Who Needs Sleep Anyway?!

If Joan were a real friend, she would have reminded me more strongly that I swore off breeding berners after Halo's stressful delivery. But instead she allowed me to go ahead with Cadi and next thing you know -- not enough sleep for over four straight months. This is all Joan's fault -- I should make her take Jamaica!

The puppies are actually doing relatively well at night and sleep until 3:30 or 4, and then are willing to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, after letting all dogs out to potty and sitting up while Cadi nurses so I can let her out of the puppy pen when they are done, my brain is not so willing to return to dreamland. I suspect the sleep deprivation is part of nature's plan, just like the adorable faces that help with puppy and baby survival -- if it wasn't so hard to have all these puppies, we might do this more often and never let them leave! So while I am not happy they leave in 1.5 weeks, I am looking forward to sleeping again! Any one who thinks having a litter of puppies is fun and games needs to spend 24 hours at our house this week :)

But yes, they are extremely adorable -- more so than yesterday! Joan came over last night and can verify that both Sydney and Toronto have been secretly watching the movie Jaws. They sit there, looking adorable (that part is very not shark-like), and then launch at your face! It is like a snake strike, only less graceful and more fluffy.

In contrast, Geneva finds the warmest lap and settles in to nap and look especially adorable. And Jamaica now has competition from Ireland, whose bark is even more shrill! Yes, life with eight puppies in the middle of winter is an adventure!

In addition to Joan, her husband and two of his work colleagues stopped by last night. One them was holding Hudson, looking at his face and said (and I quote): "oh, you are very cute -- and you know it." The other puppies looked at each other in a knowing way -- Hudson may need to go in to isolation for his own protection!


Toronto is also a very handsome boy, and as Joan said, he is all boy!


Sydney wonders if this look is enough to have someone say she is cuter than Hudson?


Don't be fooled by sleeping puppies! They look sweet and innocent but are very much like what Kate's dad says about her: cute but evil! This is Toronto and Hudson.


Joan, having gotten wise to the plan, protects herself from Sydney's evil but cute plan.


Sigh -- Hudson on a slipper.


Did you have one sibling that was so good s/he made the rest of you look bad? In my family, it was my sister, Christine -- and she is still amazingly nice and wonderful -- sigh. Anyway, in this litter, it is Geneva -- she is our Christine.


Here is one of our visitors cuddling with Whitby.


And another visitor getting help with her zipper.

Okay, time to meet another Glitterati family! I got an email with the subject: Desperately Seeking Versatility Berner and that was how I met Barb. I appreciate cleverness, and so Barb and I communicated about what she wanted and what she offered and so on, and now she is getting a show girl from this litter! Barb is the one who endured 16+ hours in the car plus one speeding ticket to come over for a few hours to meet us this past weekend, and we are excited to have her join our Kaibab family. Here is her intro:

"We are Barb and Keith LeTourneau from Leadville, Colorado.(We are only 30 miles from Frisco, Colorado where Jon and his F litter puppy Homer live!) I am a surgery nurse and Keith is a water technician at the Climax mine. We have 5 grown children, 2 Berners age 4 and 4 1/2, and 3 cats. I am enclosing a picture of us at our land in Walsenberg, Colorado where we hope to retire some day. [note from M-A -- I couldn't get the picture to upload but it is lovely!] We live right in the Rockies at 10,000 feet. We get tons of snow 300+ inches-great mountain dog climate. This is a dog friendly place- the dogs know all the shops downtown that give treats. We hike and snowshoe with them and in nice weather take them swimming in Turquoise Lake. We work opposite shifts so someone is always home-good for puppy training.

We are interested in drafting, obedience, rally and just working with our dog. We also hope to show the dog to a conformation title in pursuit of a versatility dog title. We worked with one of our other dogs in drafting and got a CGC until he was sidelined by several orthopedic surgeries. He is still a happy dog and goes on two walks a day with us.

After spending over $10,000 on orthopedic surgeries I became very interested in researching breeders who kept thorough records on their dogs health. I spent a lot of time going to shows, talking to people, reading the Berner-L and surfing the Berner-guarde data base before coming to the conclusion that Mary-Ann was my #1 choice of breeders. I wrote to her thinking I would maybe get on a list and be lucky to get a dog in a couple years but fate was on my side. She has the all around Berner that I was looking for and is willing to let me live my dream of getting a versatility title. My husband is my constant support in this.

I got to meet the puppies last weekend-they are ALL gorgeous and I would be happy to have any one of them. They were very interactive-Galen let me into the pen and as I sat down they all woke up and rushed over to climb on my lap. I really enjoyed just watching them play and snuggle with Kate, Cali, Aiden and Kate's other girlfriend. They are very well socialized. Jamaica and Hudson both barked like big dogs! I was excited about them before but now that I've met them I can't stop talking about them and am counting the days.

We are still working on a G name which do you like best??

Glory of Love
Goin' Up the Country
Gold Rush in Silver City(Leadville is called Silver City, Cloud City and Oro City-so it could be gold rush in any of those-I thought it was glittery)
Great Spirit
Good Luck Charm
Guardian Angel
Great Divide
Goin All Out
Gonna Have A Ball
Greatest Show on Earth

Those are the top ten--maybe you blog readers can tell me which you like??

Thanks,
Barb"

Okay, I will set up a poll for Barb's name ideas and please vote!

I vote that you have a G for Great Day -- thanks for visiting and being part of our Glitterati community!