SATURDAY MORNING COFFEE

Another weekend rolls around and I know all of you who work are happy for it. For the dogs and me it is just another day. The dogs especially who live in the now, they don't care about which day it is, yesterday they don't care about and tomorrow they don't think about. It is hard to live that way but I sure do try. They have had their morning treat and are now laying around the kitchen in their favorite spots. Every now and then they jump up and ask for breakfast, I tell them it is not time yet and they are good and go lie down. Sometimes Bonnie and Bling play for awhile, I know that Bling is going back into her puppy days by the way she rolls around on the floor with Bonnie. Yesterday she again chased her empty breakfast dish all over the floor, she makes me laugh. Walter is fascinated with my cat Girly and is getting better with her and she is much more brave as she will go right up to him, if he gets too rough  she will let him know that behavior is not acceptable. I have finally found a treat that Bonnie loves, so now her training can continue in full force. Hot dogs and she gets so excited, the little tiny dog treats did nothing for her. Some of my dogs do not like hot dogs, the texture bothers them, they will chew like gum and then spit out. Bonnie will do anything for a piece of hot dog. I expect our training will move along quickly. 
Now if I could get rid of all the snow they could start getting the exercise that they need. I have a huge fenced area with agility equipment and I am looking forward to setting it all up and getting the dogs out. We probably still have about ten inches of snow so I guess it will be awhile. In the meantime I need to set up the whelping area and pen for Topaz. I expect that we will have pups by the end of the month. She is looking like a stuffed sausage. It has been nineteen months since our last litter and I am really excited about the pups.I love raising and socializing the pups. I could sit and watch them all day.  New life is so amazing, you can't help but believe in a greater good out there. I definitely will have photos when the pups arrive. 
Well Rosie is letting me know that it is now time for their breakfast and if I don't get going they will all start complaining. 
Guess that I need to end for now.
                                                                     

                                                                Topaz

INDEPENDENT BROOKE

I have had Brooke since she was 8 weeks old and she is the most independent Sheltie that I have ever had. I kept thinking that as she got older she would lose some of her independence . If anything she became more and more determined to have her own way. No matter what I do it is how she wants it. Now at 9 years she is as stubborn as my 7 month old Bonnie. I think that Bonnie is just testing and she sees Brooke doing certain things then she is going to do it too. Brooke hates to go out in the weather, she hates to get her feet wet and like today with the snow I have to actually give her a little push to get her out. You would think when it was time to come in she would run right back in but no she has to play games. Every one will run to the door and come in. Brooke and Bonnie will stand at the door and just look at me .  There are times that I have to go out and basically herd her in. She is barking and wagging her tail and thinks it is a great game. So Bonnie sees this and does the exact same thing. I have started using a treat to get them to come in and I hate doing that as they will get so used to it. Brooke has had basic obedience training and she knows what come means, but if she feels like playing catch me if you can she will do just that. The treats are working and I hope that I will be able to wean them off of them. The others know what is going on, especially Rosie, she does not miss a thing. I have to get every one else up stairs or they will all be looking for a treat. Rosie sneaks back down and the minute the treat hits the floor for Brooke, Rosie steals it. I put Rosie behind the gate, put the treat on the floor and Brooke comes in. So Brooke goes behind the gate. Brooke has taught Bonnie well,   she is standing in the open door waiting for a treat to hit the floor, I put it down far from the door and she comes in. I have spent a lot of time training Bonnie as a young pup and am now getting  back into it with her. She is not as independent as Brooke, she is just watching and doing what works to get a treat.
Shelties learn from each other and they often copy behaviors, good and bad. I know that Brooke will not change, she is 9 years old and very set in her ways. When she won't come in with the good weather I can just close the door and leave her out a lone for a bit. I can't do that in the winter. Thankfully, her son Walter does not have this independent streak.
I don't think I could take another one trying to rule the roost. He has a very good recall and has had several obedience classes. His come is awesome. Maybe he can teach his mom to be a little more obedient.I know she would just snarl at him and tell him to mind his business and he would respect that. When you live with a pack of dogs they do develop their own pecking order. Max, my 13 year old just has to lift a lip and no one bothers him. They all respect him, the next is Rosie, she knows she is special and she is top dog. She never lets you forget it. 
I guess I need to get this day going, there are 8 inches of snow waiting for me. I am not thrilled, I would much rather brush dogs. 
All for now, wishing you all a happy day.
                                                                  

Brooke  at one year!

MY SPOILED SENIORS

I will try this post one more time, there must be some problem with blogger as I typed it yesterday and lost it, I retyped it and posted it and then it disappeared again, after it showed in the blog. Not sure I can remember all that I wrote but I did talk about my seniors and how I have spoiled them.
Before I get into that I have to tell you how funny Bling was this  morning. We were downstairs and I was making their breakfast.  I have a gate between the kennel room where I make the food, because if I did not the seniors would be in there all over me.
So since they have learned to open the gate I use a bungee to keep it closed.  The young ones are in their crates so not a problem. I looked over at the gate and there is Bling, her front feet on the bungee and it is sliding down the gate and she is sliding with it. She did it again, she finds the funniest things to do,  she can really entertain herself. 
Now back to my spoiled seniors. After they have their breakfast they go out to potty and then come back in and up into the kitchen while I have my breakfast. I usually have oatmeal with a banana, but I split the banana with them. They each get a chunk of it and they love it. I put aside some oatmeal to cool for them after I eat. After my breakfast they get really excited and start barking. I split up the extra oatmeal between all of them, they each get a small plate and are pretty good about not stealing each others. They eat their breakfast and dinner in their own dish and they respect each others dish, they do not try to steal food. Although Rosie will  stand next to Max while he is still eating and when he is done she licks his dish hoping for a crumb. 
They have been getting their oatmeal for awhile now and once the young ones are good at not stealing from each others dish I don't know if I can keep up this routine. That would be a lot of oatmeal to make each morning. Time will tell on that. Once the dogs have a routine it is really hard to change it. They are very routine oriented. When it gets to be about 4 pm they know it is time for dinner and they don't hesitate to let me know.
I understand routine, as I am a very routine person too. I would really miss my coffee hour in the morning, with my shelties, it gets my day off to a good start. 
More snow coming and I am so ready for spring, I would be very happy if I did not have to run my snow blower again this year. 
The dogs are ready for spring too, at minus two this morning they did not want to go out and it did feel so cold. 
Hopefully this does post this time, I don' think I can rewrite again, the rewrites never come out the same.
                                                               

                                                         Cookies Anyone??

TOPAZ

Well today Topaz is finally showing that she is expecting. I am really excited for this litter and I am praying for an easy time for Topaz. I know she will be a good mother as she is a sweet dog and gentle. Sometimes she will grab my arm and she never puts any pressure on it. Kind of like a cat and its love bite. She went off her food for a full week and I suspected that she was pregnant but I was not positive. Now I have no doubts. I will start getting her whelping pen ready and all the supplies that I need. It has been a long time since we had  puppies here so this is a big event for us. 
It is cold and blustery today and the dogs really do not want to go out. I put them out for a few minutes just to potty and they are immediately scratching at the door to come in. Especially Keeper as he hates the cold. Keeper is the sire to this coming litter but I am sure that he could care less. The tips of the pine trees are all frosted with ice and they sparkle in the sun, it is a wonder that the ice does not fall off with the wind. 
Bling was so funny this morning, she loves to rub against the pen that I keep around the furnace, so that they don't get too close, she is rubbing her back along the pen and you could see it just felt so good and she is really into it. All of a sudden her legs went out from under her and the look of shock on her face was so precious. She righted herself and continued with the back rub. She is a funny girl and keeps me laughing. She will play with Bonnie who is her granddaughter, and plays just like a puppy. She is going to be 9 in June and she seems to be going backwards in age. I am so happy for her that she is having fun and is becoming a very happy dog. 
My seniors are all aging well. Keeper will be 9 on February 23, Max will be 13 on March 4 and Bling will be 9 in June. Brooke turned 9 last December and Rosie was 7 last October. I still hope for Rosie to have a litter. She is a lovely girl and has such a wonderful personality. We will try one more time before she is actually too old.
My three young dogs have great personalities and do keep me laughing but often get themselves into trouble. 
My seniors keep me laughing, they can be so funny and they rarely get into trouble. 
So I guess what I need to say is that the puppy you get, will some day be a senior, and he needs to be a senior with you. The puppy that comes to your home is for life. Dogs are not disposable items, they are special, with spirits and souls.They are another species and they do adapt so easily to our life styles and they give their all for us. We owe it to them to keep them through their senior years. Some breeders retire their dogs into wonderful homes where they can live out their senior years and this is a good thing. If they did not do this there would no longer be a nice selection of pups from your favorite breed. The adopt and don't shop thing has gone a little too far. When you purchase a well bred pup from a reputable breeder you know that you are getting a healthy pup, with health tested parents and you know what the puppy will turn out to be, not only in looks but in temperament too. You know that you will have many good years with your puppy and your breeder will be there for you to help out with any questions or issues for the life of your dog. Most definitely that is worth a lot.
Guess that is it for now. I need to get busy and do something a little more productive today, maybe like brushing shelties. 
Keep warm!

                                                            A PREVIEW

LITTLE LISA

Lisa is not one of my Shelties but visiting to be bred. She is the sweetest of all Shelties.
She had many things to learn while here. Most importantly coming up the stairs to the kitchen. She had never used stairs before, so I started carrying her up. I did not want to leave her downstairs when everyone else was up in the kitchen. They have all learned the words "go kitchen" and they fly up, as there are always treats waiting for them.
It was getting difficult to carry her up all the time. So I started to teach her the stairs. I would put her down at the first step and help her up that one step, praising all the while she was moving a  foot up. Finally she would go up the first five steps and she was so proud of herself. Her tail wagged and she barked as I made a big deal of her going up. Now for the second five, there is a landing between the two sets of steps. The second set seemed harder for her to do. I would encourage her to put a foot up and she tried. It took her a little longer to master this set. When at last she did all the steps at one time we had a party upstairs and she was so excited. Just about turned in side out and was so proud. I love seeing the dogs accomplish something that was a difficult task. They were all coming up after their supper last night and Lisa got to the second set, put up one foot and made the cutest little yodel I have ever heard. She wanted help so I went down and started one foot on the step and up she went.
Yesterday was brushing day and I completely brushed, trimmed long hair on feet and did their nails. Lisa loves brushing, even standing on the table. She would have stood there all morning as long as I kept brushing.  I wish that all the dogs enjoyed brushing the way she does. I did get five dogs done and only three more to go. This is an ongoing process, in two or three weeks you start all over again. Brushing keeps their coats so pretty and healthy looking. And I always feel good when I have accomplished so much.
Lisa will be going home soon and we will miss her. I think that she had a good time and maybe someday she will come back for a visit.
Oh and by the way the dogs loved the warm weather.
                                                                        

The grooming table makes grooming your dog easy and it sure saves your back.

I TOLD THE DOGS IT WILL WARM UP!

Minus 15 this  morning, so very cold. I did tell all the dogs that it will be warming up soon and they will be able to spend a little time outside, with some sunshine.  I think they understood as they scratched at the back door to come in after five minutes. I just can't envision all the dogs that are left outside in this weather and the wild life, how they cope. Hypothermia can set in so quickly and their feet can freeze. Anyway they now know that it is going to get warm and they are so excited. Especially Keeper, I believe he hates the cold more than any Sheltie I have ever know. 
I am turning over a new leaf and really trying to live in the  now, just like my dogs do. They really have it right, no yesterday and no worries about tomorrow. They are incredibly intuitive, and just know how to live. They face each day with new excitement and are so happy to have the day. That is what I hope to do.
Today will be a really happy day for the dogs as my granddaughter is coming to visit and her favorite thing to do is to play with the dogs and they love it and her so much.
She taught Walter to do the high five and I am hoping she will teach some of the other young ones to do the high five. Walter thinks it is just great! 
I need to set aside an hour every day to get in some training time. They love the one on one and to really learn they need the consistency of every day training. You would be amazed at how fast they learn, just fifteen minutes twice a day and you can teach them almost anything. I am setting aside an hour only because I have the three young ones to train, and they need the basics. I used to take Bonnie out to the agility area to train and she did awesome but with the cold settling in I have been lax with her training so now to get back to it. Topaz learned to sit with hand signal in five minutes one afternoon. I will put more training aside for her until she has her babies,  she will be busy for several weeks.
Need to get moving this morning, a few things to get done before my granddaughter arrives. Keep warm and don't leave your pups outside for more than a few minutes to do their business. They get cold just like we do!

                                                                          

                                                                 Brrrrrrrrr!

                                                                      

MY SENIORS HATE THE COLD

The last couple of days it has been so bitter cold that I have to actually help my senior dogs go out. They hate the cold, stepping in freezing snow and just generally don't want to go out. I feel so bad for them but they have to go out. I am really hoping for a nice February thaw. They will more readily go out and can spend a little time in the sunshine. 
After I have everyone out, Keeper will stand there and give me such a look that says, " you really aren't serious are you?"You can just see it in his eyes and he will just stand there and hope that I forget about going out.
I will be sitting at the computer and feel this nose resting on my knee and it is Keeper, he goes where ever I am. Such a love. 
I am teaching Bonnie the stairs, she is getting too big to carry. I stand her on the first step and get a hold of her ruff and help her up to the next step. If I am holding her she will do the first five steps and when we get to the landing I let go and she goes up the next five no problem. She just does not want to start the steps on her own. She is seven months and really should be doing the stairs without help. She must be a little afraid and it will come in time.
Little Lisa who is visiting is as sweet as can be. I sit on the floor to brush the young ones and Lisa comes right over, she would stand there for hours while brushing, she just loves it. She will be going home next week, I will miss her but it will be nice to have just my own dogs here. It is too easy to get attached to a visitor.
Topaz appears to be pregnant and I am very excited. It has now been 19 months since we have had puppies here. I really miss raising the pups. They are so awesome when their eyes and ears open, they start to discover the world around them. I can spend hours watching.
Another 10 degrees and it may be warm enough to get out today.
They say there is a thaw coming soon and the dogs and I are so ready.
 
                                                                        

                                                              First Meal