Two Walks

 In Lon Goed with Ross, Sammi and Tali

but it was far too busy there for my liking so a second route was found for the other two. 

 Loki and Kaiah near Pont Fechan ..
we loved it there and not a soul in sight! 

Mr Ross Is 5 Months Old

Baby boy Ross is five months old today. I'm really pleased with the photos of him in stance yesterday. It's really hard to pick the best. Maybe this is it?

 We hoped for a beautiful head shot on our walk today, but instead we got these! Still they make me smile, and it's how he looks today

 .. as happy as a pig in shit eh! 

Popped to the vets he was 24.3kg and I make him about 56.5CMS at the wither.

Sunday Blues

Another stressful Sunday walking the dogs. Farmers, walkers, joggers, bikes and of course the traffic up and down to the shooting range! Sunday really is my least favourite day for walking up here!

Bitches And Their Daughters ...

An elderly Nikki - center
with Seffe, Krizzie and puppy Tali in 2005

Over a cuppa in a cafe the other morning a remark was made by a friend. "Bitches and their daughter eh, they never get on do they!"  Well I've not found it to be so, though in a multi bitch house hold there is often tension, but generally mothers and daughters get on, unlike sister who are a nightmare!
Nikki was my first bitch, she was a strong character who took charge of the pack quickly. Blade may have thought he ruled the roost, but as is nearly always the case the bitch always had her own way.
From Nikki's first litter we kept Seffe and the bond between mother and daughter was strong, even with Dexi coming back before he was 6 months old, Nikki's loyalties was to her daughter. But when Nikki had her second litter and we kept Lia her loyalties shifted slightly and Lia became her pride and joy. There was never tension between Nikki and Seffe, that developed between Seffe and Lia, and Lia's personality was suppressed by Seffe's intimidation. For her own safety and future development Lia went to live with friends and Seffe settled back down into family life.
Seffe had one litter by cesarean, 3 bitches and 2 dogs. She doted on her fat pups, adored them but sadly when they were about 4 weeks old she had a really bad case of mastitis and had to be separated from her growing babies. It gave Nikki the perfect opportunity to move in and for want of a better turn of phrase she stole the puppies. But Seffe was soon back with them and Nikki and Seffe shared the duties of bringing up Krizzie.
Krizzie had 2 litters, the first was of 7 dogs and 1 long coat bitch, having never really wanted a long coat (personal choice) I sold the bitch and kept the Amazing Louis. Definitely one of my better decisions, but I still needed a bitch to continue my line so 18 months later Krizzie had her second litter, 8 dogs and 1 bitch. Thankfully Tali was normal coated, though she would have stayed what ever her coat type! The bond between Krizzie and Louis had been amazing, he adored his mother and she gave him the world, but as soon as she had Tali things changed and her daughter became her world. She gave preference to her, and would make sure Tali "Won" all the games. Really Tali didn't need any back up or encouragement, she was already headstrong and determined; but her mother imprinted the behaviour on to her and it was obvious in Tali's upbringing of her own puppies that she had learned to give preference to her daughter.
From Tali's litter we kept Asha and Mikey. The three where close, but the strength of bond between Asha and Tali was unbreakable. Tali promoted Asha over Mikey in every situation, Tali adored her daughter and still does. Now in old age Tali has little patience with the younger "Blaniks," but her love for her daughter is obvious for all to see. That love is also reciprocated from Asha, she's often washing Tali's face and cuddling up with her.

Tali, Asha, Ziva, Sammi and Kaiah

Asha's litter was born by cesarean and due to unsuitable offers of homes 4 sisters stayed far too long. it was an awful time and I can't even look back and think of many pleasant experiences. The fights where horrendous, the sisters disliking each other more and more as they got older. Though there are no cross words between them, even now Asha seems to have very little bond with her daughters, they are all part of a pack, but there is no closeness. Asha's love is for Loki, since he arrived as a pup she has doted on him, the son she always wanted maybe?
Ziva was a far better mother than Asha, she loved her babies. Now she and Sammi do have spats, but there is still a bond, a strong relationship between them. Ziva was over protective of Sammi as she was growing up, if any of the other bitches told Sammi off Ziva was quick to intervene. No one tell's my daughter off ... except me!
Sammi was a lovely mother too, but I'm shocked at the way thing are between her and Kaiah now. Kaiah is quite the bully and I guess now it's too late for Sammi to try and put her in her place. If you knew both bitches and their personalities you would be shocked to see the way Kaiah treats Sammi and how Sammi reacts to it. Though they still play it's almost like Sammi is afraid of putting Kaiah in her place. Kaiah is always bubbly and happy, she's sweet, affectionate, confident and cuddly, but she's also cocky and headstrong with a strong streak determination. With successful health tests it will be interesting to see what kind of mother she will be ....

The Difference A Day Makes

 Smudges are unnoticed dampness on the lens.

 Well done Kaiah - No lead

Well done Tali - Your looking the right way.

Thanks Loki for messing up the only photo I took!

I hate it when the visibility is this poor. I can hear sheep, but I can't see them.

I can hear voices, but I can't see people .. oh and those dirt bikes, I can hear them but for the life of me can't make out where they are!

Still everyone behaved quite well and even in the mist it wasn't unpleasant to walk.

Some Fun And Stunning Views

 Jezi and Nico on the way there

 Muzzled Martha (Jezi) popping up from behind the reeds in a photo of the view

Ross. Ziva, Sammi and Asha 

 Loki and Kaiah waiting for Tali 

 Tali after her swim - shame she turned her head!

Should have been just Loki, but how could I crop Kaiah out?

Posing At Llyn Cop

A Bit of Fog

Or is that mist, or low cloud? We'll stick to "niwl" I think! 

Anyway took the photos on "snow" setting and they are pretty clear really. 

First Lot Of Pwllheli Critiques ...

Some nice critiques for my three from the group judge Mrs E Anne Orzel in Pwllheli C.S
AV PASTORAL: V 1 Stanley's Blanik Georgette, GSD. 9 year old bitch with good head and expression, correct earset, straight front with good bone and tight feet, good strong neck into well laid shoulder, strong quarters, sound mover.
GROUP: 1 Stanley's Lokean Of Blanik ShCM, GSD. Just loved everything about this dog, so balanced, quality throughout from well proportioned head with confident yet kind expression, through super front construction and firm strong back to strong well muscled quarters from which he moved so soundly with good reach and covered the ground with ease.
PUPPY GROUP: 1 Stanley's Blanik Jeevana. This 11 month old GSD stood out in overall construction and presentation, balanced with everything I look for in this breed and also moved so soundly with good reach and animation.

All I could Wish For

When someone tells you the puppy you sold them is ...  

"A lovely dog, sweet and obedient, we love him to the moon and back. I know we've spoiled him, but who cares he's my beautiful baby boy."

.. And let's face it I could wish for no more for him. 

With Louis - Where It Began

The Puppy

 Last night I came across some old paperwork, 2003,  before I had everything on my laptop. It contained Louis's weights and measures, well over a 2 months period anyway. I guess that by the third month he was over the minimum height so I relaxed about it all.

The Adult

There is no doubt Louis was a small puppy, his lack of interest in food in those early months really not helping his growth rate. I became so obsessed with his height that Steve made me a measuring stick so I could keep tabs on what was going on. I could see how small he was and I guess seeing his brothers growing and thriving had me worried sick. I knew how beautiful he was, inside and out but if he didn't make size then we would never have achieved anything in the show ring. Well he did make size, be it the bottom end of it and my god what years of success he gave me in the show ring ... Louis loved his shows, he loved everything about them, the people, the dogs, the showing and even the sitting about. There were a few occasions where we had no seats and  much to my embarrassment he would find himself a strangers lap to sit on! I remember one woman saying to me, I have always feared this breed but he's just wiped out a life time of fear .. well he had no seat so her lap had had to do! (it was only ever his front end that went on the lap by the way!)

The Show Dog 

Anyway back to his weights .. at 6 months  Louis  was 55cm and 27kg,  and at 7 months 29kg and 59cms.  As an adult he was 62ms and at his heaviest 34kg. (Males should measure 60 - 65cms - though most are top to slightly over) So he was always a reasonable weight, which I wasn't aware of at the time, but it seems he was over a  month behind my other boys in size at 6 months. Loki was already 25.8kg and 57cm at the wither and Mikey was 56cm and 22.5kg at 5 months. At 6 months Loki was already 60.5 cms and 29.8kg - though of course Loki is tall - somewhere in between would be ideal for Ross. I think Ross at 5 months will be around 56cms, but I will leave off till early next week to measure him. Weight wise, I wouldn't like to guess, though he does eat well these days.
Louis proved when you have attitude size really didn't matter. He loved showing off so much and always gave a wonderful performance, he was my showman, my best friend ... and as much as I love my kids before and after him, I do still believe he was "the dog" in my life time!

Some Mucky Pups

 Tali - Business As Usual Today

No One Bothers Going Round The Ditch Do They?

And Some Have To Keep Going Back Just To Make Sure They're Muddy!

Still Blustery Out There

Tali's Not Well

This morning, probably for the first time ever Tali has not eaten her breakfast. I had commented to friends last week that she looked a little bloated, but she was OK. We discussed it at club on Thursday and I asked people if they'd noticed in the photo I published on Facebook mid week? No one had. So after coming home I double checked and she felt Ok really, as she did yesterday ... but today she is definitely bloated and quite flat in herself. She was also drinking a lot first thing as she did one day earlier in the week, but that has stopped now and she's sleeping. I replaced her breakfast with a piece of fish which she ate, so at least she's had her medication for the morning.
All I can hope is that this is part of her IBS and that maybe she's got trapped wind which is giving her stomach cramps. I have some Omeprazole and some Zitac, but I'm not sure which if any are what she needs so I'm wary of giving them to her. I guess the next step is to do some googling and then see if she'll eat at lunch time and if she is less distended by then.
I really hate it when my dogs are getting old, or as the case may be are old!

Dog Show Day

Sadly for WNC Canine Society everything has been going wrong. The show originally in May in Eirias Park had to be cancelled. It was rescheduled for today in Mona showground. It's bloody cold there but it's one of the best venues for the dogs with a concrete non slip floor, so of course we were going! But in the middle of this week the show organisers were informed that the venue had been double booked, that gave days to reorganise and they stated "cancelling was not an option!" As this was the showgrounds fault at their cost 4 marquees were ordered and put up ready for the show to go ahead, but with the weather forecast most of us felt a show in a tent, be it a posh tent, was not safe or sensible!
Like many other exhibitors I was prepared and got up this morning to make a last minute decision on whether to travel to Anglesey or not. I contacted a friend on the island who told me it was dark, raining and very windy, I then contacted another (Incase the first one was lying..haha) who told me it was really windy with strong gusts. I contacted Ian to discuss what we were going to do, I just couldn't decide. I so wanted to go, but living here has taught me to both fear and respect the powerful destruction of the wind. Steve was saying nothing, but had made his feelings clear last night, not only was he concerned about the marquees but also about us crossing the bridge and whether it would be closed during the day as it had been on Monday. Just as we were about to come to a decision a post came up on the societies Facebook page ..."Today's show is cancelled due to high winds and the marquee is insecure, the marquee people have not come back to fix it, roof is off and poles are out of ground."
For the safety of all definitely the right decision but I do think the showground have let the society down badly and should allow them to reorganise the show as soon as possible without any costs to pay! Flying pig time maybe?

Photos For The Autumn Album

Grammar Correction .. Not!

I have been told that I should be writing Ross's and not Ross' when writing the possessive form. Well I always wrote Louis' not Louis's. Anyway what you find on google is amazing ..

"Even if the name ends in “s,” it is still correct to add an “'s” to create the possessive form. It is also acceptable to add only an apostrophe to the end of singular nouns that end in “s” to make them possessive. In this case, that means Ross' would have the same meaning as Ross's.”

Acceptable, correct, I will continue to do it .. Stick that then!

Ross' tongue sticking out on a walk!!!! lol

Ross' Limp ...

.. or no limp as the case may be. At the moment I just can't tell. He's running round like a mad man with Kaiah. I guess I'll just have to wait for them to cool down before trying to assess the situation. I did go for metacam for him so he's also had that for 2 days, today will be the third day so a proper evaluation will really not be possible for about a week. I do think he's better, but you can still see that he's not right .. time will tell.
I am in contact with the owners of Teddy, the first sable pup I had interest in, and poor Teddy is suffering badly with panosteitis. Panosteitis or Pano is basically growing pains which affects the long bones of large breed dogs. It is extremely painful and often affects more than one leg at a time. It is said to be self limiting by 24 months but often pain killers, rest and a change of diet to a low protein diet are essential.

Blanik Billi-Lee - Lia

We have only experienced it once here, and that was with Lia about 20 years ago. It started in one front leg and then moved into one back leg. She was in so much pain that I almost cried with her. We did send her for Xrays, and lovely vet Jim who was there then spotted the signs of pano which appear as dark patches within the long bones.  Luckily for us and Lia it only affected her for a couple of months and by the time she was entering the show ring there was no signs of a limp.
A few people have asked if Ross has Pano, well no ... to start off with he was too young. Pano usually affects puppies over 5 months old, Ross was lame at 4 months. (a month is a long time in a puppy's growth) Also he has no pain in his long bones, the pain was without doubt in his right elbow. Growing pains do not affect joints. That does not mean he won't get it, the possibilities with his half brother having it are higher as it does tend to carry in families. The most important thing to remember with pano is, no matter how painful it is for the puppy at the time, treat the symptoms to make life more comfortable for them, because they will grow out of it with time it will go away.

Twelve Months To The Day

Kaiah 

Back On Line

 Jezi and Nico modeling the view

 Ross, Sammi, Ziva and Asha

Poor Ziva a little squished

Kaiah, Loki and Tali

A little bit of tweaking for the walks today. I wanted Ross to have a run so I could see how his leg would be, but didn't want to chance him with the madness that is Loki and Kaiah. So he got out with the ladies, leg updates tomorrow. I took Tali with the madness, her walk is the same distances but it always takes us longer as she's busy, that in turn gave them more running time!