My Current Routine

Since the puppies arrived, I've felt like a mom with a new baby; not getting enough sleep! Ah, but it’s worth it.

Since Piper had such a large litter, I’ve been pouring the groceries into her and the babies. The first few days I was supplementing most of the pups, just to make sure they’re getting enough to eat. Now, I’m down to just the littlest one. I’ve been feeding her quite a bit extra, not knowing how much she was actually nursing. Whenever I’d look in the crate and check, she would just be sleeping. So my routine the past few days has been feeding her every few hours.  My last one of the night would be about 12 or 1am.  So I’d just doze on the couch to make sure I didn’t miss it, then I’d feed  her, then go to bed. And start all over the next day between 5:30 and 6.

So Piper usually wants out first thing in the morning to potty. That would be my first feeding for the little one and I would weigh her also. Piper would come back in and I’d be done for a while.

Usually later in the morning, Piper would go back out and I would quickly do my next part. First, I put all the babies in the little dog bed I have just for them.

Then I’d pull her towel out and put a fresh one in.

Before the pups are put back in their crate, I quickly weigh each one and put them away. (I weigh the pups every day for at least the first week. That way I know if they are gaining or losing weight and I can plan accordingly.) 

Then I clean out Piper’s dishes and give her fresh water, and fill up her dry food. My mama dogs have dry puppy food and water in front of them all the time. Since Piper had such a large litter and she wasn’t eating that well at first, I’ve been giving her canned food twice a day too. It’s a great place to hide her vitamins and calcium pill, and she loves it!

After trying to quickly get all that done, Piper is more than ready to come back in. She doesn’t like to be away from them for long.

And now, I must be off; it’s time to feed the little one again.

The new girl in town.

About two weeks ago I made a trip to the airport to pick up our new girl. What a sweetheart! She's a purebred cream colored miniature Poodle. She's a really nice size too, not to big and not to small. About the same size as the Cavaliers. We're hoping that someday she will have beautiful Cavapoo puppies with Desmond!

But for now she has something else going on! When I found out about her, the previous owner told me, "she might be pregnant." I said, "With what?" The lady told me she had been in with her male Bichon, but that he "isn't a real aggressive breeder." As time went on and we made the arrangements to bring her home, it became more apparent that she was definitely expecting.

Like I said she's been here just about two weeks and settling in pretty well. And getting bigger and bigger. We should have some adorable Poochon puppies maybe by the weekend or the beginning of next week!

So here's a picture of our new girl, "Belle". She had a crew cut right before she came, so unfortunately doesn't have the normal Poodle top knot, but doesn't she have a sweet face?!

At My Feet

When I'm outside working there's usually a pack of dogs following around. And when I come in the house and sit dog, this is what happens....

And yes, Pooh's head is resting on my foot!

Just had to brag a bit...

Well, I finally did it! I entered Moriah in something. And she did a lot better than I expected.

Moriah is my black and tan German Shepherd. She's five years old already (I got her when she was about ten weeks old), but when she was younger I took her through some obedience classes and have continued to work with her, occasionally. I've always planned on entering her in some AKC shows and getting her obedience title, but it just never seemed to work out. Most of the AKC show are on the other side of the state from me or down south a few hours. There is a weekend circuit only a couple hours away from me that usually happens on Memorial Weekend and that's the one I thought I'd aim for. But the timing was never right. She was either in season or possibly pregnant or going to be bred or something.

Well, this year I decided to finally enter some things in our local fair, just for fun. One advantage of entering the fair is, you get in free! Ok, so our local fair doesn't really cost that much, but we like to go more than one day, and it does add up. So I entered some photos and was thinking about entering Moriah in an obedience class, but was under the impression the classes were on Sabbath (Saturday), so didn't think that was an option for me.

One day I ran into a friend in town who regularly shows her dog at the fair and she informed me that the open dog classes were on Thursday. So I entered! Then I thought, "Oh, my, what have I done?" I used to show dogs, but it's been over twenty years ago. And Moriah hasn't been out and about much lately, and we don't have a lot of time to practice!

Well, Thursday arrived and we were off early to the fair. (We were told that our class wouldn't be until one or so in the afternoon, but I wanted to go watch and support the 4H kids and their horses).

We checked in with the dog ring when the obedience classes started, but didn't actually compete until between four and five o'clock! It had been a long, hot day and I wondered how Moriah would do.

For those who aren't familiar with this kind of thing. This class is done all on leash. The judge puts you and your dog through a heeling pattern with left turns, right turns, about turns, halts, fast, slow and normal walking. There is also a "stand of exam" where you stand your dog, leave it and the judge goes up and touches your dog, then you return to the heel position. Of course, the dog can't move during this process. Then the "recall". You leave your dog on a sit, go to the end of the leash and call the dog too you. The dog should come straight in and sit facing you, then the judge gives the command, "finish" and your dog should return to the heel position by itself. When everyone has done their individual turns, the whole class (or half depending on the ring size) goes back in for the sits and downs. This is where the judge has everyone sit and leave their dog (to the end of the leash) for one minute. It's amazing how long a minute seems when you're doing this and hoping your dog doesn't move! We all return when the judge says so, then repeat the process with a "down" for three minutes.

When our turn came she did pretty well, but the performance wasn't close to perfect, that's for sure! Of course, I could have practiced more too! After everyone had their individual performances and we had done the long sits and downs we were called back in for the awards.

To my surprise and delight, Moriah received the Grand Champion award (1st place) with a score of 196 out of 200! Like I said, I was pleasantly surprised. And even though this was just our little 'ol country fair, the class was judged with AKC rules and an AKC judge, so that meant something to me.

Now I'm encouraged to try a bit harder to find some shows and get that title!

And for those who may be wondering (my friend was already teasing me about this), "No, she wasn't the only dog in the class!" *smile*