I wish we were there now...

I booked our cruise today to Bermuda. We will have patiently wait until May for our anniversary. I can't wait to have some quality time with Leonard. The only thing missing will be the dogs...

Now if I booked a cruise on the Queen Mary 2, they have an on board kennel.

Sisters reunited! Destiny & Roxy

Destiny (Visions What Dreams May Come) is pictured with her sister Roxy (Visions Dream Believer). She is settling in very well in her new home. Her new "parents", Cindy & Brad, are very happy with her. Cindy is very good friends with Patty, who has Roxy!

These girls haven't seen each other since they were 9 months old. And when they visit on the weekends, they are the best of friends!

Thank you Cindy & Patty for loving our girls!

Oh where, oh where has my washer and dryer gone?

My hand-me-down washing machine of 20+ years finally died. So Sunday we went out and purchased a new Whirlpool set from a home improvement store.

1. I am so excited to have a BRAND NEW washer & dryer. This is such a blessing to us!

2. I am so tired of lugging to the laundry mat in this cold and stormy weather!

We were to have the set delivered today and I was planning to spend my day catching up on all the week's worth of laundry. I arrive home from bringing Leonard to his truck just at the start of the appointment window. The delivery truck is here already and blocking my driveway so I could not pull in.

The delivery men are worried about the truck and the driveway and the snow. Hmmm... We're in Upstate NY in January and have had light snow every night for days... This should not have been that shocking.

Anyway, they back the truck up and straight into the ditch. *sighs*

We are waiting for the tow truck. I had to leave my own truck on the opposite side street as I cannot get in my own driveway at all now. I went into the house to let the dogs out when the delivery man is coming down to the house. I can see he is hesitant and doesn't even want to approach the house. Turns out he is terrified of dogs. *sigh*

OK - the dryer is now damaged and cannot be delivered. The way our laundry room is set up, the dryer has to be installed before the washer. *sigh*

I told them I do not want the washer that was on the truck that went into the ditch. Hopefully tomorrow they will re-deliver a new set. Maybe then I can catch up on Mount Clothesmore that is growing every day...

Hip Screening

This is my opinion on the subject.

OFA, PennHIP and OVC have evolved for a reason.

I applaud breeders who, should a dog be dysplastic , have removed that dog from the gene pool. The dog may appear to the eye "fit as a fiddle". That is why x-rays reveal what the eye cannot see.

I have done this. It is heart wrenching to watch as your plans and future "disappear" but that is part of the commitment of breeding for a better future.

I also agree with breeders who decide to breed a dog between the ages of 1 - 2 when they have such a stellar pedigree of "passing" or "clear" hips, when they do the breeding in a knowledgeable way. They will breed this individual to a dog who has his/her hip clearances or the dog is from a pedigree of clear testing. I have done this as well.

Long time breeders, many who have been in this breed for decades with great success, know when it is worth the risk. They have years of first hand knowledge on their side to take that risk.

I have a young adult bitch who does not have any hip clearances in her pedigree and she will never be bred unless she is OFA certified. She turns 2 in March and will be x-rayed. From there I will plan her future. She is not a dog I will take a risk on.

If your dog is a "borderline", or "questionable", and you are working with a knowledgeable veterinarian, follow his/her advice about redoing the x-ray. Yes, they can be redone if the pass/fail is close. Sometimes they actually will pass the next time and you may be wonderfully surprised.

I know for a fact that only the Lord is perfect.

If your dog is definitely not going to pass… please do the right thing.

We may not have the perfect method but, as responsible breeders, we must use the tools given to us. Whichever method of hip certification that is used, I know for a fact that the person/people evaluating the x-rays have the training and experience that far outweighs any lay breeder who themselves is not a veterinarian or in the fields of medicine.

Rome was not built in a day.

The grim facts of where I used to work...

I am so glad that this is finally getting media attention! Thank you Times Union for bringing the truth to the attention of the public.

http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=761009&TextPage=1

I was a loyal employee of Xero Fax just 1.5 weeks shy of 6 years. I loved my job and would still be there if the owner of our company didn't with hold pay checks from us. I am owed the entire month of November, as well as for medical bills. I was paying for health insurance but our policy was canceled, without my knowledge, 20 days prior to my last doctor visit due to non-payment. What a way to end the year.

I am looking to brighter things for 2009!

Yes, it is Olivia!

We just watched "Dogs 101" on Animal Planet where they featured the Pembroke. Olivia is the Cardigan running in agility with a rear shot to show off her tail and a cute head shot.

Thanks Animal Planet for using our girl to show the difference between Cardigans & Pembrokes.

Possible Olivia sighting on Animal Planet

It seems that Miss Olivia *may* have a small cameo in Animal Planet's "Dogs 101" - the episode featuring the Pembroke (and wonderfully enough, the Vizsla*). Barb Miller sent me an email saying that her herding instructor was watching the episode and there was a little shot of a Cardigan to compare and she said it had to be Olivia. Barb then remembered that Animal Planet did tape Olivia last year at an agility trial.

I scanned Animal Planet for the next few days and it seems that this episode will be aired again on Sunday 1/18 at 4:00 pm EST. I have set the DVR to record it. Hopefully we can see if it truly is our "little girl" or not.

* Side note: For those who do not know, Olivia & Luther, and the rest of our "Dream litter", were orphaned at birth and raised by a Vizsla. For this we are forever grateful.

Inky CGC!!

Congrats to Lily and her puppy, Inky aka Visions Powerful Intentions, on getting Inky's CGC! Way to go!! Lily has wanted a Cardigan for a very long time and we are so proud to have her first Cardigan be one of ours.

Inky is a littermate to Jaycee, Magnet and Darla, from our Carbon x Sabrina litter. They are starting formal obedience classes this week. I hope we see them in performance events in the future.

New Betta

I am a glutton for punishment. I brought home another crowntail betta from the store we bought Patriot from. We have had him for 3 days and he is much more active than "pale fish" but he does not have an appetite. I am feeding tiny meals (2x a day) to keep offering food and I think he may have eaten only one or two pellets over the 3 days. Not nearly enough. I even offered bloodworms and while Patriot eats them ravenously, this new fish lets the float there.


He is a very striking fish. This pet store kept them in plastic cups with dyed water (blue) so you do not have an idea of what there actual color is. I thought he was more white. Oh well. He is still very pretty! My camera cannot capture is true turquoise striped with white color. I have no idea why it makes him look green.

RIP pale fish...

My pretty pale fish didn't make it. He refused to eat for us. I was going to go to buy frozen bloodworms just for him and as I was getting ready to leave, he was down in his tank. Two hours ago he was swimming but ignored the pellet I gave him.

At least we tried to give him a chance. Now to clean out the tank before bringing home another...

Rescued Betta!

OK! Because I miss my white Betta, I did go out and set up another 1 gallon tank. Patriot is absolutely stunning and is doing very well, but I missed having my white fish. I have had the tank set up for a few days and have been on the search. It's a hard search. No whites to be found anywhere. But then again, Frosty was the first white I had ever seen in a pet store (actually Wally World).

So we went to BJ's last night up in Albany. There is a Petco in the same plaza. This is not my favorite store as I always find them over priced, cramped and not the cleanest. But, something told me to go in.

They had a small selection of Bettas. The most active fish I saw was a Crown Tail who was white bodied, black marbling and blue tipped fins. Different. They actually had several Crown Tails. But I was drawn to a pale, normal finned male. The fish associate was very busy and we are all chatting, so through conversation I provde that I am not a novice fish owner.

I asked the associate to look at the pale fish, and asked if he looked healthy to her. She gave him a water change and did inspect him and agreed he did not look the best. Since I had a tank ready, she offered for me to adopt him free of charge if I wanted to give him a chance!

So here is our pale yellow boy. We are unsure of a name - any suggestions??

Go Jaycee!!

Woo Hoo!!

Can you tell I am excited?

Jaycee, Visions Just Imagine, was WB/BOW/BOS for a 4 point major today in St. Paul, MN under judge Judith Goodin!! From our Sabrina x Carbon litter, she is just 7 months old and this is her very first show. Jaycee is co-owned, handled & trained by Jean Runge. Thanks Jean for the great job with our blue girl!

I can't wait to see the show picture! Until it arrives, we will have to reminisce with this baby photo.