Just A Lot of Pictures

Today I am sharing our most recent photos of Duncan, Lila, and the new puppies.

Joyslyn's Highly Classified (aka "Duncan)

The photos were taken in honor of Duncan's first birthday. (Pardon me for posting so many, but I loved them all and had trouble choosing just one or two! And there were a lot more, so I did limit the choices a little!)

Joyslyn's So Who's The Fairest Now (Lila)

Lila will soon be 9 months old, and since we were taking pictures, we decided to take some of her too!

This is Lila's more natural look. She likes to "do" her own hair!

The Puppies, Now Two Weeks Old

The two girls

Two of the four boys

The other two boys

Other Notes

Ted wrote about Lucky: "With the large amount of snow we have received and the plows cleaning the streets has left high snow banks at the side of the roads.    During his walks, our  good friend Lucky is not interested in taking his dump on the sidewalk or beside it,  he has to climb to the top of the bank to take his dump and check out the traffic passing by.    Quite a sight!"

Judy wrote a bit about her two Joyslyn dogs: "Remind the new owners what fun they will have with a Breaker puppy. Ty is always a fun loving dog, friendly to everyone, and is eager to learn new things. He is always busy and needed agility to keep him thinking. Little Ty will be making his agility debut in 2 weeks in Manhattan, IL. But if the weather stays this cold he will be at home warm and toastie. I am planning on Saturday running 3-5 obstacles then taking him off the course. If he is successful then on Sunday he will try 7-9 obstacles. He's become more interested in class since he moved to Odies's class, and is now barking to go first. Izzy has invented another game to play this past week. She will no longer come in at night when everyone is called. So I put my boots, coat and hat on to go in the backyard and search for a white dog in 18 inches of snow. She loves her games."

Hmmm...Izzy is not related to Duncan, but she and he have the same favorite "catch me if you can game!" No fun in cold weather -- at least for the people!

Sarah sent a photo of Mira in the snow and wrote: "I've attached a pic of the snow "streets" that Allen has plowed in the back yard. When it's not too cold, Mira enjoys wandering the maze."

 Mira is the mother of Lila, Maggie, and Raven, and the grandmother of Duncan.

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures. Stay warm. Spring will come sooner or later.

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

Joyce

Bumper stickers are still available if anyone is interested.

Birth Announcement!

Congratulations to GCh. Ch. Joyslyn's Heartbreaker and Ch. MLS Dakota Dancing in the Wind at Joyslyn!

Windy had her puppies on Thursday, January 16!

Here is their first photo, taken at age one week. There are 4 boys and 2 girls. All the boys and one of the girls will be light gold as adults. The other girl is black. Here is the dozing puppy pile:

Breaker and Windy puppies, age 1 week.

Proud parents:
GCh. Ch. Joyslyn's Heartbreaker

Ch. MLS Dakota Dancing in the Wind at Joyslyn

I'll be posting more photos as the puppies grow.

Stay warm!

Joyce

P.S. I know some of you will be asking about availability. The girls have both been spoken for.

Life is Better When...

New Year's Greetings as the first full week of January 2014 is about to come to an end.

I confess to turning into a "slug" during our Christmas break. I work at a university, so we had a nice long break. My last day at the office was December 20th and I did not have to go back until January 2nd. Once the Christmas hassle was over, I retreated to my sofa with a blanket and a pile of books and basically read my way through the following days, emerging from one completed book into the next one on the stack. It was great!

2014 is off to a freezing start. I have learned first-hand about a polar vortex, and I have not enjoyed the experience. Brrr... I found out that "polar vortex" has been one of most highly searched terms on the internet in recent days. At any rate, our weather here is warming up a bit so perhaps we'll soon be back to our "normal" midwest freezing temperatures instead of experiencing wind chills of 30 below.

Due to the frigid temperatures, our university closed again for the first two days of this week, and -- you guessed it -- I was back on sofa with blankets (plural this time) and a new stack of books.

The show photos of Duncan's two major wins in early December finally arrived. They turned out well, except the one where the hair on his front foot is goofy (see the second picture). Every time I look at that picture, I want to get a brush and smooth down that hair. The photographer should have noticed it and had me brush it in place. He was so picky about move this leg, move that leg, etc. during the shoot that it irks me he missed the chance to have me groom the front leg. Oh well..

Duncan's first major, giving him a total of 7 points

Duncan's second major, giving him a total of 10 points

Duncan, Lila, and I are sitting home with no plans to go to shows until March or April. I'll be stir crazy by then, going through "dog show withdrawal." Our training classes are supposed to start in February, weather permitting, so that will help both dogs remember what's expected of them in the show ring. We certainly have not been able to do any practicing outside in this snow and cold.

We received Christmas greetings and photos on December 25. Mary sent a photo of Belle, whose 5th birthday was Christmas day. The photo shows Belle with her ribbons the day she earned her Rally Novice title.

I also received a Christmas picture of Ella decked out in a fancy red and green bow as she considered which gifts under that tree might be hers.

A surprise email came from Honey's owners who live in Springfield, IL. I haven't heard from them for ages. Honey is 10 years old now. The email included a photo of her.

I checked the Canine Chronicle for the 2013 end-of-year breed standings and, to my pleasant surprise, saw that Rafe, GCh. Ch. Joyslyn's Inherit The Wind, was still listed in the Top 20. He finished the year at number 15. He is resting on his laurels for a while as I debate whether or not to keep him in coat and show him again when he is more mature.

Speaking of Rafe, if all goes as planned, puppies sired by him out of Maggie, Ch. Joyslyn's Moonlight Magic, are due around February 27th.

And, speaking of puppies, Windy and Breaker's puppies are due January 20th, but I really think she is going to have them early. She is quite large and today, for the first day since she came to me as a 12 week old puppy, she did not dive into her food dish and inhale her food in seconds. Instead, she ate a few kibbles and turned away. She is so full of puppies that I think there is little room for a full meal anymore.

People have often remarked on how much they like my "sign-off" slogan, so I decided to have a bumper sticker made. You saw a picture of the bumper sticker at the beginning of this post. I posted it on Facebook as my cover photo and had some inquiries from a couple people who asked if they could buy one. I didn't have many printed, but if you are interested, the cost is $6 (that includes the postage and envelope). You can email me at lhasas@joyslynslhasaapsos.com to make arrangements.


Life is better when you have a Lhasa to love you! (as if you needed reminding!)

Joyce

Happy New Year!

We will open the book.  Its pages are blank.  We are going to put words on them ourselves.  The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.  ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce




Happy New Year!

The new year is a time for starting over, for making resolutions to "do better at (fill in the blank)," and for setting new goals.

For some of you, the new year holds promise for adding a new Lhasa Apso puppy or adult to your family.

This week's blog is about a Lhasa Apso named Toby, who needs a forever home.

Recent pictures of Toby posted on the TCLAC Facebook page.

Toby lives in Minnesota, currently with his foster family. He was rescued by the good people of the Twin Cities Lhasa Apso Club (TCLAC) whose funds have gone toward his treatment and rehabilitation after an accident.

Three-year-old Toby was hit by a car while he was running loose in his neighborhood. He was taken to a veterinary clinic where it was determined he had fractured his front elbow.  When his owners were informed of the cost to repair his leg, the husband of the family said, "I'd rather shoot the dog for 25 cents, than fix him."  The family surrendered Toby to the clinic. The doctors and staff then turned to the TCLAC to ask if the club could help pay Toby's expenses.  The members agreed to do so.

Toby underwent surgery the beginning of November. Staples held his elbow together and a splint immobilized the leg. After 4 weeks, an x-ray was taken which showed the elbow was healing. 

At this time, Toby is living with his foster family. Through the healing process, they kept him confined and limited his exercise so the leg would heal properly.  Leaving the leg exposed to the air helped heal sores caused by the splint rubbing on the leg, and exercise was gradually added to his daily routine to help the leg continue to heal and strengthen.  Once the leg is totally healed, Toby will be available for adoption, perhaps very soon now.

Toby's foster mom reports he is a snuggler and loves human companionship.  He sleeps in bed with her, is housebroken, and gets along with her other dogs.

It sounds as if Toby has a great personality and will make a wonderful companion!

Thanks to the club, Toby is able to face 2014 alive, well, and ready to love and be loved.

If you or someone you know has a place in your heart and home for this Lhasa boy, please contact the Twin Cities Lhasa Apso Club. The Club's website is http://www.twincitieslhasaapsoclub.org/. The email address is TCLAC@gmail.com. The club also has a Facebook page.

Remember, life is better when you have a Lhasa to love you.

Perhaps Toby will be the Lhasa who will help make your life better! Perhaps you will be the person who will give him a better life in return!

Joyce