The Eclipse Gang

Twas The Night Before Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

Twas the morning before Christmas, and all through the house, ain't nobody home, cause Lady Di's heading South.

Here I am driving along...when suddenly I realize something is dreadfully wrong...I forgot my bikini, along with some other stuff....oh well, guess I'll just have to swim in the buff.

All is going fine, when traffic begins to slow a bit...I look over to the side and see Santa's sleigh in the ditch. Figurin' on doin' a bit of sleigh fixin', I realized it wasn't the sleigh, but Dasher and Dancer and Prancer and Vixen.

As I was looking at Santa's reindeer lying in the ditch water that was so murky...lo and behold, along comes the butchers meat wagon....looking to make some Christmas Jerky.

I stopped in Virginia to get some grub...a cute little waitress in an elf suit asked, "Merry Christmas, what can I get ya honey?" I told her, "Bacon and Eggs, and oh by the way, did you hear that Santa's reindeer are being ground up for money?"

I finally hit the North Carolina border while listening to some tunes that are kinda sad...when all of a sudden, Michael Jackson starts singing my song....I'm Bad.

As I'm driving along, I'm taking a mental inventory of the "beverages" I can count....I search for "Liquor or State Store" in the GPS...and it says, "dumb shit, you're in the South". So I think it's time for this Interstate and I to depart...and start looking for the local WalMart.

Here it is now Christmas Eve, looking for a place to stay the night. Hoping Santa finds some more reindeer, so he can find my site. Tyler will be looking for some presents come Christmas morn, and if there's none, I'm sure he'll be torn.

As for myself, there's nothing I want under the Christmas tree.....oh, except for that 6' tall muscle bound Cabana boy, sent here to serve only me.......oh and for all my friends and family to EAT, DRINK and BE MERRY.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!

The Truth about Zoey

2010-10-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

When I was young, I rose to the top,

In my middle years, I was the one

everyone talked about,

In my last years, I let nothing keep

me from what I wanted,

Don't let anyone EVER tell you that your

best days are behind you.

I stole this inspirational message about Zoey that was on her FB page.

Thanks Jonathan for these words.

Zoey's 1 year anniversary Tribute

2010-10-26T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a slide show I put together of my heart dog Zoey. She was so special and so inspirational to so many with her fighting spirit and determination and her will to live. I miss her every single day.

Updating

2010-09-02T06:56:00.000-07:00

What's been happening at Eclipse???

Well, Tyler is back in school in the 4th grade. He's the big fish in his elementary school this year :-), but next year he'll be the minnow in the big pond at Middle school :-(. He's not fond of school and really dislikes Math, and he gets Math homework every night. It's a struggle to get him through it. I'm getting grayer by the minute.

We had a nice trip to Canada again for 2 weeks back in July/August. Super hot down here at home, but 70 degrees every day with a nice cool breeze off the lake made the vacation unbelievable. Along with friends Steve & Gloria and my Mom & Dad we caught enough fish to have several fish frys and to bring home.

What about the dogs you ask???

Well, Spencer...aka Sporting Fields Beach Party, is singled out and only needs those two elusive majors to complete his championship.

Willow...aka Ch. Snowcap's Willo the Wisp, was sent to New York to be bred but unfortunately we were too late getting her together with the male. Gotta wait until February.

Vanna...aka Ch. Daydream's Nights In White Satin, is a fat and happy girl that lays by my feet on the couch constantly. She too will be bred come her next heat, probably in spring.

Booker...aka Topfox Dynasty Aces N' Eights, our Toy Fox Terrorist is working on his championship also. He is in need of a major and a few singles. Hopefully we'll be able to finish him in time for Westminster.

Paco...aka the mutt, is just a great dog. She went to Canada with us and is a good companion for a stray. A great first dog for my son Tyler.

All the other dogs are doing fine, just hanging out here at Eclipse. I'm looking forward to Football season to start, been watching all the pre-season games on channel 72 (NFL Network). Waiting for my 49ers to get back in the SuperBowl race, boy it's been FOREVER, so I guess I'll be rooting for the local Eagles again this year.

Hope to keep more updated on the blog for you all.

Till next time........hug your hounds and stay safe.

Divorce vs. Murder

2010-06-27T06:19:00.000-07:00

A nice, calm and respectable lady went into the Pharmacy, walked up to the Pharmacist, looked straight into his eyes and said, "I would like to buy some Cyanide". The Pharmacist asked, "Why in the world do you need Cyanide?" The lady replied, "To poison my husband."

The Pharmacist's eyes got big and he exclaimed, "Lord have mercy! I can't give you cyanide to kill your husband. That's against the law! I'll lose my license! They'll throw both of us in jail! All kind of bad things will happen. Absolutely NOT!!! You CANNOT have any cyanide."

The lady reached into her purse and pulled out a picture of her husband in bed with the Pharmacist's wife. The Pharmacist looked at the picture and replied, "Well now, that's different. You didn't tell me you had a prescription."

Tom's Golf Cart Accident

2010-06-27T06:04:00.000-07:00

The Pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers. A lady stood and walked to the podium.

She said, "I have a praise. Two months ago, my husband Tom had a terrible golf cart wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him."

You could hear a muffled gasp from the men inthe congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Tom must have experienced..."Tom was unable to hold me or the children" she went on, "and every move caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remains of Tom's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place."

Again the men in the congregation were unnerved and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom. "Now", she announced, "thank the lord, Tom is out of the hospital, and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum will recover completely."

All the men sighed with relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say.

A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium. He said, "I'm Tom". The entire congregation held it's breath. "I just want to tell my wife that the word is "sternum".

Generic Pharmacy

2010-06-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

In Pharmacology, all drugs have two names, a trade name and a generic name. For example Tylenol has a generic name of Acetaminophen, Aleve is also called Naproxen, Amoxil is also calles Amoxicillin, and Advil is also called Ibuprofen.

The FDA has been looking for a generic name for Viagra. After careful consideration by a team of government experts, it recently announced that it has settled on a generic name of Mycoxafloppin. Also considered were Mycoxafailin, Mydixadrupin, Mydixarizen, Dixafix and of course Ibepokin.

Pfizer corportation announced today that Viagra will be available in liquid form, and will be marketed by Pepsi Cola as a power beverage suitable for use as a mixer. It will now be possible for a man to literally pour himself a stiff one. Obviously we can no longer call this a soft drink, and it give new meaning to the names of "cocktails", "highballs" and just a good old fashioned "stiff drink". Pepsi will market the new concoction by the name of; "Mount & Do".

Thought for the day:
There is more money being spent on breast implants and Viagra today than on Alzheimer's research. This means that by the year 2040, there should be a large elderly population with perky boobs and huge erections and absolutely NO recollection of what to do with them.

Blake....9/8/97-6/18/10

2010-06-27T05:33:00.000-07:00

Blake was a 1/2 brother to my incomparable Zoey. His major accomplishments include winning BOW for a 5 pt major at the Eastern Specialty Support, and winning WD, BOW & BOB at the 1999 Whippet Club of Eastern Canada specialty (over top 10 and BIS winning dogs)....breeder/owner/handled under breeder/judge Thomas Munch of Germany.

He was a super sweet boy that loved to straight race, and he won many, many turtle awards, but he loved to do it, so we kept going.

Once finished he found a great retirement home with a wonderful couple that lived close by and they loved him until his passing at the age of 13.

Rip sweet boy, run free and go play with Zoey when you see her. Love to you both.

Can SBIS, Am/Can Ch. Eclipse Sporting Chance

Too Long

2010-06-09T14:00:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe it's been since January that I posted to my blog....me bad. I'm currently working as a Pharmacy Technician, Tyler is out of school as of tomorrow and will be heading to the 4th grade.

I've been showing my dogs now and again. I have a new boy from Sporting Field, his name is Spencer and is a son to the gorgeous Tawny that Amanda has been showing. We just completed a weekend at the Eastern Specialty and Spencer got a lot of nice compliments from fellow breeders and handlers. He placed in his class all three days.

Another addition to Eclipse is Willow, a champion bitch I purchased from Dianne Reimer of Snowcap whippets. She is a super big mover and I also had tons of compliments about her at the Eastern, where she made a deep cut in the Specials ring.

Father's day weekend is another show, and also coming up is the Potomac Hound Show in conjunction with some all breed shows. Hopefully I can get Spencer's championship in short order.

I had no puppies this spring, but do plan on having some pups out of Willow come fall. I think we've chosen a "man" for her, but not 100% yet, so I'll announce that later.

I'll try to keep this blog more updated in the future.

Some You Tube Videos of Zoey

2010-01-25T19:14:00.000-08:00

Christmas Decorating Contest

2009-12-02T19:12:00.000-08:00

Once again, I was disqualified from my neighborhood’s “Best Decorated House” contest, due to my bad attitude!

I'm An Adult Now

2009-12-02T18:42:00.000-08:00

25 Ways To Tell You're Grown Up

1 - Your houseplants are alive and you can't smoke any of them.

2 - Having sex in a twin bed is totally out of the question.

3 - You keep more food than beer in the fridge. (Well, we do have two fridge's, one for food and one for beer...lol)

4 - 6:00 am is when you get up, not when you go to bed.

5 - You hear your favorite song in an elevator.

6 - You watch the weather channel.

7 - Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and "break up".

8 - You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.

9 - Jeans and a sweater no longer classify as "dressed up".

10 - You're the one calling the police cause those damn kids next door won't turn down the stereo.

11 - Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.

12 - You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.

13 - Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.

14 - You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonalds leftovers.

15 - Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.

16 -You take naps.

17 - Dinner and a movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.

18 - Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 am would severly upset, rather than settle, your stomach.

19 - You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, instead of condoms and pregnancy tests.

20 - A $4.00 bottle of wine is no longer, "pretty good shit".

21 - You actually eat breakfast food at breakfast time.

22 - "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again".

23 - 90% of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.

24 - You drink at home to save money before going to the bar.

25 - When you find out your friend is pregnant you congratulate them instead of asking, "oh shit, what the hell happened"?

Bonus:

26 - You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you, and can't find one to save your sorry ass.

You'll be a grown up some day too.

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 10

2009-10-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

A Very Special Tribute to a Very Special Dog

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my gorgeous girl Zoey. Most all of you know about Zoey and that she's been with Jonathan Hart in Florida the past few years and his love and devotion to her was 2nd to none, this being the reason she has come this far with her debilitating condition.

From the day Zoey was born, she was a looker with those gorgeous big black eyes and natural eyeliner. She was a stubborn puppy, never coming when called, chewed up most everything she could get ahold of, and destuffed and desqueaked every stuffie or toy ever given to her. Debbie's daughter Amanda really disliked Zoey because of this, but we certainly knew she was special as she always had such a spirit and personality like none other.

Upon hitting the show ring at 6 months of age she was Reserve Winners at the 2002 Eastern Specialty. Following this up the following weekend winning her first point and Best Puppy In Show. The end of July saw Zoey in Canada winning another Best Puppy In Show. She continued her winning ways in the US until before her first birthday when she completed her Championship, along the way she won Best of Winners two of the four days at the Midwest Specialty.

Amanda took over Zoey's career at this point and the bond they had was amazing. Zoey would walk on water for Amanda, but not really let her know that she would. They were the perfect team out in that show ring, and Amanda & Zoey's first Best In Show came in 2003 in Canada, this qualified Zoey for the Show of Shows held at the Ottawa Kennel Club. There is some different judging system for the Show of Shows, something with 3 different judges, and she won the Hound Group, making her Canada's Hound of the Year 2003. She was only lightly shown the rest of 2003.

The year 2004 saw Zoey's show career take off. She was not shown much until June, but she was Best of Breed and Group 1 at the Eastern Specialty. In July Zoey won her first US Best In Show under respected judge Edd Biven who stated "he never gave a Best to any whippet before". Another Best In Show in July and another in September along with many Group wins and placements made her the #7 Whippet in 2004.

In 2005 Zoey's show career went into overdrive. She started the year on the Florida circuit and won the Group at the first show of the year, and the following weekend won the Breed at the AKC Eukanuba National Championship. Her whirlwind of showing saw her win many Groups and placements until May when she was awarded Back to Back Best In Shows at the St. Clairsville Ohio Kennel Club shows. She was unstoppable at this point and continued her ways and in September at the Southern Specialty Zoey won 3 Breeds, a Specialty Best In Show, 2 Group 1's and an All-Breed Best In Show. Two more Bests in November took us into the last shows in December and of the 8 shows she was in, she was Best of Breed at all of them and won 7 Group 1's and 3 more Best In Shows. She ended 2005 as the #1 Whippet, #3 Hound and #25 amongst all breeds in the country.

She continued her winning ways in 2006 with a Breed win and a Group 4 at the Westminster Kennel Club, adding 3 more Best In Shows, and in April the horror began. At a show in Harrisburg she got shooting diahrrea, and was spiking a fever of 104. On Monday she was taken to the vet and her fever was up and down, they did all kinds of tests, blood panels, mylegrams, mri's, even spinal taps were done. Nothing showed anything. She did eventually rebound, and made a nice showing at the 2006 National in Boston. She was back on track in May winning a Group 1, but her backend was weakening. June 2006 was her last show as she went totally down in the rear.

Her rear muscles were deteriorating at an amazing pace. Vets never did know what went on with her and eventually came to the conclusion that she was somehow poisoned, and the poison had left her system when the bloodscreen was done, but had done it's damage. In my minds eye, she was supposed to die with whatever was given to her, but her will to live and spirit and determination overcame, and she survived the unlikely odds. Zoey still ran the farm at Debbie's house, chasing the cats, even de-tailing one of them in her endeavors. Her condition continued to deteriorate, and on her 6th birthday 2007 she came to be with Jonathan in Florida. I did get to see my girl again when my family took a trip to Disney Orlando and met up with Jonathan at a beach.

As Zoey ran the sunny beaches of Florida, even running away and traveling up the beach ending up at animal control, her condition had not improved. Jonathan's love and devotion to her was immeasurable, taking her everywhere, even to school where he is a teacher to underpriveledged kids. She has even been an inspiration to them.

In the spring of 2008 Jonathan called to tell me that Zoey wasn't doing well, and the discussion of putting her down was brought up. Amongst many tears and phone calls between Debbie, Jonathan and myself, it was decided that being she wasn't in any pain, we would up her meds and see what came about and make a decision in a week or so. Zoey's amazing spirit and zest for life took over and she bounced back like a trooper. She kept on truckin' along on her wobbly backend.

That summer Jonathan traveled to Montana and Zoey got her first taste of the clear, cool mountain air. She loved every minute of it, being out on the boat and soaking up the NW sun. As they were returning from their trip Zoey's right leg kept popping out of it's socket and it was very painful for her. She even bit Jonathan when he tried to get it back in place. Upon returning home, Debbie, Jonathan and I went through another tearful discussion of which the vets gave us the decision of removing her leg or euthanazia. Upon much discussion about this it was decided that with Zoey's determination and spirit and will to live we gave her a chance. Her surgery went well and she rebounded with that zestful spirit for life that we all grew to know so well. We knew we made the right decision.

Knowing Zoey could be a 3-legged dog was just fine, if her other leg was in good shape, but with it in a deteriorating condition, it was decided that a wheelchair was in her very near future. I had a custom chair made by Eddie's wheels, and delivered right to Jonathan's door. It was the best $400.00 I ever spent. Zoey wasn't crazy about her wheels at first, but when she realized the freedom it gave her she came to love that chair as much as she loved Jonathan.
　

Around rolls 2009: I have always had the dream of having a dog to show in the Parade of Honors at the National Specialty, and with a lot of encouragement from friends and family, and some not so encouraging words from some people, it was decided that Zoey would make a return to the show ring in the Parade of Honors at the 2009 National in Atlanta, GA. Jonathan, the saint that he is, took off work so he could drive Zoey to Atlanta for this. Zoey was the last entrant in the Parade and we had her all fitted up in her wheels and her specially made drape and bling. As Zoey and Amanda made their way around the ring, the Parade chairman started reading her bio which read: >>Zoey had to retire in the prime of her career in June 2006. Her US record: 18 Best In Show, 1 Best Puppy in Show, 3 Best In Specialty Show, 76 Group 1, 182 Best of Breeds (including BOB & Group 4 at Westminster), and many Group placements. She was in the Top 10 2004-2007. She was Hound of the Year 2003 in Canada. And in the US 2005's #1 Whippet, #3 Hound, #25 All Breed. Besides her amazing accomplishments, she has always had an amazing spirit and zest for life. She is a fighter, and her will to live is remarkable. Hugs to her major caregiver Jonathan. Words cannot express my thanks to you.<<

As the closing of her bio approached, the Parade of Honors chairman was in tears, I was in tears, Amanda was in tears, and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. Zoey received a standing ovation from the very large crowd that gathered. She truly enjoyed seeing her old friends and meeting lots of new ones.

After her well received trip to Atlanta, this past summer Jonathan once again traveled to Montana with his crew. Zoey loved the idea of going on her hikes again and knew just how to maneuver her wheels around all the rocks and crevices that might have made her get stuck. She actually did a 6 mile hike in them wheels and was livin' high on life and the Montana sunshine.

We are now here in October and a phone call from Jonathan told me that Zoey's other rear leg is now about 95% unfunctional. She couldn't get up and the leg seems to be going the way of the other, dead. So another tearful discussion took place and it was decided that we would not make her into a two legged dog, even though Jonathan said he actually saw her walk a few steps on her front two legs with no help from her rear (almost like a handstand), talk about determination. I tearfully talked to Zoey to tell her how much I love her, and she will always be my baby girl, and no other will take her place in my heart, as she is my spirit and my soul.

The final decision that we will ever make about Zoey was made on October 26, 2009 to let her cross to the bridge where she can be a whole dog again; to leave this life with that sparkle in her eyes and the dignity in her spirit that we all know she will carry with her forever. Here is Zoey in her favorite spot; in the arms of one of her best friends and caregiver, Jonathan. Even though she loved Jonathan dearly, I really think her heart belonged to Amanda.

MBIS, MBISS, MBPIS, National Select, Am/Can Ch. Eclipse Envy of Sporting Field ---11/18/2001-10/26/2009

The light of my life, the heart of my heart, the soul of my soul, Goodbye sweet girl, I'll always love you.

Zoey in Montana 2009

2009-06-25T10:18:00.001-07:00

Jonathan has traveled to Montana on his yearly summer trip. Here are a couple of pics of Zoey with the Montana sun setting behind her.

And a pic of her all geared up in her wheels getting ready for one of their many hikes. Jonathan says she gets all excited when her wheels come out and she gets a big smile/grin on her face, cause she knows that means they are going hiking. Zoey keeps up with Jonathan and the other dogs just fine in her wheels. She goes up hill, down hill, over rough terrain (hence the wide wheels) and most anywhere the others go. Jonathan promised me more pics of Zoey as the summer goes on.

Have fun Zoe-Zoe, your heart, soul, determination and spirit is still amazing to us all.

Orphie 6/4/1995 - 6/20/2009

2009-06-25T10:10:00.000-07:00

Just two short weeks after her 14th birthday, our beloved "guard dog" Orphie crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge. She was a great dog and had a big tolerence for puppies. She will definitely be missed here at Eclipse.

Sleep well my sweet girl.

Tawny goes BIS

2009-06-08T10:49:00.000-07:00

Tawny & Amanda won their first Best In Show yesterday in North Carolina.

Although I didn't breed or own Tawny, I am so extremely proud of them both, and I wish them continued success.

Tawny is well on her way to a great show career, and I wish her and Amanda many more Best In Shows.

Love & Hugs to both Amanda & Tawny.

More Pics of my Gorgeous Zoey

2009-06-04T18:49:00.000-07:00

Update 2 at Eclipse

2009-06-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

Hi all. This past weekend was the American Whippet Club Eastern Specialty. Tyler and I went with only two dogs, Vanna & puppy Rayne. We didn't do squat all weekend, unlike last year when Vanna won WB, BOW, BOB & Group 3, and Rio was RWD, Best Puppy & puppy Group 4. I guess you really can't have it all...lol.

But I got to see a lot of people and friends that I did see at the National in Atlanta, but with such a big show, didn't get to spend a lot of time with. Friday night we went out to dinner for Amanda's 25th birthday (lord I remember when she was a chubby 5 year old). We had a great time with her new beau Jonathan, Susie & her friend, Barb, Vince & Laura.

Saturday was the Specialty day and we had the thrill of cheering on Amanda & Tawny (Rio's sister) on to Best of Breed and a Group 2. Although it was very exciting, it amazes me to no end how one person will actually talk to a judge and can fix a show so that someone won't win. It's just mindboggeling to me. Anyway, it was exciting just the same.

Saturday night Lesley, Jeannie, Allan, Tyler and I ordered pizza and had it delivered to the Red Roof where we were staying. We sat outside drinking beer, bloody marys and eating pizza.

Sunday was another day that was mindboggeling as to how a judge will do just what you expect them to do, cause of the closeness a person has with that judge. Or that person has that judge in their pocket. Don't know how that works.

Tyler was bored at times until he discovered that Lesley could get U-Tube on her I-Phone, and he watched You-Tube videos of the Family Guy, the Simpsons and who knows what else. I don't know how many times she had to recharge her phone cause Tyler had it constantly.

Today was the last day of school, so Tyler is home now and already driving me crazy with lets do this, lets do that, and so on. We'll go to Dorney Park one day, and we'll go to the Smithsonian sometime, and maybe to the Philadelphia Zoo. We'll keep busy over the summer with stuff I'm sure.

Till next time...

The Three Labs

2009-06-02T05:16:00.000-07:00

Three male Labradors, 1 chocolate, 1 yellow, and 1 black were sitting in a waiting room at the vet's office when they struck up a conversation.

The black Lab turned to the chocolate Lab and said, 'So why are you here?' The chocolate Lab replied, 'I'm a pisser. I piss on everything....the sofa, the curtains, the cat, the kids. But the final straw was last night when I pissed in the middle of my owner's' bed.' The black Lab said, 'So what is the vet going to do?' 'Gonna cut my nuts off,' came the reply from the chocolate Lab... They reckon it'll calm me down.'

The black Lab then turned to the yellow Lab and asked, 'Why are you here?' The yellow Lab said, 'I'm a digger. I dig under fences dig up flowers and trees, and I dig just for the hell of it... When I'm inside, I dig up the carpets. But I went over the line last night when I dug a great big hole in my owner's couch.' So what are they going to do to you?' the black Lab inquired. Looks like I'm losing my nuts too'. The dejected yellow Lab said.

The yellow Lab then turned to the black Lab and asked, 'Why are you here?' 'I'm a humper,' the black Lab said. 'I'll hump anything. I'll hump the cat, a pillow, the table, and fence posts, whatever. I want to hump everything I see. 'Yesterday, my owner had just gotten out of the shower, and as she was bending down to dry her toes, I just couldn't help myself. I hopped on her back and started humping away'.

The yellow and chocolate Labs exchanged a sad glance and said, 'So, nuts off for you too, huh?' The black Lab said.... 'No, I'm just here to get my nails clipped.

Involuntary Muscular Contractions

2009-06-02T04:53:00.000-07:00

A professor at the University of Vermont was giving a lecture on 'Involuntary Muscular Contractions' to his first year medical students.

Realizing this was not the most riveting subject, the professor decided to lighten the mood slightly.

He pointed to a young woman in the front row and asked, "Do you know what your ass hole is doing while you're having an orgasm?"
She replied, "Probably deer hunting with his buddies."

It took 45 minutes to restore order in the classroom.........

Thoughts For The Day

2009-06-02T04:49:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm older, I thought it was great that I seemed to have more patience. Turns out I just don't give a shit.

The Importance of Walking

Walking can add minutes to your life. This enables you, at 85 years old, to spend an additional 5 months in a nursing home at $7000 per month.

My Dad started walking five miles a day when he was 60. Now he's 94 years old...and we don't know where he is.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

The only reason I would take up walking is so that I could hear heavy breathing again.

I have to walk early in the morning, before my brain figures out what I'm doing.

I joined a health club last year, spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to go there.

I do have flabby thighs, but fortunately my stomach covers them.

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

We all get heavier as we get older, because there's a lot more information in our heads. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Every time I start thinking too much about how I look, I just find a Happy Hour and, by the time I leave, I look just fine.

Update at Eclipse

2009-05-17T15:12:00.000-07:00

I know I haven't been updating this every few days, but I've started a second job and I haven't got the time right now. Hopefully in a few weeks when school lets out I'll have more. I did post a few more funny emails I received. I hope you enjoy.

I've spoken to Jonathan, and he says Zoey is doing wonderful. She really doesn't like the beach as much as he thought she would with her wheels because of the sand being too soft. She has to go where the water makes it packed down hard. He will be leaving for Montana in a few weeks and he thinks she will absolutely love hiking those trails. She is up to 2 miles in her wheels. Best money I ever spent.

Tyler is doing well, I think he's gonna go onto the 3rd grade. His report cards are increasingly better, so hopefully this last one will be too.

I'm really looking forward to the Eastern Whippet Specialty this year which is the 29th, 30th and 31st of May. Should be fun, as Amanda and I will be rooming together. We'll get the smoothie machine cranking and suck down some of my homemade Margaritas.

As of now I only have three adults left to place into homes. I really want to get down on my numbers, cause I have two wonderful litters planned for this fall/winter, whenever the girls come into season. You can see who will be bred to whom on my website under "planned litters".

Hope all is well with everyone, have a great Memorial Day weekend, and I'll be in touch.

diane

Don't Talk to my Parrot

2009-05-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Wanda's dishwasher quit working so she called in a repairman. Since she had to go to work the next day, she told the repairman, 'I'll leave the key under the mat. Fix the dishwasher, leave the bill on the counter, and I'll mail you a check. Oh, by the way don't worry about my dog Spike. He won't bother you.' 'But, whatever you do, do NOT, under ANY circumstances, talk to my parrot!
'I MUST STRESS TO YOU: DO NOT TALK TO MY PARROT!!!'

When the repairman arrived at Wanda's apartment the following day, he discovered the biggest, meanest looking dog he has ever seen. But, just as she had said, the dog just lay there on the carpet watching the repairman go about his work. The parrot, however, drove him nuts the whole time with his incessant yelling, cursing and name calling. Finally the repairman couldn't contain himself any longer and yelled, 'Shut up, you stupid, ugly bird!'

To which the parrot replied,

'Get him Spike!'

See - Men just don't listen!

The Nun

2009-05-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

A nun, badly needing to use the restroom, walked into a local Hooters. The place was hopping with music and loud conversation and every once in a while 'the lights would turnoff.' Each time the lights would go out, the place would erupt into cheers. However, when the revelers saw the nun, the room went dead silent.

She walked up to the bartender, and asked, 'May I please use the restroom?" The bartender replied, 'OK, but I should warn you that there is a statue of a naked man in there wearing only a fig leaf.' 'Well, in that case, I'll just look the other way,' said the nun. So the bartender showed the nun to the back of the restaurant.

After a few minutes, she came back out, and the whole place stopped just long enough to give the nun a loud round of applause. She went to the bartender and said, 'Sir, I don't understand. Why did they applaud for me just because I went to the restroom?' 'Well, now they know you're one of us,' said the bartender, 'Would you like a drink?' 'No thank you, but, I still don't understand,' said the puzzled nun.

'You see,' laughed the bartender, 'every time someone lifts the fig leaf on that statue, the lights go out. Now, how about that drink?'

The Bathing Suit

2009-05-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

When I was a child the bathing suit for the mature figure was boned, trussed and reinforced, not so much sewn as engineered. They were built to hold back and uplift and they did a good job. Today's stretch fabrics are designed for the prepubescent girl with a figure carved from a potato chip.

The mature woman has a choice - she can either go up front to the maternity department and try on a floral suit with a skirt, coming away looking like a hippopotamus who escaped from Disney's Fantasia or she can wander around every run of the mill department store trying to make a sensible choice from what amounts to a designer range of florescent rubber bands.

What choice did I have? I wandered around, made my sensible choice and entered the chamber of horrors known as the fitting room. The first thing I noticed was the extraordinary tensile strength of the stretch material. The Lycra used in bathing costumes was developed, I believe, by NASA to launch small rockets from a slingshot, which give the added bonus that if you manage to actually lever yourself into one, you are protected from shark attacks as any shark taking a swipe at your passing midriff would immediately suffer whip lash.

I fought my way into the bathing suit, but as I twanged the shoulder strap in place, I gasped in horror - my boobs had disappeared! Eventually, I found one boob cowering under my left armpit. It took a while to find the other. At last I located it flattened beside my seventh rib.

The problem is that modern bathing suits have no bra cups. The mature woman is meant to wear her boobs spread across her chest like a speed bump. I realigned my speed bump and lurched toward the mirror to take a full view assessment. The bathing suit fit all right, but unfortunately it only fit those bits of me willing to stay inside it. The rest of me oozed out rebelliously from top, bottom, and sides. I looked like a lump of play dough wearing undersized cling wrap. As I tried to work out where all those extra bits had come from, the prepubescent sales girl popped her head through the curtain, 'Oh, there you are,' she said, admiring the bathing suit. I replied that I wasn't so sure and asked what else she had to show me.

I tried on a cream crinkled one that made me look like a lump of masking tape, and a floral two piece which gave the appearance of an oversized napkin in a serving ring. I struggled into a pair of leopard skin bathers with ragged frills and came out looking like Tarzan's Jane, pregnant with triplets and having a rough day. I tried on a black number with a mesh midriff and looked like a jellyfish in mourning. I tried on a bright pink suit with such a high cut leg I thought I would have to wax my eyebrows to wear it.

Finally, I found a suit that fit... a two-piece affair with a shorts style bottom and a loose blouse type top. It was cheap, comfortable, and bulge-friendly, so I bought it. My ridiculous search had a successful outcome, I figured. When I got home, I found a label which read -- 'Material might become transparent in water. 'So, if you happen to be on the beach or near any other body of water this year and I'm there too... I'll be the one in cut-off jeans and a t-shirt!

Irish Bar Stool...

2009-04-23T17:28:00.000-07:00

...for Kilt wearers......

The Chippendales return....

2009-04-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

Oh how sexy....

Better yet...

Heading for the 30th Reunion...

The swimsuit competition

at the 30th Reunion...

I Believe

2009-04-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born.

A Death Certificate shows that we died.

Pictures show that we lived!

Have a seat . . . Relax . . . And read this slowly.......

I Believe... That just because two people argue, that doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, that doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...That sometimes when I'm angry, I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...That we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe....That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe.....That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe... That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe...That it's taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...That you should always leave loved ones with loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe... That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...That we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe......That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe...That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe...That my best friend and I can do anything, or nothing, and have the best time.

I Believe...That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you're down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had, and what you've learned from them.....and less to do with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe...That it isn't always enough to be forgiven by others. Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe...That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe...That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...That you shouldn't be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life Forever.

I Believe...Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe...That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don't even know you.

I Believe...That even when you think you have no more to give, if a friend cries out to you........you will find the strength to help.

I Believe....That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe...That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything.

Thank you God for all the wonderful people who help us throughout the journey of life..

God Bless You!

Roadside Emergency!!!

2009-04-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a flat tire on the interstate. So I eased my car over to the shoulder of the road, carefully got out ofthe car and opened the trunk.

I took out 2 cardboard men, unfolded them and stood them at the rear of my car facing oncoming traffic. They look so lifelike you wouldn't believe it! They are in trench coats, exposing their nude bodies and private parts.

Cars started slowing down, looking at my life-like men. Of course, traffic started backing up. Everybody was tooting their horns and waving like crazy.

It wasn't long before a state trooper pulled up behind me. He got out of his car and started walking towards me. I could tell he was not a happy camper!

He asked, "What's going on here?"
"My car has a flat tire," I said calmly.
"Well, what the hell are those obscene cardboard men doing here by the road?"

I couldn't believe that he didn't know. So I told him, "Helloooooooo! Those are my emergency flashers!"

Your Yearly Dementia Test

2009-04-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year to take our annual senior citizen test.

Exercise of the brain is as important as exercise of the muscles. As we grow older, it's important to keep mentally alert... If you don't use it, you lose it! Below is a very private way to gauge your loss or non-loss of intelligence.

Take the test presented here to determine if you're losing it or not. The spaces below are so you don't see the answers until you've made your answer.
OK, relax, clear your mind and begin.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. What do you put in a toaster?

Answer: 'bread.' If you said 'toast,' give up now and do something else.
Try not to hurt yourself. If you said, bread, go to Question 2.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Say ' silk' five times. Now spell 'silk.' What do cows drink?

Answer: Cows drink water. If you said 'milk,' don't attempt the next question. Your brain is over-stressed and may even overheat. Content yourself with reading a more appropriate literature such as Auto World. However, if you said 'water', proceed to question 3.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. If a red house is made from red bricks and a blue house is made from blue bricks and a pink house is made from pink bricks and a black house is made from black bricks, what is a green house made from?

Answer: Greenhouses are made from glass. If you said 'green bricks,' why are you still reading these???
If you said 'glass,' go on to Question 4.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. It's twenty years ago, and a plane is flying at 20,000 feet over Germany (If you will recall, Germany at the time was politically divided into West Germany and East Germany .) Anyway, during the flight, two engines fail. The pilot, realizing that the last remaining engine is also failing, he decides on a crash landing procedure. Unfortunately the engine fails before he can do so and the plane fatally crashes smack in the middle of 'no man's land' between East Germany and West Germany. Where would you bury the survivors? East Germany, West Germany, or no man's land'?

Answer: You don't bury survivors.
If you said ANYTHING else, you're a dunce and you must stop. If you said, 'You don't bury survivors', proceed to the next question.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5. Without using a calculator - You are driving a bus from London to Milford Haven in Wales. In London, 17 people get on the bus. In Reading, six people get off the bus and nine people get on. In Swindon, two people get off and four get on. In Cardiff, 11 people get off and 16 people get on. In Swansea, three people get off and five people get on. In Carmathen, six people get off and three get on. You then arrive at Milford Haven.

What was the name of the bus driver?

Friends

2009-04-20T19:04:00.000-07:00

One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, 'Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.' I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on.
As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him.
So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw a tear in his eye. As I handed him his glasses, I said, 'Those guys are jerks.' They really should get lives. ' He looked at me and said, 'Hey thanks!' There was a big smile on his face. It was one of those smiles that showed real gratitude. I helped him pick up his books, and asked him where he lived. As it turned out, he lived near me, so I asked him why I had never seen him before.
He said he had gone to private school before now. I would have never hung out with a private school kid before. We talked all the way home, and I carried some of his books. He turned out to be a pretty cool kid. I asked him if he wanted to play a little football with my friends, he said yes. We hung out all weekend and the more I got to know Kyle, the more I liked him, and my friends thought the same of him.
Monday morning came, and there was Kyle with the huge stack of books again. I stopped him and said, 'Boy, you are gonna really build some serious muscles with this pile of books everyday! ' He just laughed and handed me half the books. Over the next four years, Kyle and I became best friends. When we were seniors we began to think about college. Kyle decided on Georgetown and I was going to Duke. I knew that we would always be friends, that the miles would never be a problem. He was going to be a doctor and I was going for business on a football scholarship.. Kyle was valedictorian of our class. I teased him all the time about being a nerd.
He had to prepare a speech for graduation. I was so glad it wasn't me having to get up there and speak Graduation day. I saw Kyle, he looked great. He was one of those guys that really found himself during high school. He filled out and actually looked good in glasses. He had more dates than I had and all the girls loved him. Boy, sometimes I was jealous!
Today was one of those days. I could see that he was nervous about his speech. So, I smacked him on the back and said, 'Hey, big guy, you'll be great!' He looked at me with one of those looks (the really grateful one) and smiled. ' Thanks,' he said. As he started his speech, he cleared his throat, and began 'Graduation is a time to thank those who helped you make it through those tough years. Your parents, your teachers, your siblings, maybe a coach...but mostly your friends. I am here to tell all of you that being a friend to someone is the best gift you can give them. I am going to tell you a story. ' I just looked at my friend with disbelief as he told the first day we met. He had planned to kill himself over the weekend. He talked of how he had cleaned out his locker so his Mom wouldn't have to do it later and was carrying his stuff home. He looked hard at me and gave me a little smile. 'Thankfully, I was saved. My friend saved me from doing the unspeakable..'
I heard the gasp go through the crowd as this handsome, popular boy told us all about his weakest moment. I saw his Mom and dad looking at me and smiling that same grateful smile. Not until that moment did I realize it's depth. Never underestimate the power of your actions. With one small gesture you can change a person's life. For better or for worse. God puts us all in each others lives to impact one another in some way. Look for good in others.
'Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly.' There is no beginning or end. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift.
It's National Friendship Week. Show your friends how much you care.

Why Parents Drink

2009-04-20T18:56:00.000-07:00

The boss wondered why one of his most valued employees was absent but had not phoned in sick one day. Needing to have an urgent problem with one of the main computers resolved, he dialed the employee's home phone number and was greeted with a child's whisper. "Hello?"
''Is your daddy home?" he asked.
"Yes", whispered the small voice.
"May I talk with him?"
The child whispered, "No"
Surprised and wanting to talk with an adult, the boss asked, "Is your Mummy there?"
"Yes"
"May I talk with her?"
Again the small voice whispered, "No".
Hoping there was somebody with whom he could leave a message, the boss asked, "Is anybody else there?"
"Yes," whispered the child, "a policeman".
Wondering what a cop would be doing at his employee's home, the boss asked, "May I speak with the policeman?"
"No, he's busy," whispered the child.
"Busy doing what?"
"Talking to Daddy and Mummy and the Fireman", came the whispered answer.
Growing more worried as he heard a loud noise in the background through the earpiece on the phone, the boss asked, "What is that noise?''
"A helicopter", answered the whispering voice.
"What is going on there?" demanded the boss, now truly apprehensive.
Again, whispering, the child answered, "The search team just landed a helicopter".
Alarmed, concerned and a little frustrated the boss asked, "What are they searching for?"
Still whispering, the young voice replied with a muffled giggle... "ME".

Some of my favorite pics of Zoey

2009-04-19T18:03:00.000-07:00

I'll post more tomorrow, as my dial up is giving me the fits right now.

Atlanta - Saturday 4/11/09

2009-04-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Saturday came around and the Best of Breed dogs went in. It was a sight to behold, 142 Whippet champions in one ring. Judge Magnus Hagstedt split the dogs and bitches into several groups, and he proceeded to whittle down the entries. In the end he had 13 gorgeous whippets to choose from. Here is the final breakdown:

Best of Breed: Ch. Snow Hill Calliope, JC

Best of Winners: Festiva's Been There Done That

Best Opposite Sex: Ch. Sporting Fields Rock On, JC (from 7-10 Veteran class)

Select #1 - Ch. Starline's Chanel
#2 - Ch. Yorktown's Extra Vitamin C, JC
#3 - Ch. Sporting Fields Bahama Sands
#4 - Ch. Seaspell's Point Cabria, SC
#5 - Ch. Ableaim Just Not Anthr Pretty Face, SC
#6 - Ch. Kamada's Instant Millionaire
#7 - Ch. Shamasan Flame 'N Queen, RN, JC
#8 - Ch. Snow Hill Onyx at Stoneledge
#9 - Ch. Sunbeam Rembrandt of Endeavor, JC
#10 - Ch. Fleetwood Return to Sendr

All beautiful dogs for sure. My personal favorites, Calliope, Rock On, Bahama Sands & Onyx.

I'm glad I was able to attend this National. Thanks Gloria, Patti, Melissa, Shelbi, Dana and especially Jonathan & Zoey, as this is one National I will NEVER forget!!!

Atlanta - Friday 4/10/09

2009-04-18T19:37:00.001-07:00

Friday morning we went downstairs to watch Shelbi in the Junior Showmanship class. She placed a respected 3rd, if I remember correctly, with Pebbles. This was the day Vanna was in the ring as there were so many bitches he couldn't judge them all on the same day. Vanna showed like the star she is, and even though she got dumped (that was my theme song for the week "Dumped Again"), she gained a lot of ringside fans and I had lots of nice compliments about her.

Friday night was the gala Top Twenty event. You must qualify for the Top Twenty throughout the previous year, and the dogs were a sight to behold. We had a great time dressing up and acting like some very important people, and Zoey sat ringside with us watching and taking it all in, I'm sure remembering the times when she was in the TT ring. The Top Twenty was won by the beautiful Luna. Congrats to Todd & all involved with her career.

Atlanta - Thursday 4/9/09

2009-04-18T19:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday was the day for some of the girls. Rayne, Aurora & Gina were shown in the 6-9 puppy class. Gina & Aurora showed very well although not good enough to place, but Rayne decided she didn't like the judge and backed away from him on the table. I think it was all very strange for her, between the wild ass carpet, the fancy crystal lights, hundreds of people and a very tall, but handsome judge who wore dark rimmed glasses just freaked her out. Needless to say, we got the boot along with several others.
Jaycie was in the Bred-by Exhibitor class and proceeded to act the same way. She didn't like all this fancy stuff, they are good ole country dogs, not spoiled little princesses.

It was fun to watch Shelbi make it deep into the cut with our co-owned girl Pebbles in the Amateur-Owner Handler class. She looked really nice I thought she might get a placement, but it is a thrill to make the cut at a National just the same.

Thursday night I got to sleep with my ZoeZoe. I took her out for late night potty, and I figured I don't need a leash, she only has three legs and I can keep up with a three-legged dog. I did carry her downstairs, and when I put her down on the grass, she took off in her akward three-legged bunny hop that she does, and off I ran after her. It was kind of funny, me running after a "crippled" dog. She is anything but crippled, handicapped maybe, but not crippled. She proceeded to potty by herself, I scooped her up and inside we went to bed. My beautiful Zoey sure is a bed hog.

Atlanta - Wednesday 4/8/09

2009-04-18T18:44:00.000-07:00

Wednesday saw the boys competing for the title of Winners Dog. It was a thrill to watch Debbie's boy Steven win the points from the 12-18 month class. Melissa also made it deep into the cut with her boy Hank. I applaud all the winners, they were all so handsome.

In the evening at around 5:00 Jonathan arrived with Zoey, she was here for the Parade of Honors. Zoey qualified by being a BISS, BIS winner and having a #1 Ranking. I always look forward to seeing my baby girl (my baby girl is 7), I love her so much. At 6:00 the Parade of Rescues started and as that was going on we got Zoey ready for her National debut since her tragic departure from the show ring. I took Zoey in to groom her up and make her look more beautiful than she already is. I called Amanda (Zoey's best friend and handler) to come down to the ballroom and to talk her into showing Zoey one last time. Amanda was so afraid that Zoey wouldn't remember her (they only spent 2 years 24/7 together when she was being shown), and I told her not to worry. We were all sitting around, and Amanda came and knelt down in front of Zoey. I gave Amanda some liver to feed Zoey and when Amanda said, "Hey Zoe Zoe" she couldn't wiggle into her lap fast enough. I thought she was gonna crawl right under her sjirt under her skin. The expression of pure joy on Zoey's face was one I will never forget. Amanda kind of lost it at that time, but I did manage to talk Amanda into taking Zoey in for the Parade of Honors.

Zoey was the last entrant in the Parade and we had her all fitted up in her wheels and her specially made drape and bling. As Zoey and Amanda made their way around the ring, the Parade chairman started reading her bio which read:
>>Zoey had to retire in the prime of her career in June 2006. Her US record: 18 Best In Show, 1 Best Puppy in Show, 3 Best In Specialty Show, 76 Group 1, 182 Best of Breeds (including BOB & Group 4 at Westminster), and many Group placements. She was in the Top 10 2004-2007. She was Hound of the Year 2003 in Canada. And in the US 2005's #1 Whippet, #3 Hound, #25 All Breed. Besides her amazing accomplishments, she has always had an amazing spirit and zest for life. She is a fighter, and her will to live is remarkable. Hugs to her major caregiver Jonathan. Words cannot express my thanks to you.<<

As the closing of her bio approached, the Parade of Honors chairman was in tears, I was in tears, Amanda was in tears, and I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. Zoey received a standing ovation from the very large crowd that gathered. I want to thank each and every one of you that supported our decision and made it a positive experience to have Zoey at the National. She truly enjoyed seeing her old friends and meeting lots of new ones.

Thanks Pat from Follow Your Lead for the beautiful bling and draping, (purple certainly is her color), and to Candace from Posh Paws (I think) for the gorgeous necklace you gave Zoey as a gift. It really sparkles, just like her personality.

I am so very proud of Zoey, not only for her wonderful show career, but for her unfaltering spirit, love of life, and the gift of determination she shows us every day. There ain't nothing Zoey can't do when she puts her mind to it. Keep on rollin' ZoeZoe!!!

If you'd like to see videos of Zoey in the Parade of Honors, click HERE.

If you'd like to see videos of Zoey after the National back home in Florida without her wheels, click HERE.

Atlanta - Tuesday 4/7/09

2009-04-08T19:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday proved to be another very cold and windy day here in Atlanta. I showed the Jaycie/Riggins puppy today in the futurity and for a puppy that has never seen a show ring and I was told he did lots of puppy things (leaping, bounding around), he made quite a nice showing. He made the cut in his class and was actually placed 5th out of about 15 puppies. Odeon was a star!!!

Tuesday night was the welcome party, costume contest, and karaoke. There are so many clever people out there making costumes for their dogs. The theme was of course Easter, so we had "whippeeps in a box", a little "lambppet", a "chicken-whippet" and even a Hugh Heffner Playboy whippet. It was great.

Then we had our karaoke. WHAT A BLAST!!! There are a lot of very talented whippet people out there. I was a backup singer for "Tina Turner" and I myself sang All Summer Long by Kid Rock. I had so much fun, I wanted to do it again tonight. Guess I gotta wait till another time.

Atlanta - Monday 4/6

2009-04-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

Today we arrived in Atlanta at the Hilton which is just aside the Atlanta airport. We are here for the Whippet National Specialty. There are around 900 Whippets entered and everywhere you look there are whippets. Pretty awesome.

We have a great room, a suite actually, that has windows on two sides of the room. We have a nice view of the airport and can sit here and watch the sunrise. The dogs are comfortable in the room and having a good time. They get to go outside and romp around in the fenced in tennis courts.

Being we have a suite we have the priviledge of going up to the 17th floor to the executive suites to get breakfast, so I'm off to take a shower and then off to get breakfast.

The welcome party is tonight along with karaoke, that should be a riot. I just need to figure out how much I need to drink before I get up and attempt to sing my song...lol. I'll keep you all updated.

The Old Man and the Dog

2009-03-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

**by Catherine Moore**

"Watch out! You nearly broadsided that car!" my father yelled at me. "Can't you do anything right?" Those words hurt worse than blows. I turned my head toward the elderly man in the seat beside me, daring me to challenge him. A lump rose in my throat as I averted my eyes. I wasn't prepared for another battle. "I saw the car, Dad. Please don't yell at me when I'm driving." My voice was measured and steady, sounding far calmer than I really felt. Dad glared at me, then turned away and settled back.

At home I left Dad in front of the television and went outside to collect my thoughts. Dark, heavy clouds hung in the air with a promise of rain. The rumble of thunder seemed to echo my inner turmoil. What could I do about him?

Dad had been a lumberjack in Washington and Oregon. He had enjoyed being outdoors and had reveled in pitting his strength against the forces of nature. He had entered grueling lumberjack competitions, and had placed often. The shelves in his house were filled with trophies that attested to his prowess.

The years marched on relentlessly. The first time he couldn't lift a heavy log, he joked about it; but later that same day I saw him outside alone, straining to lift it. He became irritable whenever anyone teased him about his advancing age, or when he couldn't do something he had done as a younger man.

Four days after his sixty-seventh birthday, he had a heart attack. An ambulance sped him to the hospital while a paramedic administered CPR to keep blood and oxygen flowing. At the hospital, Dad was rushed into an operating room. He was lucky; he survived.

But something inside Dad died. His zest for life was gone. He obstinately refused to follow doctor's orders. Suggestions and offers of help were turned aside with sarcasm and insults. The number of visitors thinned, then finally stopped altogether. Dad was left alone.

My husband, Dick, and I asked Dad to come live with us on our small farm. We hoped the fresh air and rustic atmosphere would help him adjust. Within a week after he moved in, I regretted the invitation.

It seemed nothing was satisfactory. He criticized everything I did. I became frustrated and moody. Soon I was taking my pent-up anger out on Dick. We began to bicker and argue. Alarmed, Dick sought out our pastor and explained the situation. The clergyman set up weekly counseling appointments for us. At the close of each session he prayed, asking God to soothe Dad's troubled mind. But the months wore on and God was silent. Something had to be done and it was up to me to do it.

The next day I sat down with the phone book and methodically called each of the mental health clinics listed in the Yellow Pages. I explained my problem to each of the sympathetic voices that answered.

In vain, just when I was giving up hope, one of the voices suddenly exclaimed, "I just read something that might help you! Let me go get the article." I listened as she read. The article described a remarkable study done at a nursing home. All of the patients were under treatment for chronic depression. Yet their attitudes had improved dramatically when they were given responsibiltiy for a dog.

I drove to the animal shelter that afternoon. After I filled out a questionnaire, a uniformed offficer led me to the kennels. The odor of disinfectant stung my nostrils as I moved down the row of pens.

Each contained five to seven dogs. Long-haired dogs, curly-haired dogs, black dogs, spotted dogs; all jumped up, trying to reach me. I studied each one but rejected one after the other for various reasons; too big, too small, too much hair. As I neared the last pen a dog in the shadows of the far corner struggled to his feet, walked to the front of the run and sat down. It was a pointer, one of the dog world's aristocrats. But this was a caricature of the breed. Years had etched his face and muzzle with shades of gray. His hipbones jutted out in lopsided triangles. But it was his eyes that caught and held my attention. Calm and clear, they beheld me unwaveringly.

I pointed to the dog, "Can you tell me about him?" The officer looked, then shook his head in puzzlement. "He's a funny one. Appeared out of nowhere and sat in front of the gate. We brought him in, figuring someone would be right down to claim him. That was two weeks ago and we've heard nothing. His time is up tomorrow.", he gestured helplessly.

As the words sank in I turned to the man in horror. "You mean you're going to kill him?"
"Ma'am," he said gently, "that's our policy. We don't have room for every unclaimed dog." I looked at the pointer again. The calm brown eyes awaited my decision. "I'll take him," I said.

I drove home with the dog on the front seat beside me. When I reached the house I honked the horn twice. I was helping my prize out of the car when Dad shuffled onto the front porch. "Ta-da! Look what I got for you, Dad!" I said excitedly.

Dad looked, then wrinkled his face in disgust. "If I had wanted a dog I would have gotten one. And I would have picked out a better specimen than that bag of bones. Keep it! I don't want it." Dad waved his arm scornfully and turned back toward the house.

Anger rose inside me. It squeezed together my throat muscles and pounded into my temples. "You'd better get used to him, Dad. He's staying!" Dad ignored me. "Did you hear me, Dad?" I screamed. At those words Dad whirled angrily, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes narrowed and blazing with hate.

We stood glaring at each other like duelists, when suddenly the pointer pulled free from my grasp. He wobbled toward my dad and sat down in front of him. Then slowly, carefully, he raised his paw. Dad's lower jaw trembled as he stared at the uplifted paw. Confusion replaced the anger in his eyes. The pointer waited patiently. Then Dad was on his knees hugging the animal.

It was the beginning of a warm and intimate friendship. Dad named the pointer Cheyenne. Together he and Cheyenne explored the community. They spent long hours walking down dusty lanes. They spent reflective moments on the banks of streams, angling for tasty trout. They even started to attend Sunday services together, Dad sitting in a pew and Cheyenne lying quietly at his feet.

Dad and Cheyenne were inseparable thoughout the next three years. Dad's bitterness faded, and he and Cheyenne made many friends. Then late one night I was startled to feel Cheyenne's cold nose burrowing through our bed covers. He had never before come into our bedroom at night. I woke Dick, put on my robe and ran into my father's room. Dad lay in his bed, his face serene. But his spirit had left quietly sometime during the night.

Two days later my shock and grief deepened when I discovered Cheyenne lying dead beside Dad's bed. I wrapped his still form in the rag rug he had slept on. As Dick and I buried him near a favorite fishing hole, I silently thanked the dog for the help he had given me in restoring Dad's peace of mind.

The morning of Dad's funeral dawned overcast and dreary. This day looks like the way I feel, I thought, as I walked down the aisle to the pews reserved for family. I was surprised to see the many friends Dad and Cheyenne had made filling the church. The pastor began his eulogy. It was a tribute to both Dad and the dog who had changed his life. And then the pastor turned to Hebrews 13:2. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers."

"I've often thanked God for sending that angel," he said.

For me, the past dropped into place, completing a puzzle that I had not seen before: the sympathetic voice that had just read the right article...Cheyenne's unexpected appearance at the animal shelter...his calm acceptance and complete devotion to my father...and the proximity of their deaths. And suddenly I understood.

I knew that God had answered my prayers after all.

Our First Snow Tubing Adventure

2009-03-18T12:18:00.000-07:00

Tyler and I went snow tubing with the cub scouts and we had a great time. We went in those family tubes, I along with Tyler and two other scouts for the first few times down the hill. When you get to the top you have to jump out of the tube so they can unhook it, and I must have looked like the Michelin man falling on my ass all the time. I finally watched how some of the other adults get out and tried this and it was oh so easy.

Eventually the other boys went on their way with others and as the sun went down it was just Tyler and I going down in the tube. At the top they ask you if you want to go straight or spin, we all yelled, spin, spin, spin, so spin we went. You must be going down that hill at least 30 mph, and the spin of the G-Force is quite strong.

Well, the one time Tyler and I went down by ourselves, we said to spin. I was sitting directly across from Tyler and the guy sent us down the hill with a fantastic spin. We are part way down the hill, and as I'm watching Tyler I see him flip over the side of the snow tube and he's hanging onto the rope for dear life yelling "mommy, mommy, help me!!!". I crawled my way across the tube and grabbed him by the coat as he is flying on behind the tube, and hauled his butt inside. I laughed so hard I cried. And he's yelling, "that was soooooo awesome!!!". He looked just like Indiana Jones being dragged behind the vehicle. I started humming the Indiana Jones theme song as I was laughing.

After reaching the bottom of the hill, I made Tyler go back up and down again. Although we didn't spin the next few times, he did go down with some hesitation. And the last few times down we actually did the spinning thing again. You know what they say, "if you fall off the horse, you need to get right back on". I'm very proud of him for that.

Our first snow tubing adventure will be one we will never forget.

Killer Chili

2009-02-16T10:55:00.000-08:00

I went grocery shopping recently while not being altogether sure that course of action was a wise one. You see, the previous evening I had prepared and consumed a massive quantity of my patented 'you're definitely going to $h!t yourself' chili. Tasty stuff, albeit hot to the point of being painful, which comes with a written guarantee from me that if you eat it, the next day both of your butt cheeks WILL fall off.

Here's the thing. I had awakened that morning, and even after two cups of coffee (and all of you know what I mean) nothing happened. No 'Watson's Movement, despite habanera peppers swimming their way through my intestinal tract, I was unable to create the usual morning symphony referred to by my next door neighbors as 'thunder and lightning'.

Knowing that a time of reckoning HAD to come, yet not sure of just when, I bravely set off for the market, a local Wal-Mart grocery store that I often haunt in search of tasty tidbits. Upon entering the store at first all seemed normal. I selected a cart and began pushing it about dropping items in for purchase. It wasn't until I was at the opposite end of the store from the restrooms that the pain hit me. Oh, don't look at me like you don't know what I'm talking about. I'm referring to that 'Uh, Oh, gotta go' pain that always seems to hit us at the wrong time.

The thing is, this pain was different.The habaneras in the chili from the night before were staging a revolt. In a mad rush for freedom they bullied their way through the small intestines, forcing their way into the large intestines, and before I could take one step in the direction of the restrooms which would bring sweet relief, it happened. The peppers fired a warning shot.

There I stood, alone in the spice and baking aisle, suddenly enveloped in a noxious cloud the likes of which has never before been recorded. I was afraid to move for fear that more of this vile odor might escape me. Slowly, oh so slowly, the pressure seemed to leave the lower part of my body, and I began to move up the aisle and out of it, just as an elderly woman turned into it.

I don't know what made me do it, but I stopped to see what her reaction would be to the malodorous effluvium that refused to dissipate. Have you ever been torn in two different directions emotionally? Here's what I mean, and I'm sure some of you at least will be able to relate. I could've warned that poor woman but didn't. I simply watched as she walked into an invisible, and apparently indestructible, wall of odor so terrible that all she could do before gathering her senses and running, was to stand there blinking and waving her arms about her head as though trying to ward off angry bees. This, of course, made me feel terrible, but then made me laugh. .......BIG mistake!!!!!

Here's the thing. When you laugh, it's hard to keep things 'clamped down', if you know what I mean. With each new guffaw an explosive issue burst forth from my nether region. Some were so loud and echoing that I was later told a few folks in other aisles had ducked, fearing that someone was robbing the store and firing off a shotgun. Suddenly things were no longer funny. 'It' was coming, and I raced off through the store towards the restrooms, laying down a cloud the whole way, praying that I'd make it before the grand mal assplosion took place.

Luck was on my side. Just in the nick of time I got to the john, began the inevitable 'Oh my God', floating above the toilet seat because my ass is burning SO BAD, purging. One poor lady walked in while I was in the middle of what is the true meaning of 'Shock and Awe' . She made a gagging sound, and disgustedly said, 'Sonofabitch!', then quickly left.

Once finished I left the restroom, reacquired my partially filled cart intending to carry on with my shopping when a store employee approached me and said, 'Ma'am, you might want to step outside for a few minutes. It appears some prankster set off a stink bomb in the store. The manager is going to run the vent fans on high for a minute or two which ought to take care of the problem. That of course set me off again, causing residual gases to escape me.

The employee took one sniff, jumped back pulling his shirt up to cover his nose and, pointing at me in an accusing manner shouted, 'IT'S YOU!', then ran off returning moments later with the manager. I was unceremoniously escorted from the premises and asked none too kindly not to return.

Home again without having shopped, I realized that there was nothing to eat but leftover chili, so I consumed two more bowls. The next day I went to shop at Albertson's. I can't say anymore about that because we are in court over the whole matter. Bastards claim they're going to have to repaint the store..

Things You Find Out When You Have A Son

2009-02-16T10:49:00.001-08:00

1 - A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.

2 - If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.

3 - A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.

4 - If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.

5 - You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.

6 - The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.

7 - When you hear the toilet flush and the words 'uh oh', it's already too late.

8 - Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.

9 - A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36- year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.

10 - Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.

11 - Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.

12 - Super glue IS forever.

13 - No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.

14 - Pool filters do not like Jell-O.

15 - VCR's do not eject 'PB & J' sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.

16 - Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.

17 - Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.

18 - You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.

19 - Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.

20 - The fire department in Austin ! , TX has a 5-minute response time.

21 - The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.

22 - It will, however, make cats dizzy.

23 - Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.

24 - 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.

25 - 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

The Medical Profession speaks out on the Financial Bail-Out Package

2009-01-30T12:13:00.000-08:00

>> The Allergists voted to scratch it.

>> The Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves.

>> The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it.

>> The Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve.

>> The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception.

>> The Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted.

>> The Pathologists yelled, 'Over my dead body!'

>> The Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!'

>> The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness.

>> The Radiologists could see right through it.

>> The Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing.

>> The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow.

>> The Plastic Surgeons said, 'This puts a whole new face on the matter.'

>> The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward.

>>The Urologists felt the scheme wouldn't hold water.

>> The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas.

>> The Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no.

>> In the end, the Proctologists left the decision up to some anuses in Washington .

Truisms

2009-01-30T12:07:00.000-08:00

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, and then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness, except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of whom God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative--dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up, and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift..

A Wrestler's Biggest Fan

2009-01-27T12:32:00.000-08:00

That's my little boy by mat number two...
He's on deck;
He's the one that tries to look so confident,
While I sit here a wreck.

I sit here watching nervously,
Biting my nails and shaking in my seat;
Praying for a victory,
And not a quick defeat.

Please don't let him be hurt,
Please let him be all right;
After all this is why he practices so hard,
Almost every night.

I'll just suffer through it,
And hive him my support;
Wondering why sometimes,
He ever chose this sport.

But when it's finally over,
And he makes it through "the three";
Nothing can beat the look on his face,
That look of Victory.

The look that says, "I did it, hey mom did you see?"
And when the ref holds up his hand, I know why he chose this sport;
And when the victory goes the other way,
I still give him my support.

There's always a next time as long as you try,
A mom never fails to say;
"You're always a champion in my eyes, son,"
"And you will always be that way."

A mom is a wrestler's biggest fan,
She knows what's in his heart;
She knows his dedication,
And how he tries so hard.

It's hard for a mom to sit and watch,
As her son gets pinned;
And it's hard not to get emotional,
As you watch your baby win.

Seeing his eyes search for you,
While you're sitting in the stands;
Making sure you saw his every move turn out,
Just the way he had planned.

Because every wrestler knows,
That mom is his biggest fan!!!

~Author Unknown~

Canine Learning Experience 2009 - Day 2

2009-01-26T12:55:00.000-08:00

Sunday was day two of the Canine Learning Experience was a good day too. I wasn't there due to a conflicting wrestling meet Tyler was in, but reports are Rayne won her 3-6 month puppy class, along with Gina placing 3rd and Aurora placing 4th. This was a great day for my girls being they had very little ring training. Hopefully they'll continue with their winning ways. These pics were taken by Phasion Whippets, thanks Paul & Kim.

Canine Learning Experience 2009

2009-01-24T18:48:00.000-08:00

I am so very proud of my puppies. At 2 days shy of 6 months, Otis...aka Eclipse Singin' The Blues won his 3-6 month puppy class at the Canine Learning Super Match tonight. His sister Aurora...aka Eclipse Rhythm & Blues, although she didn't place, she showed quite well for not being out and about much. She does need a bit more attitude though.

From the other litter, just shy of 6 months by a week, Rayne...aka Eclipse Secret Wish was 2nd in a big 3-6 month class and litter sister Gina...aka Eclipse Strike a Pose was 4th in the same class. I'm very proud of these kids, and look forward to more exciting things from them in 2009.

Hopefully I'll be able to get up some good pics of them from the match. I didn't take any, but I know someone who did.

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 9

2009-01-20T12:56:00.000-08:00

If you've been following along with Zoey's story, here is an update. Zoey is doing incredibly good on her 3 legs, running up and down the fence line making sure she gets her exercise. She is a good eater and is keeping Jonathan quite busy as he is with her 24/7. He is fortunate enough to be able to take Zoey and his one other Whippet Lily to work with him, so he is her ever loving servant. Whatever Zoey wants, Zoey gets.

People send Zoey stuffies just so she gets to destuff them. Some people even try to find the "totally indestructable" ones, but Zoey takes care of them in no time flat.

Jonathan went on a non-doggie vacation this Christmas and left Zoey and his other crew at home with Jonathan's dad. I told him that when Amanda used to leave the house in Virginia, Zoey used to pace like crazy; drove Debbie nuts. And lo and behold what did Zoey do, she paced and paced and paced with her three legs while Jonathan was gone. It kept her in good shape for sure.

I am very grateful to Jonathan for taking such great care of Zoey in her greatest time of need. And I am so very proud of Zoey for her unfaltering spirit, love of life, and the gift of determination she gives me every day.

The Best Is Yet To Come!!!

Wild Turkey 101 - Never Again!!!

2009-01-18T12:39:00.000-08:00

Back in November we had a drawing at our local club. It was a fun night sitting and drinking with friends and family. Most of the people were smart enough to go home at a decent time still sober, but my Aunt and I came to a decision, we liked Wild Turkey Honey. What a mistake!!! Although I remember everything, even getting sick as a dog, I didn't fall on the floor, not once, not twice but 3 times like someone else I know...lol.

Wild Turkey - NEVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tyler's wrestling II

2009-01-18T12:27:00.000-08:00

Tyler had a dual wrestling meet yesterday and the coach let him wrestle on the JV squad again. So he got to wrestle twice last night. The first match he went 1 whole period then in the second period he got pinned. It was a good effort though. He always somehow manages to get pinned.

The second match he went all three periods and although he lost the decision, he didn't get pinned. I am very proud of him for not giving up and going out there and trying his hardest. Maybe one of these days....

Frigid

2009-01-16T16:41:00.000-08:00

We have been having some frigid weather here in Eastern Pennsylvania the past few days. Today the high was only 11 and now it is down to 0. That is cold for this area. This was posted on a message board, I thought is was pretty good.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cold Weather Behavior:

60 above zero: Floridians turn on the heat. Minnesotans plant gardens.

50 above zero: Californians shiver uncontrollably. People are sunbathing in Duluth.

40 above zero: Import cars won't start. Minnesotans drive with the sunroof open.

32 above zero: Distilled water freezes. The water in Bemidji gets thicker.

20 above zero: New Mexicans don long johns, parkas and wool hats & mittens. Minnesotans throw on a flannel shirt.

15 above zero: New York landlords finally turn on the heat. People in Minnesota have one last cookout before it gets cold.

Zero: People in Miami all die. Minnesotans close the windows.

10 below zero: Californians fly away to Mexico. Minnesotans dig their winter coats out of storage.

25 below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. Girl Scouts in Minnesota still selling cookies door to door.

40 below zero: Washington, D.C. finally runs out of hot air. People in Minnesota let their dogs sleep indoors.

100 below zero: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Minnesotans get upset because the Mini-Van won't start.

460 below zero: ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale). People in Minnesota can be heard to say, "Cold 'nuff fer ya?"

500 below zero: Hell freezes over. Minnesota public schools open 2 hours late.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I know there are a lot of people out there that have 30 degree and below weather from late November till well into spring. But I'm not liking this weather at all.

Me thinks me needs to retire to Florida. Anyone need a roomie with a kid and dogssssssss???

Tyler's wrestling

2009-01-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

Remember the story about Tyler and his wrestling "expedition", under the heading Time Flies? Well the coach had enough confidence in him to put him on the JV squad last week and although he lost both matches, he should have had the 2nd kid. So the coach decided to put him on the JV squad for tomorrow's two matches. Tyler does okay in his exhibition matches, but seems to forget everything when he's in the spotlight. I sure hope Tyler can get it all together to put a win on the board for his team. Say a prayer for him.

What is it?

2009-01-13T12:33:00.000-08:00

Arnold Swarzenegger has a big one.

Michael J. Fox has a small one.

Madonna doesn't have one.

The Pope has one but doesn't use it.

Clinton uses his all the time.

Bush is one.

Mickey Mouse has an unusual one.

Liberace never used his on women.

Jerry Seinfeld is very, very proud of his.

Cher claims that she took on 3.

We never saw Lucy use Desi's.

What is it?

And that's when the fight started...

2009-01-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

My wife and I were watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, "Do you want to have sex?" "No," she answered. I then said, "Is that your final answer?" She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying "Yes." So I said, "Then I'd like to phone a friend." And that's when the fight started...

I asked my wife, "Where do you want to go for our anniversary?" It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation. "Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!" she said. So I suggested, "How about the kitchen?" And that's when the fight started...

Saturday morning I got up early, quietly dressed, made my lunch, grabbed the dog, and slipped quietly into the garage. I hooked up the boat to the truck, and proceeded to back out into a torrential downpour. The wind was blowing 50 mph, so I pulled back into the garage, turned on the radio, and discovered that the weather would be bad all day. I went back into the house, quietly undressed, and slipped back into bed. I cuddled up to my wife's back, now with a different anticipation, and whispered, "The weather out there is terrible." My loving wife of 10 years replied, "Can you believe my stupid husband is out fishing in that?" And that's when the fight started...

A man and a woman were asleep like two innocent babies. Suddenly, at 3 o'clock in the morning, a loud noise came from outside. The woman, bewildered, jumped up from the bed and yelled at the man "Holy Shit. That must be my husband!" so the man jumped out of the bed; scared and naked jumped out the window. He smashed himself on the ground, ran through a thorn bush and to his car as fast as he could go. A few minutes later he returned and went up to the bedroom and screamed at the woman, "I AM your husband!" The woman yelled back, "Yeah, then why were you running?" And that's when the fight started...

I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95. Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the cold cream. And that's when the fight started...

A woman was standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror. She was not happy with what she saw and said to her husband, "I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment." The husband replied, "Your eyesight's damn near perfect." And that's when the fight started...

I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first. "I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please." He said, " Aren't you worried about the mad cow?" "Nah" I replied, "She can order for herself." And that's when the fight started...

My wife and I were sitting at a table at my high school reunion, and I kept staring at a drunken lady swigging her drink as she sat alone at a nearby table. My wife asked, "Do you know her?" "Yes," I sighed, "She's my old girlfriend. I understand she took to drinking right after we split up those many years ago, and I hear she hasn't been sober since." "My God!" said my wife, "who would think a person could go on celebrating that long?" And that's when the fight started...

After retiring, I went to the Social Security office to apply for Social Security. The woman behind the counter asked me for my driver's license to verify my age. I looked in my pockets and realized I had left my wallet at home. I told the woman that I was very sorry, but I would have to go home and come back later. The woman said, "Unbutton your shirt." So I opened my shirt revealing my curly silver hair. She said, "That silver hair on your chest is proof enough for me" and she processed my Social Security application. When I got home, I excitedly told my wife about my experience at the Social Security office. She said, "You should have dropped your pants. You might have gotten disability too." And that's when the fight started...

When I got home last night, my wife demanded that I take her someplace expensive...so, I took her to the gas station. And that's when the fight started...

My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, "I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 170 in about 3 seconds." I bought her a scale. And that's when the fight started...

My wife sat down on the couch next to me as I was flipping channels. She asked, "What's on TV?" I said, "Dust." And that's when the fight started...

Time Flies

2009-01-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

Wow, where did the time go!!! I can't believe I haven't posted anything on my blog since October 2008!!! Wow, what's been happening here lately? I'll have to give you a brief overview from then until now.

October: Steeler lands safely in Germany and new owners Joachim & Werner just love him. He was shown a few times in Germany and at his first show he won his class. A few weeks later Steeler, now renamed Stevy was awarded his first CC.

November: Tyler started wrestling with the booster club and a few weeks into practice they have what they call wrestle-offs to determine if you will be on the actual JV or Varsity team or just wrestling exhibition. Well, Tyler won his first match, but lost his next two and I asked him to ask the coach what he would be wrestling. So he went to ask and came back and said, "Coach says I'll be wrestling EXPEDITION". I asked him if he was going on a trip or what...lol.

The middle of November Melissa, Dana, Shelbi, Louise, Gloria and I went to the Philadelphia Kennel Club bench show which was held in Reading this year. We had our bench decorated with bunnies and stuff and we got a nice ribbon for being finalists. I think the human bunnies were what got us into the finals. We met a very nice man from California named Michael, and being he was benched right next to us, we let him join our little circle, offered him some of our beverages and he still kicked our butt in the ring. So much for trying to get the competition drunk. The almighty Vanna won one day and Melissa's Hank won on another day so they both picked up a few more points.

December: Well December is all about Christmas so getting the tree trimmed and the house decorated was in order. Everything was quiet around here for Christmas and New Year, but I didn't get to see the ball drop on New Years Eve cause I was busy watching Tyler shoot his new 20 guage shotgun he got from Santa.

Tyler also liked the Webkinz Santa brought him too.

I guess that's it for now, I'll try to keep things updated better.

Our Lufthansa Adventure

2008-10-19T04:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was October 18th and my 3 year old boy Steeler was to be shipped from Philadelphia Int'l Airport to Frankfurt, Germany to his new home at "of Gentle Mind" Whippets. I asked a friend of mine, Gloria, if she'd like to take a ride to the airport with me. Steeler's flight was sceduled for 6:00 pm but I had to have him there by 3:00 pm.

I stopped at Gloria's house to pick her up, had a short "beverage" and we started our journey around 12:30 down the turnpike, for our 1-1/2 hour drive. We left a bit early only cause you never know if there is an accident on the turnpike, you can sit for hours. It was a bit scary though when the Lufthansa Cargo place called me on the cell about what time we were going to be there to ship our CAT. This gave me a bit of cause for concern, but we got it straight that Steeler was indeed a dog, not a cat. This cause for concern made us need another "beverage".

Our actual directions didn't take you to the airport in Philly, but to a business park in Folcroft, which is just outside of Philly. Now being I don't have a GPS, I used Mapquest, and they have never failed to get me to where I needed to go. More than a few times we looked at each other wondering where in the hell we were going, but I kept saying Mapquest always gets me there. We followed the directions explicitly and eventually did make it to the business park by about 2:15 pm. Feeling good about being early, we searched for Lufthansa Cargo. We searched and we searched and we searched. We even called Lufthansa and they said they were off a different road than they had origionally told me.

Panic set in as the time ticked down. If Steeler wasn't at the Lufthansa Cargo area by 3:00 pm, he would be sent home and we'd need to reschedule his flight. Time went on, 2:30 pm, we stopped at a small roadside Crab Shack and it just so happened the nice man was talking to his significant other on the phone and she was home and it just so happened that she was on the computer and on mapquest. What a break. I gave her the new address the Lufthansa lady told me, and she told me exactly where I needed to go.

We thanked the man profusely and off we went. We got right to where we needed to go and were looking for building 48 (they really don't have any signs of what these businesses are). It's now 2:40 and time is ticking. Saturdays, the business park is like a ghost town with no physical activity what-so-ever, so stopping to ask directions was non-existant. We were driving in a deserted business park, or so we thought. Time: 2:45 pm, we saw a guy walking and asked him where the Lufthansa Cargo area was, and we were right behind it, but how did you get inside, is there an office? He said we needed to go around the building and it was right there. Time: 2:50 pm. We drive around the building and wa-la, there is the office door.

Now being we drank all those "beverages", we needed to visit the little girls room badly, so my plan was to go immediately upon arriving at the Cargo office. NOT, time now 2:55 pm and paperwork needed to be done, dog & crated needed to be weighed BEFORE 3:00 pm. I gave them all the paperwork, and ran to the bathroom, ran outside to get Steeler and his crate, Gloria walked Steeler quickly and I took the crate inside. We got him weighed in and the paperwork done by 3:00 pm, just by the skin of our teeth.

With a tear in my eye, I gave Steeler a big hug, told him I loved him and although I would never see him again, I'd always think about him. And he needed to be a good boy for his new owners Joachim and Werner. I left Steeler at 3:10 pm and haven't heard yet if he arrived in Germany. His flight is scheduled to land at 8:15 am this morning, but I'm thinking he may have already landed because of the time change. I'm a nervous wreck not knowing if he's there safely or not. I'm sure he's fine wherever he is, but I'll worry till I know for sure.

Just Another Day In Paradise

2008-09-23T18:39:00.000-07:00

Today started like any other day, getting up, getting Tyler ready for school and myself ready for work. The day was a gorgeous one, so when I got home, I changed clothes, went into the puppy pen to play with the babies for a bit before Tyler got home. Tyler gets home, changes and heads outside while I was powerwashing some stuff.

A few hours later, I go outside to feed the puppies and find that little Boulder is lying down kind of funny looking at me. He tried to stand up but was unsuccessful. As I'm running into the pen, he gets up and squats to pee then on 3 legs he hobbles toward the inside. I scoop him up and take him inside and ask Tyler what happened and he states that he was inside with the puppies rolling around and rolled on Boulders leg. I put in a phone call to the vet and off baby Boulder and I go.

My fears are confirmed, his left rear leg is fractured in like a v-shape. They put on a small splint and he has on a teal green bandage. He ate a little bit of food and drank some water and is now resting comfortably in a crate on some super soft cushy blankets. I'll sleep downstairs with him tonight, but he seems to be doing okay except for not pottying since I got home. He is still trying to figure out how to walk with this thing on his leg, but I'm sure he'll figure it out soon. Say a little prayer for Boulder.

Haley/Steeler & Paige/Collin Puppies

2008-09-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

Well, while I was away in Canada on my two week vacation is when my bitches decided to whelp their puppies. The first litter of 10 (5 boys/5 girls) out of HaleyWhippt...aka Eclipse SF Let Freedom Ring by Steeler...aka Eclipse Down at the Blue Moon was born the day we left on July 26th. These puppies were a surprise litter, so I wasn't sure when HaleyWhippet was due, so on Thursday I took her to my friends Shelbi & Louise's house to possibly whelp. She stayed there for 2 days until my niece Melissa could go and pick them up. Saturday night around 7:00 pm she started whelping and delivered her 10 babies in 4 hours. Being mom HaleyWhippet did a bit of traveling while waiting to deliver, I named all the babies after cities. The boys are Salem, Baxter, Austin, Reno and Jackson (sold), and the girls are Cheyenne (sold), Seneca, Fargo, Aurora & Shayla, all in shades of blue fawn, blue brindle, fawn & fawn brindle.

The planned litter between Paige...aka Eclipse Wish Upon a Star and Collin...aka Ch. Eclipse SF Bold Chance was born a week later (actually 4 days before her due date) on Sunday August 3rd. We have 4 gorgeous white & fawn babies, 3 girls named River, Rayne & Lilly and 1 boy named Boulder. They have the nature names that Melissa gave them.

Right now the pups are 6 and 5 weeks old, and all are doing great.

Tyler's Mishap

2008-09-06T08:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday August 24th started out as any other day here at Eclipse, playing with the current puppies, cleaning up after the big dogs, and keeping an eye on Tyler. Tyler kept bugging and bugging me to go for a walk so he could ride his Razor Scooter while I walked on the road. About 3:30 pm we headed out for our walk with Tyler riding his scooter (it's one of those you put your one foot on and push with the other, like a skateboard with a handle). Up around the bend we went, and as I got to the top, Tyler was already on the way down and picking up speed. I yelled to him to stop or slow down, but he couldn't hear me. He reached the bottom of the gradual grade and all I saw was Tyler go ass over end and the scooter flying. He crashed pretty bad so I started running to him, but he got right up, grabbed his scooter and started back so I slowed down a bit. I thought he was okay until he got to me for a closer view. The whole right side of his face was scraped badly with a bid knocker on his forehead, his right hand had a small cut on it, along with a scrape on his right forearm. He also had two nasty looking round wounds on his left inside foot where the macadam from the road had scraped it raw, pretty deep too.

As we were walking back to the house, a neighbor passed by in their pickup truck and saw Tyler crying as I was carrying his scooter, so they turned around and loaded us in the back of their pickup and took us home. We went into the house and I gave Tyler some Tylenol with Codeine which I had from when he broke his arm two years ago. He was lying on the sofa, crying and crying and crying, so I put some cold washcloths on all his boo-boo areas. I checked out his head more closely, and saw that it was only a bad scrape (there was just a little blood), but he kept saying he had a headache, so to be on the safe side, I took him to the emergency room. They did xrays of his clavical, shoulder, and collar bone along with a CAT scan of his head. All was clear so they did a thorough cleaning of his wounds.

I am so glad I took him into the emergency room cause they cleaned up his wounds so much better than I could. And with the bad bump on his head, I wanted to make sure all was okay inside his head.

The next day was the first day of school, and all the kids and teachers and bus driver wondered what happened to him. I'm so glad they didn't take school pictures the first day!!! I think Tyler has learned a valuable lesson about wearing a helmut and shoes when he rides his scooter again (although he hasn't ridden it since). Thanks to the emergency staff at the hospital, they were so caring and gentle with him.

Till next time......I hope not like this.

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 8

2008-08-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

Zoey's latest setback....and our aggressive approach.

Zoey's Monatana vacation was a glorious one for her. From what I hear from Jonathan, she loved it, and the pictures he posted throughout the summer proved it. However the last two weeks of her vacation, her right leg, hip actually (which is her dead leg) has been popping out of the socket and has been very painful for Zoey. She even bit Jonathan very hard once when he tried putting it back in. On the way home, Jonathan did his routine stop at the home of David & Regina Howton, and Zoey's leg/hip was so bad it took Regina (who is a vet) a bunch of meds to get it so she could work it back into place.

It is extremely painful for Zoey, and over the past few days Jonathan, Debbie and I discussed many options for her. Our options were to amputate her dead leg (she does only bunny hop on her left leg anyway, the right one is just in the way), or put her down. Those were the two options the vet gave us being it was so painful for her. The three of us discussed this very indepth, and cried alot about it, and none of us are ready to let go yet, so we eventually opted to have her leg amputated and once healed fit her up for a wheelchair.

I know you may all think we are being greedy, but some of you have met Zoey and know her love of life and her silly spirit. She still loves to destuff her stuffies, and roll around in the grass in the back yard, so the decision was made on her spirit alone. August 12th was the surgery and the vet said all went well, exceptional in fact, and Zoey is awake and alert (as one of our major concerns was would she do well under anesthesia?). She spent two nights at the vets cause she wanted her on TOTAL crate rest. Jonathan took in her favorite bed to lay on and her favorite blanket to be covered with. When he went to get her on Thursday evening, she was standing up, had peed and was ready to go home.

Zoey came home from the Vets last Thursday evening and she is doing wonderful. Jonathan says she was sooo excited to see him. Once home, he took her outside, set her down out in the back yard, she stood up, sniffed, peed and took off. That is great news.

Back in March, he had called me to tell me he was worried about her spine cause when she walked (hopped) her spine just went this way and that, and he was very concerned. Back then we had the same discussion, wheelchair or euthanasia. When she took off yesterday in the yard, she went straight and narrow. We now think that the dead leg was hampering her ability to go in a straight line.

It was a tough decision, that included a lot of tears, to come to with Zoey, but now knowing she is feeling good again, has made it all worth while. For how long, we don't know, but because of her fighting spirit we will do everything possible for her, as long as she is happy and pain free.

Just a short note for everyone. It was discussed at the Midwest that there are people going around at the dog shows with spray bottles and spraying the dogs in the faces. This happened to someone with another breed that Amanda was talking to, and her dog came down with the EXACT same symptoms as Zoey, but unfortunately her dog died within 48 hours. That's how fast this poison works. So beware at dog shows. People are evil. Zoey's love & spirit for life is what has kept her alive, I know it. She didn't know she was supposed to die, I'm sure of it!!!

We know a wheelchair is in Zoey's future, so I have been researching them, and have found that Eddie's Wheels look the best. Lightweight and specially fit for the dog, not machine made, but individually made for each special need.

Jonathan and I truly appreciate the financial support given by Zoey's co-owners Dan, Bruno & Debbie. They said they would take care of Zoey's medical situations until the end, and they have kept true to their word. I love Dan, Bruno, Debbie and especially Jonathan, for without them, Zoey surely would not be here today.

I just spoke with Jonathan tonight and he says Zoey is doing wonderfully, gets around great on her three legs and has once again made snow in Florida (destuffing her toys in a frenzy).

YOU GO GIRL!!!!!

A Childs Innocence...lol

2008-08-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

A little girl asked her Mom, "Mom, may I take the dog for a walk around the block?" Mom replies, "No, because she is in heat." "What's that mean?" asked the child. "Go ask your father. I think he's in the garage."

The little girl goes to the garage and says, "Dad, may I take Belle for a walk around the block? I asked Mom, but she said the dog was in heat, and to come to you." Dad said, "Bring Belle over here." He took a rag, soaked it with gasoline, and scrubbed the dog's backside with it to disguise the scent, and said "OK, you can go now, but keep Belle on the leash and only go one time round the block."

The little girl left and returned a few minutes later with no dog on the leash. Surprised, Dad asked, "Where's Belle?" The little girl said, "She ran out of gas about halfway down the block, so another dog is pushing her home."

If you ain't laffin'... You ain't livin'

Canada Vacation 2008

2008-08-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Two glorious weeks in Canada, out on the lake fishing, back at the cabin drinking and visiting with old friends is just the best vacation one could ask. This Blue Heron was our special visitor just about every morning, and Tyler even took to some "bird-watching". The "pirate ship" came into the bay on the last day we were there. Tyler and Paco enjoyed their time together too.

We didn't have quite the excitement that was had in 2006 (see Canada Vacation 2006), but our cabin neighbor Donny had his boat capsized by 4 big yachts that went through. He said it was like a 6' tidal wave and with his little boat, it just took it right over. Luckily there were some people fishing close by, and they got Donny and the boat pulled to shore. Donny lost the fishing pole that his father gave him right before he passed away last year and his tackle box, he was unharmed but extremely shook up. We too are glad he only lost some material things and not his life.

The fishing was not good at all. Trolling through the water was like dragging a rope. No bites or nibbles at all. We were lucky enough though to catch enough Walleye, Bass & Perch to have several fish frys with my mom & dad and friends Steve & Gloria.

Once again Tyler was barefoot and barechest for the whole 2 weeks. I don't think he even had his shoes in the cabin. He did meet a friend, 9 year old Anna, a cute blondie with which he built sandcastles with, went fishing off the "boat" while it was docked, and just played in general. It was nice for him to have someone to hang with for a week. He was quite bummed the day she went home, he moped around the whole day!!!

Owners of the Perfect Vue Resort, Larry & Joanne are great hosts. They let Tyler do lots of things he might not get to do like hit golf balls into the lake. Along with Gloria who got a small lesson in golfing from Larry, he hit most of the balls into the weeds alongside the lake!!!! Larry & Joanne also let Tyler hang out with them in their house and he even helped tend the store. My mom went over to the store to get some eggs and out comes Tyler and says, "what can I get for you?" Mom says, "eggs", so Tyler rings for Larry in the back room so he can come and ring up the sale. They said he was a joy to have around.

Tyler caught quite a few small perch off the pier ranging in size from 3" to 6". None big enough to keep and eat, but we caught enough for him to get his fill of perch throughout the 2 weeks. None the less, he had a fun time catching these little ones all by himself.

Gloria and I had made plans to have my dad take us out fishing so we could go on the lake where we wanted to go and to catch all the fish, so we could say na na na na naaaa na to the men. But we didn't do well at all. I think I caught a few but nothing impressive, so we had to go in with our heads hung low. We decided then that we would do a bit of socializing and with too much socializing, Gloria felt the need to dance...lol.

Saturday the 2nd was the annual Legends of Perfect Vue Fishing Derby. It's $20.00 per person to get in the derby, and they payout 3 place for the 4 heaviest fish from 14" - 22". First prize is usually around $700.00 on down to about $300.00 for 3rd place. And for the 2nd year in a row we were within ounces of winning 3rd place. Oh well, maybe next year. They cook hamburgers and hotdogs after the derby and there are tables upon tables upon tables of things (wine baskets, beer baskets, personal care baskets, tackle boxes, t-shirts...etc) and every name is put in the hat and everyone gets a prize. It is a well done Derby and one we look forward to every year.

Sunday the 3rd, I was invited by the locals to play Newfy Shoes. This is I am told, the National Game of Newfoundland. I thought it was just something the locals made up, cause it doesn't look like no National Game of Anywhere. There are two square milk crates with a 6" high piece of 4" diameter plastic pipe mounted inside. You toss heavy 2" diameter washers about a distance of 20' and try to get them in the pipe (5 points) or milk crate (3 points). It's kind of like horseshoes, easy huh?, nope, it's a LOT harder than it sounds.

It's $2.00 per person to enter and they draw for teams so there are no two ringers that are paired up, maybe by chance though. There were about 25 teams in this round of Newfy Shoes which came to about $50.00, winner take all. Of course I was a beginner at this, and I was paired up with another beginner that never did it before either. Tammy and I did okay though, we skunked our first opponents 12-0, it was great taking out a couple of locals (men no less...lol, talk about an ego buster). We went down to the last 3 teams, but got skunked ourselves in that last game. It was great fun, and I'll be making a set for myself and the drunks that I know (oh did I mention that the more you drink the harder it gets!!!). Thanks to locals Jack & Donna for inviting me to play along, it was at time I'll not soon forget.

For 2 weeks we had thunderstorms on and off, and one night it poured sooooo hard the roof leaked right in my bed. I was getting dripped on my butt while I slept, I thought I peed in the bed. You could sit and watch the thunderstorms come in from afar. It was kind of cool to watch. The weather probably only reached 80 degrees every day, with a few cooler days. It was wonderful weather for this time in Canada.

One of the last days, Tyler was out on the boat in the back cove of Mallory Bay and he had his big boy fishing pole and he was so excited he caught, hooked and reeled in a 3 pound Bass all by himself. It was quite a thrill for him.

It was the first trip to Canada that we took without Emily, but Paco came along and she met a few friends of her own. Steve & Gloria's new Bichon Frise puppy, Samuel Adams, was a playful if not sometimes downright pain in Paco's tail, companion and they played together quite a bit. Paco also got to play with Larry & Joanne's new Labradoodle puppy Irish who would come over to our cabin just about every morning for a romp with Paco. Paco's other companion (well not really) was this DSH cat that had two kittens about 8 weeks old. She was very protective over her babies and when Paco showed an interest in playing with them, momma cat decided to stalk and chase Paco around for a while. We watched in hysterical laughter Paco running with tail tucked between her legs and momma cat chasing her. It was way too funny.

I'm already looking forward to next years trip.

6 week Jaycie/Riggins pups

2008-07-22T18:21:00.000-07:00

Here are the first stacked pics of the Jaycie/Riggins litter. They are one day shy of 6 weeks. These are the remaining two pups and both TC (boy) and TinkerBell (girl) are doing well. TinkerBell looks a lot like her momma and TC looks just like his daddy. Vanna is a good playmate for them as she likes to lie on the floor and play with them. Paco too is a good "momma" as the pups like to chew on her fur and she allows them to do so.

These pups are doubled up on the beautiful International Champion Paris Panther, and carry the very important bloodline of DC Paris Say You Will with the gorgeous Ch. Surrey Hill Smithereens as their grandmother. These dogs have always been favorites of mine, and I'm happy that I was able to incorporate them into my bloodlines.

TC is very outgoing and playful, and likes to pounce on the fuzzy squirrel while TinkerBell likes to look on from the sidelines. She does pounce once in a while. I'm looking forward to seeing how these guys react to the bunny.

My Sweetest Memories

2008-07-21T19:21:00.000-07:00

This thread will probably be updated from time to time as more Sweet Memories are made, so check back often.

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>>February 7, 2001 - The day my son Tyler Clay was born will be THE sweetest memory of all.
>>Tyler catching a big fish (the grin on his face is priceless)
>>Tyler playing soccer and scoring in the wrong goal.
>>Tyler wrestling and winning a match only because the other team had a forfeit at his weight.
>>Tyler playing t-ball and forgetting to run to first base.
>>Tyler running his car in the Pinewood Derby for Scouts.
>>Tyler starting Karate and progressing onto his yellow belt.
>>Watching Tyler shoot his BB gun and hit the targets.
>>Watching Tyler learning to ride his Razor Scooter.

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>>February 14, 2006 - Zoey winning the Breed at the "Garden" and onto a Group 4.
>>Zoey's many Best of Breeds, Group Placements.
>>Zoey's 18 All-Breed Best In Shows.
>>Zoey being named 2003 Canada's Hound of the Year.
>>Zoey being an extremely happy "camper" and living out her life at Camp Whippet like the princess she knows she is and deserves to be.
>>May 31, 2008 - Vanna winning Best of Breed from the Open Bitch class at the Eastern Whippet Regional Specialty and on to a Hound Group 3. Before showing I remember standing at the trophy table and looking over the trophies. I came across the Best of Breed trophy where Zoey's name is engraved from when she won it in 2004. With a tear in my eye, I lightly rubbed my fingers over her name and mumbled, "I love you sweet girl". I know that day the Whippet Gods were looking over me and let the judge find Vanna worthy of being awarded Best of Breed.

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I have been an active competition trapshooter for the past two decades and I've shot live birds here and abroad. Some sweet memories from shooting are:
>>Winning the Ladies 16-Yard Championship in 1987 (198 x 200), 1988 (198 x 200) & 1999 (197 x 200).
>>Winning the Ladies Handicap Championship in 1988.
>>Winning the Ladies Doubles Championship in 1985, 1990 & 1991.
>>Winning the Ladies All-Around Championship in 1991 & 1995.
>>Breaking my first 100 straight in Handicap in August of 1983.
>>Placing in the Top Ten of the Lehigh Valley Trapshooters League in 2006.
>>Placing 3rd in Portugal while shooting live birds in a field of approximately 500+ shooters. >>First and second places were awarded to Joaquim Morato and Bruno Pardini (two of Europes best shooters).
>>Winning the Ladies World Live Bird Championship in Guadalajara, Mexico in 1989.
>>Winning many live bird trophies in the United States, and several PA Ladies Championships.
>>Winning 5 belt buckles in one weekend of live bird shooting in NC.

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I guess that's all for now, but I know there will be more.

How do you get your Whippet in racing condition?

2008-07-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

I asked this question on several lists and also in a few Whippet boards and got some great advice. Free running exercise, short sprints, good diet, and keeping your Whippet lean and mean (lighter is faster you know). And I truly appreciate all the great advice and hope to have Vanna, my first Whippet who can actually compete in the race for something other than the TURTLE award, in better race condition for the upcoming CWA National race meet to be held at Nottingham Park in Nottingham, PA the end of August.

I have Vanna off to a great start with her conditioning. She LOVES to chase her tennis balls, this gives her the short sprints of speed she needs, Tyler forgets to close the door behind him when he goes out, this gives her the free running exercise she needs, she eats her dinner every night, which gives her the good diet, and chasing moths from one end of the house to the other keeps her lean, mean and keen.

Although she has this good start for the race meet, we are heading off to our yearly two week Canada fishing trip, and she is going to stay at my cousins house while we are gone. I'm just hoping she doesn't come back like a little pork ball after two weeks with two young girls (ages 6 & 10 I think). I kind of got things under control here with Tyler not feeding the dogs anything, but who knows what may happen.

Right this moment, Vanna is lying down on her doggie bed, eyeing up the homemade cinnamon bun Tyler is eating, and she also has her eye on a moth that's flying around. I'm hoping she makes a mad dash for the moth, as that is a lot less calories than that delicious cinnamon bun!

Should I shave or wax???

2008-07-18T20:21:00.000-07:00

Every once in a while I receive an email I know would be enjoyed by many, so I'll be posting some of these emails as I receive them. This one is a riot.

CAUTION: Be prepared to laugh out loud...I laughed till I almost cried as I could just see this happening, especially to me!!!

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The epilady, scissors, razors, Nair And now...the wax.

My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, and play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet." So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)

So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh, hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north.

After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the one strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my *hoo-hoo* and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (yes, it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP!!! Another deep breath and RRIIPP!! Everything is swirly and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip! There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair, the hair that should be on the strip I touch. I am touching wax. CRAP! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. DANG!!!!!!!! I hear the slamming of a cell door. *Who-Ha*?? sealed shut! Butt?? Sealed shut!

I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? WRONG!!!!!!! I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cement-epoxied myself to the porcelain!!

God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!! I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter - "So, my butt and who-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!" There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or who-ha?" She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night.

While we go through various solutions, I resort to scraping the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better then to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not workin g, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event.

My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace.... the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. IT WORKS!! It works!! I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair.... THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!! So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Next week I'm going to try hair color......Now that's funny. Notttttttttt!!!!!!!!

Canada Vacation 2006

2008-07-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

My Canadian Adventure

For the past 4 years, my hubby, Tyler and I along with my parents, take our annual trip to Ontario, Canada and go Walleye fishing for two weeks on the North Shore of Hay Bay (a fresh water lake) in Nappanee, this year was no exception. Our trip started out on July 29th normal enough, we drove the 6 hours up, got to the cabin and started fishing. There was a beautiful North-easterly breeze all week, the fishing wasn't too bad, and we caught enough fish every day to eat. On Wednesday, hubby, Tyler and I went out about 6 pm to do our evening fishing and the waters were a little wavy, maybe about 1 foot waves (perfect for the walleye to bite).
We were fishing in a little cove off the South Shore about 2 miles SW of our cabin, and it is usually pretty calm in there, but with a storm coming and the waves getting bigger, we knew getting across to our cabin on the North Shore would be a chore. We started for “home” and once out in the open water it was VERY rough, “and our tiny ship was tossed” (Gilligan’s Island theme - sorry, just had to do that), and the waves were now peaking at about 4 foot. We have a pretty sturdy 16’ boat, and we were still taking on some water from the crashing waves. Needless to say, Tyler was hanging on to the front of the boat where we tie the dock lines to, Paco (our new mix breed) was right beside him on the floor, I was aside of them holding on to both Tyler & Paco, Emily (the spoiled princess Whippet) was under the console where hubby was driving the boat.

It’s now about 8 pm, and maneuvering in the water was tough. We were ½ of the way back to “home” and I spied a boat kind of behind me over my left shoulder. I took a glance because #1, I’m nosy and need to see if it’s anyone I might know, and #2 it looked like too small a boat and motor to be on THAT rough water. As I’m looking over my shoulder, I hear hubby say, “Is there someone on that boat”. I said, “I don’t know, but we’d better go have a look”. We drive over to the boat, with 4 foot waves crashing over the side of our boat, lightning in the sky and a HUGE threat of rain hovering over us. We get there, and there is no one in the boat, AND THE MOTOR IS STILL RUNNING!!!!!! My stomach immediately fell to my feet, knowing someone is overboard. I noticed another boat coming by, so I frantically waved them down and they came over, told them there’s a boat with no one in it, and they said that it’s probably a break-away boat (from a dock), and I told them no, the motor was running.

My hubby said that that boat had been docked at our camp all week, and he’s seen a guy fishing in it (always by himself), so the two guys we flag down start heading to our camp with the stray boat. Hubby and I circle a few times to see if we can find anyone bobbing or waving in the water. After a few minutes of looking and hoping, we made a decision to head for camp so they can call 9-1-1. When we get there, I jump out of the boat onto the dock, run over to the office and tell them the situation. They think they know who owns the boat, he is one of three brothers that are in a cabin two doors down from us. Low and behold, it IS one of the brothers.
The coast guard was called, helicopters, water police and land police. Hubby and I both gave statements around 9:00 pm as to where the location of the boat was found, as we had looked to both shores to see where we were at, just in case. We did what we could do, and thought that was the end of it.

It’s now about 11:00 pm and hubby & Tyler are off to bed, Mom & Dad are off to bed, but I stayed up a little, as I was a bit shaken. Around 11:30 pm the police come knocking on the cabin door, and they want me to go to the docks and tell the water police about where the location of the boat was found. Hubby stayed in bed and I told him the water police wanted to talk to me, so off I went to the dock.

Well it ended up I and a local permanent camper, Jack, who knows where the shoals and low spots are in the lake, got on the police boat and we headed off to see if I could find the spot where we found the boat. Now this lake looks so different in the dark, dark night with rain pelting down on us and the water, but with Jacks help with knowing the terrain and shore lines, the police put a marker down where I thought the spot was.

We then were escorted from the police boat to the Cape Hearn, the Coast Guard ship that was called in. Jack and I both got aboard the Cape Hearn, sat and talked with the Coast Guard Captain for about 20 minutes, then back onto the police boat and back to the docks, but instead of going back into camp, we searched the North Shoreline for about 1-1/2 miles past camp, eventually turning around and getting us back to camp at around 1:00 am. While walking back to my cabin, the two brothers are just sitting at their picnic table looking out at the water, both clutching a bible (one of the brothers was a chaplin).

On Thursday, while heading out to fish in the late morning, hubby states that I marked the spot pretty close. A plane was called in that does search & rescue, called the Hercules, and they were flying up and down the lake for ½ the day. They did drop a smoke bomb at a spot, and upon the police checking they found the mans’ white tee shirt amongst a bunch of ripped loose weeds (this was about a mile SE of the spot I marked). They brought in diving teams and more police, but nothing. They searched all night Thursday, again nothing. Again, all day the brothers just sat around looking out over the water.

Friday morning they brought in two helicopters as they can get closer to the water than the Hercules could. The choppers were equipped with some kind of sonar device that can spot a mass of something under the water. There were several spots marked and the divers started diving at these markers. Fortunately and unfortunately, they found the body of the man about 50 yards SW of the spot I had originally marked. He was tangled up in a weed bed 29’ down from the surface. I say fortunate because the remaining two brothers have some closure, but unfortunate because he was not found alive. To look at the man, you’d see a very fit 42 year old, but he did have a heart condition which runs in the family.

This is a trip I will NEVER forget, both fun and sad. Fun because of the experience I had on the Police Boat and the Coast Guard Boat (something I really hope I never have to do again, unless it's just for fun), and sad because of the outcome.

We have since gone up to Canada, and will be leaving again in 2 weeks from today, and we always talk about that day. It is something I will remember for a long time to come.

Disney World 2007

2008-07-11T06:08:00.000-07:00

Last year we took a trip to Florida's Disney World. We decided to go over the Christmas vacation that way hubby and I would be off work and we didn't need to take Tyler out of school. It was a nice drive down, although a bit long, but I'd rather drive than fly anyway. That way I have all the things I need with me all the time.

Tyler was really looking forward to it and saved up his money (he got a dollar for every 100% he brought home from school, it ended up being somewhere around $60.00). He had more than enough money as he's been saving for a long time. As the time grew nearer, Tyler became more and more excited, but one day said to me, "Mommy, I don't think I want to go to Florida." I was shocked and asked why. He said he really wants to go, but he really wants to stay home to get his presents from Santa. It nearly broke my heart. I did tell him that there are children all over the world, and every one of them gets presents on Christmas and I really do think Santa goes to Florida too.

In the mean time, an aquaintance of mine from a Whippet board I am on was going to Disney with her hubby, and she asked if she could send Tyler a postcard from Disney. I said sure, knowing Tyler would love that. When the postcard arrived, it was addressed to Tyler and it said something like, 'Hi Tyler, I was just down visiting with Mickey before my big day, and he told me you were coming down to see him. I'll make sure to bring your presents to Florida for you. Love, Santa.' Well, Tyler's eyes lit up, and he had the biggest grin and wanted to know when we were leaving.

We arrived in Disney on the 23rd at around 4 pm. We got all checked in and decided to head out to the park. Tyler wanted to do the Magic Kingdom, so off we went. We had no problem getting to the park, and took the ferry over to the Magic Kingdom. I know why they call it the Magic Kingdom, as it really does have a magical feel about it when you step foot inside. We did a few rides, and saw the gorgeous light parade and the fantabulous fireworks display. There are no other fireworks like it anywhere. We headed back to the hotel and we got lost leaving the parking lot of Disney...lol, but we eventually found the way. Upon arriving back at the hotel, hubby took Tyler to the pool next door, as they had a big pool, a whirlpool and a sliding board into the pool. Tyler was so excited about the slide into the pool, he went right up and came down into the water without even taking off his shoes...lol.

Monday was Christmas eve, and we drove to the west side of Florida to visit some old friends of mine that I used to shoot live birds with, Doc & Ruth Coniglio. After getting lost a few times, we arrived at their beautiful house and sat, drank and talked about old times. It was wonderful meeting up with Doc & Ruth again, as I may never see them again. Ruthie went overboard and had gifts for everyone, hubby, Tyler and myself. We had a great time, but eventually had to say goodbye and head back to the hotel.

That night when Tyler fell asleep, I snuck downstairs and brought up the big box of presents I brought along for him. We had a small suite and I put them in the living room on and around the coffee table. Of course the only day Tyler gets up before us is Christmas Day, and this year was no exception. He yelled for us to get up cause Santa left presents in the living room. He was so excited. Tyler opened his presents but couldn't figure out how Santa got into the hotel room, as the window wasn't broken and the door was locked from the inside. To this day he can't figure that out.

We headed off to Animal Kingdom on Christmas Day but we didn't see very much of it as it was soooooo full, it was like being packed in a sardine can with no where to go. Other days we went to MGM Studios, Epcot and Sea World. Tyler decided he wants to be a whale trainer when he grows up. He liked all the wild rides he went on, and we even went back to the Magic Kingdom a second time as that's where Tyler wanted to go, he loved the Magic Kingdom. On the Sunday before we were due to go home, we took Tyler to the beach, where we eventually met up with Jonathan and Zoey. You'll find that story under one of the Life & Times of Zoey stories.

We had a fantastic trip and I'd go again in a heartbeat. It was so beautiful there, and Tyler had such a great time. Till next time.

Trials and Tribulations of Raising a Litter

2008-07-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

As previously posted, the long awaited Jaycie/Riggins puppies arrived on June 11, 2008. Jaycie delivered her pups 4 days early due to a uterine infection she had, and got off to a bad start with 3 dead pups. She finally had her first live pup, and after a few hours, ended with 4 pups. A trip to the vet 2 days later confirmed that the pups were doing well and all were good and healthy. I decided to go to the Canadian National the end of June so mom and the 2-1/2 week old pups went to stay with my niece while I was gone. Melissa called me a few days into my trip to say the one pup, Ty, wasn't doing well and was kind of pale and lethargic, so she took him to the vet where she works, they gave him a dose of wormer and she brought him home. She was supplementing them with Esbilac cause Jaycie didn't have a lot of milk. In the morning when she went in to check on the pups, Ty was gone. I chalked it up to a bad luck, as all the other pups were doing good. The pups came home on Sunday, and all were active and nursing although I was supplementing everyone with Esbilac. A week later, one of the other pups, Taylor, got very pale looking and lethargic, and through the night he passed away also.

This has been the litter from hell, as I've never lost puppies at 2-1/2 and 3-1/2 weeks of age before. It's hard enough when they are born dead or die shortly after birth, but it is extremely hard to see them fail at that late stage. A few days later the little girl, TinkerBell, was looking kind of pale and was just a tad lethargic. I started with a stricter regimen of wormer, Esbilac and gave her a supplement called Nutri-Stat. When I started the Nutri-Stat, her front feet pinked up some, and with my constant nursing her, holding her, snuggling her, and telling her she wasn't going to die, she got better. She is now an active little girl who plays with her brother TC who is twice her size. TinkerBell was only 5 oz. at birth and her brother was about 10 oz., so she is still playing catch-up. She may not be a big bitch as her mother and grandmother are not big, and neither is dad Riggins.

I think we are on the right track, TC and TinkerBell have started drinking water from a bowl and they are trying to chew up some kibble, but they still like their puppy slop (Esbilac, Baby Cereal and Goats Milk mixed with some warm water).
Thanks Karen for being there when I needed someone to talk to about these pups and their situation. Even though there was nothing to be done for these pups, it was nice to know someone was lending an ear.

I'll post updated puppy pics soon.

A Day In The Park

2008-07-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday Tyler's Karate school took a day off and everyone went to Knoebels Amusement Park. Tyler's friend Shawn and his mom followed us there. We arrived at 11:00 am when the park opened and got an all day ride pass for the boys. Tyler is quite the daredevil and he LOVES all the crazy rides, and he went on the Phoenix twice and Twister once. Both are wooden roller coasters that go about 100 mph (or so it seems to this 40+ year old mom).

The Fandango is another of Tyler's favorites. It is a big thing that hangs from the middle and seats people all around the outside, and they strap you in electronically, cause when this thing starts to swing back and forth and twist you won't fall out, it fits very tight against you. It swings actually about 100 degrees and when you are up in the air, you actually feel like you are going to fall backwards upsidown. Needless to say, mom didn't go on this one, neither did Tyler's friend Shawn.

The haunted house is another of Tyler's favorites, and we did that twice also. He's been in the HH about 6 times now, and I think these last two times he actually kept his eyes opened...lol. We also went on the Flume ride and the Skloosh where you get 120% soaked and when you get off the boat and stand on the observation deck you get hit with a wall of water that if you didn't get wet enough on the ride, you're done for here...lol.

It was a great day at the park, one in which I've been going to for about 40 years. The park is very shady with trees all around, it's free to get in just to walk around, unlike many other amusement parks these days, and you can even take your dog along in the park. We are looking forward to the next time.

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 7

2008-07-02T09:06:00.000-07:00

Upon

arriving home from Florida with good memories of Zoey and the home she's in, I purchased a pile

of stuffies for Zoey, boxed them up, and proceeded to mail them down to Camp Whippet, just for Zoey's destuffing pleasure. (You need to read the other post about Zoey...the Serial Toy Killer, and you'll know all about it.) She proceeded to destuff the toys in record time. Since then, there have been several people on the lookout for super tough toys that are Zoey proof. So far, there hasn't been a stuffed toy that Zoey can't destuff in under 15-20 seconds.

Zoey has since had her ups and downs, but for the most part is doing great. This brings us to the present. Jonathan is a teacher, and has the good fortune of having the summers off. So he packs up whatever dogs he may have in Camp at the time, and heads NW to the beautiful state of Montana. He has made lots of stops on the way seeing some of his rescue placements, and they always remember him. Zoey has made lots of new friends along the way as well. Some of these people only knew of Zoey from her show wins, but have since gotten to know her wonderful spirit first hand. Zoey even went for her first boat ride this past week, it did take her a while to figure out how she was floating above the water and not actually in it.

Right now, Zoey is taking in the cool mountain breezes of Montana and living the good life of a spoiled princess that she knows she is.

May the story continue...

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 6

2008-07-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

Zoey settled in quite well in Florida under the doting care of Jonathan. I had told Jonathan all about her and about her slight incontinence problem, so he went out and purchased a sterilite container (about 27" wide x 36" long x 8" high), put tons of fluffy blankets in it, placed it on his bed and put Zoey in it, just so she could sleep in bed with him. Zoey took to this right away and has since become quite the princess at what lots of people call CampWhippet. Camp Whippet came about because Jonathan does a lot of Whippet & Greyhound rescue and there are anywhere from 4 to 10 dogs in his house at any given time. He truly is a godsend to rescues, and especially to Zoey and myself.

I get monthly updates on Zoey's progress and because of the warm, sunny, sandy beach treks, nice sun bathing area in Jonathan's back yard, and care given by him, Zoey had been steadily improving, so much so that all the medications she was on, she was weaned off of. She even came into season for the 1st time since this dilemna all started. Although this was good news, the heat cycle took it's toll on Zoey and she started in a downhill slide. She is back on some of the meds, but not all, and is now holding her own once again. Her spirit, love of life and will to live is just amazing.

I did call Jonathan in tears one day in November, just cause I was upset that I would probably never see my girl again. I knew I would never see my Zoe-Zoe again, but knowing she is in the right place made everything okay. That was a relapse on my part, and I think I made Jonathan feel bad, but all is better now.

In December over the Christmas vacation, hubby, Tyler and I traveled to Florida to Disney World (that'll be another story), all the while wondering how I was gonna get to Fort Pierce to see Zoey. I called Jonathan one day while we were waiting to get on the bus to go to one of the Disney Parks (it may have been Christmas Day), and I asked Jonathan how things were going, he said, "not good", he had lost a dog and he was driving around right now trying to find her. My heart ended up in my throat as I asked what dog, he said Zoey. Tears came to my eyes, as he explained that she politely let herself out the front door. He said she was contained on the island, and thought she would probably run north on the beach, as that is where they always went, and Zoey does LOVE her beach.

Fort Pierce is a small island and there is only one access road off of it to the main land. He said he'd call me back, and hung up. He called a few minutes later stating that Animal Control just called him and said they had her and he should come get her. Zoey in her "sad condition" had traveled about a mile north on the beach before she was spotted and taken into "custody". Jonathan called me about an hour later to say he had sprung her from the joint, and was on their way home, and that Zoey was just fine, but tired. I breathed a huge sigh of relief.

We did our Disney trips, and on the 30th of December we decided to take Tyler to the beach. We headed east to Cocoa Beach, but did head farther south cause there were dead fish all over the beach there due to a rare Red Tide that came in. I called Jonathan and he said he would meet me at the beach with Zoey. This wonderful man drove Zoey about 2 hours north of his home, just so I could see my baby girl again. It was a joyous reunion as I hugged my girl. To my delight she looked really good. Melbourne Beach is a non-doggy beach and where we were, you couldn't see it, but Zoey stood at the very edge of the tall grass, and with nose in the air was taking in all that glorious sand and salt water she so desparately wanted to get down to. I now know in my heart as I've seen it with my own eyes, Zoey is where SHE needs to be.

To Be Continued...

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 5

2008-06-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

In June Zoey had become very shaky on her rear legs, so there were tons more of x-rays, spinal taps, MRI's and more bloodwork done. The only conclusion the vets came to, and we actually thought this from the start, was that she was somehow poisoned. Zoey has always loved life, and dying was not an option in her mind. She is a fighter and has an extreme will to live.

In the ensuing months Zoey steadily got worse, but Debbie and co-owner/backer Dan did everything they could think of to make her comfortable. I went to Sporting Field later that year, and Zoey was a bit wobbly on her rear, but with her zest for life, ran around the farm, chasing the cats, and killing them when she caught them, and sometimes falling down. She was totally unaware she was not right.

I called about once a month inquiring about Zoey's health and it was always the same. When the year 2007 rolled around, the monthly discussions became tearful between Debbie and I cause we came to the realization that if Zoey was ever in pain it was a possibility we'd have to put Zoey down cause she was losing her rear totally, but we nixed that as she was still happy and although wobbly and falling over lots, she still had a bright spirit about her. We contemplated getting a wheelchair for her, but thought that may not be good cause she would lose total use of her rear end, and that would be it. At least while she was galloping around the yard, she was utilizing some muscle she did have back there.

An aquaintance of mine (never met the man, but know of his long standing history with whippets & greyhounds) emailed a few times even while Zoey was in her prime to say that, he knew Zoey wasn't being shown anymore, and he would love to have Zoey in her retirement (you know, once she is done having her babies and all). He would travel to the Florida shows when he could (he does live in Florida) just to see Zoey, he loved her that much.

Come July, discussion on Zoey's outcome was getting more grim and more tearful between Debbie and I. She was on a downhill slide, and sliding fast. I was going away on a 2 week family fishing trip to Canada, and if possible could Debbie please not put her to sleep while I was away, as I wanted to be there to see her one last time, hold her and tell her I love her with all my being and to bring her ashes back to Eclipse where, although she had only spent a few weeks as a baby here, she would spend eternity. It was agreed. Upon arriving home from my vacation, I called Debbie and went to Sporting Fields to see my Zoey. Debbie said she had improved when I was gone, and thinks she may hold steady, but I went anyway. When I saw Zoey, I cried, again along with Debbie, while we hugged each other. Her rear end was totally gone, but she could still pull herself up on her front and bunny hop around the yard, which made me smile wide, and she was turning into such a snob, I couldn't believe it, but she did remember me. (She would always remember my voice when I was near her and she's start her kangaroo hopping until I came over and said hello.) I spent a lot of alone time with my girl, and took a ton of pictures not knowing if those were the last I would get. I said a tearful goodbye to Zoey and Debbie and headed home.

August turned into September, September in October and into November we went. I had called Debbie one day asking about Zoey and she said that she was not doing good at all with the cold settling in and she thought it was time. I hung up and cried. Upon checking my emails that day, there was another email from this certain person that said he was still interested in Zoey, but he wouldn't continue to bug me about her and this would be the last time he'd email me, but to please keep him in mind. I emailed him explaining all about Zoey's "illness" and he said he would definitely love to have her with him. I called Debbie saying that before we put her down, to try this fantastic home in Florida. I told Debbie all about the home and arrangements were made. Debbie got Zoey a ride down to Georgia, and Zoey got a ride down to Florida with this mans Father who was driving in from Montana for the winter. It all worked out and on Zoey's 6th birthday, she arrived at the wonderful home of Jonathan Hart on the sunny, sandy beach of Fort Pierce.

To Be Continued...

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 4

2008-06-30T19:15:00.000-07:00

The year 2004 was good, the year 2005 was just mind boggling, so onto the new year...2006.

The first 3 weeks in January saw Zoey and Amanda travel back down to do the Florida circuit, and although not as impressive as last years start, they won 6 BOB, two Group 1, and two Group 2. The following weekend was Missouri winning two more BOB, a Group 1 and a Group 3.

February is the month of the famous Westminster Kennel Club show in New York City, which is around the 14th, but the weekend before Zoey and Amanda were in NJ at the Boardwalk KC shows and they won 2 BOB and two Group 2. Westminster KC came and I was all excited as a bus load of my friends just happen to come in to NY to the show. Judge Dorothy Hutchinson sorted through a bunch of beautiful whippets but finally chose as her Best of Breed, 2005's #1 Whippet Zoey. I just about died on the spot. After many interviews and pictures from the local Morning Call paper, Zoey was resting up for her debut in the famed WKC Groups which are shown live on TV. Zoey put on the performance of a lifetime and made the cut, then was pulled out FIRST, but ended up placing 4th cause the judge picked the dogs 4th to 1st. When she was pulled out first I screamed so loud I think they heard me all the way in Alaska...lol. February ended with another 3 BOB, a Group 2 and a Group 3.

March was another great month as Zoey won another 11 BOB, 3 Group 1, a Group 3, a Group 4, along with 2 more Best In Shows.

April started off again with a bang, 6 more BOB, a Group 1, two Group 3 and yet another Best In Show. The day of the 15th, Zoey went down with shooting diahrrea at the show. She was never sick a day in her adult life, and the following days she started becoming very lethargic and started running an extremely high fever, 103+. She didn't want to get out of bed or go outside, so she was off to the vets. The vet did all kind of bloodwork, but found nothing. Zoey did eventually get better for the National Specialty which was held the end of April in Boston, MA, and she looked awesome and although she didn't make the cut in the Breed ring, she showed like the star she was. She and Amanda were the most beautiful pair in the ring as the picture above shows.

The first weekend in May were the Bucks & Trenton Shows, and she won both breeds that weekend and another Group 1. This was Zoey's last show where she won anything as her back end was getting very weak.

Over the month of May she kind of held her own, but she'd have her bouts of falling over. Come the Eastern Specialty in June ( I didn't make it that year), she was shown for the very last time.

Zoey's career totals from year 2002 to 6/2006

In The US

18 - All Breed Best In Show

1 - All Breed Puppy Best In Show

3 - Specialty Best In Show

182 - Best of Breed (1 @ 2006 Westminster KC)

10 - Best of Opposite Sex

5 - Award of Merits (1 @ 2005 AWC National)

76 - Group 1

32 - Group 2

18 - Group 3

10 - Group 4 (1 @ 2006 Westminster KC)

In Canada

1 - All Breed Best In Show

1 - All Breed Puppy Best In Show

1 - Specialty Best In Show2003 Hound of the Year

To Be Continued...

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 3

2008-06-30T18:44:00.000-07:00

Now we come to the 2nd half of 2005.

The beginning of July she stayed in Maryland and picked up another 3 BOB, a Group 1, Group 2 and another Best In Show. The rest of July was Missouri, Texas and Ohio where she garnered 9 more BOB, five Group 1, one Group 2, a Group 3 and two Group 4. The end of July they flew to the Western Sighthound Combined Specialties where she was awarded two BOB, and a Group 1 over 500 other hounds.

August was a light month as she was only shown 3 weekends. The first weekend in Ohio at the Mid-West weekend garnered 2 BOB, a Group 2 and an Award of Merit at the Specialty. Onto New York with 3 more BOB and a Group 2. The last weekend of August was in Georgia and won 3 BOB, two Group 1, and a Group 2.

September Zoey and Amanda started in New Jersey winning 3 BOB and two Group 1. Next were the NJ/NY shows winning 2 BOB and a Group 2, then onto Ohio winning 2 BOB, two Group 1 and another Best In Show, and the following weekend to the Southern Specialty weekend in Georgia, and what a weekend it was. Three Best of Breeds, 2 Specialty Best In Shows, two Group 1, and an All-Breed Best In Show. And I have it all on DVD thanks to Ralph & Dianne Chiucchi who video taped it especially for me. I thank you both from the bottom of my heart.

October was another light month, but Zoey won 8 more BOB, a Group 1, three Group 2, a Group 3 and a Group 4.

This took us into November which was another full schedule month. Starting in Pennsylvania close to me, Zoey won 3 BOB, three Group 1 and another Best In Show which I went to that day and actually saw her with my own eyes do this. Tyler even got in on the BIS picture. The following weekend was Michigan where she won 3 more BOB, two Group 1 along with a Best In Show, and a Group 2. The next two weekends were Ohio and MD accumulating another 6 BOB, a Group 1, two Group 2 and a Group 3.

December, the last month of this very long yearly campaign. Only shown these two weekends in December, she was in North Carolina on the 9th, 10th and 11th, and in Illinois on the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th. Out of these final 8 shows Zoey was BOB every day, and was Group 1 seven of the 8 days, and won 3 MORE BEST IN SHOWS to complete the year!!!!!!!!!!!

Zoey's record 1/1/05 - 12/31/05 is as follows:

12 – All Breed Best In Shows

2 - Specialty Best In Show
114 – Best of Breeds
4 – Best of Opposite Sex
4 – Award of Merit (1 @ Westminster)
1 – National Select Award of Merit
55 – Group 1
23 – Group 2
8– Group 3
7 – Group 4

The team of Zoey and Amanda ended the year #1 Whippet All Systems, #3 Hound and #25 amongst all breeds in the country!!!!!

What a thrilling ride it was, waiting at home for Amanda's phone calls to see how my baby was doing. I lived every moment with them on the road thanks to Amanda calling me after every show (well sometimes I called her). It was a celebratory Christmas 2005 for sure.

To Be Continued...

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 2

2008-06-30T17:45:00.000-07:00

Where were we??? Oh yeah, I remember, 2003. By the end of 2003, Zoey along with new handler Amanda Giles, became a multiple group winner and placer in both the US and Canada.

Onto the year 2004. Zoey was not shown much until June. The Eastern Specialty was being judged by breeder/judge Tracy Hite (Tivio). Zoey and Amanda had now become quite the team, and Amanda was even starting to like Zoey...lol. Judge Tracy Hite found Zoey amongst all the other beautiful champions, and awarded her Best of Breed. It was a moment I have frozen in time in my memory. Zoey and Amanda went on to amass the following record in 2004 to become #5 Whippet:
3 - All Breed BIS
1 - Specialty BIS
1 - Specialty Award of Merit
29 - BOB
5 - BOS
11 - Group 1
5 - Group 2
2 - Group 3
1 - Group 4

The year 2005 saw Zoey & Amanda win 2 BOB, a Group 1 and a Group 2 in Florida their first weekend out in January, and they never looked back. Continuing on with 7 more BOB's, 2 more Group 1, and 2 more Group 2 took us to the end of January, and #1 Whippet in Breed and All-Breed.

She took a few weeks off until the Westminster Kennel Club on February 15th, and was awarded an Award of Merit. Until the end of February, Zoey was awarded 5 BOB, two Group 1, one Group 2 and two Group 4.

In March, Amanda and Zoey traveled to the shows in Tennessee, Kentucky and Texas accumulating a total of 8 BOB, three Group1, two Group 2 and three Group 3, along with another Award of Merit in KY.

April 2005 was the National Specialty in Arizona, Zoey and Amanda was given another Award of Merit. I was thrilled with this AOM under legendary judge Annie Rogers Clark. Another 6 BOB, three Group 1, one Group 2, one Group 3, and one Group 4 took us to the end of April.

Shown every weekend in May, Amanda and Zoey traveled from Pennsylvania to Mississippi winning 6 BOB, two Group 1, a Group 2 and a Group 3. The following weekend they traveled to Ohio where judges Ralph Lemcke and J. D. Jones found Zoey on back to back days for back to back Best In Shows. On to the New Jersey shows with 5 more BOB, three Group 1 and a Group 2 took us to the end of May.

June was another full month of travel from North Carolina, to Virginia, to Pennsylvania to Indiana where she picked up another BIS and ending in Maryland. Totals include 13 BOB, 9 Group 1 and three Group 3 to go along with her BIS. Half-way through 2005 Zoey was still #1 Whippet All-Systems.

To Be Continued...

The Life & Times of Zoey - Part 1

2008-06-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

Zoey was born on November 18, 2001. From day 1 Zoey was a standout in a litter of 10. As soon as her eyes opened at 2-1/2 weeks, she was out of the swimming pool. Even as a baby she always had that "look at me" attitude, was silly as could be, and would do little leapies even as a youngster. She is sired by my beautiful boy Jimmy-George and her mother is my gorgeous girl Penny who is doubled up on Luke, and if anyone knows me knows Luke is my alltime favorite Whippet, so I was extremely excited to get a Luke look-alike.

So on a cool day in late February 2002, I packed up a few of my kids, along with Zoey, and went to Sporting Field kennels in Virginia for a day or two. I got there and put my kids out in a run. I went to find Debbie so I could drag her to the kennel to show off the Luke-alike I was so very proud of. Upon finding Debbie, I think in the cow barn, we mucked some stalls and fed some cows. I was like, "let's go look at my dogs, you have to see my new puppy". Well we started working our way up to the kennel, and got detoured along the way doing other things like switching dogs from kennel to exercise yard, scooping poop and filling water buckets for the dogs out in the yard runs. This was all amongst many phone calls Debbie got on her cell phone.

We were finally up inside the kennel, and I was ushering her out the front door to the one run along the driveway where Zoey was. She got another phone call, and answered it and talked while walking out with me. Upon reaching the outside and turning to look at my dogs, Zoey was trotting back and forth, and Debbie's jaw just dropped. She said to whomever she was talking on the phone to, "Uh, I'll have to call you back". She hung up and looked at me and said, "she is the most beautiful Whippet I've seen since Luke". My heart soared, I knew I had a good one to show, and I got great reviews from my mentor and friend.

After talking about Zoey's bloodlines a bit we went to lunch. We were eating our lunch, discussing dogs, pedigrees and me grinning ear to ear when we talked about Zoey. Debbie asked me if I would consider letting Zoey there at Sporting Fields so she could get her ready for the Eastern Specialty coming in June, as the judge should love her. Then we got into how she was that good that she would be a great Special someday, we'd get some backing, and she would show/special her at the shows. It was gut-wrenching decision I had to make in leaving my gorgeous girl at Sporting Fields, but knew with the amount of shows I'd been making the past year or so, and with a 1 year old son at home knew I wouldn't make a lot of upcoming shows either, so I agreed. I cried on the way home from Debbie's house, as I missed her terribly, and I knew in my heart that she was gonna be something special. It's hard to say how I knew she was special, we all want to think we have the next "great one", but she had that extra something, even as a baby.

I called Debbie for daily updates on Zoey. She was on the road with Trent a lot, but took Zoey along with her to whatever show she went to. This was all part of her training/socializing, but actually Zoey never needed any socializing, she was the ultimate social butterfly since day 1.

Come time for the Eastern Specialty in June, Zoey was 7 months old and was ring ready. She ended up winning a very competitive 6-9 month puppy class, and went all the way to Reserve Winners Bitch under judge Bill Shelton. Dan Black happen to be at the Eastern that year, and saw Zoey in the ring, came up to Debbie and said, "I want to own that bitch". This was the best news ever, as he was the financial backer we needed for her career. I was ecstatic, to say the least!!!!

A few weeks later I traveled back to Virginia for the Shenandoah shows and Zoey was awarded her first point and went onto a Best Puppy in Show. I was over the moon. Zoey finished her championship before her first birthday with a Group 1 along the way and a second Best Puppy in Show, this time in Canada, all shown by Debbie. I was constantly bugging Debbie when she was gonna get her out specialing, but Zoey was kind of put on the back burner cause she was currently showing Trent and you can't special two dogs of the same breed at the same time.

Debbie made her daughter Amanda start showing Zoey. Amanda hated Zoey with a passion as she never listened, or came when called. Zoey was put away for a few months, then went up to Canada in July 2003 for the shows up there. Under the guidance of Amanda, Zoey won her first All-Breed BIS in Canada, the same day she won a SBIS at the Whippet Club of Eastern Canada. The following day she was awarded WB & BOW at the Whippet Club of Canada National Specialty. The 3rd day she won BOB & Group 2 at the All Hound Assn. of Canada show. All this was from the Open bitch class over BIS/SBIS Champions. Zoey went back to Canada the end of the year to show in what the Canadians call the Show of Shows. It is open to any dog that won a BIS in Canada, and she went on to win the breed and a Group 1. Zoey ended the year 2003 being Canada's Hound of the Year.

To Be Continued.....

Dog Showing in Canada

2008-06-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I've just recently returned from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada where there were 3 all-breed shows, and the National Whippet Specialty. Vanna had a great time strutting her stuff, although the judges didn't find her worthy of any points, I got tons of nice compliments about her. Rio was only shown on Saturday at the National and the Sweeps. He ended up winning Best Opposite Sex in Sweeps, and I was quite proud of him. It was a stormy kind of day (no rain though) with distant thunder and whipping winds that made the caution tape flap and make tons of noise, which Rio absolutely hates. He was actually quite frightened of this all, but still managed to be good enough for this win.

I got to show a Scottish Deerhound puppy who is just gorgeous, but extremely tough to show. I think her handler should get paid double what she actually gets to show. I also showed her beautiful bitch Feather and she too is such a PITA to show. Lesley makes it look so easy when she shows them that everyone thinks its a cinch...lol.

My friend Leila was to stay with me, but she decided to visit friends in Toronto and ended up staying with them for a few nights, so I hung out with my other friends Lesley & Jenny. Jenny lives in Canada, and Lesley lives in NY but was staying at Jenny's house, so I was graciously invited to Jenny's for dinner a few nights. She and her husband have a beautiful home, and her whippets are just as beautiful. We drank enough Bloody Marys, Beer, and Margaritas that my cooler was empty of all alcohol once returning home...lol.

I had tons of fun, and look forward to my next trip to Canada.

Updated Jaycie/Riggins pups

2008-06-21T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here are a few updated pics of the babies. They will be two weeks old on Wednesday.

Tyler gets his yellow belt

2008-06-17T06:27:00.000-07:00

After 3 months of hard work, Tyler was able to test for his yellow belt in Karate, actually it's Tae Kwon Do, a Korean form of Karate. He had a little problem with his 6 step sequence as he was adding two extra steps, but the instructor let him do it over (3 times a charm). He needed to do his first two forms Kuk Mu One & Kuk Mu Two which he did very well. He also needed to break a board and unfortunately he got a board with a big knot right in the middle, but after about 20 or 30 kicks, the board broke in half. Instructor Rich was very proud that he didn't get discouraged and kept kicking and kicking and kicking until it broke. So now it's time to watch out, and don't piss off the kid, as he'll kick your butt.

Jaycie/Riggins Puppies - 6/11/08

2008-06-16T17:57:00.000-07:00

Well the long awaited Jaycie/Riggins pups made their debut on 6/11/08. She had a v-e-r-y long delivery and after a rough start, we ended up with 4 live puppies, all in 3 different shades of brindle and white. We had 3 beautiful boys, Ty, TC and Taylor, and 1 gorgeous girl, TinkerBell. All pups were named by my son Tyler (see where that theme is going?), and all are doing well. I'm very excited about these pups and look forward to them growing up.

Eastern Specialty 2008

2008-06-16T17:47:00.000-07:00

The Eastern Whippet Specialty is held every year during the first weekend in June. It was a fantastic weekend for Eclipse and their relatives.

Friday at the Greater Philadelphia KC show, my new puppy Rio was awarded RWD and Best Puppy by judge Roberta Campbell and onto a Hound Group 4. Melissa's boy Hank won BOS in the Specialty Sweepstakes to his sister Feather under breeder/judge Chris Durance-Watkins.

Saturday, the Specialty day judge John Simm awarded Vanna...aka Daydream's Nights In White Satin, Winners Bitch, Best of Winners and BEST OF BREED from the Open class over BIS and Top 20 Winning whippets, then to top it all off she went Hound Group 3. It was a big decision for me to put an 18-1/2 month old bitch in the Open class, but I thought she looked mature enough. Was I ever surprised when judge Simm came over to me in the final lineup of Specials, bent over and said, "you're my Best of Breed". I just about died right then and there. It was a day I will treasure F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!! Thank you judge Simm.

Bucks/Trenton 2008

2008-06-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

Highlights of the Bucks & Trenton shows:

Bucks:
- Cold, damp & rainy
- Dogs showed well regardless of weather
- Gloria needing to sleep sideways on bed due to some Feng Shui belief (she called it fung shoo)
- laughed and drank a lot

Trenton:
- nice day starting off with Mimosa's (champagne & orange juice) in the morning
- got Shelbi a little hiccuppy from the Mimosa's (lol)
- Hank went WD and BOS over specials
- Vanna and Steeler both showed well too

Overall a great trip due to spending time with good friends. Looking forward to next year.

Emily......4/26/98 - 4/24/08

2008-04-24T18:42:00.000-07:00

I lost my princess Emily today. The past few days she hadn't been eating anything, but was drinking tons of water, and piddling on the floor (which is so unlike her). She had a vet appointment yesterday, but the vet called to cancel due to an emergency, so we rescheduled for today at 5:30. Emily's breathing had been quite rapid today, but her eyes followed me everywhere, and seemed alert. I carried her outside to go to the vet, put her down to piddle, and she fell over. I picked her up to put her in the van, and she died in my arms before I got into the garage.

Emily was a once in a lifetime dog. She went everywhere with me, hiking, fishing, boating, grocery store, the bank...etc. She was an unusual whippet as no matter where we were, she never needed to be leashed. She was totally trustworthy around home and never strayed off the property.

Here is a little story about Emily I wrote when she was voted Whippet Worlds Whippet of the Month in March 2005.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emily - Whippet of the Month March 2005
Eclipse Hearts Desire
better known as Emily, Emmers, Em, or The Princess
Owned and Loved by Diane Motzkus (WW id ZoeyWhippet)

Emily was sold as a 9 week old puppy to a lady who had Deerhounds but wanted something smaller to be her perfect pet. All was well, or so I thought, until I got a call from this lady 7 months later. She wanted me to take this horrible dog back, (which my contract explicitly states). I was told she screamed constantly in her crate, pooped and peed in her crate, and when she was put outside in her kennel, she jumped her 6' fence and would disappear for hours on end. The lady was at her wits end, this has been going on for 7 months!!! We agreed to meet and I got Emily back. She was in good condition, well fed, and just lying on this lady's front seat on a blanket like a royal princess.

I took Emily home and crated her for the night, and not one peep from her all night. In the morning I awoke to pee and poop all over her crate. Washed all her bedding and we made the crate 1/2 as big (just enough for her to stand up and turn around), crated her the following night, not a peep from her all night, but awoke to the messy crate again. Washed all the bedding again and put it away. We then made the crate just big enough that we could put her in sideways, and all she could do was stand up or lay down (not even curl up, NO blankets either). All this in an attempt to find the crate size that Emily wouldn't want to mess in. After two days of crating like this Emily decided that it was not fun to be crated, so we no longer crated her and had no more 'messy' problems.

The next thing to tackle was the kennel fence jumping. I put her in my covered run, and no attempts were made to jump at all. So I put her in the uncovered run, and no attempts were made there either. Next thing was the leash thing, as all my dogs are trustworthy off lead (although not all at once). My hubby decided to take her up to the coal strippings where he likes to hunt, that way there would be no roads (except dirt roads) within about 25 miles. He said Emily NEVER left his side. So I decided to try it here at home (I live in a VERY rural area), and she stayed right here.

Emily has been the constant house dog. She is the best dog I ever had, never needs a leash, comes when called, and is just the perfect princess here. She will be 7 years old in April.

Emily goes EVERYWHERE with us. To the grocery store, bank, taking Tyler to preschool, fishing, hiking, shooting. She'd rather be with us than with the other dogs. She is such a princess, it's ridiculous. She is a small dog, about 19 inches, and is just the best.
She is never crated or leashed, and never kenneled (as a Princess is not to spend time with the common dogs), god forbid she has to step foot inside the kennel (except for mealtimes)...LOL.

I love to show my dogs, but although Emily has never seen the inside of the show ring (ewww, other dogs walk there), she will continue to be the Royal Princess here at Eclipse.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

April has been a very bad month for losing our beloved dogs. Good friends Steve & Gloria called to tell me they lost their precious Bailey (bichon mix), my Zoey's mom Penny passed away last week, and my Vanna's daddy Pungo died this past Monday, and now Emily. I sure hope this is the end of it for a VERY long time.

Godspeed to my sweet Princess. I love and miss you and I'll see you soon.

Love,

Mom

The Dog Park

2008-04-06T18:16:00.000-07:00

Today Tyler and I went to the dog park with Melissa and Dana and a whole pile of Whippets. Between the 3 of us we had 7, Steeler, Vader and Hank, and puppies Rio, Zachary, Zaria and Tyson. The big boys ran and ran and ran and ran, and Rio only came to see me after about 2-1/2 hours of playing and running around.

My dogs have never been to a dog park and I was totally amazed at how good 20-30 dogs can get along in an area while running, barking and play growling with no fights erupting. I give kudos to all the owners of these dogs for their great social skills.

I think Tyler had as good a time as the dogs did. He found one of the big tubes that the dogs are supposed to play in, but being they weren't playing with it, Tyler decided to get in and roll on down the hill.

I will definitely visit the dog park again, and hope friends Louise & Shelbi bring out Pebbles, yet another Whippet which I co-own with them, and their two Vizslas. Looking forward to next time.

Zoey, the Serial Toy Killer!!!

2008-03-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

Zoey is known as the Serial Toy Killer or Destuffer. She will take a stuffy toy and have it destuffed in under 10 seconds. So I sent her a box of stuffies that she could enjoy all her own, and she went about doing what she now does best, destuffing. She likes to keep her "victims" close to her and won't allow any of the other dogs to play with them...lol. She reminds me of the bad neighbor boy Sid in Toy Story who did all kinds of nasty things with his toys.

Zoey really is living the life of luxury in Florida, and has really tugged at the heartstrings of her new best friend Jonathan. Zoey is a superspecial girl who deserves the best I can give her and this is the best for her, that story will come later.

My New Travel Website

2008-03-24T11:12:00.001-07:00

I've researched this business for quite some time now and decided to take the plunge and like the Nike slogan says, "just do it". Travel is something we all do from time to time and if you are like me, you are always looking online to find the best price available. The prices on my site are very competitive and you can book all your own travel, send flowers, book flight, hotel, car and cruises, weekend trips, all inclusive trips, and your favorite golf vacation.

Please come take a peek at my new site, sign up for the weekly hot new travel deals, and I'd really appreciate if you would book your next vacation or travel on my site. http://www.dlmvacations.com/

Have fun and enjoy your spring!!!

Our Latest Dog Show

2008-03-24T10:59:00.000-07:00

We traveled to York, PA for the March 15 & 16 shows. I had Vanna and Steeler entered, and was hoping they would behave as Vanna hadn't been at a dog show since January, and Steeler has been out of the ring since September of last year. I am happy to say that Vanna won her class both days and was RWB on Saturday, and Steeler was 2nd on Saturday and 1st in his class on Sunday. They both were very good in the ring and I was very pleased with their performances. I had a lot of nice compliments about my girl Vanna, so I think her fan base is going to be big. I just hope she continues to "behave" like she did at these shows, as she is such a goof ball.

Pictured here is Vanna in the ring, thanks for the picture Peg!!!

I had a great time visiting with old friends, seeing a very nice new litter in the ring that will likely be kicking some butt in the future, making new friends, and just relaxing back in the motorhome, thanks for letting me stay with you Pat.

Our next set of shows will be outdoors on May 3 & 4, Saturday being at the beautiful Tinicum Park in Buck County which is on Route 32 on the Delaware River, and Sunday at Mercer County Park in Trenton, NJ. So if you aren't doing anything, stop in and say hi (you can contact me FMI).

Tyler started Karate

2008-03-24T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well, being Tyler doesn't want to wrestle, play baseball or soccer, we decided to enroll him in Karate. Along with his friend Shawn, he goes to Karate three nights a week. Being he is just starting, he is only a white belt, but he is working hard to get his yellow belt which he can try for in another 2 months (he has to be a white belt for 3 months). Tyler seems to really enjoy himself, and is starting to "get it" as at first I thought he never would.

The instructor is a very nice young man who is in the Black Belt Hall of Fame and his training goes directly back to Grandmaster Lee Won-Kuk. This Grandmaster only allowed students of the HIGHEST character to join his academy and the training was extremely strict and disciplined. Grandmaster Lee began training a young boxer by the name of Duk Sung Son, who became a Grandmaster also. While in the USA, Grandmaster Son taught Joe Trovato, who later relocated to the Pocono Mountains in PA, and taught Rich Gross. Sensei Gross then went on to be the instructor for Sensei Paul Maglionico who is head instructor at the Mountain Karate Academy where Tyler trains. Grandmaster Son is one of the top Martial Arts Masters in the world, and it's exciting to know that Tyler is being trained by this generation of apprentices.

Instructor Paul is very good with the kids, and he really enjoys teaching his skills to them. Tyler is looking forward to the day he gets his yellow belt.

Westminster KC - 2008

2008-02-14T18:57:00.000-08:00

I have attended the Westminster Kennel Club every year for the last 15 or so years, missing only the year my son was born. I am a country girl through and through, but I LOVE to go to the Big Apple. Probably cause I don't drive, the train is the way to go. This year my niece Melissa, her friend Dana and my friend Pat came too.

Anyway, Melissa, Dana and I got to the Garden on Monday morning around 8:00 am and drug my luggage up to the 17th floor of the Pennsylvania Hotel. Pat wasn't arriving until around 10:30 am. My friend Debbie, her friend Nikki (and my new friend too), and her handler Reggie were already camped out in the room. We got Debbie's dogs, Aerly and Trent, ready for the walk over to the Garden and headed out. Aerly's ring time was 11:30 am and Trent 12:30 pm. We all found a good place in the stands to sit and watch the action take place in the Border Collie ring. There were 17 BC's entered and we screamed and clapped for the one we liked, which was Debbies of course, and the one standing in the end at the Best of Breed spot was Debbie's boy Aerly along with his handler Reggie. What a great thrill it was to watch a young up and coming dog win the Breed over seasoned winners, and Debbie was teary-eyed and elated to say the least.

There wasn't much time for celebration cause Debbie needed to get Trent ready for his ring time. Melissa, Dana, Pat and I headed up to the stands to watch our beloved Whippets in the ring. Trent has been in semi-retirement and comes out at a few select shows. He was the #1 Whippet in 2004, and he's been taking it easy the last few years. There was a total of 20 Whippets ranging in age from 2 - 7 years entered for judge Lou Guerrero. He narrowed the field down to about 8 whippets, and when he finally chose his winner, he went over took hold of Debbie's hand, pulled her out into the center of the ring and said "thank you, you're Best of Breed". It was chaos and bedlam where we were sitting as our screaming and whistling was immense. We were thrilled to watch the 7 year old Veteran, Trent, being chosen BOB over all the current winning dogs. This time tears came to my eyes. I was so happy for Debbie and Dan and Bruno. It is a dream come true to win the Breed at the Garden, but to have two breed winners the same year was beyond real. The rest of the day was a whirlwind, lunch with friends and talking to other whippet people back at the bench while waiting for the groups that night. Trent did make the cut in the Hound Group, but didn't place, and Aerly was not a very good boy in the Herding Group ring, so he didn't make the cut, but I'm sure we'll see more of Aerly in the next few years winning the breed at the Garden once again.

Tuesday was lots of fun with Pat, everyone else went home. We watched some breeds we knew nothing about, and actually Pat picked a lot of the same winners the judges did, I was impressed. We walked 11 blocks to go to dinner at Carmine's (44th Street between 7th & 8th Ave), had a few drinks, bought a bottle of wine on the snowy walk back to the Hotel Penn, drank some wine and headed over to watch the groups and Best In Show. The Beagle ended up winning Best In Show and is a very nice dog, but I was routing for the Australian Shepherd to win it all.

If you've never been to the Westminster Kennel Club, it is something you must do once in your life. I'm already anxious to go next year, but that is a long way away. But for now, I have these memories, and memories from "Westminster Past", I'll tell you about them sometime.

Watching Aerly Win BOB - PRICELESS
Watching Trent Win BOB - PRICELESS
Just Being at Westminster - PRICELESS

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Room 220 - Trenton, NJ

2008-02-14T18:39:00.000-08:00

When it was decided to once again go to the Westminster Kennel Club show in NYC, my niece Melissa, her friend Dana and I decided we didn't want to get up at 3:00 am on Monday morning to get the 6:00 am train in Trenton, so we had the great idea to get a hotel room near the train station on Sunday night. So I researched the area online and found a hotel about a mile from the train station. Now I've stayed in a lot of hotels in my day, some good, some bad, but I knew we were in trouble when I went to check in and there was a sign stating "TV Remote Control $5.00". I thought to myself this must be a rough place, but paid for the room anyway.

The winds were howling outside and the temp was around 15 degrees with a wind chill of -10 degrees, very cold to say the least. We were all looking forward to getting inside, locking the door and being nice and cozy warm. Upon entering the room we turned up the heat and had a look around. We waited for the room to get warm, and we waited, and we waited, and we waited. The heat finally turned on, blew through the vent for about 2 minutes then shut off and all that blew out was cold air. We just about froze off our tuckus' that night, but we stayed bundled up in the blankets for warmth, even though we weren't sure what may have been lurking in that room.

The room looked like it went through WW2 with all the repair spots on the walls. The bathroom toilet had cigarette burns on it. I did take a shower before bed and was surprised to find there was actually HOT water. Off we drifted to sleep and in the middle of the night someone decided to blow their horn, over and over and over and over again...bout scared me to death!!! Then there was a pounding on a door down the corridor about 15 times. Lord knows what that was all about. Needless to say, I won't be staying in that hotel anymore.

Trip To Trenton - NICE BUT WINDY
Stay In Hotel - AWFUL & COLD
Getting On The 6 am Train - PRICELESS

The Almighty Vanna

2008-02-09T08:19:00.000-08:00

I really didn't have any intentions of buying a show dog from anyone else, as I have a bunch of my own that need showing, but when I saw the pics of the "Roux 12", my eye was immediately drawn to Puppy #12, the last pup in a very large litter. As the breeders kept posting stacked pics since around 5 weeks old, I watched this puppy get better and better each week. Upon meeting P-12 (as she was called for a very long time) I saw this beautiful dark eyed girl who was just the sweetest looking thing. Sitting down in the kitchen with Kari, she told me all about P-12.

Vanna, as she is now called certainly does have a mind of her own. If she wants to come to you when you call her she will, if she doesn't then good luck trying to get her. If you forget to close the bathroom door, she'll come up with devious plan to get the toilet paper off the roll, or used tissues from the bathroom trash. If you go out of the room for a split second, she'll find one of Tyler's toy figures or a pen or pencil to chew up. She will play with the squeaky toys for a while, then decide to kill it, and we have fluffy stuffing all over the floor. She is learning to catch bits of food that I throw to her, cause if she don't catch it, Paco will most likely get it. She once snapped a martingale hound collar that was made with mountain climbing strength plastic parts, she wanted that bunny BAD, that's how she got the name "The Almighty Vanna".

All in all, she is a wonderful dog who loves to be under the covers at night, just wish she'd stay there instead of in and out, in and out, in and out.....well you get the picture. I wouldn't trade her for the world. I thank her breeders Linda, Kari & Erin Day for all the love and care they put into this litter of 12.

I'm looking forward to getting Vanna out to the shows and races this spring and summer. Hope she'll kick some butt!!!

Tyler in Scouts

2008-02-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

This past year Tyler joined the local Cub Scout Pack. This year he is in the Tiger Den which is the first level of scouting. Next year he'll move up to the Wolf Den. Anyway, a few weeks ago each Den did a little talent show for the Pack. Here's Tyler with his Tiger Denmates (there is only 3 of them) doing a little song. You can see who the microphone hog is. This Wednesday we'll be heading to the Karate Academy for a Den Go-See-It.

Tyler's Birthday Party

2008-02-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

My son Tyler had his 7th birthday party at a bowling ally yesterday with his classmates and friends. He got lots of Star Wars gifts (he's so into Star Wars), and a real bowling pin the people at the bowling lane gave him that all the kids signed and he could take home for a keepsake/remembrance. The kids all bowled 2 games, had a hotdog & soda then cake. Of course they put the bumpers up for the kids, and one tiny little girl bowled a 114. I think all the kids had a good time, and I know Tyler will remember this birthday.

Paco's Story

2008-02-02T18:06:00.000-08:00

I don't know Paco's story for about the first 8 months of her life, but I can tell you from when we found her. My son and I were heading up to my sister-in-laws to get our hair cuts, and as we were getting to the end of our road Tyler says, "mommy there's a dog running in that field". Knowing the house there was abandoned for a while, I stopped and turned around. This little dog was running scared, tail between her legs up the road, so I followed her in the van pushing her away from the busy road. She trotted up the road and hesitated near the neighbors driveway, so I figured she belonged there. She turned and started up around the corner, I got out and called her in that cutesy puppy, puppy voice, but she just kept on running as she looked behind her. Back into the van I went, and started up the road again.

There were people working at the next farm property with big equipment and she came up short when she saw them. I stopped the van again, got out, knealt down and called her in that cutesy puppy, puppy voice again. This time she turned right around, ran toward the van, went underneath the van on the other side and I thought she would just keep on running the way we just came from, but to my surprise, she came out from under the van on my side, and sat right down beside me. I gently petted her and talked to her while I picked her up. I put her in the van and she jumped right up on the back seat next to Tyler's car seat, gave him a quick kiss and laid there until we took the short 3/4 mile trip home.

I took her into the house, gave her some soft blankets to lay on in a crate, gave her some food and water and headed back out the house for our hair cut appointments. Upon getting back, I called all the animal shelters and veterinary hospitals within a 50 mile radius, and placed ads in the local newspapers for anyone looking for a lost dog. I kept on telling Tyler not to get attached to her cause someone is probably looking for her, and I didn't want him to be hurt when they came to get her. Well no one called so we ended up keeping her and she is a very good dog.

Tyler named her Paco, and she is a very energetic dog that needs things to do all the time, she must be part Border Collie I think. Her favorite place to nap is on the back of the sofa when the sun shines in, but at night Paco sleeps on Tyler's bed every night since she's been with us. Although Tyler beats up on her (rough play), she adores him and goes crazy when he comes home from school. I don't think I could have found a better first dog for Tyler, and I really believe the doggy gods had something to do with this.

Orphie's Story

2008-02-02T17:37:00.000-08:00

Orphie is a German Box Dog (Shepherd/Boxer). She was from an accidental breeding when I lived in Perkasie many years ago. Orphie is the best dog in the world. Throughout her life, she was an excellent guard dog (often stopping the PP&L guy from even stepping foot on our property), puppy raiser extrordinaire, and all around great companion. Orphie is never leashed or confined in anyway, as she knows our property boundries and won't step foot over them and her bark is definitely worse than her bite (but don't tell the PP&L guy). She comes down to the end of the driveway with my son Tyler and I to wait for the bus in the morning, and she mosies on down the driveway in the afternoon to wait with me for the bus to bring our boy home. She is one of the best dogs I've ever owned.

Orphie is now only a few months shy of 13 years old, and is totally deaf, but in great health overall (knock on wood to the doggie gods). I know for a big dog like her, 13 is quite old, and I dread the day she won't be lying in the sun on the front porch anymore. I know there will never be another dog as good as Orphie, so I pray her health stays good for another 10 years, but I know that will never be.

Zane's New Home

2008-02-02T17:12:00.000-08:00

Well today the last of the available Sorrie/Lilo puppies went to his new home in Cincinnati, Ohio. I was very sad to see him go, as he is just the sweetest thing. He loved to sit on the couch and watch the others play. He oversaw what everyone else was doing, and he loved to lay under the covers and watch TV.

I will miss Zane, as I do his sisters ZaZa, Zora and brother Zeke.....aka Tyson, but I still have sister Zaria and brother Zachary. Zaria is also very sweet and usually ends up in my lap as soon as I sit down, and Zachary, well he is the wild child. He will be one that has never met a stranger, is very outgoing, and will be a handful in the show ring. But Zaria & Zachary are two Whippets I am looking forward to showing in the future.

The Puppy Match

2008-01-27T19:26:00.001-08:00

The Saturday night puppy match that I prepped, washed & packed for is over. I never did end up showing Zaria as she was like a lead balloon at the end of the lead and brother Zeke...aka Tyson, actually took 4 or 5 steps in the ring. Things went better with my niece Melissa's boys, although Hank got dumped,he is a growing gawky puppy right now, and this was the first time for him in the ring, and he showed very well. Housemate to Hank is Vader and he won his class.

Sunday was another day, but unfortunately I couldn't be there due to prior commitments. Today Zeke...aka Tyson, acutally went around the ring AND won his class (only he was the only one in it), Melissa's two boys Hank & Vader both won 2nd in their respective classes, and my girl Vanna...aka The Almighty Vanna won her class (only she was the only one in it).

All in all is was a lot of fun, wish I could have been there on Sunday, but it was great to see Kristen, Karen & Pat again who drove up from a race club meeting near Baltimore on Saturday night. Congrats to all the winners and we'll see ya down the road.

Show Preparation

2008-01-26T09:54:00.000-08:00

Getting ready for a show is a big deal round these parts. I've baked the liver, done the laundry, got all their walking collars and leashes, put in drinking water for dogs and humans, resupplied the tack box, put crates, expens & chairs in the van, made sure I have their dog coats (cause it's cold outside), bathe dogs, clip nails and made sure the dogs are good and dry (did I mention it was cold outside???), made sure I have something for son Tyler to do, pack snacks & drinks for humans and pack liver in cooler. Hope & pray I have everything I need, and stuff that I probably won't need, but packed it anyway, load up dogs and off we go. And this is only a PUPPY MATCH show!!!!!