Raven Update

This isn't really an update. It's a non-update.

Raven has been off at the T-Snow Star Bed, Breakfast and Brothel since last Wednesday and although she and Riggs seem to really like each other, there have been no breedings yet.

My guess is that we are seeing no action because Raven knows that as soon as she gets bred she has to come home.

Why would she want to come home?

Over at the T-Snow Star B,B & B, she has her own apartment. She has a caretaker who is sleeping in the room with her. She is even allowed to sleep ON her caretaker.

see...


Wake up Lindsey. I need petting Lindsey.

Thank you Lindsey. Now how about a walk?

Really, she has it made. Does she care if she is driving me crazy playing the waiting game?

Of course not.

Surprise!

Guess who came in season a few weeks earlier than expected?

Raven.

After breeding only 3 litters in 14 years of sammie ownership, I'm now going to (hopefully) breed two litters in less than one year. Raven will be five in March so it's now or never for her.

I expected Raven to come in at the very end of January or early February, but last Friday I thought I saw a little blood. Sure enough she is in season. I figured maybe we'd be doing a breeding next weekend, but according to Icer, Bandit and the cytology we did earlier today, it looks like she will be breedable sooner than that.

We paid a visit to her boyfriend Riggs (CH T-Snow Star's Tak'n It Beyond) this evening just so they could get accquainted and we actually came close to a breeding but Raven chickened out at the last minute. She is just not quite ready YET. The two of them were very sweet together and really seemed to like each other a lot. Lots o ear kissing and play bowing and dancing around.

I'll take Raven back up to see Riggs on Wednesday where she will most likely spend a few days. (Mike, this means I will NOT be in class on Wednesday!!) Hopefully we will get a few breedings and we'll have puppies in late March!! Yes, Raven will have her own blog just like Aliy did and we'll resurrect the puppy cam too.

Kira Likes Yogurt

Isn't it funny how cute puppies can turn the most mundane household trash into props for cute photo-ops?


I gave Kira my empty yogurt container last night. I think she enjoyed it. :)

I'm So Proud of My Baby Girls!

First a quick Kelly update: I took her with me when I had my regular weekly chiropractic appointment on Friday. The doctor said her neck was a "real mess". So I am going to assume it was a pinched nerve. She goes back to the chiropracter again on Wednesday.

And now, why am I proud of my Baby Girls?

We went to class last Tuesday night and it was pretty embarrasing. Babe, who is supposed to be half trained already, and has been to literally a dozen dog shows, acted as if she had never seen another dog (pr person) outside of her family. She wanted to greet everyone. "Greeting" involves a lot of noise (howling AND barking)and a lot of hopping around.

Then when it came time to have the "judge" (the instructor) look at her teeth she went berserk. She alternated between trying to climb over his head to throwing herself on her back and rolling around.

When it was Kira's turn she was not much better. Of course she had an excuse, it was her first time at a class.

She actually didn't mind the looking-at-the-teeth part, but when it came time for us to gait around the ring she thought she was supposed to run around my legs at the same time as the two of us moved around the ring!

So I decide to go to this puppy match yesterday even though I knew I'd be humiliated. Humiliation is part of showing dogs :)

I thought Kira would let everyone hear the Siberian Scream all day long. After about 5 minutes (once she was sure everyone knew she had arrived), miracle of miracles, she was quiet the rest of the day!!

First Babe went in and not only did she allow the judge to look at her teeth with only a little extra effort on his part, but she won her class! By the time we got to Best of Breed (which her Aunt Faith won) she was actually acting like a show dog.

Then it was Kira's turn. She too won her class beating her litter sister Mara. She has a long way to go, but for her first outing she did great.

Mike, if you are reading this, Babe, Kira and I WILL be at class EVERY Tuesday (7:30) at Friendship Academy Dog Training and EVERY Wednesday (also 7:30) at Pikes Peak Obedience Club, unless the weather is bad!

Are Babe and Kira still best friends? You be the judge.

$208 and Three Hours in the Emergency Room

If it had not been Kelly (3 abdominal surgeries in 5 days when she was 8 months old after eating a pair of pantyhose) I might not have been so quick to rush her to the vet last night.

At about 6 PM I heard someone yelp in apparent pain. Based on where it came from it had to be either Kelly or Babe. But when I looked both were lying in the corner quietly.

At 6:45 it was feeding time. When Kelly headed into her crate she began SCREAMING in obvious extreme pain. No caught foot, no obvious injury and it stopped after about a minute. She seemed subdued but anxious for her food so I gave it to her.

She ate it, but instead of 15 seconds, it took her about a minute to wolf it down. Then she would not lie down. All my dogs stay kenneled after they eat for at least half an hour. Kelly just stood in her kennel. After about 10 minutes I let her out so I could observe her.

She walked to the center of the room, put her head down and just stood there, not moving. Obvious discomfort. Of course I checked her stomach. No indication of bloat at all. It was soft and not distended at all.

Suddenly she starts screaming again. We are talking as if she were being MURDERED. Then goes back to just standing there. Would not lie down. After the third screaming instance (which is EXACTLY what she did when her intestines perforated) I rush her off to the ER.

As soon as we got there the vet tech palpates her abdomen thoroughly, checking for signs of bloat or torsion. Nothing. we have no further screaming instances. She still won't lie down. At one point she fell asleep in the waiting room standing up and fell over. At that point they take her back to the treatment area and put her in a cage so they can watch her closer until the vet can examine her. They say she never lies down at all over the next half hour.

We finally get into an exam room. The vet tech and the vet both examine her thoroughly. Palpate her every which way they can. Manipulate all her legs, her neck, even her tail. Nothing. Temp is normal. They advise me to take her home and watch her. I ask to have her x-rayed which they do. It takes about 30 minutes to get ready for the x-rays, she still never lies or sits down.

We take two views and the x-rays show nothing other than a very full tummy and lots of "matter" (not necessarily foreign) that is waiting to come out. A small pocket of gas in the colon but nothing unusual at all. But by this time she has finally laid down and gone to sleep in the corner.

The only other thing they can suggest is blood work but they think I should wait until morning.

I bring her home and she seems fine. Sleeps all night, drinks well. No vomiting. Mo screaming episodes at all. Very excited for her breakfast and wolfs it all down in 15 seconds. This morning first thing out she has a nice sized poop with absolutely no foreign matter in it.

Other than when Kelly's intestines perforated a year and half ago, I have NEVER seen a dog have repeated bouts of INTENSE blood curdling screaming unless they were injured. But when her intestines perforated that was accompanied by projectile vomiting, high fever, dehydration etc.

I think she had gas. Or maybe a pinched nerve in her neck.

Koshare!

In the comments of my last post Deb asked about Koshare. Koshare is now 7 and doing great, although she is retired from the show ring. Deb wanted to see a more recent picture so here you go:


This one is my favorite picture of Koshare and earned her the nickname Princess of the Pillows.

Did you see CSI:NY last night? It depicted a murder at a dog show. Read my comments about it.

Morning Routine

Every morning the dogs and I go thru the same routine.

We get up and feed them about 6 AM. I stay up and let Kira, Babe and Kelly outside to play.

At 7:30 everyone else gets to go outside. Each morning about 7:40 Raven asks to come in. As soon as I let her in she races to the bedroom and jumps on the bed where it is her "job" to get my husband up out of bed.

She is very good at her job. Within 5 minutes she ususally has him up. She nuzzles him, she lays on him. She pokes her little nose in his face. She nibbles on his ears.

Every once in while (especially on Saturdays) he ignores her, or at least tries to. This upsets her. Can't you tell by the look on her face?



That is Pumpkin off to the left side.

Equal Time

The other dogs are feeling left out.

They think that Babe and Kira are hogging the spotlight and getting all the pictures on the blog. With an occasional guest appearace from Kelly, Ilsa or Aliy.

So I decided I needed to give some of the others a chance on camera.

Here is Pumpkin patiently waiting for soemthing to drop on the floor during the prepartion of my lunch.

Below are Pumpkin, Raven, Babe and ALiy NOT so patiently waiting!

The "Twins"

Do they try to be this cute on purpose?





I have never had two puppies be as close as these two seem to be. They sleep together, play together, copy each others actions and these pictures are not the first time that they actually seem to be mimicing each others body postures.

The Value of a Thick Coat

Although both Sammies and Siberians are Nordic dogs, and both can withstand the cold, I have noticed soemthing different about Kira....



Yes, she has a thing for blankets. Now I don't know if it's because she gets cold (she is still a baby!) becuase she has less hair than the sammies, or if she just LIKES being under blankets. I do know NONE of my sammies would ever do this...


Yes, that is a Barbie pillow. It was one of Kira and Babe's Christmas presents. I got it at Goodwill for only $1. It's in perfect shape and I just knew my little furry girls would love it. They also got Nylabones and rubber squeak toys.

Feeding Time.

Kelly gets more excited over feeding time than any dog I've ever had. She literally froths at the mouth....