Tuesday, December 21, 2021

Santa's On His Way! Merry Christmas!!


"Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time.” ~ Laura Ingalls Wilder



 Christmas is only a few days as I type this blog, and whatever holiday you celebrate and however you celebrate it, I wish you a happy one that is filled with love of family and friends.

There is much to share with you, so let's get started!

First, most of my readers know that my husband, who is an award-winning playwright, recently turned his writing talents to novels. Two have been published; the third is currently with the publisher being edited; the fourth is being written. Recently we learned that Havana Brown was awarded the 2021 Royal Dragonfly Book Award Winner in the Mystery category! If you like mysteries and have not read it yet, you can get it on Amazon. Havana Brown by Lynn-Steven Johanson is book 2 in the Joe Erickson detective series. The first book in the series is Rose's Thorn.

Notes and Photos from Others

Many thanks to those who keep in touch and send photos of their Joyslyn's Lhasas. I appreciate getting the updates and photos so much!

Mary R wrote about her three Lhasas, two of them are Joyslyn's Lhasas. Here is part of what she wrote about them: "...Rafe turned 10 Nov. 27. He is doing well. He really has a soft personality compared to the girls. Moka is a bossy girl. Belle can be pushy, almost too happy, excites easy; Belle wants to keep everyone happy ...Moka is my tomboy and I think she thinks she is boss. All 3 get along, play together; I am lucky to have such good dogs..."

Belle

Rafe

Speaking of Rafe, Mary D. sent a photo of her Gabe, who happens to be Rafe's litter brother.



From Dennis and Marilyn:  "Hi Joyce, I hope this Christmas season finds you, Lynn, your family, and the dogs, healthy and happy. I am including pictures of Maci who will be 7 on Dec. 30th, and Hunter who turned 4 in July. We purchased our first dog Abby from you in 2001, and it was one of the best things we have ever done. We love the breed, and we are are so glad we found someone who is committed to breeding, raising, and showing these beautiful dogs. Thank you! Hope you have lots of family around to make your Christmas Bright!"



Denise wrote, "Lily was 15, and one of the best little fur babies one could ask for. She was always quiet and sweet. Never any health issues just an all-around easy tenant (lol). I think Duncan kept her young at heart up in till the end. ♥️ which was so fun to watch the two of them. He tried to be the boss but in the end we all knew who ruled.. even though he tried to be a bully...Attached is a picture of Duncan meeting a little human for the first time this summer."
(Note from Joyce" I love that "Whoa! What's this?" expression on Duncan's face.)


Teresa did not send a photo. but wrote about Dora: "This is Teresa, Dora’s mamma. I wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in the new year! I love my little baby Dora so much! Thank you for giving me my precious girl, she is a fiesty little baby but truly a blessing." 

Michelle wrote, "...I must say the love we have for Sunny and now our grandson is just the best! Thank you again for all you do, for all the help you provide me! I am so happy to have found out about you and to meet you. I appreciate you! I hope to see you again at one of your travels to a dog show nearby. We will keep in touch!"


This is Kiara with her new friend Jake!


Kathy sent this sweet picture of Bandit sleeping on Tom's lap. Sweet baby Bandit!


From Bob and Jody about Bernie: "They [everyone who meets him] love him!... During our visit the vet asked if he could take Bernie in the back so staff could have some puppy love. The vet said he is healthy and sturdy unlike some puppies he has seen recently. 
He has been on a zoom call with Bob’s law partners and a workout with me on Wed. He is going to read a book on Hanukkah on Tues. to first graders in Texas. He has a busy schedule! At first he followed me around everywhere, today he will go in the living room and nap or play for a short time on his own. He knows his pen and really likes to have someone next to him. Yesterday he went in there and used the piddle pad on his own. He is just too cute! Thanks for the gift of Bernie."


Kiara, Bandit, and Bernie are littermates from the recent Josh and Bekka litter.
Bernie is marked like his older brothers Gus and Ty.

Janet wrote, "Hello Joyce, Merry Christmas to you and your family, two legs and four.
Just wanted to send a couple pictures of Pebbles Grace. The first is her Christmas picture. It was a very stressful day, she was to get her picture after two Pitbulls who decided to get into a fight drawing blood on their owner who was trying to get them under control.  Pebbles remained her well manned self. I think I was more nervous. I was holding her a little too tight as you can see by her hair not as smooth as usual. The second is of her being her very helpful self. She thinks I need help folding laundry.❤️😂❤️ There is something about a basket of towels that she can't help herself she has to get in them and stays until all are folded.  She is an amazing and perfect girl. Mike and I always look forward to reading your blog.  Can’t wait to see Rusty and Millie's puppy’s (when they come). 😊 All of your dogs have done so well this year at shows.  Your heart must be filled with so much love and pride. 
Again Merry Christmas and Happy New Year."



From Melanie and Kevin: "Here is Harper’s Christmas picture. I finally got her to sit still. She loves to play with her toys and play fetch. We had some snow about a week ago and she had fun running around the yard and sticking her nose in the snow. When we play in the yard she will sometimes run as fast as she can(and she runs really fast)from one side of the yard to the other. I made her a little hurdle to jump over and she has to jump over it every time we go out. We are so thankful to have Harper. She is so much fun and makes us laugh at the silly things she does. Have a Merry Christmas!"


Shelly commented, "Tucker is getting in the Christmas spirit!


Jim wrote: "A couple of Daisy. She definitely understands ownership - she loves her stuff, including her travel backpack."


Tom and Penny wrote, "Joyce, Griffin recently celebrated his 10th birthday.  He is a wonderful boy and has brought us great joy.  We wish you a happy holiday season."
(Note:Their Griffin is also a litter brother to Rafe and Gabe)

Pat and Chris sent an update on Teddy, who is Archie's litter brother: "It's been a while since I've updated you on Teddy, so wanted to send you a few pictures, as well as wish you and Lynn a very happy holiday season!  Teddy continues to be a ham and bring so much joy to both Chris and me.  He loves going to work with his godmother where employees can take their pets to work.  Since we work from home, it's a great outing for him. The workspace is a big warehouse, so he makes everyone laugh by running as fast as he can and then sliding across the floor to a stop.  Recently he ran into his bigger "namesake" and from the picture, you can tell he just didn't know what to think or do.  He loves stuffed animals, especially his totally destroyed "lamb chops" with the giraffe scarf featured in the other two pictures. But that overgrown stuffed teddy bear really puzzled him, notice his ears cocked back in deep reflection!   
Again, we want to thank you for letting us adopt Teddy and we want you to know how much he is loved and spoiled!  We've already made a list for Santa, he wants everything!  Hope you both are doing well and Santa is good to you as well.  Wishing you a Merry Christmas and very happy 2022!" 



(Note: Teddy is Archie's litter brother.)

Mindy sent this photo of Milo, writing "Precious baby Milo."
Milo and his buddies

Milo

Debi sent an update: "Lacey is doing very well...She is growing so fast and is now 8lbs.  She is full of energy!  I don't know how you and Lynn do it.  We just have ONE puppy and she tires us out. LOL. Her face hair is always covering her little eyes the way it is growing.  It doesn't matter how much I comb and brush her face, I can't seem to keep it out of her eyes.  I am taking her for her first grooming, (since we have had her), in a couple weeks.  We have already had her nails trimmed.  I tried to do them myself, but I could not get her to stay still enough.  I need a grooming table.

She is in her terrible 2's, LOL.  She's always trying to get into trouble.  She is just curious about everything.  Now that she can stand taller on her hind feet, she can reach things that she wasn't able to before.  She likes to play the game, "catch me if you can", when she gets a hold of something she knows she isn't supposed to have, but after a few tries, we get it from her.  She is learning to sit and stay.  She has "sit "mostly mastered, and we are now working on "stay", she is doing pretty well with it.
She is happy and proud that she can now jump on the chair in the Living room. This old chair has been a favorite with every dog we have had.  This is why we keep it, LOL.  She is very smart and gets bored easily, so we have to come up with new things to keep her entertained.  She has about 50 toys and is starting to get bored with all of them, so we put some away to take out again later.  She loves to chase around water bottles, small gatorade ones work best because they don't crush easily or get sharp edges.  She also loves to do this silly thing.  She zooms around the house and then takes a flying leap and plops onto a standard bed pillow we have on the floor for her.  She will do this over and over again until she gets tired.  It cracks us up every time. Whenever we go to the vet or pet store, She becomes the star of the shop! Everyone loves to see her and pet her and she just loves it!  She loves everyone and is so sweet.  We love to cuddle with her when she gets tired out and settles down a bit. We just feel so blessed to have her in our lives.  We are enjoying her so much!  We and everyone in our family just love her! She isn't spoiled, LOL. I have a feeling she is going to get about 20 more toys from everyone for Christmas."


Ginny sent this picture of her Lhasas:
Maple, the Joyslyn's puppy on the left



News From Here

Rusty was a year old on December 5. This is the most recent photo of him, taken after a bath. 

My goal was to get his championship before the end of the year. You know what the poet said about "best laid plans..."! We'll hope to get that final point in 2022. He is looking great, don't ya think?


In Memory of Henri:

Of course we are known as long-time Lhasa breeders and exhibitors, but what many do not know is that we also, for the past 7.5 years, have had our granddog, Henri, in our home. Henri was a purebred Affenpincher, that originally belonged to our daughter. When her first child was born and it turned out Henri did not like him, she asked us to take him. He was a funny little fellow, always acting like he was a big dog. He did tricks, loved treats and going for walks, hanging out in the family room curled up in a dog bed, and bullying puppies (!), but he was also a love with his people (except kids!!). He passed away during the night last week. We miss him a lot.
Baby Henri with Erikka


Henri - about 3 years old

Henri age 13.5, just a few days before he passed

Once is a Habit!
Lhasas especially are pretty sure that once means always! Be careful what you let them get away with. LOL

Someone recently posted this cartoon on my Facebook page to remind me that I told her "once is a habit" when she came to get her puppy.



Peer Pressure
I recall a joke I heard years ago that went something like this:
A 110 year old woman was celebrating her birthday in a nursing home. A reporter from the local paper was on hand to interview her. 
He asked, "What is the best thing about being 110?"
She responded, "No peer pressure."

Now I confess that, in spite of digging in my heels for years, I have bowed to peer pressure and have raised my puppy prices to come closer to matching what other Lhasa breeders in the midwest are charging. Some of that pressure has been delicate. The pressure I got during a phone call last night was pushy and (me being the rebel that I tend to be) I was totally irked and all but hung up on my caller. But, I slept on it and caved.

Lhasas in pet stores and Lhasas whose genes have been combined with heaven only knows what other dog breeds to make a -doodle or -poo or whatever other cutsie name someone comes up with to create a  "designer dog"-- that is nothing more than a cross-breed, a mutt, etc.-- are being sold for prices that often exceed $3000 to $5000 dollars. 

My rational mind tells me that my 49 years of owning, breeding and showing Lhasas should make my puppies worth at least that much money, if not more!

The irrational part of my brain is still in the "it's a free country" and "how dare those %^$*#@s (fill in your choice of word) dare tell me how to run my my life and dictate what I should/should not do with my dogs. I am becoming calmer as the hours go by, but may still hang up on the next person who dares to address the issue. I sincerely hope no one mentions it again. (hint hint)

The new price for 2022 is $2300 plus the 9% sales tax Illinois requires dog breeders to charge. Total cost is then $2516. I know I will lose some people on my waiting list. Also, if you have bought a puppy from me previously and want another, we'll work out a deal!
=================================

Let there be peace on earth indeed!

Happy Holidays to You All!

Joyce


Saturday, November 27, 2021

Happy Holidays!

 

Well, here we are at the end of November! October and Halloween are behind us, as is Thanksgiving. I hope yours was a good one. I evidently caught a "bug" that caused me to do nothing but sleep from mid-morning on Wednesday until it was time to get up Friday morning. Poor Lynn had a frozen pizza for his Thanksgiving dinner! (That was his choice. He knows how to cook!)

I spent Friday catching up on all things I'd let slide the previous two days, especially dog grooming!

Here is the quotation I would have shared with you on Thanksgiving Day had I felt like getting out of bed!


I am indeed grateful to you readers, Lhasa Apso lovers, and buyers of our puppies. A breed that has captured all our hearts, the Lhasa Apso has a proud and ancient heritage. We all must work hard to protect and preserve our beloved breed.

Photos of the Josh and Bekka Puppies, Age 8 Weeks

 
Kissy

Bandit

Bernie

These cuties, who will be 9 weeks old on Monday, will be leaving for their new homes in a couple weeks. 

Our next litters are being planned and we hope to have puppies for those of you on our waiting lists by spring and summer. Plans are to breed Rusty to Millie and repeat the Josh x Autumn breeding that produced Emmy and her siblings.

I confess that puppies are a lot of work -- cute and sweet as they are -- and I am looking forward to a few months respite.

Notes and Photos From Others

From Victoria about Honey: "I hope this finds you well and you had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. First off, I wanted to let you know how much we love and adore our Honey! She's absolutely the sweetest Lhasa, gives tons of kisses and lots of love to all of us; we are just so happy that she's part of our family! She's such a well-behaved, playful good girl, eating and drinking well, and loves her walks in the neighborhood. She's quite the social butterfly too, as she has tons of canine friends in our neighborhood that she plays with. She loves her toys and has a play spot in our living room that she marked pretty much since day 1 of arriving here. She does however hate being in her crate and the minute she's out of there, she goes into it, and one-by-one removes her blankie, toys and chew bones and lays them in her favorite rug spot so they can be 'free' along with her in the home. She's so smart and attentive to her toys' needs. Ha-It's too cute!"



Jim sent these photos of Daisy. She is front and center - with her canine friends at Thanksgiving in Ohio.
Daisy



Paul wrote about Lil 1 and Josie: "We went to the off leash area after it cooled down this evening. Lil 1 and Josie were having a blast in the grass. Josie just loves to have Lil 1 roll her over. At one time she rolled over five times. Then got up and wanted more.

Something very strange goes on between them. If Josie's eyes and face is a little bit dirty Lil 1 will clean everything by licking her.

He is getting better with her each day. On walks he will stop to let them catch up.We believe this is just what he needed." Just a note here from me: Lil 1 (whom we called Joey when he was a bottle baby) and Josie are half siblings. Their mom is Onyx. Lil 1's sire is Breaker and Josie's is Archie. Both had the distinction of being bottle-fed puppies.

Paul also sent this photo of Josie sleeping. She sure looks comfy! He later wrote. "Hi Joyce, Josie does the most interesting thing after she eats in her house. She makes a beeline to Little Ones food dish. Of course all the food in the other dish is gone. If we didn't have a house for Josie to dine in, no one would eat the correct food.
Hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving."




Michelle wrote, " Sunny has been our sunshine when skies are gray! I will never forget seeing that beautiful Sundog after finding out our wait on the list was over and Sunny would be a part of our lives. He came to us at the perfect time and is a true blessing!" 

Michelle's Sundog

Sunny

Sally wrote about Jaxon and Ginger, "Hi Joyce!
A few pictures- it’s been awhile. Doesn’t Jaxon look nice and fluffy at the groomer’s? He is such a good puppy and tries really hard with Ginger. Slow going there but some progress."
Ginger

Jaxon

Oh my gosh! She is playing with him!

Ginny wrote about Maple: "We’ve decided on Joyslyn’s Maplelline Who’s The Fairest. We are busy with all kinds of puppy antics and loving the privilege of caring for our little pack. She adds so much personality, laughter and sometimes tears (teething😂). She is very good about exploring each of her toys has a good ability to attend and engage with something she’s interested in. She is catching on to ball or toy retrieval very naturally. She explores and is keenly aware. (I love that Lhasa trait) Maple has recently discovered hiding under the couch when she’s decided not to come when called😂but when called again, she pops out with vigor ready for the next adventure. She’s learned her name quickly. When in our family room (we gate it when necessary) it’s open to our main living space.. Maple has a favorite stuffy she holds and then whines baby cry...we call it her cry baby toy.😉This last week we started acclimating her to a harness and leash.. She’s done well! Sometimes we walk sometimes we plop and try to eat grass and sniff the maple leaves but she’s eager to learn🍁
I could go on and on and I have🤷I’m just a proud fur mama."

Teresa wrote about Dora: "Hope you had a happy Halloween! I just want to share some pictures from Dora’s bday a few weeks back. We remembered it was October 8th and made her a cake. Her bday is two days after my grandmother!
She has been sad after a groomer cut her hair, but thankfully it’s growing back!Btw we made sure they didn’t cut her face and tail, but they did take her body down and she was so sad!"

Ginny sent a photo titled "Our Lhasas 🥰 after a full morning of puppy shenanigans mind you."

Debi wrote, "Lacey is quite a character and is fearless!  We have to be EXTRA careful with her because of this.  She is already trying to jump on the couch.I had mentioned before that she has mastered getting up the stairs, we have about 7 carpeted stairs.  My husband was curious if she could get down the stairs. So he was at the top of the stairs and I was sitting in the middle of the stairs and she tried to fly like superman and jump over all of the stairs!  Of course, I caught her,
but NOPE, she is not ready to go down stairs yet. LOL. The stairs stay blocked until she is older. She is such a joy!  She loves her new zippy paws, milk and cookies toy.  It has holes in the plush milk carton and she can get the plush cookies out through the holes.  She is so proud when she gets a cookie out and can squeak it all by herself!
Thank you so much for such a wonderful puppy.  She is way more than we could have ever expected!"

Ted sent this photo of Lucky:

Nanda sent this one of Ty, along with Thanksgiving greetings:


Rebecca sent this one of Archie's litter brother, Carso:
Judy L., who owns three Joyslyn Lhasas (Gus, Whisper, and Raven) posted on Facebook: 
Asked: "Which antidepresent do you take?"
Me: "Lhasa Apso - Manufacturered by Joyslyn."

Good one! Thanks, Judy!
--------------------------------------
Thanks to all who took time to send photos and updates. I enjoy receiving them and sharing them.
Photos from My Files 
Those of you who have been to our home to buy our puppies know that we have a "portrait wall of champions" of our dogs that people walk past as they go down the steps to our family room. Our most recent champion is Emmy, so she had a photo session a few weeks ago which resulted in some very pretty pictures of her. These are my favorites:



This is Pearl at 14 weeks. She is now 4 months old - a sister of Josey. She is a smart, curious, bossy little girl who loves to cuddle and who thinks highly of herself!!

The photos of Rusty's wins during National Specialty week arrived. 
Rusty after winning the Sweepstakes

Rusty - Reserve Winners Dog (3 point major)

Rusty - Best Puppy in Show

Rusty, known to AKC as Chic Choix I'll Do It My Way At Joyslyn, is the third of my Lhasas to earn 3 point majors by taking Reserve at a National. The first was Josh in 2014 at age 9 months. 
Josh - GCHB CH Joyslyn MLS Dakota Wind Breaker

The second was Autumn at age 7 months in 2018.

Autumn - GCH CH Joyslyn's Wind Song

Here is the ad that appeared in the American Lhasa Apso Club online magazine. (BTW - if you don't belong to the club, you should join. It is a way to support the continuation of the breed you love! Just sayin'...)

Also, I am excited to tell you that my article about Lhasa Apso personality is due to be in the Show Sight magazine's next issue.
Finally...
I want to end with this quotation from George Carlin that is so true for all of us:
Indeed! Remember:

I hope your December is wonderful and that the holidays bring you joy.
Until next time...
Joyce