Mourning - Ginger Gone Too Soon

No matter the age, it always seems too soon to say good-bye to our loved ones. Friday morning we experienced a loss so unexpected that I couldn't have even begun to imagine it. The previous day I had to go the dentist for an emergency tooth repair (an uncrowned tooth with a root canal had broken the night before) and was experiencing the mother of all nitrous hangovers when Victor awoke me to tell me that he had found Ginger semi-conscious in the backyard, not far from the outer corner of the cross-fenced area that several Silkens are in. She was gasping and her tongue was blue. I stuck my hand down her throat as far past the tongue as I could reach and found no obstruction. I didn't see her flanks moving with breath but her heart was still beating. I was frantic - it looked so similar to the time that Astyn just dropped and began gasping for air, that I thought it was an aneurysm or cardiac episode or a thrown clot (the 3 scenarios offered by our vet upon Astyn's passing). I felt her heart slip away. Our gorgeous silver girl was gone forever.

We took her to the vet clinic for a necropsy and also asked for an x-ray to determine if perhaps her neck had been broken, as she was not far from the corner of one of the yards. When we let that group out in the morning they run hellbent for leather around and around - so we thought perhaps she had grazed the fence at speed. The x-ray did solve the mystery - although not what we had imagined. Apparently Ginger had picked something up that interested her, and choked on it. It was very far down her trachea
- the vet assured me there was no way I would have been able to reach it - she didn't even think it could have been reached with calipers.

I still feel like I failed. And I'm heartbroken that I won't get to see Ginger's smile again. She was such a joyous girl - never had a bad day in her life. Always happy - sometimes irritatingly so - and never an ugly word to another dog. I am thankful that some of her progeny remain here - Gabe, Siren and Radar. We also have her pups born this past March that we will soon be evaluating seriously.

But nothing will ever replace our glorious, silver beauty.

Promised Pix

Finally got several sets of pictures uploaded to our online gallery at the Gryffyn's Aeyrie web site!

Photos from our trip to NYC for Westminster, including more from our wild drag dining experience! [ LINK ]

Photos of Ginger's puppies born March 1 [ LINK ]

Photos from our Snow Day! [ LINK ]

There are several other updates to the web site - you can check out a listing HERE.

Spring is in the Air

How quaint - a lovely day with highs in the 60s and a light wind, sunny, and hints of the oncoming spring throughout. So bizarre that just 10 days ago we awoke to a blanket of snow. The peach trees have burst into blossom, and the yard is beginning to shows signs of needing a grooming by the lawnmower. Soon the redbuds will begin to come alive and perhaps the daffodil will appear (and promptly disappear) in a short while.


Ginger's pups are 2 weeks old today. Their eyes are slitted with a promise of opening to the wide world. They have blossomed - feeling good in the hand every time we pick one up for a cuddle. They are quite mobile and I've already caught the dark male and the gold brindle spotted male trucking across the whelping box on all fours. One cannot help but feel content when watching them - they are remarkably soothing. Lined up across the "milk bar" for a meal - tails straight out in the air, quivering as they knead at the nozzle in rhythm. Once their tummies are full, they drop into that contented, full-bore sleep that puppies do, and that I envy. Their noses and paws tinged with a pink glow, an occasional twitch during their slumber.

Now...here's a lil' fella that's super-relaxed!

Pups are Here!

We're still waiting to see if we have a straggler that's going to be late to the party - but it looks like we have 3 boys and a girl. The girl is a self orangey-gold brindle with a white spot over her nose. The boys are interesting, an extreme white with gold brindle; an extreme white with a few little dark spots on the head and one on the off-side flank; and a self black/tan with brindle (or possibly a dilute - can't really tell yet). About to take Ginger for a little walk to see if that moves anything along as it's been about 2 hours since the last arrival.

Ginger-Watch Time

We now have Ginger set up her whelping pen in our bedroom - breaking in our new, custom-made circular fleece pads for the kiddie wading pool we have. She seems quite content to have her own little private space even though it means she's not cuddled up in bed with the rest of the crew (and ourselves - who become dog pillows for the night). She is less than enthused with the twice daily temperature-takings though as we attempt to further pin down her possible whelping day.

Ginger's Home!

Ginger returned home to us from her tryst in Washington at Tangaloor. Alison took fabulous care of her and she's in great shape - fat, sassy...and preggers! Woohoo - mission accomplished! So hopefully we will be blessed with a beautiful bunch of Harper/Ginger pups at the end of this month!