Chief Warrant Officer Four (U.S. Army, Retired) Robert W. Reed
On this day I am reminded of how lucky I am that my soldier always came home safely and am mindful of the many soldiers, airmen, sailors, and marines who did not. Thank you will never be enough for these brave and selfless individuals and the families who wait for them.
Already? They’re doing great – gaining well now that Cheery’s all set and all over a pound. I think the c-section set eveybody back a bit, but it seems like that’s all behind us now. FYI the colors I assigned to each puppy is just the rick-rack that I used to identify them for the first couple of days. It has nothing to do with their colors or markings or my preferences.
Dark Green Girl
Black Boy
White Girl
Yellow Girl
Light Green Boy
Red Girl
Light Blue Boy
Pink Girl
Six days old and gaining, gaining, gaining. Cheery’s good stuff must have kicked in!
Born this am by c-section (18 hours early labor, started full contractions this am, no progress after an hour, Cheery fully dilated but nobody headed toward the exit at all). There are 5 girls, 3 boys – 11.0 to 15.5 oz. Three are tri colored (2 boys, 1 girl), the rest are sable. The ninth was a 5.5 oz. tri girl who we couldn’t get started. đ Cheery and the 8 babies are doing fine, chowing down.
Sorry for the photo. The heat lamp makes everything orange. More after I’ve had a nap!
…maybe. I don’t know how Cheery can hang on for 12 more days although she seems more comfortable now than she was a week ago. Possibly the puppies have shifted off of whatever was making her uncomfortable. And air conditioning is a good thing too. She’s still starving even getting double rations. And her belly is just BARELY off the floor.
The whelping box will be set up this weekend and the “puppy cam” installed. We’ll shop for ice cream and cottage cheese soon. Our vet is on speed dial. She had a bath on Saturday and I’ll do her toenails again this weekend too. The headcount xray is scheduled for next Monday evening. We’re getting ready!
Just wanted to share a couple of neat photos from our recent weekend in Tennessee. At the Great Smoky Mountains Dog Club shows, our ten-year-old Phoebe won Best In Show Altered and two Reserve Best in Show Altered. My friend Samantha also borrowed Phoebe for her Juniors class and they took home a blue ribbon. Their photo, shown here, was published in the Daily Post Athenian. Congratulations Samantha and Phoebe! Dori also came home with a Herding Group 1 and Group 2. All in all a fun weekend!
Dori and I send our CONGRATULATIONS to her sire! There is a new champion at Tri-umph today! Chris is now Ch. Tri-umph ‘Taint No Saint. Chris is sired by and linebred on Ch. Tallyrand Archangel Michael and finished this morning at the Salina KC by going Best of Breed. Except for a few points Marian put on Chris in BBE when he was 13 months old, his championship was attained in about 2 1/2 months–he came back out at the very end of January. I know there’s a few margaritas blending in Texas today!
Progesterone testing has commenced and with any luck the start of another happy adventure is just days away. The waiting is killing me and I’m sure me staring at her constantly isn’t doing much for Cheery-O either. Breathe, Leslie, just breathe!
Pudgy, chubby, rolypoly corgis are adorable, aren’t they? I don’t think this “Chunky Monkey” would agree. I had planned to pull her today from a shelter and when I called to see when she could be released into rescue, I was told she was being euthanized due to extreme congestive heart failure. She was five years old.
Please, PLEASE, don’t let your corgis become obese. It is (obviously) a life-limiting condition over which you have complete control. Corgis don’t have opposable thumbs; they can’t open kitchen cabinets and refrigerators. They don’t have money and driver’s licenses; they can’t zoom on down to Mickey D’s and order up a couple of Big Macs. They don’t have cell phones; they can’t call for Domino’s to deliver a pizza. (Much as they would like to.) Pay no attention to how much the chart on the dog food bag tells you to feed; they are selling dog food. Ignore those pleading eyes; your dog is not starving. Pull out a leash instead and go for a walk, you’ll both be healthier for it. Please don’t let your corgi be a fat corgi!
Here’s some more information about the damage obesity does to your dog.
Ribbons and rosettes, titles and accolades are wonderful, don’t get me wrong. But probably the best ever thing I will ever do in dogs is rescue. I don’t do tons of it, only fostering 2 or 3 dogs a year, because I have my own dogs to care for, train, and show, a full time job and a husband who also requires attention occasionally, and a lot of the time my involvement consists only of putting the right people and dogs in touch with each other and letting the “corgi underground”, as Bob calls it, do its thing.
Gabi is my “best ever” rescue story. She was a release from a commercial breeder. She came to us at 3.5 years old having never had a name, simply a number, complete with ear hemtomas, a UTI, obese, and still intact (of course). She was terrified of people to the point of complete and utter passivity – I was torn between forcing her to accept my handling so she could learn a human’s touch could be a pleasant thing or leaving her be because I only traumatized her more. How did we help this empty shell learn to be a dog? We celebrated baby steps. Gabi loved being with our dogs, although at first she didn’t really know how to play with them. Frapping came much, much later. A couple steps forward, a couple steps back. Months went by and we despaired of Gabi ever being a dog enough to be ready for a forever home. Privately, and then together, Bob and I decided that if that never happened, Gabi would have a forever home with us, in whatever capacity she managed to evolve. Enter an angel named Diane. She and her husband came to visit, originally to see a puppy who was also part of the commerical breeder release (said puppy being so badly constructed that she eventually had to be euthanized when pain and injury set in). And we talked about Gabi, and talked about Gabi, and talked about Gabi. I told Diane I couldn’t promise Gabi would ever “get better”. I told her to think long and hard about Gabi’s limitations and Diane’s ability to love an animal that might never be able to return that love. I told to her sleep on it.
Today, the 2nd anniversary of Gabi and Diane’s “gotcha day”, Diane shared, as she faithfully does on a regular basis, some photos of a very content, very at home, very much a dog, Gabi.
Yes, the ribbons and rosettes, titles and accolades are lovely. But nothing I ever do in dogs will make me happier than knowing Gabi has become a dog!
Showing ‘au natural’!
Although I’m usually an AKC girl, I occasionally play in UKC for experience and fun. I am proud to share though, that with extremely limited showing (like about five weekends), our two year old “Ava” is #7 Pembroke Welsh Corgi for 2010. Ava is GrCH BPIMBS Lin-Kel Nanteos Cariad from Am. Ch. Lin-Kel Nanteos Geraint x Am. Ch. Lin-Kel Nanteos Rhiannon, bred by Linda Muglach, Dr. Gareth Morgan-Jones, and Richard Albee. By placing in the Top Ten, she is invited to compete in the UKC’s Top Ten competition at Premier in June (UKC’s version of Eukanuba). Most of her breed points were won at last year’s Premier when she went BoB out of the Champion class over a large class of the US and Canada’s top ranked Grand Champions. The most fun in UKC is that professional handlers are not allowed, nor is grooming besides water and a comb, so this photo shows Ava in her birthday suit!
Is there a better place to be? Rescue Cardi, Frankie, was picked up as a stray in rural SC and spent 3 months in a shelter there, waiting to be adopted and have his heartworms treated. With the help of wonderful people from all over (many thanks to Janet, Stephanie, Heidi, Bonnie, and the countless others who helped to spread the word) and the Cardigan Welsh Corgi National Rescue Trust, not only did Frankie get all the medical attention he needed, he found a forever home and a ride to get there – all in time for Christmas! Frankie is getting settled in with Lynn and Mike, and is learning the ways of the household from Cardi “sister”, Vanessa. So happy for all!
Safe at home!
An Alabama White Christmas!
Our House
Run, Dori, run!
June, so pretty!
Cheery, “Cold? I’m not cold.”
Our winter wonderland!
Ava, snow princess!
Dori, “No, I don’t want to come in yet!”
Although not identified in the accompanying article, there’s a pic of Dori and me in the Jackson, MS Clarion-Ledger. (Dori would be the one unsuccessfully not wiggling on the table while the judge tries to examine her!)Â
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=201012190361
If dogs can be faulted for one thing, it would be that they are never with us long enough, however long it is. The KeelMtn Corgis are saddened to learn that two corgis important to us have recently crossed The Bridge.
“Charlie” was one of our first rescue dogs. At 5 years old, he and his brother “Enzo” were dropped at an El Paso shelter by the family who had had them from puppyhood, stating they no longer “had time” for them. While the newly re-christened Lorenzo spent his days as a beach boy in Galveston, Charlie headed up to Salt Lake City, where he went on to much fame and fortune in the performance rings. He was officially known as “West Texas Good Olâ Boy, OAP, OJP, OAC, OJC, OGC, TG-O, TN-N, WV-N, PS1, RS-O, GS-O, JS-O” His person and partner, Christa, and Charlie did all of this despite a cataract in his left eye. Fly free, Charlie, and take all of the off-courses you want!
Charlie in younger days.
We also send aarrrooos to the “family” at Maroak and Arbor on the loss of their “Pieper”, Ch. Arbor Sand Pieper, at 14. How many times have I written that name on entry forms? He is the sire of my heart dog, “Phoebe” and as I saw this photo – one I hadn’t seen before – I was struck by how much Phoebe resembles her daddy. She and I will show (or rather, The Princess will allow me to trail after her as she struts her stuff) in the veterans class this weekend in Jackson, MS. Pieper, this one’s for you!
Pieper as a young man.
A year ago today we welcomed our first litter, the “southernisms” gang. Cheery-O free whelped 6 girls and 2 boys. She wasn’t too sure about the first born, a tri girl, but as soon as the second came, a tri boy, either instinct and/or hormones kicked in because from that moment on she was in love with her babies and with motherhood. She did take a day or two to realize she actually had to lie down (and if you know Cheery, you know that being still for any length of time is not her thing) in order for them to nurse, but she fed those big babies (birth weights were 10.4 – 13.5 oz.) entirely herself without any help from me. As a matter of fact, she was most put out with me when they were 6.5 weeks old and we has a talk about maybe, possibly, sometime in the future, weaning the little monsters, um, I mean angels. She also kept her box and her babies spotlessly clean. Thank you, Cheery, you were a wonderful mama and you made it so easy for me!
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Yes, I know it’s not yet the end of the calendar year, but it is the end of the show year for us. Boy, did we have fun!
Tah-dah! I am beyond thrilled to announce that June finished her AKC championship on Friday in Priceville despite still wearing her summer clothes! Too much excitement! Pending AKC verification (as they say), she is now Ch. Allegro Celestial Charm! Her breeder and my friend, Jeri Lamy, was on hand, along with June’s litter brother, Nash, who picked up a few points as well. I bumped her up for Saturday and Sunday and Junie gave me her first Select Bitch points as well. Now we’ll stay home for a while, growing a proper winter coat and maybe starting to play in rally and obedience.
Dori finished her UKC grand championship in style at only 10 months under a breeder-judge! (I was much more excited than I look in the photo.) I believe she MAY make it into the Top Ten for the year, waiting to see how the points add up. Dori was also Best Puppy and Puppy Group 2 in Priceville, winning her class every day and going Reserve Winner Bitch on Sunday. IÂ think she might have gotten the points had she not decided I needed herding and so did the “down and back” with my pants leg in her mouth much to the entertainment of the judge, fellow exhibitors, and the ringside audience! This winter ought to give her an opportunity to grow up a bit.
GrCh KeelMtn Bless Your Heart
We logged a lot of miles this year and I am so looking forward to a couple of months at home with DH.
Happy Ava Face!
Dori and Her Junior Handler
We drove on down the road to Athens, TN this weekend where ten-month-old Dori – KeelMtn Bless Your Heart – got the last BoBÂ (over champions and a grand champion) she needed to earn her Grand Champion title (pending UKC confirmation)Â and a Group 4 under former Pembroke breeder Judge Rowdy Yates. Wow! What a fun weekend – super weather, good friends, great junior handler help – couldn’t have asked for more. I haven’t figured out all the points yet, but it would be really neat if both Ava and Dori could make the Top Ten for the year.
And here’s the latest puppy picture, a photo of Jasper I ‘lifted’ off his mom’s blog. I get to see him and his family at Marietta next weekend and I can’t wait!
Jasper – KeelMtn I Do Declare – at 10 months
Dori at 8 months
SO busy around here; I’m terribly behind in posting our news.
First of all – tah dah! Dori’s first AKC point! At the Memphis KC shows Dori was Winners Bitch and Best of Opposite Sex under judge Debra Long Gshwender. The day before she was Reserve WB, Best Puppy, and then Herding Puppy Group 2.
Then lots of UKC fun as well:
Dori and June both finished their UKC Championships at Lexington, KY. Dori also got a Herding Group 1, two Group 2s, and a Group 4 that weekend while June finished hers with a Group 2 and three Group 3s ably handled by junior handler Rachel Propst – thanks sweetie!
At Perry, GA, (4 days, 8 shows) Ava became a Grand Champion along with a Group 4 and two Group 3s. Dori earned 4 of 5 legs towards her Grand Championship and a Group 3. Both got a bunch of Top Ten points as well. Cheery also played and got one BOB.
Ava, Dori, and I leave for the Pembroke Welsh Corgi National Specialty in Lancaster, PA on Tuesday. Thirteen hour drive – bleh! But I can’t wait for a week of nothing but corgis – what fun! And catching up with old and new friends in person instead on digits! Wish us luck!
Ava showed up on the current UKC standings as tied for #3! How neat is that?
Ava – CH Lin-Kel Nanteos Cariad – 18 months
Dori was Best Puppy in Match today under judge Nancy Self at the Huntsville Kennel Club’s B match. She was almost having too much fun to remember how show girls act, but kept it together somewhat.
KeelMtn Bless Your Heart – 7 months
And lest you think her life is all work and no play, here’s a typical moment in the day of Dori.
Surely there’s some food morsels left for me!
Let me tell you, Indiana is HOT in July!
Since I had a free weekend, I decided to enter the girls in UKC’s PREMIER (yes, always in caps). It’s their biggest show of the year and their version of Eukanuba. They have a Top Ten competition for the dogs ranked in the Top Ten from the past year, there is Junior Showmanship competition, agility, obedience, rally, dock-diving, weight-pull, many specialties, and probably lots of other stuff I forgot or didn’t know about as well as three days of all-breed shows. This is a big deal! I’m usually an AKC-type, using UKC occasionally for ring practice and puppy socialization. I’m not the only one; I see lots of folks I know from AKC shows and some judges as well. The atmosphere is much more laid back and slow-paced, there are no professional handlers, and most of all – no grooming products! No chalk and mousse, no hairspray, no poodle wigs, no kidding. You can’t take a comb or brush in the ring and it’s up to the judges whether or not they want to allow bait.
So anyway, we packed up the Excursion and north we went. It was worth the 8 hour trip! First of all, Tara KEELMTN ALL GUSSIED UP finally got to meet and go home with her new owner, Robin, who has the UKC #1 ranked Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Am. Ch., GRCH Desprado Louisville Slugger. I can’t wait to hear what fabulous things are in store for Tara in the Great Southwest!
So proud of my girls – here’s what we did at PREMIER:
DORI – Reserve Best Female and Best Female (at a week shy of 7 months from the Breeder/Handler class)
JUNE – Best Female all 3 days and one Best of Winners (at 12 months from the Jr. Female class)
AVA – Champion of Champions 2 days and then Best of Breed over 3 other champions and 7 grand champions, several who are Top Ten ranked and some AKC champions (at 18 months old)
Ava – Lin-Kel Nanteos Cariad
And PHOEBE at 9+ years – Altered Best of Breed all 3 days, Altered Herding Group Two twice, and then won the Altered Herding Group!
That 8 hour trip home didn’t take any time at all! đ
âJillâ was an owner turn-in slated for euthanasia at a Tuscaloosa shelter before she was pulled by rescue. We are fostering until a forever home is found. Jill is an older girl (about 7+ years old in a breed who routinely live 16-18+ years). She is spayed, microchipped, current on all vaccinations, and is on heartworm preventative. Jill weighs about 10 pounds. She is free of internal and external parasites. Jill is fine with baths, blow-drying, and nail care. She will walk on a lead, seems house-trained, and gets along with the other dogs at her foster home. No signs of aggression or fear. She is very sweet and mild and enjoys being with both women and men. Jill would like to be someone’s couch-potato or bed-buddy. She is definitely an inside pet. Jill has recently had her teeth cleaned and been professionally groomed. An application and interview are required as well as a modest adoption fee to partially cover expenses.
Abbie’s – KeelMtn Tri-umph Twitterpated – first show was the Mayflower Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club’s specialty show where she placed 2nd in her class under breeder-judge Gayle Garvin! Congrats to owners Kathi and Jeff Powers, co-owner/co-breeder Marian Your, and thanks to handler/bad puppy wrangler <g> Melody Kist! So proud! đ
Jill needs a forever home!
Okay, so she’s not a corgi. Jill is a Yorkshire Terrier who was about to be euthanized at the Tuscaloosa shelter. A rescue contact asked me on Wednesday if we could foster her. Since we planned to pass right through Tuscaloosa on the way to the Hattiesburg shows the following day, it seemed as though it was meant to be. She still needs a decent haircut – what does a corgi person know about cutting Yorkie hair? – and a teeth cleaning, both of which will be done before she is placed, but otherwise, she is simply a lovely girl. Jill had no problem with me giving her a bath, and another bath, and a blow dry, and then proceeded directly onto the travel trailer sofa where, except for overnights in our bed <g>, she spent the rest of the weekend. Jill is up-to-date on shots, spayed, microchipped, seems housebroken, walks on a leash, and gets along with everybody at my house. Are you in need of a lap-warmer?
Koda at 6 months
Our Chris x Cheery litter turned 6 months old on Sunday! Hard to believe and I guess feeling that way makes me old, but time flies. I have to get out of the habit of referring to them as babies. The living room is no longer a nursery, thank doG, and the young dogs are learning their place in the world. The ones now living elsewhere are learning their places in their worlds as well, and by all acccounts, life is good!
Silly Koda!
From the July issue of Bloodlines:
Bella and one of her boys, ‘Throw the ball!’
Ying and Yang = Bobby and Bella
Love happy endings! Bella was one of three newborn puppies found homeless with their dark brindle Cardigan Welsh Corgi mother in a rural area near us last July. (You can read more about them on Our Rescues page.) Now she lives in TN with a Pem ‘brother’, Bobby, and their great family.
Retirement life just got a whole lot more interesting for Candy (UKC Ch. Dwysan’s Red Hot on KeelMtn CGC, TDI)! She and brindle buddy, MeMe, now have two babies to watch over. Max and Abby were born on May 13th. Congratulations to Sissy and Matt – get some sleep!
Jasper was neutered yesterday and therefore wears the ‘cone of shame’. Feel better soon, little man!
Tara, Dixie, and Dori have traveled with Ava and I to a few shows this spring that have also offered matches for puppies. I think they’ve been fairly successful!
At the Birmingham KC match:
#1 Tara
#2 Dori
#3 Dixie
At the Valdosta KC match:
#1 Tara
#2 Dori
#4 Dixie
At the Great Smoky Mountains Dog Club:
Of the 4 matches offered that weekend, Dori made the final cut twice, then Dori was Reserve Best Puppy in Show (handled by an 8 year old who had never been in the ring before that day – thanks so much Samantha!), and Dixie was Best Puppy in Show! What fun!
In addition, Ava was at the top of her game, bringing home a Group One, two Group Twos, and a Group Three! I really don’t remember the drive home that day! Not every weekend is like that. In fact, most weekends aren’t like that, but they sure are fun when they are!
And finally, this past Sunday, Dori was Best Herding Group Puppy at the Huntsville KC match! Did I mention we’re having fun?! đ
Dori moves!
Dori and her junior handler – happy girls!
Happy Dixie!
As a former born and raised New Yorker, now transplanted Alabamian, southern colloquialisms facinate and charm me. When I heard someome exclaim “oh my stars and biscuits!” I just knew I would have to use it in a registered name some day.
Anyway, our “Sirri”, who is now more appropriately (given the circumstances) called “Dixie”, has gone to be a Texas girl with our friends Sheila and Jim (TEXFOX) of Katy. They own and have finished a couple of Tri-umph relatives and I’m excited that they chose her. Aside from getting her shown, they will be a wonderful home!
Hard to believe Cheery’s babies are 4 months old today! Although her coat will take a while more to grown back in, it didn’t take long for Cheery to get back to her fighting weight. Here’s a photo of her first born boy and her favorite from the moment he drew breath. Aside from two lovely human girls, Jasper (KeelMtn I Do Declare) also has his own pony! Spoiled much? đ
Guess the nicer weather is encouraging puppy photo ops! đ
Abbie – what a pretty face!
Koda Goes ZOOOOOM!!!
Here’s our Libby, now a Jersey girl called Abbie. Kathi and Jeff are hoping she’ll be their next show star! We’re looking forward to lots of show news, once she grows up a bit. Marian, co-breeder/owner, TRI-UMPH, will be cheering her on from Texas. Click on TRI-UMPH to see what makes us “twitterpated” about Abbie!
Happy girl!
What a pretty face!
Yes, puppy Piper is asleep! And it looks as though Jamie’s keeping her safe while she is. Sandy says although they each have their own beds and crates, they’re more often found squished up together. Awwww!
Piper, or at least, Piper’s rear and big brother, Jamie
What puppy wouldn’t be happy with 2 little girls to call his own?! Jasper (aka Tucker) has Amelia and Adele and how lucky is he?! He was the 2nd born and Cheery’s favorite from the moment he drew breath – and if someone was squeaking it was him – so he had to be ‘KeelMtn I Do Declare’.
Jasper with Adele, 9, and Amelia, 10
Trying out the latest puppy torture device – a Happy Legs knockoff. Darla and Libby had no problem with it, but Dori and Sirri were not amused. We’ll keep practicing. Nobody wanted to show off their pretty faces and my photographer was disinclined to patience at what was the end of a VERY busy weekend.
DARLA
DARLA
LIBBY
LIBBY
DORI
DORI
SIRRI
SIRRI
Our tri boy, Japer (aka Tucker), went home to Roswell, GA on Sunday with 2 very excited little girls! They are going to learn more about agility and maybe jrs. and Jasper is going to be spoiled beyond belief, I think!
Jasper and his new family
(Somehow I don’t remember seeing this photo before until I was surfing around today and saw it on Jinnie’s Facebook page. So I stole it. ;-))
Cheery and her newborn son Tripp in one of those awww moments that totally make you forget the stress, and sleeplessness, and the expense of new babies.
Piper joins 2 year old Jamie, a Pem boy, and they are both headed for the agility rings in the future. ‘Mom’ Sandy says Piper was not at all intimidated by Jamie, and I’m not surprised. Piper, of all the 6 girls, is her mother’s daughter, and Cheery has never worried about anything or anybody in her life! Piper is ‘in high cotton’ because of all the white up her stifles.
Piper and Jamie
‘Come on, let’s run!’
‘Hey, isn’t that my bed? Isn’t that my toy?’
Tripp has had somewhere to go from the day he was born – at three days I found him sleeping on top of the pig rail and he was the first one to escape from the whelping box. His Auntie Jinnie dubbed him ‘Tripp’ that first week, and so he had to be, in keeping with our Southernisms litter theme – ‘Fixin’ to Go’. Tripp joins Jazz, a 3 year old Pem rescue girl (you can see her story on Our Rescues page) who will undoubtedly explain to him that girls rule! đ
Tripp with Rick and Jazz
In addition to being an ‘only child’, Koda gets the added perk of having a professional photographer as a ‘mom’! I expect to see lots and lots of pictures of Koda! She and Blake are already enrolled in puppy class to start at HOTC next week and Renee is interested in training her for therapy work. We are lucky that she’ll be so close and get to see her often!
Koda – what a beautiful portrait!
Koda at home
Koda and Blake
Piper, Tripp, and Koda went home yesterday – a very bittersweet event for me. They have each gone to fantastic homes, and I know they’re going to have wonderful lives, but it is hard to see them go. The puppies left behind were a little subdued as well, but there was a lot more room to stretch out in their pen today.
Tripp with Jazz, Dana and Rick
Koda with Renee and Blake
Piper with Sandy and Bob
