Playtime

We had a nice enough day to actually play outside today without getting frozen or muddy. Legend got to go out alone first and work some agility. She worked on fast starts, contacts and weave poles and did pretty well. Then the whole gang joined her for lots of fun times. Here's an adorable picture of Peyton I got just before we went in and she was actually still for a second. I can't believe how much she's grown-she's gained almost 3 pounds just in the time we have had her and this week her ears are doing something new-they look kind of like a sheltie right now.

And here she is taking turns harassing Legend and Zodiac. She had quite a good time running after them trying to keep up. I suspect she will take a really long nap this afternoon.

Oreo after a good roll in the grass.

Legend posing in her throw me the ball crouch.

Peyton's possible new family will be coming down on Saturday to meet her and will likely take her home if they like her ( I can't imagine they won't). We're happy that she will get a good home-she'll be an only pet and the center of all attention I'm sure, but we are going to miss her. However it will be nice not to have to take care of a puppy anymore-they sure are a lot of work. But, it's been very much worth it.

We feel special...

...to have been awarded this nice blog award. Thanks Sue!

Christmas is over-all of them

This is a much younger (probably around 6 years ago) picture of Oreo I came across when we were loading pictures onto our digital photo frame. Just thought I would be fun to share.

Our various and assorted family Christmas gatherings are all complete now and we are left with lots of food and many nice gifts. Jerry is watching the final games of the regular NFL season and I have been putting all our nice new things to use. And eating. The dogs each got a life-like stuffed animal toy from my sister. There was a bunny, duck, and squirrel. They loved playing with them but already pulled the head off the duck and destuffed him. Peyton especially liked the squirrel and all the extra attention my family gave her over the weekend. Oreo has been sleeping pretty hard since all the excitement but Legend viewed all the company as people she could trick into playing with her.

On another note if any of you have read the stories of our cats you may remember Pumpkin who I am pretty sure I saw passing through our backyard today. It's been awhile since I've seen him but I'm pretty sure it was him. He didn't act like he remembered us or living here and ran off but he looked fat and happy.

Merry Christmas

What I would really like is a program that eliminates green eye as well as red eye. This picture would have been great if it were not for glowing monsters you see. One time I tried to color in their eyes using the "paint" program but that really doesn't look any better than the green glow-so this is what you get.
And here is my Christmas present to myself (along with the vacuum). Every year there is a kiosk in the mall that sells various framed artwork and last year I really wanted this one but did not want to spend the money. This year I decided to go ahead and get it. It looks great in our bedroom. I know everything looks crooked in the picture-but it's not, I must not have been holding the camera level.

This afternoon the local ice arena had a free skating session so we went. Jerry had been once before but I had never been ice skating. It's actually not that much different that roller blading so I was able to do ok. It was fun and I didn't even fall!

Sitting Pretty

I just like this picture of Icy. Has nothing to do with anything.
We actually close early on Christmas Eve so I ran a few errands and then let the dogs out to play (run around and bark while I fix the horse fence again). Anyway-big mistake. It's very muddy and Zodiac came in crusty. Now he has to have a bath before Christmas. Legend does too. So back to house cleaning and dog bathing and laundry. Tomorrow I should actually be able to enjoy the holiday though.

Because why?

Most of you know I am against the breeding of 99.99% of all dogs. The obvious reason being the pet overpopulation and the great dogs you can get in shelters and rescues. So here are some of the other reasons not to breed your dog that I have heard many "confused" people use as reasons for breeding their dog. All of them left the clinic with a handout about responsible breeding and the millions of euthanized pets plus a spay/neuter estimate. Sometimes you just can't be subtle.

1. I can sell the puppies
2. I want one of my dog's babies
3. She's a Yorkie (yep-that was their reason)
4. I can sell the puppies (even if they are mixed breeds)
5. My sister wants one of the puppies
6. I think my dog is pretty
7. I can sell the puppies
8. The neighbor also has a Pomeranian
9. He/She is registered
10. Has a CGC certificate
11. I can sell the puppies
12. My mom/cousin/brother/friend wants a puppy

I guess you see the theme. So what if you think your dog is great (who doesn't), has some kind of performance title (most any dog can get at least one if you try), and has a uterus. Doesn't mean you need to breed her. And if you do actually do genetic testing and find something that is less than desirable don't breed her anyway because that's why you bought her-why bother testing. And really-if you take in a stray dog and decide to keep it, get it neutered-just common sense. Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of your nice cozy bed (where your goofy rescued cat and silly adopted border collie are keeping you warm)!

Vandals

I went out to feed the other morning and in place of my cat food container all I found was an upside down lid wit the remainder of the cat food spilled on top of it-and two unusually full cats! We have kept cat food in the barn for years and even kept open bags of it out there at times and never once have the cats gotten into it so I was pretty sure it wasn't them. What made me even more sure was that the container itself was nowhere to be found-whatever it was had actually drug the plastic tub under the barn door and off to who knows were. No cat is going to do that. We suspect a racoon because even out possum has never been that ambitious. So I waited a few days, got a new container and tried again. The first day was ok. This morning-lid ripped off and cat food all gone (I didn't put much out there to be on the safe side). At least they left the container this time. I guess I will not be keeping cat food in the barn anymore.

Here are some pictures of Peyton and Zodiac. If he's so inclined he will actually lay down next to her and let her lick and chew on his face. These are not the best photos but believe me it's adorable.

I broke down

I bought a Dyson. If you have been reading this blog long enough you may remember my episode with a previous vacuum and know that this is a decision I have wrestled with for quite some time. I had replaced a small piece on my cheap vacuum over the summer and last night the same piece wore out again. It's inexpensive and easy to replace but I think it's just a flaw in the machine. Anyway, since I have some bonus money coming and, again, we can't go without a vacuum we headed to Kohl's. Fortunately vacuums were on sale and we had a coupon so we got a decent deal. We also netted $60 in Kohl's cash to spend later :) I didn't pay the extra $150 for the one on the pivoting ball or the "animal" model. It just didn't seem worth it. And once I got it home and used it I'm glad I didn't get the one on the ball since the basic model seemed relatively light and easy to handle for the size and suction. We'll see if it lives up to all the hype.

We also visited the new Petco and got a cat door so we can allow Jelly to come in the laundry room if the temperatures in the garage become too unacceptable for her in the winter and summer. And it locks so we can keep her out there if we need to. I know you're thinking why would we want to let a cat who pees everywhere in with our laundry but we don't actually keep laundry in there-just the washer and dryer. It's too small to actually store the laundry-one of the few things we don't like about this house. There is a ridiculously large bathroom that could have been made smaller to allow a larger laundry area. Oh well-guess it's working out ok.

Peyton is doing great on housebreaking. She is no longer having accidents in her crate OR her ex-pen. And she has only had one accident in the house or clinic in several days. I actually feel like I don't have to watch her every single second now and can let her play while I get a few things done.

And yes that is her hanging out on top of her crate! Future agility star? Perhaps! And I'm sure many of you are wondering, but no-we are not keeping her. Rescue has a lot of interest and applications on her but they are waiting to find the best possible home for such a special girl.

An early present

Sue-our friend (and one of our top clients!) from over at The Portuguese Waterblog made this amazing pillow as a Christmas gift for me-it goes great with my Border Collie Blanket and she even put my favorite color (purple) on the back side! Thanks again Sue-I love it!

Peyton had a reunion with her sister, Hope, today as her foster mom brought her in for her next vaccination. Hope was the smallest puppy and spent her first several weeks fighting off tough parasite infestations. She is doing great now and has put on almost 2 pounds! She and Peyton wrestled and played and had a great time. Tess is doing great in her new home-her new dad is so happy with her. I'm so glad we were able to save Kitt and her babies from the pound-they are all such great dogs.

Christmas Pictures

Every year we take a picture of our tree and so here are this year's photos. First the tree in the dark so you can appreciate the lights...
And the tree with in the light.

All the decorating was too much for Peyton!

And Icy supervised from above.

The big dogs all got rawhides to keep them busy and out of the way. That's about all I know for now-it has been a slow but very cold week.

Tagged again

I have been tagged by ManyMuddyPaws for another game. Here's what you do. Go wherever you store your pictures, choose the 6th folder and then the 6th photo in that folder to post and tell the story behind it. Then tag 6 more people.

Here's my photo...
When our potbellied pigs were much younger and we had a house we didn't care to abuse as much they often stayed inside. And when Holly and Wiggles were younger and we didn't have the "amazing rabbit watching dog-Zodiac" we would often let them run and play in the house (supervised of course-lost of electric cords!). Anyway, one of our pigs-Spadias-was in love with Holly. He followed her around endlessly and was just happy being close to her. And he especially loved when she would sniff and climb on him-he would just stand like a statue. He was one confused little pig. Holly has since crossed over the Rainbow Bridge and Spadias and his companion live outside but this picture shows a time when our household, although usually peaceful, was a little bizarre!

Now I am tagging Sue, Melissa, Linda, Sarah, Lauren, and anyone at Dogs on Thursday. Have fun.

Today in pictures

It was a nice enough day to spend some time playing outside with all the dogs. Here is Peyton looking adorable and watching the big dogs.
And here she is watching Legend getting ready to get her football (don't worry-we were very careful).

And finally getting in on the action herself. I know it doesn't look like a football anymore but Legend still loves it. As does Oreo.

Peyton also spent quite a bit of time tugging and chewing on Legend's tail and chasing leaves. Legend (when not being harassed) did practice a bit of agility.

I worked on a few Christmas presents-this "Cars" blanket is for our godchild-Jerry's cousin.

Icy did this most of the day...

But stopped long enough to do this...

Now we are getting ready to decorate our Christmas tree!

6 things we like by Oreo, Zodiac, and Legend

I almost forgot-we were tagged by 4 dog craziness...

1. Tugging
2. Fetching
3. Herding/chasing
4. Car rides
5. Our friends at agility class
6. Snacks

We tag Sue and her gang at Portuguese Waterblog

Happy Collie-days

Since our Christmas cards went out a few days ago I decided to post the picture we used in my blog header for awhile so everyone can enjoy! I actually had this idea last year but didn't get around to it in time. If it had been frosty or snowing that would have been great-everything just looks a little too green for December...

Marbles and more

Here are some of my vases filled with marbles-I forgot to take pictues of them all before I put them up and I didn't want to move them again so I just have these to show. I didn't get enough marbles so I still have 2 big vases to fill. They look really nice in the kitchen. I like the layered ones the best-the ones where I just mixed the colors and dumped them in don't look as neat as I thought they would. But they look good enough that I'm not going to dump them out and sort the marbles so I can make layers in all of them! Our kitchen/dining room wallpaper is grapes in case you were wondering. Hence all the blue, purple, and green.

Peyton is doing great-you'd never know anything happened to her. She took a step back in crate training with all the Lasix and liquid diet but today was better-only one accident!

Aren't these guys sweet?

Poor Peyton

She had a scary accident last night. While playing in the yard Legend accidently knocked her down while running to get a toy. And she knocked her down hard. I knew something bad was wrong when Peyton didn't cry or get up. I ran to get her and found her stiffened up and unresponsive. I ran into the house with her where she proceeded to go limp and turn white and gasp for air. In quite a panic I pulled out her tongue, cleared her airway as best I could with my little finger and dislodged a small blood clot. After some modified puppy CPR and coughing up some more blood she started to be more responsive, her heart beat got stronger and she had a horribly congested and shallow-but steady-breathing pattern. I really thought she might die for those first few minutes after I got her in the house. Once she seemed past the main crisis we took her on in to the clinic to get some oxygen for a while and some injections to help control what was surely some significant bruising of the lungs. By the time we left work she was able to walk around. She is still pretty weak today and x-rays confirmed lung bruising but no other problems-thankfully. She should make a full recovery over the next several days.

In the good news department Tess will be headed to her new home tomorrow!

Ugh

And now Legend had a raging conjunctivitis in her other eye. We
got home tonight to another case of red gooey eye and I can't find the eye ointment from when I treated the previous gooey eye. Guess I'll pick up some more at work tomorrow. Just when everyone seemed to be doing so well...

For your enjoyment here is a picture of Tess hamming it up for the camera





And here are some of Zodiac showing Alligator who is boss!

Big Girls

The puppies may look sweet and innocent in this picture but they have recently learned how to climb the deck stairs and they are very proud that they can get up to the door all by themselves-just like the big dogs. They also explored the agility equipment today and tried out the lower parts of the A-frame and Dogwalk and checked out the tunnel as well. Maybe they have agility in their futures?

Since my sweet husband frequently brings or sends me flowers I have accumulated this fine collection of vases that are cluttering up our cabinet space. I wanted to do something useful with them so I am planning on filling them with marbles in colors that will match our kitchen and placing them around the top of our cabinets. I think it will look nice as long as Icy does not knock them over or eat the marbles since she loves to hang out up there.

It is dull, cold, and dreary here so I have just been hanging around the house working on chores and projects and playing with dogs.

Chaos

As much as I hate working Saturdays they are usually pretty quiet-mostly vaccines mixed in with the occasional skin problem or sick pet. Today started out like that-fast forward to mid-morning and things started to get a little crazier. It all began with a recheck from the local emergency clinic. The dog had been seen last night for possible back pain, the owners gave no meds overnight and today the dog-although running around the exam room not acting painful-was now vomiting. So maybe it was stomach pain. And then the dog suddenly cried when the ower picked her up to let us give an anti-vomiting injection to her. When we returned with the dog we noted that she was dragging her hind legs. Awesome. So she had been having GI upset and back pain and apparently herniated a disk when they reached to pick her up. At least it happened in the clinic so we could advise them on what to do (I'm not sure they would have known how serious it was if it had happened at home). After a lengthy conversation about the options they elected to take her to a neurologist for possible surgery so we sent them on their way to the referral hospital. Meanwhile my next two appointments appeared. The first was a blood draw done by techs and the second decided they only had enough money for a dose of Frontline and not an exam. Great-fast forward to the dog who had apparently had something caustic sprayed, spilled, or thrown on his face-a few days ago. Today his corneas are like melting off his eyes. After the "your dog might go blind or lose his eye entirely" conversation we got a bunch of meds together and planned to see him back on monday. Throw in a few more vaccinations and then in comes the unruly akita mix who is early for her appt and a cat without a carrier for her appointment and they are now in the lobby together. Big dog wants to play with cat who does not want to play at all and both are escorted off to exam rooms. Cat is freaked out by now and scratches mom in several places as she tries to remove cat from her head. We get the cat finished and mom bandaged and then head on to vaccinate the big dog whose owner announced she has not eaten in 3 days. Scratch the vaccines and get some meds for her upset stomach but only after the obligate conversation about how much the last visit to the vet cost. Finally it's on to the coughing dog belonging to the parent of a client who was mad at me the last time she came in because the medication I gave her sick (and inbred) kitten didn't work-never mind that she declined all diagnostics for financial reasons, announced on arrival that would rather put the cat to sleep than spend a lot of money, and agreed to just give the medication a try while realizing we were just guessing at a diagnosis. It's amazing the change of heart they have when you are able to get them in at the last minute on a Saturday. Just when we thought we were done I worked in a good client at the last minute for a vomiting kitten to determine if it needed to go to the emergency clinic or not. We did send it on over for x-rays to see if it ate a string or something but hopefully all it needs is some meds and will be fine.

Finally got home and was able to take the puppies out in the daylight-they loved playing in the yard with the big dogs and also chasing leaves, eating dirt, and exploring.

More cuteness

I could not resist posting more pictures of the puppies-we probably won't have them long so I want to enjoy them while they are here!

So seriously-how irresistible is this face? Peyton likes to play with toys but also loves other dogs to play with.

Tess likes toys and is very independent
She also likes fuzz from destuffed toys.

And this is what Icy was doing while the puppies were out playing.

Cuteness

We are currently fostering Peyton and Tess (I know, how sad for us) and I just had to share some of these pictures we took tonight. Although these are pretty good they don't do justice to their incredible adorableness (which I'm not sure is a word). They are pretty well behaved puppies too and seem to have the idea of pottying outside.

Peyton on the move

Tess watching everyone

Peyton and the Alligator (one of Legend's favorite toys)

Tess and the Alligator

Peyton and the nylabone

Videos from the trial

Here are Legend's qualifying runs from Sunday. You can see how slow she is in the first half of the course and then she starts to speed up. You can also notice how every once in a while she is spooked by getting on the dogwalk or the teeter at a trial. But overall they were good runs. I always think it looks slower on video than it felt in the ring-I guess that's normal.

Happy Birthday Oreo

Yes, another birthday-and it is his actual birthday, not just a guess. Oreo is 14 today. Here is a picture of the kids eating yet another cake from Three Dog Bakery.

A day to really be off

I left work around 11:30 this morning after my lone surgery was finished and had the rest of the day to do not much of anything. I didn't have anything really pressing to do and so I elected to not do much. I did start a load of laundry and clean up the kitchen but that's about it. It's a pretty nice day but I didn't want the dogs out too much because I don't want Zodiac muddy for therapy tonight so they are taking it pretty easy today too. Now that some of our evening activities have slowed down for the winter I need to get back to doing some running and working with Zodiac on utility-what else is new. Legend needs to work on faster starts in agility and throw in a little obedience practice now and then and we should have some pretty solid things to work on over the winter. We are not entered in any more agility until late January.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of Icy in goofy places.