A very blessed and joyous Easter to everyone!  Christ is Risen! Rejoice!!
Thanks Chris and April for the very cute picture of Dante.
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3-28-13

In lieu of being out of town last weekend and this weekend being Easter, I took the opportunity to jot down my notes and observations while watching the dogs as they play.  They run and play on a regular basis, but only on occasion do I get the opportunity to observe and take notes.  Today, Zach and I were out practicing golf shots while they played. 

·         Aleu and Holly are limited in their time out, mostly because they don’t want to go out.  Typical for new mothers.  It u...

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Due to a out of town soccer tournament, There was no renditions of "Saturday Stories", or "Sunday Funnies" this week.  Thanks go out to Taylor and Meranda for tending to the animals in our absence, and a great job goes out to Jenna's soccer team even though they didn't quite make the championship game.  
Hopefully, everything will get back to normal now.
  
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As we woke up this morning, we expected it to be the day that we said goodbye to all of Rose's puppies, and that was the case.  However, it turned out to be Goodbye to Rose's pups and Hello to Aleu's!  Aleu gave birth this morning to 5 puppies.  Three were all white, and two were black and white.  The white one are male, and the black and white are female.  I suppose the fact that the two black and white are female is a good thing, because out of Holly's 10, only two were female.  So Holly an...

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The excitement of Holly's puppies is dwindling down.  Time to again focus on getting Rose's puppies ready for their new homes.  Today was vet visit day.   All puppies had their physicals and shots, as well as another dose of worm medication.  They will start heading for their new homes tomorrow!
Update on Aleu:
She is appearing more and more pregnant! Likely a small litter as I mentioned before, but we are still happy to see the progress.  
Meanwhile, the others had their normal active day out. ...
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3-19-13

Today I am combining the post from 3-18 and 3-19, because it has been a VERY busy day at the farm!  We finally get to announce the arrival of Holly’s puppies!!  Labor began yesterday around noon, and after a long day, evening, and night, she had 10 puppies in the end!  We believe she is done, but will update if that number changes.  They are all black and white, with a couple having some gray.  All of Holly’s puppies to date have been black and white regardless of father.  This...

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3-17-13

A happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone!   Time for another rendition of the Sunday funnies.   (Well, I see the funny, if no one else does)  J

·         Holly is officially as big as a house!  If she has fewer than 8 puppies, I will be surprised.  I am surprised, however, that she has not yet given birth.

·         Meanwhile, over in the direction of Aleu, the jury is still out.  She seems to now be getting bigger.  She has always been difficult to figure out.  She has ...

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3-15-13

Well, Nadia failed the test today.

Up to this point, she has been left in the house overnight and during the day when no one is here.  Both Nadia and Akira come in overnight.  Akira is fully house trained, but Stink is only about 80% there.  If someone is here, no problem.  We let her out as needed.  Overnight is still a little too long for her so we put down a puppy pad.  She knows to go only there.  During the day, we simply let out Akira.  As a Husky, Akira is….well….differe...

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3-13-13

There is nothing to report today, other than that there is nothing to report.  :-)
We are still patiently waiting on Holly, and still holding onto hope that Aleu is also going to have pups.  Rose's puppies are pdoing great, and very playful as is typical!  We just sent out the 5-week picture updates, and plan on updating the pics on this site soon.
Happy Birthday to our son Zach, who turns 12 today!  Zach has been my "right hand man" for some time now.  As he gets older, I hope to contin...
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3-12-13

·         Holly is ready to give birth.  Here she is lying inside her box.  Usually, she comes running when anyone comes out.  This will be Holly’s 4^th litter, so she is likely to only have one more before retiring her.  At this point, we have not ruled out a 6^th, but that would absolutely be the last.  It will depend on her health and our vet’s opinion.  She has been a great mother, and has produced some of the best puppies! 

·         We will certainly keep at least 1, mayb...

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3-10-13

Sunday Tidbits and observations!

·         It’s great to see a nice snowfall.  No doubt the dogs love that.  With every snowfall however, comes the eventual melt off.  Today was 60 degrees, and while the warmth is wonderful, the tradeoff is MUD!

·         It is an absolute mess out here, and the dogs really don’t mind a bit.  Sometimes I think they like it better than snow.

·         Oh, and joyous news!  What better to follow up a slopfest with the prediction...

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3-6-13

 

·         The snow didn’t disappoint.  At least the dogs.  We got about 6-8 inches.  Akira and Nadia went out this morning and were running around having a great time.  I think they forgot they had to do their business.  Too much fun! 

·         This was Nadia’s first real snowfall that she got to play in.  For the storm after Christmas, she was only about 4 weeks old, and didn’t get to play in it.  She had a BLAST!  The rest of the dogs will get to play this afternoo...

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3-5-13

·         Not much activity today.  Getting ready for the big snow storm.  Right now, it is a cold rain, to the point of a very good soaking.  Makes for a very sloppy premises. 

·          I was out in the barn for a period of time, and let some of the dogs out to keep me company.  Of course I have to close up the barn entirely, make sure the cats are out, and the chickens are in their pen.  Holly, Daisie, Aleu, Kallen, and Miya all joined me at different times.  Usually no more t...

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3-4-13

·         Rose’s pups are getting chubby.  They are getting around well.  They like the warmth of the box with the heat lamp, but they also love to run around and play everywhere else too.  They will be 4 weeks on Wednesday, so in another week or so they will be weaned.   

·         Rose broke the heat lamp, and shorted out the entire barn.  Finding my way through the dark and solving the problem proved to be a fun task. L 

·         Aleu is really starting to toy w...

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Sunday 3-3-13

More random thoughts and observations as Heather and I take care of chores while the dogs are out playing and Aria is in her pasture:

1)      If I wasn’t certain Nadia was Daisie’s puppy, I would be convinced she was Holly’s!  The two are very similar.  The snack today while they played was carrots.  Yes they love carrots!  If there is food present of any kind, Holly and Nadia are always first in line.  They both have “the stare”.  They all love the snacks, bu...

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Saturday 3-2-13

Looking back over the last several months, I’ve been reflecting on the many deaths to our animals.  It started with Grace, one of our horses, and then a while later it was a series of dogs.  Sheba, Brutus, and Peyton, and then came Eddie, our house cat.  And then this past week when Dan, another horse passed away.  It’s very easy to lose focus and wonder if it’s all worth it.  But then I went out to see Rose’s puppies and it made me realize the lives that were brought...

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Friday 3-1-13

March is finally here!  It came in like a lion.  (cold/rain/snow/nasty)  By rule, this means it goes out like a lamb.  (warmer, sunny) (hopefully!)  Akira and Nadia were running around in circles outside, long enough to almost wear a pattern in the grass.  One thing is for certain…come springtime, we will need to fertilize the dog area and also the horse pasture.  Probably even spread some grass seed.  Winter usually takes its toll on the grass in the animal areas.  It should...

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