More pics

Cali and Bug....first two born...GIRL POWER!!!!

Crofters Dream Comes True

And we are pleased to announce 4 healthy puppies!
Call names until they get to their forever homes.
Bug 6.0 female
Cali 6.5 female
Zin 6.25 male
Merle 4.75 male

Look at this darlin' boy and his sibs!

Obie is the top picture and the whole Star Wars crew is the lower picture.

Here's the bite!

Well, there was a bite! Greg really felt bad when he saw it tonight. Poor Kona. It isn't bothering him at all.


It is probably a good thing he didn't take him in to the vet. They probably would have wanted to put a stitch in the top of the wound. That means they would have shaved it, that means...no showing at the specialty next month! See, all things happen for a reason!

X-RAY SHOWS 4 GRAPES!!!!

I just got back from the vet. The x-ray shows four babies! I am very pleased, this is what I was hoping for. One is quite a bit smaller than the other, the vet says it looks like all is okay, just smaller. I will be ready if assistance is needed, but not worried. (Hopefully Pat will be here, that would be the best.) Look for more news coming soon. The due date is Monday the 30th of June.

Not Kona's day...or "They look nice, don't they?"

The Labrador Retriever is a loving, affectionate, lovable, patient dog. Highly intelligent, loyal, willing, and high-spirited. Lively and good-natured, they love to play, especially in water - for they love to swim. They have an excellent, reliable, temperament and are friendly, superb with children and equable with other dogs.
This is off of a web article about the breed. Now, Kona would take exception to the part about "excellent reliable temperament....equable with other dogs". A big male ran up to Kona in a wooded park near our home. Greg was walking him on leash like an honest law abiding citizen and the lab ran up and grabbed him. Picked him up and shook him. Poor guy....Greg and Kona. Greg was really shaken up, especially after carrying him home and seeing that he was not using his front leg. That was Friday. He is fine now, no punctures and no lameness. The mental damage may be another issue. This is the third weekend in a row that Kona has been minding his own business and a dog took him on. This was by far the worst. Greg finally did file a report with Animal Control after finding out a friend in the neighborhood had his dog attacked by the same Lab.

CTCSC Specialty - Marty WINS!

Marty continues his winning ways. Last weekend at the AKC Educational Day/Fun Match - Marty was Best Adult in Match!
AND today he was Winner's Dog for a 5-point Goblet win over 20 dogs and went on to win Best of Winners over the 20 bitches plus 7 Champion bitches as the class bitch was BOS! There was a judge change and we are pretty sure he got to the show grounds just before us.
"Jock" went BOB - so let the wee ones know that their daddy did them proud.

Jimmy showed really well and placed in his sweeps class. The BBE class was filled with older mature boys. Jimmy will have his glory days.

We are having a great time starting with an awesome dinner last night at a little Italian Restaurant that Dawn and Sandy took us to. We were so nice in letting the Felix party actually have their table inside with the air conditioning that they bought us an appetizer of Calimari and then the owner brought us another appetizer of cheese and tomatoes.
The CTCSC put on another great Specialty with a fantastic lunch and dinner. Cindi got to be one of three judges for the Costume Contest.
Of course the highlight was Marty going BOW and Jock going BOB. :):):)

Unfortunately Jock didn't do anything in Group but Ann Marie with her Glen took a GROUP 4! Congratulations.

Greetings from WY

This isn't really a "travel with dogs," but this seemed a good way to communicate with lots of people at once.

So first- Val, WHAT BITE?????

Second, it is gorgeous here in Sinks Canyon, WY, where in another three weeks I will earn a performance title known as W-EMT-B. Then I will be R. Westlund, AAS-CJ, BA-COMM, BA-WS, WEMT-B, and my name will be almost as long as Sammy's. Because, by the way, I just graduated with two BA's.
Every night here the wind blows so hard we think the tent is going to collapse, but then it doesn't and we make it through. Sevral people have seen rattlesnakes, but I haven't been that lucky yet, although I did see a bull snake large enough to probably eat a Cairn.
All week has been 8 hour class days, two days had 4-hour evening sessions, and every spare waking minute Oliver The Person and I have been doing skills practices and studying. This level of dedication has resulted in us both scoring 100% on our CPR tests today, and each scoring 96% on our first of 8 EMT tests. We had the highest scores in the class on both tests and lots of jokes are flying, but we are refusing to run it off for High In Trial.

This morning, I woke up and tried to remember what Tally's eyes look like. Then, I tried to remember what the big dog's name is. All I could come up with was how to support C-Spine while rolling a patient onto a KED and lining up a longboard. Really.
Me out.

On the Road to Great Western

The 4 adventurers left Portland on Tuesday and by some unplanned miracle arrived in Long Beach on Wednesday.
On route we visited Redding, CA, where Master Jimmy High Hopes displayed his agility ability reaching for the bag of
what else?...Food!

You've got a friend

It’s Tuesday, April 08, 2008 at 9:25 pm. I just got through watching American Idol, I think it was the 5th show of the season. The last song was done by Brenda ??, Written by Carly Simon and originally ( I think) sung by James Taylor… I knew him as Sweet Baby James. He is and was one of my favorite song artists. Perhaps that has something to do with why I liked tonight’s performance… not necessarily her voice but the thoughts behind the words.

How do we know that Carly wasn’t relaying the thoughts of her faithful Canine companion? I know that when I am down, the first on site are my doggies.. Happy was always there when I was sick, not on my lap but just there by me. Oz will be the lap dog. Both of them just show up if my mind wanders to the negative world. Gotta love the goofy little guys.

"When you're down and troubled And you need some loving care And nothing, nothing is going right Close your eyes and think of me And soon I will be there To brighten up even your darkest night

If the sky above you Grows dark and full of clouds And that old north wind begins to blow Keep your head together And call my name out loud Soon you'll hear me knocking at your door

Ain't it good to know that you've got a friend When people can be so cold They'll hurt you, and desert you And take your soul if you let them Oh, but don't you let them

You just call out my name And you know wherever I am I'll come running to see you again Winter, spring, summer or fall All you have to do is call And I'll be there You've got a friend"

Here it is....

Sure doesn't look as bad as it felt!!!

It was very scarey, but we are fine and AAARV Plus is a very good value!
I think the picture says it all.

NW Paws -- More innovative dog related testing.

In our quest to invent a product dog lovers will pay any amount of money we have come up with a couple "iffy" items, at best. Our newest is the Dog perch. Now, this perch can be quite useful with space deprived back yard such as mine. Please note the space saving perch allows the puppy and his brother stand on the "stoop" at the same time with adequate room for Tom their kitty... if Tom feels moved to stand with them at the back yard.

Another wonderful invention that was recently tested was .self bagging poop. If the physiology of the dog's digestive system would cooperate a bit better we'd have a winner. But, alas... feeding a 4 month old puppy a finger "cot" (or finger condon as I prefer to call them) does not "bag" the poop as it exits the body. What it does accomplish is make the puppy's owner analyse, very closely, what the heck came out of their puppy's butt. At first glance it looks like a python sized round worm!!

Well, good readers, it's time for bed. Sweet dreams to all of you and have a wonderful day tomorrow.

Bag Babies

Mary's Star Wars Pups posed in the bag that Mom Mary won in
Pennsylvania just before the arrival of big brother Jimmy.
They were 6 weeks old on Saturday.

The nursery is ready!

I brought the whelping box back from Kamp Kinloch yesterday. Today, I went about finding a piece of vinyl to cover the floor, rearranged the furniture and set up the box and organized the "nursery". Hattie wagged her little tail and and sniffed the entire box and then proceeded to plop down in the middle of the cushion with a big smile on her face. I think it is good that it was used and she recognized the smells on it! I have blocked off the hallway, but left the door open so that she can go into the nursery if she wants to. I am sure as time grows closer, she will spend more time there. That is the plan anyway. Of course, you know what they say about plans...
We have two weeks to go from today. Next Tuesday evening we will have her x-rayed to find out how many little "grapes" she is carrying around. I am officially starting to get excited! The puppies names will be Calypsi, Meritage, Zinfindel, Viognier...if we need, we have more!

CAIRNS RULE DACHSHUND EVENT!

On Saturday the Greater Portland Dacshound Club held an Earthdog event in Turner, Oregon at Belden's farm. It was the first time they offered the Irondog Award. This is earned by a Master level dog qualifying in both the Master test and the Senior test in one day. Only two dogs qualified, Griffin owned by George Lancaster and Kona, owned by yours truely! It was fun to have the Cairns be the two first Irondog awards for that club!

The Great Outdoors...at Last!

Now that Mom and Nanny finally let us go outside, the whelping box will never seem the same!

Canadian Earthdog Senior Leg

Kona earned a Senior leg in Canada today. He didn't need to have a Junior title first which seems to be a bit of a glitch in the Canada rules. Of course, Greg was all over that. We didn't know it when we registered, but somehow, Greg learned of it, so Kona ran 2 Junior runs yesterday and one Senior run. 2 Senior runs today. Only 1 Q for all of that. Apparently there is something about the Master level dogs going back and working without a hunt that makes it difficult for them to do what they need to do to qualify.

It never ends

Harry Potter faced the evil lord, Voldemort, at least six times during the greatest book series of my generation. Tally has been dubbed with Harry Potter's nickname, as The Dog Who Lived. If we count the entire ten months of sickness as only one brush with death, tonight is no. 2, and Tally has four more to go before she knocks the scythe out of the Grim Reaper's hand and gets to enjoy living to a peaceful old age.

Nothing makes one want to get rid of every horse on the property, every horse on the planet, more than watching the Best Dog Ever fly six feet across a driveway after being kicked by an evil little pony.

I was torn between going to the dog and beating the hell out of the horse, but the dog won. I dropped the pony's lead rope and ran after the dog. Even with only a one-second head start, by the time I got around the end of the truck, she was gone from sight.

I found her hiding behind the woodpile, shaking all over. I just sat and held her in my lap, and wondered, after the entire last year, if now is the day she'll die in my arms. Minutes later, she and I both realized she wasn't actively dying, and I started checking her out. Head is clear- eyes, ears, mouth, no blood. Neck is attached. Ribcage feels solid but she starts shaking again as I try to count intact ribs. She's tense when I palpate her abdomen, but what dog likes to be squeezed around the middle? When I touch her spine above her flank (kidneys, liver, spleen, gallbladder....) she cries and twists.

If I had anything more than "she got kicked, I don't know exactly where, now she's sore," we'd be at the vet. But what do you tell the vet when you're just worried? "I want you to look all over this dog's insides, because I love her and can't imagine life without her."

She's sleeping on my bed now. She squeeked a squeeky for a while this evening and drank some water. I'm going to take her out to potty in a few, and sleep with her tucked into my arm all night.

And people wonder why my hair is going gray.

Can you tell?

How about now?

I think the grapes are growing!

Another Big Brother!

Jimmy had an introduction to his siblings.
Unfortunately only 2 of the photos would upload.

The quilt has arrived

The wonderful quilt that Barb made for us has arrived in its new home. Charmaine was exuberant in her praise of the workmanship. Of course! We are appreciative of the support and encouragement.

My friend Sheila

Hello Friends. I need to write this evening, bare with me. Today started out with Holly getting her dream job. As of June 16 she will be a Research Analyst 2 with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services in the Mental Health divsion. It is perfect for her, math and perhaps having an impact on helping the homeless with mental challenges. The job is in Salem and she and DJ will soon be moving down there, we both yearn for our own home but I'll miss them. So will the dogs. She and Oz have bonded much better than Happy and her ever will.. he is a bit stubborn and quite a Mommies boy. Today I contacted the Dog Parks biggest bennefactor. Although I knew they would be at our fundraiser Aug 2 I hadn't talked to them yet and there is always a little doubt until I actually talk to Scott and Polly and get a verbal confirmation. YAHOO! They will be there cuz, they say, they have too much fun to miss it. Another high point was a $50k parts order at work.. adding to our already high month of June. Life is good!!

We had a dog park fund-raiser meeting tonight @ 7. Lauree, me Savant and Paul were there. We waited for Sheila, she didn't show or call... very odd for her but perhaps she had something else to do and forgot. No worries. We joked about her little electric car, she and I sitting in the front seat created some interesting groping while trying to attach the seat belts. The car is smaller than small but her pride and joy. We all silently watched for her to drive up because seeing her brings smiles to our faces. Her smile and cheeriness lights up an entire room, her joyful voice sings with life. When she came her first volunteer meeting last year we were all pretty burnt out and needing a change. She was the medicin we needed, she brought us back to enthusiasm. As we sat this evening and discussed our upcoming event Lauree's cell phone rang... hummm, name and number unknown.. While normally Lauree won't answer unknown callers she was curious, thinking maybe Sheila was calling to say she would be late. Paul, Savant and I knew something was wrong, the look on Lauree's face was undescribable. The caller was Dan, Sheila's husband. Dan called to tell us that his wife, his young bride and love of his life had suddenly passed away Sunday Morning.

Honestly, I've known Sheila only a little more than a year. I don't know her birthday or even how old she is, I would guess early 30's. I know her hubby Dan but not sure I would know him in a crowd. What I do know is this feels like loosing someone I should have known long ago and grew to love even more than I do now. Sheila was sole proprietor or Buried Bones Bakery, maker of one of the few doggie treats Happy likes. She was the dog parks shining star, she worked her heart out helping secure vendors and raffle items for our fund raiser the last couple years. Above all, she was an incredible person; Loving, understanding, kind, passionate, fun-loving. My heart goes out to her other friends and all her family. They knew her as I never will and I am so sad that she is gone. I hope she knew how I cared for her.

Please God, take care of our Sheila. I know she is up there playing with Jeremy, her beloved greyhound she lost not too long ago.