full access

Since I'm not one to hide or place a simple label of "Oh lost a puppy today, how tragic, end of story" , here's the full access.

We've been round the clock supplementing our little girl puppy since day one, four long weeks. Antibiotics on board for pneumonia and such. Two different vets, finally being able to take her into Doc's today. She's lost weight, gained weight, struggled to eat, and just not developed like I wanted. Today it was determined that she had a cleft palette. And today she left this world to wait at the bridge with Clairee.

Now truthfully, I'm on an emotional roller coaster as it is this week. So here's the scoop-don't point fingers and try to make this out to be more then it should be. I know of one person who will. Stop right in your tracks. I've been privy to a few things that the rest of the world has no idea about, so until you come clean with the whole truth, you have no right. I have so much more I would like to add in here, but you know, you're not worth it.

We originally determined that our little girl was significantly early compared to her brothers. Research shows that that indeed could be an issue. As well as stress on the mom, or contact with some sort of virus, chemical etc. The last two I hardly believe as those are the things I really am obsessive about with my dogs. The first part, hello? Have you met Merlot-that dog is the most stressly dog I know, though overally active, stress, nah. And before you think about bashing the sire or dam, most of these are not considered genetic all though there is some predisposition in "push face" breeds just due to their phyiscal makeup. Yes, there was a chance of continuing to care for her until she was old enough for surgery, but I and Doc felt that there might be other mitigating circumstances that would cause her issues later on-she was premature and neurologically was not doing as well as her brothers. I would hate to put the medical issues on to someone else nor do I feel I have the time and resources to devote to her without robbing the other dogs in the house of their due time.

Simply put, things just happen that we have no control over, no rhyme nor reason for and can not place the blame on one person, event or object. God is in control and that's the way it is.

So now we go forward and I have four super healthy boys that are climbing out of the whelping box and will move to into the main part of the house to start intensive socializing and chaos training.

Later gators...
C

Death Wish

The cat's new name is Death Wish. Connor thinks her head is a good place to drool and as you can see here, she was stupid enough to torment the girl's club by walking in the middle. What I couldn't get a photo of was her laying on the floor, batting at the dogs as they walked by her. Good thing cat's have nine lives!

Later gators...
C

Pupdates

I know, I know, I am so slacking on this litter. So much else going on in our world that photos just aren't high on my list. Hoping by tonight that I will have 3 week photos updated on the website, note, hope. But in the mean time here's a few candids of the Comedy Troupe.

This is Shorty(short blaze). A very sweet puppy-not sure where that comes from.

You can't see it in this photo, but this is Kinkajou. He has a small kink in the tip of his tail, making it a little short, but the cool part is that he has a cowlink that runs from his nose all the way up to between his ears. Looks like he's channeling a mohawk! The Ms keeps threatening to use some hair gel to get it to stand up taller. And yes, Barney's head takes a lickin' and keeps on kickin'.

And this is the trouble maker, Wide Load(wide blaze). First out of the pool-twice yesterday and once last night. He is soooo his father and right now the pup we are leaning towards keeping. Yes I need another Eddie like a hole in my head, ugh. He has attitude, he is demanding and he is trouble.

This is Narrows(narrow blaze). Not near as much trouble as his counterpart, but can be if he wants to be.

Hard to see it here, but this is what brother's are for. Our little girl is still battling pneumonia and slowly gaining and growing but just not doing as well as we would like. Bottle feeding round the clock, antibiotics and lots of cuddling. The boys are pretty good about her, though I think Wide Load uses her as a step stool to get out of the pool. And last night I was happy to get a growl out of her as I was cleaning up her front from all the formula she spills. The Ms said she also caught her sitting up and howling with the boys yesterday afternoon.

Later gators...
C

Finally!

As I head off tonight, it's bittersweet---NOT! Tonight is our last night of 4-H dog obedience for the year. We term tonight the Fun Night or should it be - debugging the last of the bugs night?

Each kid gets to run the agility course once, do an obedience run through, and test for their CGC if they already haven't. Then they get some free time to work on the parts they are having issues with.

Only problem, with the end of classes, that means, gulp, FAIR'S JUST AROUND THE CORNER! Literally!

Help me!!!!

Later gators.....
C

A road less traveled

On my way into work this morning, I noticed some new road signs up along the highway. They followed me into town too!

There's even a "loop" that you can take that goes around on the original old road, goes right by my parent's place. Markers are up on the Old Hwy 30 area where the first paved mile is preserved(not the pavement, the just that stretch of road).

We like to take a road less traveled when we road trip it. Might I suggest that on your next one? How about this trip....

It's a great day trip along the Might Mississippi-great views, great people and lovely little towns that you miss other wise. You can go on either side-Wisconsin, Illinois, or Iowa.

I'm a little sentimental yet today. Thinking about the past, the roads Clairee and I and well, the whole family traveled together. I haven't had my break down yet. Inhaled a bottle of wine Saturday night when we got home.

Anyway, if you get a chance, take the long way in life, it's so much more fun and the memories last forever.

Later gators...
C

Better late then never

Sorry, I totally keep forgetting this. Sorry Peterman!

Psssst.....please ignore my hair!

ater gators....
C

And so the weekend ends

As you can see the weekend started off rather bad.

We had entries in Iowa City/Hawkeye this weekend, and I almost sent the kid down with his collie and stayed home. But the Ms said, nope, we need to do this.

Saturday was supposed to be cool, not cold! It rained and rained and rained some more.

Charlie was RWD, not unhappy with him as he's going through a skinny, awkward stage. A little unnerved by someone we walked by once but that's okay, same person makes his daddy react the same way.

Ella Bella! took her 3rd major and only needed one point to finish. Kim was so happy.

The Ms and reluctant Fred won their juniors class! He's not the least bit happy about this little rider on his contract.

Let's see, oh the collie. heehee I will be honest, I was very disappointed in the quality of the rough collies this weekend. There were a few shining stars but honestly, what people feel the need to show really concerns me. Lack of coat, improper movement, iffy head pieces. And they call themselves breeders? Do they really understand the standards? But onto smoothies! Alec and Connor did it again with a nice BOV win. On to groups we go, in the rain.

They end up with a Group 3 and a huge cheering section. Thanks guys!!!!

Heading home was hard but take out dinner turned it around. Then I spent time doing tons of little things that I always put off. Sewing, darning, ironing, fixing stuff. Man when you want to keep your mind distracted, there are ways.

Sunday dawns and guess what, no rain! But it turns hot, hot, hot!

Charlie went out and did me proud-fly hunting and all. WD and BOW for his first major!! Wee Haa, that's the 2nd boy out of the litter to get a major. Ella Bella did her mommy proud and finished with her 4th major!

News from up north during the day, Shelley with Chip took the points yesterday for his first and then today also got WD and BOW for his 2nd point. Only 13 more to go.

Collies were well, predictable with Connor only getting a Select. But Alec picked up a rough collie special and took BOV and finished the dog's grand. Then it was off to groups!

Alisa and her beezer took a Group 1! Alec didn't do anything in the herding group but also go to go in with a nice Weim from Rhonda.

So not a totally wasted weekend in the end. Chickens head out to "meat" their maker tomorrow morning but alas, we got 30 more chicks this weekend!

Busy week coming up--watch for some exciting news later on!

Later gators...
C

If ever...

....there was a dog that filled all our hearts with joy, this was her...

....if ever there was a dog that taught us how to comeback from defeat, this was her...

....if ever there was a perfect dog in the world, this was her....

HIT O'Clariee's Hope of K & L CD RA CGC TDI (retired)

Heart Dog

and.....

Pleasantly Perfect in Everyway

7/15/99-6/25/11

Stats

I've become a stats crazied mom. I never used to be that way, but with Alec and Connor burning up the ring, now I have a need to keep track.

Dog News Stats:
7 GCH CH Diamante’s Five Alarm Fire 0 0 0 0 1 172A Munier

Canine Chronicle-all breed:
9 GCH CH Diamante's Five Alarm Fire 234 A Munier

Canine Chronicle-breed
12 GCH CH Diamante's Five Alarm Fire 69 A Munier

Showsite-breed & all breed:
9 GCH CH Diamante's Five Alarm Fire (M) Owner: A Munier

AND....all these are through the end of May. Remember too, that Connor had taken most of the May and June off! Current figures also state that he's at 99 Hawkins points with 3 months showing and with the wins over the last 3 weekends including the Group 1, he should be moving up quite a bit in the June figures!!

Grand Champion: He's #1 in the state of Iowa for 2011 and lifetime. #7 all states and bronze level, through June 8th.

This is just nuts! And I'm blaming it all on the red headed boys in the house! I'm counting dogs, who's absent, who won what....I might have a statistical complex now!

Later gators......off to count the beans.....
Cindy

Ooops, I did it again!

Not a Brittany fan but the title just so fits.

More chickens. Yeap, I did it again. The current flock is due to be cut in half or more on Monday. I see loads of chickens in the freezer by mid week! But I said sure why not to Vicki and well, new chicks to be picked up on Saturday after their latest Ag in the Park event.

Mixed lot-so not sure what I get but the Ms really wants more brahamas. Me, no more roosters as Mr Black and White is more then enough crowing.

Weekend update--got word that our friend Ly-Lee went to Fort Dodge and did well with her dogs. Another fine weekend for Diamante Collies!

Shut the central air off last night, opened windows! Almost slept through my 1 am alarm to feed the little girl. Tonight--nothing for the first time in two weeks. Hum what to do with myself?


Later gators..
C

O.M.D.!!!!!

That would texting lingo for Oh My Dog!!!!

Alec and I traveled down south this weekend to the Rolla KC shows held at the Purina Event Center in Gray Summit, MO. Yes there was a closer show. Yes there were cardigan entries. But this summer is not about cardigans. Many of you know and now the world knows, Alec has other fish to fry...... with a new smooth collie special!

Connor, aka GCH Diamante's Five Alarm Fire, is now Alec's dog. Rebecca--you couldn't have made that tall skinny red bearded kid any happier. Easiest dog to live with, gets along with all the dogs, Pete's in love and Max has a new best friend. Great house dog and has taken charge of the big dog bed in the living room.

We knew the collie entry at the close show wouldn't be worth the bother(easy wins but not worth the piddly points). We headed down south where the numbers were. Russ and Charlie tagged along for the ride.

Let me first tell you that the Purina Event Center is super cool! It's built for the dog show person. Awesome grooming, full room for bathing, changing rooms for the people, RV set ups, exercise pens and romping yards. I can't wait to go back down there for another show. Oh and did I mention it's gorgeous out in that area of MO? Sort of, that is if you don't take Hwy 47 and all the hair pin turns and such. I was car sick by the time we arrived on Friday night. I also got the chance to venture on "Kim's bridge", thank goodness we weren't any where close to the 20 ton limit.

Saturday was a nice day-late ring times, no hurries and severe weather rolled through during the night. Talk about storms! Made the day go steamy early but cooled down later. Charlie looks like, well, a teenager right now. He's so gangly, so out of coat, skinny and since we left his "blanket" aka Pete at home, he was in a mood. Nothing either day in the classes, so time for him to stay home for the summer and grow up.

Russ on the other hand gave the national specialty winner a run for her money, coming out with a BOS! Sunday, nothing, judge had her likes and he wasn't one of them. No biggy, nice breed points and more GCH points-he should be getting closer to his Bronze level! We had a great time seeing lots of cardi people we never get to see and I had so much fun catching up with Kim J and Kari all weekend long.

Connor also took BOS on Saturday for more breed points. But the best is yet to come.

Saturday we went to Kim and Kathy's for dinner and a little relaxation. Nice campground but man was it covered with families and kids this weekend. We declared their site as Switzerland during the water ballon fight.

Sunday dawned with super early cardigan ring times-hate those and so does Russ. Especially when he hasn't gotten much sleep due to another round of storms including high winds and hail. After cardigans, we had to rush back and attack a couple rough collies that Alec was handling. I swore bizzare grooming was not in my tack box, but damn, Rebecca taught me tons over the last year and by doggness, Dani looked awesome when we were done(even considering he's so in the midst of loosing all his coat!). In between Connor got his spit and shine-gosh I love those easy to groom dogs now.

Over to the collie judging and Connor took BOV! Then right back in for roughs and Alec finished Dani for Beth! Photos next and happy owner tots off with her new champion. Now it's a wait and see on groups.

Herding is 2nd and we had to rush as the terrier group had a whole six dogs in it. Congratulations to Jon Kimes on his group 1 with his Manchester Terrier--very nice dog. Alec and Connor head in for group. Nice big herding selection. Pulls made, Connor's in the mix! I'm nervous, Alec and Connor are flying around the ring. The judge, Dr Carol White-Moser, had too many great options to choose from-Libbie the cardigan, great aussie, nice cattle dog....

I swear, Alec's never nervous with his dogs in the ring, but I saw his hands shaking. She pointed at him!!!!!! Connor takes the Group 1!!!! Kid is all smiles. Aussie 2nd, CWC 3rd and ACD 3rd.

Now we have to wait for BIS--talk about a wait. It ended up going to a very deserving, already MBIS lab--you can't complain when the quality in the ring is that top notch, it could have gone to any of them.

Alec came home with a nice blue rosette, good photos(will post those later), lots of Pro Club stuff-crate fan, rolling duffle, coolers and dog food. Most of all, he came home knowing that he can do it with Connor and that the world had better watch out for them. After this weekend, Connor with an almost 2 mo lay off, is back in the top ten, all breed and breed, possibly in the top 5. Well over 100 Hawkins, which was the goal by mid year.

Panels are looking good for some upcoming "local"shows, so it's back in the ring we go. I've heard that I have more roughs to groom-eeek! But man, Missouri certainly is looking good....

Later gators...
C

OH and an update!!!! Liz emailed me and Max(Summit FogyBotm Persuid's Plunge) had another great weekend at the dog show. Nothing on Saturday-congrats to Don on his WD and Teddy on her WB/BOB(only three dogs at the show). But on Sunday she got WD/BOB! I think that gets Max up to 7 or 8 points including one major. Go Max and Liz!!!!!

Pretty end to the day

This week has been, well, hell. Still on a 4 hour feeding schedule for the little girl and I have the 1am and 5am shifts. As many will know, I don't do well with less then 6 hours continuous sleep, so 3 hours here and alarm. 3 more hours, alarm. I'm barely functioning. Add in that every day this week after getting to work at 7am and leaving at 5pm, we have activities each night. 4-H meeting, 4-H dog obedience/4-H horse clinic(same night, lucky it was at the same place), makeup 4-H horse clinic, riding lessons/wash dogs, pack for show, leave for show.



Along the way a few mishaps but nothing we can't work through. Chickens escaping into the horse pasture-no biggy. Taking a mud caked clydesdale to the clinic, so we spent 20 mins in the wash stall taking a layer of gunk off her before the Ms worked her in the class. Late feeding on the little girl one night. Another girl going in season. Dogs killing anothe duck(lucky it was a cayuga that I'm trying to get rid of--FYI--four 2 yr old cayugas free to a good home! dog trained and easy to work with)

So on the way to the horse clinic tonight, this is how the day was ending. Peaceful and beautiful. I think the week is going just fine now.

Later gators....
C

Lickity spit....

That's what you get when you lick a toad.

I found said toad, surrounded by five cardigans. They were taking turns licking it, then it would bounce around a little, get licked and well, Alec ended up saving it. Off to the poultry yard it went.

Frank then spent the next five minutes in the pool rinsing his mouth out.

Later gators...
C

Sleep, who needs sleep?

Puppies always create a wrinkle in your schedule. Last year the Dirty Dozen were not exception, especially when you had round the clock supplemental feeding of 12 puppies when Mom was having a hard time keeping up with demand. That lasted about 2 weeks and then we were good. This time around, it's just one, but it's every four hours for our little girl.

Good news is that she gained about an ounce and has held it for 24 hours. The common thought between my two vets and others is that even with her hefty brothers seeming full term, she was just a little too early to this world. Here's how she takes a nap using Mom as a pillow....

I finally got the litter page up on the website, please let me know if there's any links not working. And more photos to post in the next few days, I promise!

Later gators....

C

Have cooler will travel!

For those of you doggie people, this has many meanings. For us, during this time of year with puppies on the ground, it means the ultimate form of transportation for those newborns. I
learned it from a good friend years ago.

Simply put, you line it with towels or bedding of choice, put in the heat pad or warming item, close the lid and let it "perk". When ready to move puppies-say to the vet for dewclaws or like last night, under the stairs as the funnel cloud flew over the house, load puppies, prop open the lid and it keeps them warm and safe.

So you just did the double take and re-read that line-funnel cloud.....yeap, Iowa weather, gotta love it!

Out working with the horses, getting bridle paths clipped, trimming a few wayward hooves and then hell came down in the form of pelting rain. It didn't end there! Dime sized hail. Horses come running back from the lower paddock. But no, Moo and the Clydes stand out in it getting nailed by the hail. Phoenix and Rio are in the loafing shed, flinching at the sound of the ice hitting the roof. Torey in the stall getting more and more paniced as the noise gets louder. Then it turns to golfball sized and keeps going for 5 mins! The ground was a solid sheet of round ice balls. Finally let Torey loose, they all sprint to the mid pasture area and you can see them flinching with each piece of hail-no way will they come in as the noise is so great that we can't hear each other scream.

Hail stops. We have a 20 sec discussion on checking chickens, ducks and windshields. And the look up to see rotation. It was dash to the house, dogs down stairs, puppies in a cooler and under the stairs with the Ms who has Merlot and Clairee on lead with her.

Did you know that 911 puts you on hold to transfer to weather service? No hold music either. So rotation turns to debris when it starts to touch down 1/4 mile away at the intersection. Didn't last long. I'm still on hold, btw. Then I get weather service, give my address, she says thank you, take cover and hangs up on me. By this time we are out of the path. Two of the counties sirens. are near us, 1 is 1 mile south, the other is a 1/2 mile north. I hear nothing. See nothing on the TV. Good job weather service!

5 mins after our call, warning issued for areas east of the Hwy from us. Dobbler indicated hook. Hello??? Did I not just say I saw it? Sirens go off and I plop my tushy in the easy chair and call my mother to see if she's in her safe spot and to tell her not to worry, it's already past us and them.

Then the 80 mph straight line winds come. Pushes water up through the roof cap and we get a leak through the center seam of the house. No biggy, been there done that before. Now we are wondering what we will find when Oz finishes landing in Linn County.

About 30 mins later it lets up enough for us to take a quick lookie, chickens-check, ducks-check, oh s**t, it starts pouring again and the lightening is unreal! So back to the barn for 15 more minutes. Recheck chickens-3 massively wet ones who bunked down with the ducks during the storm. Fence held. Agility equipment safe and in one piece. Peonies-flat. Indigo-flat. Cup plant-battered, again, poor thing. Pick up a few buckets, stand up the hibiscus. No smashed vehicle windows. But the roof of the barn looks like the dimples on a golf ball. Some decent dents in the hood of the truck and roof of the big tow.

Let's take a swing around the neighborhood to see if anyone has damage and needs help. Some wind damage in our corn field. Big trees down in the timber. Then swing up to the Hwy.

The four lane Hwy is getting resurfaced right now. From Cty Hm Rd up past Central City, about a 7 mile stretch. 1/2 of the north bound lanes are done, so center drop off and cones, lots and lots of cones. Add in 80 mph winds and well, get the picture? Cars are going 15 mph dodging 7 miles of turned over construction signs, cones, barrels and well, anything else that got moved. It was actually funny weaving in and out, over the center bump and such. We were all giggling as we got back to the house. What can you do but laugh?

I turned off the a/c, opened up the windows, feed puppy, and crashed. Almost slept through the 1am alarm as I was in such a nice deep sleep. And it's still raining this morning. Oh joy-wet dogs. I think I need to stock another cooler with adult beverages for nights just like this!

Later gators,
C


***update: okay, so it looks as though I was wrong. Alec found a crack in the windshield of the Big Tow this morning. Off to the insurance agency we go.......

First photo

Not the best photo, camera is doing something goofy. I'll try to get a little better photo of each tonight. You can see in the upper right a little butt with a dog on it? That's the little girl, who from reports from the home front this afternoon, is still holding her own. Da'boys, huge. Just huge I say!

Later gators...
C

Sorry for the delay.....

But we have puppy chaos in our home. I promise, photos will be posted as soon as I get a nap or several naps.

We have 5 lovely puppies. Yes the xrays were wrong and the reason---huge babies. I had planned a c-section for Merlot on Friday and good thing. She would have never have been able to pass these guys. 13.5, 14,15,15.5 oz. And that's all boys folks. Yes, 4 boys, 1 little girl who is 8 oz. We are struggling with her as she doesn't want to nurse, but is a willing bottle feeder. So there's the reason for my need for a nap.

And the funniest part-all black and white, no mismarks. Not a blue in sight. Go figure. None of the puppies have visable points at this time, though they should only have brindle ones. Deep dark black, loads of chrome.

2 of the boys hit 1 lb yesterday and no doubt all are there today. Unfortunately I had to go back to work and left the Ms and Alec in charge of the puppies today. Ms Merlot is doing very well though Saturday she was still looking at me with a "you want me to clean up what?" Good momma though.

Photos later!

Later gators.....
C

It's official!

No, not puppies, yet. But just as good if not better! Russ is officially a Grand Champion! AKC finally got their act together and updated results. Though they are still one day behind on getting Pete's title posted. Till then, how about a photo?

Later gators...

C