New Pix of My Crew

Time to do a little photo updating on the website AND it's about time I got around to making individual pages for Boon and Peri, just like everyone else has. BUT, since the young dogs all need haircuts... desperately!... I had to work in picture taking the last couple day in between all the usual first of the week running around so I can get them to the groomer. These are a few shots that actually turned out half way decent.

LUCKY

BOON

Diamond

EMERALD

PERIDOT

Good News

Well, the beginning of good news.
Emy is in season.
She and Boon have already gotten reacquainted. A couple times.
Now here's the situation... Boon told me about two months ago that she was in season. And she acted like she was. However, the other dogs never got excited about it. That happened with Diamond as well... and we all know how that turned out. This time, with Emy, ALL the dogs in the house know she is in heat.
Except she has no physical signs of it that I can see.

So he is breeding her every day, with her enthusiastic cooperation. AND in about a month I'll do an ultrasound and we'll see where we stand.

I'm hoping Peri is paying attention. She is "due" in season around the end of the month.

Shipping Info

A report last week states that Delta Airlines accounts for more than half of animal deaths during shipping for the previous year. But what it doesn't give is the actual number of animals shipped during that time and it just mentions in passing that Delta handles the majority of animals. There were 19 deaths with Delta... 16 on flights overseas and one dog that was never loaded on a plane because it was having trouble breathing. Most of the deaths were caused by things out of Delta's control... animals tranquilized by their owners and existing medical problems. Additionally, there were 5 animals injured during shipment, usually by its attempts to escape from the crate.

I ship a large number of puppies, 99.9% on Delta, and KNOCK ON WOOD, I've never had an injury or death or even a lost dog that wasn't located within a couple hours and where it was supposed to be, in good condition, as soon as possible afterwards. That doesn't mean something just awful can't or won't happen. I've been extremely lucky so far and I've nervous every time I ship. The other side of that is I'm just as nervous every time a family drives 6-8 hours or longer to pick up a pup.

Over the years, I've learned the ins and outs of shipping and believe me, what they are required to tell you when you make a reservation is not even close to the way things actually work. THEIR emphasis is on limiting the amount of time the people actually dealing with the animals have to put in on paperwork and making it easier to deal with their cargo without losing, dropping or getting bit by it.

There is a federal requirement that the animal has a health certificate issued within 10 days of shipping. What you don't know and what any vet can (and a good many WILL) tell you is the cursory exam needed for the health certificate does little to find anything but the most obvious medical condition. I've been to a vet who did not even have me remove the puppy from the crate. Many don't ask the shipper any questions about how the animal is behaving. And yet, there are some vets, like my own, who have their own forms which they fill out in addition to the state form. They take temperature, listen to the heart and lungs, check eyes and ears, do a fecal and spend time with a hands on exam of the animal's coat, body and limbs. My vet marks on her form if she sees a flea! But no matter how thorough an exam is, it can't discover or predict the possibility of a virus already at large in the puppy's body. One of my many reasons for keeping pups to 12 weeks and for not allowing visitation is the fact that it already has 2 shots before it leaves me and is exposed to viruses that cause many diseases that can be fatal or at least, very expensive to deal with. It's basically safer for the puppies.

I Changed My Mind

If you checked out the website this weekend and looked at it again in the last few minutes, you see I added a planned breeding but have already changed it. With Diamond taking a self imposed break, I've had to rearrange the breeding "schedule" and Emy and Peri are probably going to come in season at the same time or very close to each other. Originally, I thought I'd breed both to Sparky. However, after thinking about it for a day or two, I decided if I'm going to have two litters around the same time, I'd like them to be as different as possible in the looks department! And if one has smaller pups over all than the other, that will help too. So I'm going to repeat last year's Emy/Boon litter. That's my reasoning. Now watch... ALL the pups will be blond and about the same size!

A couple new pictures of Montana
Playing "fetch" at the dog park. Please note that this particular "park" is on top of a high rise! Now, that thought had never occurred to me. And if a building owner was smart (!) the roof would have grass and trees (if only in pots) and actually look like a park.
Then, after wearing herself (and Marna) out, ONE of them gets to relax.

Thoroughbred News

Rachel Alexandra and her newborn son by Curlin. The foal arrived Jan 22nd.

And Queen Z (Zenyatta) is doing well, expected to drop her foal by Bernardini in late February/March.

If all goes well, looks like we'e got some good races coming up! As good as their sires are, these babies will be something special if they take after their mamas' sides of the family tree!

Pix

Maggie and Cisco's son, Chase (pony)

and daughter, Millie (pink unicorn)

Emy and Boon's daughter, Puppy

Beautiful and blond times three!

All Alone (sort of)

The last two pups from Maggie and Cisco left on Sunday. Things are really quiet around here! Black/white dog weighed almost 22 pounds at the vet on Friday (14 weeks) while Reindeer was about a pound less. Both pups were completely UNimpressed with their visit although the black guy really liked the attention Jane FORCED on him. She said she preferred dogs who were more selective about friending every human that came along. The pups went from there straight to the groomer where Reindeer met something that scared the poop out of him... literally... several times. I had to take him home wet because just the sound of the blow dryer was overwhelming for him. This happens from time to time... sometimes with the vacuum too. Often the pup can be acclimated to the sound, sometimes not. The two pups are total opposites to each other and not just color-wise. Reindeer was always demanding my attention and ignoring MY demands that he play with someone else. I had to go after Black/white and pick him up to get him in my lap. He loves being rubbed all over but just was too insecure to ask for the attention.

Speaking of which, the adults here all slept until after 10 this morning. Well, maybe they weren't asleep, but they weren't noisy enough to get ME up. And they've been pretty quiet all day, even though the sun is shinning and the unseasonable cold is gone. (We've had exactly two temps all winter... unseasonably warm and unseasonably cold. Luckily, the cold has been far outnumbered by the warm!) The dogs have all plowed though the puppy pen, sniffing even inch of it and, I think, counting toys to make sure they're all still here.

A couple days of this and I'll be ready to go again.