New Puppy Pictures and More

Memorial Day

I know...I am once again a day late with my greetings. However, the spirit of gratitude for the service of our military is not something that should be confined to only one day of the year. If you are a veteran or are currently serving or have a spouse, son, or daughter who is serving, thank you. I realize Memorial Day is for remembering those who died in service to this country, but I think sacrifice comes in many forms and that any veteran or current service member needs to be remembered and thanked for his/her service. Without their commitment to the safety of this country, the Stars and Stripes would not be flying.

Puppy Pictures

Breaker and Maggie's puppies are growing cuter each day. They are trying to get up on all fours and walk and having more success than failures of late. I saw one trying to play with a sibling the other day. The sibling was not interested. They move quickly when it's time to eat. They have that down pat!

Here are the three boys:

Black and tan male

A very sleepy gold male who did not appreciate being awakened from his nap

Cute little guy with white stockings

The girls:

Gold female

Gold female with white markings on face and legs

(This is weird, I know, but Donna K. if you are reading this, call me! The phone number I wrote down for you is not working!)

The puppies' sire is GCh. Joyslyn's Heartbreaker. He will be seven years old in August. Here is a photo taken of him yesterday after his bath! He's looking good!

Breaker - May 25, 2015

Notes and Photos from Friends

Ted and Eve sent a photo of Lucky and wrote about his latest antics. "This was taken at our Northern resort which we enjoy visiting a couple of times per year. Mr. "Golf Ball Receiver" was at it again. Due to the weather being cold, the Golf Course was not opened, but we walked a couple of fairways to check things out. In the distance I noticed a girl on the green practicing putting and a male off the green practicing,  pitching the ball onto the green. As we got to approximately  50-60 yards away, my good friend Mr. Golf Ball Receiver noticed the girl putting.  As he noticed all of the orange balls on the green, he took off like a bullet out of a gun. As he approached the green, he was a little confused as to what ball to retrieve as there were approximately 12 orange balls on the green. He made a mad dash to one, picked it up into his mouth and then sat down looking for praise. Everyone burst out laughing as it was quite a sight for those that did not experience it before. He got the praise and dropped the ball. For us it brought back a lot of memories from the first time he did it and it brought a lot of laughter from the couple on the green."

I wish I had a video of that!

Lucky with a ball that is not a golf ball!

From Ellen, Oliver's owner: "Here is Oliver's annual birthday photo as he just recently turned 3! Oliver has quite a personality! His bouncy puppyness is calming down and he loves to go off on his own and nap. Lol. He's quite grouchy when his sleep is interrupted, but then he can be so sweet and loving a minute later. I look forward to coming home everyday to him. He's definitely "my boy" and I'm so in love with him"

Oliver and Lucky are litter brothers.

Oliver

Marilyn sent an email to update me on Maci's progress in puppy school. 

"Maci graduates from Puppy School on Thursday. Unfortunately, I don't think any scholarships to continue her education are coming! She is content to watch and bark at any other approaching dog or person. She is growing and loving life! We are so blessed to have her!"

Puppy School Graduate. She gets an A+ for cuteness!

I also heard from Belle (via her owner, Mary). Belle wrote, "FYI: I do lateral sit ups in my spare time to strengthen my core;  I am not just another pretty face in a crate. Love, Belle"

Health News

The AKC Canine Health Foundations is sponsoring a series of free webinars. The webinars are recorded and available on the Foundation's website.

Not Dog News At All

While this section has nothing at all to do with Lhasas or even with dogs, it is great news for our family so I am proudly sharing it. Our son is a guitarist for the band Black Fast. A recent press release about "Terms of Surrender," the band's new album, had great things to say. Here is an excerpt:

BLACK FAST ANNOUNCES NEW ALBUM
"TERMS OF SURRENDER"
OUT AUGUST 7, 2015

Press release:

"(NEW YORK) - America's newest neo-classic riff masters BLACK FAST will release their all new LP Terms Of Surrender on August 7, 2015 via eOne Music. Ripping pages from Death's technical death metal guidebook, the St. Louis foursome conjures the spirit of the late, great Chuck Schuldiner while channeling the viciousness of Megadeth's young-and-hungry Dave Mustaine and blistering aggression of Kreator's Mille Petrozza…Creating a modern twist on the energetic riffs of metal's glory days, BLACK FAST harness the spirit of their metal forefathers, whether exploring hand-cramp-inducing riffs or blazing through straightforward thrash. BLACK FAST songs have a hungry ferocity reminiscent of the Bay Area thrash scene, the likes of which haven't been this raw or hyper-charged in decades."

Trevor with Josh, his guitar, and his dad's street rod

Back to the Lhasas

The photo of Josh's National Owner Handler Series Best in Show arrived. I am happy to share it with  you! It was an exciting win and made for a great Mother's Day!

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

Joyce

Puppy Pictures At Last!

"In truth a family is what you make it. It is made strong, not by number of heads counted at the dinner table, but by the rituals you help family members create, by the memories you share, by the commitment of time, caring, and love you show to one another, and by the hopes for the future you have as individuals and as a unit." ~  Marge Kennedy

I love my family! This week my home is full of love and laughter. All my children are visiting, one of them from Florida, and my mother is visiting from Nebraska. Our newest family member, our 9 month old grandson, is here from Florida. We're having a great time -- and eating way too much!

So...that said, this will be a short entry.

Here are the puppy pictures that 5 families/individuals have been waiting to see.  Thanks for your patience.

The puppies are all doing well.

 Here are the three males, age two weeks.

And here are the two girls.

Life is Better When You Have A Lhasa to Love You!

(and it's even better when you are surrounded by a happy, loving family)

Joyce

When You're Up, You're Up...

Happy Mother's Day

Okay, so I'm late with the Mother's Day wishes, but it's never too late to tell your mom you appreciate her. Don't wait for just that one day a year!

 

Show Results

I spent Mother's Day weekend at a dog show. It was great! Luna, 7 months old, was entered in her first shows. She showed well and made me proud of her. On Saturday, Josh's litter sister, Cinder took Winners Bitch  for one point. Luna took Reserve Winners Bitch and Best Puppy. Actually, she won Best Puppy by default since she was the only Lhasa puppy entered. She did not get a placement in the Non-sporting puppy group, but she showed well and had fun and that was my goal for her at those shows.

On Sunday it was Luna's turn to win the point. She's on her way - 14 points to go!

My husband took this picture of her once we got home Sunday night.

Luna with two days' worth of ribbons

Josh had not even been on a show lead since the March shows in Louisville, but he knew what he was supposed to do and enjoyed the weekend. Josh took Select Dog both days (no points earned toward a Grand Championship, but we were mostly there to keep his head in the game).

AKC has a number of conformation events in addition to the well known point shows. There are much like match shows in that no points toward championships are awarded and are designed to provided different levels of competition and to get more people involved. One example is the Beginner Puppy Competition where puppies 4-6 months old compete.  Another example is the Best Puppy competition. At the point shows, when this competition is offered, the competitors are comprised of the one puppy between the ages of 6 months and 12 months in each breed which the judge deems "best" that day. A third example is the Best Bred-by competition. These are dogs that are shown by their breeder owners. Again, they start in the breed ring and the judge awards the "Best" to go on to Group competition. The Veteran's competition is a fourth example. The dogs competing must be champions that are at least 7 years old. It is also organized by the usual pattern: breed, group, Best in Show. The show-giving clubs can chose which, if any, of these events to offer during their show weekend.

One of the newest "extra" events is the National Owner Handled Series. These dogs must be handled by their owners. The owners must be amateurs. That is, they cannot be professional handlers who earn their living by,  charge money for, or take compensation for showing dogs.

At Sunday's show there was an Owner Handled competition. Josh took Best Owner Handled in the breed ring, so we got more practice in the Owner Handled Non-Sporting ring. I was surprised and pleased that he took the Group 1. So we had to stay at the show. By the time the Non-Sporting group ended it was about 2:00. We waited through all the Owner Handled groups (5 of them after Non-Sporting). Then we waited through all the regular groups. Then we waited while the veteran's group was judged. Finally about three hours later, it was time for us to go in for the Owner Handled Best in Show competition. Josh competed again 6 other dogs who each had won their Groups.

When the judge turned from writing in his judges book and announced "the Lhasa," I was not sure I'd heard correctly. Josh won Best Owner Handled in Show! Needless to say, I floated home to Macomb on Cloud 9! Josh curled up in his crate and slept all the way home.

These photos were taken once we got home. We had official photos taken at the show, but it will be a while before they arrive. I'll post them when they come. I do know that when the photographer stood to my right and squeaked the toy to get Josh's attention, she also got mine! That ought to be an interesting photo! Just remember, you're supposed to look at the dog!

Josh with his Select and Best Owner Handled in Breed Ribbons, his Group 1 Rosette and his NOH-BIS Rosette

That was indeed a nice Mother's Day gift!

Email and Photos from Others

From Cindy: "Btw since I finally found your blog I have to tell you it has been so fun and informative! I even go waaaay back and look at some of the old pictures you posted. And I think your article on valuable supplies is wonderful. I actually think we had our first lhasa before you! 1970! We just took a break to raise kids instead! Thanks for keeping us up to date......we are cking out names now....such fun!"

She is right...we did not get our first Lhasa until 1973.

Kristi tagged me on FB so I could see the picture she posted of Autumn. Autumn is the daughter of our GCh. Joyslyn MiToya Wind Walker. She's a cutie.

Autumn

Four and a half years ago, Judy bought a black puppy from me that I named Whisper (Joyslyn's Midnight Confessions). Judy always admired Whisper's sister Raven (Ch. Joyslyn's Midnight Enchantment) and told me that when I was ready to retire Raven, she wanted her. So a couple months ago, Judy drove here to buy Raven. She recently sent pictures. The girls are definitely twins!

From Judy about Whisper and Raven: "The way I tell the difference (for now) between Whisper and Raven is that Raven has the short-haired tail, and Whisper and a lot of tail hair. Whisper also has a full head-fall over her ears, and Raven is still growing out. It's going to be a challenge when their tails and head-falls are the same."

This is Raven

This is Whisper

An email from Mary R, subject line "Heartbeats: "Just read your blog. So sorry about the puppy that did not survive…I just know I feel lucky for each heartbeat my dogs have as it all ends way too soon. I look at Roman, 12, see a little age in his eyes and am getting ready for his senior years. I am so lucky to have the 3 I have. [They] get along so well.  Belle is the softest personality of the 3, so easy going, gets along with child, adult, overweight ragdoll throwing her body on her. That’s the only time I see her snap, fat cat on her.  So hoping things go well with the new puppies and feel for the little Cleo needing a home.   I am sure one of your readers will cave.I wish I could handle one more, several more.  Budget and time are my excuses. Here’s to each heartbeat your dogs have—enjoy each one."

Mary later sent a quick email about Belle's latest agility trial. "Clean run CPE Level 1 jumpers;  undertime.   First Q." Plus she sent me a link to the photo proofs that were taken at the trial. Belle is a beauty, and I am so proud of Mary for keeping her coat so beautiful. Look at that coat fly!! If you would like to see Belle in action, click one (or all) of the links below.

http://herreidphotography.zenfolio.com/p198393221/h45AE71BB#h45ae71bb
http://herreidphotography.zenfolio.com/p198393221/h45ae7123#h45ae7123
http://herreidphotography.zenfolio.com/p198393221/h45ae7111#h45ae7111

This email arrived from Gail about her Lhasa, Piper. Piper is one of our retired champions that Gail bought from us 7 or 8 years ago. Gail wrote, "Hi Joyce, Just a note from Piper and Gail.  I just read your post about "ups and downs" and it was such a coincidence because I had just been thinking that I need to drop a note to Joyce and tell her about our "ups and downs."

"Piper just celebrated her 13th birthday last weekend.  We celebrated with BB ribs for me and chicken breast for Piper.  She is the most graceful little old lady I have ever had.  She is aging with such a sweet disposition despite her vision disability.

"We had a difficult month in December.  She had an extreme glaucoma attack in her left eye. Her pressure measured at 70 which is an extreme emergency.  The night it began, she whimpered and could not lay her head down.  She actually fell asleep sitting up leaning on the couch.  Of course these types of emergencies always happen at midnight so we had to wait until morning to get to the Doctor.  I was afraid to go to the 24 hour emergency clinic because I was afraid of what they would recommend.

"We got to my Vet and then to the Eye Specialist in a matter of an hour at 8AM.  The eye Vet got her pressure back down by keeping her at the hospital and doing a number of eye drops to bring the pressure down.  When I picked her up, he spoke with me about possibly having her eye removed.  She couldn't see out of it anyway because of a large cataract so it would ensure her comfort.  He wanted me to think about it and decide by the follow up appointment.

"During the next 2 weeks, we had a routine of pain meds plus three sets of eye drops in the AM and two sets in the evening.  Piper handled it very well.  A simple piece of ham made it all worth it for her.

"I noticed that during the two weeks she started sitting at the patio door every morning again.  When we went back to the Vet, I told him about the patio and he checked her eyesight.  Here comes the UP part!!!  After all the swelling had gone down - the cataract had started to recede and she had a little bit of vision back in the left eye.  We were all elated.  The Vet hugged me and Piper.  Of course the goal changed.  No more discussion of eye removal - we will keep up with the eye drop schedule for as long as it is working and she no longer needed the pain meds.

"So everything has been stable for the last few months.  I am so happy for Piper.  She has started to play a little more since she can see her toys.  She has to tilt her head to peek out of the good eye - but it is such a joy to see her enjoying that little bit of sight that I smile, laugh and cry at the same time.   So you were right on target when you said that the downs give a new appreciation to the UP times.

"Hope everything at your house stays on the UP Swing. ..Thanks for your posts. I enjoy them every month. I also enjoy having someone to share "piper" information with.  My Aunt passed away last July and she was Piper's third mom.   We both miss her very much.  Gail & Piper"

Puppies

The babies are doing well. Everyone gains weight each day. They are quiet and content (I'll enjoy it while it lasts) and Maggie takes great care of them. I have no new photos this week and hope to have time to post new ones once they have opened their eyes.

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

Joyce

A Week of Ups and Downs

I have had better weeks - and worse ones. We all have. Mine started out great. Early, early Sunday morning, Maggie was in labor. Her first puppy was born at 1:15, a lovely little black and tan male. He was followed by five others.

I have quite a few people on my waiting list, so on Monday I contacted those at the top of the list to let them know their puppies had been born. All was well.

I checked the puppies shortly after 10:00 Monday night. All was well. They were all quietly nursing.

Early Tuesday morning one of the male puppies passed away.  I was heartbroken. I have no idea what happened or why.

Later on Tuesday, I had to ruin someone else's day by telling her that I no longer had the puppy available. What a gracious response I received, and I cried all over again.

And the ups and downs continued all week, although thank goodness none of the others were extreme -- until we discovered Luna had an eye infection! Luna's eye will be fine, but you know how things are when you are already feeling low. "One more thing," can quickly become a huge ordeal as all the little things start to weigh you down.

I am looking forward to attending Luna's first dog show tomorrow. She'll finally get to strut her stuff in a real show ring! Josh is entered too, just to keep his head in the game. We hope the experience is an "up" for the three of us. We'll be there with friends and look forward to seeing more of our "dog show friends" again.

Here are Maggie and Breaker's new babies:

The three boys

The two girls

Everyone is eating well and gaining weight.

I received a nice email from Deborah who wrote about Mysti's first puppy matches: "Hi Joyce.  Mysti had her first puppy show Saturday and a puppy match.  She was Best in Variety in the puppy match.  The rest of the ribbons are from Saturday and Sunday.  What a trooper she is!  She really didn't get much sleep before an early show and her schedule for eating and sleeping was out of whack all weekend.  Everyone thought she was a Havanese.  She was the only Lhasa Apso puppy and there was 1 Lhasa Apso in the regular show."

Mysti is 4 months old now. Regular readers will remember her photos that were posted this winter and early spring.

Here are Mysti's ribbons from the weekend:

and here is a very tired little Mysti, resting after her big day at the show.

Congratulations Deborah, Ron, and Mysti! You are off to a good start.

A couple readers have told me that if I ever have an adult female available or know of one who needs a new to home to let them know. But, since I can't find the note I wrote myself, I'm just going to make an announcement here and hope the right people read it.

Cleo, a Lhasa female purchased from us, is available to the right  home. Here is the information her owner sent me: "We recently had a son who is now 8 months old and we're having some problems with Cleo adjusting to having a human baby around. She's always been a very timid dog but I feel she's gotten even more so since we've had our son and quite frankly, I feel as though she's downright miserable. She LOVES just to be held and petted all the time and does not really care to go on walks. However, I feel like she now spends most of her time either trying to hide in her bed or runs upstairs to hide under our bed. We've tried many times to have her get close and introduce her to our son but she mostly just seems annoyed or uninterested. My husband and I have talked endlessly about all of this and as much as it absolutely breaks our hearts, we truly feel that Cleo would be happier in another home where there weren't small children around.

Cleo  LOVES to be held and sit in your lap. She's extremely affectionate to her family and likes to sit back and take it all in. She truly thrives around adults and older children and is happy just to be around people. She also likes to be around other small dogs (mostly male dogs) and will play fetch for a bit before she wants to sit in your lap. She will also do just about anything for a treat or a greenie (she can definitely be bribed!). For a little dog with a loving house cat type personality, Cleo is most happy just hanging out and being around her family." 

Cleo is used to other dogs as this couple also has a male Lhasa. He has adjusted well to the baby in the family.

Here are photos of Cleo:

If anyone is interested, email me at joyslynslhasas@outlook.com and I will send you the contact information so you can inquire about Cleo.

The ups and downs of life...everyone has them, and I know the saying, "You need the downs so you can appreciate the ups" is true. Let's hope the "down" this young family is feeling will turn into someone else's "up" when they accept Cleo into their family. From the sounds of it, Cleo might be due for an "up" in her life too.

Oh, and wouldn't you know, while I'm sitting here writing about ups and downs, I received a phone call from my daughter-in-law, who told me the good news that the interview she went to yesterday resulted in a phone call today offering her the job. The down (for me) ... the family is moving by June 1st to a city in another state. For some reason they think they have to take my granddaughter with them! Now that is a definite "down." It'll be hard to have them away when they've been in the same town with us for 10+ years!

We all agree, life's ups are better!

And it's true, Life is better when you have a Lhasa to love you!

Joyce

Happy May Day!

Do people still celebrate May Day? When I was in elementary school, May Day was a big deal. I recall making May Baskets and delivering them to my classmates' houses. I found an article on the internet about that tradition. It brought back some memories.

Anyway, Happy May Day! I hope May is a great month for us all!

Furniture Saga (continued)

First, I want to tell you how the saga of my furniture delivery ended. Late last Friday afternoon, I received a call from Kim, a very friendly customer service representative at IKEA Transport. She'd located my shipment in Iowa City and told me Hawkeye Moving would be bringing it me on Saturday. What a relief. She gave me the phone number at Hawkeye and the name of a contact person. Delivery was arranged. It seemed that Hawkeye had originally sent my furniture to Maquon, Illinois. (I later checked the address label, which clearly said "Macomb.")

So, Saturday arrived. The truck showed up when it was supposed to. The guys unloaded two boxes. Wait!! Only two boxes?? I said, "There has to be more than two boxes. There is no way a love seat and sofa can fit in these two boxes!" The guy replied, "Look, ma'am, we just deliver what they give us to deliver. Sign here."

Why do things like this always happen on weekends when there is no way to get in touch with anyone who can help?

One thing I could and did do was use a PM on the IKEA USA Facebook page to let them know that only the love seat had arrived. Monday morning I called Kim at IKEA Transport to tell her about the problem. She called me back in the afternoon to let me know the other boxes were still in Iowa City at Hawkeye. Obviously, someone goofed again! A Hawkeye employee was supposed to call to set up a delivery time and date. No call came.

So, I called them! The man who answered said they would set up a Thursday delivery time and call me back on Tuesday with the information. By 4:00 Tuesday I had no call. So, I called them!

At 9:00 Thursday morning, the boxes arrived. I'm so glad this is over. What a hassle over something that should have been so easy. (I'm not too impressed with Hawkeye Moving.)

Anyway, here's the furniture. We're glad to have a place to sit in our family room again. It's been almost a month with only one recliner in the room. Whoever claimed it first had a good TV watching spot!

Our daughter's dog, Henri, is especially glad to have furniture to relax on once again. The Lhasas prefer to hang out on the floor and to pull the throws off the furniture and make nests out of them.

Henri

Puppy News

For those of you waiting for puppies, here they are!

As you can see, they have yet to arrive. Maggie is uncomfortable and bulging with babies. They are due May 5 but I'm hoping they come this weekend.

Email, Facebook Messages, and Photos from Others

Mary wrote,  "I started Belle in a series of agility classes at a different facility (where Moka trains);   I was a bit nervous she would not be advanced enough for this class since we did not start there.  She did 2 short sequences, jumps , DOGWALK – 3 times with no hesitation, and tunnel.  The next sequence involved jump, A frame, and turning to a tunnel (working on turning skills). She did as she often does with the A frame--runs a little tease of “chase me,”she looks at me, the crowd, dances, I give her a stern command for the A frame, up she goes, blasts down, does the turn, the last jump. Then going out of the ring she took a jump  at 16 in ( she jumps 4). I thought she was going to run under it until I saw the gleam and determination in her face, rose high, cleared the jump, ran out of the ring. Everyone in class gave a gasp, and laugh. The weaves are under construction/instruction. The teeter…we will work at but not fret at. And, she is entered in her first CPE jumpers run in May--tunnels, jumps only.  There is usually a really good photographer at the CPE events, hoping he’s there and catches a Belle shot or two. She is fun."

Belle going over the A-frame

I sure wish I could see Belle in action!

Barbara asked, "Who says you can't mix daffodils with a 'Daisy' in a flower garden?" then wrote, "Daisy Mae loves sitting in the garden."   Here is her Daisy enjoying the garden and the sun.

Catherine posted on Facebook: "Joyce - Mallory went for her annual examination today. Our veterinarian added a new veterinarian who works part-time. She recently retired from teaching/training Vet. Tech. at our local technical college. She loves the Lhasa Apso breed and at one time was a Lhasa Apso breeder. She just went on and on about what a beautiful dog Mallory is. She said her coloring and coat are just beautiful. I told her wait to you meet Magoo. She was so excited she got to see "such a beautiful Lhasa" (her words). I just wanted to share because your Lhasa are so special!"

I posted a photo of Mallory and Magoo last week.

And a note with a cute video arrived from Vivian's LilLea: "Hi Mama Joyce. I wanted to let you know that I am fine, growing big and love my toys.
Love
-LilLea"


The video showed LilLea playing with her toys.

Marilyn sent a note about Maci: "Maci is loving this beautiful weather. She enjoys being on the deck, watching the birds, squirrels, and deer. She is such a barker. If something makes a noise, she barks back. Puppy school is tonight, and she sometimes has her own agenda. Last week she just wanted to watch every person who came and went. I told her yesterday that the rate things were going, she would have to pull an all-nighter just to keep up! She just answered with kisses!"

Survey Opportunity

Dog owners are needed to answer a Dog Owner Quality of Life Survey that concentrates on 10 different aspects of everyday life that are important between dogs and their owners, and how they might positively or negatively affect quality of life. Responses will enable researchers to fine-tune the survey before making it more widely available.  Dog owners interested in taking the Dog Owner Quality of Life Survey can access it at https://redcap.med.upenn.edu/surveys/?s=4KuXHdJjHp. Participants will be asked to provide some general information, including their birth year, zip code, and home environment. No specific identifying information, such as their name or address, will be collected. The survey takes less than 10 minutes to complete. There is no compensation for participation. For more information, visit www.vet.upenn.edu.

That's it for this week!

Life is Better When You Have a Lhasa to Love You!

Joyce