A Parade, a Visitor and a Big Decision

photo: http://www.willrogers.com/

The girls and I took our jewelry to the Crazy for Crafts Festival here yesterday and a had a fun time. In addition, Kasaundra from Indiana drove down to see the corgis and select her new puppy. Easier said than done! It was nice to have her visit though she had to wait a bit for me to finish the craft show.

In the meantime she was able to watch the Will Rogers Day Parade which passed in front of the old downtown building where we were set up; she was on the sidewalk but I was inside watching through the front door. It struck me as a "Norman Rockwell" scene and I had to smile at how much I love living in small town America where folks readily place hands on heart as the color guards from half a dozen high school ROTC programs pass by. Shriners in crazy little cars and high school bands were followed by beauty queens, round-up clubs on horseback, and local folks running for county offices just cause they care about how things go around here.

We went to the house and got all the puppies in consideration out for Kasaundra to play with. I did my evening puppy chores and Kenzie played with our visitor and the puppies - a couple of hours later she had it down to two and we agreed she'd sleep on it and call me. They're all so cute and the differences are small, but I think she got it down to the two that best suit her so either should be a great new family member for her.

Ginger's Puppies :: 5 weeks old

Gingers babies were born 10-3-09 and are 5 weeks old today and are like Paula's pups - fat little butterballs romping around the pen - happy campers all!! Ginger still nurses them once a day - she's a tad more dedicated about mothering than Paula. Like the other litter these guys started on dry puppy chow with milk powder 10 days ago and they too are little piggies. Here are some random group photos taken last night. I'll get individual photos of both litters up soon. Seven puppies in this litter with 3 deposits in place and one more pending receipt. That leaves 3 pupppies available- please feel welcome to call if you'd like to visit about Ginger's babies.

Paula's Puppies :: 4 weeks old

Here are some quick group pictures of Paula's puppies - born 10-5-09 they are 5 weeks old on Monday. They're super cute little butterballs - all very happy and now playing, barking and cavorting around like little dogs. Paula says she's done and it's my turn. She checks them through the playpen door but does not want to go inside - no wonder they assault her and nearly knock her down. They started on dry puppy chow with milk powder 10 days ago and are now eating like little piglets. Six puppies total - 3 deposits in place and a couple of folks with interest. Please feel free to call me if you want to visit about Paula's babies.

Ginger and Her New Babies

Ginger Lee has 4 boys and 3 girls born on October 3rd. They are doing well, growing fast and all are fat little butterballs. Despite my best efforts at providing them with a blanket to lay on, G wads it up in the corner for a pillow - but they don't seem to mind. Of course I have to be careful at this young stage to not put very many blankets in the bed as that is a quick way to loose a puppy by accidental suffocation. Mama dogs sleep in whelping boxes with a rail around the edge to provide a small air space for puppies to breathe in case they get caught under her or between her back and the wall of the box. You can see it in the photo above - there's a rawhide chip sticking out from under it - Ginger regards the rail as a good hiding spot for all her treasures and prizes . At any rate until they are bigger they stay in the whelping box in my office where its easy for me to watch them and its nice and warm or cool depending on the season. When they are bigger they move to the big playpen in the garage.

I am talking to prospective families now. There are a couple of reserved puppies in this litter, but as you can see all seven are quite similar in appearance.

Spa Anyone?

If you're a fan of multi-tasking here's a practice I've adopted. I used to think, "Oh I need to bathe the dogs but..... it's raining, I don't have time etc. So now I pick a week and take one of the dogs into the shower with me each day till I've bathed all 4. It adds about 5 minutes to my shower time and leading them in on a leash is no big deal. They were all a little suprised the first time but are all old pro's now. If you pick your favorite facial mask and put it on first by the time the dog is bathed the steam has helped your mask do it's thing. I keep a big pump bottle of an inexpensive shampoo in the shower for the dogs, the shower has sliding doors and an extension hose with hand held shower head. Once the dog is bathed they know to go to the far end and chill until we are both done. Then I step out dry off etc and then open the door and dry the dog to avoid the massive shake/spray of water on the walls. Works like a charm and they love to be clean.

Got milk?

Well actually I should say - Got enough calcium?

We start Mamma dogs on calcium supplementation as soon as puppies are born. While nursing puppies we have to ensure adequate calcium to prevent deficiency in the mother dog. In addition to pills ground up to include in their food we sprinkle milk replacer powder over their food which they LOVE!! In fact, dogs or puppies that are finicky about food, going through illness or a little off feed can be supplemented or stimulated to eat with a little milk replacer powder on their dry food. You can get it at feed stores or pet supply stores - if you aren't feeding it all the time put the bag of powder in the freezer and it will keep for a long time.

Do you remember what Purina Puppy Chow looked like back in the day? It was little hexagonal kibbles dusted with white powder. Since that is on my mind - here is a totally random thought - a recipe for human consumption that's a family favorite we make at Christmas - but hey it's almost Halloween - it works for that too.

"Puppy Chow" for people

1 stick butter

1/2 c. peanut butter

1 c. chocolate chips

8 cups Rice Chex cereal

Melt first 3 ingredients together. Pour over the Rice Chex; mix well. Place in a paper bag with 2 cups powdered sugar. Shake to dust the coated cereal pieces. Place in refrigerator for at least one hour. Serve in a clean dog dish.

Enjoy.....but don't feed it to the corgis - chocolate is not good for dogs....really. Read about dogs and chocolate toxicity here.

Monkey See - Monkey Do

Without even thinking about it, we do things every day that Kenzie obviously observes, internalizes, and mimics.....a sobering thought for all parents and grandparents! In this case it's a good thing and something we love. As our constant companion, Kenzie is with us for vet trips, cooking all the special rations for the dogs, cats, and cattle. As you can tell from the photo above, Kenzie knows all about what she calls "doctoring". Shortly after she watched Erica and I giving routine puppy vaccinations the other day she found the outer case that a syringe and needle come in and started playing with it. She even found a small puppy/kitten nursing bottle and uses it for the bottle to pretend she is drawing up a shot. In this photo Oatmeal the orphan barn kitty is her happy patient. You know we always talk about the importance of a good health program for all of our animals and it's good to know Kenzie will grow up thinking there's just no other way to be a responsible pet owner/breeder and rancher.

Rascal and Katie

Katie

Katie

on hold for

Jennifer

Katie

Rascal

on hold for Donovan

Rascal

Rascal

Rascal and Katie were born 8-7-09. They are 10 weeks old, super cute and have great dispositions. Our friends Brian, Kim, Brock and Madison have Macy (a George & Ginger daughter) see post from Jan 08. Macy is the Mama to these puppies and the sire is a black tri who belongs to another friend. This was Macy's first litter and she only had these two puppies - they've been loved and played with since day one. They are very fun, people oriented puppies and will make great friends and companions for their new families.

Max and Toby's Road Trip

We're headed to Texas Saturday. Toby will be going to his new family in Denton and Max will be headed to Flower Mound. They'll make some folks very happy too! Both are fun and beautiful boys.

I roasted a chicken tonight and fed the puppies broth with their puppy chow - that was "tall cotton" - they liked it a bunch. I then spent my ususal half hour for the evening sitting on the floor of the playpen playing with them - what a nice group of pups! They are all so sweet - so affectionate, calm and happy.

Kenzie spent nearly 45 minutes pulling Moby around the deck in her wagon last weekend - loaded and reloded him into the wagon several times and he was just smiling and happy to be there through the whole thing. I noticed Emily had a bow in her hair the other day and realized she's been playing "dress up" with Kenzie. You gotta love pups that enjoy your company and are up for whatever people-activities we ask them to participate in.

The Puppy Princess

These are photos of Kenzie the Puppy Princess while socializing the puppies - when we say these pups are "toddler approved" we mean it ;-)

The Little Puppies :: photos and update

Buttermilk, Brandi and Lulu

Brandi now at home with Holly in TN

Lulu now at home with Trixie in OK

Moby now at home with the Sims Family in OK

Toby now at home with Adam in Texas

Toby and Moby

Here are pix of the "little puppies". These are Buttermilk's first litter and the four of them are fat little butterballs. She's done a great job with them and is sure a dedicated Mama. All of them have very sweet and laid back personalities - I think they will make super pets if you are looking for a chilled out companion. Two boys: Moby and Toby and two girls Brandi and Lulu. They were born June 17th and thus are 6 weeks old - they will be ready for new homes in a couple of weeks. Trixie and Kelly are coming this weekend to select their new family members as they have reserved first choice female and first choice male, then I'll be able to tell everyone which two are still available. These puppies are purebred welsh pembroke puppies, they will be either red & white or sable & white, they are not registered however they will be perfect pets with all of my usual guarantees.

The Big Puppies :: New Photos

Emily now at home with Jim and Kathy in MO

Max now at home with Bill and Cindy in TX

Here are new photos of the "big puppies" Emily and Max. They are doing fine, growing fast and too funny. They have a routine which includes going out to play in the back yard each morning. Thankfully the weather has really been nice this summer and they comtfortably stay out till mid-day and then return to their air conditioned garage playpen during the afternoon heat and then out again in the early evening. All of them are very personable and affectionate - toddler approved and big fans of peanut butter dog cookies!

I Am Baaaaaack !

Oh man, what a summer we have had so far. Aside from all the normal things on our summer "to do list", this summer included the Junior National Hereford Expo held here in Tulsa. (see http://www.backtotulsa.com/ if you're interested). The show was two years in the planning hosted 1200 head of cattle and apprx 650 junior exhibitors and their families. We had a great time working on the show and were happy to have so many of our friends from around the country visit Oklahoma. Since the show we've been getting back to routine, the girls and I had our jewelry at the Heart of Tulsa Craft Show and then they left for National Guard duty and I've been catching up on work and spent several days out of town on business. Whew- glad to be done with all that although it was all fun and glad we did it.

So now I'm back to update the blog and news about the campers. I got a great new t-shirt at the Heart of Tulsa which says "A dog is the only family member you get to choose" - how true ..... except for your spouse - same thing applies to both - choose well cause you'll be together for the rest of your life !!

We've had some hot weather, but overall the summer has not been too hot. The garage playpen for puppies has worked out very well as I can open the doors from the kitchen and my office and let the "bought air" (air conditioning) into the garage and keep them nice and cool whenever they are in the playpen.

Update on the puppies :: since we have two litters now I have to differentiate between the Big Puppies and the Little Puppies.

The Big Puppies are Max, Emily, and Blaire (Logan moved on to his new family - Cassandra and Paul in New York) - all black tri's born on April 15, 2009 (photos earlier and new ones coming soon). These guys are too funny and play outside for most of the day then come inside when it's hot and at night. All have happy active personalities and will make their new families great pets.

The Little Puppies are Buttermilk's puppies born on June 17 (now 5 weeks old) - Moby, Toby, Lou Lou, and Brandy - all will be sable & white or red & white - still too early to tell for sure. One of the girls in this litter is spoken for by Trixie in Oklahoma.

I'll get new pix up asap with more info on each one.

The Boys & Girls

The Girls: Emily and Blaire


The Boys: Max and Logan

Dan and Keri brought the puppies over last week. I had been anxious to see them as I'd already heard through the grapevine that they were beautiful pups. Sure enough, they are and beautifully socialized too. I spent a couple of hours playing with them last night and found myself laying in the floor covered in corgis - kind of like Gulliver's Travels - little munchkins all over me! They are all outgoing, secure, playful and HAPPY. After a while they settled and we watched TV for a bit - all were perfectly content to sit in my lap or next to me and quietly chill out.

Max

Max is a stout boy with a stocky body, massive legs, and a full white collar around his neck. Really striking and handsome guy! He's funny, outgoing, secure and has a happy personality. As you can see from the photos, he's got a kind and intelligent face which reflects his temperment. He'll make a super pet and companion.

Shipping by airline is available - weather permitting - summer is a hard time to fly puppies - too hot - but we can watch for a day or super early flights. Delivery to the DFW area by car is available for an additional fee by appointment. You are welcome to come here to pick up.
Puppies are AKC registered and backed by my "Never Homeless Guarantee". See the explanation in the column to the right.