Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Weekly Puppy Pictures

Mira's boy Jet
Well, the new year approaches and who knows what joys and sorrows it will bring us? Right now, I am focusing on the joys part, the "ups" and not the "downs." There are new people to meet; new puppies to welcome; Maggie to train, to take to puppy class, and to introduce to the ins and outs of the show ring; Walker to show as long as he enjoys the ring; perhaps Breaker to take into the ring again to work on his Grand Champion title; family and friends to spend time with; and a job to go to. Many many blessings for sure!

Mira's girl Maggie
You will notice that puppy photos right now are reduced to five. Vanilla is gone, as are Socks, Carmel, and Tara to pet homes. Their new owners are all lovely people and we have enjoyed getting acquainted via email and finally meeting in person. My intent at the present time is to keep Maggie from Mira's litter.

I'm discovering that the blacks are not as popular as the golds and few people are interested in considering a black puppy as their pet. I've always loved the black Lhasas. Our first was a female we bought from Mary Soto named Sunshines Black Cherry. From Cherry, we got our black male Ch. Joyslyn's Mirage. He was so gorgeous. And from Raj came Bert, who taught me never to let my kids name puppies since he was fat little guy that the kids named "Fat Albert." We ended up keeping him and the name stuck (shortened to Bert though!) His AKC registered name was Ch. Joyslyn's Masquerade. Raj and Bert's pictures are on the Scrapbook page of the Joyslyn's website, but I'll try to remember to post them on the blog one of these days. We also had a black female named Mysti (Joyslyn's Mystique) and another male (I do love Lhasa males!) named Ch. Joyslyn MiToya Escapade.

As much as I love the blacks,  my preference right now is not to keep another black since I have Mira and since the color black seems to take over pretty fast. On the other hand, I imagine I might be keeping Whisper as well as Maggie unless the right person comes along for her.

Mira's girl Whisper
Whisper was involved in a mishap shortly after she was born. Mira, as we discovered during whelping, is an extremely protective mother. She loved her babies and watched over them and protected them well. Little Whisper was not interested in nursing, which worried me, so after all the puppies were born and while I was cleaning the whelping pen and arranging clean papers, towels, and a heating pad, I asked my husband if he would put Mira and her puppies on a quilt on the family room floor and make sure all the puppies were nursing, especially little Whisper.

Mira's girl Raven
Mira was not at all pleased to see Lynn handling her babies. Just as he was positioning Whisper on a nipple, Mira decided she had had enough and she growled and snipped at him. He jerked his hand away (an automatic response that he now regrets). Mira missed him and snipped the puppy instead, taking off about 3/4 of Whisper's right ear flap. It healed rapidly and there is no injury to the ear itself. My guess is that once the hair grows long on her head the injury will not be so obvious.

Dancer's boy Ty
After all these years of whelping litters, that was definitely a new experience (and one I hope is never repeated)! My vet tells me it happens often, but it hasn't happened to us before and I hope it never does again! As upsetting as the experience was, upon reflection I decided that it could have been much much worse! (My motto: Always look for something positive.)

The next big thing will be thinking of AKC registration names for the puppy(ies) I keep. Right now, I am sure about Maggie so I will be calling upon readers for some suggestions. I'd like to use the word "Magic" in her name, or perhaps another word that starts with "m-a-g," so put on your creative thinking caps. Suggestions are welcome. A friend has offered "Joyslyn's Clearly Magic" or "Joyslyn's We've Got Magic To Do."  (Those of you familiar with the musical Pippin will recognize where that name came from.) That's as far as the suggestions have gone.

So, life goes on at Joyslyn's as Lynn and I look forward to the coming year.

We wish each and every one of you many blessings during 2011. May you, your families, and your dogs enjoy good health, peace, happiness, prosperity, and Lhasa love.

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you.

Joyce

Monday, December 20, 2010

Weekly Puppy Pictures

Mira's girls, Raven and Whisper, age 8 weeks
Hello! It is time for the weekly photo update. I hope you have enjoyed watching the puppies as they've grown.

You'll notice some puppies missing from this weekly photo update. Vanilla is gone, and Carmel left for her new home on Saturday. Her new family had a 14+ hour round trip to get here and back home! But I'm pretty sure they think the trip was worth it.

A few years ago, a family drove quite a distance to pick up their puppy. I later asked them what they named him and they said, "Miles, because we had to drive so many to get him!"
Mira's boy, Jet, age 8 weeks

The day after Christmas Tara and one of the boys will leave for their new homes. It is great to meet people with whom I've been communicating about the puppies -- some of them for months before the litters were even born!

Since I probably will not be posting anything else this week as I prepare for our family's Christmas celebration, I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for reading the blog.  I've enjoyed sharing my ideas and my dogs' pictures with you. Thanks to those of you who left comments. It's nice to know the blog is being read.


Socks and Ty, Dancer's boys, age 9 week

Tara and Maggie, Mira's girls, age 8 weeks.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with good health, happiness, prosperity, and all the blessings you can handle.

Life, as you well know, is good when you have a Lhasa to love you.

Joyce

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Weekly Puppy Pictures

Dancer's gold girl. We call her Carmel.
Dancer's boys, Socks and Ty.
This past weekend the puppies had numerous "firsts;" first bath, first time under a blow dryer, first time in a crate, first car ride, first vet visit for a check up, and first puppy shots. I'm pleased to report that they manged it all quite well! They made a huge hit with the vet techs and assistants at the vet's office (All Pets Veterinary Clinic in Macomb where my dogs get excellent care). Everyone weighed between three pounds and just under four pounds.


Mira's girls, Raven and Whisper.
We have a new set of puppy pictures to share. These were taken last night. Mira's puppies were 7 weeks old on the 9th, and Dancer's were 8 weeks old on the 11th. As you can see, all are growing and coats are getting fluffy. The blacks look so cute with their little white chins, like they were dipped in milk!

We've "named" the puppies because we have to call them something to distinguish among them as we talk about them. Potential puppy buyers wonder if they have to keep those names. Absolutely not. The names are merely for our purposes in telling them apart. With this posting I decided to share those names.
Mira's boy, Jet.

They are fun to watch as they play. Their personalities are developing. They are all happy and outgoing, full of curiosity. Their moms enjoy being with them (to a point) and it's fun to watch them play with and teach their puppies. I've learned to do the "puppy shuffle" when they are all running around the family room. They are fast as can be and seem to enjoy nothing more that getting under my feet!
Mira's girls, Tara and Maggie

As of today, three of  the  puppies have been reserved, one of the gold boys, one of the gold girls, and another girl yet to be chosen. I have also decided to keep one of the gold females from Mira's litter. I am in love (as usual) with one of the boys, Mira's male that we call Jet. I simply cannot keep another male though. We're waiting until after Christmas before the puppies leave unless the new owners plan to have a quiet holiday. Hectic households at holiday time are not good for introducing a puppy to a new environment.

I hope you enjoyed the latest pictures!

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce

Friday, December 10, 2010

Something I Would Hate To Be Without!

Screamer, winter 1982
 
"Oh the weather outside is frightful…"

Daisy with Barbara in the WI snow, 2010.
What do you do to potty your Lhasa when the temps are down, when the snow is deep, when the blizzard is howling, when the sleet sends icy needles into your skin, or when the rain comes down in buckets?  What do you do when the last thing you want to do is put on your heavy snow gear and the dog's lead and head down the street to "exercise" the dog (a euphemism we dog show people use when we mean "potty")? What do you do when you know your Lhasa has to "go" but she puts on the brakes the minute you open the door to your back yard and she feels the rain, the wind, or the cold? What do you do when your Lhasa doesn't care if he gets huge snowballs in his hair, but you certainly care about having to thaw them out and get him dry multiple times a day?

Or what do you do if you have a show dog and there is no way in hell you are going to put that dog with that long coat outside in the rain or heavy snow? Not after spending hours grooming, bathing, and drying. No siree!

To the rescue…one of my absolute "I cannot do without it" pieces of equipment--the exercise pen! Years ago, before I knew about dog shows, I had never even heard of an exercise pen, and perhaps you have not either. So I am here to tell you, whether you show dogs or not, an exercise pen is a great thing to have!

An exercise pen generally has 8 wire panels, each 2 feet wide. Depending on your needs, the panels can be as low as 18 inches or as high as 48 inches. The taller pens come with doors in them. The shorter ones don't need doors, as it is very easy to reach over the top and to put the dog into the pen or take him out. My exercise pens are 24 inches tall. My dogs are not jumpers or climbers, so that size works well for me to get them in and out. If you have a jumper or a climber, you need a taller pen or one that has a top.

The pens can be configured as squares with each side 2 panels (4 feet) wide, as rectangles with 3 panels on the long sides (6 feet) and each end one panel (2 feet) wide, or as an octagon. If you are somewhere where the space is tight, you can overlap a couple of panels to make the pen size smaller. If you need a large pen, hook two 8-panel pens together.

The nice thing about exercise pens is that they are portable. They fold up for easy travel and storage. My 8-panel, 24 inch tall exercise pens fold up into a compact 2' x 2' x 3" size that is easily packed in the trunk of my car.

Exercise pens come in handy at the show site so my dogs do not have to potty in the public dog exercise area or pens (most of them have sawdust or wood shavings in them to absorb the urine…imagine that mess on a long-coated Lhasa…plus after just a few uses those public pens are so very NASTY!). Exercise pens also are helpful at the hotel. If the weather is not conducive for taking your dog outside, or if you want to give the dog a chance to stretch out a bit, or if you are just too tired to snap on a leash after a long day's travel, take a heavy flannel-back vinyl table cloth, spread it on the floor with the flannel side up and vinyl side down to protect the flooring, and set the exercise pen on top of it. Cover the flannel with piddle pads and put the dog in the pen. It's that easy.

When you travel and need to stop at a rest area, set up the exercise pen next to your car in the parking lot. The pen comes in handy especially at night when you are apprehensive about walking the dog in the designated pet area that is generally away from the parking lot and not well lighted.

When you take the dog with you to a picnic, you cannot let her run loose in the park and you probably don't want to keep her on a lead all day. Put her and her blanket and toys in the exercise pen. Or if you have an RV and do a lot of camping, take along an exercise pen. You'll find it comes in handy.

When you use the pen outside, you can put your dog on the grass if you want to, but another handy item is an exercise pen mat made of woven polypropylene.  The weave is loose enough to allow urine to seep through the mat and into the ground. These mats come in all kinds of sizes and colors and patterns and offer protective ground cover, if that is what you need for a particular situation. They are easy to clean with a hose and easy to fold or roll up for travel (just take a large garbage bag along to put one in after it's been used). If you don't want to use the mat, I suggest packing a vinyl tablecloth, which can be used for the same purpose. You can get nice heavy ones at reasonable prices if you shop for them after holidays. They may have Easter Bunnies, Santas, turkeys, or firecrackers on them, but who cares? That side is face down anyway!

We have a permanent exercise pen set up in our garage for use in inclement weather and for training puppies. We want our show dogs to be versatile in their potty habits. They need to know it's okay to go on newspapers or piddle pads or exercise pen mats as well as on grass or concrete because we never know what type of situation we'll find ourselves in as we travel. We've made our garage exercise pen a more permanent fixture by using zip ties to secure small pvc pipes along each side of the pen. Since the exercise pen is designed to fold for portability, the pvc pipes keep the sides of the pen rigid. If we want to take it down, all we need to do is cut the zip ties, remove the pipe, and fold the pen.

Of the many pieces of dog equipment I own, I would not be without an exercise pen. For a fairly small investment, the benefits of owning an exercise pen are many! You will find exercise pens in the familiar dog supply stores, as well as in any dog supply catalog. If you are an online shopper, just google "exercise pen," and you'll find all kinds of places from which to buy one.

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you…and an exercise pen to put him in when the idea of going outside is dreadful!

Joyce

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Weekly Puppy Pictures

Here are the weekly pictures. I think they speak for themselves!

Dancer's gold girl.

Dancer's boys

Mira's black girls

Mira's gold girls

Mira's boy
 

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce

Monday, December 6, 2010

Show Results

Zach and I were at the 3-day shows in Belleville, Illinois, this weekend. Although we returned home at a decent time last night, I spent the time unpacking so had neither time nor energy available for taking the weekly pictures of the puppies. We have some Christmas program going on tonight which will take forever (can you tell I'm thrilled to be going?) so don't plan on pictures being posted until Wednesday.

Oh, and while I am on the subject of pictures, you need to know that you will no longer be seeing Dancer's cream puppy in the photos. Many told me she really caught their eye. She caught mine too. She is no longer available, so will not be among the puppies pictured weekly.

Back to the topic of this blog: the show results. Due to my inability to walk evenly, to walk at a decent pace, to walk gracefully in this surgical boot, or to kneel down (and then get back up without falling over), I asked my friend Jane if she would show Zach for me at these shows. Thankfully, she agreed! She did a great job with him, verified by the fact that he won two out of the three days, picking up the two majors he needed to finish his championship! We can now add Ch. Joyslyn MLS Dakota Playboy at Heart to our list of champions.

Zach was a year old on November 13. Sadly, we haven't taken any pictures of him since he was 10 months old. However, when his show photos arrive in a couple of weeks, I'll post them for you to see. In the meantime, here are two baby pictures as well as two taken at 10 months.
Zach. 11 weeks.


Zach. Profile at 11 weeks.

Zach. 10 months.




Zach. Profile 10 months.


Zach's co-breeder and owner of Zach's sire is my friend Marsha Susag (that is where the MLS Dakota part of his name came from). Many thanks to Marsha for letting me breed Secret to her champion Twist to get such a nice dog as Zach. I must include Desi in that thanks also because she is a wonderful girl who could easily have been a champion herself if only she would not have insisted on chewing her coat. She had beautiful structure and movement, wonderful coat texture, a really nice bite, and a showy attitude that would have taken her far. Desi, now known as Daisy, has been delighting her new owners with her exploits. I assume the other four puppies from that breeding (Tornado, Ziggi, Ivy, and Snoopy) are blessing their owners' lives as well.

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce