How Soon We (I) Forget

But first, a photo of Diamond and Brogue's Broadway diva daughter, Montana (and friends.)

In case you're not sure, Montana is on the left end. Notice all the dogs are off lead and outside... and WAITING to have their photo taken!

Now to the title subject...
A week or so ago, I turned on the lamp on the dresser by the bed. Let me rephrase. I tried to turn on the lamp on the dresser by the bed. Nothing happened. So I clicked it again, with the same result. Naturally, since the lamp was from the dollar store (but cost SIX dollars) and at least 10 years old AND the bulb in it was one of those corkscrew looking things, I immediately went back to the dollar store and bought a new lamp (costing ten dollars.) I plugged it in and we had light. The old lamp, sans bulb, went in the trash. Don't know what made me rethink that decision, but I pulled it out, put in a new bulb and guess what... it worked. The other one was burned out. I have gotten so used to those squiggly things lasting forever, I never thought the problem could be the bulb! Actually, I think this may be the first time I've had one grow old and die. (Which means I need to stock up on them because all the bulbs in the house are from the same era. Except the one in the new lamp on the dresser.)
Now, you'd think that this experience would teach me something. However, last weekend I came out of Walmart (yes, I said Walmart, my second trip already this year... which means I'm good until 2013...) I came out of Walmart and my remote key thingy wouldn't unlock my door. It worked on the trunk just fine. In fact, it worked on the trunk TOO fine. No matter which open button I pushed or how many times I pushed it, the trunk unlocked. This caused me an episode of mild panic. It is difficult to drive a car home from Walmart without being inside the car. However, after trying it several times (all the while trying to remember exactly where the other remote clickerbob was "stored,") the driver's lock opened. You know, it wasn't until I got home and was unloading the car that it occurred to me that the key just might open the door.
Apparently, you CAN teach an old dog a new trick. You just have to be prepared for the old dog to forget the old trick when you do!

Pix of "Old" Pups

KOKO
2010 Cotton/Brogue daughter

Brady
2009 Cotton/Brogue son

Montana
2009 Diamond/Brogue daughter

Murphy and Zoe
(left) 2010 Emerald/Sparky son and 2008 Emy/Shadow daughter (right)

Thanks to everyone who keeps in touch and sends me pictures and updates on the family!

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.

Not Much Going On

Manhattan's pride and joy... Montana! Playing at the dog park with her best friend, Katrina, a 'Doodle pup the same age and size. It's hard to tell where one lets off and the other begins!


Dewey (brown/white dog) in his new home with his new kids.
At Dewey's vet appointment, giardia showed up and he's been put on medication for it. No one else has let me know of any problems, but if there have been some, please email or call me. I know MY vet doesn't think breeders need to be advised of normal, run of the mill puppy issues(and she is definitely in the minority) but, personally, I like to be made aware of them just in case I've overlooked something.

No rain
The last two days have been sort of rain free... dark and gloomy with just a little rain in the mornings. Today, the sun is out, just in time to keep me from going nuts. Don't know how I lived in the Pacific NW for 15 years! But our warm temperatures are supposed to disappear starting tonight and lasting for several days into next week. It's WINTER, for pete's sake, and our weather people feel it is necessary to warn us temperatures are going to drop down to freezing! The fleas and ticks are NOT going to be happy.

Nothing New

Well, this is new...
most of the black pups have areas that are lightening up. So much for STAYING black! These two pictures show what happens over time. The first is at 2 months and the second is the same dog 2 years later.



New pictures of the pups tomorrow and then we'll pick.

The First First

The milk bar is open!
And the very first puppy in this litter to reach a milestone isssss


the little teeny tiny girl on the end. She is the first one to be out of the nest.
Obviously, she had a really good grip on a nipple when her mom stood up and walked out of the pool. According to her cries, the pup wasn't happy to be separated from the rest of the family!
So now we have Betty (for better late than never,) the last pup to arrive who is between her parti and black brothers and Harriette Houdini, the first pup to escape. Moving right along....

I got a Happy Mothers' Day from

United Parcel STINKS

Yep, UPS. I know many of you find it hard to believe there is any place in the country that doesn't have home mail delivery or where residential streets are not maintained (or even MARKED) by some governmental agency, but such is the life out in the country. Be that as it may, I recently order vaccines and a bark collar from Revival, where I purchase most of my dog equipment and supplies. The vaccines came overnight via Fed-X. Two weeks later, I still don't have the collar. So I put Revival on to tracking it down. The lady there told me the file said UPS tried to deliver it but couldn't find me and directions were needed and they had sent me a postcard to let me know that. Well, the postcard is obviously going to the street address... which isn't going to work because I don't have mail delivery out here. SO the Revival lady got in touch with UPStinks to advise them of that and the woman she talked to there said the note in HER file said the truck could not get up my driveway. Now, my little Ford Focus has no trouble getting up my drive (when it's not snowy or icy) and the Fed-X truck had no trouble getting up the drive when it WAS snowy and icy and the various vehicles the tree company uses have had no trouble getting up the drive.... But the worse part is: my actual drive is maybe 25 feet. I guess UPS has taken "hire the handicapped" to a new extreme and their drivers are unable to walk. I have lived places in town where the parking lots were more than 25 feet from the buildings.... So my Revival file now says NO UPS PERIOD just in case I forget to tell the person taking my order. By the way, I told the young man who took this last order and he chose to ignore it. And Revival is having a collar sent out to my son's address in town and THEY are picking up the shipping costs. Good people there. "Service" is not part of their name, just part of their practice.

Montana Valentine

When will I Learn

Montana and her best bud, Tug (a mini Goldendoodle about the same age as she.) The pups live in the same building and have play dates... where they run through the halls, scaring the living devil out of little old ladies. Montana, for those who don't know, is from Diamond and Brogue and at 16 months weighs 26 pounds (one of the smallest pups from that combination.)

Now for the learning part
Recently my vet's office referred a lady to me who had some Whoodle pups about the same age as mine. Due to a death in the family, the pups have not been placed although they have been well cared for. I've been trying to help with setting up a website and advertising and advice on things like contracts (which they never did before.) Now there are further complications in that the company the lady works for is reducing its work force and she is going to be laid off before the end of the month (after almost 2 dozen years.) When it rains, it pours. In her case, misfortune. In mine, puppies. She is going to relocate to the east coast to live with an adult daughter. And I'm going to take in the pups who haven't been sold by then. She is asking just $500, with no contract or warranty. We're microchipping them this weekend and they've had all their shots. I'll keep them at the same price but will "guarantee" them to their first birthday. (The parents are "middle aged" and healthy which is about all I know about them.) Luckily, most of my kids have homes and right now I'm used to being over worked. ANYWAY, if anyone knows someone looking for a bargain basement Whoodle, for the next week or so they can email Jennifer at swheatenpoo@gmail.com. After that, they'll have to email me and say they are specifically interested in her puppies. (In case you didn't know, "S'wheaten-poo" is another name for the Wheaten/Poodle cross.) Oh, and just to make things interesting, all 4 remaining pups are... wait for it... MALE.

"Old" Pups Pix

MONTANA
a little over a year old, from Diamond and Brogue's last litter.
She USED to be black and tan!

CHARLIE
from Emy and Sparky's last litter.
He used to be red.

TUCKER
from the same litter as Charlie.
He has always been blond.

As a point of interest... Charlie's picture was sent to me by someone who got it from someone else. The person who took the picture knew the lady who sent it to me had a Whoodle and he just wanted her to see the cute Whoodle puppy he had run into during his travels. SHE recognised the "look" because she has spent so much time on my website and wanted to know if he was one of mine. After we compared notes, it was easy to identify the puppy!

Moral: you can run, but you can't hide!

More Progress

So we have ears that work! This morning there were a couple barks AND two pups practicing their growls. They sound more like kittens purring, but they'll get better over time!

AND yesterday I lied to Rob... I told him so far none of the pups had gotten out of the nest and that is was very unusual. Of course, just a few minutes after I sent the email, I heard an "I'm lost!" cry which I didn't think much of... and didn't go investigate... because how lost can you be in a plastic pool with a 4' diameter? But the cry continued and started to sound like more than one puppy. Sure enough, there were TWO out of the pool and trapped in the small area between its round side and the corner. AND the bottom of the pool was moving! Dora was underneath the floor. Thank goodness I didn't wait too long to check because she was still on her feet and apparently not having any trouble breathing, but NOW I worry that she could have been smothered. The two in the corner were... wait for it... Lolly and Spider! Yep, all 3 girls! Some hours later, they had escaped again and this time they took their black and tan brother with them! The two smallest pups in the litter have managed to figure out a way over the side but the bigger pups are still happily playing in the nest.

Montana
Speaking of black and tan puppies, this is Montana who lives in Manhattan. She was black and tan when she left here a few months ago. And I mean COAL black. Look what big city pollution has done to her!


Doodle Pups
Cathy, from 4everdoodles.com, sent me this picture of my new grandbabies:

TWELVE, all black, 2nd generation LABRAdoodles. Mom is Lilly who is from Shadow and Ravin's last litter. Just look at how shiny and BLACK those coats are. Know someone interested in a Labradoodle? Have them get in touch with Cathy!

Enough Already!

My son just called to ask if I'd stocked up on dog food or if I needed him to go get it tomorrow because... we're getting more snow! Since the weather channel just had us down for snow showers over the next 4-5 days, I haven't been paying a lot of attention to the weather... I did check to see what temps were going to be like because there are two puppies I'd like to get shipped next week... IF Atlanta can get their stuff together! But I haven't looked at the local forecasts for several days. Guess that's what I get. We're going to be under a winter weather watch (or warning, can't remember which is which) from 4 PM Sunday until 4 PM Tuesday. WHICH means I won't be able to get off this hill to the vet, groomer, etc for another week so even if Atlanta gets up and running and almost back to normal, I still won't be able to ship. In case you're wondering why I care about Atlanta... everything from here (on Delta, my only option) goes to Atlanta and changes there for points beyond. I never worry about shipping in the winter because WE don't get "weather." HA! Hope I get these last two pups out of here before I have to start worrying about SUMMER weather!

Montana

Marna sent this photo of Ms Montana, totally at home in Manhattan. She (Marna) says the pup is adjusting fairly quickly to the big city terrors... like fire engines and garbage trucks. Can you imagine how frightening that must be for a country pup. The most noise she'd heard before moving to NY was the dogs barking at the deer.

Then There were Two
Hudson finally managed to go to his new home this weekend. When Liz picked him up she said he looked bigger... considering that it's been almost 4 weeks, he IS bigger! He weighed 14 pounds at the vet yesterday... yes, still a little guy when compared to everyone else.