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December 21, 2014
The pups have made some big gains this week. They got off
their bellies and are up on their feet. Their nails were long
and curled causing them to get caught in the carpet so they
had their first nail trim.
They have started eating out of Fanta's bowl of soft food.
This is the first step towards them self weaning. I never
remove pups from mom to wean. I let Fanta decide when the time
is right.
Socializing has begun in earnest. I take them out and put them
on the floor to move on a different surface. I cuddle and
stimulate each one separately. Then Gaston does the same in
the evening while he watches TV.
I will be away for 10 days over Christmas. It's bittersweet as
I really need a break but I'll miss the pups. They will change
so much by the time I get home on December 31. Fortunately
Gaston is off and will continue on with everything. He takes
excellent care of all the dogs when I'm away. So, no more
updates until after the 31st.
Merry Christmas everyone! Pat |
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The puppies are
now able to chase after Fanta when they want to eat. |
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December 14, 2014
Puppies have joined the world! As soon as their eyes and
ears open I move everyone down to the family room. Makes it
easy to give the extra attention and stimulation they need to
be exceptional |
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Introducing
Fanta's babies with eyes and ears wide open! One boy opened
his eyes 4 days before the rest. I'll have to keep an eye on
him. They are all crawling around their bigger run on their
bellies. So strong and active. |
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December 07, 2014
It's been a long
and difficult week. It became apparent after 24 hrs that I
would have to supplement Fanta's tiny boy as he wasn't strong
enough to suck enough milk on his own.
I started with an eye dropper and warmed goat's milk mixed
with puppy vitamins. I also gave him injections (under the
skin) out of a bag of Ringer's. I looked for, and found, a
bottle and nipple that worked much better. Despite feeding him
every two to three hours he didn't thrive and died this
morning.
It never gets any easier. When you spend that amount of time
with a puppy you form a strong bond. It's been a sad day.
The good news is that the remaining three boys and girl are
strong and healthy. There is one very large boy, two medium
sized boys and the girl is the smallest. Fanta is an excellent
mother and the pups are chubby and contented.
I have included the pics I took since they were born. |
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Two
boys and the girl on Day 2 |
Grouping on Day 3 with the tiny boy at the top |
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Tiny
boy, right after being fed goat's milk with an eye
dropper |
Today's
pic on Day 8 |
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Fanta
with her pups today |
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I have two
deposits so there are no puppies available.
I will update the puppies progress weekly. Dec 7 |
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September 21, 2014
If I wrote for others I would carry on as I have had an
overwhelming number of requests to continue. However, I write for
myself and I have lost the desire to open up my day to day life in
my Blog - the magic is gone. All it took was one bad apple.
Everyone can rest assured that life is carrying on at Patapin in
much the same way as it is portrayed in the previous four years. I
know better than to say "never" and if the spirit hits I will take
it up again.
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September 14, 2014
"Well, I just finished reading your blog, and please say
it aint' so.... Pat, you cannot stop writing and posting your blog. It's been my routine ever since I got Romeo to log onto
your website and get the weekly update. I thoroughly enjoy
your weekly posts, the pictures, and the updates about what is
happening with all your Min Pins. I am note sure what the deal
is with the people who don't like you, but the way I see it is
if you stop writing and posting your blog- they win. They
succeeded in getting the best of you. Don't let that happen.
You are a wonderful person, who has brought to many
of us the most wonderful dogs ever. Rosa" -
Part of my of my
response to Rosa was that the people that don't like me are
the ones that can't handle my candor and complete honesty. The
rest find me refreshingly honest and factual. The latter are
in the vast majority.
I received several similar emails. Fact is that I'm still not
recovered from the breeder using what I posted to severely
punish my very good friend. However, there have been occasions
when time has lessened my frustration and anger. I will take
the requests to continue under advisement. Next Sunday will be
three weeks. Might know by then.
However, I can't resist one very, very happy announcement.
Birdie whelped her Australian puppies out of Manley!!! Two red
girls, 1 black girl, and 2 black boys. All healthy and
thriving. This dream has been almost two years in the making.
Here's hoping they can set a new standard for Minpins in
Australia! |
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September 07, 2014
This will be my last Blog entry. I haven't had the same
enjoyment since MK told CR about something I posted that resulted
in Meredith becoming the innocent victim. As soon as CR was told
she refused to send Meredith the replacement puppy she promised
her and Meredith was devastated. Yes, Meredith was punished for
something I did. If that wasn't enough they stopped her from using
a stud owned by DB where the arrangements had been made months
ago. Reason? "If something bad happens I will put it on my Blog."
If I have to watch everything I say, it defeats the whole purpose
and spoils my Sunday "therapy". So good bye to all my faithful
readers. I hope you enjoyed reading my four years of entries as
much as I did sharing them with you. Pat
I will continue to update the Available page.
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August 31, 2014
I am fully functioning this weekend and started my Blog
before 11:00 am. I hope it makes more sense than last week's.
It has been a typical week with no big lows or highs - just
the way I like it. I'm going to start by answering two
questions that I am asked all the time.
1) I am being continually told that my dogs are different from
typical Minpins. Feedback is that they are calm dogs that
seldom bark, have such good manners and are so easy to live
with and train. They have huge, winning personalities. Many of
their satisfied comments are unsolicited and appear on my
Endorsement page.
The answer is two fold with emphasis on the latter. First you
have to use pedigrees that contain good temperament as without
that, you have nothing. Then you have to raise them to reach
their potential right from birth. I leave the pups with mom
for the first week. I supervise constantly but let mom "do her
thing". I start working with them just just after one week
old. I pick each one up and hold it to my face and blow softly
on it. I do this at least one but mostly 2x per day. That also
gets mom used to her puppies being removed for short periods.
I find that they can do much more at two weeks than people
ever imaging. I have even found a two week old pup with it's
head in their mom's food. When their eyes and ears open, I
bring them down to the family room, in front of the fireplace
and TV (where I spend most of my time). I put them in a
plastic sided x-pen with beds at one end and newspaper at the
other. I place two red heat lamps on each corner over the
beds. Then I remove one panel and replace it with a shorter
piece so mom can get in and out with ease. Be prepared that
there will come a day when pups can get out on their own and
the real fun begins!
Before three weeks, I introduce different sounds and textures.
I put turn on a small grooming tool and hold it against their
bodies so they can feel the vibrations and hear the noise. I
also have a lot of children's musical instruments that I play
near them - two flutes, a tambourine, a drum and a small
whistle. I tickle their bodies and faces with feathers and rub
a brush over their bodies, Tactile stimulation is important. I
have CD's of thunder storms, clapping, children's songs, car
noises and more that I play when I go out.
I could go on and on but the general idea is to continue to
challenge them as they mature. My current pups went to an
outdoor pen before four weeks where they interacted with the
herd, through the openings in the pen. This was after they
spent most of the day with me in the kennel in a wire crate on
the counter. As they turned 5 weeks, I would let them run free
on the grass with everyone - all my Pins, Silver, Oliver and
Belle. Belle loves puppies and lets them crawl all over her.
If I have a lot of pups, Gaston helps supervise until I am
confident that they wont get accidentally hurt. I have had
nothing even resembling a close call It develops their sense
of independence and confidence. I have a small collapsible
stool in their big pen that I use for stacking them and I
bring them into the kennel to put on the grooming table. I
usually start leash work at six weeks.
At 6 weeks, I take them to Pet Smart and take them around in a
cart. I let the many willing and interested people pick them
up and snuggle with them. I don't start shots until eight
weeks as they are ineffective before that and what's the point
of filling their bodies with foreign matter for nothing? I
start at eight weeks and only have to give two sets. And yes,
for those that noticed, I take them out before their first set
of shots. Socialization trumps everything else. In almost 20
yrs I have never ever had a problem. This is the start of why
my Pins are so confident and "different" from most others.
Some other time I will to explain how I have have 100% control
of my pack, can call them one by one on the walks for an
immediate recall and how they get their good manners. Yikes! -
I may be starting a lecture series. <g>
On a regular but infrequent basis, I am asked about Gaston.
Don't worry, this will be short. A lot of people think their
husbands are one of a kind. Gaston is like no other person I
have ever met or even heard about. From the moment we met he
got his needs met by meeting my needs. He gets continued
pleasure for "taking care of me'. <g> There's not much more to
say as that describes my husband to a tee. He will do (and
practically does) everything. He needs to keep busy and
several times a week he asks me if there is anything else he
can do. He is wonderful with the dogs and takes half days off
to be with them any time I'm away. One day he came home with a
gun that shoots tennis balls and a bird that you send flying
with a sling shot. He was a big kid and couldn't wait to see
their reaction. |
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I have had to
actively stop him from taking over the things I insist on
doing myself like laundry and cooking. He does cook and when I
have been away, I can be assured of a hot, nutritious meal
waiting when I walk in the door (also an immaculate house).
And yes, rumours are correct. Gaston is 10 yrs younger. When
we married my childhood friend told me that her mother
predicted that the marriage wouldn't last five years before
Gaston left for someone younger. Well, that was 31 yrs ago!
Success is the best form of revenge.
Finally, on to the dogs. I get plenty of bones from the
abattoir where I get my meat for raw feeding. Once a week, we
have bone day when everyone gets a fresh beef bone. I always
supervise until they are done. The big dogs get the big
knuckle bones and the Pins get the smaller bones. This week
was a very special day as, for the first time the Pins all got
a rack of ribs. My goodness, were they ever excited! They
hauled them off to a private place and guarded them
ferociously while they chewed away for hours (and I had a few
hrs of quiet. You can see Cammi's only remaining two teeth as
she guards hers in a crate. All dragged his into his special
place which is a white molded igloo and Rita was content to
eat hers out in the open.
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The puppies also
got bones and here is a pic of my black, pick black puppy with
her first bone. |
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Following bone
day, we have had two corn days. My dogs share my love of corn
on the cob, lightly cooked in the microwave. Cammi is the
biggest fan and can clean a cob in no time flat. Rita is the
fastest corn eater and guards hers ferociously. Last but not
least we have a pic of Rita's small red boy enjoying his corn.
Here are some pics of corn day. |
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Then we have
Rita. The following pics say it all about how much Rita loves
her corn. Then you will see that the puppies also got corn!
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I'll do a couple
of updates and then on to the puppies. My friend is over her
bad experience with the breeder who sold her a dog with
epilepsy and has her eyes on a female with one of the best
pedigrees out there. This time it's with a well liked breeder
who is l known for being honest and easy to deal with. My
friend is excited all over again. Unlike me, she is an
optimist that doesn't dwell on things for long but moves on.
She is also looking forward breeding Lucy in the fall and has
already short listed a few studs. Life marches on.
Cammi's heart disease continues to worsen and she is coughing
again. This breaks my heart as I know the end is near. In
spite of this, she participates in all activities and is an
unbelievable nanny to the puppies. I moved the mothers to the
kennel at night 10 days ago and Cammi is more than happy to
dote on them like a mother hen. She curls around them and
sleeps with them most of the night. She also "feeds" them,
cleans their bums (not that they need it) and plays with them.
As the first pic shows the black girl isn't the least bit
deterred by the fact that Cammi has no milk. (BTW Eva, the
black is your baby Leita). Here are some of my favourite pics
of "Nanny" Cammi that will become her legacy. |
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As I always save
the best for last, here are a collage of pics that show the
puppies during every day life. The first one of them passed
out over the top of the dog bed was taken on a hot humid day.
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So far, I have a
pup going to Hesham, who lives between Toronto and Egypt and
of course there's Eva's pup. She told me that she screamed out
at work when I sent her the first pic of her little girl. As
the pups mature I have narrowed down my picks and I'm prepared
to take two more deposits.
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August 17, 2014
Best news ever! As you will recall, I sent Frankie to
Mer's in BC for her to train and show for me. While he was
there Frankie grew to 13 1/4" Yowza - that's big! Mer was
looking for an agility home as Frankie is an athletic dog that
loves catching Frisbees, retrieving, running leaping and
jumping. He wasn't getting any interest and I felt really bad
that Mer was housing and feeding an extra dog and Frankie
didn't have a home.
Then I was contacted by the most amazing couple. They saw my
Available page and were interested in Sarge and Sam. I sent
more info and pics on both and then remembered Frankie. We
pulled a description together and I sent him all of Frankie's
amazing pics. Lorcan was impressed. Coincidentally he was also
in BC and only 90 min from Frankie. They spend three months a
year in Ottawa and the rest of the year in Mexico. They have
always had big dogs and were ready for a smaller breed. They
did their home work on Minpins and I filled in the gaps. After
more than a week of intense emailing, Lorcan settled on
Frankie. I have received the money and they are picking
Frankie up today. It's funny how life works. I firmly believe
that there is the perfect home out there for every dog and I
never compromise. High standards and patience pay off every
time. I could post many pics of Frankie to refresh your memory
but this one is his most stunning. It's the Frank - Man
dashing thru the snow.
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I also took
Sammy off the Available page. Although he has a couple of
flaws, the good far outweighs the bad, I love his pedigree and
he has me wrapped around his little paw. This is also Sam's
most memorable pic. |
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Sarge is still
looking for a home and of course I have puppies!
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This week has
also been consumed by the puppies. I did have an opportunity
to get away for a few hours and visit Fanta's brother, who I
placed with Jean and John three years ago. They winter in
Florida and are home during the summer. Their home is 10 min
from me. Every time, I take a dog with me. This time I took
Silver.
On this visit it had been 13 months since I last saw this boy.
No matter what, he goes freakin' nuts every time he sees me.
If he could turn himself inside out he would. It was a bit
unusual but last week he fawned over me for the whole time I
was there. Jean and I talked dogs of course and Silver was a
perfect angel. It was a pleasant and re energizing visit. I
look forward to it every year. |
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Now for the
puppies! Last week I was so overwhelmed and worn out I wasn't
able to post any puppy pics. Well, I am going to make up for
it this week!
But where to start. So many pics and so much to say..........
Beauty's pups have demanded a lot of intense special care due
to her having had severe mastitis as soon they were born. As I
was focused on curing Beauty and hand feeding the pups, it
slipped my mind that she hadn't tended to them at all. She
didn't lick off the amniotic fluid as mothers do so well.
Anyone who has bred a litter knows just how much constant
licking goes on,. When her pups were between 3 and 4 weeks, it
hit me when pieces of their coat fell off, leaving bald spots
behind. It was most apparent on the black girls with the
contrast to their dark coats. They look like little
Dalmatians. I rubbed coconut oil on them daily and actually
dipped the worst one in a coconut oil bath. This is the worse
one and you will notice it on all the puppy pics. (The tiny
dark girl has one between her shoulder blades). I thought the
black girl looked seriously moth eaten. |
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I had the pups
on the couch with me this morning as their moms were nursing
them. Here are random pics of Beauty's pups. They are really
pulling on her nipples sucking hard to get every drop. As they
got off the such a bad start, they are smaller than they
normally would be. I am not sure if Beauty's milk is off but
they are also whiney and cry more than any other litter I have
ever had. A quiet pup is a happy pup. To supplement their
nursing, I hold them at a bowl of ground raw and cottage
cheese, with full fat yogurt added. Surprisingly, the tiny
dark girl is the most enthusiastic eater. She dives right in
like she is starving and doesn't stop until her belly is
bursting. Yet, she is not catching up to the others, merely
holding her own. The pup with the collar is Rita's girl who
snuck in there to get a little extra breakfast! The last pic
is the tiny girl snuggling with her sister. |
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I carry Beauty's
pups onto the couch but Rita's pups are a different story.
Some time ago, I put a portable set of stair down to help
Cammi get up and down from the couch. It didn't take long
Rita's pups long to use the stairs to come and go as they
pleased. I strive to challenge them with new things so this
worked perfectly. |
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I do a LOT of
stimulating and challenging puppies. This week, Rita's pups
moved to a wire crate on the counter in the kennel to be part
of the daily happenings. I set up a little play pen for them.
The second pic is of them all lined up sleeping after a
rigorous play period. |
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Then they moved
to the grass. Their first instinct was to escape from the
prickly green stuff by climbing my legs. Today, when they were
used to the grass, I put them in a pen in the shade.
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I am excited
that Rita's pups all look like show prospects! That was the
plan when I purchased the new stud and for this particular
pedigree. I will have a better idea at 8 weeks. Beauty's pups
are a mystery. Strangest litter I have ever had.
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August 09, 2014
Let's start out with puppies. Not the best news this week.
Rita got eclampsia on Friday! I had given her and Beauty
peanut butter before I went out to the kennel around noon.
Just before I left, Rita vomited. It smelled and looked like
peanut butter. I was surprised (as Rita likes to but hang on
to her PB) but not concerned. I came back in at 2:30 and found
Rita, laying flat on her stomach with her legs splayed out.
She was rigid. I have experienced this 2x before and
immediately knew it was eclampsia. I have had it 2x within
days of a litter being born and caught it right away. This was
the first time it happened with puppies almost 3 1/2 weeks
old.
I scooped her up and headed for the vet. As I live 25 min out
of town the ride was horrendous. I called ahead so they were
expecting me. I was seen by a vet shortly after I arrived. She
wanted to do an exam and then she wanted to do blood work to
confirm the diagnosis. As time is of the essence, I just
wanted Rita taken to the back and to get the IV calcium
started immediately. She insisted on the exam but due to my
insistence, she marked the chart "blood work declined."
Eclampsia is a horrible, life threatening condition and Rita
was very far gone. Her pupils were dilated, she was hyper -
ventilating with had a temp of 103.5 degrees. The temp comes
from from her muscle contractions. I insisted on going back
with Rita when they treated her. They surrounded Rita with ice
packs and a shunt was inserted in a vein in her leg. They
began injecting Rita with the calcium, directly into the
shunt. They can only inject a small amount at a time and then
flush it with Ringers. If she gets too much or too fast, the
heart will stop. It seemed to take forever. Slowly, the
breathing slowed down and her temp decreased. Then the
rigidity decreased. They stopped after 3/4 of the dosage as
her heart rate slowed dramatically. Once her heart rate got
back to normal, I took Rita home, wrapped in towels and cold
packs. I put her in a wire cage on the counter in the kennel
and started a fan that blew over her body. It wasn't until she
relaxed that I was able to take a pic. As you know, I like to
document everything that goes on here. You can see the bandage
where the IV was in the first pic and the fan in the second
pic.
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Eclampsia is a
result of the dam being totally depleted of calcium by the
pups draining her of mild, which is high in calciom.
Once she fell asleep, I went in the house to check on the
puppies. Of course, they were all crying loudly as they missed
their mom. Although her pups were old enough to start eating
on their own, they didn't touch the food I put down for them
as Rita had an abundance of milk and she kept them full. So
they had to start eating as they had no other choice. I put
down a warm bowl of ground chicken and goats milk, stood them
by the bowl and dipped their noses into the mixture. Then I
opened their mouths and pushed fingers full of food into them.
I did this for 30 min and then went back out to check on Rita
and give her some liquid calcium And that's pretty much how my
day went from there. [
I said last week that it was fortunate that Rita and her pups
were totally self sufficient as I had to spend so much time
with Beauty's pups but that all changed in the blink of an
eye. Speaking of Beauty, just when I thought her pups were out
of the woods, the tiny dark girl began losing weight. Of
course that meant that I have resumed feeding her by hand,
every 3 hrs, up to and including today.
There was some fun last week when Gaston surprised me with two
dog toys. The first is a bird that squeaks. You can send it
flying with a sling shot. The second was a gun that shoots
tennis balls. Everyone loves to retrieve and zooms out to see
who can be first to grab the prize and zoom right back for a
tasty treat. The first pic is the bird/sling shot and the
second was the tennis ball/gun. Gaston is trying them out
while I take the pics. |
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Sorry, no time
for updated puppy pics. Stayed tuned for next week.
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August 03, 2014
The weeks are flying by and summer will soon be over. I
have spent a half of July in my over - heated, dimly lit
office, trying to help Beauty's puppies. Before I get into
puppy updates, let's get the one irritating thing out of the
way. A woman contacted me last week and she was interested in
wunder - puppy Sam (on my Available page). She had a lot to
offer but lived alone and worked full time. She had some help
from her mom during the week that limited time alone from four
to five hours daily. I explained that I don't place pups with
people who live alone as there is no one else coming and going
to fill in the gaps. Also, anytime she runs errands, goes to
apts, out to dinner etc there would be no one home. I am home
24/7 and if I run errands, Sam runs free on my property with
the company of 9 other Pins. My cardinal rule is to place a
Pin in a home where their life is at least as good as it is
here.
I did tell her that not everyone is as particular as I am and
that I was sure she wouldn't have any trouble finding a
Minpin.
I turn down more homes than I approve. Most either don't
respond back, or reply that they understand. This woman hit
back with unrelenting anger. Every frustration she has ever
had with a "reputable" breeder was dumped on me. She said that
breeders like me get their egos in the way of the dogs and
force people to go to back yard breeders by turning people
down for "ridiculous" reasons, like no one being home all day.
I was holding my head too high and I wasn't even her first
choice! She had found three other reputable breeders with
better dogs than mine and I was actually her fourth choice.
Choice one had a 3 year waiting list, choice two never replied
to her inquiry and choice 3 had a 5 year waiting list. She
went on to say that she has been turned down by every breeder
she has ever contacted including those from other provinces.
Need I say more??
Anyway I made the mistake of replying twice in an effort to
reason with her. Of course it only got worse. I will never
learn. Geesh
Now for a palate cleanser before moving on to sweet baby
puppies. Last week I ended with a pic of Sunshine riding the
magic Pink Pony. I said that I had purchased the Pony for
Belle. So this is a pic of Belle enjoying her Pony. She has a
big toy box of stuffed toys that she uses to "nurse" on when
she is tired. Yesterday, she hauled out her Pony and went to
work. You can see that she has her paws wrapped around it's
neck and she is nursing on Pony's head. Such a sucky baby.
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These are my
"extra" sleeping bags. This shows that I am a hopeless dog
shopper. I have kept the ones I like the best. Any takers? |
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Now for the
puppy updates!! I'll start with the oldest. Rita's pups are
three weeks old today. They are out of Tim and yesterday a
puppy out of Tim won the Alberta Toy Group Specialty,
defeating 93 of the best Toys in North America, which included
many adult champions. Now that was exciting!
I am just going to do a series of pics. The ones that include
Gaston's hairy forearm and hand were taken today. |
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Beauty's pups
were born on July 18 and are five days younger. They have
remained very tiny but eyes and ears are open and they move
downstairs today. Before I get started, I want you to see the
size difference. The very dark girl looks elegant and her
pigment is to die for.
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Whew, I'm
exhausted! I thought that Beauty's pups would be easier to
handle as they had all been fed by hand but that was not the
case. Gaston couldn't even hold them so I tried with not much
better luck. I did get one that is OK. Geesh, who would think
that such tiny pups could be so strong and wriggly. So we
wrangled them into a light coloured bed and did our best. I
took the pics while Gaston kept putting them back into
position. It is more difficult to take a good pic of dark
pigmented puppies. If two blacks are together, it looks like
one gigantic pup. It will give you an idea. |
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Right now I am
excited about both litters and hope to be back in the ring at
the beginning of 2015. I mean that's the whole point of all
this work right? At least that's what I keep telling myself.
lol
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July 27, 2014
This week has been a blur of Beauty and her puppies. As I
mentioned last week, Beauty had mastitis and it got much much
worse. Her whole underside was hard, inflamed and swollen.
Beauty was restless and miserable. She panted constantly. I
gave her Clavimox twice a day for the infection and applied
hot compresses. On the second day I was desperate and also
gave the anti inflammatory, Melocican which hasn't been tested
in nursing dams. To combat the restlessness, I was giving her
5 Tums per day. Until I could get the mastitis resolved,
Beauty would be unable to nurse or tend to her pups. By the
end of day 3, her belly and teats looked normal and Beauty was
more relaxed. She would now curl around her pups and they were
able to latch on. What a RELIEF!
Even though the pups are now nursing, they don't seem to be
getting enough. They never have those full, barrel bellies
that I am used to seeing. I am working my butt off to keep
them alive and strong. I have been feeding them all with an
eye dropper. The very dark red girl is the smallest and most
fragile so after feeding her, I also inject her sub Q with
Ringers. They are 8 days old today and the light red boy and
two black girls have a 75 - 25% chance of surviving. The dark
girl is reversed with a 25 - 75% chance of surviving. I am
spending most of my time working on her.
Mid week, I tried something new. I put raw ground, puppy
canned, goat's milk and puppy vitamins into my blender, warmed
it in the microwave and put it on a flat surface with edges.
Then I placed the pups around the edges of the dish. Much to
my surprise and delight, as soon as they smelled the mixture,
they dove right in. All I could hear were enthusiastic
slurping sounds. Some crawled right in and curled into a ball
as they ate, then when they were full they fell asleep. Here
are some eating pics. |
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You will notice
that these pups still have their tails. I dock tails and
remove dew claws no later than day 3 on strong, healthy pups.
I plan to do these tomorrow evening, day 9. These are some
puppy pics that I took this morning, last ones you will see
with their tails. You will see that Beauty has her personality
back and decided to pose belly up when she saw the camera. I
am always amazed at how much bigger they look in pics. |
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I mentioned last
week that I was beginning to suspect that Rhonda was having a
false pregnancy. Well, I was right. Rhonda's belly has
disappeared and her milk has dried up. False pregnancies are
completely convincing. I have included a pic of Rhonda's belly
on day 50. Rhonda was able to use her pregnancy to get extra
food. Every day, she would come out and ask for lunch. Then
she would devour her double rations at supper time. Such a
tricky girl! |
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I took this pic
of Rhonda today. She is on day 66. In this pic, Rhonda and
Sunshine are eating grass. Puppy belly gone! All that's left
is pudge from all that food she gobbled up to feed her phantom
puppies. |
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Fortunately,
Rita's pups are thriving as I have had little time to spend
with them. She is a super mom and her pups are strong and
resemble little barrels. Davie is still half the size as you
will see from one pic but he is strong, active and out of the
woods. |
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I am now taking
deposits. I have accepted two and will take two more.
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Now for some
very good news! The Humane Society called on Wednesday and
said they found a home for Nathan. Donna (from the Society)
and Laura came to meet Nathan on Thursday. Laura is very
experienced with Minpins and has also done dog rescue. She is
definitely a strong dominant personality and should have no
problem keeping Nathan on his routine and reinforcing all the
good things he learned here. Laura has also agreed to feed
Nathan the raw diet he is thriving on. Nathan was definitely a
handful but I grew to love the little rascal and I will miss
him. Laura reinforced her dominant personality by almost
crushing my hand as we shook hands before she left. lolol
Here is Nathan just after his bath. He was extremely thin when
he arrived and must have put on two pounds. His coat is thick
and shiny and he exudes good health and happiness. Last pic is
my traditional good bye pic of Nathan and Laura in my driveway
just before leaving. |
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did manage
a walk with Silver this week. There is a dirt, country road
five minutes from my property. Silver and I drive there and I
park on the grass beside the narrow road. If we walk down to
the first cross road and back it takes exactly an hour. If
Silver gets ahead of me and gets to the cross road first, she
sits and waits for me. I have walked that road many times and
seldom see another car. Here are pics of Silver waiting for me
to catch up and one of us getting back to my vehicle.
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Today, I was in
the kennel after walking the dogs for 40 minutes on the
property. I looked over and found my precious boy, Tim,
sleeping on a pillow. Doesn't that melt your heart just a bit?
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It's Sunday and
Beauty's pups are nine days old. I am confident that the red
boy and two black girls are out of the woods. The very dark
girl is a different story. If determination on my part can
keep her alive then she will live. Gaston and I did tails and
dews at noon. He holds and I cut and cauterize. We did the
tiny girl last. Cropping her tail was like cutting a strand of
spaghetti. I have added pics of Gaston holding a black girl in
position as I am about to cut the tail. Then the last pic -
four tails and the cauterizer. |
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I wanted to end
on a happy note so I will share this pic of Sunshine riding
the magic Pink Pony. I bought that for Belle but the Pins are
fascinated with it. |
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July 20, 2014
Since things can
happen so quickly around here I am starting to prepare this
update only a few days after Gunter left.
I did a good deed on July 4th. I am a resource person for the
local Humane Society in respect to Minpins. They called last
week and asked for advice about a 2 1/2 yr old, male Nathan.
He was a relinquish and came to the Humane Society when the
children in the home were apprehended by Child Protective
Services. They knew nothing about his background but it is
safe to assume that it was chaotic at best. They said that he
was unpredictable - sometimes liking women and sometimes
growling at them. He also had the off putting habit of leaning
against something, sitting on his haunches and masturbating
his penis with his two front paws. He was exhibiting these
behaviors during visits with prospective homes and, after
being shown numerous times had not been adopted. The woman
told me that they had a meeting and if Nathan didn't go out
the front door he was about to go out "the back door". The
particular woman that called had taken a liking to Nathan and
felt that he was worth another chance. So, if I agreed to take
him and work with him they would invest in having him
neutered.
I picked him up the day after he was neutered and he
integrated into the pack within an hour. No woman issues here
as I am the only woman he will see and he loves me, always
full of kisses. Twice, he has leaned against Belle and
masturbated. Of course Belle is oblivious and Nathan really
can get going! I caught him in the act and have pull him off
with a firm correction. Nathan loves it here. He devours his
raw food and his crate is always clean and dry in the morning.
Best part is watching him on our frequent 13 acre walks. He
runs at full tilt from one end of the property to the other
and will actually do laps and zig zags. He looks like a
greyhound winning a race. He does this every single time and
never ever tires of it and of course I never tire of watching
the small black blur running his heart out. |
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Once again, I am
struggling with ear crops. After almost standing, one of Sam's
ears became infected and fell over. Of course it can't be
retaped until the infection is completely cleaned up. This
will take 10 days and during this time, scar tissue will form
that will stop that ear from standing straight. This means a
trip to to Vet, where Sam is sedated while I cut the scar
tissue and retape the ear. Makes it so expensive and time
consuming and of course I always feel so sorry for the poor
puppy. |
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Tragedy struck
on July 5th. Sprinkles had developed a bump on her leg. I was
treating with anti biotics, an anti inflammatory and a topical
paste. It continued to grow and began bothering Sprinkles. She
would chew on it and open oozing holes. I took her to a
specialist, two hours away to have it removed and was
optimistic. The vet said that it looked like cancer but that
would be confirmed on biopsy. It was a huge surgery as it
involved a lot of nerves, tendons and blood vessels. Because
it was so large, he didn't think she would have enough skin
left to cover it. This would result in continued infections
and problems with healing. He was not optimistic about her
outcome and said if it was his dog he would euthanize her. As
quality of life is paramount to me I chose not to have the
surgery. Then I had two choices. Bring her home and have her
keep chewing on it while I waited for the inevitable signs of
cancer or follow his advice. I chose euthanasia. Both
decisions were horribly difficult but in the end, I just
couldn't bring myself to watch Sprinkles continue to suffer.
Gaston brought her home and buried her on the island with the
others. Darling Mini had been in the freezer since her death
and he buried them together. So much loss and only the best
seem to go in the worst circumstances.
Sprinkles was just 2 1/2 years old and had the most beautiful
natural standing ears. She was a stag and her coat was dark
and stunning. She was an affectionate, happy dog and one of my
favourites.
The pic of the bump shows it covered with the topical paste I
was using. The table pic was all I could find. These were
taken for Deb in Australia. At one point, Deb wanted to bring
Sprinkles over but changed her mind. I added the pic of Mini.
Together in eternity. (of course now I made myself cry) |
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This is my third
addition to the blog. Rita had her pups on July 13th!! One
girl and three boys. All whelped in less than two hours and
all thriving. I took this pic of Rita on July 12th. She looked
like a cube. I couldn't imagine how she could get any bigger
and sure enough, she whelped the next day. |
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I took this pic
once the pups where whelped and Rita was settled in a dry bag.
I think she looks quite proud of herself. |
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Lastly, we have
two pics taken on July 14th. This will be the last pic with
their tails. Removing tails and dew claws tonight when Gaston
gets home. I put pups on a towel and they quickly formed into
a ball for warmth and security. Rita came over and gave her
pups a sniff and then curled up around them. |
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Beauty is next
to whelp on July 16th with Rhonda coming in last. Fingers
crossed they all go as smoothly as Rita's.
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It is now July
18th and I expect Gunter back any time. One of Rita's boys
started to fall far behind the other pups. The bigger they
got, the more milk they drink and they start pushing him out
of the way. Such young puppies can quickly get into a downward
spiral that results in death. Once I bring them into the
world, I do everything in my power to help them thrive. I am
feeding this boy by hand. I use an eye dropper and I am giving
him a mixture of warm goat's milk and puppy vitamins. The goal
is to get him strong enough to equal the playing field with
his littermates. I always get super attached to anything I
hand feed - remember Mini?
I was calling him Daisy until I realized that he was a boy. So
now he's Davie. Naming these pups contributes to my getting
attached. Some breeders let nature take it's course but I just
can't do that.
When I feed Davie, I wrap him in a wash cloth with only his
head exposed. |
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He is usually
hungry and I make sure I fill him right up. This is what
happens when they nurse. They suck until they are full and
then they just roll off and sleep. A puppy should look like a
little barrel. As you will see in the first pic, Davie looks
like a little barrel as I had just finished feeding him.
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The second pic
shows that he is only half the size of his littermates. |
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These pics were taken on day 5. And no, the pups aren't a new
designer orange colour - I have been having trouble with my
the filter on my camera.
I would say that Davie has a 60-40 chance in his favour. Keep
your fingers crossed.
I am beginning to get a bit worried about Beauty. She is on
day 65 and has done some infrequent digging for two days now.
Worry comes from the fact that she stopped eating two days
ago. That usually means that whelping is imminent. Sure hope
things are OK. Beauty is one of my heart dogs. Also keep
fingers crossed for Beauty.
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Today is
Saturday July 19th and exciting things have happened. I did my
last update yesterday and ended with concern about Beauty. I
took this pic of her outside my office. She was on day 65 and
I was getting anxious. |
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Well, there was
absolutely nothing to be concerned about! Only five hours
later, Beauty popped out a black girl! Yes, a black girl!
Before I had finished celebrating, she produced ANOTHER black
girl. Wow! So exciting. Then in the next hour she had a red
boy and a red girl. Beauty is a wonderful, calm mother and all
are thriving. I will take more pics of just the puppies
tomorrow as I don't want to disturb Beauty today. I did take
this one this morning. You can see a red puppy at the top. If
very look very carefully at the bottom, you will be able to
make out the two black girls. There is a sliver of white
separating them. |
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Now we wait for
Rhonda. Rhonda's belly has decreased in size over the last few
days and it makes me wonder if she is having a false
pregnancy. Only time will tell.
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Woo Hoo, Gunter
is back and started my updates this morning. This will be the
last segment of this week's blog until next Sunday when we are
back on schedule.
Of course, most are interested in the puppy updates, so let's
start there. Rita's pups are one week today, having been born
last Sunday. They are big, sturdy chunkers. The small boy is
holding his own and although he is still only half the size,
he seems strong and is able to latch onto mom for a drink. I
have gone from feeding every two hours to just morning and
night. I would say his chances have risen to 75 - 25. Ears and
eyes should be open by next Sunday. When this happens, I move
everyone to the family room where they can get more
stimulation and attention. I took this pic of Rita's pups this
morning. They all have excellent pigment and their coats
should be dark red. |
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On to Beauty.
Now Beauty and her pups are going to be a handful. Beauty was
restless for the first 12 hours and the pups didn't get a lot
of chance to nurse. I gave her liquid calcium and Tums every 3
hours and she has finally settled down this morning. However,
now her teats are swollen, inflamed and hard to the touch.
Mastitis is setting in! - not good. I am milking her by hand
and putting cold compresses on her belly. I am also hand
feeding her 4 pups. Had to send Gaston out for more goats
milk. Cross fingers that I can turn this around. This is a pic
of me holding one of Beauty's black girls as I feed her with
an eye dropper and one of the whole litter taken this morning. |
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Now that Beauty
has settled, her loving personality is back. When I check her
pups, Beauty rolls onto her back and asks for a belly rub. So
different from Rita who always "pretends" to bite me if I go
too near. Rita is super protective and Beauty is super
trusting. Such different girls.
I just took this pic of Beauty's pups. They are almost 15
hours old. I am going to wait until I am sure they are strong
and thriving before I do tails and dew claws. |
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Let's finish off
with some of the other happenings at Patapin. Everything seems
to have taken a back seat to the litters (as it should).
Silver and Belle went to be groomed yesterday. I had Gaston
take Oliver to have his face trimmed so he could see, and get
his nails cut. Gaston gave them my note, outlining what I
wanted done with each one. Little did I realize what would
come home. For reasons unknown, they decided to groom Oliver
like he was a poodle! They bathed him and blow dried his coat.
They did his feet like poodle paws.
Gaston got home and let them out in the back yard. I looked
out the window and almost fainted. I didn't know if I was
going to laugh or cry. Right now I am mostly upset. Komondors
have self cleaning coats and should never be bathed! I am
pretty sure that blowing out his coat will permanently ruin
his cords. Here are a couple of pics. Can you frikin believe
it? |
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Life is just
full of surprises. Never in a million years did I think
something like this would happen. There may come a day when I
will be able to laugh about this but it won't be for a while.
I posted earlier about bringing Nathan home from the Humane
Society. They asked me to work with him and try to get him
more adoptable. Although Minpins go quickly at the Society,
Nathan was sabotaging his visit with his "bad manners." He
liked all the men but was inconsistent with women. Some he
liked and some he growled at. He would also sit on his
haunches and lean against something and masturbate. He would
take his two front paws and rub them up and down his penis,
almost like a person would. Families were grossed out by this
and left Nathan to go back to his cage.
Nathan had been at the Society for a month and just hated it
there. They put him on a lead and brought him out to me in the
lobby. Once Nathan saw the front door, all he wanted to do was
escape. He pulled and scrambled to get out. He whined to get
out that door. My heart softened and I brought the poor little
buggar home.
Nathan arrived two weeks ago yesterday. I committed to keeping
him for a month. I caught him doing his unusual masturbating
on the first three days. He liked to lean against Belle to do
the deed. Of course Belle was oblivious. I gave him a firm
correction by grabbing his collar and at times I had to do
this three times to get him to stop. He hasn't repeated this
behavior for the last week. It is something he seems to do
when he is stressed.
Needless to say. I have fallen in love with this little
character. He was skin and bones when he arrived and he has
gained two pounds on a raw diet. He looks so much better. He
worships me and loves Gaston. When I take everyone for walks
on the open expanse of 13 acres he runs like the wind. He zig
zags back and forth and I am sure that a racing greyhound
would have trouble catching him. He runs up and down the fence
line and is a black blur. Comes back to me occasionally with a
happy grin with his tongue hanging out. This is a pic of him
sitting in front of me after one of his runs. If you look
closely, Nathan looks cross eyed. lol |
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Problem is that
he is a bully with other dogs. He is constantly challenging my
top dog Al and they have gotten into some terrible fights. If
any of the other dogs has something he wants he tackles them
and if they won't let go, he bites them on the shoulder. I
have zero tolerance for any kind of aggression so Nathan would
have to be an only dog. He has accepted me as top dog and
responds immediately to anything I say. I can also stop him
from challenging Al or stealing a toy if I catch it just
before it happens. A simple Nathan NO! is all it takes. This
boy has SO much potential.
Second problem is that he has a luxating patella. It does not
cause him any discomfort or interfere with his full out
running. If anyone would like to save Nathan from going back
to his cage at the Humane Society he can be adopted through me
for $220. That is the money that the Society must recoup to
cover his shots, neutering and micro chip. Nathan will be on
my Available page with more pics if interested. He will be
here for two more weeks. Check him out on Available!!
Our lovely puppy Sam will also be going to the Available page.
This is a perfect, calm, smart, affectionate, clean puppy. Can
not say enough good things about little Sammy. I have never
had a puppy that made me laugh so much. He is always plotting
new adventures - things my puppies have never done before.
Like helping to fill his pool and taking off with the milk
jug! lolol |
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We will also be
taking limited deposits on puppies after Rhonda whelps.
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June 29, 2014
Computer problems can't be fixed, please check back on
July 19 or 20 for puppy updates.
You can email me
privately.
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June 22, 2014
Eugene from Dog Fancy magazine contacted me to say I had
been referred to him by the MPCA. I told him I highly doubted that
as I wasn't even a member of their club. It is a Canadian and
American magizine and I was suggested for feature breeder. I
declined for various reasons. He emailed three times asking me to
reconsider until I told him bluntly to respects my decision and
referred him to US breeder Mary Silfies who sold me what ended up
being the foundation of my breeding program, which afforded great
success, especially as a beginner. She is much more worthy than
me.
I entered Simon in four dog shows and as the judge didn't like his
movement he put up inferior dogs who were not as nice. I was
already worried about the big white blotch on his chest. My bitch
purchased from Katie already had white on their chests and I
didn't want to double up on that. His ears curled on the top and
he went from crossing in the front to just coming very close in
the front with his paws almost touching. He also had very large
cowlicks on both shoulders.
His breeder drove half way to meet Gaston who brought him to them.
Fortunately Simon remembered them and that made me relieved and
happy. I find that puppies who have been treated kindly never
forget.
I Had an ugly confrontation with Tim's breeder just before I was
to leave for a show. I had been told by two close friends that she
told them directly that she didn't like me or trust me. She
admitted that I had never done anything to her but she felt
strongly about this.
I came across a truly toxic breeder who could not be reasoned with
no matter how I tried. Well after many, many ugly FB messages I
told her that she would never hear from me again as I had had it!
Then I drove two hours to the show. My brain was so numb and I was
beyond upset so when I arrived at the show I found that I had
forgot my show leads and my purse. So I couldn't even purchase new
leads. I was so disgusted with myself that I turned around and
drove home. All the way home I planned what I was going to vent on
my blog.
But so many things don't work out for me. Even after help from my
friend and mentee Meredith I am unable to block her. So
disappointing as I have a strong aversion from ever seeing or
hearing from this person ever again.
I was so looking forward to my blog so I could vent about her in
gruesome detail , always making me feel so much better This all
happened two days ago. So today is blog day and I learned
something new about myself. I burned so much energy trying to
reason with her that I find myself dead inside - I can't think
about her, talk about her or write about her. This a first as you
all know how I love a good vent. lol. But one thing is absolutely
certain - she will NEVER hear from me again. I had been warned
that you couldn't believe a word she said but I always give
everyone the benefit of the doubt until they prove to me that they
are are as crazy as people say.
I am not going to let this person interfere with my enjoyment of
my blog. I only tell people who purchase my puppies about my blog.
I was told that a lot of breeders ready blog. I have no way of
telling who reads it. It is the breeders that have stumbled upon
it that have become a huge pia. And of course the two that I
despise can't wait to read every word. Now why is that for heaven
's sake.
There is some good news. After a cold rainy Spring, summer has
arrived and the sunshine and warm weather have arrived along with
it.
Then there is more good news. my three girls are showing that they
are pregnant. I LOVE the pedigree and couldn't be happier. Rita is
due to whelp in two weeks. Stayed tuned for happy updates and
Pics.
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June 15, 2014
Yesterday was sunny but cool. I was sitting in my
favourite chair outside reading a book. When I looked down, a
previously empty blanket was filled with Pins. They preferred
napping to reading a book. |
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As the weather gets
warmer, the pool gets more popular. This is at the end of a
walk/run in the field. As soon as we came back in the gate,
they all jumped in.
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Can you guess what
this is?
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Answer - it's Oliver
on one of our many night walks. Looks like bigfoot to me.
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I am disappointed
with my new puppy, Sam. He has no break and his jaw is
overshot. Although that leaves me with still nothing to show,
I purchased the pedigree. It is an outcross and both sides
work well with my bloodlines. Breeder sold him at pet price
and didn't guarantee him as a show prospect so I have nothing
to complain about. I love his pigment and his personality and
without good temperament you have nothing. I mean, who can
forget little Sam filling his pool? |
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As I mentioned last
week, I have added more pics of Sarge to the Available page.
It wasn't easy getting the pics at that boy never slows down.
This is a pic of Sarge when the girl's were in season. The
girls were on one side of the fence and Sarge was on the other
side. Just look at how determined that boy was to get to the
girls. lol |
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Lastly, a friend
sent me a pic of my local competition. They say one pic is
worth a thousand words so I will leave it at that. |
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June 8, 2014
Well, let's get this over with. I write my blog for
myself. It is how I work out my feelings and document the
daily life I love so much. I am brutally honest and spend
equal time on my mistakes as I do my successes. I don't get
much feedback but what I do get always commends me for my
complete candor. I have no idea who, or how many read it and I
don't care. I realize that it isn't private but it is
personal.
This week I heard from the woman I bought Tim from. She was
dismayed that I was so graphic about the condition of Tim's
mouth when I got him. Said it was slanderous lies. (btw it
isn't slander if it's true) I was devastated to hear from her
as she is presently under huge stress from a lifestyle change
that was out of her control The last thing she needed was for
someone to crank her up over this post and that's exactly what
happened. Because of my strong opinions, not everyone is a fan
- yes, sad but true lol. You can't imagine how surprised I was
to find out that a woman who dislikes me with a passion, has
blocked me any way she can from her postings and wants
absolutely nothing nothing to do with me is reading my blog!
Not only does she read it but she relished the chance to bring
it to the woman's attention as she was "offended on her
behalf" Such crap. The woman and I have worked things out and
we are the best friends we have ever been. She now realizes
that she was manipulated by this toxic shit disturber at a
time when she was the most vulnerable. So disappointing and
upsetting that something that is so positive for me can be
used as a weapon against a 'supposed' friend.
Whew, that feels better so lets move on to something
infinitely more positive. I sold a black puppy almost a year
ago to an American woman, Josephine. She named him Chance and
completely dotes on him. As she works she sends Chance to
daycare 5 days a week and he loves it. Chance recently had his
first birthday and she sent me a picof him enjoying his
birthday present. Such a spoiled boy!
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When I prepare the
dog's food at night I get Belle and Oliver's bowls ready and
then I go to the counter and prepare the Minpins' food. Last
week, I happened to turn around and saw Belle and Oliver,
lying patiently to be fed while keeping an eye on their bowls.
lol
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Highlight of my week was Sam. I took him to a big outdoor dog
show yesterday to socialize him and work on his lead training.
Sam loved everyone he met. He went right up and if they bent
down he tried to kiss them on the mouth. Some people were
grossed out and turned their heads. Others kissed him right
back!! |
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He was SO exhausted
that he slept the entire 2 1/2 hour trip home. Then he slept
until bedtime and I had to carry him to bed. All that loving
is obviously exhausting. lolol
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June 1, 2014
We finished off our breedings today, when Rhonda was able
to rejoin the kennel. Our fingers are crossed for three
competitive litters - Rita and and Rhonda are the favourites
for producing winners at next year's Nat'l. I also hope to get
a stunning black from Beauty. So while we are on this topic, I
have two related pics to share. One is as cute as a button and
the other is a graphic pic of Al's penis just after a
breeding.
First, little Sam couldn't help but notice all the humping
that was going around him. So it was no surprise that he was
also trying to do a breeding. It all looks good except for one
thing - he picked a boy for his first attempt!
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I don't generally take pics of the dog's penis' but this time
I was concerned about Al. It is normal for their penis to
retract soon after they withdraw. This time Al's penis was
fully engorged 10 min after the breeding. I also didn't like
the colour - very black which made me worry about necrotic
tissue. So I took a pic for comparison. It took more than 15
min for Al to get back to normal. Whew
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Although the next pic appears to follow the same topic, it is
actually completely unrelated. lolol
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I had been changing
the splint on Karma's leg on a weekly basis but lately she has
been getting it wet. She puts her foot in the dog pool or the
pond and the water quickly moves through the gauze lining
until the whole inside is soaked. Every time it gets wet, I
have to change it. Last week Karma managed to soak it in less
than an hour after I changed it so that was the final straw. I
emailed Gaston to pick up a box of condoms on his way home
from work. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention!
Now I put a condom over her leg in the morning and remove it
at bedtime. It seems to be doing the trick. Proud of myself.
When I get a new dog, I can always tell how it lived in it's
previous home. Tim came from northern Canada where it is much
colder and it is my understanding that there is not any grass
in his outdoor pen. So when he got here, he lays in the dirt,
while the rest of my dogs laid on the blankets. After about a
month, he moved from the dirt to the grass but still not the
blanket. You can see the blanket in the background of the
second pic. I predict that in about another month he will
prefer laying on the blankets. |
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The weather has warmed up and we have been spending a lot of
time walking. I took this pic yesterday of the edge of the big
pond. If you look very closely, you can see the four Pins then
Silver and the end of Belle. [edge of pond]
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The pond is always
changing and I enjoy the different landscapes it offers up.
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Then my favourite
pic taken at the small pond. Just look at the fun everyone was
having! Sarge just loves to swim and you can't get little Sam
out of the water. Belle goes in and stands in water up to her
belly to cool off. She is often in there for 10 min or more. |
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I am ending with dog
show preparation. The first show of 2014 is at Erie Shores
from Thurs to Sun this week. I have entered Sarge and Simon
and have been practicing daily. Up until recently Simon has
been too ADHD to behave in the ring. He was almost beyond ADHD
and bordered on insane. Now he appears to have grown a
functioning brain. I am also bringing Sam for socialization.
We dug out the Road trek out of the drive shed and shined it
up for the season's shows. So optimistic but time will tell.
Stay tuned for show results next weekend. |
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May 25, 2014
Since I'm totally in love with my new puppy, let's start
with Sam! First we have Sam, the laid back lap dog.
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Then Sam the
beautiful show dog. |
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Followed by Sam the
hilarious pool boy. |
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Finishing off with
Sam on his way home from having his ears cropped. |
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Next oldest puppy is
Karma. She didn't want Sam to get all the credit for filling
the poor, so she also took a turn. |
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Then she helped
herself to a big drink. |
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The only problem
with Karma in the water was a big one! I had just changed the
dressings on her splint last night. That involves Gaston
holding her while Karma twists, turns and tries to bite me. Of
course she soaked it in the pool so as soon as Gaston is done
cutting grass I will have to do it all over again. Kids!
Silver and I went for an hour walk on Wednesday. There is an
almost totally deserted country road about 10 min from me that
we walk on. Silver will do some exploring while at the same
time keeping an eye on me. She is the best walking companion
ever. Here is my favourite pic of Silver exploring an adjacent
stream. We had a heavenly time. I only wish that I took the
time to do it more often. |
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Then, yesterday, I
was sitting in a lawn chair watching the dogs play and Silver
came up and blocked my view. Silver is so good at letting me
know when she needs some attention! LOL |
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As a very special
treat, I will give the girls peanut butter when I have
finished breakfast. That happened last week. I smear PB on
plates and each girl has to have her very own. How many can
you count? If you were good enough to spot Rita licking her
plate in the crate, you will know that the correct number is
six. |
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I am going to finish
off with Gaston. The poor man spends almost two entire days in
the spring cutting grass on our 13 acres. We have had a lot of
rain and he can barely keep up. This is a pic of me walking
the dogs in the south property as Gaston zooms by on the
tractor. I am the weekend grass widow. |
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May 18, 2014
Honey Bee has found a home!!! This just confirms my
practice of being patient and not compromising on anything but
the very best. Sharon came from Toronto on Friday to meet HB.
She had recently lost her 10 yr old companion, Rascal to
kidney disease. As you will recall, HB hadn't been "picked' by
any of the families who visited wanting a young adult. That
was because she would stand back and bark while the other
available dogs would go right up and greet the newcomers.
Well, all it took was the right person. From the moment Sharon
arrived, HB stayed near her and and allowed Sharon to touch
her. There was no barking and little hesitation. The gradual
"getting to know" each other, culminated with Sharon being
able to cup HB"s face/head in her hands - so heart warming. HB
had found her person! For Sharon, it was love at first sight.
We had HB packed into the crate Sharon brought with her for
the ride home and then I remembered the good bye pic. This is
the only good bye pic with the departing dog in a crate. When
they got home, Sharon emailed to say that soon after they
left, she opened HB's crate and HB spent most of the trip
looking out the rear passenger window. HB has always loved car
rides! |
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With HB's leaving, I
have nothing available at the moment. However, I am expecting
puppies towards the end of July. This is the first time in
quite a while that I expect to have a selection of blacks.
Once I make my show picks, I will be looking for excellent
homes for those remaining on a first come, first served basis.
The sending of a deposit ($400) will guarantee your pup.
This week has been busy containing my obsessed boys, desperate
to get at one of the girls in season. They become 100% ADHD,
cry pitifully and refuse to eat. |
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This is
Beauty, turning her little bum towards
the dogs. She is teasing them mercilessly. |
This is
Sarge trying to bounce right over
the fence so he can get himself a woman. |
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As I now have new
studs, carefully selected by pedigree, I have been able to
pair up girls and boys with the expectation of getting winning
results! Beauty (black) has been bred to Sarge, also black and
Rita has been bred to Tim. Sprinkles {deep stag) is almost
ready and will also be bred to Tim. This year I have a wager
with a close doggie friend, Chris. She has been my friend for
almost as long as I have been breeding. I have enjoyed our
witty banter over the years and I sat with her at this year's
Nar'l when I was reminded just how knowledgeable she is. The
wager is for bragging rights at next year's Nat'l in the Bred
By Exhibitor category. We are both very competitive and I
can't wait to kick her butt! LOL
Speaking of the Nat'l, I attended this year to pick up my new
black stud Sarge and also to observe and learn. I was sent
many, many candid pics of all the dogs and handlers in the
ring. As I was not officially showing, I just brought casual
clothes. My friend and Simon's breeder, De De asked me to
show her Special's male Tommy. I was hesitant but De De was
confident that I would do a good job so I agreed to assist
her. This is a candid of me showing Tommy in the ring. Most
handlers wore suits and I was worried that I would be too
casual. I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't look too bad.
You can't really tell that my pants were actually jeans. |
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Tim got his teeth
cleaned on Friday. He is 4 1/2 and when he arrived, I was
shocked at the condition of his mouth. Breath so bad that it
made me gag, two top teeth hanging by a thread, gums infected
and bleeding. Broke my heart as his mouth would have been so
painful. As soon as I saw the mess, I took a piece of gauze
and quickly removed the two hanging top teeth. Then it was
obvious that the infection had to be cleaned up before I could
even take him to the vet to have his teeth cleaned. I put him
on Claviseptin (which I always have on hand) 2x per day for
one week and then I took him in.
Wow - what a difference. Breathe has no odour and teeth are
pearly white. The Vet had to pull two more teeth but the rest
looked great. The poor guy couldn't even eat a chicken wing
when he got here as it was just too painful. I would find them
left in his crate with a few puncture holes. Again broke my
heart. Now he can chomp them down with gusto. The wings will
also keep his teeth and gums health for life.
You need to take care of your dogs teeth! Feeding chicken
wings, backs, necks etc will do the trick. For some reason,
there are owners that just won't/ can't do this. If you are
one of those then you need to do a Vet cleaning once a year!
Speaking of Tim, we had one hot day last week - yes, only one
- sigh. The dogs hadn't acclimatized to the heat and would
seek out shade so they could rest along the way. Here is a pic
of Tim laying in a shady spot by the pond. Tim thinks he has
died and gone to heaven and just loves his new life.
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I can't believe how
fast Cammi is aging. Although her heart drugs have given her a
new lease on life she is turning white before my eyes. I
predict that in a year I will be faced with the difficult
decision of when it's "time". Only consolation is that I have
a year to prepare. It will be terribly sad but not so gut
wrenching as to unexpectedly lose a young, healthy puppy/dog
to a tragic accident. |
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May 11, 2014
Well, I ordered myself some Minpins this week. lol I saw a
4 1/2 yr old male for sale on FB. His name is Tim and he has
my favourite pedigree. I inquired on Monday and he was here on
Tuesday - all the way from British Columbia! While emailing
about Tim I also arranged to take a 9 week old puppy that was
also available. |
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Rita has a similar
outstanding pedigree and she didn't waste any time getting
ready for Tim. Tim was only here for 3 days when I bred him to
Rita. If all goes well, these puppies will have a pedigree
that doesn't exist anymore. It consists of all the wonderful
dogs from the past that left us years ago. Can't wait! |
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Now for the puppy! I
call him Patapin Simply Sam. I didn't realize that a new puppy
would be the best medicine to assist with my ongoing healing.
I am not sure if Sam will be a show dog one day but that is
the hope. Right now, I am just enjoying the confident little
character. As I tend to do when I fall in love, I took lots of
pics of Sam. You will see that I opened up a new Tweetie in
honour of his arrival and he immediately chomped down on it's
tail! The rest are candids that caught my eye. They show Sam
curling up on my foot, one of him sleeping with just his nose
sticking out and Sam in a show stack - promise of things to
come plus a few more pics that made me smile. |
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I received another amazing endorsement from Chris and Paula
who took Rudy home 5 weeks ago. They talk about how well Rudy
gets along in the big city of Toronto. Rudy has been on the
subway and attends a play group for dogs located just across
the street. Best part is for anyone who doesn't believe that
dogs actually watch TV. Take a look at Rudy watching a
wildlife documentary and you will never doubt it again. His
interest and concentration are obvious.
Also heard from Leanne about Brazen. Their daughter Lyndsay
competes in pageants and they agreed to send me a pic of
Brazen with a crown on his head after he had lost some weight.
Well, the pic arrived this week! It just doesn't get any cuter
than that. Then for everyone who asks me how I can bear to
part with my older dogs, the pic of Leanne sleeping in bed
with Brazen says it all. One pic is worth a thousand words.
When I can move an older dog from sleeping in a crate amongst
10 other dogs into the family bed need I say more? Such a
special, special home. |
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We will end up with
a couple of candids from last week. I was surprised to find
Simon grooming Silver. If you look closely, you can see his
big tongue licking under Silver's eye. Silver is quite
obviously enjoying every minute. |
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Then I caught Belle
and Oliver lying side by side. They have been inseparable
since I brought Belle home three years ago. Oliver is
definitely the boss and Belle is fine with that. It's so
important to have a special friend. |
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May 04, 2014
Let's start off with my near death experience. I was
sitting on the couch in the kennel watching TV yesterday when
I heard the first rumblings of thunder. Before I could get up
and look outside a 165 lb mass of quivering flesh landed on my
knee. Yes, 120 lbs met 165 lbs Although I was having trouble
breathing, I did manage to take two selfies. I was able to
adjust myself so I could breathe and we sat like this for 15
min. In one pic my eyes look like they are bulging out of my
head. That's because they were. lol |
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I did the papers in
two batches this time as I was waiting for info on a couple of
them. The first batch went into the CKC, came back and have
been mailed to the new owners. Now my huge pet peeve. People
who don't get back to me even if it is to their own benefit. I
neglected to record the chosen name of a puppy in my record
book, so I emailed the new owner and asked that she send me
the name again. I also called and left a message on her cell
and land line. I waited 2 weeks and nothing. So, I had no
other option but to name her myself, "Patapin Precious". To
the new owner - I know this wasn't the name you chose but I
did my best. Unfortunately, once sent to the CKC this name
can't be changed. geez Louise
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Moving on to my
worst nightmare - I was walking the dogs in the south field.
We pass the spot where Mini got tangled in the reeds and
drowned. This time the dogs got it into their heads that they
were going to go through the tangle of reeds and get on the
island. This is a first as there has never been a dog on that
island. Looking at the pic you can see the huge tangled mass
of reeds. If you look closely, you can see two Pins on the
island. At the bottom left, you see Simon, heading off to join
them. I was frantic and my mind was racing - how was I going
to save anyone who got caught under that tangle of reeds.
Screaming for them to stop had no effect. The longer I stood
there the more Pins gathered and they soon decided to try it
to. Best I could do was move on and call for them to follow.
They all made it back safely but it took me over an hour to
recover from all the adrenalin. |
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Speaking of walking
in the field, we are once again reinforcing the end of the
north field. I do my very best to stay ahead of any openings
that could lead to an escape and then tragedy. Gaston bought
top quality, heavy duty fencing at TSC. If I had all the money
back that I have spent on fencing over the last 15 yrs I could
have erected a brick wall around my 13 acres. |
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Anyone who has a
Minpin knows that there is no such thing as privacy. I took a
bath yesterday and and had an audience as usual. Karma is
laying on a pillow by the tub and Miss Beauty is sitting on my
house coat. |
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I added two owner updates to the Endorsement page. The one
about Brazen shows how wonderful it can be to adopt an older
Minpin. How well they fit in is a well kept secret. People
just don't realize that these dogs make superior companions
and fit in quickly and seamlessly. They also come at a much
reduced cost which is a bonus. The second endorsement comes
from a puppy buyer that was updating me as her boy Riley
turned one.
Beauty and Cammi are house dogs and Karma is with them until
her leg heals. They are all so laid back that they can eat out
of the same bowl. If I tried this in the kennel there would be
fur flying. |
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I heard from someone who came and took a puppy home 10 yrs
ago. She named him Rascal and he was the centre of her world.
Then as he was approaching his 10th birthday, he developed
kidney disease and died. I am posting her email to me and my
reply. I was very touched. She said something that I had never
thought of before but it's so true - she said that it wasn't
Rascal that was lost, it was her. For those who have lost a
Minpin or others that haven't yet, we can all learn something
here. So sad.
Pat,
It is with a very heavy, sad, sad heart that I write this - we
lost our Little Rascal. He got a kidney infection - We spent
every day for a week at the vet trying to flush them - that
didn't work - next antibiotics - that didn't work - he went
off his food - his Dad even bbq'd him steak - his fav! Nothing
was working - I had to make the worst call of my life - Now
What ?? Do we get another one - this place is so empty without
him - my little man at my feet supervising everything I did -
our best buddy ?? Any advise??
Hope to hear from you
Sharon
Sharon, I can truly empathize with you as I have had more than one
tragic death within the last year and it is heart wrenching. I
am so, so sorry.
Everyone grieves differently. Some people get another Minpin
as soon as they can. I had one woman who arranged for another
puppy before hers had even died. They had a date to put him
down for old age and she was here 48 hrs later.
It takes some people much longer. I had a woman call 18 months
after she lost her Minpin. She cried while she tried to tell
me about her. She was here that weekend to pick up another
puppy.
There are others who decide to never get another dog. These
people are split between those who say they just can't ever go
through the pain of losing another and those who have changed
their lifestyles and don't want to be tied down.
People who have two seem to do a bit better. They grieve
terribly as does the dog that is missing it's buddy. Some get
another Minpin but not quite so many.
I really can't give you advice. It is really up to how you
feel that you will cope best. I have seen it all. There is no
right and wrong. It is a very personal decision.
Again, my heart goes out to you. Pat
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April 27, 2014
Another effect of losing Mini appeared several days ago. I
am now hyper vigilant and find that I am counting my dogs
constantly. If I can't see one, my heart begins to race and I
break out into a cold sweat. I begin frantically searching and
if I haven't located the dog in a couple of minutes, I try to
start preparing myself to find it dead. Of course this is a
huge property with an 1,800 ft kennel full of nooks and
crannies. I have always found the "missing" dogs in less than
5 minutes. I breathe a huge sigh of relief and then everything
starts all over again when I can't see one of my dogs. I had a
doctor's apt for an unrelated matter and mentioned it to him.
He told me that it sounded like I had post traumatic stress
disorder or PTSD. After dealing with many excruciating losses,
I knew it must be taking a toll on me so now I know. My doctor
said this was very serious but I'm not going to dwell on it
right now.
There was some excellent news as Cowboy found a home on Friday
with Kim, her two children and Andy her boyfriend. They
arrived exactly on time and when they came in, Kim told me
that she had never gotten my address. She did know the name of
the road I lived on and "guessed" which property was mine. I
must say that this road is over 40 km long and Kim was coming
from out of town. Kim looked at the pic of my house that is at
the top of my blog and they drove along until she spotted. I
was pretty surprised that they could come all this way, not
have my address and arrive exactly on time! Before they left,
Andy told me to make sure I mentioned Kim's amazing feat on my
blog. (how did I do Andy?) The first pic is of Cowboy sitting
watching me the day he left and then my traditional leaving
pic taken at the front door. I move out to the front lawn when
the weather gets nice. |
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Of course it just
wouldn't be a week in my life without some terrible news. My
vet sent Karma's x-rays to an orthopedic specialist and he
immediately saw that she had fractured her growth plates. Not
only that but the injury was now far worse because my vet
missed that so her leg wasn't stabilized with a splint. The
Specialist said that she would now need surgery and gave me an
estimate of $2,500 with the possibility of it being more. He
said that we could try to straighten her leg manually under
heavy sedation and then put on the splint as a more
conservative option. However, he was not optimistic that this
would work.
As Karma is my show pick for this year, I wanted to try the
conservative option. I figured this would give her the best
chance of retaining proper movement (bend) in that wrist. So
back to the vet I go. He sedated her and then tried for 30 min
to manipulate her leg into the proper position. He would try
for 10 min and then x-ray to see how it looked. This happened
three times until he told me that he just couldn't do it. Of
course now the only other option is surgery so I will drive
two hrs to get that done early this week. This is heart
wrenching as now Karma can't be shown. She is out of Beauty
and Manley, which was a very special litter as Manley left for
Australia soon after. First I lost Zorro to a congenital
defect, then Mini drowned and now Karma can't be shown. It is
ironic that I called her Karma. I believe in karma but the way
my life has been going I have to wonder why mine is so bad.
The pics are as follows: Karma showing her leg while lying on
a cushion, Then three shots of her in the x-ray room Two
positioning her and one of him trying to get her leg straight. |
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Oliver dug a big
hole yesterday and Simon couldn't wait to go and curl up in
it. He slept there for almost an hour. |
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We have had dozens
of little pine trees spring up around our flag pole. Last week
I had a crew come and plant 35 of them around my perimeter. Of
course this makes me hope for rain. |
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I scored big time at
the grocery store this week. They had 5 jumbo, Grade A fresh
turkeys that hadn't sold at Easter. They were $70.00 each and
one would feed 75 people. I was there the day before they
expired and would be thrown out. I managed to sweet talk the
butcher into selling me all five for $40.00 Gaston spent three
hours grinding them up and we ended up with 72 bags for the
freezer! |
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Last weekend Gaston
had a burst of energy and he cleaned all the windows for me -
both house and kennel. Then he followed up by cleaning and
disinfecting the kennel. |
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Speaking of Gaston,
he left for a week in Florida on Thursday. That man was well
overdue for a rest. He has sunny weather with temps in the mid
eighties and spends his time lying by the pool reading his
book. I have rain and single digit temps and am am running my
butt off!
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I had a small
adrenalin boost when Mazie decided to swim out into the pond
to grab a stick she had spotted. Just like a Retriever, she
grabbed it, turned around and swam back. Such a talented girl! |
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April 20, 2014
There is no question that I could dedicate this entire
blog to the many ways that Mini's loss has affected me. Of
course that would be counter productive to moving forward.
Every time I have an excruciating loss I sincerely believe
that if I have one more it will break me and I won't be able
to carry on. Of course, there is always another excruciating
loss but I do manage to keep going. Why? Well what is the
option? There is nothing left but to keep going, if only for
the dogs that remain. Suffice to say that losing Mini has
drained all the excitement, energy and joy out of my life.
Thank you to all who took the time to contact me privately
with their condolences. It means a lot.
As if I haven't been through enough, I came home from 2 1/2
days at the American National Minpin Specialty and it looked
like Karma had broken her leg while I was away! She couldn't
use it, winced in pain and there was a big bump on the inside
of the joint. I took her to the vet the very next morning and
he took two x-rays. He told me nothing was broken and to give
her Medicam every day for a week. He also wrapped her leg to
give her support. If it hasn't improved in a week I am to
bring her back. I am not comfortable with his assessment and
my gut tells me that there is something seriously wrong and I
haven't ruled out that something is broken. If it continues to
bug me and I don't see quick improvement my only option is to
take her to another vet for a second opinion. |
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Something that
always gives me pleasure is hearing about the dogs I have
placed. I only wish that more people would take the time to
send me periodic updates. I got a wonderful update from Leanne
about Brazen along with several pics. Brazen has turned out to
have quite an endearing personality as often happens when dogs
get their own family. He is also losing weight which is
excellent! These are two of my favourite pics. Brazen and
Lindsay - Lindsay competes in pageants and hopes to one day
incorporate Brazen into her performance. Lindsay has an
extensive Barbie doll collection and Brazen is very attached
to them. He has even taken to guarding her entire container of
dolls. lol Kudos to Lindsay for being able to share her prized
possessions with Brazen. |
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I have been getting
lots of bones from the slaughter house and my dogs are in
heaven! In this pic, In this pic Oliver and Belle have decided
that they both want the same bone. They both clamped their
teeth on it until Belle finally gave up and accepted a new
bone from me. |
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Last news is that I
brought home a black, nine month old puppy home from the
National. I have been looking for a black stud for almost
three years now. His name is Sarge and he isn't perfect but
certainly better than anything I have found in all my looking.
The first pic is of Sarge in my hotel room. He was keeping his
distance but did hit a beautiful stack for me. Then we have
Sarge in his carry-on at the Washington Airport. We flew from
Harrisburg PA to Washington then on to Detroit for the two
hour drive home. When we left Washington we had to turn around
after 30 min due to engine problems. |
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Not everyone has the
luxury of 13 acres to run dogs and Sarge had spent his life
between a crate and an xpen. The first time I took everyone
out for a walk, Sarge flew around at full tilt! |
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It was a pleasure to
watch him reveling in his first taste of total freedom.
About half way through the walk, we go by the pond. Sarge
explored the bank with everyone else until he decided he could
walk on water and tore off at full speed into the pond. Of
course, he has never seen a body of water and had absolutely
no understanding of what that was. I saw saw him run in and
then the big splash. When he started swimming towards the
middle instead of back to shore I dropped my phone, coat, and
kicked off my shoes to go in after him. Just as I was about to
jump in, he turned around and headed back to me. My adrenalin
was pumping and my heart was racing!! It is fortunate that I
didn't have to go in as the pond is very deep at this time of
year and the edges are full of oozing mud that is like
quicksand. I very well may have been in trouble myself.
So here we go - exploring bank, big splash and swimming away.
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April 09, 2014 |
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Mini - Wednesday
December 25/13 at 10:00 pm to Wednesday April 9/14 at 2:00 pm. |
Mini drowned today. I didn't know that I had the capacity
to love something so much. This 1 lb 4 oz power house left a
gigantic, jagged hole in my heart. I doted on this little girl
like a mother hen. She was with me always. No matter what,
Mini could always make me smile.
Mini lived in the house with Karma and Cammi. She was never in
the kennel unless I could keep an eye on her. It was a warm
sunny day and I took everyone for a 30 min walk in the south
field. Mini out ran everyone and never stopped. When we got
back she was exhausted and crawled into her favourite tunnel
to have a nap. I puttered around the kennel, washing dog
dishes and getting the dog beds ready for the night. After
about 45 minutes I peeked in the tunnel to check on Mini. She
wasn't there. I called her and searched the kennel but
couldn't find her. I walked out into the field and called. I
was circling the water around the island in the field and I
spotted her under water, caught in the brushes. I screamed "Oh
no Mini!!" and scooped her out. I worked on her for over 30
minutes but she was gone. I was crying and vomiting at the
same time. I ended up dry heaving.
This little girl was the love of my life. Mini was completely
unique and I had big plans/dreams for her/us.
I went back out to look where I found Mini. The most amazing
thing happened. The Pins all ran down the small embankment and
were rooting around in the exact spot she drowned. By the time
I thought to get my camera out they had all left but two. Her
best friend Karma is on the left and she stayed the longest.
After I left Karma kept going back to that exact spot. No one
will ever convince me that they didn't know exactly what
happened. |
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This is Mini when I
stopped working on her |
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The last one is
Mini, wrapped in a towel. |
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We are waiting for
Gaston to get home. He will bury her on that island where my
very special dogs are laid to rest. The rest of the pics are
random photos of Mini just being Mini.
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I lost Mini three
hours ago and I am completely choked up as I prepare this. I
am sure you will understand that this update is just dedicated
to Mini. I can't even remember what happened around here up
until today anyway. My mind has been wiped clean. |
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March 30, 2014
Let's start with some wonderful news. Brazen left on
Friday with his new family who absolutely adore him! Talk
about love at first sight. They fell in love when they saw him
on the Available page and never looked back. Brazen took to
them immediately and the feeling was mutual. Never say never -
I didn't think that an overweight, three year old male would
ever find a home, let alone one that was so completely
dedicated to him. After a wonderful visit, we wrapped Brazen
up in a blanket and he was off to start his new life. This is
my traditional leaving pic with Leanne, Geoff and nine year
old Lindsay. |
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The last few years
have been filled with unending tragedy. This year has almost
been a complete turn around with good things. We even have a
couple coming to see Sara next Sunday!! I can't imagine how
wonderful that would be if she also found herself a forever
family. Sara was laying on my knee this morning and I sent
this pic to the prospective new family as I confirmed the time
for their visit. |
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Still on the topic
of deserving dogs finding great homes, I have heard from
Prize's family with an update and pics. He is adjusting very
well. After Prize's traumatic two failed placements I was
almost certain that he would be here for life but again, never
say never. The first pic is of Prize looking at the camera. He
has his tail and ears up and you can see how confident he is.
Deborah and Kristina also took a puppy at the same time and
tell me that Prize and "Raea" are best friends. The second pic
actually brought tears to my eyes. Before he left, Prize
didn't pay a lot of attention to the puppies but looking at
this touching pic tells me that they are soul mates. |
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Still on the topic
of wonderful homes, my favourite pup, Zep, left last weekend.
The traditional good bye pic has Gani, Carla and Noah with
Carla holding Zep all wrapped up in a Hudson's Bay blanket -
nothing but the best for this boy! |
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They last puppy was
picked up yesterday. (The very last two are flying to Kelowna
next weekend). Chris and Paula came from Toronto to meet the
only, still available boy yesterday. They were naturals with
the Pins. So calm and gentle and completely understanding of
how to interact with them on a first visit. We had a great
visit and then they wrapped "Rudy" up in a blanket for the
trip home. |
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Before we move on
from pups and their great homes, I received this pic of Koda
from Stacey. Now I ask you, does it really get any cuter than
this?? |
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Although I have very
high standards, I pride my self on being able to match
healthy, quality dogs with wonderful, caring families. If I
wasn't able to do this I would completely stop breeding.
Now for our outing to Pet Smart. I took the puppy that I am
keeping, Karma, and Mini to Pet Smart last week. I must say it
was the closest I will ever come to being with a star and
having paparazzi swarming around with cameras flashing. To say
that Mini was a hit would be a complete under statement.
People just couldn't get enough of Mini. What was to be a 15
min visit turned into over an hour of controlled chaos.
I am using several pics to try to describe our experience. The
first pic is of Karma meeting her first "stranger" puppy. |
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You can see Mini by
her side but standing back a bit. The puppy was a little
rambunctious so Mini retreated to a safe place. There was a
man crouched down taking pics and Mini decided that he
provided a perfect spot to hide. lol This is Mini in her safe
place from the rear and then the front. |
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Then to be fair to
the man, as I felt that I should show his face, I posted a pic
of him holding Mini. Doesn't he look completely warm and
friendly? |
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There were a team of
Super Pet representatives in the store and they each wanted to
hold her. They couldn't believe how small she was and kept
coming back to hold her and take their own pics. These are
pics of two of the team holding Mini and Karma. |
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I always socialize
and train my dogs at this pet store but this is the most fun I
ever had!
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I try to take
several dogs with me when I go to town in the SUV. Thursday
was a hair raising experience. Beauty managed to keep stepping
on the button for the windows and bring the window completely
down. I felt a rush of cold air and turned around to find
Cammi, HB and Beauty hanging excitedly out the open winder as
I was going over 100 km/hr down the highway. I pulled over,
closed the window and tried unsuccessfully to put the child
proof locks on. They weren't working so I cautiously set out
again. Of course as soon as I got going Beauty put the window
down again. By the time I pulled in the garage I swear I had
aged 10 years!
More wonderful news involves Cammi. Less than 48 hrs after
Cammi started her medications, the lights went back on in her
eyes. Over a week later, she has gone from an old girl, who
coughed incessantly almost every time she moved. Because of
this she spent her time in a dog bed watching the world move
around her. I had to carry her up and down the stairs. Well
that Cammi is gone and an energetic youngster has replaced
her. Cammi bounds up and down the stairs and is always on the
move. She plays with the other dogs and tries to steal their
treats. Cammi is making up for lost time and is right in the
middle of all the action. You just can't imagine how wonderful
that makes me feel to see her so happy and healthy. The only
thing I regret is not taking her in a long time ago. |
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Now for a couple of
quick pics around the kennel. The first one is Beauty and
Silver laying on the table together. Beauty seems quite
content with the little bit of space Silver has left her. Then
we have Simon in his favourite perch on top of the toy box.
That boy loves the toy box. It he isn't on top, he is buried
deep amongst the toys. |
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If I take my
slippers off when I'm sitting on the couch I often have to go
looking for them when I get up. This is where I found my
slipper this morning. lol |
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To further our
adventure in raw feeding, we purchased a heavy duty grinder.
This is Gaston trying it out on liver, beef heart and chicken
quarters. They had that for supper last night and couldn't eat
it fast enough!! |
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When you think of a
gut wrenching experience, I had one last week. I opened the
small fridge and found several bags in the freezer. I grabbed
one I hadn't noticed before. I assumed it was some kind of raw
frozen meat. I started opening it and then my heart sank and
my gut clenched. It was poor little Zorro. Gaston had frozen
him "in case I wanted to see him when I got home from
Florida", He had forgotten to tell me but in fairness to
Gaston he had written "PUPPY" on the bag. Of course I didn't
see that until I wrapped him back up. |
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So as not to leave
with that last impression of sweet Zorro, I am posting a pic
that was taken when Deborah and Kristina visited to meet
Prize. This pic captures perfectly the essence of my brave,
precious little man. Every time I look at it I get choked up.
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March 23, 2014
I am starting off with a very sad announcement. Little
Zorro died five days after I left for Florida. The day after I
left, Gaston emailed that Zorro had developed soft stools. I
told him to switch Zorro to canned pumpkin, cooked rice and
boiled chicken and monitor him closely. Two days later, Gaston
called and he was upset. He came home from work (Gaston works
half days when I'm away) and found Zorro to be very lethargic
with "lots of loose skin". It was apparent that Zorro was
dehydrated and I told him to rush him to the vet. The vet
injected him with a copius amount of Ringer's and provided an
antibiotic. Gaston was to bring him home, keep him warm
continue to syringe fluids into his mouth plus put syrup in
his mouth every 1 1/2 hrs. Gaston set his alarm and got up
with Zorro every 1 1/2 hrs all night. The next morning he took
him back to the vet to have him checked and have another
infusion of Ringer's. The vet told Gaston to bring him back
that evening as he could give him a third infusion of Ringer's
but that was the limit. Gaston stayed home from work and
concentrated on helping Zorro. We spoke several times a day
and he sent me pics. Zorro went up and down until Sunday
morning when Gaston got up to find him laying almost lifeless
in his run. Mini was laying beside him. Gaston found a very
faint heart beat and Zorro died a short time later.
Although I was certain that everything possible had been done
for Zorro, I felt terrible that I hadn't been there to take
care of him. Mini lost her constant companion and best friend
and my heart broke for her. I was glad that I trusted my
instincts and didn't place Zorro in any of the many families
that inquired about him.
Zorro was born on Christmas day and was a source of endless
joy, affection and entertainment. So very special - so
precious. He had a full, happy life for his 105 days in this
world. I will never forget my little Zorro. |
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More sad news - Cammi is just 11 years old but hasn't been
aging well. Over the last year there has been progressive
deterioration. The last few months she has developed a
persistent cough that is triggered by exertion. I knew Cammi
had congestive heart failure as I have gone through this in
the past. When I returned, it seemed worse than ever and was
interfering with her quality of life. I took her to the vet
and he confirmed my "diagnosis." There is no cure but there
are medications that increase quality of life. The medications
gave my Dobe, Roxxi another full year of good quality living.
So Cammi is on three meds. Vetmedin, Fortekor and a diuretic.
She takes them morning and night. When the heart is not
breathing efficiently fluids build up in the lungs. Now
Cammi's days are numbered but at least I know and I will
savour every single minute with her. |
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I also took Mini and Brazen along with me to the vet. I
monitor Mini's weight closely and also wanted a weight on
Brazen. Mini was still 1.4 lbs. I wasn't sure if I should be
concerned or not. I know I expected a weight gain and there
should have been one. On the other hand Mini is 100% strong
and healthy and I have never had the concern about her that I
had for Zorro. Mini has just just stopped growing. She zoomed
around the vet office and entertained them all. They had never
seen such a small dog and they obviously mentioned her to
their colleagues as now the other branch offices want me to
bring Mini around so they can meet her. I do believe that Mini
is a special gift as I downsize my breeding program. I am not
sure what her future holds but I do know that special things
are in store for tiny Mini.
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The most wonderful thing has happened for Brazen - he found a
home!! Leanne and her family saw him on my Available page and
fell head over heals in love I have never had this happen
before. These people are completely over the moon about
Brazen. They have already bought him toys and coats as have
some of their extended family. Most amazingly they even bought
him a fireplace!! I have sent them baby pics and they have
started an album for him. They are in such a heightened state
of excitement that I was worried that they would be
disappointed when they finally met Brazen. Brazen inherited
his mom Beauty's fat gene and then really started packing on
the weight when he was neutered. I was concerned that they
fell in love with the thin, gorgeous Brazen from his show
days. Telling them that he had gained a lot of weight didn't
seem to be discouraging them so I sent them a pic of his
belly! Like Beauty, Brazen often rolls on his back and exposes
his belly when he wants attention. One day I looked down and
there he was in all his glory. lol They took his humungous
belly in stride and Leanne said she couldn't wait the rub it! |
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Now if Brazen can
find a loving home surely it won't be long for the others on
my Available page.
Brazen is a strong, healthy, playful dog but just to be 100%
sure, I brought him along to the vet. The vet confirmed that
he was healthy and ruled out thyroid. He was a big hit with
the Vet Tech who loved to cuddled him. |
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On his vet papers, I discovered that Brazen weighted 7.8 lbs
at 1 1/2 yrs. Now he rocks the scales at 14.4 lbs. The sad
part is that Brazen LOVES his food and even starts licking his
lips and salivating as soon as I get the bowls out at
dinnertime. Right now he is maintaining his tremendous girth
by eating 1/2 of a tiny bowl filled with raw. His bowl is 1/3
the size as the others. If I gave him any less he would barely
have a mouthful.
Gaston works in London and last week I sent him to rummage
through the clearance bins to find more Tweeties. Although old
Tweetie is still chirping it is getting fainter by the day.
They had a good play session with old Tweetie this morning and
once again I rescued her before the pups had silenced her
forever. Gaston was successful and you can all meet new blue
Tweetie. |
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Best way to end is with puppy antics. If you look closely at
this pic, you will see what I saw when I opened the closet
door in the family room. Yes, the pups had broken in and were
in the process of eating a big hole in my paper towel
wrapping. |
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Last week, I put a frozen container of people stew in front of
the fireplace to start to thaw. I didn't realize what an
attraction that would be. Three puppies jumped up on it and
sniffed and licked every inch of the frozen container. Then
all that was left was one stubborn puppy who tried for over 10
minutes to get the lid off. I guess even frozen food smells
good. lol Then there was one small pup left who decided to
just lay beside it. |
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Lastly is my favourite puppy Zep. I don't think I have ever
had a puppy with so much personality or character. He leaves
today and I will miss him. Carla and Gani are do to arrive
within the hour. Zep is the only pup who can do the dog door.
As his parting gift he popped outside and came back with a
huge clump of mud in his mouth. He lovingly placed it in his
rum and guarded it from the others. That's Zep - he always
keeps me laughing! |
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March 16, 2014
I am able to do a blog as I got it ready before I left for
Florida. Yes, enough happened in just two days to make it
worthwhile.
On Sunday Stacey and Jonathan came to pick up their puppy Koda.
They were totally excited!
Stacey researched feeding a raw diet and is continuing on with
Koda.
After Tweetie bravely gave a demonstration of how much the
Pins love to tear her apart, Stacey was determined to find one
on their way home with Koda. The next day she emailed me to
say that she found him a Tweetie and a back up Tweetie. Such a
good home!
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Sunday afternoon was
mild and sunny so we headed out back. Everyone had spring
fever and soon had a vigorous game of tug. Not to be left out,
Sara grabbed one end and pulled against three of the boys. It
reminded me that Sara excells at everything.
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Little Mini zoomed
around and had a ball!
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Gaston arrived home
Monday night with a gigantic bag of raw beef. It was the
biggest haul yet and it took him over two hours to trim the
fat off, cut into cubes and put into bags for the freezer. We
ended up with 30 bags of fresh beef! The only downside is that
Gaston is getting tendonitis from all the cutting. The first
pic is a full sink if raw cubes, then the 30 bags, neatly
stacked on the counter. |
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Now for a little bit
of Florida. I didn't realize it until I arrived that it is
March break. I always walk Ft Myers beach when I am here. This
time I was winding through an obstacle course of bodies packed
as tight as sardines
More my speed as well as my favourite Saturday morning
activity is the market. It is absolutely overwhelming with
tables of fresh fruit and vegetables and just about everything
else you can think of. |
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March 09, 2014
What a whirlwind week! Fortunately it was jam packed with
lots of wonderful happenings. I have to start with the very
best news. Prize has found his forever home. After having his
first family lose him on their way home he was so traumatized
that he suffered from PTSD. This horrendous experience is
detailed in a previous blog update. Then I entrusted him to a
couple who said all the right things. Although I do an
excellent job assessing people vis a vis suitability for my
dogs I sure missed the boat in this case. The woman turned out
to be one of the craziest people I have ever encountered. This
was recently confirmed by a recent dealing I had with her. Of
course she was unable to manage Prize and when he arrived back
he was more anxious than ever. He never left my side. If I was
sitting he was on my lap and if I was standing he had to lean
against my leg. My breeder friends told me that he couldn't
adjust to another home and would be a lifetime resident.
Then, Deborah and her adult daughter Kristina drove up from
Ottawa to see my young adults. They spent almost five hours
here and I enjoyed every minute. Such vibrant intelligent
women who were very warm with the dogs and had very impressive
knowledge about dogs. Best part was that they were
enthusiastic about continuing to a feed raw diet.
We sat in my family room with all the puppies, Beauty, Cameo
and Prize, Cowboy and Brazen. They were dog magnets and the
dogs were all over them. They couldn't pick amongst the boys
and wished they could take them all. They did eventually pick
Prize. They ended up so impressed with the puppies that they
also took the last available girl They stayed at a hotel
Friday night and came back to get them the next morning. As we
were doing the paperwork, Deborah mentioned that she had told
her daughter that she didn't want a puppy, didn't want a girl
and didn't want red. lol Its amazing how life happens.
The next day, they sent me an email saying that things were
going very well and Kristina had even taught Prize to sit. Its
been a very long time since I had such a rewarding experience
involving my dogs. While they were here, Kristina updated my
phone so it was downloading info for over an hour so I
couldn't take pics. They took a lot and promised to send them
but haven't yet. Here are the only two I managed to take. One
of Deborah holding Cowboy, one of Kristina with Zorro and the
last one of Kristina holding Zorro and his mom Beauty.
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The next day Ryan
and his friend Maria arrived from Toronto to look at Brazen
and Cowboy. I had sent him pics and he was over the top
enthusiastic about Cowboy, begging me to let him have him.
When they arrived, the dogs loved Maria and were all over her.
However, they wouldn't go near Ryan. The dogs feelings
mirrored mine. Ryan ended up deciding that Cowboy was only
worth a fraction of the money I was asking as he "had missing
parts". Over a year ago, CB had his two upper canines pulled
as they were pointing straight forward and pushed out his lip.
They also caused his bottom canines to slant out but very
slightly. When you look at CB, his bottom teeth push out his
lip. You can see the effects infrequently and you can see from
his pic that they weren't apparent at all. |
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Ryan only stayed for
an hour but I was completely exhausted by the time he left. He
was full of nervous energy, arrogant, opinionated and kept
trying to impress me with all his dog knowledge that was
mostly wrong. Of course I am not one to let things slide and
corrected him every time. When I had worked him and Maria to
the door for them to leave, Ryan planted his feet and decided
that he wasn't ready to go. Maria took his arm and I put my
hand on his back and we eased him out onto the porch as I shut
the door. When I have people visit, some visits go better than
others but nothing has ever been this uncomfortable. I am sure
if Ryan had a blog it would be most interesting to see what he
said about me. I have no doubt that the feelings were mutual.
While he was here, Cameo was laying on the desk in a dog bed.
She is very old and has not been doing well lately. Cammi
reminded Ryan of one of his Minpins that was old and had to be
put down. He was drawn to Cammi and his interaction with her
was genuine and warm. |
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It ended up that
Cowboy couldn't have left with Ryan that day in any event.
When I picked him up in the morning to cut his nails I noticed
that his penis was infected from his neuter 8 days earlier. It
wasn't painful and CB didn't have any symptoms that I could
have noticed. I took him immediately to my Vet and he gave him
an injection of a long lasting antibiotic. If things had
worked out for Ryan and CB he would have had to come back and
get him the following weekend. |
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On a slightly
lighter note I can do an update on Tweetie. Not only did she
lose her long, beautiful feathered tail but now she has a
broken wing. Because I rescue Tweetie every now and again to
give her a rest, she is still tweeting but very softly. I
predict that Tweetie is very near the end of her tweeting
days. |
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It is also with
sadness that I have to announce the slaughter of the raccoon
tail. It was a big favoutite. I came down one morning and this
was all that was left. The frightening part was that when I
put the pieces together, they didn't make a whole tail.
Needless to say I am on the alert for big furry poops. The
first pic is of Mini posing with the tail before if was torn
to shreds and then the pic of what what was left. |
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Lets now do a couple
of cute pics that I took this week of my favourite subjects.
The first is HB's girl warming her paws on the fireplace
ledge. All Minpins are heat seeking creatures and gravitate to
the warmth of the fireplace. The second pic is the three
stooges lined up on the ledge. |
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All the puppies have found homes except Mini and Zorro. Mini
is just the tiniest Minpin that I have ever seen. She is
strong, healthy, feisty, mischievous and doesn't take any crap
from anyone. She doesn't seem to be growing much at all even
though she eats with gusto. I am holding her back to see how
she progresses.
Then there is Zorro who is a whole other story. Zorro isn't
much bigger than Mini but I am not as confident about his
health. Yes, he is strong, active, playful and holds his own
with them all. It's his physical characteristics that concern
me. Zorro has a very thin coat and you can see his pale skin
shining through. I have also noticed that he always has
crusted poop on his bum. This is very unusual. Minpins are one
of the cleanest breeds. Of course I took him to the vet with
these concerns but he said Zorro was healthy and even after I
pushed him to to examine every possible thing, he couldn't
find anything wrong. He is the only puppy that I don't feel
100% confident about. A family came and talked me into
accepting a deposit on Zorro but I have since talked to them
about my concerns and I returned their deposit. Zorro is a
delightful little boy and absolutely needs his own home. I
just want to keep him here until the time comes that I can
feel good about placing him. The first is a pic of Mini and
Zorro gobbling up their meatballs. You can see how thin his
coat is. I just realized that I forgot to take a pic of his
bum but I am sure that most will be glad I forgot. The second
pic is Zorro in his dog bed taken today. My goodness when you
see that you can't help but hope that there is a home out
there for this special little guy. |
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The last entry is
about Sunshine. It's a long time since I was so excited about
a puppy's potential as a show dog. Sadly, rather than
continuing to improve as she matured, Sunshine has gone in the
opposite direction. It is just like the beautiful swan turning
back into the ugly duckling. Her beautiful erect ears have
collapsed and nothing I do is successful in getting them up.
Her back has continued to grow but her neck and rear hasn't
kept up so she is no longer balanced. To add insult to injury,
her bottom teeth are coming in very crowded so they aren't
straight. I have been having a lot of firsts lately. This is
the first time I have had a puppy who didn't continue to
improve - such a disappointment. |
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I added several
beautiful young adults and older puppies to my Available Page
this week. I can't remember if I put Sunshine on or not. If I
didn't, she will be added next week. I hope someone is smart
enough to scoop up this lovely girl.
I am leaving
on Tuesday for another Florida break. I will be gone for 9
days. I may do a blog from Florida.
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March 02, 2014
I took Cowboy and HB to the vet on Friday to be neutered
and spayed respectively. Cowboy's dam, Rhonda arrived pregnant
by a dog owned by the woman who sold Rhonda to me. The pups
were born here but I was never impressed with their show
potential. The ONLY reason to leave a dog intact is if you
plan to use it for breeding. HB also arrived in utero and has
had two litters here at Patapin. These puppies had excellent
personalities and were intelligent, affectionate and playful.
They were ideally suited as pets and adjusted easily into
their new homes. They weren't however show prospects. If I
bred dogs for money, HB would be the perfect brood bitch.
Since I would never do that, it was time to have HB spayed and
save her from going into season and suffering relentless
harassment from the intact boys. Cowboy and HB will make
excellent family additions and I truly hope that they will
find their forever families soon.
When I went to pick them up, I took Mini so I could check her
weight. Mini was first weighed on Feb 11th at 1.1 lbs.
Seventeen days later she weighed 1.4 lbs. I wasn't sure what
to expect but a three ounce gain in 2 1/2 weeks seems minimal.
So I can continue to monitor Mini's weight I purchased a scale
at Canadian Tire. Coincidentally they were 60% off so I got an
amazing bargain. Here is a pic of Mini trying out her new
scale. |
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Rhonda went back to
the kennel after spending her time in season in the house.
Rhonda has had two back to back litters so I wanted to make
sure she was skipped this time. She needed a well deserved
rest from being pregnant and thoroughly enjoyed her days being
a couch potato in the house. When Rhonda went back, Al just
couldn't accept the fact that his favourite girlfriend was no
longer receptive to his advances. Never one to give up easily,
Al glued himself to Rhonda until the harsh reality set in.
Here is Rhonda trying to take a nap while Al stares at her
longingly. Al looks so hopeful and Rhonda looks most
unimpressed. lol |
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Gaston picked up our
weekly supply of raw on his way home Friday. I must admit that
I was pretty grossed out when I opened the bag. The contents
just didn't seem to be as "pretty" as the week before. lol The
only saving grace was that it is all so fresh that there is
absolutely no smell. The yuk factor was definitely higher and
if you look closely, you can see the long white casings that
contain the intestines - at least that's what I think they
are. The second pic is of my favourite raw food. The abattoir
freezes blocks of organ meat that I thaw and feed to everyone
- they are actually quite pretty. I must say that this is also
the dogs' favourite. They devour their portion and lift their
heads, licking their lips and looking for more. |
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The weather
continues to be horrendous! I am lucky to have the drive shed
out back of the kennel where Gaston spent over three years
cutting wood for out wood stove. The entire floor is covered
in a thick layer of wood shavings. It makes the perfect,
gigantic litter box. The dogs are protected from the elements
when they are out there and can take their time to do their
business. Best part is that they find the shavings fun to play
in and when they are done, they chase each other around and
dig frantically to try to determine the origin of those
enticing smalls. We make a visit every night just before bed. |
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The pups are growing
and socializing has started with a passion. I take them to our
local Pet Smart where they are exposed to all kinds of noises,
smells, other dogs and people. This is one of the things that
set my pups apart from all others. There are no shortage of
people volunteering to cuddle a puppy. |
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The first pups left
on Saturday and the people couldn't have been happier. Gayle,
her son Warren and Warren's friend (yikes, I have forgotten
his name) drove all the way from Orillia to pick up two
sisters. Gail is home 24/7 and told me that the pups will go
everywhere with her. They were very warm and attentive to the
pups and it was mutual, instant falling in love. |
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HB has a boy that is
a stand out as the resident clown. He is quite a character and
I love to watch his antics. He has been selected by Carla and
Gani and they named him Zeppelin. As I was watching Zep
yesterday, he marched over to my coffee table, hiked up his
leg and proceed to sprinkle the leg of the table. My jaw
dropped. Leg lifting can take as long as several months to
develop and to see it in such a baby blew me away. Here is a
pic of Zep with his head sticking out a hole in the brocade
dog bed. He laid like that for almost half an hour before he
realized that it wasn't as easy getting out as getting in.
Fortunately, I was there to provide a helping hand. |
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Now for the sad
story of poor Tweetie. Tweetie is another cat toy that I
brought home last weekend. She had a long feathered tail and
came with a tag that said she was good for 8,000 tweets. They
were over the top excited to get their muzzles and paws on the
poor bird. The beautiful tail was gone in less than five
minutes. As they dove onto Tweetie, tossed her around and used
her as a tug toy she tweeted incessantly at the top of her
lungs. I am afraid that she will be all tweeted out in no time
so I put her down and then pick her up for a rest. In order to
get the full effect of Tweetie's decline, I should have taken
a "before pic". You can see the puppies clamped on to poor
Tweetie followed by a pic of Tweetie missing her magnificent
tail. |
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Up until Tweetie,
their favourite toy was an empty water bottle! lol
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OMG, Meredith
just sent me this pic of Frankie playing in the snow. They
don't get much snow in BC and Frankie was over the top
excited. It much be much warmer snow than we get here because
he was most unimpressed with the Ontario snow. lol
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February 23, 2014
This has been one of the most brutal winters in memory.
Tons of snow and week after week of below freezing temps. The only
one who is dressed properly is Oliver. He loves it and spends 80%
of his time outside. During the day he lays on the sidewalk
between the house and the kennel and at night, he sleeps in his
shelter at the back door of the house. |
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At the end of the week, the temp rose to zero and the sun came
out. The dogs and I were suffering from cabin fever, so out we
went. The snow was hard packed and the Pins could run on the
surface. Being heavier, Oliver, Belle and I weren't weren't
quite as successful. It was 20 steps on top of the snow
followed by two or three were we sunk to above our knees.
Needless to say, the Pins were way out in front. In this pic
(if you look closely) you can see a few tiny specs off in the
distance. They are Silver and the more adventurous Pins. |
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Although everyone enjoyed their sprint through the snow, the
serious fun was had in the horse/alpaca run-in just behind the
barn. The sun was shining right into the inside and had warmed
up the floor of hay and well aged horse/alpaca manure. Such
aromas! - it just doesn't get any better than that. I am sure
I spent 20 minutes in there with them as the sniffed and
burrowed, sniffed and burrowed into the soft savory ground.
The first pic is of a group of them enjoying themselves and
the rest are of my precious Sara. Sara was in her glory and
over the top excited and happy. The first pic is of her
looking up at me with a big smile on her face. Then she was
off in a corner doing her own sniffing. The last pic is of
Sara just after we got back into the kennel She was the first
one to run and jump into a cozy bed by the warmth. Just look
at that contented expression. Sara absolutely loves life! The
only thing that would make her happier would be for her to
have her very own family. |
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Believe it or not the highlight of my week was a sink full of
fresh beef liver and heart. I have found an abattoir that
sells the best stuff for barely anything. The sink full was
free. I also got a huge box of frozen bars of ground innards
for $20 Not sure if I mentioned it but when I found this place
I had to go out and purchase a new chest freezer for the
kennel. The heart and liver was so fresh that it was almost
quivering. The old me would have been totally grossed out by
this. Now that I have gone to the dogs it was a beautiful
sight. |
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Every week when I update my blog, I find that Deb has sent me
something about Manley that makes me laugh. This week it is
Manley and a big furry puppy in a mud puddle after a lot of
rain. What made this pic special was Deb's interpretation of
what was going on. Of course in Deb's eyes Manley is the best
and smartest Minpin ever. In this pic she tried to convince me
that Manley was actually teaching the puppy how to navigate
mud puddles. She titled it - Manley the mentor! lol |
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I took Mini's brother to the vet last week and he now has his
clean bill of health. He is bigger than Mini but not by much.
He weighed 1.6 lbs. I have now made him available for sale. He
is such a sweet boy. Now I just have to think of a suitable
name. Gaston thinks we should sell Mini to a celebrity for
$5,000. lol She is certainly the kind of special little girl
that you see being showcased on TV morning shows. |
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My news is that Mazie and Sunshine are now heading off to
Australia to join Manley. When she saw her pic, Deb referred to Mazie
as a "female Manley". It's a fitting description as Mazie also
has her own distinct personality. This is a pic of her showing
me her belly in an effort to get me to pick her up and put her
on my lap. |
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I took them both to the vet for their initial vaccines and
micro chip to commence the process. Sunshine took everything
in stride but Maize was not amused. Her disposition probably
wasn't helped by the fact that she is in full blown season.
Every time the Vet went near her rear end she tried to bite
him. Fortunately I am much faster than Mazie and the vet
finished unscathed
Mazie also disliked the receptionist and barked at her every
time she came in the room. Her disposition wasn't helped by
the fact that the Vet had to make three attempts to get her
Micro chip inserted into her shoulders. That is a huge needle
and Mazie and I were most upset. I ended up with her blood all
over the shoulder of my white sweat shirt. Here is a pic of
her waiting in the exam room for the vet to come in. Then when
I went to pay the bill, she climbed up in a chair to wait to
go home. You can see from the expression on her face that she
was not amused. |
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Also exciting news is that I have a family coming from Ottawa
next week to meet Prize. If they decide to take him, it will
be his last chance to have his own home and all the love and
individual attention that goes with it. They have a 5 yr old
male Minpin that they rescued. He is the same color as Prize
and just as handsome. They are fully aware of Prize's trauma.
Deborah told me that he also had issues when he arrived but
they have helped him work them out. I sent her this pic of
Prize lying on the back of the couch in the kennel. |
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We will finish off
with puppies. This is a pic of Zeppelin sitting in the Pooh
chair this morning. Carla will be picking him up in two weeks! |
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I have noticed that
my entries are much longer and much more positive. It must be
because I am not being drained by heart breaking tragedies.
Such a lovely change.
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February 16, 2014
Let's start out with some good news about Mini. Mini is
just SO tiny that I have been concerned that there might be
something wrong with her. I took her to the vet this week and
after a thorough examination, he deemed Miss Mini to be
perfectly healthy!! We weighed her and she only weighed 1.1
lbs. When I hold her in my hand, she is as light as a feather
and I feel that I could close my hand and crush her with very
little effort. However, Miss Mini is tough, outgoing and
feisty. She escapes from her pen through a tiny opening in the
fencing and tears around, terrorizing everyone and everything
that she comes in contact with. If the bigger pups gang up on
her, she fights her way out (while making surprisingly loud
grrring noises) and tears back the the tiny opening in her run
and back to safety. Of course the others are unable to follow
her and she taunts them from inside her run.
Mini's ears are going to stand up and she is the perfect
specimen of a show puppy. When she stacks up she looks like a
winner. Combine that with her awesome attitude and she would
be a big winner. Unfortunately, Mini is far to small to make
the size requirement for the show ring so I am looking for the
right family to take her in and love her without being
overprotective. Mini is a one of a kind spitfire and draws
crowds wherever she goes. I took one shot of Mini standing and
one with my husband holding one of the other (normal) pups for
size comparison. When I look at the pics, she appears bigger
than she really is but 1.1 lbs says it all. |
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This is
Mini in the kennel playing on the couch.
She is SO tiny that HB's girl is standing in her!! |
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Deb sent me a pic of Manley sleeping on the floor. She told me
that I had very strange dogs. I guess this isn't the first
time that Manley has smoothed out a plastic bag and gone to
sleep on it. Manley is overflowing with personality, quirks
and all! For those who missed an earlier entry, Manley is
wearing an outfit designed and sewn by Deb to stop him for
marking the corners of her furniture. It's common to use
"belly bands" that circle the body and cover the penis but
Manley was able to squirm out of those, so now, he has a whole
outfit! |
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The puppies were
losing interest in their tunnels so I pulled out another toy.
It is made for cats and consists of a post with a stretchy
string that has feathers attached to the end. Wow! I was
surprised at just how popular this was going to be. The
puppies have had hours of fun and activity playing together by
grabbing the feathers and trying to run off with them. Of
course they just snap back and the game begins all over again.
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Even though
Sunshine's ears aren't cropped, they still have to be taped up
when they begin to droop. Right now, they are droopier than
usual as she is teething. The day after this pic was taken I
ended up taping the other ear. |
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I haven't been
making many trips to town as we have been trapped in a deep
freeze for almost two weeks now. I had to run some errands on
Friday and brought my side kick Silver along. Silver loves to
ride shotgun. You will see from the pic that Silver has grown
a long coat and is quite the shaggy dog. As she insists on
spending most of her time outdoors regardless of the temp, I
don't cut her coat back until the early spring. Silver is a
wonderful intelligent companion who freaks me out by reading
my mind!! |
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Last week, I was
able to showcase Stacey and Mike who arrived in the morning to
pick a puppy. Soon after they left, Carla and Ghani arrived
with their son Noah. I hope I got her husband's name right. I
spent most of the visit calling him Donny and of course they
were too polite to correct me. lol I was most impressed with
Noah who is a real puppy whisperer. They ended up choosing
HB's only boy and emailed yesterday to say that they were
going to name him Zeppelin. Here are pics of Noah and his mom
Carla. |
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Also last week,
Warren and his mom Gayle emailed about the possibility of two
puppies. After a lot of correspondence which included pics,
they sent two deposits via Western Union. That was a first for
me. I don't belong to PayPal and usually take cheques for the
deposit but this worked well and Gaston picked up the cash on
his way home from work. They are letting me pick their puppies
and will travel from Orillia to pick them up at the end of the
month.
There are still puppies left as I have turned down several
homes where the puppy would be alone all day. Hopefully when
the weather warms up I will hear from those special families
that want a very special puppy. And of course, we mustn't
forget Miss Mini who will be a pure delight as a family
member.
I took Sara to the vet this week to be spayed. She bounced
back quickly and was playing by the afternoon. I know I sound
like a broken record but I just can't stress enough what a
wonderful addition Sara would be to the right family.
I received a wonderful update from Liz who picked up Sheira a
year ago. Those wondering about using a Minpin as a Therapy
dog will be interested. Also Liz addresses how easy it is to
train a Minpin. Lastly it exemplifies the wonderful families
that I look for and select for my dogs. Sheira is much loved
and has a very full, active life. This is what makes it all
worthwhile.
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February 09, 2014
I realized that I have started the last few blogs by
complaining about a variety of "injustices". lol We ended last
week's blog with puppies and I will start off this weeks with
puppies.
First off, I have two Toronto families visiting to pick their
puppy on Sunday. The first to arrive were Stacey and Mike.
Even though I initially turned Tracey down as they both work
all day, she wouldn't take no for an answer. She told me that
the fact that I was so selective made her even more
interested. Stacey came up with a plan that her puppy would
stay with her mother two days a week and go to puppy day care
the other three days. That was fine with me and I couldn't
help but admire her tenacity. They stayed for three hours and
picked their puppy, naming him Coda. They had already selected
Bowser as a name but when I mentioned that Laura named one of
her boys Coda they changed their mind. They said it was a
beautiful name and apologized for stealing it and Coda he will
be.
I took a a lot of pics Stacey had a high quality camera and
took even more! Here are a few of my best. Three are of
Stacey. One of Stacey snuggling the black boy, one of her
playing with the puppies with a toy and one of Stacey and the
first puppy she scooped up after they arrived. |
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The last two are of
Mike. One with Mike and the first puppy he scooped up and one
with Mike and "Coda". Mike fell in love with this little boy
and sat for a long time with him sleeping in his arms. Doesn't
get much cuter than this. No wonder Mike's heart melted. [mike
and first puppy, mike and pick] |
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They also fell in
love with a girl in a purple collar. They called her Lola.
When they left they just couldn't decide about Lola. I think
that Stacey was more in love with Lola than Mike. They
reluctantly decided to leave without putting a deposit on her.
They wanted to think about it and Stacey told me they would
let me know if they changed their mind. Of course my fingers
are crossed as families that take two puppies are my
favourites. It is just so good for a Minpin to have a buddy to
sleep with and play with.
Still on the puppy theme, here is an update on Mini. She is as
tiny as ever but even stronger and more feisty. Mike and
Stacey were simply amazed by her. They asked if I had ever
bred a puppy that small and of course the answer was NO, I
haven't. Mini is able to get in and out of her run by a tiny
opening in the barricade. It absolutely drives the other
puppies crazy that she can come and go but when they try to
follow her they can barely get their muzzles in the space.
Sometimes they try to pick on her but they are stymied when
she takes off and gets in her run where they can't touch her.
There is one pic of Mini and the tambourine, and one of Stacey
holding Mini up in the air in amazement. |
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While I am on
adorable puppies, this is one of HB's girls sound asleep on my
lap as I watch TV and drink my coffee one morning. It even
melted my heart and I see many adorable pics. |
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Now on the some
news. I have sent Frankie to Meredith to finish his training
and get him into the ring. Poor guy spent over 14 hrs in his
crate from when we left him at London Cargo and Meredith
finally got her hands on him. Meredith sent me these two pics
of Frankie. One is of Frankie on the couch (such a pretty boy)
and the other is of Frankie cuddled up on her knee only the
second day he was there! |
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It freaks me out how
much Sunshine looks like my Siri - even has the same movement
and personality. You could say that she is Siri's
reincarnation. When I look at this pic it can still bring
tears to my eyes. |
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I have a lot of toys
here to socialize the puppies. I have an over flowing toy box
and two tunnels. I have a long narrow one and one that has
three arms with a hole in the middle. This one is their
favourite. They will play in the tunnels for hours, getting
tons of exercise. It makes me laugh to watch them dashing in
and out. |
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Brazen and Sara are
still here. They would love to have their own families. Please
check the Available page for updated pics.
We still have puppies available. People who have visited are
amazed at how outgoing and well socialized they are. They can
even recognize that they prance when they move and are simply
stunning compared to other Minpins they have seen. Everyone
who has seen them has put a deposit on their pick puppy. I
don't expect that they will last much longer. Jan 8
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January 19, 2014
I had a terrible week trying to cope with my oral surgery.
The pain, discomfort and inconvenience were unprecedented I
lost 5 lbs because I was unable to eat most foods. I was
miserable. I went to the Peridontist for a check up on Friday.
Of course he made the big mistake of asking me how I was. lol
I am not one to suffer in silence plus I don't believe there
is one stoic bone in my body. I didn't hold back and told him
exactly how I felt. He checked the surgery, told me I was
healing well and to do what I had been doing for another 10
days - not brushing half my teeth, eating soft foods only on
the unaffected side and rinsing with a prescription mouthwash
that tasted vile.
Last time I initiated a firm handshake when I left. This time
he put his hand out and I could barely squeeze my hand. I told
him that I could see no chance that I would be able to have
the other side done. He seemed non plussed and told me we
would deal with this side first. Sounds like I am not the only
unpleasant big baby he has had to deal with.
This week, it is all about puppies. A few of my fellow
breeders thought I had bitten off more than I can chew. The
difference is that I am home 24/7 and have an extremely
supportive husband who also helps to socialize and does
everything and anything that is necessary.
HB's pups are the most advanced and outgoing. They are the
ones in the collars. Rita's pups, although only a couple of
days younger are more timid and unsure. I get them out early
morning in front of the fire and play with them. Then I put
them back with their moms and go out to the kennel. When my
husband sits down to watch TV, he takes them all out again
until he goes to bed. Here are two pics of HB and Rita's pups.
One was taken yesterday and I took the one of them in the toy
box this morning. |
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Beauty's three are almost one week younger and were born on
Christmas day. There is one black boy, one dark red girl and
the tiny clear girl that I was hand feeding and never thought
would make it this far. They are the least socialized although
the tiny girl is pretty good because she was handled so much
when I was feeding her. This a pic of Beauty with her pups
that I took this morning. You have to look carefully to see
the black boy as he is laying right beside his mom and blends
right in with her. The tiny girl is in the back. I am keeping
the black boy to show. I will know around 8 weeks if he will
be show quality. If not, he will become available. |
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The little girl has astounded me! Last week, she refused the
syringe I was using to feed her and is existing solely on her
mom's milk. The weighs less than a kg. She looks very fragile
but that is because she is SO tiny. She is really quite strong
and wiry. When I put down canned food for the first time to
see of the pups were interested, she toddled right over and
started gobbling. She soon eaten all she could reach (first
pic) so she dove right into the middle of the bowl. The third
pic is her snuggled between the soft side of her crate and her
sleeping bag.
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This little girl is the first to do everything. She was the
first to start climbing out of her whelping box several days
ago and the others still haven't caught on. Can't wait to see
how she is going to turn out.
This is the size difference between the tiny pup and her
littermate, the dark girl The tiny pup looks bigger than she
really is in the pic. |
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I began to add raw lean ground beef and 4% cottage cheese to
the pups food. I am finding that they pick out all the meat
and cottage cheese and leave the canned. Dogs are smart, no
matter what the age. The prefer raw natural food over
processed food. I will gradually change the pups to an all raw
diet.
Last week I had another tragedy that I am unable to talk
about. So much for 2014 being a better year. As a more extreme
way of managing my stress, I have deactivated my FB account. I
was just sick of seeing pics of abused animals. Finally the
one of the body of a dog who starved to death as his mouth had
been taped together was the final straw. I also got sick of
listening to narrow minded, petty, vindictive, stupid people
using FB as a forum to spew their opinions.
I am leaving Tuesday for another warm weather get away. I am
going for 11 days. I delayed it for a full week as the pups
weren't ready to be left with Gaston. Right now I hope that it
continues to help me de-stress and relax.
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January 12, 2014
I took my computer into be looked at and they called
yesterday. He started the conversation with "I got bad news
and my heart fell. He went on to say that it could be fixed
but the part would cost $100. That sounded like very good news
to me! I will get it back at the end of next week.
All my life I have brushed my teeth vigorously with a hard
toothbrush. My dentist told me repeatedly to use a soft brush
but I didn't listen. Now my gums are so receded that I am
seeing a periodontist. On Tuesday he removed a big flap of
skin from the roof of my mouth and transplanted it along the
right side of my bottom jaw. I ended up with a dozen stitches
and have been completely miserable ever since. Next the other
side has to be done but I can't even imagine going through
that again. So folks - listen to your dentist!
Proof that you are never old to change, I have switched to
feeding raw. I took the time to properly look into it and my
cooked stew wasn't all that good for my dogs. I had been so
proud of myself and yes, I felt superior to all the commercial
dog food feeders.
Positives are that they utilize everything they are fed and
their poops are very small, white and hard. They had
occasionally left food in their bowls. Now they consistently
lick them clean.
Down side is that it takes twice as long to get their food
ready at bedtime and its 2 1/2 times more expensive. I am
completely OCD when it comes to my dogs. These were their
bowls when I first started and I have cut the quantity by 1/3.
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Here's the weekly
update on Beauty's pups. As you can see, two are thriving and
the clear girl is barely hanging in there. I supplement her
three times a day and she is able to latch onto Beauty for the
rest. |
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I have an urgent
situation to place one of the cutest pups I have ever bred. He
is tiny, tiny but full of spit and vinegar. The urgent part is
he doesn't back off from the adult males. He tries to steal
their treats and stands his ground. It is adorable to see, but
now the dogs have started ganging up and picking on him. Now
that is heart breaking. He is MJ and I have posted pics of him
in past blogs. He is 13 weeks old and I have kept him a bit
longer, hoping that he will grow more. Right now, he would be
much better off in his own family. MJ will be a completely
delightful addition to the right family. |
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January 05, 2014
My desk top crashed so I will do my best on my iPhone.
First I will clarify a mystery about Frankie's pics last week.
There is one of him passed out in the bottom half of a peanut
butter jar. I didn't explain it. When Frankie got home from
the vet after getting his ears cut and stretched
I put him a crate on the counter to get over the sedation. He
was looking alert so I have him the bottom of a PB jar to
lick. He started off enthusiastically but soon fell sound
asleep mid lick. lol
I have been feeding Beauty's pups every two hours with a
mixture of goat's milk, plain Greek yogurt, an egg yolk and a
big squirt of Nutri-Cal.
Beauty is just not attached/bonded to her babies. Rather than
lay with them in the whelping box, she lays on the floor and
watches them. |
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She has gradually
improved from going in to clean them and now she lets them
nurse. The dark girl and black boy are well on their way. The
clear girl is a different story.
She is very tiny and fragile. When I return her after a
feeding, she moves far away from her litter mates. This is a
bad sign.
This is a pic of the pups on day 10 right after I was done
feeding them. I grouped them together for the pic. The second
pic is what happened soon after I returned them to the
whelping box. |
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Now for HB's pups.
You will recall that she had them in the couch in the kennel.
Then I moved everyone into their designated room and whelping
box. Several days ago I noticed that two pups had crusty areas
on their coats. I had seen this before. It happens when the
dams don't lick all the amniotic fluid off their bodies. It
dries and removes that section of the fur. I have been
massaging it with emu oil. This has caused the dead areas of
coat to lift up and slough off. |
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This has no
lingering negative side effects. Their coats grow back in and
they are at good as new.
They are thriving and I began weaning them today. They gobbled
up the canned puppy food. I am also bringing them to the
kennel and it won't be long until they move downstairs where
they can receive unlimited socialization.
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This is a current
pic of little MJ - what a doll!! |
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Manley's mom Deb
quickly tired of her boys having a "pissing match" in her
house. Boy dogs like to mark their territory. Once one male
lifts his leg against a corner, the others follow suit.
Of course the solution is a belly band that goes around their
penis area. However Deb's boys have become experts at
wriggling out of them.
Not one to give up Deb got her creative juices bubbling and
created her own design. It is a Deb original and not even
Houdini could get it off. Here is a pic of Manley with his on.
It works beautifully and is wriggle proof. It is soft and
light weight and doesn't seem to bother the boys at all. Way
to go Deb! |
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Only negative thing
this week is that my desk top computer died. It has been
completely reliable for over 7 years which is unheard of in
the computer world. It had all my special pics over the last 7
years and I will be devastated if it can't be fixed. Send
positive thoughts to my computer. It needs it!
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