Spring is Here! Happy April!

Isn't it appropriate that the month of the tax begins with April Fool's Day 
and ends with cries of "May Day!"? ~ unknown 

Spring...a time of reawakening and change, a time of shedding winter wear and donning the colors and fabrics of spring and warmer weather, and, yes, a time of paying taxes.

We chose to make tax day a special day in our lives, so we were married on April 15 (42 years ago!). Actually, that's not really true. We got married on April 15 because in 1972,  it was a Saturday and because it was right at the end of finals week at our college and because all our college friends could thus stick around for a couple extra days to attend the ceremony.

We've had some changes lately at home. Over the weekend, Sassy, Ty, Bandit, and Cherry left with their new owners, all wonderful people. I've had preliminary reports from a couple of them that the puppies are settling in well and not missing their littermates all that much. Archie and Josh are still here as I try to make up my mind about which to keep. My deadline is Saturday.

Here are the weekly photos. The older puppies aren't thrilled about the photo sessions. They are too eager to get down and play. We did capture some cute faces. The younger puppies are more manageable and don't seem to mind the camera.

Archie, 11 weeks (so sweet)

Josh, 11 weeks (he looks so sad in this picture!)

Rafe and Maggie's boys, age 5.5 weeks (Andy and Magoo)

Rafe and Maggie's girls, age 5.5 weeks (Bailey and Sadie)

After having to put various colors of nail polish on the gold Breaker and Windy puppies just to be able to tell them apart, it is kind of nice to be able to distinguish among these four at a glance.

Duncan, Lila, and I went to the Packerland shows in Manitowoc, WI, on March 30 and 31. It was our first show weekend of  2014. I decided that I was not going to venture out with the dogs in the frigid temps we had earlier in the year. Duncan did well. He won both days, taking Best of Winners each day and picking up two points. Now he needs only three points to finish his championship. Lila showed as I expected her to, that is to say she held her tail up, but not her head; she walked around the ring (actually she raced around the ring), for the most managing to stay by my side rather than between my feet; and she stacked nicely on both the table and the floor. I cannot seem to break her habit of moving with her nose to the floor, and may have to face the fact that the frustration on both our parts is just not worth it. I learned a lesson with our Belle, who really disliked being on a lead. If Lila hates it, I'm not going to insist. Being a show dog is not the most important thing in a dog's life!

The puppies' leaving, the Palm Sunday and Easter weekends, and a visit from our son-in-law take up all the April weekends, so our next shows are not until Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekends. Please send positive thoughts that Duncan will finish and that a miracle will happen and Lila will finally figure out the show lead doesn't weigh 50 lbs and  that she can indeed walk with her head up and feel no pain! As I told our last judge, "She keeps me humble."

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

Joyce