WooHoo for Ember

Ember was a hard one for me to let go, with her charming grin and (over)enthusiastic nature. But there are no regrets for having sent her to our friend Alison of Tangaloor Silkens way up in Washington. This weekend Ember made us all very proud by snagging two 5-point majors at the Rarities shows up in Portland, OR to complete the requirements for both her Rarities and ISWS Championships! I had the pleasure of watching her take WB at the BooFest specialty in October of last year and was so happy to see her thriving in Alison's care. She is the 4th ISWS champion of our breeding in limited showing (Tyler, Ginger, Brewer and now Ember - and we have a 5th in all fours' mother Josi from Kristull). Hugs and hoots from afar - way to go guys!!

And Yet Another...

I've been having too much fun learning the BANS software for creating niche sites - and already earned a commission on one the second day it was up! I thought this would be a fun way to get a little bit of passively earned pocket money as well as play with new designs and ideas using CSS coding. Below is a screenshot of my latest - Borzoi Bazaar.


Another huge help was being introduced to Hostgator for web hosting services. Unlimited domains on one account at one monthly rate. I've been moving several of my sites off my current host for sheer financial reasons, although I will still maintain my borzoi.cc account there on a much-reduced package because it's going to be too much hassle to move the email services and all the stuff I've archived on the mailservers.

Site Update - Gryffyn's Aeyrie

Uploaded LOTS and LOTS of new pictures to the Gryffyn's Aeyrie site. I already received the pictures for Shugah's first show weekend and several others. There are also some candid photo updates of Josi and Serena's litters - but we will be trying to take some indie shots this weekend. List of updates with links can be found HERE.

Peaceful Puppy Moments

Of course with all the craziness and chaos that is our lives here at Gryffyn's Aeyrie, there is a balm to soothe the frazzled soul.

"Puppy TV" - otherwise known as sitting and watching our puppies while they are still in their "larval stage". That is really when it's the easiest, since mom's doing most of the work keeping them clean and fed. We can sit back and gaze at the little pink noses and wee pink feet that burst with color after they have had their fill at the "milk bar". Watching them twitch while they sleep the sound slumber of the innocent, and yawn as they begin to awaken. Sleep. Eat. Sleep. Eat.

I think that's what I am going to try and do this weekend. Housekeeping be damned.

The pups pictured above are from our L-Band litter. Not quite 2 weeks of age when the photo was taken. The colors are just turning more and more exotic. The pups pictured below are from the K-Band litter. They are getting more and more active and their personalities are beginning to come out.

Putting It to Bed (More Like a Nap!)

Looks like another catalog cycle is coming to an end at work. I will be sending off all 367 pages to the campus printshop, along with the cover design I managed to create. I wanted to be a little bit more adventurous this time around and it got good reviews. A little bit of retro, a touch of grunge, and utilized the new wordmark and tagline that has been going out on some of the promotional material. The sketch is the architect's rendering of the new dorm building.

Of course, I got word earlier this week that the next cycle, to produce the supplement (which is only published online) will begin...the third week of September. At least it's not as in-depth as when we are also doing a printed version! In the meantime I'll be editing the online version to reflect that "General Studies" has now become "Interdisciplinary Studies"!

Another New Site

OK - another favorite artist, and another site. Online at http://eleganterte.com/

Bringing Home the Silver

I had a nice surprise awaiting me in the mail today - from AKC of all places. There was a shiny new silver on gold medallion! On the back it says Breeder-Owner 5 Champions. Here is the explanation from AKC's web site:

These Special Medallions are in recognition of each individual's valuable contribution to the sport of purebred dogs, who as the breeder-owner-handler of five (Silver) or ten (Gold) different dogs that have become champions of record and received an original Bred-By Medallion through their participation in AKC Events.

The dogs I finished exclusively from the Bred-By Exhibitor classes are:

• Am. Can. CH Gryffyns Once N Future King, JC SGRC (Arthur)
• Am. Can. Mex. CH Gryffyn's Aeyrie Caliburn, JC
(Burni)
• CH Gryffyn's Aeyrie Anduril, JC (Duri)
• SBIS Am. Can. CH Gryffyn's Aeyrie Alegria, SC LCM (Sassi)
• Am. DC Can. CH Gryffyn's It's All About Me, SC FCh (Solo)

The Real Wayne Pacelle Legacy

Nathan Winograd has written quite the informative essay on the true colors of HSUS and its "pimp", Wayne Pacelle. It's truly disgusting how they've pulled the wool over the eyes of Americans while they chip away at our rights to enjoy our animals by using ill-gotten (by deception) donations to further punitive laws aimed at ending any type of animal usage...and this includes the keeping of pets! See the light at this post on the No-Kill Blog.

New Site Creation

I been a fan of Alphonse (Alfons) Mucha's art for several years now. So I had fun designing this site while also learning a new program. An eternal student of the web!

Check it out live at http://muchmucha.com/

Serena Has Eight Lovelies

Serena (Gryffyn's Aeyrie Witchy Woman) began labor Friday morning a bit after 5. Victor stayed home from the office to be her whelperhelper and they made a great team! She has presented us with 8 pups (5 boys, 3 girls) sired by Isaak (Gryffyn's Aeyrie Wicked Game).

For those at Silkenfest - Serena was the black (brindle) bitch I showed in the Open class and Isaak was the microscopic self cream sable boy I showed in Open. Both carry the saddle pattern. Serena is from the breeding of Ivanhoe and Jett (Kristull Jetsetter) and Isaak is from Appley/Firebug.

I am not sure of the colors at this time - it's an interesting bunch! There are two self sabled brindles - one looks to be the shade of Darkun from Ginger's last litter and the other is lighter/bluer.

2 dark dark selfs - hard to see if their bodies are brindled at the moment although the larger boy looks to have some dark tan areas above his paws - so possibly a black/tan brindle. Two spotteds, one with a blueish tint to it, and sabled since there are eye pips - unsure at this time if they're brindle. An irish-marked black (brindle?) without a full collar, and then a heavily spotted sabled blue brindle (again, eye pips).

Serena is being a fabulous first-time mom - hurrah! There are a few group shots at http://www.gryffynsaeyrie.com/gallery/isaakserena

I also took some indie shots of the Duncan/Josi pups that are a week old. They can be found at http://www.gryffynsaeyrie.com/gallery/duncanjosi
They are constantly at the milk bar and look like absolute hulking giants next to Serena's brood.

Also, today Elf's sister Azshera arrived to be bred as she has just come into heat. Will be firming up her choice of beau in the next couple days.

We're On a Shugah High!

This past weekend was the Lone Star Classic series of dog shows in Dallas, Texas - and it was also Shugah and Nox's ring debuts. On Friday, we ended up with the entire bitch entry (of 3) as the other one entered was absent - so we were at least guaranteed a point on one of our girls! Shugah came away as Winners Bitch for her first point at her first show! Nox took Reserve over half-sis Faina. Deckard was Reserve Winners Dog in a major entry.

Deckard
Saturday brought more excitement despite the fact that I was a bit peeved with myself as I had mixed up the judges. I had thought Saturday's judge was on Sunday and vice versa, and so had not entered my black dogs on Sunday, having never seen the judge I thought was assigned that day put up a heavily colored dark Borzoi before. So here I was with my two black dogs showing to the judge I thought I was avoiding. My goodness - how I did enjoy in being proved wrong! Deckard won the Bred By Exhibitor class and went on to win Winners Dog for a 3-point major! You could have knocked me over with a feather! Shugah won the Bred By bitch class, over a lovely mature bitch, and then was awarded Winners Bitch! To top it off, she took Best of Winners so she also got a major towards her championship!


Shugah
On Sunday Shugah's little winning streak came to an end in Winners Bitch, and she came away the Reserve winner. We're so proud of how well the girls did on their ring debuts - no little puppy tantrums, and they didn't mind the echoes nor the crowds of strange people and dogs. The fact that Shugah got some points to boot was icing on the cake! Solo won Best of Breed on Sunday against some nice competition, and then made the cut in the Hound Group in even more spectacular company, including the most gorgeous Scottish Deerhound that just floated around the ring and was exquisite standing.

There were animal rights activists picketing outside the show as well. We were lucky and didn't meet up with any of them, although some folks had their cars keyed. Classy, huh? More proof that the wackos aren't so much about loving animals as they are about hating people. Security was obviously present and the show hosting clubs made sure that the folks inside were taken care of and left alone by the raging wackos that are unable to see the truth about how involved the dog fancy is with their dogs.

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
--Roger Caras.

Ready For My Close-Up!

I received a great gift yesterday at the shows. Frank Young (Royal Sooner Borzoi) handed me a large photo and asked if the dog in it was mine - it certainly was! A friend of his is an amateur photographer and snapped a ringside photo of ubergoober Solo going nose-to-nose with a TV cameraman. It's just the cutest photo and really shows what a ham that boy can be. Thanks again to Frank and his friend (whose name I don't have with me since the card is in Victor's wallet)!

New Arrivals

This morning saw three new arrivals come to Gryffyn's Aeyrie. Josi gave us two boys and a girl sired by Duncan. The pups are helping themselves to long sessions at the milk bar and Josi is, as always, an exquisite mother.