So what to do now?  I have my thoughts, and Matt has his and I’m sure Donna has hers.  It’s just a matter if we are all on the same page……which I don’t think we’re going to be.  Stayed tuned…..

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

*Please don’t judge me on the horrible coat condition she is in.  We just had 2 full days of rain and there is now a pond where the kennel is!  She is getting a bath this week come hell or high water…..I guess we already got the high water….*

Polly on August 8th, 2010

August 8th, 2010

Polly on August 28th, 2010

August 24th, 2010

Matt and I just pulled up her pictures from her last litter and she is not as big as she was then.  Who knows, maybe she is having a false pregnancy, or only has 1 in there.  I’m hoping for a few!  Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

I am going through my weekly circulars tonight and realizing that a lot of things that we use are on sale.  Not just 50 cents off sale, but Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF) and match those with some ass-kickin’ coupons, why you have a SALE.  I am a coupon junkie, I admit it.  And there is a reason why I get four papers a week and this is it.  It’s for sales like this.  Why only use one $4 coupon when you can use two?  Exactly….  My couponing habits and techniques will have to be another post.  So let’s get on with it….

#1 Canned Pumpkin

This stuff is the best!  It will usually clear up a case of loose stools and, on the flip side, will help with constipation.  Don’t ask me how it does this, it just does.  A little dollop on the food will go a long way.  Dogs love it, too.  We haven’t had any turn their noses up at it.  I buy the store brand.  Don’t get the pumpkin pie filling, just plain pumpkin.  It’s usually on the bottom shelf in the baking aisle with the rest of the pie fillings and it’s pretty cheap.

#2 Fish Oil

Stinky fish oil, what would we do without you?  We use this mainly for their coats.  Just two of these a day keeps them shiny!  No need to puncture them, we just throw them right on the food.  You could break them open and squirt it on the food if you like.  Ours don’t have a problem with the pill.  As an added bonus:  Omega Fatty Acids for a healthy heart!

#3 Acidophilus

We have one dog in particular, Brogan, that had the most inconsistent stools with absolutely no dog food change.  I some acidophilus in the house because I had just taken a horrible 2 week course of antibiotics (for streph throat, which I believe is right up there next to death when you’re an adult!) and I decided to start giving him some.  We gave him 1 capsule a day and it took a couple of weeks, but his stools became firmer.  He is the only dog in the kennel on it on a regular basis, but if any of the dogs go on antibiotics, they get started on it also.

#4 Glucosamine

We only give this to our older dogs.  We have two 8 year olds and they are starting to have a tough time getting around.  We give them 2000 mg/day.  They usually come with Vitamin C in them, too.

So, this week Nature’s Bounty and Flex-a-min Glucosamine are all on sale for BOGOF at Walgreens and CVS.  In this past Sunday’s paper, there were $4 coupons for the Flex-a-min.  They run around $20 a bottle, so if you have two coupons, like me, they would cost around $12 for two bottles.  There are also $1 coupons for the Nature’s Bounty vitamins and Sundown vitamins.  The Fish Oil isn’t too bad, around $8-$10 a bottle, so about $7 for both if you have 2 coupons.  Nature’s Bounty also has Acidophilus.  Happy Shopping!

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

Polly and Brenna sharing a moment in the house tonight! She is just the sweetest dog!

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

Duncan, Greta's Sire, going BOB and Greta going Best Bred-By in Bainbridge, July 2010

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely picture, just a weird concept to me.  Maybe I’m the corny one, who knows!

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

Tonight was the night that I convinced Matt to hook up the hose out to the kennels. He wanted me to go out to clean and rinse buckets for him. On the way out to the kennel, we made the decision to let Sinatra run tonight. He’s getting senile and likes to go trotting through the woods time to time, but it’s been quite often as of late. Well…..we made the wrong decision tonight!

The hose nozzle is a little beat up (we go through many of these) and leaks, so after I got done hosing buckets and dishes down, I started towards the house to shut the water off and, I figured, get Sinatra out of the driveway. As I’m getting closer to the house with Greta jumping on me the whole way with Polly on her heals, I realize there’s a car in my driveway with which I am not familiar with. Greta quickly sees it and starts going off with her “I’ll-protect-you-mom-but-I’m-really-freakin’-out-right-now” bark which gets her mother (who taught her very well, I might add) to participate in the bark-fest. I go out to the driveway while my 2 “scaredy cat” Saints quickly retreat back to the kennel. Nice, huh? Save yourselves, it’s ok, don’t worry about me or anything! So, this nice gentleman steps out of his car and it dawns on me that Sinatra has been going in the road lately and I believe I paled and just blurted out, “Did you hit him?”. Oddly enough, he had a little Sentra and I was quite worried about the damage that dog would do to the car! He said, “No, but he’s way down there, and he’s still going in the wrong direction”, as he points down the road. Sure enough, I can barely see him (granted I did not have my glasses on). I thanked him and ran out to the kennel to see if the rest of the dogs were put away. Once they were secured, the foot race begun!

I had to stop at the house to get a leash, dodge Ruby (that’s a whole different story) and block out the crying of my kids. I start running down the road in my bright, hot pink rain boots, black pants and Patriots jacket. I must of looked real cute! I can see him real close to the bend in the road up ahead and I’m not even to my neighbor’s driveway. I contemplate going back to get my truck to get him, but he is absolutely filthy (to the point where I’m devastated that he’s out IN PUBLIC looking like that!) and I don’t need smelly filth in my truck. So I keep on trucking. And I’m huffing and puffing and really thinking that Matt should be doing this crap, not me! I see Sinatra take a left into the driveway past Remley Lane. A little bit of relief comes over me since these people are dog people. I get in their driveway and I can’t find him. WTF? So I go up to the door and knock. I can hear their little dog yipping and the man answers the door and out comes this little black dog who’s so cute! I tell him that I’m chasing my old, senile dog that I think he’s behind their house. “Oh, that’s what he’s been barking at!”. Yeah, that wet thing out there that looks like a bear cub with a wash out coat? You’re lucky he’s not peeing on your floor, I thought!
He was very kind and understanding, nonetheless. As I turned to go, Sinatra surfaced on the lawn (which is a big puddle) on the side of their house. So I call his name. I get no response. I’m walking up to him and he just picks his head up and looks at me as if to say, “Where’d you come from?”. I got the leash on him and he happily strolls along with me all the way home. Seriously losing it, that dog! It’s sad, but I’m sure he’s a happy dog tonight!

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

He has hemmed and hawed over the shows in Maryland and Springfield for weeks now. Pros for Springfield: 3 day show, Jean Fournier and it’s closer. Pro for Greater Washington: It’s a Specialty Show. And so it goes, the Specialty Show won out. And she better do something because it’s on the Alpha Bitch’s birthday this year. That would be the best present ever for me! The check is going out tomorrow instead of today because Matt forgot to buy me stamps yesterday. Let’s hope they get there in time!

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

Luci lost her fight with Lyme Disease on Monday.  We made the very, very difficult decision to help her to the Bridge.  She had stopped eating over the weekend and by Sunday night she couldn’t even get up.  Her kidneys had failed her and there was little hope of her bouncing back.  She went peacefully at the vet’s office with her favorite vet, Dr. Perkins, who has seen her through almost everything. 

Luci came to us from Donna Lee.  From the moment I saw that litter, I picked her out.  Who couldn’t resist those Hospice ears?   Many breeders don’t care for them, but she was beautiful!  And she quickly became my girl! 

I had her sleeping with me on the bed, even up until recently a few nights here and there.  She is the sole reason I know that I am allergic to dogs from all the hives and puffy eyes in the morning.  She offered the BEST back support when I was pregnant with my girls.

She was, hands down, the sweetest dog I have ever had.  She never curled her lip at anyone or any dog.  She may not have been a watchdog, but she was the love dog!  The only time that girl barked was when she was hungry or had to go out. 

She loved my girls, too.  She tolerated them well, letting them climb all over her and “ride” her.  And my girls loved her too.  When Brenna was about 2 years old, she would yell, “Poooosssyyy, wheeeerrreee arrrreee yoooouuu?”.  She had some troubles with the “L’s” then!  And Rowan would call her “Lolo”.  Luci loved stalking Rowan around the morning trying to “snag” her cereal bar.  Oh, and Rowan would scream at the top of her lungs!  It was a morning ritual I will miss dearly. 

Luci loved to take off whenever she could.  I once left the house before Matt and he was in the shower.  I didn’t shut the door tight and she and Sinatra took off in the snow and the wind.  Matt was so mad because he had to track them miles down the snowmobile trails before he found them.  I think he was madder at me!   She has chased the jogger down the road a few times, and a few times I  had to chase after her in the snow and my night robe to retrieve her!  Her antics were always amusing after the fact!

She is buried out across from the kennels.  Matt took the dogs out there to show them that she was no longer with us.  Polly tried to “wake her up”, Patsy just sniffed her and Sinatra just stared at the sky, refusing to look at her.  We took the girls out Monday night to show them.  Brenna kind of already knew what was going on, but she still didn’t understand how Lu was up in “Doggie Heaven” running with the other dogs if her body was buried in the ground.  She looked at Matt and asked, “But doesn’t she need her legs to run around?”  She’ll get it, one day, probably sooner than myself.  She is in a better place now, not suffering. 

Godspeed my Luci…..you have my heart forever big girl!

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post

Matt and I have a difficult decision to make.  Not so much life changing difficult, but plan altering difficult.  You see, we have been asked to have Greta taken to the Saint Bernard Club National show in Oregon in October by Marian, who is a professional handler and proud owner of Duncan, Greta’s sire. 

Matt is very adamant to show her in the “Bred By” class himself.  He really wants to finish her out of that class.  I see his point, and it is a prestigious thing to do.  The dogs in that class can only be shown by the breeders of that particular dog.  So that would mean Matt, myself (in a pinch) or Donna (no way in hell) would only be able to show her if she were to be entered in that class.  Sending her with a handler would mean she would be in the “Open” or “American Bred” class.  As much as we would like to go out to Oregon, we just can’t swing it right now with Matt just getting back to work.  So what do we do? 

We’ve already asked Marian how much it would be and how long she would be gone.  It’s going to take 4-5 days traveling both ways with 4-5 days of being out there.  That’s not a big deal to me at all.  Can she take a kid or two also?   I meant to tell her that they don’t eat much!  She emailed Matt back and said she would treat her like her bitch Tootsie.  My eyebrow went up.  “Does that mean she gets to ride up front and lay on the couch like Tootsie?”  Matt pounded my question into my Blackberry.  Her response was no, that Greta doesn’t know how to hold her urine.  Good answer.  Because she’s not coming back home to think she’s going to lay on MY couch all day long! 

We haven’t made a decision yet.  We are leaning to the yes side as of now.  A few details still need to be pounded out.  And the advertisement that’s going to be in the Fancier is awesome!  She sent us the proofs last week.  We are just so excited about it!  I can’t publish it until the Fancier is out, sorry.  That should be in September sometime, so you’ll just have to wait!  But it’s worth it!

Delicious Digg This Post Ping This Post Reddit This Post Stumble This Post