Hell Week??

"Hell" meaning way too busy for our own good, not bad news. Goodness there's just too much on our plates for the moment! Mostly because we are getting ready for 2 specialties that we will be tackling Labor Day weekend that are in opposite directions (Borzoi in CO and Silkens in GA) - and trying to prepare for them is a daunting task!

I had to go and pick up Solo who returned from shows in Topeka and Kansas City (with 5 BOB wins under his paw) that he attended with David. During that same errand I dropped off a newly bathed and groomed and a bit overwhelmed Wulf who will head to the Monroe, LA show cluster with Jill. Looks like little Wulf will be attending the Atlanta shows with papa Solo as well, and then a trip to NY.

We have LOTS of dogs to groom and earlier this week I tackled the task of brushing out what's left of J/T's coat (yay for puppy coat blow...NOT!) and then had to attempt to carve out Sassi's coat. Goodness, it's amazing what can happen in a year off! Even though she's in a state of blown coat (her topline is all shed out) she is still a very hairy beast. I managed to get her ears trimmed up along with those darned furry feet of hers and her tuck up. She's still hairier than several of the boys here and she's already rolling out her new hair. Looks like her kids here (J/T and Shugah) will also be the type to recover from coat blows quickly. Here's hoping!

Last weekend we worked on leash-breaking Ginger's hellion children - Perry took to it the best, with Pryss less so, and Darkun disagreeing mightily. In the end we managed to be able to get them to trot by our side. Hopefully they will keep this knowledge through the Silken specialty (where Perry will meet his new family and half-sister GoGo). Also getting another session on the lead was J/T who had a downright fit the first time around. He's much better and I hope he does not embarrass me outright with a public tantrum in CO.

Tonight we give the first round of vaccines to Josi and Serena's crew and begin Silken bathing. Victor is taking 8 with him to show at the GA specialty - Tyler, Gabe, Goth, Darkun, Luna, Trouble, Pryss and Kandi. Perry is also going and I think Susan may show him as well. Traveling with him will be our friend Vickie with her girl Sylvi (Bruce/Luna)...and Bitsy may be going to her new home as well!

Tomorrow night I will brush out and trim up Sassi's hairy half-brother Deckard and maybe bathe him. He poofs up after a bath and blow-dry so maybe by the time of the specialty his hair will have relaxed. Faina and Solo are still in good shape trim-wise after Fai's trip to Canada and Solo's midwest sojourn (since I tend to trim much less than David and Jill!) So that leaves the three young heathens in the girlie yard - Shugah, Nox and Pumpkin (2 of which hang out in the wading pool).

Add to all the doggie-duties - the vans have to be loaded for bear as well!

Victor leaves Friday morning, and I figure I'm leaving either Saturday night or early Sunday morning. Goodness, after all this work I hope we have some sort of success at these events ! At least we'll have fun!

Pupdate

This past Saturday we were blessed with a milder day than we've had in a while with a wee bit of cloud cover. It was almost comfortable outside before noon!

Serena and Josi's pups were introduced to the world outdoors...and each other - we weaned Serena's crew, so they will now live together for a while. They also got to meet Ginger's pups, Goth and QiQi as we let them out of the puppy pen to take advantage of exercise in the full yard.

We took new shots of Darkun, Pryss and Perry (Harper/Ginger) - they're in that leggy, uneven stage, but they still look pretty decent. Darkun's coloring has become richer and more vibrant - it will be interesting to see where he finally ends up.

The Duncan/Josi crew turned 6 weeks old the previous Thursday (14th) - they didn't crouch as much this time around for their photo session. Yay!

my fave girl - Smudge
This was the first stacked session for Serena's kids and they behaved pretty nicely! The worst, of course, was the smallest - she sure packs a lot of attitude into her little body. Some of them are getting call names...one being the tiny girl who is now called "Bitsy"...as any time we picked her up we would coo "look at the itsy bitsy puppy" . The blueish spotted girl has been dubbed "Smudge" because of the muddy markings around her upper lip, and the lighter sabled self brindle boy has now been named "Mo", because the coloring and markings on his face is like a mosaic. One of the boys also has been christened with his formal name...from a Led Zeppelin song...it was only natural that he be named Gryffyn's Aeyrie Black Dog .

Links to the updated pages are at http://www.gryffynsaeyrie.com/updates.htm

There's also a new shot of Goth - also in a leggy stage, but definitely in
need of a new picture.

So What's the Difference??

A disturbing article made the rounds on some of my chat lists yesterday which brought tears to my eye. I cannot imagine myself shooting dogs that I do not want to provide minor medical care for. Even though dogs are, for all practical and legal purposes, considered property - I do not find such actions to be ethical. This case, involving Amish commercial breeders, I find tragic.

So much of the recent punitive and overbearing legislation trying to outlaw dog/pet breeding and the keeping of sexually intact animals is the result of attempting to "legislate ethics". As a result...ethical breeders are the ones being harmed the most...not commercial breeders...not irresponsible dog owners. So various animal rights groups are able to get these types of laws passed through local and state government - and they keep knocking on the federal government's door as well!

But animal rights groups aren't really about helping animals - they are about harming the human animal. They hate people, and they don't particularly care for animals either. Witness PeTA's euthanization rate - 97% for 2007. Whose employees/followers dumped the bodies of freshly killed pets, who they had promised the people they took them from that they would find homes for them and almost immediately put the final needle into them once they were in their killing van. They didn't care about those animals - they treated them like garbage.

Now...most folks would comment on the commercial breeders' actions mentioned above with something like..."well, what can you expect from puppy millers after all."

Okay....well...here is another example of a mass slaughter performed by a "humane" shelter that was too lazy to take care of a health issue at their facility, as reported by No-Kill advocate and "Redemption" author, Nathan Winograd - check out this story. Oh...and by the way...this is a "HSUS Partner Shelter" - and they killed over twice as many pets as the Zimmermans in one day. Different method, but the same result.

They are no better in my eyes.

New Series Discovery

New to me at least...I've been out of the loop a bit when it comes to various book releases considering I used to work at a bookstore (ages ago). While shopping at Costco picking up a heavy load of kibble for the crew, I made the mistake of wandering by the books area. This does not a "quick errand" make! I am a horribly addicted bibliophile, and with 2 piles of books at least 2 feet high on my nightstand, I should really plow through those before snagging new material...but who has the time?! Having ADD does NOT help in this regard either - as I usually have 3-5 pieces of reading I try to get through - but every once in a while, I have one that takes precedence above all other reading choices...and New Moon was one of those! I couldn't dream of picking up anything else until I finished it! It's a "creature feature" - vampires and werewolves walk among the relatively "normal" people. It's classified as a "young adult" fiction choice - but it's not written in a "see Dick run" style at all. It was an enjoyable read for sure!

Of course...the bad news for me? This was Book 2 in a series - the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer. So now I've got to get the first book, as well as books 3 and 4.

Need to get the first book, Twilight , fast. It is coming soon to the theaters! The young actor who played Cedric in the Harry Potter films is cast as the lead.

Happy Birthday...!

Solo at 6 weeks of age
...to my sweet sweet clown, aka "UberGoober", "Goobus Maximumus" and all-around sweetheart...Solo!

Four years ago today, the "Ka-Doodle" (his parents being Kalipso and Doodle) was delivered into the world, a singleton pup who commanded attention once he realized he had an audience. He has been a joy to share life with and a whole lotta fun!

BIF DC Gryffyn's It's All About Me, SC FCh

Solo showing in the Hound Group, July 2008

New Site Creation

Another niche-type site. Lotsa gadgets to shop for! Also has a "Deal of the Day" promo item. I also tried an RSS feed program to spotlight tech/gadget news and reviews by Cnet.com.

So check out Techno Toybox :)

Faina's Trippin'!

Road-Trippin' that is! Faina went on a looooooong journey to Canada to be shown by Jill on one of her annual international excursions. Since she is the only Borzoi entered in the shows, I am not really expecting to get back a Canadian champion as she will have to do it all through placements in the Hound group. The GOOD news is - she is actually up to 5 points having been awarded a Group 2 and a Group 3!!!

Jill says that Faina is living up to her name (Goody Two Shoes) and is behaving well and taking it all in stride. Looks like I will be getting back a well-traveled and nicely polished show dog upon their return!

Wonders Never Cease

And not the good kind of wonderment either! The last week or so's news headlines have left me shaking my head.

First off was the Google alert I received which sent me along to an online news article regarding two Borzoi that escaped their yard and attacked and killed a small dog belonging to a neighbor. This is a nightmare for Borzoi owners - and containment is key for our dogs. They were bred to chase and catch game - so yes, one needs to be careful around small, furry pets and one needs to watch one's fences for any repair needs. Unfortunately, upon further inspection of the story one can find events which could have precluded this unfortunate event...

(1) The dogs had escaped before and killed a dog earlier in the year. So were extra steps taken to try and prevent further escapes after the original? If not, why? I am terrified of my dogs getting out of the yard, not only for the safety of smaller animals (although the dogs running loose in our neighborhood tend to be of the large variety) but for the safety of my own dogs. We live close to busy roads - the last thing I want my dog to be is a road pie.
(2) The dog that was killed in the latest attack was also loose. Its owners left it in the yard as they ran away screaming. Hello - let's just add to the hysteria in the air. Screaming just upsets all involved and sets everyone, including animals, on edge. That's not going to help. Why did they not pick up their dog? Peek-a-poos aren't that heavy.
(3) The Borzoi were obviously not bloodthirsty threats to people. A stranger had caught the pair and put them in his backyard and called a number he had gotten from the dog's collar tag. They sound like a controllable couple to me.

Because of these events, it is likely that the dogs could be declared dangerous - and rightly so in this case. But it's sad for the Borzoi breed - these are quite charming and funny, as well as beautiful, dogs. But irresponsibility in keeping them properly (or any dog, for that matter) can bring trouble for all, not just one's neighbor. In today's heated climate against dogs and dog ownership, to have my breed placed on a "dangerous dog" list because of people's irresponsibility, causing them to fall victim to obscene insurance rates and BSL legislation is unacceptable.

I have always stood behind the phrase "punish the deed and not the breed" when it comes to fighting BSL legislation. This event brings that motto even closer to home.

The next headline comes courtesy of Tulsa, Oklahoma. A 2 month old infant was left in a swing chair unattended (mother and grandmother were too busy to attend him because they were....sleeping). Unattended, that is, except for a 2 month old lab puppy and an elderly Pug. (Latest news article HERE) This is such a sad situation resulting in not only a dead child, but the puppy as well as it was put down. The poor thing was just a-waggin' its tail as the AC officer loaded him into the truck - it wasn't a vicious puppy....it was just a baby itself, with super-sharp puppy teeth and claws. Lord knows I've been left with marks from playing with rowdy puppies - they don't have to be mean to mark you up at that age! If it hadn't been this incident, the poor child would have likely died from another common parenting "skill" - that of being left alone in a vehicle in the heat of summer - yet another common headline that has been all over the news as of late.

What confounds me is that local and state (and then we had the federal PAWS legislation) governments are wanting to pass all sorts of restrictions on animal breeding and husbandry for an activity that the IRS insists is just a hobby, yet they want to legislate it out the wazoo, if not make it illegal to have a pet with all the body parts it was born with...but yet any yahoo can contribute to the human gene pool, no licensing (or apparently knowledge or responsibility) required.

Also...can some explain why the AR nuts claim how cruel and unusual it is to dock a tail, crop ears or even remove dewclaws on a puppy - yet preach and lobby for the more intrusive and risky surgeries required to spay and neuter pets!? They're all about ripping out uterus's and tearing off testicles (and the younger the better) but don't dare crop that tail at 3 days!