Monday, July 27, 2009

What They're All Up To

...the dogs that is



Cruz- Cruz is in USBCHA Open now. We've only run Open once, and aside from outrun redirects, had a very worthy run. Carol continues to help me with ideas on helping Cruz both find his sheep, and not outrun like a bat of hell in the hopes of "just finding them". It's such a shame that #1 he was my first herding dog, so so much of his outrun trouble is due to lack of knowledge on my part, and #2 that I don't have a field big enough that I can work on helping him... The last time out at Carol's we worked on sending him. I did 2 things. One was to stop him part way out, let him lay there for several seconds, then send him on. This does 2 things for him. The first thing it does is make him think about me blowing the stop whistle, which results in him slowing up just a bit- which in his case is a GOOD thing. I feel like I can learn to judge when he should be able to spot the sheep and that's when I will stop him, give him time to look, and then send him. What I have pictured as the end result is hitting him with the stop whistle, but what he'll actually do is simply scan (and maybe check up just a bit, but not actually lie down) where he's going, and quite possibly kick himself out with no redirect. The second thing I did was to walk way out in the field (with the sheep standing up by the barn), turn and face the sheep and tell him look. I've used "look" before, but I think he was only giving me the body language of looking. So my job was to figure out what clue he gives me to say "I see them". Once I saw this from him I could send him- but not before. This way his reward for spotting them, is to be sent. I figured out his clue to me is that he starts to go on his own. It was a great drill that really seemed to work. Oh to only be able to do it several times a week!! :-( What's going to be great about that when he figures it all out, is that when he leaves my feet seeing the sheep, he leaves in a much more relaxed manner. He is still very quick, but there is true purpose to the run- he is thinking. I have noticed that same attitude with him the few times he has thought he was sneaking off to sheep (not his usual MO, but there has been the time or two). When he thinks he's sneaking off he is so relaxed and using his head. When I do this drill of asking him to look for sheep and not sending him until he shows me he sees them, I am being very, very watchful of how I send him. Lots of people (at least in the lower classes) send their dog with a BIG flank and at quite the decibel. What I need to do with Cruz is wait until I can feel he wants to go correctly and then just barely send him. Just enough that I don't create a bad habit of going before he's sent. I give him just enough of a flank that he is confident he's being sent, but does not feel like he has to run 100 mph to get me the sheep. From him right now I would welcome a "lope with purpose"! ;-) Our shedding skills are really coming along. He has it down, and I am not feeling so out of sorts now. I love working Carol's whole flock for shed work. We just keep peeling a few off a time until we're down to 5-6 to split one last time. Cruz truly knows the game, because if one of the "these" thinks it's leaving, he will do all he can to keep it.


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Deal- Deal's in Ranch right now. I had seriously thought about moving her up, but at the last trial she really hosed up her outrun and acted completely lost when I tried to redirect her. Outruns are not normally a weakness for her at all. She is typically one that I can trust to leave a little tight, then completely right herself once she spots the sheep. She usually runs a very textbook "pear". Also at the last trial I could not get her to come off the pressure to turn the sheep after the crossdrive panels. She was just a bit out of our "comfort zone" of distance and she just didn't trust me. Lack of trust is probably her only real fault. She is the only dog I have that I will (occasionally) hear me, yet do something different... She is much better than she was a young dog, and 90% of our training is butting heads-free, but she is a tough cookie and will sometimes just decide... In real life she is harder than my other dogs. She tolerates, but doesn't enjoy getting her nails trimmed (my others all jump up and down screaming "oh me, me, me, pick me!!"), I can just barely de-worm her as she clamps her jaw so tight. If I am able to slip my thumb in, she will bite down on my thumb like it's not even there! (she's not snapping or biting, she just closes her mouth, and if my thumb happens to be there- well then that's my problem as she sees it). She's quite dominant. There is not a nasty bone in her body though- she's just very self confident and willful. I love my little black bullet! So I decided she needed to stay in Ranch until that distance was more in her comfort zone. Once again I try to not get depressed about not having a field big enough to work on that kind of stuff.... At Carol's last time I worked on flanking her on the fetch line as well as driving. I figured that's what she would need, and I was right. She did well though. I worked on shedding with her too. She is a bullet of a shedder, which is good for her considering the amount of eye she has. She really like the challenge of the game, so she never hesitates to come thru! LOL!


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Gwen- Gwenie's come a long ways in the driving department. It takes more to lock her up now, and together we are finding ways to work through it both before and during those tense "no sheep movement" moments. The bottom line with Gwen is that she is a control freak and she is so worried about that stupid bubble, that she doesn't want to "poke" it sometimes when she needs to. But she's getting much better. She's better about just marching on, and she's better about walking in rather than blasting in when everything comes to a halt. The biggest improvement was when we back tracked to long fetches with her. What appeared was that she didn't have a lot of pace. She was (is) very quick on the fetch because she doesn't think she has the ability to push if things slow way down. So I worked on that. Teaching her a walk... Oh she thinks I'm crazy. (Gwen is the fastest thing I know, and she does everything, everything, everything at lightning speed) I've also been working corners with her, watching for those relaxed flanks. Last week here at home I worked everyone on penning. I haven't done this in a really long time and my young ewes wanted no part of it- so that was great. My pen is close to the paddock and barn so there is a lot of draw- yet there is no hot pursuit if they squirt past the pen, so things can stay relaxed if the dog stays relaxed. (my place isn't big enough to ever get far enough away that there is no barn draw) I had been doing corner work with her, and she was seeing no reason at all to slow her flanks down, so I thought I'd try the pen- a reason for small, quite flanks. I was really, really impressed with her. She took little flanks and never, not one time got stuck on her belly. She also never busted in, and trust me when I say these little girls were really hard to get in! It was a ton of fun! I think I need to be very cautious that I am not blowing exciting sounding flanks to her. I think I need to just barely blow in the whistle for her. She such an over the top dog. She's not freaky, she's just SO incredibly intense!! I think she has oodles of potential and she is all heart. :-) She'll stay in ProNovice until she's really, really confident driving. No sense in adding the increased distance of Ranch on the drive. She has the best outrun of all of my dogs and is lovely at the top. She has never needed any work on that. She is fabulous at spotting sheep and spots them in nano-seconds, so that's wonderful. I just need to be patient with her driving so I don't add too much stress and go the wrong way with her. Did I mention it's a bummer I don't have a large field? She is going to shed just fine. Surprisingly, for as much as she doesn't want to disturb the bubble, she is very willing to come thru. Shedding is another practical exercise for her to only take steps, rather than a big sweeping flank. I'm confident she has all the pieces of being a very nice Open dog. I love working her and she never gives less than 100%.


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Toss- Toss has made such huge strides in the last year. He has really matured and generally, we have really, really good training sessions. He is a different dog to work than he was 15 months ago. At Carol's he was the star of the day and I couldn't have asked him for more! He did a couple very nice, big outruns. In trials he will often times hesitate when I first send him. He'll start out, then look back at me (at only about 25 yards out) with that look of "This? This is what you want?" He acted like he was going to do this (he doesn't do it here at home of course) at Carol's and rather than encouraging him on, I just kept quiet and took one little step to the left (I sent him right). It worked, and he went with no other hesitation. Whistle work is a big part of his training right now, it's the only thing that I feel is holding him back from running well in Ranch. His drive work at Carol's was stellar. I just let him keep going and keep going as long as he was responding and keeping his flanks square. He was WAY out there and still taking most of his command via whistle (vs. voice), so they're coming along. Toss is such a fun-loving, playful boy. He's a clown off sheep and is always looking for some way to have a good time. He plays with the tire swing, swims in the pool (which includes diving for dive rings), runs with anything he can find when I ride the atv with them, and when I used to do agility he was a mad man for the drive building games and tugging rewards! He's a dog that makes you smile even on a crappy day. He is my love bug as well, he adores me. I have a hard time not believing that is a male dog thing, but maybe it's just been my luck. Cruz, Toss, and Jim think I walk on water and act as though they'd be happiest if we never had to part. My females are dedicated no doubt, but there seems to be a different connection with my boys. Toss' deep connection with me is honestly what kept him here through his "rough" years when I didn't think he was my type of working dog. I knew he would not easily adjust to anyone, and that very few people would tolerate some of his quirks (most of which he has now outgrown). Toss has taught me a lot about patience and not making judgements too soon... Jim and Cruz could never go to someone else without a HUGE amount of adjustment either. Cruz stayed with Carol once for 3 days. Cruz loves to see Carol, but even with her he was not overly comfortable. My girls (except for probably Kit) could go with someone else and never miss a beat I'm quite sure. Interesting... So anyway, Toss will in ProNovice until I feel like he knows his flank whistles down pat. I'm sure by spring he'll be ready for Ranch.
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Mary- Mary Jane has been running at BC trials in Novice with Ella. (Ella co-owns her) They've been doing really well. It has given Mary a chance to work for someone who's not going to put quite the pressure on her that I seem to. Working Mary has been a great way for Ella to get some experience before it's time to get serious with Wren. Ella's been working mostly on getting a solid stop at the top and getting Mary to get off the pressure in areas like the top of the outrun and during flanks at a pen/chute. Mary's made big progress with this. Mary really is a very, very nice dog and is so incredibly natural. Getting off that pressure really is her only weakness, and she's so much better than a year ago! I've been working her more and more with good success. She hasn't gotten stressed and I haven't gotten frustrated... Or maybe I haven't gotten frustrated and so she doesn't get stressed... ;-p I mentioned to Carol that I was going to get her on solid whistles before I go back to doing much driving with her. This way my tone is not an issue. As hard as I try, some times an irritated tone comes out when I work her, and she is so very in tune to that! I get frustrated, she gets mushy, I get even more irritated, and she gets even more fragile.... it was a familiar scene. So letting her work for Ella has been great. It gave her a chance to forget about the usual cycle and it gave me a chance to watch her and see what a really great dog she is, think about my own attitude, then work her with a different one!! I took her to Carol's last time and we had a really good session. I worked on that stop at the top, as well as flanking anywhere I wanted her on the fetch line, then stopping and walking in a short distance, then flanking again. Mary will run with Ella in novice for now. She could nicely run ProNovice with me, but running in Novice with Ella and having enjoyable trialing experience is really important for her right now. Plus it gives Ella that much more experience. It's nice to get a chance to get a little field experience with a well started dog before stepping to the post with a green pup when you're also green...
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The Girls- Clare and Ivy are simply maturing and learning how to be well mannered, well adjusted young dogs. I haven't "worked" them in probably a month, so it's probably about time for another session. They were both a little unsure the last time out. Oh yes, they both worked just fine, but I could see there was a low level of stress there. So given their age, I decided it was time for a nice long break. I have been there and done that with pups; thinking that at 18 months they already are what they're going to be... I don't think a super star suddenly appears from a POS, but I think if you have seen what you want to see from a pup, then it kind of goes away, that they just need some time away from stock. They have both shown me some really awesome stuff and that's not going to just magically go away, however I can slow their progress and hinder their self confidence by putting them on stock when they're going some sort of phase that's making them less than 100% confident. Certainly there are young dogs that are doing at all at their age. Some are doing that because they are truly mentally mature enough, and some are doing it because they've been pushed through their natural phases of insecurity. Gwen seemed ready and at 18 months was doing A LOT. But then we hit a wall with the "bubble issue"- therefore she's not any further along now as a young adult then she would have been if I had taken my time with her. And in hindsight, this bubble issue would probably not be as much of an issue because she would have been more mature and mentally secure when we started the drive work.... So I have no worries about letting Clare and Ivy go thru their ups and downs and giving them time "off" when they need it. They are both very much like their own mama. Clare is nearly 100% Deal, I see very little Toss in her as of yet. Vs. Kit who is nearly all Toss. Ivy is nearly all Gwen, but has enough Cruz that she is not quite as wild about flanking as Gwen was at 18 months. Although some of that may be my handling, and not allowing it.
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The Babies- Logan and Emma are absolutely a delight! They'll be 6 weeks tomorrow. Emma is something else! She is all attitude! She is afraid of zero, nadda, zippo! She is funny and full of life! She is a go, go, goer! They are both very, very personable and love attention. Logan is also very outgoing, just not to Emma's level. I try to let them mingle with all the dogs now every evening. (I'm walking around with the whole group) Emma is off playing with the dogs, finding the cats, etc.... Logan is having a good time too, tail up and bouncing around. He just hangs closer to human legs than his sissy. They make me laugh everyday! Right now they're in here raising all kinds of cane! :-) They go out in the puppy pen from 6am till about 11am when that area runs out of shade. I'm off today, so I brought them inside rather than putting them back in their whelping


Sunday, July 26, 2009

Hot Sunday

Like I mentioned yesterday, I had to work last night. Naturally, it just kept getting later and later in the day and I didn't finally lay down for 45 minutes until 8pm. Got up at 9pm and worked till 7 this morning... I helped out in frozen, getting their backstock freezers back in shape. Frozen dept is not really somewhere I would care to work everyday. Of course everything is cold, where you put it is cold, where you get it from is REALLY cold, and the items are hard to handle because they get slippery... I was quite pleased when 7am rolled around. I got home, turned dogs out, and headed to bed. I slept like a rock till noon (not quite 4 hours). Because I don't have to go back tonight I didn't need to sleep all day.
It is south east hot today!!! All 5 inside/outside dogs are in here soaking up a/c. Jim is in here too, as he's healing from his run-in with the atv trailer. (more on that in a minute). Mama and babies were out in the puppy pen in the shade this morning, and are now tucked away in the whelping box in the cool garage. (we moved them out of the kitchen last weekend). There's a pretty good breeze, so I left the rest of the dogs out rather than crating them. The insulated garage stays pretty cool, but I think they'll be happier lounging in the shade in the grass- taking frequent trips to the water tank for a dunk.
I thought I would write a little update on each of the dogs. I wish I had a new photo of each to go along with it, but I don't. I was certain I was going to get to several trials this fall, but now with this new position I don't know what will happen. Right now I have weekends off on the schedule, so I can say "no" if I want when I'm asked to come in. The new schedule isn't weekends off every week. The dept manager I was helping last night also got one of the zone positions and she said we start the 11am-8 shift on the most recent schedule on the board, which would be like August 7th. So I suppose that'll be our training? I don't know. So fall trials are up in the air right now until I figure out what's going on. It always seems like it's something... But I try to remember that someday in the near future the dogs will again become my full time job. I just have to muttle thru the next 7 years or so.... Dylan will graduate in 7 years and Ben can "retire" in as early as 6 years. We still go back and forth on what we're going to do as far as land. We go back and forth on moving to a new home on 50 acres somewhere, or me buying 30-50 acres for just having the cattle and sheep, and staying in the house we're in. We like our house, and we will have a lot invested in it when it's all finished. Right now we're both thinking about just buying land for my farm and staying in this house. Although I don't know if either of us has ever considered the cost difference. I guess it would depend on what kind of land we found.
Maybe I'll take a cute head shot of each of the dogs and write their little updates later this afternoon. Ben wants us all to go play in the pool... Not much else to do on a day like this! I'll take some pictures of the new deck(s) that Ben built during his vacation.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Promoted

Well, I made another jump at wal-mart yesterday. With the restructuring of management they opened up 7 new positions. The position is between a dept. manager and an assistant manager. "Zone Supervisor" is the title. I really wasn't sure if I'd had enough time in for them to seriously think of me, but as it turns out, I was offered the dry grocery and consumables zone supervisor position! Wow! This is a HUGE area. Dry grocery is just that- all of grocery that is not meat, deli, cold, or frozen. Consumables is chemicals, paper goods (where I'm the DM right now), pets, and health and beauty. So, um, WOW! I'm excited (it's a $2.40 raise and after doing this job, becoming a (salary) assistant manager will just be a small step, rather than a big jump from being a DM. We have to go through training, which I'm thankful for, because I knew I still have a lot of system knowledge to learn. I've only been a DM since Feb. and only been in paper and chemicals a few months. When I was the candy DM, there was so much I never even had to learn because it never applied. The schedule is not bad, in some sense maybe a little better. As DM's we are supposed to work m-f 7-4, but for those of us in the consumable areas, that rarely happens. (tonight I'm going to work overnight to help in frozen and dairy because they are SO behind, last week I worked for 5.5 hours Saturday morning, etc...) It's supposed to be two different shifts. One is 8am-5pm. The other is 11am-8pm. Some weeks the 2 days off are together, some weeks they are split. I think it was like every 3rd week they were split. Honestly I like the 11-8 shift. The kids and Ben will have to fend for themselves on those nights, but I should be able to get dogs worked in the morning! Probably not during the winter, but surely next spring I'll even be able to work a few before working the 8-5 shift.
Honestly I'm a little scared because I truly am the new kid on the block and I know DM's of 5,7,10 years of being there applied.... The concept of me being their "boss".... I'm hoping I will be able to convince them all that I'm there to help "my" depts. be productive, not to just dish out things that need to be done... My "friend" Nina, who is the pets dept manager (pets is right next to me, both on the floor and in the backroom) applied and was pretty bitter yesterday. She's been there a long time. She congratulated me, but in the same breath said "but if you ever need an help, don't come to me." I have a feeling this will be the general reaction. :-( Hopefully that will fade with time.... I think choices were made for these positions based a lot on people skills, how you handle change/new ideas, leadership skills, and integrity. The new job can learned, but someone who has crappy leadership skills, baulks at the first signs of change, and/or has poor integrity isn't going to be much of an asset. I don't think those are "learned", I think those kind of skills you either have, or you don't.... I think this is why I was able to get the job over DM's with more experience with the system. I can learn the system, and have learned a LOT of the system considering how long I have been a DM. I've only been at the store since April '08. I started as basically an unloader. Now, 15 months later I'm one bump away from being a salaried member of management... :-) What's funny is that "going anywhere" with the company wasn't even a thought in my head when I started. I just wanted a "stupid little job" to help with some bills and maybe have a little more trial money. Funny where life leads you when you're not looking! I will probably stay in this position for quite some time, as it's pretty hard to becoming an assistant and remain at the same store- and I have zero interest in going to another store. Although with Kevin (store manager) leaving on Friday, that may change too... From what I understand he brought that store out of quite the pit. When he first got there they were not getting any bonuses at all (based on sales), our up coming my share is tracking at almost $400. Of course he wasn't loved by all, no store manager is I'm sure, but he has the respect of many of us. I've personally never had one bit of an issue with him. Some people have a really, really hard time being called out on something they could have done better. Some people are defensive and resistant to any kind of direction, and rather than have an open mind about how it could have gotten done better/faster they just go the bitch and wine route. I'm sure this new position will be a culture shock to me, as I'll now be managing several people who right now are my peers... (pit in my stomach) I think I'll be leaning on my husband a lot in the beginning, as he has gone thru this type of thing. He's been such a stellar 2nd and 1st class, that when he was a 2nd class he was doing what only a 1st class would do. Same now. He did several jobs at MEPS that only a Chief- sometimes even only a Senior Chief would do. So he's had to deal with attitudes and being in charge of people in the same rank, and usually with more time in... (speaking of all of that, keep your fingers crossed as Chief results should be out Friday....)
So that's that. This all goes "live" on the 29th of August- right after the dreaded inventory.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

First Day Outside

Logan and Hattie. Hattie was such a good girl!

Geez Brock looks HUGE next to Logan!
He has the most pleading expression!
Nothing pleading about his sissy's expression though!


I love this shot!
I think the "special ones" pick you- you don't pick them. Emma just fills my heart right up!! Not only am I incredibly in love her, she is a pistol! (which I love) Logan was pretty typical in his response to being outside and around a few dogs for the first time. He wasn't scared, but he wasn't his normal self. He hung pretty close. Not Emma-Emma! It was like she had been outside and around the dogs a hundred times. In the picture below she ended up right in the middle of Hattie and McCoy's antics and decided to just join right in! In the last photo she went for her first swim! She just walked around in the tank and got a good drink! She's a cool little girl thus far!













Thursday, July 16, 2009

Four Weeks





I think they are both very, very adorable! Logan is built very square and is going to be quite coated. He's built a lot like his daddy. He is the happiest boy. I don't think I've seen a puppy his age wag his tail so much. They've been out and about a few times now, and both of them were curious and completely at ease. The above picture of Logan is a little goofy because he was turning to look at Dylan and his feet slid on the slick floor. Emma is built just like her grandsire- I think she is just toooo cute! You can't see it in the photos, but her left eye is blue. She is piece of work already! She's very bold, but also very friendly. She explores further than he does, but she also loves attention.
I have a quite a bit more to write about, but right now I'm going to go enjoy a beer on the new deck while the kids and Ben swim. We now have a deck around the pool and off the pool deck! Soon we'll also have a screened in deck/porch that's connected to the deck off the pool deck. The screened in deck will open off the house. :-)) There's just something about sitting on a deck, and something even more about sitting in a screened porch. I'll take pictures soon. Had my interview for the new management position today...




Friday, July 10, 2009

"Restructuring"

Well, it's happening. Wal-Mart is "down sizing". It isn't what they call it, but it is what it is. In our store we are going to have 7 "new" positions. These new positions are called "zone supervisors". Zone supervisors are a bump up from dept. manager and a bump down from an assistant manager. We currently have 12 assistant managers and will be cut down to 8. The zone sup. positions will be filled from within, and will only be filled by department managers. (or assistants who step down). The positions that are left open by dept. managers taking the zone sup. position will not be "refilled", but rather "absorbed" by another dept. manager.... So basically in our small store we will go from 12 to 8 assistant managers and have as many as 7 less dept. managers... Job of the zone sup. will be more than half of what the assistants do now, only it's a $2.40 raise, vs. a starting salary of $40K a year. Additionally, those dept managers that "absorb" another dept (or 2) will not get any kind of raise. (since in theory this new zone sup. should take some of the current dept. manager burden). Given my backroom history and the fact that I basically ran that 3rd shift in stock crew (I still hear "how come you could get it done" and "you should have never left") I'm thinking I'll at least get an interview for the backroom zone job. The hours are different than the 7-4 M-F dept shift. It's a rotating shift of 8am-5 and 11am-8pm. If that doesn't happen I'm guessing I'll end up being moved to dry grocery, as I'm certain the current dept manager there will get the zone sup. position. This is all going to happen FAST. Kevin (store manager) said it will be completely in place in 2 weeks!!! Additionally, when questioned about the new shift hours, he said that no one should pass up the zone position because of shift hours. Meaning that our 7-4, M-F dept manager shift may be coming to an end. (and for me personally, I cannot think of the last time I worked a true 7-4 M-F- it wouldn't be that big of deal to me) I'll keep ya'll posted. I opened my positions to take the backroom, grocery, dry grocery, and hardlines. No operations (front end) and no soft lines (clothing)- as I am not familiar with either. In the meantime I'm enjoying my 3 and half day weekend, as we cannot go over our 40 hours and last week we got holiday pay for the 4th (I worked half a day on the 4th). Of course if it were union I'd either be getting OT or working M-F 7-4. None of these 12 hour days, then have to cut it at the end of the week.... Although that didn't start happening until June. Before that they were very good about giving those of us that they knew were USING 4-8 hours OT correctly the OT. Now it's gone.
I'm going to Carol's tomorrow evening in time to work a couple dogs before dark, staying the night and working dogs Sunday morning. That way I don't have to get up at 4:30 am or so to get to her place by 7am.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Names

The babies have names.

The female is Emma. Emma Frost is the human name of The White Queen. http://marvel.com/universe/Frost%2C_Emma

The male is Logan, who of course is Wolverine. http://marvel.com/universe/Wolverine I had a Logan several years ago, but this puppy is big and manly looking, that I felt the name was a good fit. Of course I can't help it if Wolverine is my favorite....

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Two Weeks Today

This is the male, looks like he may be a medium coat.

Female. White doesn't bother me, I think she's incredibly cool! She's a tri.
She's gonna get freckles. Those are her nose weren't there last week. :-)
See her pretty little tri spot. She is a pistol already! I was so happy when there was just 2 babies and 1 of each sex to boot!! That means they're both staying with me and I don't have to deal with any "customers". (since I planned on keeping 2). That's the hard part of doing a breeding for yourself- you still have pups to sell... not this time! :-)) Next week maybe they'll have names. I find it hard to give names before they have any personality. They're 2 weeks today and are up on all four and starting to play with each other (and the newspaper). I have decided on a line and type of dog I want, so I'm really excited about what these pups will be!
I have LOTS to catch up on and LOTS of pictures from the atv trip and my brother's wedding. Maybe tomorrow I can do some of that, since I already had 30 hours at work when I clocked in today (Thursday). We had "company" so they worked us like mules, but we can't keep any of our OT, so I only have 2-3 hours left of my 40 hours for tomorrow. So far no mention of me coming in on the 4th, so I hope it stays that way!! I really want to get to Carol's and have a nice full morning of dog work! I'm even thinking of driving over tomorrow evening so I'm already there at 7am when it's the coolest. Then I'd be home by noon. We'll see. I gotta go for now- need to get to the feedstore before they close...
I have other puppies to take pictures of too! We found 2 beautiful Walker pups on our 2nd to the last day on the trails. We are truly suckers, but what we supposed to do, leave them there? Ben had one and I had the other and they both just laid on our lap on the bumpy, hilly trails on the way home. They slept with Dylan the first night, then Saturday morning Ben & I went into wal-mart and got a crate... They did well in the crate (in the small cabin with a window a/c) while we rode on Saturday, as well as that night. They were also perfect on the 7 hour ride home! From I find on the web they are Treeing Walkers. The female is textbook. The male has more white, but has the tri color face and ears and some big spots. They are LOVELY pups and SMART! The female is cute, cute, cute! Not that the male is ugly, but good golly is the female pretty! So I now also have hound dogs! LOL! Dylan has "claimed" the male (McCoy) and Ben the female (Hatfield, aka Hattie) (we were on the hatfield and mccoy trail). They appear to be 8-10 weeks to me. Old enough that they have their adult coat and can make it thru the night in their crate (together). I'll take some pictures of them this weekend. They are ALL ears! LOL!