Great 3 Day Weekend

I have to say that this past Memorial Day weekend has been probably the best one that we have had in MANY years. Nope, we did not go anywhere and stayed home doing things. We hate to travel on this weekend as I got in a major car accident on Memorial Day many years ago.

Skarlet came in heat and it just happened that it was breeding time right over the weekend. I started the weekend by taking Skar over to Karen's on Friday and got a successful tie with Rock.

Murray, Connor and I got up on Saturday and started working on the ranch. He has been very busy building the Tahj Duckhall for our ducks. He had gotten it to a point where they could move in during the night, but were in a temporary area during the day. They now have in and out access during the day and are locked up at night. We are using 3 x-pens connected to the coop for their run area. We will permanently fence it in maybe this weekend.

I did tons of weeding this weekend. Boy was that tiring, but well worth it as the ranch is coming together and looking very nice. Of course the dogs got to do tons of running throughout the day as we were working outside. Connor is great at entertaining them in the field. He loves to stand on top of the A-frame (young dog height) and throw the ball with the Chuck-It for the dogs. I never have to worry about where Connor is because I just look for the swarm of dogs. I did catch Connor riding down the A-frame in a very small (just big enough for his butt) wagon. He is for sure all boy!

I went back to Karen's place on Saturday evening and had a beer as Skar and Rock did their thing. I then did a little training with Havoc and put Fusion on sheep for the first time. Oh yes, she has been on sheep before, but that was her letting herself into our sheep. I wanted to put her on more puppy sheep, so it was perfect at Karen's. Fusion was keen and her tail was down. She circled them some. singled some off did a very small fetch and then we quit after she circled again. Not to bad for an 8 month old squirt. We then went out and got a bite to eat and a drink.

Sunday was work all day. Ok the dogs played all day by running and swimming, but the humans worked. I was very tired by the time Sunday night rolled around, but feeling very accomplished.

Monday was spent doing stuff around the house. The problem with working outside all of the time and also having a 3 year old is the house will get neglected. Murray started the morning off by ripping out my office carpet (YUCK)!!!!! When we got the house it was 7/8 carpet. The house also had white, flat paint on all of the walls. We have been steadily taking carpet out and laying Pergo and tile along with painting the walls. If you live on a ranch with dogs and then tear your carpet out, you will never go back to carpet again. No matter how much you steam clean, you never get all of the dirt up and it settles below the pad. I am not talking about a little dirt, but tons of fine silt that the dogs track in. I feel so much cleaner without carpet in the house. I love knowing that once I clean the floors that they are completely clean.

As Murray was ripping the carpet out, I was preparing food, 7 layer salad and marinating chicken, for our BBQ that night. Karen brought Rock over again and he and Skar went on their date in the backyard. We drank and then ate some great food for dinner and then had awesome strawberries for dessert along with ice cream.

I went to bed last night knowing that we got tons of stuff done on the ranch and also having fun.

Tonight we are headed to Karen's because we have talked Murray into running Havoc in herding. I am entering the team at the Sheep Thrillz trial in July. I will run Mick in Pro-Novice there. Even thought he is capable of running in Open, his body is getting old and I think it would be asking too much of him at this age. So, Murray will have a lesson with Karen tonight. It is better for someone else to teach besides wife, especially in the beginning stages of his training. Havoc is trained and now needs to learn to work with Murray. Oh how fun this will be. I will for sure get pictures.

I will also take some pictures of the duck coop (Tahj Duckhall) today.

RR Skarlet x CBK Rock

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, Skarlet finally came into heat. I will head over to Karen Child's place tomorrow and throughout the weekend to breed Skar to Karen's CBK Rock. I am very lucky that I only live about 15 or 20 minutes from Karen, so I will just drive back and forth.

I can not wait for these puppies to arrive. This cross should produce some very powerful and stylish offspring with outstanding temperaments.

I also get to see the litter that Rock sired with Karen's Mollie. They are around 7 weeks old now. That is the fun age.

I will update everyone on the litter to come.

Emotional Week

I went down to California with my son and 2 dogs (Kate and Singe) to visit family. It was a nice week down there, despite the weather.

Risk went on and off of her food towards the end of me being gone. Murray was home taking care of all of the dogs and I told him that it was probably because she had morning sickness. She had been bred and was almost half way until her due date. Some of our girls get some morning sickness about that time. Well it was not morning sickness as I found out when I got home.

I got home on Friday and started mowing our agility field as it had not been mowed in over a week. I always let the dogs run with me, so everyone was out. I noticed that Risk was not her normal self and again chalked it up to her being pregnant. She was showing no other signs, at the moment. After I was done the dogs came up on the deck and I let Risk in the house where she went and laid on a dog bed in the corner of the family room. Totally not like Risk. A little later I fed the dogs and Risk picked at her food. Still no major signs of anything going on.

The next morning I noticed some spots on Risk's dog bed and by then she put herself in her crate for breakfast. I called her out and as she jumped down she was leaking "stuff" out of her vulva (first time this happened). We got the thermometer out and I held her as Murray took her temp. Murray instantly said "this is not good". She had spiked a fever of 104.5. The vet office was open in 10 minutes, so I called as soon as they opened. Made an appointment and went in right away. My vet looked at her and then we took her to ultrasound where it was deemed she had open Pyometra. Open Pyometra is way better than closed Pyo because in Open the puss and fluid drains out and in closed Pyo it stays in the uterus and that needs emergency spay asap.

We treated Risk with antibiotics, pain pills, and anti inflammatory meds along with Sub Q fluids. She seemed as she was getting better and when it was time to give her her evening fluids

I put her out to go potty first. She was stumbling around and had a hard time getting up the stairs. When I laid her down on the dog bed she was shaking and I called my vet, who was now on call. I rushed her in to the vet office as my vet was meeting me there. I took her temp before I left and it was 94.4 degrees. She was in septic shock. We ran another CBC and her levels had improved a "little" since the morning. My vet put in an IV catheter and I took her home with me and the tons of stuff. She was put into a crate on a warming blanket and blankets on top of her. She was on IV fluids all weekend and then on Monday I took her back into the vet to be checked. She was improving a little, but not enough to take the catheter out. We kept her on it until Wednesday and we decreased her fluids from Monday to Wednesday. She was now eating and drinking on her own. The catheter was removed on Wednesday and she continued on her meds. It seemed as if she were improving little by little and it was a slow process. That was until yesterday. She seemed quiet, but when Murray got home she cuddled with him, so I just thought she was a little depressed from not hanging out with the other dogs. I took her temp as she was still on a temp check schedule. She had spiked another fever, but not as bad as before. I put her on Sub Q fluids before bed and put her in a crate next to my bed (again). She was leaking a little fluid from her vulva, but we knew this would happen as she healed. Well I got up MANY times during the night to take her potty and check her temps. Her temp went down, but the fluid kept coming out. I called my vet in this morning and told her what was going on. She had me continue with Sub Q fluids and now I had to put her on 1 more antibiotic because her culture came back positive with e-coli.

I am happy to say that tonight Risk is doing good and she ate everything. I took her out on a leash while I fed horses and sheep and she was super happy. I know from the past not to let my guard down, but it is great to seem by Risky Bisky feeling better and have the sparkle back in her eyes.

I have not posted any of this because I have been totally drained and also no time to write as I have had to take care of Risk, Connor and the other dogs.

Here is a picture of Risk at her worst. She is laying on a heating pad with blankets on top of her. She is also hooked up to an IV.

The next 2 pictures are of Risk on Wednesday, right before we went to the vet to get her catheter out. She was feeling good then.

Risk snuggling with Murray last night when she did not feel good. Oh poor girly, but good husband!

Now I keep my fingers crossed that she keeps on improving and doesn't do any more crashes.

Happy 11th Birthday Kate

Kate turned 11 years old today. Wow, look at where Kate has gotten me to.

I remember searching for a certain type of Border Collie and I found a guy named Jeff Larkin up in Oregon. This was before internet, so many phone calls were made. Once I decided that the Lyn x Wisp cross was for me, I then had to wait about 8 months for the breeding to take place and then as you know wait for the puppies to arrive. I have saved the original pictures I was sent of the litter (via snail mail) when the puppies were 5 weeks old. I was teaching Elementary School back then and it just happened to turn out that the puppies were ready for their new homes the day school got out. I headed up to Oregon with a friend and her husband as they too were getting a puppy.

I remember going into the barn where the puppies were. Jeff let the puppies out and I immediately was drawn to Kate. She was the one puppy that would find small objects to toss up in the air and she did this over and over again. I had first pick of the litter, so I made sure that I looked at all of the puppies. I kept being drawn back to Kate as she just had this lovely personality. Kate it was and I have never regretted that choice as she is my "Heart Dog".

Kate brought me into the world of herding and has taught me so much about agility. Not to mention that she is the foundation for our Border Collie line. She is also responsible for me moving up to Oregon as I ended up moving onto the ranch where I got Kate and managed the ranch and their Border Collies. This is also where I got Mick from.

Kate is still Queen of the pack, but she has softened (for the good) over the years. She still throws her toys up in the air and loves to play with litter objects, which she has passed on to some of her kids etc.

Kate has accomplished a lot in her 11 years. She brought me through the beginning of ISDS type of herding and started in Novice and ended her career in Pro-Novice. If I knew then what I know now about herding she would have easily made an Open dog. She has earned her ADCH and MACH and her Bronze Lifetime Achievement Award in USDAA. She has been in many finals of both AKC and USDAA Agility and was 5th place at the 2003 AKC Nationals. She has had Animal Planet fly out to do a special on her (video below). She has many generations of kids, grandkids, and great grandkids living on through her. She had 3 litters of puppies, 1st by Imp. Mirk, 2nd by Brighteye Foreign Exchange (Quid) and her last litter by Ignited OffOn Sooner Or Later (Sooner).

Most of all Kate is the love of my life (in the dog world) and I would go to earth's end for her.

This is Kate and her sisters when they were 5 weeks old.

Kate looking so adorable at 10 weeks old

Kate's special that Animal Planet did on her

Kate at 11 years old. A little grey in the face, but still acts like a young'n

Kate still gives all of the dogs a run (dive) for their money when it comes to swimming

Happy Birthday Spark and Frosty Paws

Today we celebrated Spark's 1st Birthday. Spark is from the 2nd Lash x Sooner litter and is here with us for training. We had to celebrate his birthday and what better way to do that, but with a round of Frosty Paws. Each dog had their own way of eating it. Some went to a quiet corner, some went to a crate or some just chewed the entire thing (Mick and Singe) right on the spot.Here are some recipes for home made Frosty Paws.

#1

1 banana

4 ounces of yogurt

2 oz of water

Mix ingredients in food processor or blender until smooth. Poor into paper cups or ice cube

trays and freeze.

#2

32 oz of vanilla yogurt

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp peanut butter

1 large banana or 1 large jar of banana baby food

Follow mixing and freezing directions from above.

#3

1 quart vanilla yogurt

1 large banana

2 tbsp peanut butter

3 tbsp honey or molasses

You can also hide a cookie, bacon bits or even a carrot in the cup before you freeze it.

Filming a Commercial

As I was doing chores outside yesterday I heard a hovering helicopter. Our property is on the gorge of the Crooked River and we own part of the gorge and then our property continues onto the other side. I looked over there and saw 2 Jeeps racing back and forth and the helicopter flying really low. I finally saw that the helicopter had a HD camera mounted on the front and figured out that they were filming a Jeep commercial.

I decided to go on a hunt to find out if it was true as I knew where they were filming from. Sure enough there were signs for the filming company and I looked them up on line. This company does a lot of the commercials for Toyota, Nissan etc.

So, now I will have to keep my eyes on the t.v. for a new Jeep commercial filmed right on the back side of our property.

Our property was used to film the movie The Postman years back.

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Symbol For Pet Friendly

Apparently there is now a Highway sign that will tell us about pet friendly areas. Here is the link that tells all about it.

www.hiwaydog.com