No Pups, so sad!

Our two litters that were expected did not materialize. One girl just completely missed. She is young so not too surprising, she will have pups some other time, when the time is right for her.

My other girl had one large pup, she was stillborn. Very sad for Ginger the mom, as after giving birth she continued for almost two days to search for her pup. The delivery was quite difficult as the pup was so large.Ginger will not chance going through this again. She will be six soon and has given us one beautiful litter. She has done her share.

But on the good side we do plan to have pups in January. We have bred our Brooke, to the lovely Ch Weststars Finders Keepers of Illusion Shetland Sheepdogs. These pups should be stunning.

Check back in a few weeks and we will know for sure if Brooke is expecting.

Once we know she is expecting we will post pictures of Brooke and Keeper on our Sheltie website.

www.jopavistsheltieshop.com

QUALITY COMPANION PUPS AND POSSIBLE SHOW PROSPECTS!

WE ARE EXPECTING TWO LITTERS MID SEPTEMBER.

LITTER #1 JOPAVIST KEEPSAKE OF FAIR ISLE BRED TO CH JESSTAR ADONIS.

POSSIBLE SHOW PROSPECTS FROM THIS BREEDING. ALL SABLE PUPS!

LITTER #2 JOPAVIST SHES GOT RHYTHM BRED TO ILLUSIONS TRU COLORS

IT IS POSSIBLE THAT WE WILL HAVE BLUES, TRIS AND MAHOGANY SABLES.WE ARE EXPECTING OUTSTANDING TEMPERAMENT AND WORKING ABILITY!

VIST JOPAVIST SHETLAND SHEEPDOGS TO SEE THE MOMS! IF INTERESTED ADD YOUR NAME TO OUR LIST, IT IS FILLING FAST!

New Puppy in the House

We have a lovely new pup added to our family just before the holidays. He is a sable and white boy and is a full brother to our Brooke. We call him Bounty which means gift as he was a Christmas gift for us.
Brooke and Bounty are both sired by Ch. Jesstar Adonis and their dam is Mus-Arts Stairway to Heaven.
This combination is producing lovely pups. We have plans to start showing Bounty in the spring. He should be in full puppy bloom by then and we are hopeful that Brooke will be back in coat. Time will tell on that. She is just a year old and is in the stage of no under coat. She is well ready mentally and that is most important. She has been exposed to many different situations and has handled all very well.

We are looking forward to spring and getting the dogs out for training. In the meantime we are enjoying the quiet and peace of winter. Will do what training we can indoors.  There is much that can be accomplished with Bounty without having to go outside. He can learn to stand and watch the treat. He can learn foot placement and moving on lead.

We are very excited about this boy and have great hopes for him.!!!!! Stay tuned for progress reports!!

Time to put the agility equipment to bed!

Just put the equipment away on Saturday and boy was it close to being buried in the snow. As I carried it piece by piece to the upstairs of the garage, I wondered how I would work my dogs now. There is such a thing as latent learning in dogs and maybe I can rely on that. Hopefully the break for the winter will be good for them, let them relax and maybe do something a little different. Two of my younger Shelties need obedience training and that is something we can do inside. We could work towards taking the Canine Good Citizen test in the spring.

The upstairs of our garage is not lighted or heated but when the sun is out and bakes on the metal roof it may be warm enough to do a little practicing and heeling up there. I did set up the weave poles and a couple of the jumps so we could practice a little. 

Max my Sheltie pictured on the first page of this blog will be competing two days after Christmas and I will just have to rely on his latent learning. I have not had him on the A-frame or the dog walk in several weeks. He has always been good with the contact zones so I think we will do ok. 

The holidays are upon us and I am looking forward to some down time in the new year. We have been so busy with getting ready, running here and there, that I actually can't wait to have time for myself and the dogs.

I hope to put some excerpts from my book on the blog in the new year. It is so close to being finished. I need to get serious when I have time and complete and publish it. I am pretty excited about the book. It is mostly about the Sheltie but I cover many aspects of owning dogs, rescuing dogs and loving dogs. You won't have to be a Sheltie owner to appreciate the book. All dog lovers will find something of interest in there. I will have a chapter that includes many rescue stories and a chapter of short fiction stories. There is a chapter on the animal welfare versus animal rights problem. I do talk a lot about the heart and soul of the dog. I truly believe that dogs have a soul, and a spirit. In many of the stories you will see the spirit and intelligence of the Sheltie portrayed. I will let you know when my manuscript is complete and on its way to the publisher. This book will be a must have to add to your collection of dog and Sheltie books. 

Hope that all of you have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy the season.

Take a look at these ebooks

Agility Fun: Rainy Rainy Day!! What my Shelties do.

Agility Fun: Rainy Rainy Day!! What my Shelties do.

Rainy Rainy Day!! What my Shelties do.

What a beautiful day, rain, rain, and more rain. Ah, so peaceful, a good book and Shelties curled up all around the house. What more could you ask for? The two young pups playing in the kitchen; a new tug toy that looks like a fox that someone would wear around the collar of their coat. They both want it, pulling and tugging, jumping over each other, grabbing the tail and running around the kitchen table. They are having a blast. The old boy sleeping on the dog bed under the window, where you can here the drip,drip of the water running out the gutter pipe. He is sound asleep, lulled by the rain. He will sleep all afternoon. A brother and sister, three years old, bookends on the couch, snoring away. I sit between them on the couch with a new book, Journey of Souls, so thought provocative. Truly makes me wonder about my dogs souls, surely they have souls! I can't imagine them not going to the great beyond, waiting to be with us when our turn comes. I call them to go out for a potty break, they all jump up,so excited, we run down the stairs to the back door, they go out, feel the rain and stand there. I tell them to go and do their thing and they stand there, eyes squinting, shaking their coats, to get the water off. I bring them in and one by one towel them almost dry. They sure love that, like someone giving you a massage. It is evening now, this quiet, peaceful day almost done. What a perfect day it has been!