Ring Training

Having a go last night after the class. I wasn't feeling up to taking 2 down last night so Leonie helped me with Ross instead of having her lesson with Loki. 

Mr Brown

I must admit I'm quite amused. Someone has asked Linda "why the hell has Rhian bought a brown Shepherd?" Linda tried to explain that he was a "Sable" and how much research I'd done to find compatible bloodlines .. but the reply was .. "but he's brown!"  So funny and because I know who saw us at the vets the other day I know where they got their information from. Both parties have been involved with Shepherds for years, one even previously owning a "Blanik." 

Breed experts and know it all's eh!!! 

Name and shame wasn't something I was going to do .. 

But Mr S has a big gob and has posted on Facebook!!!

First Colour Changes

 

A standard coat black and tan puppy always gets it's first new coat like a band half way up the tail, then on the tip of the tail followed by a stripe down the spine. It seems sables do the same, though why would I think they wouldn't I don't know? I know it's not quite the same with a Long Coat. Ross' new coat is coming through as black on his tail, making him look quite amusing. Talking of coat, that is one of my only reservations about him. With his sire not carrying the L/C gene he may not produce huge coats .. I can live with that, he doesn't have  to have a Nico coat, as long as he has enough to get by like Loki then I'll be happy. Having enough coat is important in the show dog. Otherwise to be honest I'm quite happy about how he's coming along really, for his age everything is where and how it should be!
His feeding habits haven't improved, he really doesn't seem to want to eat till mid afternoon. He eats all his dinner and supper but has no interest in breakfast or lunch. It's only a worry as I can't get enough food into him in two meals, though he would probably eat it then the quantity is just too much at the moment.His breeder use to add mince, tripe or hard boiled egg to his food, I'm reluctant to start that at the moment, but may weaken if it continues .. Ooops did I say that??

Regarding his size, it seems he is on a par with a friends puppies. They look huge in the photos, but apparently not, the males's weight is the same as Ross, though if he doesn't eat a little better he'll get left behind! I know things balance out, Kaiah and Kyle were huge at this stage and Kaiah is now a lovely size and weight, though I have to confess a tad taller than I expected her to be, but not as tall as Sammi. She would definitely not be over sized to get a breed survey class one .. something to think about if health tests are successful.

Three And A Half Walks

 Too Lazy To Take Off Jezi's Muzzle For The Photo

The Ladies 

something about Sammi in the background amuses me

Kaiah and Loki

The Half  A Walk 

For the little person!

Vacs and Weight

Ross has been for his second Vacs today. Lepto 2 of course. He was confident and happy in the consulting room but did take offence at a rather large boisterous Labrador in the reception. No man or little old lady, as it was, is equipped to hold such a large dog like that on a fecking harness, bloody crazy!
Ross weighed 9.50kg, so putting weight on but again just a tiny bit behind Loki at the same age. Loki did eat a lot better than Ross though, I'm already thinking of cutting out his lunch as getting 4 meals a day into him isn't that easy.
This pup has a very strong character, and last night we had serious words, though I did win it made me realise that he would not have made an ideal first time GSD for anyone.
He will need some careful handling or he is seriously at a risk of becoming a nightmare. To be honest he has the temperament that I usually like, you know a bit of a challenge, but I worry that at the moment I'm mentally too weak for the challenge! He's brighter and more devious than the males I'm use to dealing with, he feels very important and can't be allowed to win any battle or we will sure have a war on our hands. He reminds me a little of Krizzie and Sammi as youngsters .. the brighter ones sure are the hardest!

Last Chance Saloon

Nico

Summer came back to Nico yesterday. This is her 4th mating to him  and so far she has produced one, very handsome singleton pup. - Hans. Because of Summer's age this is the last chance really. They had an A1 text book mating, both parties more than willing and a 20+ minute tie. Here's hoping this time eh!

Hansome Hans, Summer and unrelated Darcy 

The amount of puppies born is down to the bitch and how many eggs she has to fertilize, it seems Summer has few and far between but a small litter from her and Nico this time would be wonderful. She is bred on working lines and is not my type of dog at all, but her character is fantastic and I can't help but like her very much. Her son to Nico is stunning so her working bloodlines is obviously compatible with his show line breeding. Interestingly Loki's mum is also three quarter working line and quarter showline and that also produced quality puppies.
Not that I want to flood the market, but I do wish Nico had been used more. He's a fantastic dog with a fantastic character who has produced super puppies to a variety of bloodlines. I feel he has so much more to offer the breed and wish he was given the opportunity to prove it.

Not A Bad First Go

Moaning Minnie Today

It's almost 2 years and my official "recovery period" is almost over. I was told that any symptoms that are still with you after 2 years remain with you. Mostly I'm doing Ok, I feel so blessed to have recovered so well. I suffer from fatigue, my short term memory is affected, sometimes I can't find the right word in the right language for the sentence, and I occasionally have vision disturbances. Well I can cope with that!

But sometimes, just sometimes I just feel so sorry for myself. The tiredness that still hits me like a train crash causes a chain reaction of all the other symptoms. It's not something I can compare to anything else. My head becomes foggy and headachy, with occasionally blurring of my vision from both eyes but always to the left. I can't concentrate or store information. I don't understand simple sentences that I read and the words I need to string a sentence together elude me. I get irritable with myself or tearful .. then I get symptoms of indigestion and if I push it further I feel like I'm going to vomit. I never know when it's going to catch up with me or how far it's going to go, but one thing I have learned is that resting and coming off the laptop and staying off it helps .. That's hard when you prefer Facebook to TV! I rarely make it past 2pm without having to sleep, and when I do I struggle to function in the evening, or maybe for the few days that follow.

I love my dog shows, but I'm exhausted for days after a long trip and having a co driver has been invaluable, to be honest I doubt I could do the distances with him now. For that I thank you Mr T. My dogs are fantastic, they have settled into a routine of an active morning and a lazy afternoon, and on the days when I just can't get them out in the mornings they still give me a couple of hours to chill in the afternoon. Even puppies like a nap after lunch!

People continue to ask me how I'm doing? Which is lovely, but I always lie these days. It's so much easier to say your "fine" isn't it, and I've had a good teacher with Steve really. Yesterday as I visited a friend and she asked me how I was, it was on the tip of my tongue to say .. "Well actually  .." but the words "I'm Ok" came out instead!" I also smile politely when people tell me I'm looking really well ... I think I may get a plaster with "Damaged goods" on it to go over my forehead ... Haha

But life is good, I'm so happy to still be here with my wonderful husband, my lovely family and friends and my awesome Blanik family. I see it all differently now, life goes on, so much to live for and look forward too ..
To quote Robbie yet again ..."I love my Life ..." 

So Much To See And Do

Someone to play with, and someone new to meet

 You Have To Laugh Don't You!

No Hiding From Me Miss BSD!

A Couple Of Snaps

I have to say the quality of my photos with this phone is great, hard to tell apart from the camera.

The phone is due for an upgrade in Dec, I think I may be reluctant to change it! 

A lucky shot of the three young Blaniks. 

The Cyclone is tied to a post!

Lovely Jamie sitting in the sun in the front garden