OMGosh so much to write.  I will start with not including my feeling we will see where it goes from there. 

My Shiba friend Lexi has died.  The vet did an autopsy but found no reason why it should have happened.  After much reflection I don't know if I can believe that a mistake wasn't made by my vet early on and Lexi could have been saved.  I have to be strong for the puppies she left behind. I am bottle feeding them and they are doing OK.  Yesterday it was their first trip outside to see the sun.  Most pups are scared of the new feelings under their feet, cement, gravel, grass, weeds all are a new thing.  These pups just crawled across it all without blinking.  Very interesting I say.

Anyone who has gone through the process of buying a puppy from me knows I am very particular about where my babies go so I prescreen homes and pups are sold by reservation and all are spoken for before they are born.  Otherwise I wouldn't do any breeding.  So, the puppies Lexi left behind are sold with the exception of the female who I reserve the right to keep.  I am doing everything in my power to have these pups survive to an adoptable age.  They are now 4 weeks old and I'm soooooo tired!  Being a mom to a litter is exhausting. One of the pups is so small and conceived several days behind the others.  He is the one I worry about but he is getting bigger slowly.

During all this mayhem life on the farm going on.  There are other dogs to care for and horses in various stages of training that need to be exercised.  I sold my sheep on Sunday, Feb. 31, 2015 which was last Sunday.  It was a very hard thing to do, to let go of a herd I have tended for nearly 20 years.  I concentrated on certain traits in a single bloodline.  I was very proud of what I had accomplished.  Now........gone.  Totally weird.

Yesterday we were at the vet checking the puppies progress again and I tripped and jammed my fist against a window sill and popped my upper arm out of the socket.  That hurt.  Now I can't move my upper arm away from my body without total pain. 

I swear it's always something, then something else, then something else.  I think I am cursed.  I will have to start thinking about who I might have offended that put such a curse on me.

I am the most innocent, honest and kind person I know.  I never mean to hurt anyone but it seems like I always say the wrong thing.  Do you ever feel like that?  That's why I stay to myself and I don't talk to anyone.  Then people think I am scary, mean and unapproachable.  At least that is what those who got to know me and became friends tell me.  I squint because I can't stand the sun or I can't see and it gives me a tough guy brow.  I also have chronic pain so sometimes I just don't want to talk.  It takes all I've got just to concentrate on what I am trying to do.  Anyway, I hope the curse will be lifted soon as I really want to get on with my life without all the drama.

I am scheduled to ride my horse Handsome in the next few weeks and I hope my arm is healed by then but it feels pretty much like it did when another horse yanked it out of the socket and it took years to heal with all the constant use it gets.

I guess I should add some pictures here to make my blog more exciting.  I'll see what I can find.

I'm so excited!  Handsome leaves for training TOMORROW!  yEEEEEE Haaaaaaaa!  I can't wait to ride him.  Even though I suffer from fibromyalgia and have a busted up back from a car accident I can still ride.  I use a mounting block so I don't have to use my own strength to pull myself up  then someone helps flip my leg over the back.  Once I'm up there I'm OK.  It's just getting up in the saddle that is hard.  Of course I pay dearly for days after but it is so worth it when you love something so much.  Like washing and packing dogs to the shows.  Marcel does a lot of the work now but I still want to go!

OK, so I found out some information about Handsome from Patti at the BLM.  She said he was captured 11/24/1999 in Nevada outside of the herd management area but she doesn't know which herd management area.  He was adopted 8 months later.  So he is 4-5 years older than I thought, maybe being 15 years old!  Damn, hope Jona can teach and old horse some new tricks like how to respect me!

Marcel is hooking up the trailer as I write.  Tomorrow is superbowl or STUPIDbowl as I call it so at least I know Marcel will be motivated to get the transport done early.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Lexi is getting fat and we've found wonderful homes for all her puppies.  I will have her x-rayed in a week to see how many pups she'll have and the vet will let me know when she projects she will deliver.  Babies are always so exciting and fun.

Got to go finish cleaning my rat cage now!

Happy New Year and all that rot!

Time really does fly and it's been a long time since I wrote myself anything.  I want to say a lot has happened but I can't remember!  I'm in a perpetual fibro-men-o-paws kinda fog. 

 

First I have to say I'm freaking happy the holidays are over.  I'm really beginning to hate holidays.  We don't see friends or family anymore and they are just annoying days I can't wait till they pass and we can get back to normal.  Plus the dreary late fall through winter non stop flippin rain making my old bones ache and all those chores to do in the mud.

 

The latest and greatest is that Bridget Jones finally finished her AKC Championship.  I was afraid it would never happen.  Here's the photo.  It was a really good weekend for us.  Bridget was the winner's female and best of opposite sex on Saturday and the black & tan male I'm showing, Zorro, was reserve winning male.  On Sunday both Bridget and Zorro were reserve female and reserve male to a major so that was great!  It's always so much fun when you can win!  The next two times I showed any dogs we got completely dumped out of the competition.  I still had a fun time at the show because I brought a friend who had never been to an AKC show so I got to be like an announcer delivering the blow by blow accounts to my captive audience of one.  I tried to be quiet and not annoy those around us by sharing my own opinion of controversial topics. 

 

Let's see.....oh, Stetson my horse had to be put down.  He had equine motor neuron disease which is like Lou Gehrig's disease.  Remember I posted he had lost 100 pounds, we thought it was his feet because he was shifting his weight from side to side on his hind end?  Still,  it was very hard to let him go.  My large animal veterinarian had passed away a while back and I hadn't found anyone else to be my regular vet so I used the vet the gal that owned Stetson before me used for him.  She ended up being a flake.  She said Stetson had a "classic case of founder" to her trainee. Founder can be very serious.  It's basically when the outside of a horses hoof comes off.  I know!  Ew gross! I wasn't 100% on board with that diagnosis for several reasons I need not go into for my non-horse owning readers.  Marcel didn't believe it to be the case either so we hit the computer and almost simultaneously came to the same diagnosis of EMND.  We took Stetson to OSU veterinary teaching clinic and they confirmed the diagnosis we provided and then CALLED THE USELESS VET to tell her she was wrong with all the nasty notes she wrote about me "refusing to do hoof films" after she told me they were not necessary because she would treat and medicate him the same way with or without films.  WHATABITCH! She just wanted to be right so bad.  It irritated me the being right was more important to her then the health of my horse.  If we hadn't felt that her diagnosis wasn't incorrect we would have spent a ton of money following her protocol for recovery on a dying horse PROLONGING HIS MISERY. 

 

I have a new horse I named Handsome Stranger.........just because I wanted to.  He is a sexy red dun Spanish mustang.  I hope he will like western dressage training because that's what I have in store for him.  He was given to me by a woman in CA.  She adopted him from the Bureau of Land Management, better known as the BLM, had him trained for a year then threw him out in the pasture and never rode him for 3 years and then I got him.  He is a spoiled beastie who doesn't respect the space of little women that's for sure but I have faith Jona will get him back on track.  I was going to say whip him into shape but that doesn't sound right when you are talking about educating a horse.

 

Marcel and I took the horses to a weekend clinic.  I thought it was fun.  I had already saddled Handsome several times and worked him in the pen from the ground and he knew the commands for the walk, trot, canter and whoa very well.  I wouldn't have thought twice about climbing on up except I really wanted someone there with me just in case but I assumed I could do a walk/trot without getting him too excited like he might get at a canter and get bucked off.  But Jona didn't think he was trustworthy.  Handsome is going to training with Jona soon and I hope I get an awesome horse back.

 

Lexi is expecting puppies sired by Kurotaka so that is exciting.  I have plans to breed my 2 year old girls Fuyu and Taka too as soon as I get their health clearances done.  I have to take some time and research potential sires for the litters.  That is always interesting.  There are so many people with show quality Shibas I haven't met yet.  I tend to stay out of the politics and gossiping and nastiness associated with show folks.  There are some nice folks and there are some not so nice folks. In Shibas I found there are a lot of breeders who say "if you're friends with so-n-so I can't be your friend and/or sell you a dog because I don't want my breeding getting into their hands."  I have friends with other breeds and I like to hang with them if I can. 

 

I've kept to myself until just recently and I've become really close with a couple of gals in Shibas and Marcel and I even joined our local Evergreen Shiba Club.  So we are being more involved with the local Shiba Inu community.  Still, I tell certain people who tend to insinuate someone "might be" talking about me on facebook that it's none of my damned business what people say about me behind my back. I have enough trouble already thank you very much.

 

Speaking of rats, one rat has sadly lost her life to cancer.  I think it's the damned rat food.  I figure on the animal food scale the rat probably gets the worst of the floor sweepings from the pet food plant.  It looks like saw dust glued together.  So I'm feeding them cat and dog food with lots of left overs from our own kitchen.  It's got to be better for them then that rat food.

 

I'll try to remember to blog again soon.

I am NOT photogenic!

Once again I find myself paying for those awful dog show win pictures of me with a triple chin!  My attempt to capture the joy of a good win with one of my precious dogs is such a let down when I open the anticipated photo package in my car at the post office and I see myself.  ARGH!  Not only that, they are expensive to boot. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan asked me to go horseback riding out at her place a week ago.  I said OK, I'll go.  The barn owner Susan has a horse I can ride and I said fine as long as I can use my own saddle and reins I'm good to go.  I just told her someone might have to help lift my leg over because I'm so decrepit.  Jan later told me she thought I would pussy out of going for sure.  The rain and 40 degrees that feels like 31 degrees did kinda make me question if I was right in my mind. Marcel didn't want me to go, I could tell but I made promise to myself to start being more active.  I've been going to dog school week nights and spending a lot of time outside.  The snow and frozen pipes might  have had something to do with that but that's a different story.

My mount is Amber.  A Tennessee Walker that is the color a Clydesdale.  Now I wanted a short horse like I have at home but Susan says Amber is a good calm  horse.  I haven't had good experiences with the TWH.  I got taken on an unwanted gallop with a TWH that was insanely out of control.  But Amber was very sweet and gentle and a fantastic ride.

We only walked but they don't call them Walkers for nothing.  They just plow through anything! And they walk REALLY fast and REALLY smooth.  I would have had a lot of trouble with my little horse Stetson keeping up with them.  I have no doubt he would try but he would have been exhausted.  Amber was slipping and sliding in the mud and rocks but was just a smooth as could be.  In fact, if she were for sale, I think I'd have to consider her.  Even though Jan did have to push my leg back over Amber's butt so I could get off.  I need a 14.2 TWH. 

Anyway I had a great time.  I got cold, wet and muddy but it was really fun but I'm tired. So tired I can't sleep tired.

OMG!  I finally finished Kurotaka!  It only took 3.5 years!  The only reason it took so long is that he is black & tan.  If he were red he would have finished easily.  He shows beautifully and his coat is gorgeous.  He smiles for the judge and wags his tail.  You can't ask for a better performance he just begs for the win.  

Fuyu finished the same weekend.  For some reason I'm not as excited about her win as Kuro's but then she was a piece of cake, taking points consistently each weekend I took her out to a show.

That's probably not as interesting to readers as what happened while I was showing.  I took 4 dogs to the show by myself.  I now know that is way too much for me.  I had 3 of my own and my friend Jan's dog.  So I had two dogs, both in the same class and 2 girl in different classes.  I had prearranged some help from a nice woman and her son who show Dachshunds.

I always have some bizarre thing happen to me.  I don't mean to draw attention to myself but it always works out that way.

So....we know I have a bad back, bad knee and I've been suffering terribly with hot flashes for the last couple of years. If I move I will sweat and it ain't pretty.  I use a lot of things to keep myself cool.  Drinking cold water, fanning myself, putting small ice packs on my chest and back to cool my core. At the last show I was wearing sleeveless blouses when other women were wearing down parkas.  

The first day the 12 year old boy was available to help me.  It was a mess.  I don't know who was jumpier, the boy or the Shibas.  Fuyu was totally upset with the situation which was weird because she usually shows for anybody but they just didn't hit it off.  But I took her back in myself for the second go round of winning females from all the classes and she won and took the point.

The second day I decided to put an ice pack in the small of my back right at my pants waste band.  It worked wonderfully!  It kept my core cool and I didn't get all worked up and sweaty.  I didn't win much the second day for some reason. Little bits of the gel from the ice pack leaked out of a hole and got left behind in my undies.  I look down to see some on Taka's head!  HA! But the judge told me I was a memorable competitor, which was nice.....I think.  Then I looked up and saw that the boy had the wrong armband and wrong dog in the ring!  YIKES!  They had already been examined on the table!  I told the ring steward who told the judge and she was kind enough to let us switch dogs.  It was a mess but I was keepin' it cool with my ice pack down my pants!

Third day.  We showed at 8am so I had rushed to potty the dogs and they were on strike by now.  Nobody would poo.  I had to hurry and get to ringside.  The boy was there with his sister now, holding my girls while I showed boys.  Boys go first.  I'm ringside, ready, sweating today, ice pack or no ice pack. Kuro is acting weird.  His tongue is spooned, he's panting and looking toward the exit.  Damn........he has to poo!  But we're in next!  I can't leave the building now.  Shoot.  This is what a good dog Kuro is.  He takes a dump right there.  I'm like "GOOD BOY!" They call our class but I'm still picking up the huge pile of poo!  I say "I'll be right there, cleaning up!" I dumped the poo in the trash and in the ring we went.  I'm thinking great, Kuro is happily empty and paying attention to me now.  My pants must have stretched out since yesterday because I'm suddenly having a hard time keeping the ice pack in place.  We get sent around the big ring and oh no!  The ice pack slips down into my pants!  It's not in my undies so it start heading toward going down a pant leg!  OH MAN!  I stuck my hand down the back of my pants to save it WHILE STILL RUNNING AROUND THE RING!  The judge shakes his head and covers his eyes.  I dig that ice pack out and put it on the table at the front of the ring.  The judge then gives me the blue and my dog has won the last major he needed to finish his championship.  My lucky ice pack!  YES!  Both the girls poo'd outside the ring and the kids had to pick it up.  I felt bad for them but all my dogs were not empty, which is always a good thing.

The fourth day I'm looking forward to going home. We have that darned 8am ring time again and I plan to be heading home by 10 for sure.  I'm sweating away and flustered.  I even left one dog out of the competition because I didn't think he was entered on Monday and by the time I found out he was I didn't have time to get him out of the car.  Bummer.   Today the mother, Michelle bless her big heart is helping me because the kids are somewhere showing in obedience.  Things go smoother with Michelle and Kuro wins again and Fuyu gets the last point she needed to finish her championship!  Hopefully I won't be making a stupid face in the pictures.

So that's my story for today.  All and all it was a successful weekend finishing 2 dogs.  But I'll tell you what,  I don't think I'll be showing 4 dogs again for a while.  It took me several days of sleep to recover from the running around in circles to the left and all the loading and unloading of the dog cart. 

Moving on with my Shibas.....

I don't write here as often as I should but things are always changing with my plans showing and breeding my wonderful doggies.   Bridget had her last litter sired by Zashi

who I just love. There were two girls and one male.  I'm sitting on the two girls and I placed the boy, who once again is spectacular.   I didn't keep anything from Koji x Zorro because the girl I sat on Zuki just didn't thrill me like I would have hoped. The male in the litter Yoshi,

has turned out  lovely of course but I may have the opportunity to show both males as long as their hormones don't drive them crazy before June.  I spayed Koji and she is looking for a pet home now so that bloodline is now ended.  We had a great photo shoot with Nina Sage of PDX Dog Portraits.

From left to right, Bridget looking a bit bedraggled from her pups on the other end of the couch, then there is Taka (sired by Kuro), Fuyu (sired by Kupono), Mari (purchased from Marianne Ross)and of course the 3 Zashi puppies, Mochi, Autumn and male Haku on the end.  This was quite an exciting outing for everyone and all went pretty well except Taka peed on that beautiful couch!  I was mortified and Nina took it all in stride. Here is another shot.....

I'd better end here and get outside before dark.  All these dogs make a lot of mess so I'd better get to scoop'en!