Big Excitement!

Today Sydney started going to the front door when she wants to go potty! That is indeed Big Excitement in my book :)

Can you believe it was ten weeks ago that the Glitterati arrived? A ten week old puppy is still such a baby and yet there is so much they are having to learn. In the past two weeks those little babies had to leave their family and join a new one. They had to begin to learn all kinds of skills -- about peeing, biting, coming when called (or not), where to sleep, who to love, what to chew (or not) and so on -- and they have to do all this while still such a small little creature. It is a wonder that their little heads do not explode!

It sounds like all the Glitter puppies are doing well and honoring the Puppy Job Description -- do you remember that from October? Here it is again:

"Puppies must be cute and fluffy, capable of melting the stoniest heart. The puppy must scamper playfully, sleep soundly, and be very happy and excited about everything. Must love people, other dogs, cats, and their mother. Must be capable of peeing every 30 minutes, preferably away from the designated potty area. Must love pine cones, sticks, grass, flowers, bugs, toys of all kinds, water bottles, the wind, and everything else on the planet. Those wishing to be puppies must have sharp teeth and good biting skills, and be willing to exercise those skills at all times and on all objects and people. Must have a repertoire of cute sounds, including barking, growling and whining. Must be able to sustain whining for at least 30 minutes and preferably between 2 and 3 a.m. Must be capable of eating every 12 minutes and exhibiting all signs of starvation ten minutes after eating. Must jump on people playfully, lick innocently and bite wickedly. Must grow by leaps and bounds and scampers!"

Sometimes we forget that puppies are not small dogs -- they are babies. So many of the things they do are exactly what they should be doing given their stage in life, and we cannot and should not punish a puppy for being who and what they are. In fact, we should learn from them about authenticity!

I thought you might enjoy seeing an F Litter girl -- this is Maya (Darby) who lives in Virginia. She looks so much like her older full sister, Asia, to me.


Grandma Cindy sent this cute picture of Glitterati Mika (Ireland) now living in California with John and Kristine.


And now some pictures from Sydney's afternoon -- first on the agenda was getting a bath from the Assistant Feline Puppy Nanny, Karma.


All clean from her bath, Sydney enjoys some girl talk with her sleepy cousin, Asia.


Finally, Sydney settles in for a nap, thankful for such a soft and patient big cousin.


I hope you are enjoying being who and what you are, but hopefully that does not involve biting anyone or peeing on the rug!!

A Little Bit of News

Things are settling down nicely here in Montana. We still cannot drive the van to the house but have gotten used to driving the big truck the three miles to the van. The electrician found "loose connections" and repaired those so I think we are safe. And it is supposed to be above freezing during the day for the next week -- maybe some of the ice will melt?!

Specialty Training Week One has gone very well. I am very happy with how well Zoey is tracking and added a turn to today's track, which she did without trouble. I met all of Cadi's training goals -- five days of obedience, three days of agility, and two days of tracking! How can I accomplish so much?? Consider that there is not that much to do out here! I work, hang out with Galen, hike with the dogs and train them. I will make some adjustments in Week Two and get ready to check off more little boxes :)

This is a picture I took this evening from our deck as the sun was going down -- isn't it lovely?


Now that Cadi and Sydney have reached an agreement to stop nursing, they are playing more together. Here is Cadi, Sydney and Zoey having a three way tug with a toy.
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Sydney went to work again today and also did two little hikes so she is tired. Actually, I think she is just resting up so she can be our 3:30 a.m. wake up call again tomorrow -- sigh...


Did I already mention Maize's news? I do not think so... Maize had ten puppies in two litters -- all ten have been evaluated for hips and elbows. All ten cleared hips and 8/10 cleared elbows -- a very good rate for each (although we wish the elbows were 100% also). In addition, Molly (human, age 13) and Fiona (Maize's daughter) earned an agility title this past weekend, and that made four working titled offspring for Mrs. Maize -- so she is a Top Producer of Working Titled Dogs! Maize is the Glitterati Grandma so you can see those puppies have good stuff behind them :)

I hope you have things to celebrate -- if nothing seems obvious, keep looking because there is always something!

Sydney's First Day of School

Sydney spent the day at my office at the university and her Auntie Heidi even took her lunch break when I taught so she could puppy sit! Sydney met all kinds of new people and did a great job.

In addition to people, Sydney loves her cats! Karma pushed a pen off the counter so that Sydney could chew on it -- isn't she nice?!


Worn out from her busy day, Sydney uses Noah as a soft pillow.


And Sue sent this lovely picture of Ruben (formerly Hudson) -- isn't he handsome?? He is probably wondering what happened to all the snow!


I certainly hope you are having a wonderful day, filled with good friends!

Social Sydney and Specialty Plans

It was a lovely day here! The water ran, no smoke from electrical sockets, the truck is not stuck, and the blue sky and bright sun made the snow look like a field of diamonds. Yes, it was cold but at least it was above zero! I walked all the dogs, tracked with three of them, set up the training room downstairs and practiced one jump agility and some obedience with Cadi. For my efforts I was able to check off quite a few little boxes on the sheet titled, "Specialty Training, Week One" that is prominently featured on the frig.

The National Specialty is a Big Deal to me, and I like to do well with my dogs. That is easier when one has just a couple of dogs, but suddenly I find myself with SIX and that is a bit overwhelming -- so I decided I must be organized if I am to achieve my Specialty goals.

The first thing I did was goal setting. I sat down and wrote out my goals for each dog, and then I reflected on what was realistic and revised them a bit. Based on the goals, I set up a training schedule for the week and will do this each week until the Specialty. Let me give you an example -- Cadi-Bug will be in Novice B obedience, agility, the TDX test (if she gets in), rally, and possibly draft. If she has coat back, she will also do the whole beauty pageant thing but that doesn't require much in the way of training.

So, for this week (I started on Friday so the week goes Friday - Friday) Cadi has to track twice, do five days of obedience, and three days of agility. I never practice for rally so that is not on the schedule and if I do draft, we will just practice for 4 -5 weeks prior so that is also not on the schedule. We are doing well -- the two tracking boxes are already checked off, three obedience boxes are checked, and one agility box is checked -- pretty good considering it is barely ten degrees here and it is only Monday night.

And so each dog has a training goal for the week -- well, the dog doesn't but I do FOR the dog :) Even Zoey is on the schedule -- she has to track three times a week and already two of her three boxes are checked off! I cannot decide what to do with my life but by golly, I can check off boxes :)

The semester starts tomorrow, and Galen has his first day of classes. I will miss the peace of mind that a Puppy Nanny provides and still cannot believe he is choosing college over a life as a Puppy Nanny -- clearly I did not raise him well enough :( Sydney is going to work with me and will hang in my office for some of the time, and sleep in her crate in the van the rest of the time. I am planning to make her a therapy dog and so got permission for her to sometimes come to work -- she starts tomorrow :)

Sydney is quite social, and she really likes the other dogs in the family. In this first picture she is chilling with her grandma Maize.


And in this picture Sydney is cuddling up with her cousin, Asia.


I sure hope you have someone -- two or four legged -- to cuddle up with, and that instead of endless snow you see the field of glittering diamonds :)

Windy Fun

Here is nine week old Sydney showing what fun can be had with a plastic bag and a good, stiff wind...

Good Question

Kaibab's Good Question would have been an excellent G litter name! But it isn't -- it is just the topic of today, based on an email that I got from Carol, who always asks such good questions.

The question of the day is that given all I seem to have in Salt Lake City, why Montana? Why not stay put in Utah? This is a question I ask myself a lot.

After teaching part-time for the many years I was in school, I got my first full-time faculty position at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. I spent three happy years there but wanted to go west, since that is where I am from, and so I took a position at the University of Utah. I immediately knew it had been a mistake -- but I cannot really say that because so many good things came from my time in Utah. But I will say that the "climate" at the School of Social Work was not a good one and I could tell that right away.

Things went okay for a few years as we had a wonderful administration who kept things balanced but suddenly they all moved on or retired and a new Dean came in who did not understand the unique dynamics of the school -- it was a disaster, and especially for me, who had enjoyed the protection and good will of former administrators.

I went from Golden to dust in a matter of months, and left disillusioned and heartbroken over the loss of what had been a fast moving career; I also sued the School and the University. The lawsuit was about making certain such things never happened to anyone else -- they leveled me and I am hard to level. They made changes, we eventually settled the lawsuit in a way that I was satisfied with, and I felt good about fighting for justice without being vengeful; even a lawsuit can be character building :)

But the grief I felt and the disillusionment were incredibly profound and really took a toll on me and my whole family. Academics can be so dirty and wrong -- I have since called that university the University of Evil, which does not thrill Kim, who graduated from there :)

As I was licking my wounds, a position opened up at the pediatric hospital two miles away -- they needed someone to start a bereavement program. And so I started working there, helping people who were even more broken and sad than I was -- and I healed.

Kim and I had married and were raising our combination family -- we could not move so that I could take another faculty position and truthfully, I was so burned that I was not sure I wanted to ever step foot in another university. But time helps a lot and when BYU asked me to teach part-time, I hung up the phone and cried because I felt like I had been invited to come home.

And even in my clinical position I kept doing research and in so many ways acted like the academic I wasn't -- and was. I loved my clinical work at the hospital but I always felt like a round peg in a square hole -- it was where I needed to be to learn all the lessons I needed to learn, but it was not "me", if that makes sense.

Finally the kids were all graduated and I started looking for faculty positions -- my number one criteria: the people have to be nice. A close second was that it had to be in a place where we wanted to live -- west, smaller town, rural so we could have land.

The University of Montana fit my requirements and offered me a very nice package -- just one problem -- Kim had been promoted. He needs to work three years at his higher rank to maximize the promotion in his pension. He could move today but it would cost us a good amount of money for the rest of our lives. I do not care and want him to move now, but respect his desire to realize the full benefits of his promotion (okay, most of the time I feel that way ;).

And so that is why I am in Montana and he is in Utah, and this will continue for 14 more months unless I just cannot stand it and insist he move here or I go back there. My wonderful job is here and my wonderful community is there -- and therein lies the dilemma. Would I feel differently if Kim were here? If I were more settled and did not have a foot in two places?

When I am in Utah, I want to stay there but when I come back up to Montana, I want to stay here -- see the problem?! As I was driving to/from the Invitational in December I was wrestling with this whole thing, and in the end I decided not to decide but just to write the book -- I am not sure exactly how they are related but I have learned to trust process.

I never in a million years thought that having my career blow up in my face would be a good thing -- but it was and I am better in every way because of it. So many of the best experiences of our lives come because fate or God or whatever pried our fingers from that which we held so tightly and booted us into the abyss. Once the tears and panic stop, you see a whole new world and if you are open to it, a new way of being -- and then the gratitude comes and you are not quite so scared the next time you find yourself in what seems like an impossible place. I guess one of the best things I have learned is Trust -- and so I sit here on the mountain trusting that everything will be okay and likely better than okay -- no matter what happens.

So no answers to Carol's inquiry but now you better understand why it is such a Good Question :) What do you think I should do? Maybe I should start a poll :)

Where we live in Montana is not brutally cold but this morning we have wicked winds and so the wind chill is bitter. I knew this was coming and so had some stuffed frozen kongs and bones ready for indoor chewing this morning. Everyone started with their own and look at this picture of Halo-- there is a political message in this, I am sure :)


Zoey is such a sweet, wonderful girl -- I love the temperaments of the Halo/Zack kids and Zoey certainly reminds me why I feel that way. Here she is chewing on the tracking line that Asia won last year at the Specialty -- she doesn't hurt it and it makes her happy so whatever :)


And here is Zoey again, being chewed on by cute Sydney! Remember there is just 2.5 months between the girls -- isn't it amazing how they grow?


I hope your Sunday is a warm, happy one and provides you with ample opportunities for gratitude!

More Montana Adventures

At the risk of assuring that none of my friends ever want to move to Montana, I want to share my latest adventure and also some pictures of the girls.

So far this week we had three days of no water, smoke pouring from an unused electrical socket, the van three miles away and a landlord who -- well -- is testing my character. Yesterday the four wheel drive truck that I bought -- even though the aforementioned landlord assured me that I did not need four wheel drive -- got solidly stuck in our own driveway. I dug, I put traction sand down, and I cried -- to no avail.

Some things are best just left for a new day and so that is what I did -- just left the stuck truck stuck and hoped we did not have an emergency. This morning I put rugs under the tires and tried again -- nothing. And so I trudged up the hill to a neighbor I have never met and asked for help and ten minutes later he came over in his big old truck -- with chains on the tires -- and got the stuck truck unstuck. I congratulated him on being someone's hero today.

The landlord was on her way over with an "electrician" whose name she has not given me even though I have asked twice. I decided that it was best for all involved if I left -- especially after I took a hard tumble on ice and thought even more uncharitable thoughts about her, as if even that was now her fault. And so the puppies and I headed off to town to do some shopping, and that is sometimes better than cookie dough, although a bit more expensive.

The landlord told Galen that I had overloaded the circuit, which just is not the case and besides wouldn't that just cause the circuit to blow rather than pour smoke out an unused socket??! (thanks to Elizabethanne for pointing that out). Another electrician is coming on Tuesday -- one I have spoken with so know he is a real electrician -- and so I intend to have a good conversation with him about things.

So, we have running water, we have not burned down, and the truck is no longer stuck -- things are looking up, wouldn't you say?


This is where the truck was stuck, which explains why we have throw rugs in the snow.


This is a beautiful sight -- the unstuck truck!


Yes, it is hard up here but look at how beautiful -- this is Zoey right behind the house.


Here is Sydney at nine weeks old -- she weighs 17 pounds now and is a fun, easy puppy.


And here she is again -- striking a pose.

I suspect I am supposed to learn something from all this but wonder if I could skip the lessons and know what it is?! So far I have learned that I hate renting, miss my house, my husband, my friends, and the paved streets with those wonderful snow plow drivers. But the darkest of winters is always followed by a spring, and so we just hang in there and wait for things to change -- because they always do. Soon the hillside will be covered with wildflowers and all this will just be a really funny story....

Good Karma and Wallowing

How is it that I come across cats that so love dogs?! These are pictures of Karma -- the cat that I picked up at a Barstow, California gas station in December.


This is Sydney getting a bath from Karma.

Once Sydney was done, Karma moved on to Halo...



I guess it is also rather unusual that I have dogs that so enjoy cats. I attribute this to the fact that every dog we have has been raised by the Feline Puppy Nanny, Noah, who apparently recruited an assistant in Karma.



When we were out to dinner in Utah this past weekend with Ireland and Cooper's new families (and Cali and Kate, who we miss very much) we counted up the Kaibab dogs we expect at this year's national Specialty: SEVENTEEN! This includes five F Litter puppies; the Glitterati will be too young to compete but maybe Cooper, Ruben and Sydney could come just to say hey to their friends :) I suspect we would have many willing puppy sitters!

This has been a challenging week for sure. Sometimes it is easy for me to dismiss how I am feeling because I so well know that others have it so much worse. While perspective is a good thing, it is also okay to feel rotten and sad about one's own trials -- even as we recognize that others have it much worse. I am not other people -- I am just me -- and so these are my trials and I find acknowledging how I am feeling allows me to feel it -- and then move on. Fighting with ourselves about how we honestly feel just gets in the way -- sometimes you just need to wallow and eat cookie dough in order to get on with things. Doesn't seem like it would make sense or work -- but it does :) Unfortunately my mixer is in Utah so no cookie dough but a little wallowing is good for the soul -- I feel much better, and that is helpful because today's trouble was smoke pouring out of an unused electrical socket... and did I mention the mixer is in Utah?!

Isn't life just one opportunity for growth after another?!!!

Water!

Water was finally restored this afternoon -- I have never been so grateful to wash dishes! No water is just one of the issues -- I cannot drive the van up the ice covered road and so it remains parked nearly three miles away and I use the big truck to go back/forth to the van. I have been stuck several times in the truck on our driveway and there is a two foot mound of iced snow in front of the door to the house that we have to climb over to get in and out. This is particularly fun with a small puppy who is being house trained. But at least we have water again and thank goodness for the big, old four wheel drive truck. Winter does not last forever -- I need to remind myself of this frequently.

Sydney is adjusting well. Her housetraining is coming along nicely. If she is not loose -- which she is a lot -- she is in an x-pen that still has a potty zone as she is too little to "hold it" for any length of time. She also sleeps in her x-pen, and is doing relatively well with that. She is having fun stalking cats, eating snow, biting Zoey and Faith, playing tug with Asia, and chasing Cadi around to grab a snack.


This evening Sydney took a break from biting at Cadi's tail to let me take this picture.


And here is Sydney with her long suffering grandma, Maize.

I have heard from all of the new owners and the puppies are doing so well! Rock Star aka Ruben (Hudson) met Nancy Stewart today and she was complimentary of him. Cooper (Whitby) went to Alex's class for his birthday and did a great job meeting all the kids. Zaida (Jamaica) went to see her vet who could not hear any heart murmur so that is great news. Mika (Ireland) looks to be having fun in California -- I got to see some great pictures of her.

I hope you have running water and that you appreciate that fact!

Last but Not Least and Running Water

We traveled to Montana yesterday and met Gail at a rest stop, making me feel as if I was engaged in a drug deal instead of sending off the last puppy to his new family! Sutton is now Murphy, and you can see from this picture that it was a good match :)



The rest of the evening went downhill quickly. We live in a rented house/cabin outside of Missoula. A plumber who was to fix a broken pipe yesterday could not do the job because the plumping is not to code and so what was to be a simple task is a bigger one as a result. They can fix it on Thursday but in the meantime we have no water. The landlord may be able to get it handled sooner -- let's hope.

We knew this in advance so had stopped to buy water, but the next problem was that we could not drive up the road to the house. The landlord had assured me prior to renting the house that I did not need four wheel drive -- well, let's just say that it is true if one does not mind hiking almost a mile in the dark, which I do. And so St. Heidi came up in her dad's big truck and drove me to the house to get my big truck that I bought after all the people who live out here laughed when I told them what the landlord said about not needing four wheel drive.

In the dark -- and unless you live in the country you have no concept of dark -- and the ice, we ferried all dogs and cats and water and "stuff" to the house in the truck, and then left the van 2.5 miles away. I was not having warm and happy thoughts about Montana or the landlord or any of this, as you might imagine.

So Heidi saved the day and we all made it in one piece. I miss Kim, running water, street lights, central heat, and my driveway. This morning I am not feeling like this particular adventure is what I want to do with my life, and I think the first step is to try and find a new place to live...

On a happier note, Sydney is adjusting well and appreciates having the whole Dairy Bar to herself!

Temperament Tests

Edie gave her permission to re-post the temperament tests so they are on YouTube. She wanted me to mention that if anyone has any questions about how/why she does testing you may write to her directly at: malboys@comcast.net

I have re-posted most of them and will do the rest as time permits.

It sounds like the Glitterati who are in new homes are doing well. Joan will be by this morning to pick up Toronto, as I mentioned, and then we will head for Montana, meeting Gail along the way to deliver Sutton. The weather looks good and Heidi has done a great job taking care of our house in Montana (BIG THANKS TO HER). I am sad to leave Kim, other family and friends, and Utah, as you might imagine, and the weeks have flown by. But to leave is my path and so off we go on yet another adventure -- how grateful I am to have options and adventures in my life!

Have a wonderful, appreciative day.

A Time of Transitions

No matter your political inclinations, I hope you are able to appreciate living in a time of historical significance as we begin the process of transitioning to a new president -- a man who could not even have voted in the not so distant past. It is a reminder to all of us that we live in a constantly changing and evolving world, and I look forward to a time when others who live without fundamental rights can have their day in history.

My grandfather was a well known historian and professor -- first at Princeton and then at Berkeley. When I was about 12 I remember asking him what history was, and he answered that it was anything that happened in the past. I told him that I had dropped my pencil yesterday and so was that history? I still smile at his answer: "yes, but it is not very interesting history."

Each of us creates our own history -- by dropping pencils or becoming president. That history is uniquely ours and yet touches the lives of others, and so we do not make our personal histories in a vacuum. Our Glitterati are becoming part of other people's life stories -- or personal histories. They won't show up on CNN or FOX, but that does not make them any less significant. The beauty of history is -- I suppose -- that we get to decide what is interesting and what is not. I think creating puppies that will go on to become part of another family's history is an honor, and that the opportunity to blend my life story with other people is a unique privilege that the puppies have created for me.

Last night I was thinking how grateful I am for the friendships I have made through the dogs. Cindy arrived last night with John and Kristine, and I was once again struck with how easy our friendship is -- she is like a sister to me. Cali and Kate went to dinner with us, and I drove home thinking about how grateful I am to have had a chance to become friends with Cali and Armand, who are such wonderful people -- and the chance to see other people's children grow up is such a special joy. And the new families we are welcoming into our lives -- how exciting to be building relationships with such special people. The puppies have given all of us the opportunity to blend histories with people we would have not otherwise met, and so once again I am reminded that it is not "just" a dog.

But we are down to "just" four -- the puppy formerly known as Whitby and now Cooper left early this morning to make his way to a new life in Oregon. The puppy formerly known as Ireland and now Mika will leave later this morning for her new life in California. Tomorrow morning Joan will arrive early to take the puppy formerly and currently known as Toronto (aka T-Town) to his new life a few miles away from our Salt Lake City home, and then the rest of us head for Montana to continue creating our unique and personal histories. It is definitely a bittersweet time -- a time of stark transitioning.


Here is my long-suffering husband who definitely deserves an award for being such a great guy! He is holding Hudson (now Ruben) and Sutton.


This is Whitby (now Cooper) and his new family -- Ralph, Jennifer and Alex. The two other kids are home in Oregon waiting to meet Cooper.


John and Kristine were very happy to finally meet their new little girl -- the puppy formerly known as Ireland and now Mika.


This is Jennifer and Alex yesterday as we all visited with the puppies.


While Sue from Arizona was bundled up in sixteen layers and still shivering, Armand demonstrates climate acclimation.


And here they are -- the Glitterati at eight weeks with members of their fan club.

As we make our way through life, writing the pages of our personal histories with all the drama and joy and sorrow that life contains, we all definitely need a fan club. We need people who think what we do is interesting, and who answer our questions, celebrate our joys and share our sorrows -- I hope you have such a contingent and if not, that you will work on creating one. Thank you for being part of the history of the Glitterati -- you are appreciated.

Transitions

We are getting ready to hand off puppies to their new families -- once again a reminder that joy and sadness are the two sides of life's coin. Some pictures...


Kay and Sue will be taking Rock Star home to live with his great-uncle Riley and his uncle Dillon; Hudson's new name is Ruben.


This is from Thursday -- but I think it might be my most favorite of Cali and Kate.


This is also from Thursday - this is Joan with her puppy, Toronto. Joan promises to have a name for him when she gets back from her weekend in New Mexico.


This is Jamaica with her new family -- Barb and Keith. She will also soon have a new name -- Lucy?


Hudson -- now Ruben -- was quite tired from all the fun of meeting his new family and fell fast asleep in the food bowl!

Interesting Website

http://dogtime.com/cesar-millan-and-ian-dunbar.html

Temperament Tests and etc.

I took down the temperament tests because it made Edie, the tester, a little embarrassed :) I am going to make DVD's for the Glitterati owners and if anyone else wants one, please send me a private email (msontag@qwest.net).

Kay and Sue arrive at about 2 today and Liz will be here a couple of hours later. Joan is seriously bummed as she had a trip planned this weekend so she will miss seeing everyone else. Tomorrow we have three puppy families arriving from three different states, and the first two puppies will leave. On Sunday three more puppies will leave, and then Joan will pick up Toronto on Monday morning and Galen and I will head back to Montana with the gang. Sutton, who will be going to live with Gail in Montana, will be traveling with us.

This all seems a little unreal to me -- it has been months and months of pregnancy and puppies. Since my main reason for being involved with berners is not to make more of them, this has been a long stretch of relative inactivity in the things that I enjoy doing the most with the dogs. That is not to say it has not been a very special time with its own rewards and blessings, but I am anxious to get back to "normal" life.

I will post pictures tonight.

Countdown

It is hard to believe that the Glitterati are nearly eight weeks old and getting ready to leave for their new homes. Several of you have asked if I will continue to write the Blog. I have decided to use this Blog as "Recent News" for our website so yes, I will maintain the Blog but I will not write every day and I will also not just write about the Glitterati. Thanks to those of you who have so loyally followed our Blog and helped create such a caring Glitterati community :)

Our wonderful Utah vet, Dr. Kris, came over this morning. All puppies received a thorough health check and their first vaccine -- a parvo/distemper only combo. She found a very, very slight ejection heart murmur in Jamaica -- she rated it as 0.5 out of 5. It is her opinion that it is innocent and that she will outgrow it, but I have shared the information with Barb so she can make an informed decision about whether to take Jamaica. There were no other issues identified with any puppy.

I talked to her about additional vaccinations as some new owners' vets have asked about them. Dr. Kris is not a hippy, holistic vet (that is not bad! she just isn't one) -- she is a moderate traditional vet. She does not believe any additional vaccinations are warranted and was especially surprised that some vets strongly advised the adenovirus. We talked about the Lepto vaccine -- she does not recommend or use that either. The incidence of vaccination reaction is very high with that, and she worries about secondary reactions involving the immune system later down the road. Finally, I asked about the use of glucosamine with puppies -- she stated that it has not been proven safe or unsafe in puppies, and so she would not recommend it; she does recommend fish oil.


Very handsome Toronto will be making his home with Joan.


This is our sweet Sydney -- she highly recommends new owners bring bully sticks for puppies and a present for the Puppy Nanny ;)


This very adorable Ireland is going to get spoiled by Grandma Cindy and grudgingly tolerated by Grandpa Vic -- she will be John and Kristine's little girl.


This is Rock Star saying "hey" to his Aunt Heidi, who wants to steal him and nibble on his cute head.


The litter sweetheart -- Geneva.


Here is Dr. Kris checking out Ireland.

It is time to meet our last family! Many of you have enjoyed getting to know Liz, Sam and especially their many emotioned pug :) Although they live in Illinois, I was able to meet Sam and Liz in November when they were here so that Liz could check out the University of Utah. I am sure you will agree with me that they are a perfect family for a sweet Glitterati puppy:

"Hi everyone! We are Liz & Sam and we currently live in Urbana, Illinois. Sam works as a systems analyst for USA Today and Liz is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology. We moved all the way from Orlando, Florida two years ago for Liz to pursue her doctoral work. Liz works with people who have experienced many kinds of challenges, but she is especially interested in working with people who have experienced trauma and also working as a social justice activist (We both got to attend the Proposition 8 Protest in Salt Lake City when we were visiting in November!). Liz is really excited about getting involved with therapy dog work and taking her future therapy dog to VA hospitals to work with veterans. Liz and Sam would also like to pursue draft/carting work with their future Glitterati family member and have already gotten started in our draft/carting work reading! In our spare time, we love to go to parks, lakes, and beaches with Kiko (our pug), read, play board games, ride bicycles, volunteer at our local Bike Collective and Food Co-op, travel, cook, enjoy time with friends, go to social justice events and protests, and dance!

We are fairly new to berners and feel grateful to Mary-Ann for believing in us and for trusting us with one of her precious little ones. As many of you know we've been a pug and cat family up until recently with Kiko the 'many emotioned' pug, Lilith the cat, and Mr. Bentley who is forever in our hearts. Last April Mr. Bentley crossed over the Rainbow Bridge and we have missed him dearly. He was a very special little guy who came to us as a rescue through our pug play group in Orlando, Florida. He and Kiko got along famously and we all (including Kiko) went through a long grieving period last spring/summer.

Over time we started our search for a new family member, and when we stumbled upon the Bernese Mountain Dog breed we were immediately smitten with their beauty, history, and well-known gentle temperaments. As we learned more about the breed through going to dog shows and talking to breeders, joining the Berner-L and other listservs, and reading from the BMDCA website it became more and more clear this was the right breed for us. We wanted to "try out" living with a large dog while also helping a rescue dog so we got involved with BARC (a Bernese Mountain Dog rescue group). Pretty soon we received our first charge of fostering a six year old berner girl named Carly. Carly was as sweet as they come, but she had never lived inside before and didn't know much about eating good foods or housetraining. We applied patience and love to her care and were surprised at how resilient she was and how fast she learned. Carly spent about six weeks with us before getting adopted and going on to her forever home. The experience was wonderful and we began looking more seriously into berner breeders. We were really impressed with Mary-Ann's thoughtful posts to the Berner-L and contacted her to learn more about her and her breeding program. In November, we visited Salt Lake City and met Mary-Ann, Kim, Jake, Cassie, Zoey, and Asia. Of course, all of our research and reading was confirmed when we got to spend some time with them and we feel very lucky and blessed to be given this important charge of being Glitterati parents!

We started a blog and hope to keep it going with the adventures of Kiko and his new baby sister: www.pugandberner.blogspot.com. Right now it has a little history about Kiko and a dedication to Mr. Bentley Fartbottom. Feel free to check it out and follow the adventures to come!"

Liz arrives tomorrow and on Saturday will be flying home with the perfect little therapy dog -- Geneva :) We are very happy to welcome Sam and Liz and their crew to the Kaibab family.

I certainly hope you are choosing to have a joyful day, no matter what is going on in your life. Thanks for your visit!

Wet Puppies

Marianne asked about the wet puppies and so I thought I would share these pictures. To me, the most significant criticism of Sydney is that she has more leg under her than Jamaica, and I agree with this. I wanted less leg than Cadi and while both puppies have less leg, Sydney has more than Jamaica. When the puppies are wet, you can see that while she still has more leg, the difference between the two is not that great.

I needed to factor in other things as well. While I would prefer less leg, I like Sydney's front and topline a little better. Jamaica does not have a bad front or a bad topline but I just prefer Sydney's a little more. And Sydney has a more pushy temperament -- while Jamaica is an upbeat puppy and fun, she is also an easy puppy. And so I also needed to consider which puppy really needed to be with me and which one would do better with Barb, who is taking the other show girl.

Watch Sydney's temperament test (Jamaica's will be up soon) and you will see that she is more like a high powered sports car -- they are a lot of fun but not everyone can drive one. Jamaica is also fun but easy -- a convertible perhaps! And so it was not just about what I wanted but how the puzzle pieces best fit together, and luckily for me, it happens that the best way for it all to fit together means that I got the puzzle piece that I wanted.

It is hard to judge puppies from pictures -- I get to see them in real life and so have information about them that is more complete than what words and pictures can do. I got great input from people I trust -- and my final choice disagrees with some and agrees with others. But since I am the one who lives with the choice -- and I mean that literally -- it is appropriate that the choice is mine to make, even as I so appreciate the feedback I received.

So these first two pictures are of the two girls -- first is Sydney and then Jamaica. Keep in mind that it is hard to get good stacked pictures of puppies!





And here are the same two puppies from the front -- Sydney first and then Jamaica.





And this is Rock Star -- he is not a hard puppy to stack or love.


So looking at the pictures, what are your thoughts? And it is perfectly okay for us to disagree -- some of us already have!

What Is Up

What is up here at Puppy Central is a lot of things to do! Joan and I just got back from the eye clinic, where all puppies are confirmed to have eyeballs that work just fine. The puppies had fun trying to remodel the room -- Toronto thought the tile should not be placed at just that angle and so tried to remove it while others moved the garbage can and chewed on the wall. It was not at all stressful for the puppies -- they are such good little babies :) They are now all asleep and await the next adventure, which is the vet coming over tomorrow morning.

The temperament testing was excellent with no surprises. The tester, Edie, has been my training coach for several years and therefore knows all of my dogs, including Abra. This is the fourth litter she has tested for me and so she has a good perspective. She loved the litter. As a group, they are mellow, non-reactive and gentle. The strongest personality in the litter, as I knew, is Sydney. Not only does she look like her mom, but she has a personality like Cadi -- lots of energy, high drive. Hudson is second to her but all of the puppies have wonderful working attitude and all are very sweet, kind puppies. Edie was very complimentary of this litter, calling them consistent and balanced. I am very happy with this litter and think the new owners will love them.

The temperament testing confirmed my choices for puppy placements. Last time I did not reveal my puppy choice until the end, but this time I will start. I have gone back and forth between Jamaica and Sydney. Jamaica was the pick of most people but I consistently leaned towards Sydney. I got both puppies wet last night and that changed the picture (literally) and changed some minds. They are both very nice girls and I would be happy with either of them.

That said, Sydney will be joining our family on a permanent basis. Her registered name will be Kaibab's Going Places and she will remain Sydney, in honor of the Australian connections (Cadi's dad and Cassie, our future daughter-in-law). She will start training for tracking as soon as we get back to Montana, and we will also begin obedience work and training for her career as a Beauty Queen. I am very comfortable and happy with this choice -- it feels like the right one.

There are no pictures today -- I am working on posting more of the temperament test on YouTube. And tomorrow we will meet the last family and then on Friday the new families start arriving!

I hope your eyes are working as well as the puppies and that your temperament is as stellar :) Have a great day and thanks for visiting!

Temperament Test

Sutton's temperament test is on YouTube! I will get others loaded tomorrow but thought you might like to see one...

Busy Week and Another Family

The week is certainly getting busy! This morning we have puppy temperament testing, tomorrow is eye appointments and Thursday morning is the vet home visit. Galen has agreed to go with me to the temperament test so that he can video tape, but it may be too dark inside the building so I cannot promise that we will have video to share. However, I will post later on the results.

It is now nearly impossible to take pictures of the puppies in the morning because they want to be in my lap or somehow attached to me, neither of which makes for good picture taking. Even if someone is looking at me at a reasonable distance away, trying to get a picture before another puppy bites the camera or me is a challenge. And so this is to explain why there are not a lot of pictures this morning :)


This is Whitby. He is a very personable fellow and likes to follow me around and whine at me so that I will pay attention to him. Given that there is no chance I will keep him and therefore I will be his grandma, I feel entitled to spoil him and so of course I reinforce his behavior by petting him :)


I am struggling with the decision of Sydney or Jamaica. I love how much Sydney looks like Cadi...


But Jamaica is adorable as well...


This is extra sweet Sutton -- he is the Geneva of the boys.


This is very pretty Ireland. She and Jamaica are a lot alike in terms of personality.

It is time to review our families and meet another one. You have met the people who are getting show boys: Jennifer and Ralph in Oregon, and Kay and Sue in Arizona. You have met Barb, who is getting either Sydney or Jamaica. Gail and her husband will be taking either Sutton or Toronto. Finally, you met John and Kristine, who will be taking Ireland or Geneva.

I wanted to share how it came about that John and Kristine surprised me with a puppy request. John's mom, Cindy, would have loved to have a puppy and she was working on her wonderful husband. I was trying to assist with these efforts, which caused my husband to say, "you guys need to leave that poor man alone!" Recall that Cindy currently has two Kaibab berners plus her daughter's small dog and an old poodle who had his leg broken by her first Kaibab berner, Cruiser, when she was an exuberant puppy.

However, Vic has temporarily reached his limit of patience and dog hair, and so somehow managed to withstand the pressure; he wants to wait a couple of years before adding another berner to their family. I got a very creative and funny email from him sharing that information -- and then the next day I got an email from yet another Heintzberger with the subject identifying it as Vic's curve ball! I was quite intrigued by this, as you might imagine.

Poor long suffering Vic. Son John was writing to ask to be considered for a puppy and of course I was delighted! John works with his dad and so while Vic is not getting a puppy at his house, he is getting one at work and does anyone want to bet that Grandma Cindy is not going to be having her new furry granddaughter over for visits since they all live within ten minutes of each other!? I am lucky that Vic is such a nice person or he might never speak to me again ;)

I had forgotten to tell you all that when we met John and Kristine but think the whole situation is pretty funny and wanted to share it with you :) So now we are all up to date and if you are good at math, you will see we have two families left to meet. Today we are meeting someone who is not so new to you -- Joan.

I met Joan when she was looking for her first berner and we have been friends ever since. After Joan got Simon, she worried because she recognized that nobody had just one berner and sure enough -- soon she added Bella to her family. When Cadi was a little puppy, Joan announced to me while sitting in the front yard playing with Cadi and her two littermates that she wanted her next berner to be a Cadi puppy -- you just have to know Cadi to understand why Joan and others have said that.

As Joan mentions in her intro, we have worked together for some years now but she is too modest and did not tell you that before we got the palliative care program going, she developed a pediatric and adolescent program at the clinic in Salt Lake that serves homeless families; in fact, they just named the pediatric clinic after her in honor of her years of work there! Joan is a wonderful example of someone who understands the importance of service to others, and I am not alone in admiring and respecting who she is and the work she has done. We are very thrilled that Cadi cooperated and had a perfect boy for Joan and her husband.

You have seen her pictures on the Blog but here is Joan's official intro:

"I met my first Berner some 30 years ago when I was a vet tech at Colorado State University, but it wasn't until 2001 that I got my first, Simon. I met Mary-Ann in the process of finding Simon, and have been grateful on so many levels for our friendship. Simon was a wonderful HUGE berner with a funny sense of humor, so gentle and sweet. He unfortunately harbored all the worrisome genetic predispositions of berners: he was an orthopedic disaster, and died too young at 7 1/2 last May of histiocytic sarcoma.

Bella, from Mary-Ann's B litter, is my second berner. She adores me and is so sweet; my favorite story about Bella is being at the farmer's market with Bella standing face-to-face with a toddler who was screaming in delight and clapping her hands on Bella's face, and Bella stood there with a smile and her tail swinging happily to and fro.

Mary-Ann introduced me to basic obedience, tracking, and carting . I used to show horses many years ago, dressage and hunters, but was so disenchanted with the whole process that I have not rushed headlong into the dog show world (despite Mary-Ann's kind nudges!), but who knows. Kaibab dogs do love to work!

My household includes, besides me and Bella, my husband, Pradip, and 2 kitties, Mousie and Frankie. We live in Salt Lake City next to a small park that is the de facto dog park of my neighborhood, so we have built in twice daily socialization with usually a few of about a dozen regular dogs. Salt Lake City is a great city, as cities go, to get to the mountains and foothills for hikes, which is one of my "balancers". I am a palliative care pediatrician, which means I work with kids with life-threatening illnesses and their families, helping them with things like medical decision making, psychosocial and spiritual distress, and symptom management at the end of life.

A mutual desire to improve care for dying children is another thing that binds Mary-Ann and I together, and in fact it was on a dog walk with Mary-Ann when Bella and Halo were little pups that we discovered this shared passion, and the seed of my current life work was planted and nurtured. I am glad to have had Mary-Ann as a colleague in clinical work and research ever since. I love my work, and don't harbor other people's grief, but I must find lots of those "balancers" to keep me, well, balanced - things like hiking with dogs! So, I have great expectations for my Glitterati pup - help me stay centered, be a friend to Bella, work as a therapy dog, and maybe open that door to dog showing a little wider! Hey - how about Kaibab's Great Expectations? Call name Pip? I don't know... think I need to know who I'm naming first!

I have learned so much from Mary-Ann, about dogs, integrity, relationships. Imagine getting to work with her every day, like I did for a few years! I have been lucky enough to be of some help delivering both the F and G litters, and in other tiny ways like going along to eye exam appointments, and I look forward to many more years of Kaibab dogs and Mary-Ann's friendship."

We are so lucky to have such great families for our sweet puppies! And to have such loyal friends as all of you :)

Thanks for your visit. I hope you find time today to provide some small or large service to another person in honor of Joan and her new puppy.

Videos Are Up

You can see Whitby, Hudson, Jamaica, and Sydney on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Kaibabbmd

Decisions, Decisions

We spent a busy day evaluating puppies yesterday. The first thing we did is put out the four boys and just watch them, and then we put each on the table; Eden stacked and I took pictures. We did the same thing for the girls. From this we were able to narrow things to the top two of each gender.

That said, they are all nice puppies! We are only doing two show homes of each gender and so we were looking at which two (of each gender) were likely to most easily finish a championship.

The puppies share a common breed fault, and that is a straighter shoulder than we would like to see. It is hard to get good shoulder layback in a berner, and a straighter shoulder is definitely a Cadi fault as well. We did not get a ton of reach/drive in any puppy but again, this is something we can also say about Cadi.

Remember that what I wanted to improve was better coat, less leg, more breed type, better tail set -- I am happy to say that we did accomplish these things. I did not want to lose Cadi's strengths -- lovely topline, nice front and rear, lovely head and great personality -- and we also accomplished this goal, especially with the four puppies we are designating as "show" puppies. And so I would say this was a successful breeding so far -- we will have to see how the puppies fare over their lifetime but we are off to a good start.

The two boys we have picked to go to show homes are Whitby and Hudson. The two girls who will go to a show home are Jamaica and Sydney. Deciding which of the two from each gender will be one and which will be two is not going to be easy as each has some wonderful attributes and none have any big glaring faults. But decide we will, although it will likely not be until Friday.

We are working on editing video and will post to YouTube later today. In the meantime, here are some pictures:


This is Sydney.


This is Jamaica.


This is Whitby.


This is Hudson.


Cassie took some pictures, including the next three -- this is Jamaica and Ireland.


Four cute puppies hanging out.


This is all eight eating together. They are now having one meal a day that is kibble and two that are homemade.

Making decisions is hard, isn't it? I wish that choosing one puppy did not have to mean not choosing another :( But whichever puppy I do not choose will be loved and happy with Barb in Colorado and so that is consolation to me. I hope that your day is full of easy, obvious choices and that all of us can look forward and not back once decisions are made...

Thanks for visiting and feel free to weigh in with your opinions!

Evaluation Begins

We have a busy day today at Puppy Central. Eden flies in to begin the more formal evaluation process and Susan from B.C. arrived late last night just to spend the day with us! The snow flurries have stopped, much to my relief, and so soon we will get started on making the decisions that will impact lives for many years to come -- yikes.

Here are some pictures from yesterday's puppy visiting:


Here are Zoey and Faith -- can you believe there is just 2.5 months between them and the Glitterati? Both have grown some long legs, but especially Zoey Rose.


Here is cute Whitby trying to poke his eye out with a stick.


Our friend Vicky stopped by to meet the Glitterati and guess who is sitting on her lap?? Yep -- Geneva, the Lap Dog.


Here is Geneva and another pup fighting over a collar.


For some reason Jamaica is in several pictures today -- she does get around! This is Jamaica and Sydney in a rare moment when Sydney was not giving us heart attacks by getting through the fence and hiding under the neighbor's van.


Ireland and Jamaica.


Hudson and Jamaica.


And here is cute Damien visiting again -- the puppies now offer a jacket removal service!

It is time to meet another family and if you could have been at visiting hours yesterday, you could have met them as well. Gail and her husband came all the way down from Montana to visit puppies and their son, who lives and works near us. Gail is the only home that has not previously had experience with berners and so we welcome her to a new community :) She and her husband will be getting a boy Glitterati, and here is her intro:

"I am Gail Foresman-Plumb. My husband Tom and I live in the mountains of Montana, up on a ridge above Georgetown Lake. Our three children are grown and are off pursuing higher education and careers. We have one dog, Maggie, and currently four cats - though one belongs to our son and is just "visiting" Grandma and Grampa ;)

I have worked for many years with people with disabilities - in the public schools and at a sheltered workshop and group home for adults. It was a few years ago while I was working in the group home that I first met Major, a Berner therapy dog who belongs to Vicki Whitney of Bozeman. I fell in love with him and the whole idea of a therapy dog! It was fun to watch the people in the home respond to Major. What a sweetie!! Right then and there I decided that was something I wanted to do. I have considered other dogs for the job - but my heart was stolen by the Berners! I am currently semi-retired (only working about 10 hours a week) and now seemed like the right time to dive in to raising a therapy dog. Vicki gave me Mary-Ann's name and I contacted her this last fall. Tom and I are so excited and HONORED to be getting one of the Glitterati! I feel the same excitement and anticipation as I did when I was about to become a new mother. I guess I AM
ABOUT TO BECOME A NEW MOTHER!! (Yippee!) I feel sooooo fortunate to have found Mary-Ann! I'm on my way to making this dream come true!"

We are excited to have a puppy going to join Gail and Tom, and look forward to living close enough to see all of them on a regular basis. I hope you will join me in welcoming Gail and Tom to the crazy, wonderful community of Bernese Mountain Dogs.

We will be making videos of the puppies today as part of the evaluation process and will try to get those on YouTube before the end of the day, although Galen will likely want to get paid more than just dinner for that job since it is outside his usual Puppy Nanny duties.

I hope you will be able to evaluate your day and your life, and find all the gifts and treasures that are part of all of our lives -- even when they seem hidden. Thanks for visiting and enjoy your Sunday.

Learning Opportunities All Around

I just got an email this morning with the subject, "blog, blog, we want the blog" and that leads me right into what I wanted to talk about today. Carol asked me what I have learned from this litter and I have been thinking about that for a couple of days. I do not think I have all the answers at this point, but it is an interesting question and one I appreciated.

The first thing I learned was from all of you. Since early September I have written almost every day. I have never imagined myself as a Blogger -- and what a funny term that is -- but I learned that people appreciated the chance to experience the day to day life of a litter, and so I wrote -- and write. About four weeks ago I looked back over all the posts I have written and it numbered over a hundred. It occurred to me that by writing a page a day, I had essentially written a book.

I have long had plans for a couple of books on grief, but could never really find the time or energy. But because of this Blog, I realized that I could easily write a page a day and that that those pages accumulate rather quickly. And so about 3+ weeks ago I started my first book with a goal of a page a day, and I have diligently written almost every day. My dad suggested I start with an outline so I did that, and am just writing through the chapters I outlined -- I am up to thirty pages, which is 60 book pages! The working title of the book is, "Beyond Cookie Dough and Kleenex: A Practical Guide to Surviving Grief."

And so the first thing I learned -- thanks to you all -- is that I could write a book a page at a time. I do not know exactly what to do with it when I am done, but that is tomorrow's concern -- today all I need to do is write a page :)

I have learned other things as well from this litter. I am reminded of my tendency to take on too much -- two litters in the first semester of a new job in a new place is crazy. Once again, I have to say how grateful I am to Galen!! And I am struck by my inability to do important things part way -- I take a lot of pride in doing this puppy thing as well as it can be done. I am sure it would be easier and less stressful if we did it differently, but instead they are now the central feature of the living room and our lives (thanks also to a very patient husband!).

I am challenged by the idea of having six dogs of my own, and have really reflected a lot on how I can do that and do it well. I am reminded by this litter that my husband is very supportive and tolerant, not only because he is living with these puppies but because he supports me in my decisions about this crazy dog thing. I have again learned that puppies are such good community builders, and that dogs are excellent bridges between people; it has made me excited about the idea of doing a private practice specializing in grief and using one or two of my dogs as therapy dogs.

And finally (for now), I have learned that the goal I set so many years ago is starting to be realized. As you all know, I really do not enjoy the puppy placement process. When I got Abra and knew I wanted to breed her, I set a goal of making my dogs and therefore their puppies known and desired by good people who wanted a typey, working dog. I believed that if I did that, I would have better home choices for my puppies and so I have worked very hard to show that I have exceptional dogs who are producing exceptional puppies -- and that I am breeding with integrity. As a result, my puppy placement options are exceptional and I really realized that with this litter. I cannot take all the credit -- I have been very blessed to work with excellent and ethical stud dog owners, and with really wonderful puppy owners. But that I have been able to realize this goal set so many years ago -- thanks to so many people -- is something I really learned with this litter.

Okay, that is enough for now -- I know you are ready for some adorable puppy pictures! I literally just took these pictures before I started writing this morning so they are truly hot off the digital camera :)


This is one adorable face -- Whitby.


And so is this -- Toronto.


Here is Toronto and Sydney having a showdown.


The showdown continues...


You have not seen cute Sutton in a couple of days -- here he is.


Jamaica is starting to look disheveled as she gets more fur, and in this picture she looks sleepy and peaceful -- looks are deceiving!


Ireland is really a pretty girl and a lot of fun.


Hudson -- what can you say?? Grandma Trish says WOW.


Geneva is many people's favorite now -- she literally follows you around asking to be picked up. She is very small and so cute.


And once picked up, she is perfectly content to sit in your lap and watch television, like she is doing here with Galen.

We will resume meeting families tomorrow but my question to you is this: what have you learned from this litter?

I hope your day is one of insight and integrity. Thanks for your visit.

Puppy Fun and Meet the Heintzberners

Silver and Gold -- you are a smart bunch! The first one to correctly identify that the title of the Blog referred to old and new friends (from that children's song) was my daughter, Nicole. Her prize is to keep the two orange kittens she went to Montana to get!!! Aren't you glad you were not the first one to guess (Carol, Cali, etc.)? Can you believe that Nicole does not want her prizes?!

I spent yesterday morning at the vet with Halo -- my Utah vet is so wonderful. I stayed with Halo during all the pre-op blood work and etc. and until she went off to surgery. I sat in the waiting room and worked on my laptop while she was being spayed, and as soon as she was done I went in the back to sit with her as she woke up. It took about two hours until she could walk and then we came home! She is doing just fine and it was less stressful for Halo and for me because I was there the whole time.

On the way home I called Elizabethanne to set up a time when the poodle cousin, Chase, could come and play. It just so happened that it was the same time that all the kids were walking home from the school next door, and so we once again had quite the crowd. One person -- an adult man -- asked if Chase -- a boy poodle -- was the mother of the puppies!!!!! Hmmmmm.... The puppies had a great time playing and visiting with their poodle cousin and all their fans.


Although there was snow, it was a warm day -- maybe 45 degrees. This is Whitby enjoying himself -- doesn't he have a pretty profile?


Sydney remains almost as big as the boys, and probably a little bigger than Sutton.


This is cute Sydney again -- she sure looks like Cadi to me. Sydney is really not half poodle -- she is half pit bull -- when she clamps on, you just about need a crow bar to get her off.


All the visiting and playing wore out Toronto and Whitby, who took advantage of a sunny step to take a nap.


This is one of our visitors with Geneva.


Jamaica is quite the lovely girl and so much personality!


Here she is again, taking on the watering can!


Handsome, hunky Hudson striking a pose.


Galen says this picture should be on a Christmas card or something -- a visitor with Jamaica.


That poodle cousin can run like the wind -- the puppies knew they could not keep up so they stood and watched the speedy poodle.


Chase did try to talk the puppies in to chasing him: "Hey puppy cousin, my name is CHASE -- get the hint?!"


In addition to their expertise as paper shredders and ear/nose piercers, the puppies now offer a glove removal service.

You can certainly see that everyone at the impromptu puppy party had a good time :)

Let's meet our next family -- here is John with his family's first berner, Kirby:



John is all grown up now and -- with his wife -- is ready for a berner of his own. John is the son of one of my very dear friends, and will be a second generation to have a Kaibab berner. Here is the intro for the family I think should change their name to Heintzberner:

"Hi, we are John and Kristine Heintzberger and we are very excited to be the new parents of a Glitterati puppy. We plan to pick up our new addition just ten days short of our second wedding anniversary. At this point in our lives we have no children and both work near our home in Salinas, California. We have spent the last year re-landscaping the yards at our house, inclusive of a new large lawn in the backyard that is now established and waiting to be broken in. We are very lucky to have many family members from both sides nearby, and all are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new puppy.

Kristine works several miles from our home as an accountant in Salinas. She has worked there five years, since graduating from St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California. John is employed as a plant breeder for Paragon Seed, and spends most of his time in his truck and outdoors in the fields around the Salinas Valley. He has worked there six years, after graduating from U.C. Davis with a degree in Plant Biology. He’s sure he and Mary-Ann could have in-depth discussions on the similarities and differences between breeding dogs and lettuce plants!

Kristine married into a BMD family. She has grown to love Bree and Grace (John’s Mom’s dogs) over the past couple of years. She also began to follow the F-litter blog daily, and since has been asking when we could get a dog. Their gentle nature, and puppy pictures, have lured her into wanting to grow our small family. John, on the other hand, has grown up around many dogs (among other four-legged creatures) and remembers their first BMD, Kirby, who came to the family when John was four (Kirby lived 12 ½ years). Then John’s mom, Cindy, met Mary-Anne and the rest is history. She has since had a puppy from each of the A, B, and D litters [Kaibab’s Anniversary Cruise (Cruiser), Kaibab’s Bumper Crop CGC, RN, NDD (Bree), and Kaibab’s Deep Devotion CGC, RN (Grace)].

You can probably tell by now that there will be no shortage of love and care for our new puppy. We admire the disposition of these great dogs, and also their history as helpers on the farm. We plan to carry on the tradition as we learn to train our puppy and support her as she grows to fill her inherent potential. She is already enrolled in puppy classes with Suzi Bluford in Carmel, California. We can hardly wait to fly in and meet Kaibab’s Glamorous Sky (Mika), named in honor of Kristine’s Japanese heritage (Mika, which means new moon, is a famous Japanese singer whose top single was called Glamorous Sky)."


Here is John all grown up and shopping with Kristine for puppy supplies. We are so excited to have a puppy going to live with John and Kristine, and to be spoiled by Grandma Cindy :) Is the name pronounced like Mike-a or Meek-a?

Is someone spoiling you today? I hope so!! Thanks for visiting and have a perfectly fun day.

Silver and Gold

The puppies had a fun afternoon yesterday. We live next door to an elementary school, and I like to use the kids going to/from school as training opportunities. I had Zoey out to practice being friendly at the fence as the kids walked by -- she did great. A group of little girls were just enthralled with her and since I had run out of cookies for Zoey, I brought out the Glitterati and invited the girls in the yard to visit them.

One thing I just love about puppies in how they build community. This Blog is a great example -- I love reading your comments to each other! Complete strangers find a way to connect, and suddenly the world is a little smaller :) This happens in our yard with every litter. I saw it again yesterday as one neighbor who stopped in to see puppies met another who had come in to the yard with her grandson. People who would have never had the chance to know each other develop relationships over puppies, and it has helped make our neighborhood even more neighborly.

And so the puppies met 11 new people yesterday afternoon as they frolicked in the yard. It is very fun to share the puppies with kids, and to watch how both the kids and the puppies interact with each other. Visitors included two shy girls I have never met whose mom stopped her car and let them out to tentatively approach the fence. I invited them in and they had a wonderful time. Two year old Damien had puppies trailing him around, and that was really cute; they were amazingly gentle with him.

After over an hour in the yard, it was time for the scheduled visiting time and Kathy, Cali and Kate arrived to find tired puppies -- Kate's favorite! So the puppies had a busy afternoon of new friends and old friends of all ages, and they did just great :) Let me share pictures from their adventure in visiting:


Here are two of the girls who stopped on their way home from school -- they stayed almost an hour, giggling and trying to attach names to the correct puppy. Geneva was their favorite, but they were most impressed that we have a Rock Star!


This is very handsome Toronto exploring the yard -- I think he is also a very good looking boy and can hold his own with Hudson!


Geneva was very happy to see her Aunt Kathy, and immediately came to say hi and get a kiss.


Kate just got contact lenses!


It is a good idea to keep your hair up when visiting, but Kate forgot the other important thing -- keep the puppies away from your head!


There was peace summit in the yard -- representing the girls is Jamaica. Toronto represented the boys, and they met with Hudson. The puppies decided that they were all cute and that collectively they were even cuter so they agreed to get along -- what a relief!


Ireland, relieved to learn that all puppies are cute, decided to practice looking so.


Hudson knows there is plenty of admiration to go around (but he gets his share!).


Hudson and a fan.


Geneva showing why she is Kathy's favorite.


Cali still favors Jamaica, who really is a lovely puppy! Two different people used the word, "spunky" to describe her yesterday :)


The puppies appreciated getting to know someone more their size.


Whitby thought Damien was quite interesting and made sure to follow him around -- isn't that a cute picture?!

Finally, I have permission to share this post from the Berner-L -- it is from one of the best trainers in our breed, Vilma Briggs:

"I havent seen the movie yet [Marley and Me], but I heard that they give a promo boost to that Cesar Millan. Icko!! What a shame, when there are so many GOOD trainers out there. Ones who use real behavior modification.

Cesar is a smooth talking Hollywood fellow who even the veterinary behaviorists at Tufts University state "is taking dog training backwards 20 years" with his heavy handed training methods. While his advice on things like increasing exercise is reasonable, he is one of those outdated trainers who still jerks dogs around on choke chains and goes on about "dominance" and all that "alpha" nonsense.

If you want to learn about dog training from an entertaining TV show, skip the so called "Dog Whisperer" (even if he does have that sexy accent) and instead watch Victoria Stillwell on Animal Planet in her new show "It's Me or the Dog."

She is from Great Britain and now living in Atlanta. Not only is she quite entertaining, but she uses POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT based training. She does not use fear and pain to get the desired behavior, as traditional trainers did years ago.

Victoria bases her training on rewards, not punishment. She is much more humane -- and also much more effective, IMO."

I sure hope nobody jerks you around today! And remember -- everyone is cute in their own cute way -- even you! Thanks for visiting and we will resume meeting new families tomorrow. And who can figure out why I used the title I did for today's post? A prize to you if you can!

Visiting Hours

Visitors are welcome today (Wednesday) from 4 - 5:30 p.m.

Halo gets spayed tomorrow so we will need to take Thursday and Friday off from visitors.

Saturday -- visitors are welcome from 2 - 4 pm

Sunday is when Eden arrives -- all are welcome to join us for a discussion of puppies at 4:30 and then out to dinner at 5:30 or so.

Heidi -- this is plenty of notice so start driving!

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!

Danger Ahead -- OUCH

These puppies are getting very dangerous - visitors are warned to wear protective clothing! Taking this morning's pictures was quite the adventure and I was not disappointed to see them all start getting tired :) Even sweet little Geneva was getting her bites in. I plan to go to PetSmart today and stock up on new chew toys as apparently they are bored with the ones they have and think I am delicious!

But they are truly so adorable and very, very cuddly -- even when attached to one's flesh or clothes. They enjoyed their chicken smoothie this morning and seem to be getting the hang of this eating thing. They are very playful and I hope the weather warms up a little today so they can play in the new snow. They will also be having some visitors today so it should be a full day here at Puppy Central.

Let's look at pictures and then meet the next family.


I took this last night -- it is all eight puppies and that is Hudson looking up.


This is cute, disheveled Whitby.


This is Whitby and Jamaica having a conference about how to take down Hudson, who already inspires jealousy wherever he goes.


Toronto is also ready for advanced obedience.


Sutton continues to find dinner plates very useful.


Now we move on to the girls -- here is Sydney running from Ireland, who wants that very valuable empty plastic bottle.


A close-up of Sydney -- isn't she cute?


Yes, that is indeed someone's tail in Jamaica's mouth! At least she isn't barking!


Ireland.


Geneva.

I emailed Kay and Sue some time ago and offered them a boy from Cadi's litter -- Sue has been ready for some time but Kay politely declined because she still has two wonderful Kaibab boys that keep her busy. Here is how I imagine this went down -- every morning Sue would get on the Blog (and before the Blog, check her email for puppy pictures) and say, "Kay! Look at these pictures!!! Aren't they such beautiful puppies?! This went on through the E Litter, the F Litter and finally, the G Litter.

But Kay resisted day after day, until one day appeared a lovely picture of Kate and Hudson, and Kay's resolve melted. I got an email letting me know that there had been a change of heart, and I was THRILLED.

Kay and Sue will be getting a show boy that we will co-own. Sue will spoil him, Kay will train him, and I will beam proudly -- a perfect arrangement!

Here is the intro from Kay:

"Hi everyone. My name is Kay Morrow and I am happy to say that my friend, Susan Norman, and I will be bringing a Glitterati boy home to Phoenix, Arizona. We both work out of our home so will have plenty of time to enjoy our new pup. Sue works as an interior designer with her own design business. She also teaches an interior design class at Arizona State. I work as a graphic designer for a publishing company and, in my spare time, like to play with, train and show my dogs.

I acquired my first Bernese, a female, in 1984 after seeing a photo of one in the AKC breed book. The Berner in the photo was not only beautiful but also had a kind expression. After I did more research, I knew it was the breed for me. Since then, we've shared our home with six other Berners, all males. Over the years our Berners have earned 3 CH's, 6 CD's, 3 CDX's, 1 UD, 1 TD, 3NDD's and 1 RAE. Two of my boys also did therapy work in nursing homes. We've certainly had great fun, traveled to numerous places and met many nice people on our dog adventures.

About nine years ago, I contacted Eden Jonas in Colorado seeking a sound and healthy puppy with working ability. She referred me to Mary-Ann and we were lucky enough to get a puppy from her A litter. His name is CH Kaibab's Above Suspicion CDX RAE NDD (Riley). He is my second BMDCA Versatility Dog and is now 8.5 years old. Riley would like me to mention that he is also a professional model because he's so handsome.

In addition to Riley, we have his C litter nephew, Kaibab's Cruising Together CD RA (Dillon), who is 3 years old. He is also Cadi's brother and therefore an uncle to the Glitterati. Dillon is currently working on Open obedience, drafting, tracking and rally so he keeps me busy. I suspect Dillon will enjoy having a puppy around to play with.

Each Berner I've lived and worked with has been different and had their own personality. All have been a delight and we look forward to getting to know our new pup as well as the other lucky Glitterati families."

I am really grateful to have Kay and Sue as a home for a Glitterati, and expect we will be seeing their puppy in PetSmart ads just like his very handsome Uncle Riley! I know you will all love Kay and Sue as much as we do when you get a chance to meet :)

So the two show boy homes have been introduced -- tomorrow we will meet the show girl home (besides me, who you already know!).

I hope you are having a day free of dangers and full of fun! Thanks for visiting and for your good wishes for our new families.

Fun and First Family

Last night we were in the living room talking and the puppies were just hilarious -- soon we had stopped talking and were just laughing at their antics. They had quite the game of tug-o-war with a leash going, but in about four different directions with nobody making any gains. Then Karma jumped in and that was very funny. They totally tag team her and she just plays along. One would have her tail and another an ear -- and then she would be buried under a pile of puppies only to emerge with dignity fully intact, if a bit slobbery. The puppies scamper off with toys, happily being chased by siblings. They wrestle, bark and in all ways are just very cute miniature dogs these days.

This morning was also fun. Cadi needs to nurse less as she is quite thin so I made them a breakfast of a chicken and banana smoothie. They had nursed at 1:30 a.m., 4:30 a.m. and this was 6 a.m. so they were not crazy hungry but they thought it was interesting enough. I usually feed puppies separately to avoid feeding frenzies but these puppies apparently are so well fed that they are not really all that frenzied about food so I used two big dinner plates and let them share.

After that I went in with them to take pictures and visit, and Zoey Rose came along to play. They love playing with Zoey -- once they all figure out there is no nursing opportunities :) And Zoey is great - she gets toys and tries to make them all chase her around, which they are happy to do. They wrestle and bite and bark and so on -- and just have a great time. So some played with her and some sat on me (i.e., chewed on me) and they frequently swapped places.

I keep forgetting to tell you that they are 100% with their potty area now. About one-third of their area in the living room is designated as a potty zone with newspaper covered with a fleece, and the rest is bare floor -- they only potty in their area! They finish eating or playing and race over to pee -- very accomplished puppies :)

So let's do pictures and then meet the first family -- yikes, it sounds like I am sending a puppy to the White House! Not quite! As much as I respect and support the Obamas, I do not think they fit my criteria for a puppy :)


This is Whitby, tired after the play session.


Here is Zoey facilitating a play session -- she is very skilled!


Toronto also getting ready for a nap (the best time to snap pictures, unless your hair is getting pulled, as it was).


Extra cute Sydney, who looks more and more like her mama.


Sutton found another use for the dinner plates!


Here you can really see how we identify Jamaica -- two dots.


A nice profile of Ireland.


Hudson trying to interest someone in a game of tug -- or maybe a walk?


Kaibab's Gonna Break Me Some Hearts (aka Hudson)


Finally, Geneva's reaction on being told that absolutely not -- she cannot be a cheerleader!

There are two puppies that will be placed as show puppies with the intention of becoming Versatility Dogs -- they are not being sold as breeding dogs. In fact, no breeding dogs are being sold to anyone from this litter -- not because the puppies are not good enough but simply because I have a closed breeding program and do not sell breeding dogs.

The first family we will meet is getting one of the show puppies -- a boy. They have been very dedicated and willing to follow all my crazy requirements. They even drove all the way to Montana so I could meet them, which was great because since they have kids I needed to see what kind of parents they are -- I was very impressed :) Their son was very well mannered and sweet with the F Litter. So meet our first Glitterati family:

"Hello! I'm Jennifer Graffunder. My husband Ralph and I live with our three kids Alex, Jakob and Marielle on a couple of acres in a little tiny town called Cove, OR. It's about 20 minutes outside of La Grande.

We have another Berner named Britta who is about 1 1/2 years old and we are currently working toward a goal of getting her novice rally and obedience titles. Britta often goes to work with me and our walks at lunch and during breaks help to keep me sane and balanced during my day as as a caseworker for the state child welfare system. I'm confident that she, too, will love the new puppy and that she will share her place sitting and laying on my feet. My husband was a past K-9 Handler for a local police department and, although he loves dogs too, the Berners are my special joy. I had another Berner in high school and college that I showed in obedience and Jr. Showmanship. Since then, my heart has always longed for others. I love Berners...their looks, strength, quickness, intelligence and gentleness.

I have been looking for a Berner baby boy that I could take in the the "beauty pageant" ring as well as do obedience and drafting with. I started looking early last summer. Long search, but short story later, I found Kaibab and started talking to Mary-Ann. I have learned so much about Berners, integrity and the art of raising puppies from her blog, website and emails. I was looking for someone who bred Berners for beauty, solid temperament, working ability and all of the things that they were meant to do and be. And, most importantly, I was looking for someone who loved their dogs and the puppies that they breed and who will stay involved with the new family and puppy. As you all know...Mary-Ann is that person!

My husband, Alex and I drove to Montana to meet the F litter and thoroughly enjoyed everyone we met there...puppies and humans! Now we hope for the snow to disappear for a while so we can get out of our valley and make the drive to Salt Lake City! Alex will be nine just two days after our trip and he is definitely convinced that a new Berner would make a great birthday present! He is getting interested in showing and will be ready for the Jr. Showmanship ring and 4-H in a year.

We are really excited to get a Glitterati puppy and very honored that Mary-Ann has chosen us for one of her very loved and cared for puppies!"

We are excited to have one of the special puppies go to be part of Jennifer's family, and know he will be well loved.

Thanks for visiting us today and I hope your day is filled with fun and good karma.

Pictures From Barb!

Barb made it home safely and only one speeding ticket! Sigh. She emailed some pictures from her visit, which was great because my camera was still at the wrestling tournament while she was here.


This is Kate holding her favorite puppy, Jamaica. However, when she discovered that her friend, Aidan, loved Geneva, she quickly switched loyalty so as to keep Geneva away from Aidan. Luckily they did not fight over poor Geneva but simply tried to get the other one to turn the sleepy beauty queen over through various trickery methods and manipulations -- it was quite amusing.


Hudson is anxious to learn his permanent name so he can start perfecting his autograph.


Here is the subject of 13 year old girl scheming -- cute little Geneva on the Christmas berner.


This one is for Heidi who is checking my house in Montana -- she likes the rude puppies. Poor Heidi -- things have been challenging up there and she has been a trooper :) Sorry you got stuck on our road, Heidi!!!


Here is Aidan safely in possession of her favorite, Geneva.

Assessment Continued

It is hard to talk about how I assess families because there is a danger that I will sound judgmental, and that is not my intention. I am not assessing whether a family is good or bad, but rather whether there is a good fit between the family and me, and the family and the puppy. So Denise wonders what is a good fit -- what does it take to be considered for a puppy?

Well, I clearly prefer families who are already involved with berners. There are seven Glitterati going to new homes -- one stays with me. Of those seven homes, six are already involved with berners one way or another.

I prefer homes that will do things with their dog -- "we want a family pet" gets about as much consideration as "got pups and how much?". There are wonderful family pets dying in shelters today -- adopting one is a much better lesson for children than buying an expensive purebred dog. (My guilt over not rescuing dogs is alleviated only slightly by rescuing cats, much to my husband's chagrin).

I like people to train and show their dogs in working events like obedience, drafting and so on because berners are a working breed and deserve the chance to live up to their heritage and their hard wiring. But there are other things that can help a working dog have an interesting life -- at least three Glitterati will be involved in therapy dog work, for example. So while I prefer working homes, I do not require that -- but I do require a plan for an interesting life.

I want owners who value the things we value, and therefore appreciate how we do things. I have found this usually translates into owners whose care for their puppies is more similar to how we do things, and this allows me to sleep better at night. In our first litter we had a new owner call the night before she was to drive to Utah to pick up her puppy -- she told me that she couldn't find the foods I recommended so she would be feeding XXX (junk) and that her vet insisted on the big combo vaccinations so she would be doing that. Yikes! Not a good fit and she did not get a puppy. I learned how important it was to be very clear about expectations well in advance.

I like homes in which the adult(s) have the time, energy and desire to give the puppy an interesting life. I know this sounds terrible but this usually translates into homes that do not have young kids. Now remember -- I have quite a few children of my own so I am not opposed to kids, but let's get real -- when both parents work and there are small kids at home -- how much is left over for a puppy? Good intentions do not translate into more hours in a day. This does not mean I never place puppies in homes with kids because I do -- but only if there is a darn good plan in place for the puppy and I feel really good about the parents and how they handle their children.

And then there is just how I feel about a person and/or a family. Part of my professional life is assessment -- I am usually pretty good at sizing things up -- not perfect, but usually good :) And so my interactions with people get filtered through my professional training and experiences, and my personal experiences, and I arrive at an impression that I continue to assess for accuracy. I am willing to change my mind and I have -- both to deny a puppy and also to include a family that I initially had concerns about. I think it is important not to get too set on an impression but to continue to collect information that supports or refutes the original assessment -- we all deserve that flexibility.

I prefer to meet new owners in person, and am delighted to say that I have met -- in person -- at least one member of every new Glitterati family, even though they live in seven different states! Yesterday Barb from Colorado got in her car -- by herself -- and drove all the way to Salt Lake City to meet the Glitterati! She was the only owner I had not met in person so it was great that she was willing to do that, and I know she will be a wonderful home for a special puppy. She spent a few hours with us and then got back in her car and drove home! Now that is commitment :)

Is it hard to get one of our puppies? Well, I guess that depends on who you ask but I hope no matter what is decided, people understand that the placement decisions reflect my commitment to my puppies, my breeding program, and to those people who own the dogs that are in the puppies' pedigree. I hate disappointing people and unfortunately I have, but that is part of why I really dislike the puppy placement aspect of breeding -- making people sad is hard on the heart :(

But the positive side of puppy placement is how incredibly happy people are to have a puppy. I will start introducing you to the Glitterati families tomorrow and I think you will be pleased that our adorable eight are going to such great homes. In the meantime, how about some pretty adorable pictures??


This is very cute Whitby.


Toronto and Sutton having some male bonding time.


This is Sutton -- do they get any cuter?!


Jamaica is trying to persuade me that she is the one by showing that yes, she can do metal scent articles, thank you very much!


Hunky Hudson showing off why we call him the Rock Star.


Not to be outdone by a girl, Hudson shows that he too can handle the challenges of utility.


Geneva sat in the crate and thought about being an obedience dog. She came to the conclusion that she could do it, as long as people knew she was pretty and not just smart.

I hope that people conclude you are pretty smart and smartly pretty today! Have a wonderful and relaxing Sunday, and let's all remember what Lisa had to say about the markings: "it's just hair" -- I suspect lots of things in life are just hair, so to speak...

Six Week Faces

The little sleepyheads were not at their best but they are still ADORABLE!


Whitby (aka Pugsley and Monkey Face)


Sutton (aka Sweetie Pie)


Hudson (aka Tank and Rock Star)


Toronto (aka T-Town)


Ireland


Geneva


Jamaica (aka Kaibab's Gift of Gab)


Sydney (aka Cadi Jr.)

Introducing Sweet Potatoes!

Hudson



Sutton



Geneva



Sydney

Puppy Assessment

Today's pictures are ones taken over the past few days that I did not post. My Dear Husband had to borrow my camera for a two day wrestling tournament (he coaches) so I was not able to get any pictures yesterday of puppy visiting, which was very sad as we had wonderful visitors. We will have the camera back later for the six week pictures -- I will post those tonight.

Can you believe the puppies are six weeks old?! Do you know what that means? Two things -- first, we only have two more weeks with them :( Second, they start eating solid food today! Yes indeed, we made it the whole six weeks with no supplementing or early solids -- good job, Cadi! I will wait until I can take pictures of the first meals so I can share that with you.

Thank you for your comments and I will address questions over the next couple of days; today I will discuss puppy assessment.

One thing I have learned is that a puppy’s personality does not just arrive – it evolves. And so the wild puppy of today is tomorrow’s sweetheart, and vice versa. What I am looking at is the puppy over time, knowing that personalities evolve even more after eight weeks. I do not have a crystal ball and so I have to make my best assessment about the puppy, and also about the families with whom they will live.

Obviously I assess puppies by watching them but I also like to get the feedback of others. Yesterday Cali said her favorite girl is Jamaica because she loves her attitude, and Kate agreed. Kathy loves Geneva because she is so sweet. Hudson is a favorite because he is so buff and big. But Sutton is a favorite because he is sweet and cuddly -- so is Whitby. It is nice to have input from people who visit frequently, but again, I know these things can change so it is important for all of us not to get a “profile” about a puppy stuck in our heads.

In addition to my longitudinal observations and the feedback of puppy visitors, the puppies will be assessed in at least two other ways. First, someone who has temperament tested three of my other litters is testing this litter; this will happen in a little over a week. This is not a pass/fail kind of test but rather a snapshot of a puppy exposed to different things in a structured way. It offers another data point, so to speak, on which to base the assessment of a puppy.

Second, Eden Jonas is coming out from Colorado to help evaluate structure. Eden bred the Glitterati's great grandmother -- my Abra. We will watch puppies, and we will also videotape the puppies trotting and stacked and study that. We will then rate the puppies in terms of their structure and select the show puppies. As I have said, I have zero concerns about temperament in this litter and so I will keep the girl that comes out #1 in the evaluation of structure.

There will be one other girl going to a show home, and there are two boys going to show homes; these puppies will be assigned based on structure. All of the show puppy homes are planning to also do working events, and I absolutely trust that the puppies selected for structure will also have the temperaments and abilities to earn working titles. That leaves two girls and two boys to match based on personalities. These matches will be made based on all the available data I have about the puppies, and what the new owners hope to do with their puppies.




This is Sydney killing the dusting thing.



I mentioned that Zoey can be slow to warm up -- I wanted to also share with you how incredibly friendly she is -- this is Zoey with Joan. Zoey is in a fear period now and so carefully evaluates new situations. But that confident, wild and crazy puppy we all knew as Rosebud has not disappeared -- she is just going through normal developmental processes for her. My challenge and responsibility is to help her get through this developmental period successfully and I have complete confidence that we will :)



This is Ireland.



A group meeting at the bush.



Faith is a natural Therapy Dog. She is sweet and gentle and very, very loving. And grey! But that is unrelated to her abilities as a budding Therapy Dog :)

Check back later for six week pictures and in the meantime, have a delightful day!

Some Complexities of Breeding

The choice of which puppy goes to which home is mine to make. Sometimes -- not knowing how this works -- people express a preference for a certain puppy, as if one could know the best match from pictures or a brief description. While it is okay to fall in love with a face, it is important to remember that each puppy has an emerging personality that may not be the best fit for a particular home. As the one who literally lives with the puppies, I am in the best position to work on the matches.

And something else that those of you who followed the F Litter -- or went back and read all the posts (!) -- know is that it tweaks me a bit when people that I barely know tell me what puppy they want. First of all, it reflects rejection of all my other babies. I know in my rational head it doesn't mean that but my heart and head sometimes do not work together well. Second, it makes it seem like I have a bakery and people are showing up to pick out a sweet. It doesn't work like that, which is why people who write and say, "got pups and how much" or "I want that one" get politely sent elsewhere. Third, if it is about markings I get really annoyed. I know that is not fair but it seems so superficial, and superficial is just not something I have a lot of patience for...

So there you have it -- some of the non-rational, emotional complexities of breeding and placing puppies. I hope that does not sound unkind. I know that most people do not "get" taking this breeding stuff so seriously -- but then again, I do not place puppies with most people so I guess that is okay. No matter -- it is how I do things. I do try to be mindful of when I am letting my heart get the better of me, but like most things in life it is a delicate balance. We need to be thoughtful and reflective, but never let go of the emotions and experiences that make us who we are -- finding that balance is a lifelong challenge for most of us. Who knew that breeding dogs would support personal growth and insight?!

Let's get some cute faces in sight, shall we? I took these this morning and was really struck with how dark some of the eyes are getting.



This is Ireland. One thing that I have noticed is that some puppies do not photograph well and she is one of them; surprisingly Hudson is another! Joan always remarks at how seriously cute Ireland's head is, and it really is but her darker markings make that hard to see in pictures.



This is extra cute and sweet Sutton.



Taking pictures is dangerous. You have probably noticed that I tend to be on level with the puppy -- when I was taking Sutton's cute picture, Ireland bit me on the head! My toes have holes in them and my shirt does also -- the price of art is high! So here is Sydney chewing on my jeans.



Geneva continues to be the smallest puppy but is a lovely, petite package and just as sweet as can be. She loves sitting in laps! In fact, I had to remove her from my lap and balance her on my knees to take this picture.



See the right paw and how dark it is? That is your clue that this is Whitby -- could he be any cuter?!



And here is the very handsome T-Town aka Toronto.



Hudson really wanted out of the x-pen this morning and here he is whining about it. It looks like he is laughing, but really he was saying, "I want out NOW!!! Where is the management???"



I normally do not like butt shots -- puppies may well be sensitive like the rest of us to such pictures! However, this random shot of Hudson's bum shows off the nice rears that are consistent in this litter.

Aren't they just perfectly more adorable than yesterday?!!! Thanks for your visit and I hope you new year is off to a great start, with lots of opportunity to become the person you want to be -- or at least really good at the person you are!

Puppy Visiting Times

Feel free to stop by to visit puppies during the following times:

Friday (tomorrow) between 3 and 4 pm

Saturday between 3 and 4 pm

Monday -- send me an email if you want to come on Monday

Tuesday between 2 and 3 pm

If you need different times, please let me know!

EXTRA! EXTRA!

I cannot resist sharing these pictures even though I have already posted for today.

We start with that crazy cat, Karma. It really is amazing how much she is like Noah (who is coming home from the vet this morning -- he got an infection and that sent his diabetes way out of whack). She likes to play with the puppies as you can see.




Jamaica kept a close eye on her to ensure that Karma did not try to steal any of the puppy toys.



Worn out from playing, the Glitterati -- including the odd looking one -- settle in for a nap.



This is Sydney. She wanted some attention so I played with her for a bit and then gave her to Cadi, who was sleeping on the kitchen floor. Sydney was not interested in eating -- she just wanted to have some fun.



This does not look nearly as fun for Cadi as it does for Sydney but Cadi -- one of the kindest creatures on the planet -- simply let Sydney play. Watching mothers and puppies has taught me that mothers RARELY get upset with a puppy -- and if they do, they simply get up and walk away. Tolerance -- not dominance -- is what you see in a mother with her puppies, and this is true even when they get bigger. There is a lesson in this...



This is a special picture that I will treasure -- it is Cadi's mom, Maize (age 8.5), with her granddaughter, Sydney.

I hope you enjoyed this Special Edition of the Blog -- have a great day!