Will Winter Ever End?

"February is merely as long as is needed to pass the time until March."
- Dr. J. R. Stockton

"If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant."
- Anne Bradstreet


Aren't you all just tired of this weather? Someone emailed and asked how I was doing, and I responded that I felt as if I were just going through the motions of living, doing what needs to be done, and waiting, waiting, waiting…for warm weather, sunny days, flowers and trees budding. The only thing really good about February is that it is short! Even the idea of "March," knowing that it often brings blizzards and chilly winds, seems to lighten my heart because March brings April that much closer.

And… in a few months we'll all be complaining about how darn hot it is!

In the meantime, Zeke, Zach, and Desi are all doing well—eating, growing, loving chew bones and stuffed toys. I've decided on registered names for the two I am keeping. Desi will be Joyslyn MLS Dakota Heart's Desire and Zach will be Joyslyn MLS Dakota Playboy at Heart. I'll leave it to Zeke's new owner, whoever he/she will eventually be, to officially name him.

I'm off to a show in Des Moines, Iowa, tomorrow. What amazes me is that there is actually (for this show and this time of year) a nice Lhasa entry—0-5-2-0. (Translated for those who do not show: no class males, 5 class females, two male specials, and no female specials.) I am taking Walker and Belle. (Will she walk?? Pray for us! I don't care if she wins. I just want her to show!) Next month Mira and Belle are entered in shows in Belleville, IL.

In a previous email, I referred to shampooing the puppies before evaluating them so I thought I'd show you some pictures of Zach when he was wet, to give you an idea of what is under the coat.
So, the picture of the wet dog at the top of the page is Zach, bless his heart!

I hope you all stay warm and cozy…and that the rest of February zooms by so we are that much closer to spring!

Life is good when you have a Lhasa to love you (and to cuddle with you on these cold winter nights – and days!)

Joyce

Puppy Pictures

Hi! Not much new is going on here. I traveled to and from Madison, WI yesterday to meet Karen and to bring Alvin home with me. We are hoping that Dancer comes in season soon, as expected. When she does, she will be bred to Alvin. Every time I see that dog I am so impressed. He is beautiful -- and has a personality to match!

The most recent puppy pictures are posted at the top of the page. They were taken last Monday. The one I am holding with his leg hanging over my arm is Zeke. The other one whose legs are over my hands is Zach. Desi is the one sitting on the table looking camera shy.

Zeke will soon be going to his new home in Oklahoma. Zach and Desi are staying here. Their debut will be at the Bloomington, IL shows at the end of May if all goes as planned.

Have a good week!

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

Joyce

What's In A Name?

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."Romeo and Juliet (II,ii, 1-2)

What's in a name indeed? Evidently a lot. Think of how long parents debate the pros and cons of baby names. It's no different for us dog people. We search for the perfect name for our dogs. Sometimes inspiration strikes quickly. Other times, it's not so easy. I know that I have often spent more time coming up with a name for one of the Lhasas than I ever spent thinking of names for the kids! Thankfully, for a few extra dollars, AKC now allows us to use some of those "perfect names" that previously had to be abandoned because they were too long to fit in the few spaces AKC formerly allowed.

Thanks to those who left comments or emailed me about possible names with "Heart" in them for Zach's AKC registered name. One suggestion led to a song title list containing the word "heart." That yielded many interesting options! I also frequently check the Jockey Club Registration online list when I'm trying to name a dog. Again, some unusual and interesting options resulted. I went to Amazon.com and searched for book titles containing the word "heart" and ended up with a lot of romance novels with sexy-looking men on the covers and titles like "Captive Heart," "Wild Irish Heart," "Ravishing Heart" and "My Passionate Heart."

Of course, a lot of the names on the various lists would work well for naming a female, but Desi's name has already been chosen, so I had to keep in mind I was naming a male.

Here is a list of possibilities, taken from readers' suggestions, my brainstorming, friends' suggestions, and the resources listed previously:

Be Still My Heart
Brave Heart
Change of Heart
Close to the Heart
Eat Your Heart Out
Heart and Soul
Heart of Gold
Heart Stopper
Heart of the Matter
Hearts Afire
Heart's Delight
Heart Twister
Heart's Quest
Heaven in My Heart
Hero at Heart
Jack of Hearts
King of Hearts
King of My Heart
Knave of Hearts
Lion Heart
One Determined Heart
Piece of My Heart
Playboy at Heart
Playin' with My Heart
Secret Heart
Straight from the Heart
Thief of My Heart
Thief of Hearts
Thunder in My Heart
Total Eclipse of the Heart
Turn on Your Heartlight
You'll Be in My Heart
Warrior at Heart

I really like a few of these names and have not yet made a decision. I can see many possibilities for future puppies' names so I definitely need to hang on to the lists I've made. If inspiration strikes you or you want to "vote" for a favorite name on the list, let me know!

Now, here are ones that I rejected from the song title list, for obvious reasons!
Vampire Heart
Heart Attack
Stomach vs Heart
Cold Hard Heart
Bad Liver and a Broken Heart
Don't Phunk with My Heart
Your Cheatin' Heart
Heartache Tonight
Heart of Stone
Wooden Heart
Let the Heartaches Begin

And "Hearts Lettuce" from the Jockey Club website didn't turn me on either! Man, they give those horses some weird names! LOL

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

Joyce

New Articles and An Important Decision

I've posted abbreviated versions of some of my grooming articles on
ezine. Here is the link if you want to check them out. A couple new ones should appear by mid-February. I also wrote and recently posted two new articles under the "Articles About Grooming" category of my website. They are "Keep It Clean! The Key to a Long, Healthy Show Coat" and "Preparing for a Show: Finishing Touches—Tips on Trimming Pads, Feet, and Coat."

A major afternoon activity today was evaluating the puppies. I have two males that I really really like and I was having problems deciding which to keep. I thought it was Zeke, but the more I watched them, the more I thought perhaps I should keep Zach instead. Decisions, decisions! So this afternoon, I shampooed both puppies, plastered their coats down with the shampoo so we could really see the structure, and then stacked them on the table to go over them. Lynn took pictures of fronts and profiles. The "plaster-the-fluffy-coat-down-with-shampoo" method is one I have used for years. It gives me a chance to see a puppy's structure under his coat and is basically a way for my eyes to acknowledge what my hands have been telling me!

The decision has been made. I will be keeping Zach. Zeke is a great puppy, and I'll now be able to look for a home for him. I'm very glad to have that decision over with. I want to keep the "best" for the show ring and my breeding program, and I had to get quite nit-picky when it came to deciding between the two. But now it's done. I am happy with my decision. No more second guessing!

Now comes the next tough decision…what will the puppy's registered name be??? I'd like to use "Heart" in his name. His mom is "Secrets of the Heart." His grandfather is "Rebel at Heart." He has two half brothers who are "Heartbreaker" and "Heartthrob." I welcome suggestions. You can email me at lhasas@joyslynslhasaapsos.com or just post ideas in the comments section of this blog.

Next weekend I'll be traveling to WI to meet Karen to pick up Alvin. He'll be spending some time here with us while we wait for Dancer to come in season. If nature cooperates, she'll be bred in late February or early March. This was a breeding we tried in August that did not "take," so we are looking forward to having better luck this time by breeding Dancer here at home.

I hope to post some of today's puppy pictures later this week.

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

Joyce

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

Puppy Pictures

The puppies were 8 weeks old on January 8th. I've posted their latest pictures. Cute, aren't they?

They are a happy crew that follows me everywhere, evidently hoping either to trip me or be stepped on! I've certainly learned to watch where I'm putting my feet. They will forgo even the most attractive stuffed doggy toy for the opportunity to untie my shoe laces and tug on them. Every day brings a new discovery.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Joyce

Pictures and Miscellaneous Thoughts

Hi! The purpose of today's entry is mainly to show you some new pictures. We had quite an exciting weekend when Katina, Breaker's new owner, and her daughters make a long drive in frigid weather to come to Macomb to pick him up.

Naturally, Lynn and I had show pictures of Breaker, but we also wanted to get other photos of him. We set up our "studio," which consists of a black sheet duct-taped to the back side of the flat screen TV, draped over the front of the TV and then over a grooming table that is placed beneath the TV. It makes a nice background for the light colored dogs. (We'll have to come up with a different color sheet when it's Mira's turn!) We took about 35 pictures of Breaker, some much better than others. Here are a couple of them.

One thing I love about Breaker (besides his appearance, structure, movement....) is his great attitude. He has an amazing zest for life. He is a clown. He is always happy, and his cheerful attitude and love of life always make me smile. Dogs like Breaker can teach us a lot about how our attitudes affect our lives.

One of my favorite "Food for Thought" quotations comes from Charles R. Swindoll, who said: “The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.”

It's not always easy to maintain a positive attitude, to see the cup as half full, or to see the silver lining, but you have to admit that things go better when you do!

P.S. I'll post the new puppy pictures tomorrow.

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

Joyce