You be the judge

I dug this picture out of my photo archives.  This is Darbi when she was 3 years old...and had significantly less grey.  In this picture she was 6 days away from whelping 8 puppies by "Tiger" (Esprit's Out Of The Woods).

And this is Darbi just this morning in the Texas sunrise.  I imagine she is also about 6 days out from whelping today.  Even though the ultrasound said "5-6 pups"...I'm beginning to wonder if it's going to be 6-8.

She's as big as a house.

And yes Peanut, I see you.

Smarty Pants

While shopping for puppy toys the other day I found this Martha Stewart "chicken coop".  As noted it is an intelligence building toy.  Although I found it laughable (as my dogs are already the smartest dogs in the world), I had to buy it.

There are 3 squeaky chickens inside the chicken coop and Miikka had to go find them.

"I don't get it" was the first response to my ridiculous "find the chicken" question.

Eating the chicken coop was the first action.  Not a good choice.

Oh, there's a little hole in the side?  Perfect.  I'll go digging.

The birth of a chicken.  Way to go Peanut.  Your are officially smarter than you were 5 minutes ago according to the claims on the box.

Darbi vs. the Chicken Coop.

"This is stupid and beneath me.  I refuse".

I'm already stockpiling toys for the upcoming litter.  Miikka is the official product tester in this house.

Fun in the sun

Pretty nice weather this week in Texas.  It needs to rain some more to fill the ponds up fully, but apparently we have a few days coming up where that need will probably be satiated.  Yuck.

This is one of the properties we train on.  It's pretty nice that we have quite a variety of places to train.  There is about 4 pieces of water like this on this property.  It is owned by Bill Schrader of Two Step Kennels.

Manu (the GREAT FC AFC Tangata Manu) comes out of retirement every so often to make a retrieve.  I sure wish I could have seen him in his prime.

He is 12 years old and his joints creak a little.  The good dogs like him are so hard on their bodies when they're young.

What a cool old dog.

I love his grey face.

Miikka is doing better these days.  The poor girl is a kennel dog again to try to get her mind on her work.  I asked Kenny the other day whether her issues last year were from chronic hearing loss (which we are convinced she has from hunting), being too spoiled or from having her litter a year ago.  He said "yes".  Okay...I get it.

And we're getting closer to Tub Tub's due date!!  Less than 2 weeks now.  Her belly is expanding more and more and I felt some subtle puppy kicks last night.  It will feel like there is a kick boxing lesson going on inside her in a week or so.

She ran one single today and that was it.  I've cut back the training to almost nil now.  She was enjoying the spectator role a little too much today.  She only broke once though.

Texas Update

Having a great time in Texas.  They are long days, but rewarding days.

Weather has been chilly down here, but much better than if I was in Canada!!

A typical Texas training scene.  Dog, horse and oil jack.

Darbi is doing wonderfully.  She is still in training, although we have slowed down on her a little bit.  She's not running two to four tests a day like the other dogs, but doing about 1/2 of what the other dogs are doing.  She is feeling fantastic and training like a star. (If you click on the above picture, you can see a close up of her surgical scar from the breeding).

But as you can see, she is developing quite a little belly.  She has also become a food monger!  She stares at me day and night hoping more food will come her way.  It is indeed strange behaviour for a dog that is not food crazy by any means.

We may be in the far south, but the toques and coats give away the weather.

There's a dog we are training by the name of Boomer.  He and I have become fast friends.  Boomer has an incredible water entry on marks or blinds and I took some pics of him today on a water double.

He has a much better swan dive than I ever did.

Only 2 1/2 to 3 weeks until I'm up to my eyeballs with puppies.  I am so excited!

Ultrasound fun!

Party at the vet clinic!!  Even Darbi looks like she's into it.

And introducing one of the little gaffers...can't wait to meet him/her!

She's pregnant!

I'm on my iPhone, so can't post pictures...but Darbi is pregnant!! The vet in Houston saw "5 or 6, and maybe more".
He did see one empty sac that was a re-absorbed puppy. He said this was perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. It could have been a defective puppy or Darbi was just trying to get the numbers down, which sounds like something she would do.

As a precaution though, he has put her on antibiotics "in case" she has a small uterine infection. We also drew blood for another progesterone test to be sure she is still at adequate levels.

He said the other pups were 2.3 centimetres, which is perfect for their age. Amazing how he can tell that.

I took a pic of poor Darbi getting her ultrasound, so I'll post that in a day or so.

Elmingo Gang

We just got to Texas a few days ago and the weather is sure lovely!!  It's supposed to get a little chilly next week and the locals say it will be "freezing", but they don't know what freezing is, trust me.

With our crew of dogs, we have SIX Elmingo dogs for this winter trip.

From Left to Right:

Elmingo's Little Man (Shaq x Miikka 2009) "Zink"

Elmingo's Flip Your Lid (Shaq x Miikka 2009) "Libby"

FTCH AFTCH Revilo's Red Hot Rumors "Miikka"

Revilo's At Full Tilt (She beats me, I swear she does) "Darbi"

Backwater's Smokin' Turq (Prime x Darbi 2008) "Turq"

Elmingo's Prime Suspect (Prime x Darbi 2008) "Meg" 

And it looks as if Meg and Turq don't quite have the "sit pretty while we throw things to bring Darbi's ears up" concept down yet.
And if you notice...it didn't bring Darbi's ears up anyways.

Meg and Turq have become the best of friends in the short time they've known one another.  So much so that we air them separately now as they spend more time playing than peeing.  I wonder if they remember?

And the view from our kennel this evening.

Amazing.

Pheasant Hunt

Had a great pheasant hunt with the "girls" today.

I love watching them work.  They are a real team.

They were sure sacked when it was over though.  I don't think I'll see them lift their heads for the rest of tonight.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to everyone.  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones.  And to all the emergency service workers that are on shift today...thank you.

Not only is today Christmas, but yesterday was Libby's FIRST birthday!!  She was literally born under a Christmas tree last year (before the mad rush to the whelping box for the rest of the births).

Libby thought that her take of the loot was pretty impressive.

And seeing as the weather was so beautiful, we all went for a long walk today.  Joining the "girls" is Meg, who is a daughter of Darbi (and Prime-2008), and she's in for training.

From left to right:
Darbi (I didn't get what I asked for, so therefore I pout).
Meg
Miikka
Libby

The run at the camera seemed fun.

Except for Darbi, who did a good job of holding up the rear.

But she was all smiles for me.  She is feeling great and doing amazing since her surgery.

Life is Hard

Life is SOOOO rough Libby, isn't it?

I'm having lots of fun with my new horse.  We decided to call him Zed, so he could have a somewhat Canadian connection.

Since he is an "off the track" thoroughbred, he doesn't have very good brakes or steering.  Even though he is a hunter/jumper prospect we are riding him in a western saddle right now as part of his re-training process.

He is a really, really sweet horse and wants to be a team player.

Air Time

Lili likes the water.

She is MHR Elmingo's Water Lili is and from the Shaq x Miikka litter of 2007.  She is also Libby's older full sister.  

Recovering

Darbi has slept pretty much straight through since coming home from her surgical insemination yesterday.  She seems only slightly uncomfortable and isn't fussing at all with the stitches on her belly.

She ate some breakfast this morning and is now sleeping on the couch.

The vet told me that she had "the uterus of a 3 year old dog".  I told Darbi this, but she wasn't impressed nor flattered.

Interestingly, a dog's uterus is damaged after each heat cycle, whether a dog is bred or not.  The uterus is actually MORE damaged with each cycle that she is not bred.  So, the more cycles, the more wear and tear.  Since Darbi only cycles about once a year (as opposed to twice a year in some females), her uterus looks like a dog half her age.  The vet was excited about this.  This is why we opted to do a surgical A.I. and not a transcervical (pipette through her hoo-ha).  A surgical allows the vet to physically examine the uterus and deal with any cysts he may run across.

We've done everything right.  The timing was dead on, the semen was of a very good quality and Darbi did her part by ovulating and having a very pretty uterus.

Darbi is on about a week to ten days of bed rest now, and then she can ease back into training.  It is a proven fact that bitches in good condition have an easier time whelping puppies than bitches left idle and overweight.  The puppies also do better with stimulation while in mom's womb and are more easily whelped when not overweight themselves.  So, Darbi will be trained right up to when she tells us she can't.  This is usually about 2 weeks before whelping.  Then, she will go on daily long walks for exercise until her whelping day.  I have done this with every litter and so far so good...4 litters and 4 very, very easy whelpings.  (Knock on wood of course, as anything can happen even if everything is done "right")

There is also a genetic factor that I have no control over.  Luckily, Darbi's mom and grandmom were easy whelpers, so I have the genetics on my side as well.

I'm excited.

Bred Today

I just got a call from the vet.

Darbi's surgery went very well.  The semen quality was very good and she is starting to wake up.

30 days until we ultrasound.

I'm off to go pick her up and she and I can cuddle on the couch for the rest of the day.

Ovulation

It looks like Darbi ovulated yesterday according to her progesterones.

We're taking her in for one last progesterone test today to be sure.

If she did ovulate yesterday, then she will be bred on Thursday.  It takes two days for the eggs to move down and then an additional 24 hours for them to mature after ovulation.  Since frozen semen lives only about 12 hours after implantation, it is important that we get our timing right.

I'm sure poor Darbi feels like a pin cushion right now.

She's in.

Darbi came into season today.

We start progesterone testing in just a few days as she may ovulate sooner than usual with the ovu-plant.

She will have the implant removed when she is bred via surgical A.I.  It is located in her vulva and you wouldn't even know it was there (yes, I looked).  It's the size of a microchip.

This is to be Darbi's third and last litter.  She will be spayed when the pups are weaned.

I'm already dreaming up names for the little girl I hope to keep from this litter.

Ovu-what?

So Darbi had an ovuplant inserted into her hoo-ha today.

This is a small capsule that releases a drug to make her come into season.

Both of Darbi's litters were the result of "bringing her in", but with a different drug than Ovuplant.

My repro vet here in Colorado suggested trying ovuplant as he thinks it is a better choice.

She should be in season in 3-5 days.  Here's hoping...

I've been waiting Darbi's lifetime for a daughter from her, and it's now or never.

My soldiers

Back home from Mississippi.  The National was in Vicksburg, which is steeped in Civil War history.  I am a history buff.  Last year's National was held near Gettysburg and of course the "girls" visited that battlefield as well if you blog followers remember.

Here they are, as "Civil War Era" as I could make them on the Vicksburg Battlefield.

Kenny and Arson made it to the sixth series.  It was a great effort, although we had hoped we would do better.  The sixth series quad looked look a civil war battlefield after it was done.  Many dogs went up in flames on a very difficult retired flier.  It was a great test and a great bird.

Darbi apparently does not share the same reverence for battlefields that I do.

Hunting Season is here!

Congrats to Harper!

She is a Prime x Darbi puppy and got two Senior Hunter passes in two starts!  Harper lives in Alaska and is trained and loved by Rod.

And Shaq x Miikka litter mates have been hunting up a storm in Alberta.

On the left is Tim and "Matti" and on the right is Rob and "Maggie".

I'm still in Mississippi at the US National and am having a great time.  Tests are hard and the dogs are amazing.

Miikka's baby daddy "Shaq" is here competing and he is doing fantastic.  I'm cheering him on, plus several other dogs that I enjoy or my friends run.

But, of course, I'm cheering on Arson most of all!

Pre-National Training

It has been a busy week.

The first part of the week I was in Giddings, Texas and then we picked up and moved to Vicksburg, Mississippi a couple days ago.

Pre-National training is for dogs qualified for the US National and it is an intense week.  It is an atypical week as this is the only time of the year where the "pros" train together.  It is fascinating to see the different nuances in their training style and also fun to see some of the top dogs in the country up close and personal.

There were two (and one day FOUR!) previous National winners in our group this year and some other top dogs from across the country.

For some reason that escapes me, the majority of pros that I know have "truck dogs".  These are little dogs that travel the country with them.  I think the pros have these little guys because they generally don't own any personal field trial dogs of their own (conflict of interest).

This is the newest "truck dog" on the circuit.  His name in Mario and he is a 9 week Italian Greyhound.  He was cute as a button!!

Kenny is running "Arson" (FC FTCH LKY's Controlled Burn) at the National this week.  He had a good week training, so now we keep our fingers crossed he gets lots of good luck.

How many pros does it take to set up a training test?

A lot, I learned.

This is one dog we trained with.  His name is "Buster" and he is 2010 NAFC FC Fourleaf's Ice Breaker.  What a handsome guy.

I also took a couple pics of our good friend Scott Dewey with the three dogs he has qualified.  Good luck to "Louie", "Colonel" and "Inca"!

New 4 legged friend

This is my new guy!!

He lives in Indiana and I bought him a few days ago.  Now I'm trying to figure out logistics to get him to Colorado.

He is a thoroughbred and was retired as a race horse after having a short, lacklustre career.

Everyone who knows me knows horses are my first love.  I haven't ridden much since selling my last show horse about 10 years ago.  I've slowly been getting back into it by taking lessons at a hunter/jumper barn.

Hopefully this guy is as talented as he is gorgeous.

His registered name is Val's Reward and I'm going to give him a new nickname. I can't wait to meet him!!

Done for the year

The 2010 trial season is a wrap for the "girls".

We ran another trial in Missouri this week-end and it's all over but the crying for me.  (Not real, actual crying of course).

The first series of the open was very difficult as the long retired gun was directly over top of, and 200 yards deep of, the short retired.  Dogs had to really be looking to see both birds thrown with the tempting flyer station off to the side.

Miikka pinned the flyer and the short retired.  She ran the perfect line to the long retired and I thought we had it in the bag.  About 15 yards from the bird, she popped.  She couldn't take it anymore I guess.  She is training and running like a new dog, but the skeletons are still in her closet.  There are many times she is the best dog on the truck on a certain test in training and other days I wonder if she'll ever come around fully.

Darbi did a very nice job on the first series.  She pinned the long retired, which made me very proud.  Then the second series was a land blind with several tight keyholes (places the dog had to run through) and a poison bird only 10-15 feet off line.  Only 12 dogs of the 36 that ran did the blind in any reasonable fashion and most dogs picked up the poison bird.  Unfortunately Darbi was one of those who "pinned" the poison bird.  I think it's the first poison bird she's ever picked up in her life, and it goes to show how difficult the test was as she usually avoids poison birds with a passion.

I'm pretty thrilled with Darbi's 2010 season overall.  She won Opens in both the US and Canada and made it 7 series in our first National.  Now it's time for her to be a momma one last time.  I'm very excited to be keeping a puppy from this upcoming breeding.  Darbi will be bred to NFC AFC Maxx's Surprise via artificial insemination and my waiting list is already full for this exciting litter.

Miikka's season was a wash to me.  Full of heartbreak and moments of frustration.  She is coming back into her own and getting better each and every day though.  I've had thoughts of retiring her as she will eternally suffer from many years of bad training when I never knew any better, but we'll keep plugging along for now.

Libby shows her mother's pin point marking ability and looks to be a very, very exciting dog.  She is stylish, smart and a team player.  I can't wait until she breaks out in the Derby next year.  She is currently doing pattern blinds with gusto and she will finish her Basics with the swim-by once we get down to the warmer waters of Texas.

I'll probably be slow to blog until Darbi comes in season, which is hopefully soon.

Break

I'm at a field trial in Missouri.

Miikka was early to run today.

Test is a quad with an out of order flyer.

Miikka broke on the flyer.

It was close, but not what I'd consider a breaking bird.

She's 6 1/2 years old and has never broke in her life. Ever.

I laughed. She was into it.

If she breaks again next week-end, I'll bet I won't think it's so funny anymore.

Yankee

A friend of mine sent me this picture of "Yankee".

He was running the Open at a field trial in Mississippi this week-end.

Yankee is from my very first litter (Tiger x Darbi, 2006) and he's officially known as Elmingo Flight Director XXXVI.

What a handsome guy.

Two more trials left for me this year, and then the long, hard grind that is the 2010 trial season is over.

Trial? What Trial?

"Girls" went to a field trial in Kansas this week-end without me.  I know neither of them finished the Open, but they both tried.  I don't know all the details, but I'm sure I'll hear all about it when I get back.

Me?  I've been in San Francisco.  Hanging out.  Watched the 49'ers play the Eagles at Candlestick Park, toured Fisherman's Wharf, saw the Blue Angels in action and roamed the University of San Francisco where my brother is a professor.

I do admit, I miss my pooches and can't wait to see them.

But I had a great time!

Eider

While at the Canadian National a couple weeks ago, I got the opportunity to RE meet "Eider".

He is Elmingo's Pacific Eider MH, and is from the Shaq x Miikka litter of 2007.

He is a very handsome boy.  

I'm not sure if dogs recognize their "kids", but Miikka was happy to pose for a picture with him.