Lhasa Apso Blog: So Much To Be Thankful For

Halloween has come and gone. I am glad. It was never my favorite holiday. As a child I was always disappointed that my costume did not turn out the way I expected (although the neighbors were still generous with the treats.) I fondly remember the houses where a kid could get a full-size Snickers bar or a popcorn ball, or a caramel apple. As a mom, I dealt with kids who loved Halloween and wanted to go all out -- and they did! We had costume disasters, kids' meltdowns, parental meltdowns, too much sugar...I confess to raiding their bags for Snickers. Now it is easy for me to be a Halloween Scrooge because we live in a neighborhood that has no young children.

Can You Help?

I think every dog owner has bad dreams about what might happen to the dogs if they (the owner) died, became too ill to take care of the dogs. We tend to think that "My kids will take the dog," "My friend loves my dog. She will take him," "The breeder will take her back." But does that always happen? No! Often the dogs end up in a shelter and, if they are too old for someone to adopt, they end up euthanized.

We like to think that we'll outlive our dogs, but age has nothing to do with the problem. Anyone at any age can become ill and die, be killed in a car accident, get shot by some idiot with a gun. Where does that leave your dog? Here is a link that might help you plan for your dog's future should you be unable to care for him/her.

All this leads up to why I am asking for help. Those of you who own Joyslyn's Lhasas know that the sales agreement says I will take a dog back if something happens that its owner can no longer care for it. That will work for now, until I am too old to take in other's dogs!

I recently received a phone call telling me that a person who owns and loves her two Joyslyn Lhasas has fallen, hit her head, and, as a result, has brain damage and is now in a nursing home. A friend of hers called me and asked me to take the dogs. They will be coming to me sometime next week after having spent the last two weeks in a kennel at the vet's office.

I will be looking for homes or a home for them. Both are just 5 years old. There is a female born 3/21/18, sired by GCH Joyslyn's Inherit the Wind (Rafe) out of CH Joyslyn's Heart Song (Kimmi). The male was born 7/9/18 and was sired by CH Joyslyn's Moon Shadows out of CH Joyslyn MLS Dakota Je-Na Sais Quoi.

If you or someone you know can open heart and home to one or both of these Lhasas, please get in touch with me at joyslynslhasas@outlook.com or 309-837-1665.

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

(P.S. If you call, please leave a message. If we are home we will pick up the phone as you begin your message. We had to give up answering the phone because we have been getting as many as 12 robo calls each day! Disgusting!!)

Puppy Announcement

I am pleased to announce that the end of October brought us a "Treat." We have puppies! I admit that things were stressful for the first two weeks. I guess that was the "Trick" part, and it was not a nice trick either. But all is well at last, and the babies are nursing well and growing. Their moms are taking good care of them. I'll post pictures next month.

In the midst of taking care of new moms with their new puppies, I have been busy raising and training our new puppy, Deacon, who was born in July. His parents are Josh and Millie. Here is a picture of Deacon. Evidently, he was bored and needed an outlet for his energy! See the innocent look on his face!

Deacon likes to chew on my shoes. I have since learned to pick them up and put them away! He is also hearing "no bite" frequently as he has a habit of giving soft kisses that often turn into little nips.

Here is a link that offers advice to those of us whose dogs are teething. Bitter Apple is product that is helpful for discouraging/stopping a puppy from chewing on items that you don't want gnawed.

One of the funniest photos I have received from a puppy buyer was a picture of a beautiful dining room table whose legs were sitting in colorful plastic buckets. No explanation necessary! Actually, that was a great idea for protecting such a lovely table.

Here is a depiction of how I perceive my life lately. And I know that most of you who are reading this probably feel the same!

Our beautiful Archie has a new home. He now lives in Indiana with some great people who are spoiling him (in a good way). He gets to sleep on their bed too. Here are a couple photos of him.

Before the haircut, standing in the driveway with the wind blowing through his hair.

This one is after his first haircut. He is so, so darn cute. And I imagine he feels "free" having all that heavy coat gone.

We also had Rusty here as a guest for a few days while he was recovering from his neutering procedure. He was not happy with the cone! I think he blamed me because he was really happy to see Paul and Pam when they came back to pick him up. He also gets to sleep in their bed with the other 2 Lhasas.

Notes and Photos from Others

Many of you have told me that you enjoy the photos I post of the Joyslyn's Lhasas that their owners have sent to me. I love getting the pictures and enjoy the comments people send about their dogs. I always enjoy sharing them with my readers.

Lisa sent this picture of her Duncan sporting his soft "cone" following his neutering surgery. Lisa wrote that her other Lhasa, Dresden tried to get Duncan to play and when he did not want to play. "Dresden then laid down on a dog bed. Duncan went and scooted up to the back side of the dog bed as close as he could get to Dresden. Dresden is keeping a close eye on his little brother. He realizes he is healing from something. It is amazing the bond between these two..."

We all know that our Lhasas each have their own quirks and personalities. Some are serious, some are clowns, some are so smart it is scary, some are fearless, some are big babies.

In a later message, Lisa wrote this about Duncan: "It is official - Duncan watches tv just like my first Lhasa Apso “Alex” that I got in 2000. Duncan places his front paws over the rolled arm of the sectional sofa to face the tv.

However, unlike any other dog I have had, Duncan reacts to musical scores on tv. When the music is playing for a suspenseful or spooky scene, Duncan definitely responds! When the opening credits of Edward Scissorhands was playing, Duncan jumped caddy corner on the sectional sofa to land between me and his big brother Dresden. Duncan was sitting upright, staring straight ahead at the tv the whole time - as if to say I don’t know what is about to happen next but I want to be between the two of you when it does!"

LOL cracked me up!!

Nanda wrote about Gigi, "Gigi is almost a year old now. Time flies. She is the sweetest puppy God has ever put on this earth. She’s super happy too. She thinks she’s older than Ty and she bosses him around. We adore her. Thank you for this wonderful gift you have given to our family."

Nanda also had this to say about Ty, "I can’t describe in words how much we love him! He's filthy from running on grandma’s backyard but still the most handsome dog ever. Pure beauty ❤️"

Sally sent pictures of Ginger and Jaxon and wrote, "Hi Joyce! I loved your blog- it was perfect timing talking about Lhasa love. I was sick most of the week and Ginger and Jaxon either laid right beside me or on top of me most of the time 😄 I'm not normally lying on the couch so they weren't quite sure what was going on. Everyone should have at least 2 Joyslyn's Lhasas! They made me feel much better.

On the subject of the drama trauma - it's a life saver. We had a big afternoon thunderstorm last week and normally Ginger would go under a bed or in the basement. But! I sprayed some and put a little on her ears and she curled up in her favorite bed in the living room instead! It's fantastic!"

Here is a picture of Rebecca's Corso. He is Archie's litter brother.

The Johnsons sent this picture of Snickers and wrote: "We just love watching your posts. Snickers just loves his toys. Collin bought these 3 small bones that squeak and Snickers didn’t want any of us to grab them while we were playing with him. So he grab all three in his mouth. LOL We all laughed so hard. He is just the most amazing dog!! He always makes us smile and laugh. He is so loving ❤️and going to be 11 this December but you would never know it. He keeps us young."

Hiam and Sheri wrote to tell me their Teddy passed away. They wrote, "We had a very loving dog for the last 17 1/2 years and were fortunate to have him, thank you."

Raquel sent this photo of Minnie and also a video of her running at full speed down the stairs to retrieve a toy. Maybe Raquel should rename her "Flash!"

Judy G wrote about Winter's new title (Rally Novice). Winter is one of the retired adults Judy bought from us. Now Winter (thanks to Judy) has a title at the back of her name as well as the front! CH Joyslyn Mon Ami Winter Wind, RN

Judy wrote, "We just got home from 2 Rally Trials in LaPorte, and Winter now has an RN title after her name. There are 40 rally novice obstacles and she can do 37 of them. So in the first trial there were 2 that she doesn't do well. So 20 points off and I had one point off for a tight lease. She scored 79 and received 4th place. In the second trial there were different obstacles and she scored 96 and received first place.!

I can't believe that in 8 months she has earned a rally title. She loves to go to class!

Love from Winter and appreciation from me. She is perfect!"

Then a few weeks later Judy wrote, "Winter and Nyx completed the 5K to earn a Turkey Trot fun medallion from AKC Fit Dog. Ty needs another 3/4 of a mile before Thanksgiving to earn his medallion. Winter will ...be ready to virtual test in Rally Intermediate during the holidays. She is a little show off in the ring. She prances and dances through the courses. She is a one in a million!!"

LaVonne sent this picture taken of the beautiful Misti at the 2023 ALAC Regional Specialty. Misti, shown as a veteran, was given an Award of Merit. Misti is the mom of Judy G's Winter. Misti is co-owned by LaVonne Bennett and me. AKC knows Misti as GCH CH Mon Ami 'N Joyslyn Shades of Summer.

Judy L posted Halloween pictures of Gus and Lippy. She wrote, "Gusto Spitz and Lippy Maverick Jones participated in Boo Barn Ranch’s Halloween Extravaganza. Gus was a ‘King Bee’ and Lippy was a T-Rex. Lippy was supposed to be a ‘Kissing Booth’ but he kept removing his costume. Back up costume switcharoo! Gus tied for 1st Place in ‘Cutest Costume.’ You can’t see much of his costume in this photo, but he was danged cute!"

Julie sent this photo of Bekka and wrote that "She is doing fine and we love her a lot."

Just as an aside, Bekka is Ty and Gigi's mom. Can you tell?

Jim sent this picture of Daisy and remarked, "She sort of looks like one of the baby's rockers."

The Holidays - Some Advice

The holiday season can be a joyful one, but those of us with dogs need to be extra cautious about what our dogs eat, whether we purposefully feed them something as a "treat" that they really should not eat or if they manage to snag some food that was accidentally dropped during food preparation.

Here is an article that offers helpful advice about foods that we should not be feeding the dogs anytime.

Yes, the end-of-year Holidays will soon be upon us. We'll all be super plate-spinners during those holidays as we plan, prepare, put the plan into action! Let's keep in mind why and what we are celebrating and not let the craziness take away from the purpose of Thanksgiving.

Why do we need a day to remind us to be thankful? I think it is because setting a day aside does serve to remind us to stop and count our blessings.

Even when things don't go the way we want them to go or think they should have gone, we have to look on the bright side and find something -- even one small thing -- to be thankful for and not let despair take over our thoughts and actions.

Just so you know, I give thanks for all of you who have trusted my husband and me to provide you with your beloved Lhasa Apso. Some of you were on a waiting list for a long time, but you stuck with me and waited. I am so glad to have met so many nice people over the years as they have come into my life because of the Lhasas. God has blessed me in that way and I am grateful.

And now, I think I will take a tip from these two and go chill out for a while...