Weather on Our Minds

You can't get mad at weather because weather's not about you. Apply that lesson to most other aspects of life. ~ Doug Coupland





You'd think that weather was the only topic people are interested in. What's the temp supposed to be today? Is rain forecast? Did you hear they got 4  inches over by (fill in name of town) last week? Can you believe this wind? People complain that it is too hot, too cold, too wet, too dry, too windy...LOL. I guess weather is one thing we all have in common.

On to the updates...

Day 15 of my summer cold. Enough said on that topic!

Remember when you were a child and the summer days seemed long and endless—in a good way? The kids in our neighborhood were not bored in the summer. Our parents and caretakers were more than ready to scoot us outside and tell us to stay there. We played with neighborhood kids, went swimming, and created new games and made up new rules for old games. Summer isn't like that anymore—not for this adult! June is more than half gone and, for me at least, none of those days have been lazy ones.

I received a note from Gail about Piper. Gail wrote, "Piper is doing great... She still plays like a puppy with her squeaky toys. You would never guess she is a senior citizen with limited vision - except for a few gray hairs - but then of course I have a few more gray hairs too - so we are still a perfect match. You still have my sincere thanks for letting me have such a sweet girl with such a joyful disposition." Piper is known to the AKC as Ch. Joyslyn The Charmed One.

A photo taken of Piper when I was showing her (about 9 or 10 years ago)

I had a good conversation today with Mary, Gabe's owner, who updated me on his antics. He sounds like quite a character. Mary adores him and evidently the feeling is mutual. They seem to make a perfect pair.

I also received a call from Carol, a woman looking for a new Lhasa puppy. I was sad to tell her we had nothing available. Her Lhasa died three weeks ago. She would have been 20 years  old in September. Wow! I was impressed by that. Our oldest lived to be a month shy of 17 years old.

Laurie wrote that she is taking Zora to obedience classes again (they were dropouts the first time!): "She is such a smart dog. Now I just have to practice. She's a little bugger with other dogs sometimes, so I'm going to get her to group class. Also, she barks loudly. Yes, she was bred to alert us, but she is really, really loud. Our trainer explained that we just have to give her tasks to get her to focus and then learn what "Quiet" means. So far, I think it is working. She's catching on quickly. If she can get over the barking at other dogs, I would love to get her in agility eventually. Hey, she is competitive and she has a registered name that was meant for something really cool. We can channel her energy into something positive."

Gabe and Zora are littermates of Rafe. It seems they all have that little stubborn streak. Rafe is smart and finds little ways to get back at me if he gets irked -- only he waits until we are in the show ring. He knows I hate it when we start moving for the judge and he shakes his head. (Why do I hate it -- it messes up both his headfall and his gait!) He also knows he is supposed to stack and stand still on the floor in the show ring. So what does he do? You guessed it. Like Laurie with Zora, we're working on that!

LaVonne, who co-owns Duncan's brother Jimmy (formerly known on this blog as Gus), sent a picture and description of Jimmy's favorite game: "We play a game every morning, I put them [the toys] in the middle of the living room and he 'sneaks' (he looks both ways before taking off) them back one at a time into the dining room in front of the table and then plays with them.  He is also willing to share them with the two older dogs.  He'll take one and lay it at either Tiki or Mandy's feet and then go into play mode.  Then they chase around the house playing tag."

Jimmy with a couple of his toys

Duncan has been attending training class the last couple of weeks. We made a special effort to attend because classes end this month (note that we leave home at 5:15 and usually don't return until after 10:00 -- all for a one hour class). He's been doing well! He has a great attitude and is happy and playful but able to get down to business, except he, too, wants to wiggle around when he is supposed to be stacked on the floor! Unlike Rafe though, he is not yet even 5 months old, so I'm cutting him some slack!

Below are pictures taken of Duncan today. He'll be 5 months old on the 23rd. The color is true in the photo on the left. It's washed out by the flash in the photo on the right. Also, the white you see on his back is the white tip of his tail.

I'm hoping Duncan's first show will be in Waukesha at the end of July, just a few days after he is 6 months old. That is a 3-day show weekend but the weather is usually hot and muggy, so I will not enter him all three days. That is the only outdoor show we go to, and I'd rather get him acclimated to an indoor ring.

The babies are growing. They have taken over the utility room, much to Duncan's dismay. He wants

Lila at 6.5 weeks

to play with them but the size and age difference is a big one so their play together is supervised. Lila, being a female Lhasa, refuses to take any crap off Duncan and barks at him and gets after him if he gets too rough with her. The boys tend to be more tolerant and less territorial.

The puppies love being in the family room. I have a big comforter on the floor and they run, roll, and wrestle on it. Each will claim a toy or bone and stake out a spot on the comforter. Lila and Jethro play "cat," crouching low, sneaking up on each other, and pouncing at the last moment. Hunter has discovered the water bottle. I have a water bottle as well as a bowl of water in the 3 x 3 where they sleep. Hunter is intrigued by the water bottle and investigates how it works. They are learning, albeit slowly, about piddle pads and newspapers.

Hunter at 6.5 weeks

Jethro at 6.5 weeks

I'm an avid reader and recently finished reading Suspect by Roger Crais. The plot involves an injured police officer and a war dog wounded in Afghanistan. They meet at a police K-9 training center. The story was a good one, but what I enjoyed most about the book was the insight into dogs, how to talk to them, how to pet them, etc. that the trainer imparted to the police officer (who had lied and said "yes" when asked on his application if he'd ever had a dog and who really did not know much about relating to dogs). I wished I could have copied excerpts from the book just to give to people.

I'm gearing up for a trip to West Bend, WI for a dog show next weekend. Rafe and Windy will be going with me.

Life is better when you have a Lhasa to love you!  Give yours a hug!

Joyce