Spring is here - I think...........

The past few weeks have been full of adventure :)

Lets start with a week ago yesterday and my friend Tara's litter being born. Tara has Rotties and now has her very first litter on the ground (we are excited for her :), the puppies are now a week old and I am so thankful I was able to be there when they were born. Abbey the mom was in labour but hadn't started strong contractions all day so at 4pm we decided to pack her up and head to the vet just to see if we could get an xray and see if anyone was blocking progress, sure enough! A big boy was blocking the way and thus Abbey couldn't get started. So, we prepared her for a c-section. I was able to help prepare her (thanks Animal Hospital) and be one of the puppy rubbers :). I LOVED it ~ grabbing those wiggly little black lives and getting them going is a feeling unlike any other........
So, When it was all said and done Abbey was the proud mommy of 11 babies!!!

Will be exciting to visit a litter and not have to be responsible for it ;)
Then I was able to help dock their tails (a simple banding procedure).
My next excitement was going to Camrose with Shelley G! Was so very excited to get away to a dog show for a few days and spend some time with friends. It was great to catch up with the "aussie" world for a few days and see what everyone has been up to. Some nice dogs were being shown and some good times were had. And when we got home I promptly got our truck stuck! And by stuck I mean BURIED in our driveway!! To make matters worse my hubby Shane was out on the road for work so it was just Camryn and I at home..... Thank goodness for family! My mom and dad and the plow man came to my rescue!!!!



Then good friend Terry Stickle from Adelyn Aussies had a litter of 10 puppies! These pups are sired by an "Ice" son and I was thrilled to be able to go see them and help Terry with her tails :) A wonderful bunch of pups that I am excited to watch grow.

So, spring is in the air ~ pups are being born and snow is melting!

Middle of March already......

Geez, where is this year going? Things are pretty quiet around here. I am enjoying a day off today and have accomplished alot! Cleaned bathrooms, floors, laundry is all caught up (even dog bedding!!)Baked cinnamon buns and bread.... Garage is cleaned out and crates rearranged.... I know I'm obsessed with crates because I have at least 20 and keep rearranging them.... (for 3 dogs??)

Looking forward to best friend Tara's upcoming Rottie litter. The whole whelping process is probably my favorite. I love holding those brand new babies as they take their first breaths! Tara's rottie girl is a big girl and with just under a week to go we are excited! I have my overnight bag packed for when that call comes :)

As I look outside I can still imagine my dream of having 20-30 sheep and a few paddocks to work them..... I know this year isn't going to be a reality but I hope soon...
I really want to become a herding judge and can't wait to get trialling my dogs again and get on the path to become one.. I spent some very valuable time with a friend/mentor Heather Forbes last summer at Dog Tale Ranch and she cemented in me my love of judging and why I want to stand out in the sun and watch dog after dog try to achieve that perfect run........

Well, off to find something else to clean or bake....... hmmmmm

Ramblings for March

So, I am now a puppy free house :) With May making the big trek to Finland (and doing fabulous) and Kalila's gramma home from Mexico I am back down to my regular crew. It seems like such a leisurely life after a few months of chaos......
Funny story about puppy "May". A week after she left I had a customer in our store and she spotted Kalila and Oak (2 Meg puppies) that were visiting with me and asked what kind of dogs are those? I told her Australian Shepherds and she said "Oh, my husband met a couple last week in Calgary who were from Finland to pick up one of those kind of dogs" I was almost speechless and said "That was my puppy" she promptly informed me that it could not be MY puppy as the puppy the finland puppy were picking up had a tail ~ and since these 2 puppies had no tails it certainly couldn't be the same litter. After a little chuckle, I said "Yes, indeed that would have been my puppy and asked if the couples names were Lotta and Toumas........ she seemed surprised that yes, those were their names......and how would I know that ;)
It is such a small world that a customer of mine would have a connection with people visiting here from Finland to pick up a puppy from me :)

Yesterday best friend Tara and I headed to Edmonton to get supplies for her exciting litter of Rottie puppies she is expecting. This is Tara's first litter and I am so excited she has let me be a part of it :) It is going to be very different to help whelp a litter of puppies that all look exactly the same!! Tara has all her supplies, just needs to get the whelping box built and we are expecting puppies (via frozen semen) March 20th. Abbey (rottie mom) is sure big with still over 2 weeks to go...... I love helping and learning so this is going to be both for me.

The Camrose show is 2 weeks away and I am so looking forward to getting away for a night with best friend Shelley and hangin with dog show folks :) It's been a while....... I will not be showing anything this show unfortunately ~ but soaking up all the experience :)

And I have to include a funny Camryn story...... Camryn is the light of my life ~ she makes me laugh more than anyone I know (and if you know Shane, I live with a pretty funny guy :) she is the best snuggler (besides Meg) and I love hanging out with her. Every day, EVERY SINGLE DAY, she asks to go back to Jamaica........I told her that Jamaica costs a lot of money and mommy and daddy don't have lots of money ~ well Ms. Camryn being the sweetheart she is, looked up at me with those innocent eyes and said "Mommy, you can have my money...." how sweet is that!

Well, It's a lazy Sunday morning, we just finished pancakes and bacon and are looking forward to a movie date with Camryn this afternoon and maybe a game of ball with my crew before we go :)

Enjoy your day!