Emy and a Puppy Pix

No, not Emy's puppies. But she is so big and "pointed" I've already got her set up in the whelping pen in my bedroom. According to the calendar, she has about a week to go. Something I've noticed over the years... dogs don't ever look at calendars!

Ciscos Kids
Chase ("pony") and pal
Chase weighs 31 pounds at 5 months. As usual, the pups have done something I wasn't expecting... after their tremendous growth between 8 and 12 weeks, they slowed way down. It is going to be interesting to see how big they end up at maturity.

To those of you with Maggie/Cisco pups, I would appreciate hearing from you once they turn 6 months. I am really interested in how big they are. And if you've had any problems, especially if they are unresolved, or interesting behaviors, I'd like to know about those as well.

Kentucky Derby
The prep races leading up to the Derby on May 5th are over and once again the field is wide open. A has beaten B who ran all over C who then beat A by a head. The horse who won at 109-1 odds a couple weeks ago ran yesterday and came in last. At this point, I don't have a pick. I've checked out everyone's pedigree back 5 generations and they are all kissing cousins if not more closely related. And none of them stands out as a superstar. I would love to see a Triple Crown winner again, but doubt it will be this year.

An Emy/Boon Puppy Picture

Sheana
This little girl IS little... she's just 18 pounds! Once again, genetics proves it doesn't pay any attention to MY predictions! How simple it would all be if there was a formula that accurately gave the results of gene match up!

A Couple of Things

If you've been on the website, you probably noticed I switched to a Spring theme. And once I did that, I thought it was time to update the blog's look as well. I think I'm done now.

Peri
I am REALLY uncertain about her pregnancy or lack thereof. She doesn't have the normal little baby bump that comes in the 3-4 week stage and her ribs haven't sprung at all. She does have a couple other signs... one of which is affectionate licking of my hands, neck, feet, whatever she's closest to that isn't covered by cloth. I really dislike being licked so I discourage it in all my dogs. Right now, she doesn't seem to care about MY rules. This is going to be a long week!

More Pictures

From Maggie and Cisco

John and Joel's Lula

Letters, I Get Letters!

My normal... as in "no puppies available"... email usually amounts to about a half dozen a day, give or take depending on the day of the week. When I have unspoken for puppies or a litter on the way, that doubles or triples or quadruples. Usually, if I don't hear back from an inquirer within a week to 10 days, I delete the emails from/to. Over the last 2 months, for some reason, I went back and forth several times with a number of different people and then they seemed to move to the moon. I figured they had found something else and deleted all that correspondence. And THEN, weeks later, they came back. Now here's the thing, as long as my "trash file" hasn't gotten too large, those deleted emails will still be there, BUT it means looking through hundreds of missives to locate them. Which does not put me in the best of moods! I know most people don't think there is a lot of work involved with breeding and selling puppies. Heck, every weekend, you can pick them up for free outside Walmart. And you can find any number of breeders on the internet who don't put a lot of time into answering questions, screening prospective homes, making as sure as possible that things will work out well for everyone involved. I've never been one of those breeders. But today I decided enough was enough... I PERAMNENTLY deleted over 300 emails from my inbox AND the trash file. It's gone. Bye bye. Soooo, anybody who wrote more than a week ago is gone. Bye-bye. Starting over from the beginning is still an option. I won't remember who inquired before anyway!

Talk about long odds
One of this weekend's Derby prep races, the Louisiana Derby, had an unexpected winner. Hero of Order went off at 109-1. That means he paid over $200 for a $2 bet. Not bad for an afternoon at the track! Oh, he is not nominated for the Kentucky Derby and his people say they're not interested.

Pictures, Day 3

First, a complaint. How come no one let me know I had posted the same photo two days in a row? Considering my age, you'd think people would be watching out for me!

So, here's the picture that was supposed to be posted yesterday...
Tucker and SeamusTucker (the blond) is from Cotton and Brogue
while Seamus is from Emy and Boon

From Maggie and Cisco
Millie and her pal, Porter
Millie is still the smallest in that litter, around 25 pounds.

A heads up
In less than a week, two different people have let me know their dogs are being treated for giardia... one on the East Coast and one out West. Considering the extremely warm winter we've just had, environmental viruses and bacteria are going to be bad this year, as are fleas and ticks. This means we're going to have to be more vigilant. If your dog shows any signs of illness or distress for more than a day, a trip to the vet is called for. Better safe than sorry.

Emy and Peri updates
Em is getting really big... with almost 3 weeks to go. Poor girl!
Peri is showing some minor pregnancy signs... or maybe she's just in one of those moods girls go through. We'll know in 2 weeks.

Pictures, day 2

Another from Emy and Boon's first litter Scout


And from Maggie and CiscoAugie (black) and Reilly

I think that brings me up to date, at least it's all I can download!