Sensitivity Strikes!

Ross Had Cake

Yesterday was a good day. We had fun both inside and outside the ring. The boys showed well for me and Asha was just a star. Whilst she enjoys her days so much we'll keep on going. Though as I've said, she's in it for the food not the glory.
My circle of friends are amazing and so aware of my inadequacies and weaknesses. Most are supportive and kind .. of course there's always some people in our lives who are in it for what they can get out of you, thankfully they are few and far between. So mostly yesterday we had a laugh, and instead of it being Ross' fault that someone is incapable of getting it right, the blame was put elsewhere. I couldn't help but smirk ... Marilyn brought me chocolate, just because she could .. and Ian treated me to lunch .. though he did eat my sandwich .. bloody cofi! Gill shared her homemade chocolate cake .... and everyone shared their lunch with Asha, I guess there is no choice. Yes, even with some of the usual suspects missing it was a lovely day.
This morning is like the day after the night before. I couldn't be more Knackered if I'd been to Belfast or Bristol! I'm exhausted, emotional and sensitive. Tomorrow this may not matter ... but I'm writing it today and in this frame of mind it does! 36 show photos went online last night, GSD's and other breeds, people ask, "can you take photos of ..." So we do. It's no hassle really, but it does take time to go through them. (There was double that amount)  I download them to google photos, I edit them, crop them and discard anything that makes anyone's dogs look in a bad light. I then upload them to Facebook, comment and tag.  It takes an hour, maybe two depending on lighting etc. So guys where are the thank you's? Only one person has chosen to thank me/us (taking the photos is a team effort) and most have not even bothered to make comments on the photos they asked for.
Even more hurtful to me at this current time is that there are no comments/remarks on the photos of Loki ... Hey guys, he was Best Of Breed, he was Group 3 .. please try not to forget that he does still deserve you're recognition. You comment on the other photos, maybe to keep the peace .. but Loki was yesterdays winner not Ben, Sam or Spot! I'm childish? maybe, but feeling this sensitive I can't hold back the tears and even more childishly I'm think from now on that I won't be taking photos of Ben, Sam or Spot, let them get their own!

Pwllheli Show

 Loki was BOB at Pwllheli for the 4th consecutive year 

What a man!

I still haven't managed to get Ross stood quite right, but I guess this is not too bad?  

It was a great day with lovely friends and I'm glad to say it wasn't my fault today! 

Asha At Pwllheli Show

This is why I take Asha To Shows

Best Pastoral Veteran 

This is why Asha comes to dog shows

Licking her chops and considering what to have ...

I'll have one of each please ....

Shitty Short Walks Today

they moaned ..at least you got out you buggers!!! 

Who's Tormenting Who?

Nico's Daughters

It's great to see updates on the babies on Facebook. Little Mint, now called Kyna has gone to Scotland, where Rachel the breeder is from, though Rachel now lives in Bristol and is studying to be a vet. 

She has joined a large family of dogs and will hopefully make her way into the show ring 

Miss Pink, Myla has come to Wales, to Llanberis. She too is living with other dogs and will hopefully be joining us at training classes. Her owner owned Tali's brother Cajun back in the day. 

We all know Miss confident Lilac, Kasey, is local and living with her half sister Bella (Loki's sister).

We'll be seeing a lot of her and look forward to her days in the show ring with us next year. 

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Three beautiful babies and with the power of Facebook I'll get to see them and hopefully their brothers as the grow into stunning adults. Good luck to you all. 

Kaiah's Critique From WKC

2 Stanley's Blanik Jeevana. Close decision, just preferred head of winner, super outline with good front and rear assembly, strong pasterns, lovely profile movement.

Precious Moments

Often having youngsters about changes the dynamics and brightens up the days. Oliver, who's well over 14 years now has not played in years. I can't remember him ever playing with any of the other boys but for some reason he's decided evening games are on the menu. This is just so lovely to watch, honestly after the sadness of last week it really has made me smile again. 

No Photos?

I wasn't going to bother taking many photos today, but as I always take the camera I decided to try and get a natural photo of Ross standing as he was watching Kaiah. I got a couple which will be of benefit to me as I try to consider how to stand him for local shows. But once the camera was out of the bag I took a few more photos of him .. well I just can't help myself and he's just so funny. Truly "The Entertainer" of the family. 

The last things Steve said as I left home was ..  don't let Ross go swimming today. Haha ... haha ... 

 Damn ... Chopped the tip of his ears off as I was taking the photo at such a distance! 

 If only I'd been the other side, that looks about perfect 

 Steve said no swimming, nothing about being neck deep in a ditch!! Ooops

Loki being a Stevie's pet and staying out of the water! 

Ross' Critique

Reading back through Ross' recent critiques I have to say that the last two from Tongwynlais and Flint have been on the money. I really can't dispute a single fact about how the dog looked on the day. Standing naturally Ross does not look steep in overline, but as pointed out in Tongwynlais in stance and pushing his weight forward he can look really steep from the middle of his back down through his croup and into his tail set. I need to consider this when showing him at local shows and maybe stand him in a more relaxed manner.  The judge also refers to him being long in hocks, the hock is actually a joint, but often a dog with a lot of length in second thigh or long rear pasterns is referred to as having long hocks or being "hocky." Like Nico, Ross is very long in second thigh, and has long rear pasterns but thankfully with correct exercise as a youngster Ross has developed correctly and has strength and soundness in his rear quarters. (Which the judge also mentions)

A month ago at Flint the judge said Ross was out of coat and needing time to mature, but my word what a difference a month makes and surely he can only get better? 

Kaiah's critiques from both these shows are extremely complementary and neither judge has listed any faults .. of course she has faults but she and I are ever so pleased they decided to list her virtues. As I've said Kaiah will mainly now be shown at Champ shows and under breed judges. I'm not trying to be big headed or harsh, as I have others I can take, so I will not be going taking her to local shows under pot luck judges to be beaten by what I consider to be inferior animals. 

Dramatic different in Ross' overline from show to mountain. I must work on getting him to look more like this in local shows under allrounders 

Perry - About 16 weeks

Llyn Cop For All

Super walking day with this little lake almost back to full capacity. 

I didn't see a soul, well not too close for comfort anyway

Just the way I like it. 

Tongwynlais Show Critiques

My Best of Breed owned by Rhian Stanley was the young 22mth female 'Blanik Jeevana' ( Videx Merlo x Blanik Ivana). Outstanding female imho, b/g, feminine head, correct dentition, dark eye, medium size, good height to length ratio, well developed front & hindquarters. Always on her toes & showy, alert, perfect outline, strong hocks, absolutely sound when viewed from all angles. One of the very best ive seen from this kennel. A very bright future ahead is assured. Pleased to see her get Pastoral Group 4 in an excellent line up under judge Kathy George.

Stanley & Bibby Silkenwood Poldark of Blanik, 15mths old sable male of top size. Masculine head, dark eye, correct dentition. Maturing nicely in the chest area, slightly longer proportions to height. Firm topline, although slightly too steep for me. Good hind angulation, long hocks detract, but moves soundly away & back & has lovely fluidity in his gait. A male that is changing for the better all the time.

Long Day Down South

Yesterday started off with a with a trip to Bristol with Ian to pick up his baby girl .. a lovely Nico daughter bred by Rachel Gaffin. Then killing two birds with one stone, not that I would kill the birds of course, on to Tongwynlais Open Show in Pontypool with Ross and Kaiah. Angela Jones was judging the breed and Kathy George doing the group. (two GSD's ladies)
God knows what we would do without Sat Nav's these days even though we had a confusing last few minutes in finding the venue with Mrs Sat Nav getting it wrong, but we where so close and got there. Initially other than GSD folk we didn't know anyone, but what a lovely bunch of people who were chatty and most welcoming to us "Gogs." Ross sang his way to win Junior, OMG what a man. Imagining the scenario I was 6 foot away from the ring with Kaiah and had nowhere to go as I was stood by the wall. Ross was calling to her and she was replying. Ian could do nothing to shut him up and Kaiah refused to stop answering. I tried to stuff fish in her mouth but in her excitement she munched on my thumb. So we now had two singing dogs and a bleeding thumb and I'm stood looking at a wall .. but it made no difference. After struggling to do the individual we decided I should take Ross in for the rest of the class and peace was restored. Kaiah did call to him but one dirty look from me and he decided not to reply! 
Kaiah showed brilliantly and went on to win PG and beat a lovely open winner to go BOB and later
under the second judge group 4. Thanks to everyone who were amused by the situation, especially the man who gave me the plaster. They certainly do seem to have a better sense of humor down there than they do up here and the amount of people who came over to speak to us and the dogs was just wonderful. I would never normally go that far to an open show but if the circumstances where similar again ... after that welcome, of course I'd go!

Loud And Annoying

We all know that a few people have taken a dislike to Ross because of his larger than life characters. People who maybe should look closer to home rather than criticise the controlled exuberance of yougsters. I know Ross is loud, and can be as loud as Kai when the mood strikes him. To be honest I've had my feelings hurt on quite a few occasions this year by peoples careless and loose tongues. They should consider when they are talking about you who they are saying what to, too often it just comes straight back. After my SAH my life changed. I cheated death and decided to wipe the slate clean, to start afresh with everyone. Unfortunately three years on and quite a few people have already shit on my slate!
Anyway restoring my faith in human nature I read this on Facebook, written by a Sheltie owner ... "the puppies met Dash the papillon, Elsi the Welsh terrier, Ross the GSD, and the huge Merlin the Gt Dane. All four of them were curious, yet friendly towards the puppies, and the puppies in turn had a positive socialisation experience. Ziggy was particularly smitten by Ross, and watched him intently as he was being run around the hall. You should all be extremely proud of the temperaments of your dogs, they are a real credit to you and the dog owning community as a whole. They are all absolutely amazing!"
Yes I agree we should be proud of our dogs, but if they are uncomfortable in the situation and they give a grumble and a growl then we should also be proud of them. They are simply saying I'm not happy with this .. so we move them to a distance where they do feel happy. A dog who lunges out and barks needs addressing, one who grumbles, licks his lips or turn his head away is give us the opportunity to help him get it right.
I find the girls less trustworthy always, not everyone has the same experiences but with 27 years of owning multiple GSD's of both sexes I have found that generally the boys are what you see is what you get and certainly in pack life the girls are far more complicated. There's always exceptions and Asha is a delight.
I'm still trying to get Perry settle with the dogs, it's not easy as he is so fearful of these monsters but now I'm trying to push things a little. So when he comes into the living room I bring one dog in with him .. Loki. Loki is told to down and wait on the sofa and gradually Perry starts to relax and play with his toys. If Loki moves though it's an absolute crisis and he finds the highest vantage point. Again, credit where its due .. my dog is behaving fantastically, doing all that I ask of him.
So I'm criticised for being too soft on my dogs, apparently they show me very little respect. Well slap your bottom and slap your bottom twice Sammi Belle for loving me and wanting to get to me.  Actually what bullshit! I like my dogs to be spirited, to think for themselves and I love that they love me so much. They are not robots but with compassion and kindness .. and the odd reprimand (I do not believe in a world of no adversity either), I can show my dogs, walk my dogs and allow them to free run. Can you? (Not you .. you .. them you! haha)

I have respect from my dogs, but equally I have respect for them. I will not lower myself to harsh handling, smacking and the breaking of spirits. I only resort to extreme measures in extreme circumstance .. I will if I have too. If it's kill or cure I'll do my damnedest to cure, but it's not my choice method for everyday training and I'm truly shocked to see harshness used for dealing with minor everyday issues. I understand frustration and a lack of patience some days, hell I live with Kaiah who often puts her own interest first, thinks for herself and can push all the wrong buttons when you're not in the best of moods. But then it is what makes her who she is, she's the bright spark in the pack, the one destine to go to the top .. The future, and she's a darling.

The Older Generations

This morning Tia will return to sleep with Billy. They are both on my mind today as there was less than a year between them in age, and they've died just a few months apart. As youngsters they did play, but Tia had no interest in anyone once she reached adulthood and I guess Billy was a founder member of Jamie's gang. Jamie and Billy where playful and Jamie was always respectful of little Old Bill Bob. It's scary to think that Jamie himself will be 9 shortly. He came home with me as a tiny tot on the 4th of Dec 09 so was born sometime in early to mid October. 

Last night Oliver was more cuddly than usual and my stomach churned over as I thought that he has been here 14 years now too.  Always a shy boy who hides from strangers he is wonderfully affectionate with me, almost demanding at times. A lovely boy and it's hard to remember he was ever that little. (Top Photo)  

This was Oliver the day he arrived here. An hour or two earlier Steve was about to bury him when he made one quite sound. I collected him from Steve's place of work on a hot water bottle and still as I drove I wasn't sure if I was bringing a corpse home .. or not. On the bottle in front of the fire gradually the boy came back to life. I always say this is a video of Oliver coming back to life! 

She's Gone

After writing my earlier blog I had another chat with Steve. He agreed that he could see what I was seeing but that he was just so fond of Tia and being a coward in refusing to accept the situation. But of course he's a sensible person and with just a short time to think about it he knew he had to put her before his feelings. Luckily we were able to go to the vets straight away, it would have been cruelty to leave Tia as she was with the weekend pending.
Of course it was not going to go smoothly and Tia was true to form till the end. Weak and old she fought her corner till the last, her body was failing her but the tortie spirit was still strong and she bit and scratched her way out of this world . We both tried to comfort her but Tia was who she was and let everyone know that she was not going to make it easy for us. Because of her character and the difficulties we knew we would face Steve had hoped that maybe she'd have died in her sleep, sadly that never seems to happen without pain and suffering on the way there. When we can make the end less painful for the ones we love then we simply have to do it. If only we could grant the same kindness to the people we love too ...
Tia came from Freshfields, I'd only been working there a couple of weeks when she and her two ginger brothers came in. I'd always wanted a dark tortie like Jilly, a cat I had grown up with. Jilly was lovely with me but I often heard the adults in my life refer to her as unpredictable. I was quite oblivious then to the typical character of the dark tortie, I wanted a cat like Jilly and my god I got one.

Tia didn't hate everyone, she loved Louis and was fond of Nico. She hated all the other cats and had no hesitation is showing them, of course that was to haunt her in her older years as Jamie didn't take any shit from her and the bully became the bullied.
I don't believe Tia hated me, she was affectionate on her own terms and hassled me at every meal time; but I guess her person in life was Steve. He always jumped to her defense and said she was misunderstood .. yeah!!! She sat on his lap for part of every evening, followed him to the kitchen and back again and only lashed out at him if he didn't sit still for long enough. Unlike me who avoided confrontation with her he would just laugh it off and tell her to behave herself.
There's no doubt there will be a big void here without her, her character was such that she could not be ignored in life. RIP dear Tia spirited till the last, I hope you find peace in the next world.

Tia

Another life is coming to an end here. There's that pressure to make the right decision, and the mind games are horrendous. I truly believe the last act of kindness is to help them along with dignity and not let them suffer for hours or even days. Better a week too soon than a day too late. But of course knowing exactly when is so hard. It's not as cut and dry as people say, they don't always "Let you know," and with two people you need to always agree on the decision, sadly that is currently not the case here. 
Tia has hardly eaten all week, other than bits and pieces. I've tried everything I can think of and she won't have anything in any sufficient quantity. I refuse to force feed an old cat and last night for the first time in 15+ years she has left me alone to eat my dinner.
Tia has not been taken suddenly ill, she's hasn't passed out or developed a new illness. She has been fighting an illness for almost three years and has fought it bloody well, but now she is an old cat and her system is slowing shutting down, there is no going back, no recovering .. decisions need to be made. Whether it's today or the next day for the love of the animal it needs to be made.

It's Raining Ross

It's pissing it down, all the "Blaniks" are indoors - but not the Silkenwood boy, he's quite happy to be out messing about in the rain. 

 Photo Taken yesterday - Watching Kaiah

Photo taken in July - He's looking so much better isn't he