Friday, June 29, 2012

We survived day 1 and 2, I think

Holy cow, chicken, dog, goat, sheep, pig and what ever else is in the small animal building.  We survived, I think.  Lost a few pounds, not the way I wanted though.

Linn County Fair started on Wednesday with static exhibit judging-that would be things like home ec, photography, etc.

The Ms took a nice sunset photo, chocolate mint and a pastel drawing.  All blues!  AND......her pastel got pulled for state fair consideration!!   She made it to the final round, no state fair but got a big rosette as an outstanding project.  It's a drawing of Ike-the rescue we had a couple years ago and who now lives in WI with Pam, Leonard, Arlo and oh yes, Brian. 

We set up the dog show on Wednesday evening.  Thursday dawned with what was to be the hottest day of the year.  Temps hovering around 100 and heat indexes into the 110 and above.  Me-I worry about the Ms as she does not sweat so can overheat in an instant.

So we went through three coolers of ice and water, two large water coolers of water and gaterade.  Dogs all did well and none of my kids had real issues.  Borrowed livestock fans from people, kept the air moving and wading pools outside the building. 

Moose spent the day with Brooke, wandering the grounds, playing in the pook and just being a good friend.  Abbey and Miranda did our agility demo.  Judges were awesome!!!!  The kids had a blast and I was very proud of all of them--their hard work showed off!

The Ms was Reserve Showmanship-she was melting and we have an issue with her being too serious in the ring.  Judge told her-if you would smile at me, you would have won.  Eddie smiled.

Actually Eddie charmed a reporter again and we are awaiting his photo and an article on him in the local paper, The Gazette.
**Update: http://thegazette.com/2012/06/28/top-dogs-perform-at-linn-county-fair/

Lace was in Open obedience, got high in trial advanced class dog and then immediately got sent home to the A/C.  No agility for her-old age has finally caught up with her and she was the only dog to not do well in the heat. Officially retired now from any showing but is a loaner dog for classes-Matthew will be happy to hear that he has her back full time next year.

The Ms and (my dog-haha, lost another one to her), Pete, were awesome!!! High scoring prenovice dog!  And first place in 16" and under on leash agility.  Time to move to novice.  I was a little concerned that Pete would be too happy to concentrate, that's her typical issue, but she seemed to handle the heat the best of them all and was ready to work.  Again, lost another dog to the Ms.  Bugger.

Let's see--I think my clothes can stand on their own, I smelled horrible and stood in the shower, almost falling asleep last night standing there.  I did keep hydrated, ate a little to keep going and am now enjoying a day at work to recoop.

Tonight-poultry set up.  Tomorrow, chicken check in.  Draft Horse pull.  Clip horses for Monday.  Try and run some errands inbetween.

Sunday-poultry show.  The Ms has four chickens entered-Mr and Mrs Road Runner aka Anconas, The wheaton Amerucana rooster and her white Amerucana pullet.  Then it's the ducks-Two aged Ancona drakes, one young Ancona drake and one young Ancona duck.  She's also pulling her Ancona Chickens for pairs and her young Ancona ducks for the class.  Entries are limited to ten classes.

Then it's Monday-horse.  Torey's been training with some new equipment and it's working out great. 

Then what to do with ourselves?

Later gators...
C

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Leave of absence, or is it Absence of Mind?

So it starts.

Fair.

Today.

Or was that yesterday?

I'm just counting down the days till I can go to bed early, sleep late and not have to worry about what we forgot.

No, wait, that's a pipe dream. Sleep late?  Early to Bed?  Not forget something?

Today it's static exhibit judging.  Ms has a beautiful sunset photo, a pastel drawing of Ike(Forget you read that Pam, it's a surprise) and some of her chocolate mint in the herb class.  No rocket this year.  She's slightly disappointed that they no longer launch them so decided not to bother this year.

Did I mention that we(adults) volunteer hours upon hours for the fair?  Hubby's on the board as an adjunct member.

Tonight is set up for the dog show and yes I know, it's going to be blistering.  We are ready for that.  Lots of ice, water, pools, shade and fans. Free Country Concert is tonight with David Nail-I have tickets but too much going on to go.  Pack the rest of the stuff to go up, set up our area and home to wash Eddie and Lace.

Tomorrow, dog show.  All....Day....Long.

Friday, back to work to finish month end.  The Ms and Tall Kid will wash her four chickens for the show, scrub duck feet and bills, pack fans and ice bottles.  We'll go up after work to help Jackie set up.

Saturday-Hubby's got the Draft Horse Pull in the morning, we have to bring up the poultry for check in, decorate cages and help Jackie out.

Sunday-poultry show. All....Day....Long.

Go home, wash and clip horses.  Pack trailer for horse show.

Monday-horse show.  I have to work 1/2 day with the short week ahead. 

Tuesday-nothing!

Wednesday--nothing!

Thursday--ANTIQUES!!!!!!!!  Oh and the fireworks.

Friday----nothing!

Saturday--Deliver Jayne and Charlie to their new home in NE

Sunday???  sleep in???  What the heck is that.

I could go on and on and on.  Where did July go?

Wish us luck and I'll try to post some results on Friday. 

For those interested, here's the website....
The Linn County Fair 
It's the fastest growing county fair in the nation.  I think Jen's last email said they expect over 45,000 people over the 6 days!

Later gators...
C

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Iowa Corgi Frap 2012

Sorry this is sooooo late! Tell you what, our schedule has been nuts, no beyond nuts this spring/summer.

Without further ado.....
(permission to cross post)

Iowa Corgi Frap 2012

When: July 21st, Saturday
Time: 11ish till ???????
Where: Well of course in Iowa!

The McDonald Farm near Central City, IA(that's just 10 miles north of Cedar Rapids) Directions will be provided when you RSVP

Who: Corgis, corgi mixes and corgi wannabes and their hoomans all welcome.

As tradition, David will be doing BBQ chicken(home grown)and grilled sweet corn(locally grown). We will provide table service, lemonade and iced tea. 
Please bring a salad or dessert, ezup if you have one and chairs. Oh and a sense of humor. It might be hot, might be nice, might rain, no control over the weather.

The pool will be out for the dogs, the area is full fenced and we will have some of the obedience and agility equipment out. Ducks or chickens for herding(and yes if you want to take a chicken home, I have extras-live ones that is and eggs!) Horses to bark at and the cows in the next pasture too. We will be taking up a goodwill donation for CorgiAid.

Please RSVP at fogebotom @ yahoo . com so we know how many chickens to throw on the grill and to make sure we have enough corn for everyone-you all know the Ms
can eat a bushel herself.

Later gators....
C

Summer Solstice-dogs not eggs

The Summer Solstice shows were this past weekend in Minnesota and we trucked up there with Cy, Connor, Eddie and Penny. Met up with Shelley with Chip and Cara once we arrived. Not a bad weekend at all-the weather was perfect, well perfect for a sun burn. Still nursing that one. Too nice to sit under the shade. Company was great-Dawn, Shelley, Steve, Loren and Sherri. Which btw, Sherri is one of the nicest people around. Just happened to be grooming near her and we chatted, swapped stories, and helped each other out. How in the world can you be upset about being beat by the #1 cardigan as well as a super nice person? Congrats go out to Libby for her groups wins as well as Loren and her very nice aussie bitch and her BOB/group win out of the classes.


So results…Cara was RWB to a specialty winning class bitch shown by Sherri, Friday and Saturday. Judging was below par on Sunday and both Sherri’s bitch and Cara got dumped! Chip was select dog on Friday, Eddie didn’t do anything on Saturday and Sunday Chip was BOS to Libby! Connor was select dog all weekend and Cy charmed them all with WD all weekend long. No bitches entered so no BOW available.

We now have about a month until the next set of shows.  We are trying to figure out what to do, so many choices. Lots of close shows(okay close is under 5 hours driving) But we also don't want to battle heat.  So north and east I think are the directions to head.  Cy had such a blast with the Minnesota collie people-thinks they are so nice to be around and welcoming, he wants to play with them some more.   Penny ages in in early August, which means that I might actually get to show a dog! We also talked to Sherri about meeting up for a couple of shows as she loves showing up here and might consider swinging up again in the fall. Decisions, decisions.

On the home front----it’s chaos.  The blues clueless group turn 8 weeks old on Friday, get their first set of shots and are totally wrecking havoc on the house, their pen, the yard.  Eeek.  Got home on Sunday night and Grandma P looks like she’s wearing a dead fur coat—she’s decided to molt—all at once! Serious brushing and bath coming up.  Of course Pete said me too!  So she's headed into her bathing suit shortly. 

And County Fair starts this week. I’ll try to post as results come in.  Ducks, Chickens, static exhibits, horses and the usual volunteer work.  Again, EEEEK!

 And yes, I promise puppy photos, but I have to dump the card on the camera first-that’s tonight’s project.

Later gators....
C

Thursday, June 21, 2012

The name game

Here’s a start to the registered names for the Serenity Litter. For those of you non-sci fy fans, here’s a link to info on the series/movie. Firefly was a short lived series on Fox, Serenity was the movie made after the series was cancelled that kind of filled in the blanks and tied up the loose ends. My suggestion is to watch the movie then the series. Honestly, it’s really good and has a cult following.



Oh and did I mention that Nathan Fillion is the lead? The Ms has a crush on him—which explains the Castle marathons at home. She keeps asking me if it’s September yet. Do you believe that she would pass up summer vacation just to sit at home on Monday nights watch Beckett and Castle?






River aka "Foggy Bottom Woodrose Little Albatross"-this totally fits her personality!


Wash aka "Foggy Bottom Woodrose LightAsAFeather" - kind of a joke as this is the biggest boy in the litter but he really is Wash.


Jayne aka "Foggy Bottom Woodrose Ballad of Jayne or BrownCoat or Jayne’s Town or Serenity Valley", we can’t decide on his yet.  Jayne is a conundrum - I'm just not sure what fits him, kind of like the character, he's hard to pin down.  Though "No Grenades?" might be a good one too.


Mal/Malcom aka "Foggy Bottom Woodrose IAimToMisbehave" - we saved this for the boy who we thought had the most handsome face-he's funny, he's goofy but striking and can be very serious.  Just like the Capt.


Kaylee – not decided yet but she’s deviating from the theme to go with a Derby name-since the litter was almost a Derby Day litter. She’ll be "Winning Colors".   Her call name though, is perfect.  She is in so many ways just like the character.

Sometimes the names work, sometimes they don't.  This time around, all the names really do correspond to the characters.  So awesome!!!!

Later gators...
C

Travel help!

I know the blog is read far and wide so here's the situation......

I'm trying to find travel for Kaylee and Cora back to their human mom, Karen, out in Virginia.  If I can get them to the Western Reserve show in Ohio in August(10-12) there is a ride for them to Karen's. 

Anyone heading out that direction or even to Virginia in the next month or two that would be willing to transport the cutest little blue puppy and her mom?  Will chip in on gas money. 

Please email me at fogebotom @ yahoo dot com rather then leave a comment on the blog. 

Bloggers are the best, I know you guys can help me out!

Later gators...
C

What to do with all those eggs....



It was the summer solstice last night and yes, you can balance an egg or two or five on their ends!

Later gators....
C

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Wednesday musings

So I'm surfing at lunch and find it interesting when people post on their websites that their dogs are "ch" when we all know that they aren't yet?  Just interesting to note.

Also another beef of mine that's well known, seriously, if you have a website, either make it generic or keep it updated!  One that I ran across has show results from two years ago, but nothing current-I know the person has been regularly showing.  But they also have announcements of winter litters--last year, not updated, though photos on another page of available puppies-from 5 weeks ago.  Either keep up on it or make it generic people!  Or even better, get it off the web.

Another musing, the debate on taking Cy to the shows this weekend.  He's singled out, why show him if he just needs his majors?  I think I had this discussion just on Monday with someone.  Granted it's fun to show but you know, it's also nice to let other's have their day in the sun.  If you're not sure on how many points, then I say yes, sure, keep them in for a show or two.  But don't enter if you know it's not going to be majors. 

On the other hand, I've paid my entry fee not knowing the dog would be singled out by now, I have a right to show, don't I?  Yeap, and since we are going anyway, why not take him along and show anyway? 

Debate, debate, debate.  Then again it's one less dog to bath and groom all weekend long!  The less I have to do the better, I can just sit ring side in my jeans and watch Alec show.

Last but definately not least in this rambling post--Shelley, can you send some rain down here?

Later gators....
C

One more time with feeling?

It’s hard to believe but County Fair is next week! That’s two weeks earlier than ever, well they decided to make it a part of the Freedom Festival in Cedar Rapids. With that, it’s another end to my yearly 4-H dog obedience/agility/showmanship classes. It frees up a night during the week, but I miss working with the kids. Some of them have become close friends and it’s always amazing to see the transformations over time.


But next week is also chaos week. Starts with static exhibits for the Ms-visual arts project, rocket and I think she has a couple of hort entries too.


Then the next day is the dog show-that means Pete, Eddie and Lace have to be all primped and cleaned up for the show.


Back to work for a day to try to close out the month.


Saturday is super crazy-draft horse pull which the Hubby works, bring up Clyde for demos. Meanwhile the Ms and I are wrangling ducks and chickens to head up for poultry check in and quiz bowl.


Sunday-poultry show. Then somehow after clean up of the poultry show, we have to head home and reload for the horse show on Monday. Somewhere in there we have to clip and bath two horses-AHAHAHAHAH

Then it’s over. That’s the worst part, we are relieved it’s over, but can’t wait for another year!

Later gators....
C

Pupdates

Busy busy week around here.  I have to thank the Hubby for helping out the Tall Kid with 6 1/2 week photos. 

First up, River.  Yes, fluff.  And no, I'm not going to follow the trend that seems to common these days and say she's just "coated".  Call it like it is folks or get the heck out of dodge.  But beyond that, the little gremlin has really stolen a lot of hearts and proven she was worth all that hard work-what a diamond in the "fluff".

 Next, the precocious little imp called Kaylee.  She's a fearless, frapping fool.  Tail wags all the time and she has not meet anything she doesn't like.  Have fun with th is one Karen!

 Jayne.  One. Big. Boy.  What a hoot and what a talker.  He's headed to Nebraska in a few weeks.

 Then there's Wash.  7 lbs(River is only 4).  He takes his time with just about everything, is a lovely structured dog and I can not wait to see him in the show ring!  Watch our Red Dogs, there's a new blue in town!
 Lastly, but definately not leastly, Malcom.  He's hanging out here to grow out some.  I love, love, love his head and face(same can be said for the character he's named after :)) I can not wait for those ears to come up, you'll love the surprise underneath them.

Candids tomorrow!
Later gators....
C

Monday, June 18, 2012

The Faulty Puppy

No nothing wrong, just every time I get an email from Lisa in CO, I think of John Cleese and Faulty Towers.

Bates aka now Basil, is growing up so fast.  Here's a recent photos and I saved a young man from future embarassment by not posting the photo of him in the bathtub with the puppy!  And I might add two very handsome dudes there...and one chick!

Thanks Lisa and family for giving him an awesome home!

Later gators..
C

All grown up

This weekend was HOT, even hotter where the Tall Kid and I were-Missouri.  Thank goodness for a building with great A/C. 

So down in MO, Connor select both days, Cy BOW both days to single out and Loki was RWD(though everyone outside the ring said he should have had it) and WD/BOW for his first points!  He's getting better and better each show and had a wonderful first road trip with us.  He'll be back out in August.

Cy aka Baby aka goofy ball, now needs his majors which are a pain in the ass to find now.  Might not get those till he heads either back to MO or MN over the next couple of months.  Bugger when no one enters.

BUT..... about being a grown up?   Hubby and the Ms stayed at home because she had a 4-H horse show and poultry clinic on Saturday.  The grown up of the bunch?  Torey.  Yes I wrote that correctly, the 1000# golden retriever is finally coming into his own. 

I didn't know till we pulled in the drive last night and the Ms ran up to me with a trophy!  1st place in aged gelding halter!! WOW!  She said he gaited out, stopped, squared and stood like a statue.  She wasn't sure if it was her horse or some had transplanted a new brain in her's.   I'm so happy for her!

But on the other hand, rude parents and guardians of other kids really ruined the riding portion of the show for a lot of others.  I understand this is a fun show, but it's getting ready for the real thing.  It's totally unfair to be yelling out instructions to riders from outside the ring, allowing them to run up and spook other horses and then place them in the classes, when a few other kids for the safety of it all, stayed out of trouble and had horses that did what was asked.

So how about growing up yourself?  Train outside the ring and use  the fun show for really life experience on doing it on your own.  Hubby's still pissed at the antics that went on, because it ruined it for a lot of others.  Ugh.

Anyway, I'll try to have puppy photos tomorrow--they are soooo big now!!

Later gators...
C

Friday, June 15, 2012

You so rock!!!!

So as posted previously, the babies have taken over Connor's Cool Bed II.  I'm in the market for another one, but haven't gotten it purchased yet.

Cora opted to spend the night with the babies instead of her dog bed.  You would honestly think that with all the toys and crap in the puppy pen, she couldn't be bored.

I woke up to her having flipped the bed over, pulled out and destroyed the fill cap and started in on the air valve.  OMG, I was beyond pissed this morning, promptly kicked her out of the puppy pen and sent her outside so I could try and figure out what to do--we wanted to take it with us this weekend  but desperately need it for next weekend's shows.  Though grooming usually has a nice cool breeze, it can get hot in no time flat.

Can I rave about the bed any more?  YES, because K&H Manufacturing has the most awesome customer service too!   Kelly said no problem and two fill caps(a spare) are in the mail to me this morning and we talked about the air valve and it should be fine. 

The Cool Bed products are durable, easy to use and store well and Connor LOVES his!   Guess it's time to get a couple more.

Later gators....
C

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Oh Linn County Conservation, do you know your animals????

Few weeks ago, Linn County Conservation tried telling us that there were no cougars in our area and the horrific blood curdling calls we heard were just two coons fighting. 

I'm confused now.....
Guess the neighbor that had to put down a horse due to it's injuries got attacked by a pack of coons then?  Or that all the web sites with sound bites have them labeled wrong, what is supposed to be a cougar is actually coon's fighting?

I'm glad none of our local officials took part in this study!

http://www.kcrg.com/news/local/Study-Cougars-Again-Spreading-Across-the-Midwest-159017735.html

Later gators...
C

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Tentative Corgi Frap aka Puppy Party aka what was I thinking?

First off, Hubby, I haven't passed this through you for approval but figured I'd throw this out for thought to everyone. 

I hadn't set a date for our annual Iowa Corgi Frap yet.  So much going on, honestly, I forgot.

So looking at the calendar, taking into consideration we aren't battling county fair this year(it's two weeks earlier now), when will puppies be old enough to leave the nest and when we don't have anything else going on, the following options have opened up......

July 14th-Saturday. 
July 21st-Saturday.

So chime in please!  The 15th we are off to a poultry show, so not sure if we have to be there the night before for check in or not, but we can work around it.  That weekend the Blues Clues kids are 10 weeks old an ready to head out and it would be awesome to have a puppy party with all our friends coming.

Let me know what might work -- as usual it's all you can eat home grown BBQ chicken, watermelon, sweet corn and drinks.  I expect everyone else to bring along something to statisfy my sweet tooth(um that would be apple pie please Pete!) 

Later gators....
C

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The out takes

We always have to have outtakes before, during and after the photo shoot.....


 The have claimed Connor's Cool Bed and the fan.

Don't you just love this face????

Wash likes to wedge himself, notice the feet in the xpen bars?  And for Dawn, a scent article.


A bored Malcom.

And the best I could get of the girls fighting in my lap.  They were first fighting over the camera cord, then my lap, then they ended up on the floor.  Don't be mistaken by Kaylee being on top, River goes gremlin on her siblings and you had better watch out!

Later gators...
C

Pupdates

It was so hot this weekend, that cooperative puppies were non-existant.  So last night I grabbed Alec between Master Chef commericals and got a few that sort of look like cooperative puppies. Some more then others....
The very pretty and she knows it, Kaylee.


Look at those eyes!

Ms River, attitude all over the place

But every head shot I get of her is blurry?

Malcom, who does not have a roach, but every photo is pre pounce with him, so he keeps squishing himself up.

Just look at that face though!  The insides of his ears are splashed with white.

Jayne, super dork.


Wash-"where's the food?"

One blue and one partial blue eye, always makes him look sleepy.
Later gators....
C

Monday, June 11, 2012

Can't help but smile!

This is what I live for, that phone call from one of my "puppy" people who give me stuff to brag about.  All the time I spend in the ring and do stuff with my own dogs does not compare to making someone else happy.

Chip and Max were in the rings today, one in MN and one in WI.  Liz called first with news that Max went BOB and is now one point shy of his Championship!  Though I kept hearing, where is Alec when I need him?  Now come on, you've done an awesome job all by yourself!!!

Then Shelley called from MN and Chip went BOB, which included a major competition win towards his grand!  Not to bad for a boy who hasn't seen the ring since January.  And he got a taste of lure coursing at a fun day-I see a CA behind his name in the near future.  He was awesome from what Shelley described.

Way to go Shelley and Liz--you have made me a very proud person and give those boys a huge hug from me!

Later gators...
C

Friday, June 8, 2012

Hum twins?

Just change one to red or the other to brindle and well, I think you have twins!

Colleen sent me some photos of our Bugger girl.  For those not knowing, Sugar is the brindle and the lovely red boy is her 1/2 brother Murphy.  Both are Fred kids, or can you tell that?
Thanks Colleen for giving both of the kids an awesome home!   Word is that both are soon to hit a few herding trials this summer!

Later gators...
C

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Crazed and drooling

Connor is just say, a little odd at times.  We figured out a while ago that he will stand on his head for a bowl of penne pasta with garlic marinara sauce.  He drools horribly when he wants something that bad.  And stand so pretty too.  Just haven't figured out how to get that in Alec's suit coat for bait at the shows.

Though we may have found something slightly easier to carry, but just as messy.   Watermelon.

He goes ape over Watermelon.  I mean possesive Ape. 

Last weekend we were eating some, he passed by, stopped, backed up and went-I WANT SOME!  NOW!!!!

So we broke down and got the dogs their own melon.  Similar to Jinne's Watermelon Sunday antics, except Connor eats the whole thing.  Icky rind and all.  Lace and Click clean the rinds to the white part.  Connor, eats it all.

I think he ate about a 1/4 of one all on his own. 

The worst part--the watermelon farts.  At least he sleeps with Alec, not me!

Later gator...
C

Fat chance

Once again it’s Tuesday. Don’t ask me the date, I’m working in two different months on the computer and all that registers right now is May 31st and June something or other.

But Tuesday for another 3 weeks is obedience class for the 4-H kids. And once again is mixed bag of breeds, ages, training levels, enthusiasm, and well, dogs wanting to work. Okay, kids too.

Many want to just come and run the agility with their dogs and run it is. One kid last week said it’s funner the faster you go, regardless of the dog doing it correctly. He’s one I have to watch now and make sure he takes the entire course as fast as the parts he has a hard time on.

One of my constant battles is also the fitness of the dog. So many of these dogs lay around the house, get minimal exercise and the families expect the dog to come to class and work hard core for 2 hours. It’s so unfair.

I actually had a chat with one parent, returning team of a yellow dog(won’t mention breeds) and child and dog was obese. Told her quit free feeding, more walks, throw ball, etc. Not much in the way of improvement. Had another dog start, then quit because it was just too hard on the overweight dog. So what good is it to quit exercising the dog just because it’s now hard—I think it was the owner/handler and not so much the dog.

I hate overweight dogs. Period. Ask Shelley. She never got so much razing as in January when she pulled Cara out of her crate at the show. I didn’t reserve my opinion at all-I think my exact words were “what the hell did you do to that dog in 2 mos time? You can put a dinner plate on her ass!” Needless to say, she came to Fat Camp for about 4 mos, lost a lot of weight, gained a lot of muscle tone back and went home svelt and lookin’ good!  And still better look that way when I see her again!

There are a bevy of retired dogs at my house. Is that an excuse to let them get flabby, overweight and out of shape? Not in my lifetime. 12 yr old Grandmother of All, Phoebe, carries no more weight than the whippersnappers here. Granted she doesn’t move as much as they do, little creaky, so she gets a little less in her bowl, a few more low fat treats(apples, etc.) Horrible to see older dogs that aren’t motivated to exercise by their owners and feed to keep happy, that end up obese, fat, out of shape. A healthy, in shape older dog has a lot less problems and most certainly lives longer.

I might get a little flack on my babies right now. Not the Blues Clues kids, but the Monsters aka Penny and Princess(do not get me started on that nickname). Both spend a majority of the day outside with the three collies and Charlie. They are skinny by nature(hello mom is Dove) but they are fit, toned and active. Nice to have the two legged kids home on summer break, so that they can spend loads of time outdoors. Not a wasted ounce on them, no baby flab or jello puppies there. That’s reserved for the other babies-especially Ms River. She can have a little flab, she’s trying to catch up with her siblings. I hate fat puppies. It’s so unhealthy, put undo stress on those developing joints and like people, obese children sort of develop a life long battle with the bulge.

I’m not immune here folks. I’m working on not pigging out, eating better and exercising more. I used stomach muscles I didn’t know I had when we went riding on Sunday. Phoenix made sure to jiggle me a little and I felt it Monday. And I’ve lost a couple of pounds, but have many more to go.

What it comes down to is that a lot of pets look like their owners-out of shape, carring a little too much extra baggage. Make it a mission to keep your pet in shape, watch what it eats and you’ll have them around a lot longer!

Later gators....
C

Monday, June 4, 2012

Out takes

First "stacked" photo session is up on the website under Week Four.  But I had to share the out takes here.  It's hard being a model!

First up, Wash.  Ummm-nummm, cheese.  Give Me More!
 River of course, following the instructions on the Ms' shirt-talkin' to the Paw!
 Mal-um, cheese, over here, let me help you, stop moving your hand!

 Afterwards, crash time.  It's just so tiring taking photos.
 Kaylee
 Wash who prefers the floor.
 Mal who is always in some contorted position.
 Jayne, again, prefers the cool floor.
 And last but not least, River, who tends to be able to fall asleep anywhere, in any postion.  She eventually fell off the bed, and continued her nap upside down.
Later gators....
C

Birthday Palooza!

Boy, June is the time for babies here at Foggy Bottom!  

It's time to wish the Comedy litter a happy first birthday!!!  
I heard that all the kids got cake and treats-most of them got of all things, carrot cake!!!  Happy Woofdays to Jeff Fa Fa, Monti, Buster and Angus!!

Emmett aka Buster and his pool party. 

Next up is the Jimmy Buffett Litter!  That would be Frankie, Dove, Bear, Shaker Baker, Arlo, Torch, Harry and Rogue.  
Did you know they turn four today??   I guess it's ice cream at home tonight and maybe a quick run to the creek and well, for Frankie a roll in something smelly.

Later gators...
C


Friday, June 1, 2012

Totally random Foto Friday

 Love the weather around here - the clouds are just amazing!

Moose inspecting the fence-there must be a hole if those big things are on the wrong side of it!
Nope, just have the horses out in the front pasture.  Below are the boys, Torey and Moo.  Not looking bad for a horse that's like 32 or so?  He's got nerve damage in is rear so not sure how much longer he'll be with us now.  Torey on the other hand, will haunt me forever?
Later gators....
C

Release the Qwackin!!!!!

The Ms is a proud duck owner, breeder, what ever you want to call us. 

We've had the Ancona hens in a seperate run for about a month or two- chocolate hen, white hen and Pip-the lavender hen.  Originally the 3 yr old black drake and chocolate drake were with them and the girls laid eggs in a communal nest.  The chocolate hen decided to be the designated brooder and has been sitting for about a month now.  We took the drakes out at that point too, so it's just the 3 girls.

When our unique wild animal issues started up, we mysteriously lost our chocolate drake-found dead in the yard one morning after the blood curdling cat screams started.  For those interested, the chocolate color is sex linked recessive.  We were really praying for chocolates this year and now with loosing him, hopes were dashed.  Or so we thought!

See what the Ms found last night???
8 new ducklings and 8-10 more eggs left to hatch out!  The count, we think, is 4 blacks, 2 lavenders and maybe 2 chocolates!!!!  Guess he wasn't a dud after all!

We'll keep you posted on the count over the weekend, hope to have a few more hatched out.  Which then leads me to post that in August, we'll sort what we have and put up a sale list for the Anconas!!! Wooo Hooo!!!
Later gators...
C

Pupdate aka Foto Friday

I'm being blasted from all sides for new photos of the babies--sorry!  With the heat last weekend, now record cold and meetings, it's been hard to get good light to get photos.  Tonight we'll do official 4 week photos but till then, how about some candids?

Malcom with a face full of yummy puppy gruel
 Ms Kaylee, what a doll!  Both her eyes will be bright clear blue like her pappa.
 Left-Jayne, the pig.  Middle-Wash, isn't the tongue cute? The head? That's River and the butt? That's Malcom again.
 The blue crew-Kaylee and Wash.
 Food comas-Malcom prefers the belly up sleeping position.
 Jayne and Wash. 
 The perfect Kaylee.
 And that's her opinion on the whole photo session.
 Caught mid arooo, howl.  Yeap, Wash is his daddy.
 Group photo as best as can be done with this bunch.  Lower left Mal, then clockwise, Wash, River behind Kaylee and lastly the hunky Jayne.
 And Jayne.....
 And Jayne....
Later gators...
C