August Ramblings

 

Happy August 15th -- and Happy Birthday to Me!

And Happy Birthday everyone else whose "sign" is Leo!

We are a special group (in our opinion!).

Yes, I ate a slice of that cake for breakfast this morning.

Since I last posted, I took a quick trip to Florida to visit our daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons, ages 7 and 9. Oh, and Maxi, their year-old Red Bone Coonhound.

Two days after my return, Covid reared its ugly head. I started taking meds right away and the worst was over in 2.5 days. Of course, as soon as I was well, Lynn got it.

There went our plans to actually attend a family reunion as a family. The reunion was in Nebraska. Our sons, Aaron and Trevor, and two granddaughters, Janis and Klara were able to be there. The oldest attendee was my Aunt Shirley, Mom's 98 year-old sister and the youngest was a 3-month-old. In all we had 97 people there.

Back at home, I still had Deacon's coat change to contend with. He'd started matting while I was in Florida and Lynn and I took turn grooming him, depending on which one of us was sick or traveling. It just took an hour each day for about a month, and now the worst is over. Now when Deacon sees me getting the grooming table out, he hides under the footrest of the recliner.

I finally decided to part with Kira. It was such a hard decision but it needed to be made. She has such a wonderful disposition. Sweet and loving, content to play by herself, eager to please, and playful with our kitten.

We were recently visited by Paul and Pam and their Lhasas: Lil One, Josie, and Rusty. Pam and Paul welcomed Rusty into their home last year. It was good to see Rusty again, but he wanted nothing to do with me! He is very happy in his new home and with his new people.

Upcoming events for me include a show in Lake Elmo, MN on 8/23, a 4-day show in Amana, IA from 8/29 - 9/1, and one day in Des Moines on 9/7. If you are near any of these places and want to watch the Lhasas show, let me know and I will email you the ring times and ring numbers when they are available. 

joyslynslhasas73@gmail.com (with a reminder that the outlook account is no longer being used).

Then it is back to Nebraska to celebrate Mom's 92nd birthday.

Puppies?

We currently have no puppies available. We are waiting for two girls to come in season and do have plans for breedings. If you are at all interested in a puppy from a litter born later this year or early next year, contact me to get on the waiting list. 

Adults?

We retired two of our girls (Autumn and Millie) , both Grand Champions, from breeding. They have both made contributions to the breed. Both are up to date on all vaccinations and both have been spayed. I would like to find loving forever homes for them. Contact me if you are interested.  Here are photos taken a week ago.

Autumn

Millie  (Deacon's mom)

My Survey Idea

Having adults available to pet homes gave me an idea. I have successfully placed many many adult Lhasas in pet homes over the years. Sometimes people keep in touch on a regular basis. Others do not. But I decided to conduct a survey about the experience from the new owners' point of view of adding an adult Lhasa to their home.

I went through my records and then sent emails to people who had purchased one of my adults. The email explained that I was conducting a survey and asked them to reply to the brief survey questions about their experiences with the adult dog.

Now, if you are reading this and thinking, "Wait, I got an adult from Joyce, why didn't she contact me?" it could be that I tried but did not have an up-to-date email address. I did have some returned as "undeliverable." I want/hope as many people as possible to take part in the survey and contribute to its success. So if you have/had an adult from me and did not get the survey or if you received the email and, as happened with a few respondents, could not open the Word document, please contact me at joyslynslhasas73@gmail.com and I will send you the survey. I have already heard from a few people and look forward to hearing from others.

The plan is to compile the survey results and then to write an article.

Looking Back

Here is a photo of me showing Bo Jangles, whom we purchased as a show prospect puppy. Judge Ed Bivin awarded Bo his first and only point. Bo grew to weigh almost 30 lbs.!  I learned a valuable lesson from our experience with Bo. When the breeders saw him in person they tried to convince me to give him back to them and accept a replacement. Of course, young stupid me said "no." I loved him. I could not part with him. He lived with us the rest of his life, but I missed a chance to get a different/better show prospect from his breeder.

Gigi's Story

Frequent readers of this blog are familiar with Kris and Nanda's Lhasas, Ty and Gigi. They are brother and sister, born a year apart. Parents are Josh and Bekka. I asked Nanda to share her recent experience with Gigi becoming ill. Here is what she wrote.

"We have two super healthy Lhasa Apsos. They both eat Farmer’s Dog and no table food. Out of the blue, our little girl Gigi, who is turning two in November, got sick on Friday, July 19^th. She started to act extremely hyper. She didn’t sleep and paced frantically throughout the house. At that point we were concerned about a neurological illness. 

The next morning she had severe diarrhea and stopped eating and drinking. We took her to the ER. All vital signs, physical exams and blood work were normal; so they sent her home with Metronidazole and recommended a blend diet of white rice and chicken. She refused to eat, threw up the antibiotic and the diarrhea worsened. She pooped 12 times in 10 minutes. We went back to the ER and they started a subcutaneous fluid treatment. They also started CERENIA and continued the Metronidazole. 

Back at home Gigi still showed no interest in food or water, didn’t stop having diarrhea and got extremely lethargic. We went to a Veterinary Specialty Center and she was admitted to their hospital. 3 days of tests. Blood work, urine work, x-rays, ultrasounds, biopsies, fecal tests, PCRs, etc. All normal. 

Vets stopped the antibiotics and diagnosed her with “allergy”. They put her on Royal Canin hydrolyzed food. We chose not to feed her that. We enticed her to eat by warming up her chicken and rice with a bit of Primal Chicken Bone Broth. We consulted a Canine Nutritionist @CutTheKibble and following Joyce’s advice, we reached out to Jim, from Nature’s Farmacy. Their guidance was heaven sent. We kept it simple and started slowly to home cook for her with the supplements recommended to her scenario. We also used Gastro Elm Plus before her meals (MIRACLE PRODUCT). 

Since I don’t have time to home cook forever, we have now transitioned her to Ever More. She is back to super healthy and happy. She eats, lamb, turkey and beef. I honestly don’t believe she has a food allergy. I believe that her former food was full of fillers. Tones of garbanzo beans, sugar and carbs. Her sensitive stomach just can’t handle it. To sum it up for you, when you need help with your beloved pet’s health, go to:

1. Cut The Kibble (YouTube or Instagram)
2. Nature’s Farmacy (Jim) 1800-733-4981
3. Gastro Elm Plus (Michael) gastroelmplus@gmail.comOR CS@gastroelm.com

Both of our dogs don’t do well on raw food. Lightly cooked foods that worked for us: Small Batch and Ever More

If your dog gets sick and you need to talk. Please email me at chitownanda18str@gmail.com. I’ll call you. Together we can do this!"

Notes and Photo From Others

Jim sent this picture of Daisy, taken after a fresh summer haircut.

Kyle wrote that Cosmo and their older Lhasa, Fin, "have built a reasonably warm friendship - sleeping together at night in the crate. We are so happy to welcome another Lhasa into the family and it’s quite fun watching the two dogs run around or play with the kids."

Marsha wrote that "Baron can leap tall arms on big chairs in a single bound.... he's Super Baron!"

Lynn wrote about Aimie, "How is it possible that it’s been 8 years since you put this little angel in my arms in Loveland, Co? Every day with her is such heaven on earth. There are just not enough words to tell you how MUCH we adore her…..she’s the light of our lives.

Thank you for your blog and all you do for this beautiful breed"

Lisa sent vacation news about Duncan:"Here is a photo of Duncan and Dresden in Traverse City. Duncan has done remarkably well despite his nerves on this trip so far. We head for Mackinac Island tomorrow.  Then he will go on his first ferry ride and be around all the island horses."

She later wrote that "He did really well on the ferry ride.  He is not interested in or bothered by the horses."

Doreen sent a note about Henry: "Thought I would share this with you..Henry has been featured a couple of times on his groomer’s Instagram page...They just think he’s the best as he’s so sweet…and he loves this summer cut."

Here is a picture of Judy L's Gus and Lippy at their daycare.

Sharon sent this picture of Gi.

Sally sent pictures of Ginger and Jaxon fresh from the groomer.

My thanks to all of you for sharing your photos with the rest of us!

ALAC National Specialty

Once again things are gearing up for the American Lhasa Apso Club's National Specialty. This year it is in Gettysburg, PA. 

Speaking of ALAC, if you have not yet visited the new website, please take time to do so. Very nice new look!

Go to lhasaapso.org

Red Dog History At Joyslyn's

Every so often I pay tribute to the black Lhasas and it hit me the other day that I have never paid tribute to the red Lhasas we have had. So, here goes:

This is Sara :

This is Bo Jangles again: 

 

This is Flame:

This is Rafe:

This is Rusty:

This is Walker:

Of course, the latest is Deacon:

Interestingly and sadly, from Sara through Rusty, the reds faded to gold or reddish gold. Walker's color did not fade, but as I groom Deacon, it looks to me like Deacon's adult coat is coming in as a red gold already.

Final Notes

The worst part about turning 73 was finding out that I had to make a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) which, for those of you who do not know, is an  amount of money the IRS requires people 73 and older to withdraw from a qualified retirement plan each year. Ouch ... taxes!

“Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.” ~Larry Lorenzoni

Thanks for taking time to read this month's post. 

Joyce

July Miscellany

• “I drifted into a summer nap under the hot shade of July, serenaded by a cicada lullaby, to drowsy-warm dreams of distant thunder.” ~ Terri Guillemets

I write this as July is nearly half gone. It's been a good month for us so far - just enough rain, no horrible storms, hot but not too hot weather. 

I hope you all had a 4th of July that made you ponder and be grateful for the many freedoms we have -- and to fear how quickly they can be taken away. 

Our town has a downtown park in which flags are displayed on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Veteran's Day. It really is beautiful. Here is a photo I took this year of one section of the park.

Our town also has a fireworks display and it was far enough away that the dogs were not bothered.

My husband investigated the possibility of solar panels for our home and so I guess that is happening soon. I hope everything said in the sales pitch is true! I am a bit leery of fast talking salesmen.

Now this might seem a bit macabre, but we also bought a burial plot and headstone. I decided those were expenses I did not want to leave for our kids. Also, I wanted to choose our own plot and headstone.

Show Results

Last month I wrote about Deacon's wins at the Manitowoc show. Here is the "official photo" of his NOHS (National Owner Handled Series) NonSporting Group 1 win.

I am now proud to tell you that Deacon is now Champion Joyslyn's Legacy of the Wind! He finished the requirements for championship at the Greater Milwaukee Lhasa Apso Club Specialty show in West Bend, WI. In addition, Saturday's show featured a Best Bred By Exhibitor competition and he took first place in the NonSporting Group.

 His Sunday wins included Winners Dog, Best of Winners, and Best Opposite Sex. Multiple thanks to Judge Angela Propora for recognizing this young Lhasa's potential.

Here's picture of his face.

And here is one of him and me showing off his ALAC (American Lhasa Apso Club) Best of Winners plaque.

Congratulations also to our friend LaVonne and GCH CH Mon Ami 'N' Joyslyn's Shades of Summer (AKA Misti) for their wins at the GMLAC Specialty. Here is Misti with her Select, Owner Handled, NOHS Group 4 Ribbons.

Puppy Update

Okay so here is what is going on with the puppies. They are now 3 months old. Of the five, three have left for new homes. One male has gone to a show home. I called him Buddy but do not know if his new owner has re-named him. He reminds of his sire, Chance.

The other male is waiting for his people to pick him up at the end of the month. They named him Cosmo. I call him Coz. What a cutie!

That leaves a female. I call her Kira. She is a cutie, a half sister to Deacon (same mom). The camera my husband uses has a terribly bright flash which she has come to hate! Thus ...no decent pictures. I am debating about whether or not to keep her.

 Updates and photos of littermates Gi, Gabby, and Buddy are in the Notes and Photos from Others section. 

What about new litters? Well, I am sorry to report that I am seriously concerned about upcoming litters. For many years I have had long waiting lists and suddenly I do not. I do have a short waiting list now so probably will breed at least one of the girls when she comes in season, August or September, with puppies due in October or November and available in early 2025.

After that, I am unsure of plans for puppies.

What is Available?

Perhaps Kira, but maybe not. Lynn wants me to keep her (which shocks me!).

I do have adults available: 2 females and 1 male.

Here are (not recent) photos. These were taken when the dogs were being shown and in full coat. They since have been clipped down.

First is Autumn:

Millie (Deacon's mom) is also ready for a new home.

The male is Chance.

All three are up to date on vaccinations. The girls have been spayed. If any of you are interested, please contact me at joyslynslhasas73@gmail.com

I can give more complete descriptions.

I am sure people might wonder why a breeder gives up adult dogs. It is not because we have stopped loving them or are not grateful for what they have contributed to the breed. One of my reasons is that I want them to be an only dog or one of only two dogs so they do not have to "share the love" anymore. Another is that there are laws about the number of dogs a person is allowed to have. I am not going to make my girls have litter after litter after litter. To continue a breeding program then, I must part with beloved dogs, hoping so much they find new homes where  they are much loved. So far, it has worked well. 

From the Past

Recently I began paging through some old Lhasa magazines. I have piles of them! I think I told you a bit about them in last month's post. I shared an article in the June post and will continue to share some items from the old magazines each month.

When I was paging through the issues, I found ads for my dogs. Here is one of  them.

Now you might think "Screamer" is an unusual name for a dog! I agree. From the time he was a newborn, Screamer "screamed" whenever his mom left the whelping pen. We referred to him as "that screaming puppy"--and the name stuck. Oh the memories one picture can conjure!

Screamer's sire is AmCan Ch Joyslyn's Piece of the Rock (Rocky). We thought that was a fitting name because his sire was BIS AmCan CH Arborhill's Rah-Kieh. I wish I could find a photo of him. Here is one of our Rocky.

Anyway, a second find in one of the magazines was a photo of Rah-Kieh's sire, BIS Ch Arborhill's Rhapso-Dieh, better known as Soda.

Here is the cover photo featuring Soda.

And I also found an article I wrote that was published in Lhasas Unlimited. You probably will need to use the zoom feature on your computer to read it.

And I found Part ll of a dictionary of Tibetan words.

 

That's the trip through memory lane for this month!

Notes and Photos

Gayle wrote about Gabby (sister to Kira):"She is thriving, what a tireless, curious, precious, precocious little puppy.  Believe it or not, she is housebroken. Sleeps downstairs all night, maybe six hours, no accidents. She actually climbed the stairs this afternoon.  She had ventured up two steps last week…and today, she was on the last one of 13 before the landing to the second floor. What a little pistol…but she is terrified to come down.  So cute...today she was in front of two mirrored master bedroom closet door panels and was convinced she was playing with one of her siblings, it was hilarious."

Ruth sent a note about Dani, "...I wanted to let you know what a joy Dani is.  I sent her to puppy day school after she was spayed. She went for 8 days, 5 hours a day with 5 other puppies.  The time was spent with individual training, playing with other dogs and a field trip each day to a dog friendly establishment so they could experience new things and see different types of people.  The last day they did a small agility course and took a video of each dog. They were so much fun to watch,  Dani took the longest of course but I think she was the smartest because they gave them treats to coax them thru it.  At least she was the cutest!  It was a husband and wife team who both were attorneys and gave that up and started this business.  They are wonderful caring people.

Dani now goes to doggy daycare half a day a week just so she can play with other dogs...She really enjoys it but they said she is very selective about who she plays with. We took a class to help her stay focused which can be a problem for her.  Unfortunately it was at the same place as her daycare so she thought she was there to play.  I think she may have gotten a little bored with repeating things or else it was the stubborn Lhasa in her.

Dani is definitely the smartest of the 3 Lhasas I have had. She is also the most vocal.  She really likes to talk and I am finally starting to understand what she is saying..."

Sharon wrote about Gi (sister to Kira): "Gi is doing well and is running around the house as though she owns the place.  She and the cat are getting along very well.  A few days ago the cat decided she wanted to play with Gi and the rest is history.  She is very tolerant of the puppy jumping and chewing on her...[Gi] is very good about using the puppy pads and lets us know when she has used them...Yesterday she decided she is tired of sleeping in her crate and that she belongs on the bed and has been trying to figure out how to jump up on it.  She is having a good time playing with the cats’ toys ....She is very spoiled as she has discovered the communal water fountain and is no longer happy with being offered a bowl of water.  Before bed Devon has to take her to the fountain for her last drink of the night."

Sally wrote about Ginger and Jaxon: "I wish I could have seen your last show! Congratulations again! Deacon is so perfect he has it all! I'm so happy for both of you. I mainly just wanted to say hello and send a couple photos of course of my "champions" I did not get them cut short. They went to the groomer yesterday and she did a great job of just shortening them a little and shaving their tummies."

Sally also referred to Ginger's fear of the 4th of July sounds! So many dogs are frightened by the fireworks. I stopped at my vet's office on Monday and there were people in there getting calming meds for their dogs in preparation for the big booms. And I cannot help but wonder what negative effects the sounds have on our our veterans with PTSD.

Nanda wrote about Ty and Gigi: "You are right: well loved they are! We are obsessed with the two of them! Our lives are so much better because of them. Our home is happier and our family is full of joy and laughter with these little cherubs! We saw the litter of black Lhasa’s you had and almost died!!!! I’m not being hyperbolic. I want them all  Thank you again for our puppies. We are so grateful "

Courtney made me laugh when she wrote about Amelia. "Last Friday was Amelia's first Intermediate obedience class and the trainer" brought in her male German Shepherd to do demos, prior to last week she had only brought in her female. The male German Shepherd was jumping and kept turning away or going behind her. She couldn't figure out why he was misbehaving until we started a lesson in distraction. Amelia was her normal chill self and was in her down stay but the male didn't want to walk past Amelia. He was scared of Amelia! Sarah said it might have been her barrettes. Attached is a picture of Amelia from Friday. So scary!"

Lisa about Duncan: "My niece saw these photos and remarked that he looks like he would wear a top hat with his well manicured eyebrows and beard.

Next month Duncan will be going on his first ferry ride to Mackinac Island.  Hoping the sounds of the boat and the crowds are not too much for him.  Once in the island he doesn’t have to worry about delivery trucks so that is a plus. However, I am not sure what he will make of all of the horses … my first Lhasa Apso would bark at them - on tv or in-person."

Karen wrote about her puppy (the one I called Buddy). "He's been carried around by all 5 of my co-workers today. Loved them all. They decided that I need to bring him along everyday and he will be the groomer' emotional support puppy."

Courtney sent this picture of Carso, who is a littermate to Archie. Carso is owned by her sister Rebecca.

Nick sent a photo of Paul.

Michelle sent this photo of Sunny with the wind in his hair. Great picture!! It needs to win a contest!! 

Thanks to all who took the time and effort to send pictures and notes about their Joyslyn's Lhasas. I appreciate it so much and enjoy sharing them.

And thanks to all who took time to read this post.

You know my motto: 

If you already own a Lhasa, you know it is true. If you don't own a Lhasa, you need one for sure. Is a Lhasa for you??

Happy rest of July!

Joyce

P.S. For the readers in the group: this month's recommendation is Liberty's Last Stand by Stephen Coonts

June Is Bustin' Out All Over!

"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will never fade." ~ Gertrude Jekyll

 So far...

Since I last posted I have gone many miles, driving from home to Nebraska to pick up Mom so she could spend a few days with us. We drove to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to our granddaughter's high school graduation (535 graduates!).Then we drove back to Illinois and 2 days later, I drove to Nebraska to return Mom and then drove back to Illinois a day later. Once home, I had 5 days to recover before Deacon and I got in the car and headed to Wisconsin for the show in Manitowoc. We stayed with my friend Jan and her husband Dean and enjoyed hanging out with them between shows.

There were 4 days of shows but we participated in only three, skipping the Saturday show. Deacon had just turned 11 months and I did not want to tire him, so we had a day of rest and went back in the ring on Sunday. We shared a grooming space with our friend Karen and her Lhasa Sally.

The show was great for us. Deacon won all three days that we showed and on Friday won first place in the National Owner Handled Series (NOHS) Non-Sporting group. We had great judges all three days, people who obviously enjoyed judging dogs and who were great with the dogs on the exam table and considerate to the exhibitors. So, hats off and many thanks to judges Richard Lashbrook, Cindy Meyers, and Stewart Dankner.

It was great that Sally (Ginger and Jaxon's owner) came from MI to see us show and who was very gracious about helping us to and from the ring with our ringside tables. It was great to see Ginger and Jaxon in "person" again. Ginger loves me and is full of kisses for me. Jaxon tolerates me! LOL

We came home with these ribbons and 3 points. Deacon now has a total of 9 points and needs 6 for his championship.

For those who do not know what the ribbon colors represent: Blue is for first place in the dog's class, Purple is for Winners (where you get the points!); Blue and White is for Best of Winners (winning male vs winning female); the Maroon one is for Best Owner Handled; the large Pink rosette is for first place in the NOHS group.

So, after showing on Sunday, I changed into jeans and a t-shirt, packed up all the equipment and Deacon and we made the long drive back to Macomb. The ride home was easier and faster than the ride to Manitowoc. On the drive there, we came to a traffic jam that held us up for at least 45 minutes until I could creep into a place to make a U-turn and retrace my route. My GPS was confused and upset with me for a while!! You know how that is!

My next adventure happened the following Sunday. I was ready for early church and decided that I would go to the grocery store after church. Lynn had left earlier in the week for a school reunion in Iowa. I gathered some shopping bags, two audio books to return to the library depository box, a bag of plastic grocery bags to drop off at the Walmart recycling box, and my purse. I locked the door and got halfway to the car when I realized I did not have my keys! I was locked out of the house! I had no key to start the car! Worse yet, my phone was on the counter in the kitchen instead of in my purse.

 "No problem," I thought. My car has a keyless entry panel so I opened the car, got all the "stuff" organized, and got into the car. My plan was to use the garage door opener to get back into the house, get my keys, and be on my way. It was a great plan that did not work! Why? Because when I used the garage door opener, it did not work. I could not believe it! I tried multiple times, getting the same result. Ha!!

Trying to be positive, I thought I'd stop a passing car or any early morning dog walker and ask for help. Nope. I guess everyone in our neighborhood was sleeping in.

So I walked and finally came to the middle of  the WIU campus and thought that maybe, just maybe, the Office of Public Safety was open, even though the campus was deserted. It was!! Helpful people there put a new battery in my garage door opener and I got my first ride in a police car (front seat!!) and was taken home. I tried the garage door opener, which did  not work, even with its new battery. So the officer used a credit card and opened my front door. I was so happy and grateful. (I did make it to a later church service.)

When my husband came home that afternoon and I related the saga to him, I learned why the opener did not work. He had unplugged the device on the inside of the garage and had forgotten to plug it back in. !!!!

Puppies!

Here are pictures of our current litter taken today at age 8.5 weeks.

The females:

The males:

All but one have been reserved. Let me know if you are interested.

We also have retired three of our champions who will soon be ready for new homes: Chance, Millie, and Autumn. Again, let me know if you are interested in adopting an adult Lhasa.

Notes and Photos

Lisa sent this photo of Duncan and her other Lhasa, Dresden, playing tug.

Paul sent this photo of Little One (AKA "Squirt") taking a nap after playing hard with his pal, Rusty. Rusty has been with Paul, Pam, Squirt, and Josie for 10 months.

Michelle sent this photo of Sunny sleeping and also a video of Sunny and his Shiba Inu friend Kota running full speed in a game of chase in the large yard. No wonder he was tired!

Dawn updated us about Ollie. "It was great to see you at the show on Mother's Day. We had a wonderful time...I can't believe he will be seven months old on June 1st! The time has flown by. He is doing well and is already bigger than Bailey. His favorite hobby right now is chewing on our shoes. We try to keep them where he cant get to them but forget on occasion Thankfully he hasn't done too much damage!"

An Article From The Past

Once upon a time Lhasas were such a popular breed that we had four magazines devoted to the breed in which Lhasa breeders and exhibitors advertised their winners and litters and in which articles on topics of interest or concern were published. These magazines contain much history: The Lhasa Apso Reporter, Lhasa Tales, The Lhasa Bulletin, and Lhasas Unlimited.  

I saved copies of the issues of each publication. They take up a lot of room on the shelves, but I saved them because they hold so much history -- photos of Lhasas, breeders, and exhibitors; articles addressing items of interest and controversy.

Recently, I was paging through some of the magazines and the idea came to me that I could share some articles with my readers. So the following article is from the July/August 1996 issue of The Lhasa Apso Reporter.

Hint: You will probably have to zoom in once or twice to read it.

Thanks for reading!

Joyce