Puppies!

December 29 Jasmine gave birth to 7 puppies 5 females and 2 males.  They have pretty much predominated our lives ever since.  Great plans to blog about them were swept away with all the time spent cleaning up after them.  It has been alot of work and very fun.  Its almost over.

Originally we were going to wait another year to breed Jasmine and Hugo but I discovered that living with an un-neutered dog in the house was not really my thing.  Jasmine didn't go into her first heat until she was almost 1 year old so we decided to go for it and get Hugo fixed once we were sure he was successful.  So this will be his last litter.  So we are enjoying it all the more.  And they seem to have mostly Hugo's genes - like he had to get it all out in his one chance to pass them on.  Hugo is a sweet, lovey, affectionate dog.

This is Jasmine just before Christmas with her taut belly beached on the couch with Sampson.

On December 29, we knew she was in labour all day.  She occasionally whimpered and went in and out of the den we prepared for her in the downstairs bathroom - often lying in there for long stretches of time - very uncharacteristic of this active dog.  Just as Dean and I were sitting down to watch a movie, the first one arrived with very little fanfare after all that whimpering all day.  She just popped it out with no fuss at all.

 Here is the first born pup.  We called her 'first born' for a long time and then Eryn named her Daisy.  We kind of have a flower theme when it comes to female dog names.  You'll see.  Daisy has been sold to a friend of ours originally from Coldstream who now lives in Vancouver.  She'll be heading down there on the 23rd.  She has markings almost identical to Hugo's Mom in Penticton.

Dean and I sat there, watching our movie and helping as needed.  Dean had a heating pad in his lap and everytime a new one was coming down the pike, we picked up the others to keep them out of the way.  As long as they were warm, they were quiet and then Jasmine didn't mind.  Jasmine just set to work efficiently and with very little fuss.

 We settled them in a kiddie pool under the table in our downstairs bathroom - very den like.  They were pretty happy there.  Every so often we took all the bedding out to wash it.  Here they are waiting for clean bedding in a laundry basket.  You can see they are all mainly black except for the one brown one whom we call Rosie.

Here's JJ (Jasmine Junior)

And here's Rosie

 They grow so fast from fat sausages with their eyes closed and tiny little drooping ears.  At 10 days their eyes started to open and they started to move around - mostly flailing with their limbs as they laid on their tummies.

At 4 weeks we listed them for sale on Kijiji. The following are shots from their official puppy photo shoot.  It has become the trend to advertise and take deposits on puppies even before they are born or when they are just hours old.  I wanted people to be able to interact with the puppies and look into their eyes so we didn't put them up for sale until they were 4 weeks old.

This is Lightning

Lightning has a white jagged stripe down his underside.  Kind of like a lightning bolt.  He is also known as fluff bucket.  He will have border collie type fur.  He started off as the shiniest and now he is just the fluffiest.  He is one of the smallest but he's got swagger.  We adore him.

Another one of Rosie

 This one is either Hugette or Blue - both little Hugo clones.  Hugette is a female and Blue is a male.  Dean has always wanted to name a dog Blue.  We think its a dumb name but he got to name the puppy.  Unlike Hugo who is completely black, they each have very small white spots on their chests and Hugette has about 6 white hairs on the tip of her tail.  They have short fur like Hugo.  Blue is the biggest of all the pups and Hugette and Daisy are the second largest.

Sadly Jasmine doesn't really get to play with the pups as all they want to do is suck on her.  However, Hugo plays for hours with them.  They have learned to wrestle and play and they can frequently be seen climbing all over him with various pups chewing on his tail, his ear and his paw at the same time.  He loves it.  He's a great dad!

Here is their first day outside into the snow.

Daisy playing with Papa

7 pups in the snow

 Did you know that black animals have the hardest time getting adopted from shelters?  Its because black animals are so hard to photograph.  Look at these 7 pups.  So hard to see an individual.  Even Rosie looks black in this picture.

 And here they are today in the sunshine.  The snow is quickly melting around here.  You can get a much better view of them.  That is Lightning sitting beside Hugo.  You can see how shiny he is with the sun reflecting off his soft curls.

Hugo with Lightning and Daisy

Belle Star

 This little girl is Belle Star. she is all black with a white star on her chest and 3 white hairs on the tip of her tail.  Eryn is planning in keeping her.  So we'll get to see alot of her as she grows up.  The whole expression on her face here is so 'Hugo'!

Rosie on the stairs

Lightning and Belle Star

Daisy, Rosie, Belle Star and JJ have all sold.  That leaves Lightning, Blue and Hugette.  Three more to go.  Hopefully they will all find homes this week.  As much fun as they are, I am looking forward to the time when my day does not revolve around mopping floors....

Learning

For many years I have comfortably occupied the position of teacher.  I am a teacher as a mom; I was a teacher at NOEES for 5 years; I have taught many workshops at the Inner World School and I have settled into being a dance teacher. 

It has been awhile since I have experienced the genuine vulnerability of learning from someone else.  Sure I have learned lots through reading and discussion and its one thing to learn a new knit stitch its another to put yourself in a completely foreign environment.

At the IPE, I watched the stock dog trials as I like to do, having a love of Border Collies since my childhood dog, Buck.  Afterward, I went to talk to the handlers as the audience was invited to do and met Lee Lumb.  Lee trains and competes with stock dogs and she teaches people how to work stock with their dogs.  Through a series of e-mails I came to be on her farm with Hugo and Jasmine a few weeks ago.  It was determined that Jasmine was the one worth working with so almost every week since then as found her and I on our way to Lavington. 

My initial understanding was that stock dog training was kind of like obedience training just more complicated.  She would learn some complicated set of instructions and I would learn how to administer them....  Wow, was I wrong.  Basically, Jasmine through the innate senses of her breed already knows exactly what to do.  Its me that has to do all the learning - learning how she responds to the pressure of my body.  Learning how this pressure makes her do different things.  In the 3 lessons we've had, I've learned how to get Jasmine to go out and around the sheep and change directions.  When Lee goes in there, she can get Jasmine to do a whole lot more.

That feeling, the first time I tried to do it and failed spectacularly, was a very vulnerable experience.  Lee is very matter-of-fact and she has a good sense of humour but to realize just how completely clueless I was was something.  It was something compared to how badly I wanted to learn it.  I was reminded just how vulnerable you feel when you are learning something completely new.  And how as an adult, it has been a long time since I was really in that position.  I really, really want to learn this skill.  The idea of having a dog to help me move my sheep appeals to me, especially as my children wander off into the world and my helpers dwindle.  It reminded me of the courage and determination that it takes to learn in a situation like that.  It renews my respect for my students and reminds me of the great trust I hold.

And really, its a very refreshing thing to do.  When was the last time you put yourself in that position?

Welcome Hugo

We have a new addition to our family.  This is Hugo.  After Iris' tragic and untimely death to Parvo, we had to wait at least 7 months before bringing another puppy into our home because the virus can live for 5 months.  I bleached the house and we cleaned up the yard as best we could.

Kaetlyn cuddling Hugo when we went to check him out

Then I was cruising puppy ads and found this guy in Penticton.  He was behind his much more outgoing sisters and you could hardly see him because he is black.  But his eyes pierced me and I knew he was our puppy.  He was born in Penticton so we drove out to check him out and we gave him his first parvo vaccination.  I know, I know... I don't generally believe in vaccinations.  However, given the stress of leaving his mother and grandmother and coming to a new home where there was a better than average chance of encountering the virus, we decided to go the vaccination route.  After we gave him his shot, we had to leave him for another 10 days.  Eryn, Kaetlyn and Rhiannon all came with me and it was unanimous.  We would take him.

Rhiannon made him this bed - recycled from a long dead but favourite cat, Sheeba

As much as he looks like Iris, he is not much like her.  We've had him for just over a week now.  Much better at house training but much more aggressive to other dogs.  Iris was a scaredy cat and would jump into our arms.  Hugo is up for taking them all on.

 He is a border collie/Australian Shepherd X blue heeler (Australian Cattle Dog) but when he is like this we call him the little black fox.

We are feeding him strictly on the Natural Rearing Method developed by veterinarian and herbalist, Juliette de Bairicli-Levy who pioneered the raw food diet for dogs.  Right now he eats 4 times a day.  He gets non-homogonized milk with honey at 8am, multigrain rolled grains with butter milk, seaweed powder, a tsp  of oil and nettle at noon, 2 oz of meat at 4pm and 4 - 8 oz of meat with bones at 8pm.  So far he is looking very healthy and he's everyone's darling.

For training, we are using Cesar Millan's methods which are so incredible.  Puppies learn so fast when you know how to speak to them in dog language.  We think he will turn out to be a very good dog!  And who knows, maybe this means that this summer we won't have to pretend to be sheep dogs when we round up the sheep.

And no, he's not named after the movie - we haven't seen it.  It just seemed to be his name.  Don't you agree?

Too Soon

Things have just been intense around here this summer - kicked off by the wedding, which was intense in lots of strenuous and happy and sometimes stressfull ways. But the last two days have been intensely sad.

Iris, our wee, beloved pup, died just after 4am yesterday morning of the dreaded puppy disease Parvo. We are devastated.

On Saturday morning Rhiannon and I took Zeus, Jodi and Iris to the dog beach in Kal Park. Its the first time any of us had been to that beach. Zeus especially enjoyed swimming in the lake. Jodi and Iris went for obligatory dips and Iris cavorted around on the rocks.

Later that evening she refused to eat her dinner and during the evening walk she lagged behind a bit more often smelling things.

Rhiannon woke me up at 4:30 because Iris was throwing up in her room. I went to pick her up and saw the circles of bile on Rhiannon's carpet and I was afraid it was Parvo. Jodi got Parvo the day Rhiannon was born (also after hiking in Kal Lake Park) and it looked just like what was under the crib in Rhiannon and Drew's room. I took her to bed and cuddled with her but she threw up in my bed. I took her outside and sat with her and saw watery bloody diarrhea come out when she pooped. I knew it was Parvo then. Jodi was 19 months old when she got it - much older. Iris was only just over 4 months old.

Now Jodi was sick for two days before we clued in and we took her to the vet where she was on IV fluids for a week before she was well and able to come home. I immediately started treating Iris according to the instructions in my Herbal Handbook for farm and stable by Juliette de Bairacli Levy who was a vet and also using internet resources. She kind of stayed the same all day. We administered fluids orally and analy every 14 minutes to half an hour. She continued to throw up and have bloody water come out her anus. But she held. I stayed up with her all night. I stayed outside where she seemed to get comfort from laying on the cool earth. I brought her inside around 2am. I dozed in half our stints. Around 3am she started to decline. She lots muscle tone and wouldn't let me give her any fluids. Blood started to pour out of her anus when she was just laying there. She just layed with her head on me. Her eyes were still clear and she looked so deeply into my eyes around 3:30 - almost pleadingly. I knew she was sorrowful to be leaving us. Then just after 4am with my hands on her, she took her last breath and her heart slowly stopped beating. The moment of death is as profound as birth. Suddenly she was gone and all that was left was her black furry body - a mere shell with out the black sprite.

I cleaned up and threw myself on Jodi and cried and cried. We had got her to be Jodi's apprentice and she was gone before her. We had imagined having her for years and years - imagined her moving out with Rhiannon. We imagined her comfort on the sad day when Jodi will leave. And she was gone. We had her for 6 weeks that seemed like both a very long time and a very short time. Dean and I cried and cried. And then tried to go about the beginning of our day. Rhiannon woke up just after 8 and I had to tell her. It was so horrible.

We burned a candle for her yesterday and we wrote our good-byes. Last night we buried her under the lilac bush near the house. Its marked with a stone and a cross. We only had her for 6 weeks but she was firmly inbedded in our family. In that 6 weeks she was walked twice a day everyday. She slept under Rhiannon's bed every night. She played with all the people working preparing for the wedding. She went to the wedding. She went camping and to the lake. She was a sweet dog without any of the usual puppy vices. No shoes were chewed, no holes dug. She only had to learn to not pee in the house which she had almost mastered. She loved to play, to sit in our laps and she loved people. She loved running with all the nieces and nephews when they were here. She was the most loving sweet dog I have ever met. And she unabashedly and persistently loved Jodi who at first resisted her and then gave in. I see them curled up beside eachother in the back of the car when we camped. Or on the porch. Jodi even let her share her territory under the table which she shares with no other animal or small child. They say a puppy makes an old dog older but Iris made Jodi younger. I see them running ahead of me through the field to start our walks. Iris running circles around Jodi nipping at her tail and Jodi making the dog laughing sound and twisting around to get her. So happy - both of them. She was a little perfect drop of joy and love in our lives.

Right now there is an unbearably big hole in our life where she was. Right now we are missing her terribly.

Checking In

Oh, I have lots to say but not time to say it. Less than three weeks until the wedding now (20 days) and there is so much still to do. I wonder how I will get it all done! Every second of my day is full. The only reason I have time to write right now is because I am waiting for the puppy to finish eating before I take her with me to move the electric sheep pen. Wait a minute! What's that, you ask? Yes, at this insane time we got a puppy... She's a border collie X Australian shepherd. She is Jodi's apprentice. Jodi is 13 years old now - my soul sister - and not as able as she once was. This winter arthritis really started to hamper her left back leg. So we have been looking and thinking about puppies for awhile. I was astounded to find mutts going for $300- $400 and pure breeds upwards of $1000. So we have been keeping our eye out for the right dog - believing that the right dog would come for a price we could afford.

Then the last time I was at Briteland picking up chicken feed, there on the back of the delivery door was a sign saying "Border Collie X Australian Shepherd puppies born in March $150". I took the number and called right away. But the woman was out of town so we had to wait a couple of days but I did find out that there were 2 dogs left. She got back on Wednesday so while Rhiannon was in tap class, Dean and I took Jodi (for approval) and went out to the reserve to see this dog. We drove up, opened the door of the car and she barrelled towards us. We were hooked. The other dog was a male that they had decided to keep. She is almost all black with just a wee white tuft on her chest, under her chin and on two of her toes.

She was for Rhiannon to take over Jodi's duties. When we got home Rhiannon was already there but in the bathroom. She came out to see the little black face. They are fast bonded already. The little black pup has been named Iris and she shows all the signs of being a smart, easy-to-train dog. Except for the potty training so far. She lived her life outside where she was born and we are still working on the whole where to go to the bathroom thing.

So there is your bit of news. Likely you'll be able to meet Iris at the wedding she is almost 3 months old so not a wee pup (Jodi was only 6 weeks old when we got her). Jodi is gruffly tolerating her and enjoying the extra attention she gets as we make sure we are 'fair'. The cats are all hissy but we think they'll warm up. I have pictures but I don't have time to upload them right now. So you'll have to wait.

Off to work now....