More Notes from Friends, Pictures, and Updates

After reading about Oliver in the last blog, Sherri, who owns his sister wrote, "Libby is doing great.  I loved your blog where you are talking about one of her littermates (I think)—Oliver.  Everything the owners said described Libby: the licking, the chewing, the stubbornness, loving snow.  It is funny to think her siblings might be the same way.  She is a real princess and I think she knows it.  Today we got about five inches of snow-and she just ran through it like she was in heaven! She is a joy in our lives!"

Griffin I

 Tom and Penny, owners of Rafe's litter brother, Griffin I, sent photos of him and wrote, "Joyce, Griffin sends regards on his 15 month birthday and hopes you and family are well. We selected Griffin on Valentine Day in 2012  and he continues to be a joy."  

Max's new owners picked him up on Friday evening and sent this email Saturday morning: "We love him!! He never cried once on the way home. He woke up at 4am for a short cry and went back until 5:55am. He is such a joy to have...Thank you for giving us a beautiful new addition to our family!!P.S. He loves the snow." Max's new name is Snickers. His new family of four includes two junior-high aged boys. They'll keep him busy!!! It was charming that the whole family was so excited to see him and fell in love with him immediately. He was thrilled with them too!

Max/Snickers dozing in his new bed

I love it that all three messages say what a joy the dogs are to their families!

Lisa and Stacey wrote, "Just a quick note to say hi on Lola's second birthday (OK, 3 days late). Lola is quite the character -- smart, cute, sweet, opinionated, and very little (9 pounds now!!)...She also still loves going to the Saturday morning play group, but is much more particular about her playmates now. Some weeks she just focuses on the human attention, but if her favorite dog friends show up she runs around and wrestles. I'd hoped to get a photo of her to send you, but she absolutely hates the camera and even runs from my iPhone. I'll send a photo when I can get a decent one. Anyway, we absolutely love her!" (And, although they didn't say it directly, I know that Lisa and Stacey think Lola is a joy too!)

Ellie, 12 weeks

With Max's departure with his new family, little Ellie has been alone since Friday night. She doesn't care, and I really thought she would. She's enjoying getting all of the attention, has learned to amuse herself by batting a choo hoof across the tile floor, and has turned into a little diva (sounds better than "brat!"). She's been  playing with Maggie (her mom), Raven, and Windy. Rafe wants to play but she pulls and chews on his coat so I nixed that! I think he was relieved. She's also been trying to play with Raven's two boys, but they are not too sure they want to play with her! She's used to roughhousing with a puppy her own size. I warn her that soon they are going to be bigger than she is (like Lola, Ellie is a dink) and they'll gang up on her and get even. She doesn't listen.

The little boys each have a name now. The black is Gus and the gold is Duncan. I'm still struggling with the name "Duncan," but I looked at the black one day and said, "Hey Gus," so that obviously is supposed to be his name! Then I felt pressured to come up with a name for the other puppy. Duncan could have been "Hunter" (my suggestion) or "Buster" (Lynn's suggestion) but since we have three dogs whose names end in the "er" sound (Walker, Breaker, Connor), we decided that a fourth would be too much! Gus and Duncan are both beautiful puppies, with great personalities and very nice structures. I'm impressed!

Duncan, 5 weeks

Gus, 5 weeks

The new, horrible thing: Information and warnings about a rodenticide that has no antidote has been circulating among various dog-related listservs lately. The substance is bromethalin, a neurotoxin affecting mitochondria in the brain and liver. The information I received said that the poison killed GCH Polar Mist Cruz’n T’Party At Zamosky (Cruz), the top winning Samoyed of 2013. Speculation was either that he was purposefully poisoned or that the rodenticide was in the hotel room where he and his handler were staying. Either scenario is possible, but given that there is a reward being offered, my guess is that people think he was purposefully poisoned. Unfortunately, poisoning at shows does happen, either by animal rights activists whose agenda includes attacks on people who show (although why they take their anger out on the animals whose welfare they claim to champion, I have no idea) or by jealous competitors who want to eliminate the competition. Either way, the whole idea of it sickens me. Here is a link to the information about the rodenticide and why its ingredient is such a danger to dogs (and I would think humans as well. We have brains and livers too!). It works fast. Once signs are evident it's almost too late. There is no antidote.

The article about the rodenticide in the January 29, 2013, DVM Newsmagazine is "New Rodenticide without Antidote Alarms Pet Toxicology Experts: 2008 EPA Regulations May have Unintended but Dangerous Consequences," written by Julie Scheidegger.

We are hoping the recent snow storm was the last for our area and are looking forward to March and perhaps warmer, calmer weather and the beginning of spring. I was writing appointments on the March calendar and noticed that Daylight Savings Time begins on March 10th! Wow…so soon!!

I am also hoping for decent weather for our travel to this weekend's dog show in Gray Summit, MO. There are not many Lhasas entered, which is nothing unusual. There are only two class bitches entered, one of them being my Windy. Unfortunately, our training class was cancelled due to the snow storm, so she did not get the practice I was hoping for. Wish us a lot of luck. My goal is for her to get over being uncomfortable at the shows and to enjoy herself in the ring. If she does that, I'll be thrilled. The wins can come later. I hate seeing her so scared and nervous. She is the total opposite at home -- full of herself, confident, bossy. The big entry is the Best of Breed class. There are two champion males entered, one being Rafe. There are also two champion bitches entered. I'll let you know how things go.

I'm also including a video of Rafe and me in the ring at the show in Des Moines a couple of weeks ago. Thanks to my friend Rebecca for taking the video and surprising me with it.

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

Joyce