Time for a Bit of News

Hi Happy Monday! (Although it is now Sunday night, I assume you will not be reading this until tomorrow!)

I know. I know. I haven't posted anything in ages! I understand your frustration because I am following a blog called "The Dirty Western" in which some anonymous folks at the university where I work dig up all the dirt and then let the rest of the world know about it! If they don't put up a new post at least weekly, I start to fret.

My excuse? Lack of good ideas!

So, an update. We have three puppies left from the Twist x Secret litter. Their pictures appear at the top of this entry. They were 10 weeks old on Friday. I call them Desi, Zeke, and Zach. Why? Because my granddaughter came over to play with them and wanted to know their names and that was all I could come up with for the boys. Desi has been named Desi for a while now! I hope to show her. Her name will be Joyslyn MLS Dakota Heart's Desire. Right now Zeke is the "keeper" as far as the boys are concerned. I'd keep Zach too, but two are quite enough for me to keep and train right now.

My weekend was a good one. My Shiba friends and I attended our first dog show of 2010 in Des Moines, Iowa. I showed Walker, who is now old enough for veterans classes and needed to get back in the ring to remember what it's all about. He hasn't been in a ring since August when he took a Group I and Group III at the Burlington, IA shows. The good news is that, although we lost the breed on Saturday, we won on Sunday (Thanks, judge Dr. Smith!) and went on to take a Group 4 (Thanks judge Mr. Fredrickson). In addition to the ribbon, Walker won a lovely microfiber throw – soft and cuddly. I did a quick calculation on the drive home and figured that that throw cost me about $150. (Never, never add up how much it costs to go to dog shows!) LOL

I took Belle, in a last ditch effort to get her comfortable walking on a lead. She was not being shown. She just went along for a training opportunity. I was ready to give up on her. She is so darn stubborn. She drags a lead around the family room (under careful supervision) each evening for at least an hour. If I try to pick it up, she freezes and refuses to move! I am pleased to say that this weekend she turned a corner. She decided to walk! She got lots of attention from other exhibitors as well as the general public visiting the show. The little girls especially fell in love with her -- and with her name. "Oh -- just like the Princess Belle!" She is very, very cute! She learned she liked liver and that hot dogs were not too bad either. So now I guess I need to find a show and enter her and see if she'll be as showy inside the ring as she was outside it!

Have a good week!

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

Joyce

Goodbye Cutie

Cutie passed away last night. She was fine yesterday AM ... alert, happy and digging into her food like crazy. At noon when I came home she was up and using her piddle pad, happy to see me. By evening, she was lethargic and refused to eat. She just stayed curled up with her toy under her blanket, and that is how I found her this morning.

I blame myself of course. I needed to take her to the vet for an exam when I took the others for their shots. I wanted to find out if the vet could discern a reason for her being so small. We discovered that at 7 weeks and 4 days she weighed less than a pound! In spite of her size, she was active and eating and her heart sounded fine.

I just think the trip to the clinic took a lot out of her, in spite of my precautions of wrapping the crate in heavy blankets and heating the car well before we left. Perhaps she caught a chill or, with her depressed immune system, picked up some fast acting bug at the clinic. Or maybe it was simply her time to go.

I'm terribly sad. Even after all these years and litters, the loss of a puppy affects me. I dropper and bottle fed her since she was 3 days old until she was able to eat by herself. In my heart I knew she was probably not destined for a long life, but never ever did I expect her to go so quickly and without warning.

I know there are some breeders who might simply let a tiny, struggling 3-day old puppy die. I could not bring myself to do that. I had to try and actually thought I'd succeeded. I'll miss the little thing whose intrepid spirit inspired me and whose cute little toddling across the floor always made me smile.

Don't even ask me what I will tell my granddaughter. Cutie was "her" puppy since the day I let her help me give Cutie the bottle!

Life is sad when you lose a Lhasa you love...


Joyce