END OF LIFE STAGE

 An important part of having a dog is helping them when they come to the end of life stage. You can see that they don't feel well, have difficulty getting up and down. Drinking lots of water and urinating just as much. You look into their eyes and you can see how they feel. But you post pone what you know should be done. Maybe another day or two and they will feel better. You don't want to let go. Maybe another medication will help and it does for a short time. But no matter what we try the symptoms do not go away. We don't want to think about what we know we should do. It is time to let go and we don't want to face that. But your friend has been there for you for all their lives. When you didn't feel good they would comfort you, when you were sad they would make you laugh. Seems like they always knew what to do to make you feel better. Shelties are very stoic, they don't let you see their pain, although it is hard for them to hide it in their eyes. They want to go on taking care of you but you know it is now time for you to take care of them.

I am at the point of having to make one of these decisions. My old girl Brooke has liver issues and does not feel good. When she pees it is a flood and she drinks tons of water. She is on medication which seems to be helping. But when she is no longer comfortable I know that I have to let her go. I have done this many times over the years but it never gets easy. It is very difficult to make the decision. This is a very important part of responsible dog ownership. Brookes medication is giving her some relief but I don't know how long that will last. When she appears to be in pain and is not eating well then I know the time has come. 

It is your responsibility to take your dog to the vet and stay with them while they drift away from this world. They need to know that you are there. It is a very peaceful time for your dog and he will no longer have any pain. I know many of you don't want to be with your dog, but think of him and not yourself. Look at all the times he was there for you. You know what has to be done and he needs you.

When Brooke gets to the point that there is no hope and she is in pain I will let her go and I will be with her. They know we are there and it comforts them. 

So be brave and think of your dog. You will have a sense of peace when you know they will not hurt again.

The old girls, Brooke on the right!

HOPE YOU HAD A HAPPY AND SAFE 4TH

 The Fourth is over and I hope it was good for everyone, especially for the dogs.

My dogs do not do well with the fire works, especially the loud booms. Fireworks in the area for two nights and finally ended about 10 pm.Thankfully they were not very close. 

My pups have moved to their new homes and families and all are doing well. I have one pup here and I am just waiting to see who her sire is. She too may go to a really good home. I know I have said it before but I am so thankful for the people who have my pups. 

The rain has finally stopped and my dog yard has lots of mud, hopefully it will dry out soon. Once dry I will put more patio blocks down and get rid of all the dirt.  That will help tremendously. I am also planning a large play area attached to the dog yard. I will have agility equipment out there and lots of fun toys for the dogs. The main thing is they will be able to run and do zoomies. They love to run all out and it makes me smile!

The sun is poking out and I sure hope it dries things out. I know we need the water but the dogs sure hate getting wet. So funny watching them tip toe through the puddles.

Now that the pups are settled I plan to spend more time working with Skye. She is a smart little girl and you can see her think. I tell her to find her baby and she goes and gets her lamb, which is her baby. She finds her big ball when you tell her. She is so quick and learning the names of her toys. She taught herself to use the stairs. She is an amazing little girl.

I am definitely taking a break from breeding. Too many pups in too short of a time. I think that in 9 to 12 months I will know if I want to breed or just want to enjoy my dogs. I do love producing healthy, quality pups, with great temperaments that make wonderful family companions. I always want to breed to improve the breed. The Sheltie is a special breed and needs to be preserved.

Breakfast alarms are going off, their clocks still work very well.Time to get this day going.

 

PUPS SO READY

 Another two weeks and I have not written a word. My sister from California, and my brother in law have been visiting.  Such a nice time but the dogs are all off their routine. We are now getting back into the regular days that the dogs enjoy. They sure know the difference. Pups will be leaving this coming week after their shots and health check.  Hopefully another two weeks and we will have the DNA  results from the AKC. It has been a long process and I am anxious to know who the sire of the pups is. I am hoping for Keeper as we lost him in March, a reaction to anesthesia for a dental. I have been on the fence about keeping a pup, I really should not but I need to know if there is a Keeper pup and that may change my mind. I would love to keep his line going. He has sired so many beautiful girls. 

A friend who needs help with his dogs for some time asked me if I would take one for awhile. I agreed to help him out. I don't need another dog but when there is a dire need you have to step in and help. Her name is Alice and she is two years old and still very puppy. She and Skye play a lot, especially run and chase games. Now with Alice it is very hard to decide on a puppy. If it all becomes overwhelming I may not keep the pup. Alice is a very friendly and outgoing dog but never had any training so there is much to catch up with. And she really wants to please. So do I have the energy to take on a puppy along with Alice and Skye.I will just have to give it a try. 

I am taking a break from breeding for about a year, or possibly next winter. Just depends on how I feel. Most importantly is to catch up on my rest. Bonnie's litter was very tiring as I had to hand raise two of the pups. That was round the clock feeding and very interrupted sleep. Now that Topaz pups are weaned and she is sleeping in her crate my sleep has been much better. No interruptions during the night. 

Once again I have wonderful families for my pups and I sure appreciate their patience with waiting to see who the sire is.

All for now, coffee is done and the breakfast clock is going off!

PUPS 6 WEEKS

 The pups have grown so fast. When I ask if they are hungry they come running. It is so cute. I have enlarged  their pen so they have room to run a little and play. When they see me they all line up and wag tails. Two more weeks they go for their vet check and then to their new homes.

Once again I am so fortunate to have so many wonderful families.  Each and every pup will have a wonderful home full of love and care. I am thinking of keeping the boy. Tough decision as there are many pretty pups. Walter is my only stud dog so it might be good to have another boy who is a different line. Although it is definitely going to be a good long six months before another litter. I may even ask a friend to whelp the litter. I had thought that six  months between Bonnie s last litter and this litter of Topaz's was enough time but it really was not. Topaz wakes up between 4:30 and 5 am every day. Just a bit too early. It will be wonderful to change that to 6 am. I will need the dogs to go to bed just a little later so they will sleep later in the morning. I have to admit, that everything revolves around the dogs. But why not. It is just me and the dogs,their clock rules. I am going to change the 4:30 am if I possibly can. It may take awhile but it really needs to change. I am tired of going to bed when it is still light out. Although sleep comes quickly. 

It is raining and the dogs are all in so a good day to do some grooming. At least a good brushing and nail cutting. Some are good with nail cutting and others not at all.

HUNGRY PUPPIES

PUPS GROW SO FAST.

 All of a sudden the pups eyes and ears are open, they have teeth and have learned to bark and growl. Seems like it was yesterday that they were just these little forms of life that looked like Guinea pigs. They are almost 5 weeks. Time to get some really good face photos, expression is showing and attitude is beginning to surface. The fun starts and the work. We are going into the messy stage, eating four times a day and cleaning the pen at least six or more times. Even with all this I love to watch the personalities develop. The little tails now wag a  mile a minute when I talk to them. They are searching out their toys now and when the first one squeaked that brought on a few little growls.

This litter was not far enough from my last litter to get a nice long break. That is coming up now. No pups until next year. I finally can get caught up on my sleep. I am still up between four thirty and five AM but at least no more interruptions during the night.  Pups will now be going into the kitchen to run and play. They will get out about four times a day and will experience many new things. 

I am anxiously awaiting the DNA results to see who their sire is. It has been a long process. I am hoping that the boy is Keepers as we lost Keeper way too soon. It would be nice to carry on with a son of his. The one boy is a lovely pup but is also the second largest and that could be a problem. Sometimes I wish that Shelties did not have a size disqualification but they do and we have to breed for that. 

I have a lovely 15 week old pup that is too big for her age already. She is going home with my sister and will become a performance dog. I am excited about her career. We are hoping for a natural herding instinct. My sister may even get some sheep so she can train to herd. I can't wait to see how she does.

I will finally have the time to work with Skye before she grows up on me.

I am being summoned for breakfast, they are not patient at all so have to go and get them fed.

Pictures of pups coming soon.

TOPAZ

ALWAYS SOMETHING TO LEARN

 Topaz came from a litter where there should not have been a tri color produced. Her mom was a trifactored sable and her dad was a double merle. I had sent her DNA to UC Davis school of veterinary medicine as they are very up to date on their genetic testing. I was assuming that the breeding Topaz came from she had to be a cryptic merle, which means she carried a gene for blue merle but did not express it, she was definitely a tri color. In her last two litters she never even produced a sable merle, which to me seemed strange. 

I did some more research and found that a cryptic merle, with the Mc gene could only express normal color and would breed as a normal solid color which she was, a tri color. So when she was bred to a sable she had all sable pups, not even a sable merle. So her litter now is all sable and tri factored sable. I am assuming that I could breed her to a blue merle but I still am not willing to try that. On the chance of getting a defective pup, it is not worth it. In breeding two blues you are taking a chance of producing a pup that could be defective in hearing and sight. Although many will be normal, but even one defective pup is one too many. 

Genetics is  fascinating to study, much of which I still don't understand,the basics yes but so much research has been done with the merle gene it boggles the mind. This is when I would love to call my friend Kathleen to see what she thinks. She and I would talk things like this over for hours. I sure do miss her.

I am taking a break from breeding for awhile, I want to see how I feel if I don't have pups around. I know that I will miss producing, quality, healthy companions for the people who love Shelties. I don't show anymore but I do still breed, looking for that one outstanding pup of show quality. I feel good knowing I can produce the quality and traits that I am looking for. Plus a very healthy companion that will be able to do any type of dog sport. Or just be an awesome companion!

I will spend time training my two young girls, this should be very rewarding. Maybe put some trick titles on them and just plain have fun. 

I will be keeping the little boy from this litter as long as he does not get too big. I have not kept a boy in a long time and I am looking forward to it. I would love to find a good handler for him  but I am jumping the gun. I need to see how he turns out first. Something to look forward too, that is what keeps you going with the dogs.  

BEST FRIENDS, GRANDAUGHTER AND WALTER!

DOGS DON'T FORGET

 This is about Quinn, a lovely blue Merle with a sweet temperament. When she was about a year old, she and one of her kennel mates came to visit for a few months while Kathleen went to Florida for the worst of the winter months. 

I spent many hours training Vanna, who seemed to really thrive on the training. I did not get as much training into Quinn. She just wanted to be close. I spent time grooming her and I kept her ears glued so they would have a nice tip to them. We would sit and watch TV in the evening and she would lie at my feet and just be so good.They were both learning to be house trained and were doing very well. They learned the stairs in no time as that meant house time. Something all the dogs loved.

My home is called a hillside cape and has a walkout daylight basement so a perfect place for my dog room and a fenced yard off the back door. Within a week they were running the stairs, up to the kitchen as fast as they could run. Too many good things happening there. Especially the treats, Quinn and Vanna loved them.

Those few months went by so fast. The girls were leash trained and ready to go home. Back to living in the kennel, which was a beautiful facility. I am sure they were happy to be home with their kennel mates.

On my next visit to Illusion Farm I went out to see Vanna, thinking that she would be so happy to see me after all the training and fun things she had accomplished. I stood at the fence and everyone came running over. Vanna was not especially interested in seeing me, I felt bad but you never know with the dogs. Quinn came running up from the back kennel and she was so excited and so happy to see me. I guess she really loved sitting at my feet and watching TV. I would have loved to have taken her home that day. Her happiness made me feel so good. I hoped that some day she might retire with me.

Unfortunately, my friend Kathleen passed from her cancer and many decisions had to be made for the dogs. Kathleen wanted Quinn to go home with me. It was bittersweet for sure. Quinn came home with me and settled right in, as if she had never left. Right now she is standing with her head on my knee as I type. I know she will make Kathleen proud with some beautiful babies.

It has been three years since Quinn first lived with me and acts like she has been here all her life. She is such a loving girl.

QUINN