Trying To Clear My Head

So How Does It Work? Edit

The age classes are simple. It's wise when possible to stay in your age criteria, there is a big difference between a 7 month and an 11 month old puppy. 

MINOR PUPPY: For dogs of six and not exceeding nine calendar months of age on the first day of the show. 

PUPPY: For dogs of six and not exceeding twelve calendar months of age on the first day of the show.

JUNIOR:For dogs of six and not exceeding eighteen calendar months of age on the first day of the show. 

YEARLING: For dogs of six and not exceeding twenty-four calendar months of age on the first day of the show. 

VETERAN - For dogs over 7 years on the first day of the show.

This is where it becomes a little more complicated. There are Maiden, Novice and Mid-limit, Vintage etc classes, but they are few and far between ... the classes below are the regular ones and are based on what you have won. 

GRADUATE: For dogs which have not won a Challenge Certificate/CACIB/CAC/Green Star or four or more First Prizes at Championship Shows in Graduate, Post Graduate, Minor Limit, Mid Limit, Limit and Open classes, whether restricted or not where Challenge Certificates were offered for the breed. 

POST GRADUATE: For dogs which have not won a Challenge Certificate/CACIB/CAC/Green Star or five or more First Prizes at Championship Shows in Post Graduate, Minor Limit, Mid Limit, Limit and Open classes, whether restricted or not where Challenge Certificates were offered for the breed. 

LIMIT: For dogs which have not become show Champions under The Royal Kennel Club Regulations or under the rules of any governing body recognised by The Royal Kennel Club, or won 3 or more CC/CACIB/ CAC/Green Stars or won 7 or more First Prizes in all at Championship Shows in Limit 

OPEN: For all dogs of the breed for which the class is provided and eligible for entry at the show

So Siska has now won Graduate classes and 4 Post Graduate (PG Classes), So out of Grad and one more class win to go before she's out of PG, limit is a harder class but nothing I can do if she wins out of PG. Orin is already in limit ... and has only won one class to date, so he's in there for a while I would think. 

***Edit - Checking my Facts***  

As there was no Yearling class Siska won Graduate at WKC and NWGSD last year. This year she has won PGB at WELKS, The National, Blackpool and Leeds. So yes one more win and she's in limit. 

Lovely at Leeds

Beautiful Orin won limit, I was over the moon as that now finally gives him his studbook number. He looked amazing in Sarah hands in the class and equally as stunning with Ian in the challenge.

Callan moved superbly to be second in PGD. I'm so proud.

Well little tatty head went and won another PGB class. Even out of coat she managed to be first out of 6 bitches. I must admit I was shocked, though pleasantly of course! 

So who are these lovely ladies then? Well we expected to see Lyra, but it was a wonderful surprise to meet her sister Mayzee at the show too. Lovely Orin/Pepsi daughters who with luck and good fortune  will have love show careers - Very proud ... again! 

Zeeta

 Well when you see something first hand you can see how complicated it was. Zeeta is pregnant but I would say about the same size as Sammi was when she had three ... so yes we expect a litter, but a small litter, lets hope for 2 or 3 and not a singleton. By the way, how beautiful is she! 

The pups are due this week, but with no ovulation day, then god knows what day .. (Hence I would think the small litter) My plan remains the same, we'll see what Zeeta gets, and bare that in mind when I go to Monmouth to see Zoe's pups. 

Mother And Son

Refusing to come in again, no not running around messing about, just lying there watching and being a knob! If I didn't have to keep everyone else in, I'd leave him there!

His mother bringing him in

Sammi and Zeus

Puppy Brain

 The brain is spinning! LOL It's not healthy, but better that it gets on with it during the day! So here goes ... if I go down to see Zoe's pups and decide I want one, I'm having one, then so be it, end of story. But this is my "Penbleth," (I've googled - dilemma - it's hard when the brain is working in Welsh and doesn't have it's own google translate) If Beti is already here from Monmouth and Zeeta has a litter then I could just have a stud fee, or (Wait for it) I could make life more complicated for myself by seeing if someone wants a Zeeta puppy in partnership with me. In that circumstance it could be male or female as long as they agreed to show. It would mean someone could get quality puppy cheap but with a few considerations. I would have to consider how much of the stud fee I would need to get from them and take it from there. Obviously, everything would have to go on paper, but really all I'd want is my affix and joint ownership on paper only. It's not a ridiculous thought, is it? 

Blaster Monster And Loki's Tail

Well bathed but only half blasted. Wow, someone lost the plot. Proving every dog has it in them, Siska went from 1 - 10 and showed me aggression I never thought she was capable of. Don't get me wrong, no aggression was directed at us but if she could have got hold of that blowing pipe, well he'd have been a dead man/thing! Steve called her a coward, to me that was not a coward, she was ready to take it on at any level. I have only ever seen Siska stroppy once, and that was on day 3 of trying to get a mating with a dog that wasn't getting there ... today I saw the devil within, but I stress, she showed no aggression towards us, she was simply seething with the Blaster monster. 

With Siska locked in the living room, but watching through the window, I got Orin done. Not a bath, just a blast, he looks super and of course I had to do Sammi, numerous times, she loves it! 

By the time everything was done it was 4.45pm, 15 mins past dinner time. These days no one clock-watches dinner time, Asha would have been climbing the walls by 4.32pm and phoning the RSPCA by 4.33pm lol. I think Orin is the main clock watcher here now, he's awake by 7.45 am unless Loki has been unsettled earlier. The other evening we watched The Sixth Commandment from 9 till 10pm and I decided to watch the next episode straight away. Now we always let the dogs out at 10pm ish, get things done and aim to bed for 10.45pm ish. So this change of routine completely threw Orin and he was pacing and annoying from a few mins after 10pm, till he finally got out at 11pm. Dogs really do need routine, but sometimes I wonder if we make a rod for our own back as we stick to our daily routines and they anticipate our next move before we've made them. I've said before that these seem to know what I'm going to do before I've decided it myself!

Loki's tail carriage is still odd, I'm noticing it more and more. As we walked the other day I pointed it out to Linda, it seems lifeless after about a third of the way down, it now seems to even get caught between his legs as he walks. The top part is normal and he can wag his tail with no more effort than any other guy. Today whilst we were out I noticed something different again, the top part was sticking out, away from his bottom, (in a horizontal line from his spine), the next bit drooped and just looked completely lifeless. I did have a look at his bottom, all was Ok, other than his dignity! There is definitely some loss of feeling and mobility in over half of his tail, but does he care? No he doesn't, he seems completely fine and there has been no deterioration in his mobility. It doesn't concern me too much, but considering how poorly he's been in the past, I think it is important to make a note of it. 

Cats

Tammy in the first picture I had when I was 16, then we had Sox, Cara and Kissy too. Lots of old pictures of them in albums but sadly nothing to put on here. All the others are there ... I think, so left to right on each line, here we go......

Tammy, Jamie, Tia, Billy, Boots, Riley

Perry, Archie. (Nikki GSD) Abi and Gail, Billy, Oliver, Choo

Tia, Lux, (6 - Listed on a previous post) Jamie, Junior, Choo

Jasmine, Isla, Emi, Luther

Trees

We've finally planted some of the trees today - well Steve has and I supervised. I've never been a gardener, only a gardener's wife, anyway he had all the help he needed with Orin digging the holes!

I Did It

 Orin has had his sperm checked, well for £20 I thought, what the hell? The video is a little blurred at times but you can see them swimming about like mad, bless them they will never get anywhere, lol.

" The count is 126 million per ml, he produced 10ml of semen. Motility (forward swimming healthy semen) is 75% (Normal) As a guide that would give that sample a count of 945 million progressive semen."

Well now we know, Steve's face was a picture! 

From memory when I took Siska to be mated the count of that male was much lower. I checked ...  Yes this was the information given at the time....

"82 million semen per 1ml. And produced 10 ml. The mortality was about 20-30%."

So that count is a lot lower than Orin's, and when you bring the mortality into it, that's a worry. I asked generally if a dogs count could be lower having had a slip mating earlier in the day? I was told that the count is back to it's normal level about and hour after mating ... that is concerning! 

Dreaming Of Cats

Another thing I thought about last night whilst I couldn't sleep were the cats. I'd sat in the living room on Facebook till after 2AM with most of the cats for company. I had really been taken by the ginger and white Maine Coon at Freshfields, but common sense had prevailed. I thought about Jamie, everybody loves Jamie, and if they don't there's something wrong with them! Now I can't really remember a life without him in it, he's been here since Dec 2009. I wondered if he was here with Lux? I wasn't sure, but after checking this morning, she's died in January of that year. Lux had been with me for 17 years, at the time that was most of my adult life, she was such a sweetheart and took all my naughty secrets to the grave with her. 

In those early years I had female cats, at home we'd had Tammy, Sox, Cara and Kissy. Lux was the first cat I had on my own, and when Don and I got together he had a female cat too ... Boots. Jasmine joined me later, followed over the years by Abi, Gail and Emi ... but then years down the line, 2002 I think, Steve arrived home with a tiny flea ridden, hissing, spitting feral kitten who was to become our first male cat, Billy. Now who remembers Billy? Lol 

During my first season at Freshfield (2003) I bought Tia home, and then Steve found another dying kitten in his place of work ... the stunning Oliver blue was revived and stayed. Jamie was next followed by poor Riley, both from Freshfields, Riley sadly died of FIP at 8 months old. Isla came from Milfeddygon Deufor (Vets) and Junior from Freshfields. Like Isla, Jimmy Choo was also taken to the vets to be "disposed" of, and Perry and Luther were kittens at Freshfields. Though I'd left Freshfields in 2014 I have always supported the charity. After Isla went missing in 2020 my heart was broken and a tiny little chap called Archie Stanley took it upon himself to try and help me heal. He was part of a feral colony trapped by Niel of Eebie Jeebie kitten rescue who I'd worked closely with at Freshfields. With Isla's great return, 11 months later our cat family was complete, until of course we lost R Junior last year.

So for me for the forceable future there will be no more cats, Six is expensive to feed now so with natural progression of time, I aim for four and no more in future .. of course with me, that is always subject to change. I would never chose to live without cats in my life, though as I've said if I had to I could, but life without dogs, well that's not something I could ever comprehend. 

Lux and Gail in the top photo. Tammy and Sox in the second photo. In the third photo, Isla and Oliver on the left. Junior and Perry on the stool, Choo under the stool and of course Jamie. 

Wide Awake Club

 I don't think I got more than 2 hrs sleep last night. I had plans for this afternoon, but now I'm shattered. I had hoped to give Siska a bath but I'll have to hope for decent weather on Thursday now. She does look a mess and if I can't get her to look better I really shouldn't show her on Saturday. 

Today is the anniversary of my father's funeral, and last night all I could see when I closed my eyes was his coffin right next to me. I remembered it in so much detail. I had felt uncomfortable sitting so close to it at the chapel a year ago, I swear with an outstretch arm I could have touched it. I didn't like that, and it haunted me for a while, but if I'm to be honest I hadn't thought of it for a while ... so this is another huge first sad anniversary, and I'm more than halfway through the day, it's true isn't it, life goes on. 

A Great Post

Pinched with permission - people do nothing but complain about the prices of pedigree dogs while being willing to pay silly money for what are just mongrels. 🐾🐾🐾🐾

You see all the breeders posting lists of basic expenses to justify the price of their puppies. Progesterone, c section, vet bills etc. Then you get the people who ask you, "why are your puppies more expensive than others?" I don't have a simple answer for that question because breeding isn't simple but here's a little idea of the commitment involved to do it properly. 

You're paying for the most effort I've put into any single thing in my entire life. For years and years of trying, planning, thinking, hoping and crying. For stressing over every single detail of a planned litter, You're paying for 100% of my time..not just raising the puppies but raising the mothers, the anxiety I feel waiting on health testing results to come back. For hour each way trips to the vet to check hips, elbows, eyes, bloods, dna...the list goes on. Endless phone calls to find the perfect stud dog. 

The feeling in my stomach when a Mum is due and every possible catastrophe plays out in my mind over and over. For the heartache when things do go wrong. You're paying for me to say goodbye to my bed and any sleep for 8-10 weeks with the puppies consuming my whole day and night, first to make sure they are warm, and safe from accidents from a tired mummy sitting on one, to feed as much as they need and then to socialise each puppy daily so you can get a polite and confident new addition. 

For my living room that's completely destroyed from teething because your puppy will never see a crate until it leaves to come home to you. For me to do 4 extra loads of laundry per day. To get by on a bit of toast because there isnt time for dinner. You're paying for all the things I miss out on with my family or friends because my dogs need me 24/7 and when I'm mentally destroyed with people thinking it's so easy. For all of the judgment and all of the time spent worrying over it. For when I've gotten physically sick from sucking out little noses when a puppy needs help to take their first breath. You're paying for the fact that I can't have the car I want because my dogs need to fit in the back, and that's now also worth much less than it should be because of all the thousands of miles to and from the vet each year. And the fact that I can't EVER go on holiday. 

You're paying for me to sit there and cry when I've tried my hardest and something still goes wrong and boy has there been some tears over the years, And for all the comments from my family about money that didn't need to be spent.. but in my mind it absolutely did. For the absurd payment in dog food every month and vets bills that never stop. For the £600 camera I take 1000 pictures with for that one perfect picture of your puppy.. and sitting there praying you like it. For my electricity & heating being treble what they should be. For grocery delivery almost every day because there's always something you forgot at the shop for them, like their yogurt, mince or goats milk. You're paying for my destroyed couches and curtains because I wanted to make sure your puppies were socialized and not cooped up, For every shopping trip for myself to end in a basket full of puppy toys so I wear the same pair of leggings every day. You're paying for the fact that I can never relax and my mind will never switch off from morning til night. 

And then the real breeder is one that is there to support you with your puppy for the duration of it's life and happy to still help and advise you 10 yrs later, i still have very good friends from my first ever litter Sure, the list of basic expenses is long, but never ask a breeder to justify their price. You really have no idea what they go through to make you your dream puppy. It's really not as easy as it may seem 🙂

Zoe and Orin Pups - 3 weeks

The Boys

The Girls

Who do you fancy?

Luna's kids

Nova and Neo at 2 weeks old

Stunning

Bright, Breezy And Colourfull

The Things We Talk About

I've just had an interesting conversation about sperm ... as you do! I'm serious now, the person I was talking to has had her males sperm count checked and was surprised I hadn't had Orin's done. Well, with everything working as it should, I kind of never thought about it?? She said in her breed that it's the done thing and that before using the stud dogs people always ask, some wanting to see the report. WOW 

Anyway, just out of interest I've messaged and asked about it, it's only £20, I'll give it thought!

Blu

 

The mating with Blu went ahead yesterday, It wasn't easy but we got there in the end. Here's hoping for success for her and her owners now. 

I have to say that every bitch that has been here to Orin has had a cracking character, and Blu was no exception. I guess the breed is going in the right direction eh! Only one female really didn't want it to happen, but she showed no signs of aggression towards us either ... though she wasn't the best with Orin. All the bitches have been of a nice type, though obviously some better constructed than others. I'm really looking forward to the future of his progeny.

Rain Tomorrow?

Now Don't Get Excited - Read The Post First

 
I didn't sleep again last night. Don't get me wrong, mostly I'm better, but it's still a rough ride really. I was in bed at 10.30pm, up again at 12.15am, back in bed by 1.45am, but awake for a long time. Put it this way I saw 3.53am but must have dozed on and off .. then it was something after 5am, and the next thing I heard was Orin getting loud as Loki got unsettled. 

A conversation with Anne really put the cat among the pigeons. After giving me the impression the night before that she didn't know if Zeeta was pregnant or not, now she's adamant that she is pregnant. She sent me a photo - it didn't help! I don't know what the right thing is to do? Both of these females have super pedigrees, great health tests and lovely characters, they both have a lovely colour and both have dark eyes. Zeeta is back on her pasterns and Zoe would benefit from a little more length of foreleg ... in both cases Orin is correct and that could be improved on. Being a L/C herself, Zeeta is more likely to have more L/C's, but I only have a choice of two from Zoe, and one is a L/C. My heart had always been set on a Zeeta pup, but having so many doubts of is she, isn't she over the last 2-3 weeks has made me consider other options and look elsewhere. If only Anne had scanned, then I'd have had more idea sooner, now it's all just a confusing mess in a brain that has no clarity.

I guess the sensible thing to do now is wait to see if this litter arrives, and if/when it does, see how many are female. I have first choice from Zeeta and third from Zoe, but who is to know which combination will produce the stars?  

There is no point sharing the photo of a headless Zeeta that was sent to me last night, but if you want to see it, the please PM me. The poster is one I made 3 weeks ago when Anne first told me Zeeta was pregnant .... but of course 48hrs later she'd changed her mind! LOL It took a lot of work, so pregnant or not I'm sharing it. I'm not taking the piss, honest, it can be hard to tell early on, but now it should be clear!

Here's One I Made Earlier

Starting in the top left corner (as you look at it) and clockwise around.

Nat, Max, Louis Klaus, 

Louis, Jake, Louis

Ella, Louis, Gelert

Arko, Louis

Tweny Years On

Twenty years ago a very special litter was born at Blanik. The progeny of Jay and Krizzie was to become Blanik's "E" litter. I waited patiently for a female to be born, but male after male arrived. Somewhere along the way we had one female, but as it was obvious from very early on that she was a L/C she was not staying. (They were different times!) I guess it was fate and against advice from knowledgable people I kept the puppy who stole my heart. Blanik Excentrik was My Louis, My Mr Amazing, My dog in a lifetime, My ❤ dog.

Many magnificent Blaniks had been before and have come since ... but maybe until now none have come close to walking in his shoes, maybe now someone else is edging forward, but not quite there yet. I remember Louis as a beautiful dog with kind soul, he was a happy, pleasant, loving and obedient pet who loved the world and his dog. I remember Louis as a showman who gave of his all in the ring, I remember Louis with a smile and still sometimes a tear, I will always remember Louis.

Great granny Nikki with Jay and Krizzie

Walking And Thinking

Walking with the guys brushed away the cobwebs. Ross is doing Ok after his course of metacam, thought he still hesitates before jumping in the van he is not holding his right back up at all now.  I've taken him off the nutraquin and put him back on glucosamine and chondroitin. I guess I shouldn't have messed about with it in the first place ... if it ain't broke eh! Loki was full of enthusiasm, but as ever tired quickly. His tail is pretty lifeless still, he is able to wag it, but it hangs weirdly otherwise so that must be an issue from the spine. I do feel sorry for Sammi she could go much further I'm sure, but we have to regulate the walk to suite the boys. 

Siska is looking tatty now, typical with shows ahead. I've managed to convince her to travel in Kaiah's side of the van, though it took some doing. They all always have their place in the van and I rarely adjust it, unless I'm doubling up or using the side crates for the mountain of stuff we take when we are going to a dog show.

I wish someone had a magic wand and could tell me what I should be doing now, make decisions is currently not my strongest point! 

Moving On Is So Hard

After doing quite well for a fair few days my emotions have got the better of me again. I'm really trying to look ahead and focus on the positives but with so much uncertainty there, it's a bit of a roller coaster ride.

There is a Zoe pup for me, should I want one, but that puppy needs to have show potential. She will be blessed to have good breeding and have a high chance of being genetically healthy, but I need more, I need a show dog and with third pick the best may well be gone by the time I get my pick. 

I messaged Anne again last night, but the reply confused me! I still don't know whether Zeeta is pregnant and I doubt Anne does either. My opinion, and I'd love to be wrong, if the bitch is not showing at 7 weeks then she's not pregnant or carrying a very small litter. (And Sammi was showing carrying three) A bitch's enthusiasm to be mated bares no connection to whether she is ready for mating or not ... some bitches will stand for most of the season but are only fertile for a few days of that time, without testing, with some bitches, we simply don't know! 

I was also upset last night by someone's negativity, maybe I'm asking too much? I just wanted to share my hopes but I got the message, you don't want to know! I won't bother again, I appreciate everyone has their own dramas, but whatever is going on in our lives, well sharing is caring isn't it? I guess I'm just oversensitive right now, I'm still too fragile and the lack of interest knocked the stuffing out of me. Anyway, let get a plan, try and get back on our feet and move on!

Where Is The Common Sense?

Yesterday on Radio 2's lunchtime show they were discussing whether the UK was now treating dogs and their owner better than parents with children? I listened to both sides of the argument, but really found very few people who had contributed, on either side, with common sense. One woman complained that there were large grass areas in service stations for people to exercise their dogs, but she had to take her children to a small smelly cubical to go to the loo. Well what does she want? The large grass area for her children to play and shit and let the dogs shit in the car park and foyer? Come on woman? I think it was the same lady who complained that her children were not made welcome in places with many offering a free biscuit for dogs and nothing for her kids, tuck into the bonios boys, we don't mind! I could feel for the parents who said that their children who are scared of dogs are often approached by bounding off the lead dogs in parks. One man saying his child's fear is great and he is limited to where he can go, but he stressed that most dog owners were sympathetic and kind to his plight. I must admit that lots of shops, pubs and cafe's are now dog friendly, and as woman said, my dog sits quietly under my seat whilst we eat, but we have to put up with children bouncing about screaming and yelling. Sorry, but in most cases I agree.