Lhasa Apso Blog: Happy Easter!

"On this Easter Sunday…

Forgive someone.
Tell someone you love them.
Let your light shine."

~ Author Unknown

Happy Easter to all! I have to admit that I have a love/hate relationship with Easter when it comes to candy for the Easter baskets.

That is because I love, love, love jelly beans (yes, even the black ones!) and just cannot leave them alone. I made the mistake of buying the Easter candy for my granddaughter last Saturday instead of waiting until this coming Saturday. Needless to say...I have to add "jelly beans" to Saturday's shopping list. I also love Cadbury eggs and those yummy peanut butter filled chocolate eggs, but those I can leave alone. Not jelly beans!

Pictures and emails

Last time I wrote I announced the good news that Josh had earned his championship and said I would post his finishing photo when it arrived. I am very proud of this young dog. Here's a trip down memory lane:

Josh was entered in the Beginner Puppy Class (ages 4-6 month) over the Memorial Day weekend last year when he was four months old. He won the Beginner Puppy Non-Sporting Group 1.

Josh - Non-Sporting Group 1 Beginner Puppy - Bloomington, IL

The following month we went to West Bend, WI, where at age 5 months Josh won Beginner Puppy Best in Show.

His first major was at age 9 months at the American Lhasa Apso Club National Specialty, where he won Reserve Winners Dog.

And here is his finishing picture, at age 13 months when he earned his second major. (He was 14 months old the next day!)

And, yes, his color did change that much, although the colors in the last photo are a bit washed out, which is disappointing, considering what the photo cost me!

I do have some notes and photos to share.

Priscilla sent pictures of her three Joyslyn Lhasas. She wrote, "Hi Joyce, I'm sending along some pictures of all the boys. Teddy (the golden) will be 11 in April, Rocky (the red one) turned 10 on October 31. And of course, you know Ozzy! He's quite a character and he and Rocky still have a way to go to get along... More soon!"

Ozzy

Rocky and Teddy

From Deborah: "Mysti has been such a well behaved puppy. She was quiet on our flight and during the night at the hotel. I took her to the Vet today to establish her account. She did not make a peep when the Vet chipped her. I have attached a picture of her with her new doctor. We will keep you posted on her activities with email and pictures. We enjoyed meeting you and Lynn. Thank you so much for this sweet little girl."

Mysti and her new vet

Marilyn wrote, "I wanted to send a pic of Maci after her first visit to the groomer. Vicki said she did well for her first time. We can actually see her eyes now! She is doing so well, and we just love her. She is sleeping in her crate now until almost 6:00 am. Potty training is coming along. We hope to start puppy school in the next couple of weeks. She was at the vet yesterday and she weighs 6lbs."

Maci

Other things

So…you have your Lhasa microchipped and registered and you think he is safe. If the dog is lost, you think the microchip will surely bring him back to you. That's how it is supposed to work and that is how it does work in nearly all cases. But what happens when it doesn't? You might be interested in reading about the plight of Piper, a champion Sheltie, who was "rescued," and whose owners are now in a legal battle to get her back. The battle has been going on for a while and it's the strangest thing. I cannot believe why it's gone on this long when it's obvious who the dog's owner are.

AKC hosts a new site on canine health akc.org/health. The announcement stated, "The initial stage of the new microsite offers resources and information on care, nutrition, fitness, preventative health and breeder education. The platform is designed to share AKC’s 130 years of knowledge in the form of digestible content to enrich the general public, dog breeders and everyone in between." I noticed links to topics such as separation anxiety, holistic veterinary care, vaccinations, shedding, tick removal, and heart disease.

Finally, (although I hate to end with a real "downer"), there was this Facebook posting by Nathan Winograd, "It is with great sadness and anger that I report to you that PETA's 2014 statistics,

just released yesterday by the Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (VDACS), are as bad as ever. According to VDACS, PETA took in 1,605 cats and killed 1,536 (a kill rate of 96%). They transferred another 43 to shelters. If they were killed or displaced others who were killed, that would put the cat kill rate as high as 98%. They found homes for only 16, an adoption rate of 1%. PETA also took in 1,021 dogs of which they killed 788 (a kill rate of 77%). Another 210 were transferred to other shelters. Like the cats, if they were killed or displaced others who were killed, the dog death rate would also be as high as 98%. Only 23 were adopted. The records from the Virginia Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services are here: http://bit.ly/1LsjPrn. Learn more at www.whyPETAkills.org"