SHELTIE CONVERSATION

Yes there is such a thing as Sheltie conversation. Especially when they are the only ones you have to talk to. If I have something good to eat, Rosie will sit there in front of me and look at me and then look at my dish. She does not even turn her head, she just moves her eyes and then rolls her eyes back to me. It is so funny, I know exactly what she is thinking. She has very expressive eyes. A little too large for the breed but they tell you everything. Even if Girly the cat is sitting there her eyes will go to her, then to me, like really this is not for the CAT!Then to the food. This could go on for several minutes,  Rosie is a special girl, she loves everyone and does not hesitate to let them know. She is not your typical reserved Sheltie. She has to be the center of attention, food or no food.  Now Keeper who retired with me a couple of years ago has a different way of expressing himself. He will pull his lips back and give you this funny smile showing his teeth. It really is hysterical. I should try to get a picture of him doing this. Sometimes he will do it for no reason at all, at least no reason that I can see. Maybe he is expressing his joy of living here and being a full time house dog, he just loves being in the house. Now Bling is another funny one, she will come and stand in front of me and bark and wag her tail. Sometimes it is for food and most times it is just to say hello and after the greeting she will lie down next to my chair. I just heard from the vet and Bling's blood work is good. One type of white cell a little high but nothing to be concerned about. As for the seizure all we can do is watch and see if it happens again. If there is nothing in the next month I will go ahead with her spay and teeth cleaning. Hopefully I will not see another seizure. Anyway we are talking about the Shelites conversation. When I let everyone go potty for the last time before bed, sometimes I forget Bling and she will come and find me and tell me that she needs to go out. I will ask her if that is what she wants and she answers with two barks. It is always just two barks. She is a funny girl, but I love her. I knew Bling along time ago, I whelped her very first litter for my friend and I fell in love with her then and she probably was about 2. At that time I promised her she could come retire with me when done with babies. Two years ago she retired and came here with me. Took her a little while to settle in but she did and now is very comfortable. She is a little different but sweet in her own way.

Brooke is my own senior who has been with me since she was 8 weeks. She was a difficult pup and wanted her own way and now at almost 11 she still wants her own way. She will stare at you and you just have to figure it out and if you don't she will just walk away. Guess it was not that important.

The young ones have their own way of conversation also. But that is for another time.

• ROSIE

ALL IS WELL!

The pups are in their new homes and all are doing well. They are learning house training, walking on leash and riding in the car. I am really pleased with the care that they are given. I have been in touch with all and progress is being made. It makes me feel good to know the choices I made for them were all the best.

Now to get back to my normal routine, which really is not normal with this stay at home order. I now need to find a good fence contractor and get the large exercise area built. The dogs really need more exercise and the larger area will do that for them. I may even set up a little agility equipment so that we can play agility some. The younger dogs will love that.

Bling is going to the vet for a check up and blood work. She had a seizure about a week ago and I have no idea what brought it on. We will know more about her in a week or so. It was mild but it did scare her.Since she is getting old it could just be an old age thing, but I need to know. I wonder if it is the flea and tick medication that I used on the dogs. I hate using that stuff as it is chemical and you never know for sure what it can do or the reaction it could cause. But when the tick population is heavy as it usually is in May I do use it. As the summer goes on I don't use it but when fall comes and ticks are breeding and plentiful I will use it one more time.

All the dogs are shedding and that will be my chore for this week, it is almost on going with all the dogs. They look so nice when they are all done. One of these days I will treat myself to a professional grooming for them.

I have to thank all my puppy people for being so understanding about not coming into the house to visit the pups when they were little. It was very different but we all had to be safe. Thank you all!

I know it is a pain to wear a mask when you are out but is does show respect for others and for yourself.

Be safe, be well!              

                                                         A big helper!

GETTING ATTACHED

I have two babies that have been here a little over a week since the other pups went to their homes.

These two will be going on Saturday and it is going to be hard. Fancy the little blue is gorgeous and Reba the little sable is

stunning.  Plus they are fun pups. I am especially attached to Fancy and that is not good. I am trying so hard not to but

it is not easy. They both know their names and are such tuned in pups. But I have to say the whole litter learned their

names quickly. A couple have been changed as I did not know what they were going to be. I have to say that keeping

two pups clean and happy is a lot easier than 11 pups. I am ready to get my house back in shape, put the puppy

pens away and concentrate on my adult dogs. They all tolerate the pups except for one and I have to separate her.

And Bonnie who is Fancy's  mom, does not like her any more. At about six weeks Bonnie decided she was done

with her pups. She would growl at them and tell them to get away. So at that time Topaz took over and tried to care for all of

them. Sometimes she would be nursing or trying to nurse all the pups.  She has turned out to be such a good mother.

I will spend the weekend putting  all the puppy stuff away. I got tired through the whole process but when they started looking

like pups I loved it.

I am ready for a year off, to get back into training Bonnie and Walter and having some fun with the others and I know

that they are ready too.

Found a couple of ticks today so be careful, they are out in full force!

THANKFUL FOR MY HOMES

I know it has been a long time since I have written but want to get caught up a little. First of all

I am very thankful that I had two litters of very healthy pups. Secondly I am very thankful for all the

wonderful homes that I have found for the pups. People came from all the New England states during

these very unsure and strange times. Everyone wanted their pups so much to come out and make the

drive during these times. I am truly blessed.

It has been a very busy eight weeks. Making sure everyone was getting their share of mothers milk

and not being pushed away. Topaz got me up every night anywhere from midnight to 4 am. Needless

to say my sleep was very interrupted. As the pups grew I made sure that they had 4 hours of playtime

in the kitchen every day. Not being able to have people in and my granddaughter who always helped

socialize pups I had to be sure that they all had the time and handling to help them become the

pups that I wanted them to be. I think that they all turned out well. A few little problems but now all

are in their homes and doing very well.

I love everyone of them, each has a special personality and will bring much joy to many families.

Hopefully I will do better with keeping the blog up.

Be safe and stay well.

SCARY WORLD

I have been so busy with the puppies I did not realize how much time has gone by since I have written any thing. The pups are graduating to baby cereal and soon to mushy puppy food. They grow so fast. They are starting to cut teeth and the moms are not too thrilled with that. Topaz is a much better mom this time than when she had her first litter and it seems as the pups get older the more concerned a mother she becomes. Other than needing to to out in the middle of the night every night she has been good.We have that as a new routine and it sure affects your sleep. 
I have decided at this point to not have visitors to see the pups. They are still young and I want everyone safe including my self. I need to stay well in order to care for all these pups and adults that I have here. I stocked up on food so am good for about three weeks. I have plenty of dog food and puppy food. 
Very strange and scary world for sure.  The pups are developing personalities now, little bit by bit. They respond to my voice and are starting to wag their tails. The large girl in Topaz's litter really has a great tail wag, as soon as I talk to her it starts. They will be 4 weeks this weekend so only 4 more weeks they will be ready for their new homes. 
Hopefully things will not be quite so crazy in four more weeks. I will continue to take as many photos as I can, it is not easy to get good shots alone but I am doing the best that I can. 
Hope you are all careful and stay well. All for now!

A BUSY TIME

A busy time for sure. Topaz and Bonnie had their pups three days a part. So both litters are now 1 week 4 days and one week one day. Thankfully there were a few days between. Not much time for rest the past couple of weeks, up several times during the night to check on the girls. Topaz went into labor during the night and the first pup was born about 7:30 in the morning. It was an easy whelping which I was very happy with.
Bonnie started her labor on Saturday night and started delivery about noon time.Unfortunately this puppy was stuck, he was a big boy and breech. It took us awhile to work him out and it was rough for Bonnie. Finally he came into this world and was still living, we were not sure if he would make that birth. But he is just fine. Big and beautiful.
So Topaz has 2 boys and 2 girls, all sables, their eyes just opened today. Bonnie gave us 7 beautiful pups, such a surprise as she is such a little girl. She has 2 sable girls, 2 blue girls and 3 sable merle boys. Quite the rainbow. 
I spend a lot of time with Topaz and her babies, she is not thrilled with motherhood. She takes care of her babies but with much persuasion. I do not believe that she will have pups again. She just wants to be with me and be a pet, she is always at my feet. So some thought to her future.  But not until she has raised and litter and after much thinking about what is best for her. 
Bonnie developed diarrhea so I put her on baby rice cereal with boiled chicken  and yogurt and she loves this. Also got some really good pre and pro biotics from the vet to get her cleared up as quickly as possible.She and the pups are doing well and the diarrhea is subsiding thankfully, as there is enough drain on her with 7 nursing pups. 
I still get up at night to check on the girls and the pups. Topaz's babies are getting on their feet already, not even two weeks yet and their eyes are open, so cute to welcome them to the world. Their ears are still closed and will soon open and watching them hear things is really precious. It is amazing the difference in development that three days make. 
I am exhausted from all the lack of sleep, so try to get an hour nap in the afternoon.
That helps some.Once the pups are a little more mobile I won't worry so much.
I know it has been a couple of weeks since I wrote anything so wanted to announce the birth of the pups.
Will post pictures as they grow.
By the way I have lovely homes for all the pups. 

TOPAZ

Now time to watch and wait for Topaz. The good thing though is that she is very pregnant. I am thankful for that. She has been getting me up between three and three thirty am every day. She needs to go out as she just can't hold things for very long. It is actually good that she lets me know. She is one of my most house trained girls, she does not want to have an accident and will go stand at the door to let me know that she needs out.
The baby monitor is now set up near her whelping box. The watching and waiting is hard as I am ready for her to get started and have an easy whelping. Her temperature continues to drop which is a good sign. I am waiting for the time that she refuses food as that is a sign that whelping will be soon. She is as comfortable as she can be, eating and drinking so all is going well. Walter is the sire and he has sired four litters which have been very pretty but this is the first litter by Walter that we will have here. I think that they will be very pretty. They compliment each other and the pedigrees do also. 
I am sure that people on my list are tired of the wait also. It will be nice for them to know if there will be a puppy for them. I choose homes that will be the best match for the puppies. I want my pups and puppy people to have a good experience and be successful!  My pups are vet checked, receive a health certificate and first shots and are guaranteed.
It is so hard to make the best decisions but I have to do what is best for the pup as it is a lifetime commitment.
I am getting pretty good at learning patience. Glory tried my patience for sure. But not her fault, things just went wrong, I know she was pregnant at the beginning and maybe she did not have enough progesterone to hold the pregnancy. When the girls get to 6 years of age or so hormones change and it is harder for them to get pregnant and to stay pregnant. I don't know if we will try again with Glory or retire her from breeding. I am sure she would love that. She loves being a full time house dog and is very happy. She house trained very quickly and is very good with no accidents at all. She is such a sweet girl and so easy to love.
I will post as soon as the pups arrive. It will be such a relief when they are here and I know they are all doing well.
So on to more waiting!! 

WALTER AND TOPAZ