please don't hesitate to contact. I learned long ago that there is no such thing as a stupid question.
 

The BeautyBlog 2012  The BeautyBlog 2011