Happy Birthday Walker! Lots of Puppy Pictures to Share, and Notes and Photos from Friends

Happy Birthday, Walker!

Our Walker, know to AKC as GCh. Ch. Joyslyn MiToya Wind Walker, will be 14 years old tomorrow, September 22. Here are a couple of photos of him when I was specialing him a few years ago. We had a great time in the ring. He loved showing, loved being baited with liver, and hated having his show win photo taken. Friends helping me with the grooming and photo pose would always warn the photographer to "take the picture fast!" In spite of his reluctance to be photographed, we did get some good photos of him. Here are a couple of my favorite.

GCh Ch Joyslyn MiToya Wind Walker

Windy (more about her later) and Rafe (GCh. Ch. Joyslyn's Inherit the Wind) are two of Walker's kids. Our Greta (Joyslyn's No Regrets) and Josh (GCh Ch Joyslyn MLS Dakota Wind Breaker) are grandkids, and our Jenna (Joyslyn MLS Dakota Je-Na Sais Quoi) is a great granddaughter.

Walker has blessed us in many ways. It is sad to see him getting older, a bit slower and stiff in the morning, but still very eager when he senses one of the girls is in season!

Updates: Jenna and Greta

We have not attended any shows lately but I did receive the show photo of Jenna, taken at the Twin Cities Lhasa Apso Club specialty in late August. She is pictured with her ribbons and prizes for Winners Bitch (5 point major!), Best of Winners, and Best Puppy.

I'd intended to take a photo of Greta last night but forgot, so a picture of her has to wait until next time. You will recall that Greta is not fond of showing. In spite of that, I entered her in shows during National Specialty week, so I thought I should register her for a conformation training class. I did, and it takes me about an hour and 45 minutes to get there and another hour and 45 minutes to get home -- all for a class that lasts not quite an hour. Oh, the things I do! Last night was the first class. Greta gets high marks - I'd say a "10" -  for behaving beautifully on the table and very low marks for moving with her tail up. (That would be a  "0.") She was sure that dog behind her was up to no good. Maybe better luck next week???

Coat Change

Greta is going through the "dreaded coat change" phase. She has to be brushed more frequently nowadays and the piles of hair in the waste basket make me wonder if she'll soon be naked! I hope the change is over quickly.

Because I've been dealing with the mats and tangles that seem to spring up in Greta's coat only hours after I've just groomed her, an email from my crazy (in a good way!) friend Judy Laffoon, who owns our Ch. Joyslyn's Moonlight Magic (Raven) and our Joyslyn's Midnight Confessions (Whisper), really hit home. I confess to laughing out loud more than once! Here it is: "While brushing out Whisper this morning, I had nothing else to do but think while listening to music. So undercoat popped into my head. Why, might you ask? Because as I was brushing Whisper I would come across a little patch of grouped undercoat that hadn't yet become a mat, but obviously the thought process was there.

It then occurred to me what undercoat really is. Undercoat is a gazillion individual soft hairs (SH) that insulates the dog. That's the basic definition, I guess. But did you realize that sometimes these individual SH's get restless? Maybe it is boredom. Suddenly one or two will get together and start talking about how it isn't fair that the hard coat gets to see the sunshine and bunnies all the time. Then another SH will overhear the conversation and join in. Pretty soon, there is quite a gathering of the SH population.

The SH's then decide that they need to join together in protest of this unfair living condition. So they join arms and legs and possibly have velcro like tentacles they can use interchangeable to attach the rest of their body to another body. The SH's begin to become unruly. The crowd gets larger and larger if Law Enforcement, Mr. Brush, doesn't come along and scoot them on their way.

If Mr. Brush is on vacation or reading a book, the gathering of SH's can become extremely large and difficult to break up. Mr. Brush then needs to call for backup, sometimes in the form of another member of the Brush family who also works in Law Enforcement. The SH's are then deemed to be a gathering without a legal permit, a crime punishable by a life sentence in the Prison known locally as The Trash Can ("Trash" for short). Trash is not a good place for SH's to be, as they definitely won't be seeing sunlight or bunnies in there.

Mr. Brush and fellow officers often call in reinforcements by the Fire Department who are able to spray on a special formula that helps disperse the unruly SH's. Of course these short hairs end up powerless, like Superman and Kryptonite. Off to Trash they go, assisted by Mr. Brush.

It is unfortunate that the SH's will never be obsolete. Apparently there is no regular use of birth control in the SH ghetto neighborhoods, and many SH parents are lax in teaching their SH children how to play nice with others. Other SH neighborhoods that are in the nice parts of town appear to be less likely to be disruptive and join in the militant gatherings.

Mr. Brush and his fellow officers will never be out of a job."

New Puppy Pictures

I know that at least 8 of you are reading just to see the new pictures of the puppies, so I'll get right to it. Duncan and Maggie puppies were 8 weeks old yesterday. Josh and Luna puppies will be 8 weeks on Friday.

Duncan x Maggie female - Aime

Duncan x Maggie male

Duncan x Maggie male

Duncan x Maggie female - Penny Lane

Duncan x Maggie female - Riley

Josh x Luna female - Biddy

Josh x Luna male

Josh x Luna male

Here are random photos taken of the puppies at sleep and at play. They are very cute!!

 Notes and Photos From Friends

Julie wrote, "Harper ran her first agility trial today.( dogs can't compete until after 15 months old, she is 16 months). Double Q'd. Had a perfect run in jumpers and had a 95 in the standard course. I was so proud of her, she loves it!"

Congratulations Julie and Harper!!!

Julie posted these photos of Harper and her sire on Facebook:

Left: Harper (Kunza FFT Journey of the Heart at Joyslyn) Right: Ch. Kunza Drin Lan at FFT Melou

Mary wrote about Belle and sent a link to a video of her running an agility course then getting the Lhasa sillies.  "Here's Belle with a different handler;  Linda is one of my pet sitters who checks on pets when I work. She  normally runs a white German Shep;  her dog was in season.........so I offered Belle and I ran Moka.  This is our monthly NDAL fun run. Linda lost her connection with A frame but the enthusiasm is priceless. It's like Belle got the giggles. Linda, better runner, long legs.......Belle really moves."

Judy (yes the same one!) wrote about Raven: "Raven has finally figured out that if she stands at the front door and barks, I will come and open the door and let her out into the yard. I don't think she does it so she can go potty, I think she just wants to go out and check her favorite spots for those elusive desert creatures, which is her new outdoor hobby."






Speaking of outdoor creatures...a doe and her fawns were grazing in the area between our and the neighbor's backyards last evening.

Violet wrote that her Yogi (Walker's brother) is up to some antics himself: "The other day Yogi went into the pantry, pulled this snack bag out, took off the big clip, got a round snack out and was eating it when I went to the kitchen and caught him in the act. So funny."

You may recall that a few weeks ago I mentioned that we had an adult female available. That was Windy, Ch. MLS Dakota Dancing in the Wind at Joyslyn. Windy left on Sunday with her new owners and from the notes and photos I'm getting, she is settling into her new home and new routine quite well. Mary wrote, "Hi Joyce, as you can see from this picture she's made herself pretty much at home, she's met the triplets and some of the neighbors. She did very well.Windy is a sweetheart. She's attached to me more than Jim. I have to teach her she has to be more attached to him. She caught on real quick that she has to go outside on the grass to go potty. We have fallen in love with her already. We know she came from a good home. Will keep in touch."

Windy lounging on the sofa between her new owners

Just chillin' on the porch

Lovin' this roomy backyard!

  I know this was long! Thanks for sticking with me.

Life Is Better When You Have A Lhasa To Love You!

Joyce