Saturday, February 10, 2024

February 2024

 


"While it is February, one can taste the full joys of anticipation. Spring stands at the gate with her finger on the latch." ~ Patience Strong

Ahh...February and all its special days. There was Ground Hog Day on the 2nd, (and I never did find out if  the ground hog saw his shadow or not). Here in Illinois, we celebrate Lincoln's Birthday on the 12th and then, of course, Presidents' Day on the 19th. Valentine's Day will be celebrated next week.

Oh my gosh, I almost forgot the beginning of Lent!

For us, the dog shows begin in February. Of course, dog shows happen in January too. I rarely enter those shows.

Before I write anything else, I want to give you my new email address: joyslynslhasas73@gmail.com
I hope you all use it and contact me again with your Lhasas' photos and updates. It has been lonely around here! I lost my entire contact list, including those on the waitlist -- so if you know you were waitlist for a Joyslyn's puppy, please get in touch again using the new email address.

If you receive email supposedly from me using the outlook.com address, delete it. I no longer use that account, so that message is not from me.

Many thanks to those who emailed me at the wiu.edu address, but that is my old work email address and I'd prefer to use the new one for the Lhasas.

I am finally okay. Ever since the hack, I reminded myself of that commercial where the woman holds a paper plate with a smiley face on it to cover her own sad face. I too was just going through the motions, putting off all but essential chores, feeling down, feeling stressed, and staying angry.

(Fact:I eat too many carbs when I am stressed. Not a good thing! Pam, Paul, Rusty, Josie, and Lil One sent me chocolate covered caramels. Now, I dearly love chocolate covered caramels, so I give heartfelt thanks to them for the gift! However, I took the advice of a smart friend and put the package in the freezer. I allow myself 2 a day -- and I have to be patient while they thaw out. It is a nice thing to look forward to each day. Otherwise, that entire package would have been gone in a flash!)

The following quotation is attributed to John Lennon: "Everything will be okay in the end, and if it is not okay, it's not the end."

It's not the end yet, but it is getting there.

Another new (and negative) thing I learned about myself recently is that I dislike change that challenges me to learn something new at which I am sure I will fail. I'm not proud of fearing failure, but it seems to be a fact in this particular case. I feel guilty because my fear caused me to let people down.

A good thing that happened was that Show Sight magazine published an article I wrote on Lhasa Apso coat color change. It is in the January 2024 issue, beginning on page 254. If this link does not work, just google the magazine name and issue number.

Puppy News
If all goes as planned, we will have a spring litter. I have always trusted my boys to let me know when a girl is ready to breed, and that has always worked out. However, the "modern" way is to do progesterone testing. So at the urging of some friends, I am trying it this time. It is expensive!!

Adult Availability
We will have a retired female champion ready for a new home this spring. She is gold. She is special!! Again, I had a waitlist which has now disappeared.

I have also been asked to find a home for a golden male Lhasa who has lived in a pet home for 6 years. I'll have him here with me at the end of February. I'll post photos when I get him.

Inquiries about either of these Lhasas are welcome.

Miscellaneous
I recently accepted an invitation to a Zoom meeting to discuss low entry breeds. AKC recognizes the Lhasa as a low entry breed, which basically means that there are no longer many Lhasas competing in conformation shows. There are many other breeds in the same situation. During the meeting, which was only an hour long so we did not have time to get too deep into the topic, we talked about our breeds and what makes them special. We talked about some reasons why our breed was no longer popular with exhibitors, especially young exhibitors. It was a good beginning conversation.

We have shows coming up this month and next. I will be showing Ebony and Deacon. I am especially looking forward to the show in Louisville, where my friend and co-presenter Jan and I will be giving a judges' education seminar and workshop about our breed on March 15.

This was featured in the TCLAC newsletter, and I wanted to share it.


I think it is a good response to people who make fun of or belittle those who participate in the many opportunities to have fun and, yes, earn titles on our dogs. Opportunities range from agility, rally, conformation, Fast CAT, lure coursing, obedience, barn hunt, scent work, dock diving, trick dog, therapy dog, Canine Good Citizen...and MORE. Another title you might decide to give your dog could be BBLD (Best Beloved Lap Dog -- I just made that one up!)  


Notes and Photos From Others

From Marsha M: Hi. Just wanted to tell you Jimmy is 11 years old  today and doing well. He’s a good boy.




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