“A compliment is a gift, not to be thrown away carelessly, unless you want to hurt the giver.” – Eleanor Hamilton
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Alex is Good and Normal
We just got back the results of Alex’s hip and elbow x-rays as evaluated by the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals. It was very good news. His hips are “Good” and his elbows are “Normal”. This means that he is a candidate for breeding, although we have no plans. We do plan to continue to show him to his AKC Championship.
Posted under: Dog Stuff • by Rick on 05/11/2005 at 12:11 PM
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Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Heidi Turns 12
Today, Heidi turned 12 years old! The average age for a Bernese Mountain Dog is, perhaps, 8-1/2 or, at most, 9 years old. So, that makes Heidi over 100 years old in human terms.
This photo was taken about 6 months ago, but she looks the same today. Her brown accent colors are mostly grey. Her eyes are a bit clouded. She doesn’t hear great. And, because of hip dysplasia and some neurological problems, she has a hard time walking.
But, she still is alert and has a lot of spirit. She barks a lot—always has—but more than usual. I think because she can’t get around well she wants us to know she is around.
Heidi has always been mischievous. When we first brought her into our home we were living in France. We got her from the deSavora kennel in Switzerland. We had also brought home a boy, Indiana, about 3 weeks earlier. He was a real sweetie, never doing anything wrong. He didn’t bark, he stayed in the yard which was loosely fenced in by a hedge. When Heidi came she showed him how to escape the yard and how to bark.
But, Heidi has done a lot of good, too. She was trained as a therapy dog and participated in a local Animal Assisted Therapy program. She and I worked with children in the area that were in foster care because of abuse or neglect. Often, they would talk to Heidi about things that they would not talk to a person about. She was very obedient and they could “train” her to follow commands. And, she had several games that she liked to play. We’d used her to get the kids to talk, to build their self esteem, etc. But, after about 4 years she got tired of it and a bit cranky, so retired from therapy work.
Please join us in wishing her a happy 12th birthday!
Posted under: Dog Stuff • by Rick on 04/19/2005 at 10:13 PM
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Monday, April 04, 2005
How to do Everything
Well, okay, maybe “many” things.
The other day I was looking for hints on ways that I might fix some woodwork that has dog claw scratches on it and found this website. There are thousands of “how to” articles. And, each has comments from people on what works and what doesn’t as well as alternative ways to accomplish something.
Check it out!
By the way, here is the article on how to repair scratches.
Posted under: Dog Stuff • Stuff You Gotta Know! • by Rick on 04/04/2005 at 09:38 PM
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Sunday, February 20, 2005
Alex Is Doing Great at Denver Shows
We have completed 2 days of the 3 days we plan to show Alex at the dog shows in Denver. There is a relatively small entry of boys, so we can’t win a major in boys. However, there are a lot of girls, and if he beats them by winning “Best of Winners”, he gets their points.
On Friday, he won Winners Dog, and earned 2 points. However, on Saturday he not only won Winners Dog but Best of Winners, too. So, he got a 4-point major!
Alltogether, so far he has won 6 points and the 1 major. We’ll see how things go today, Sunday, and I’ll update this post. Meantime, here is a photo of him from Saturday with his handler, Jeni, and the judge who gave him the major.
Posted under: Dog Stuff • by Rick on 02/20/2005 at 08:30 AM
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Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Millennia’s Christmas
I just posted a movie of Millennia opening her Christmas gifts on Christmas morning, 2004. Because of low-light conditions, the movie appears to be in black-and-white. And, there is no sound. Have a look!
Posted under: Dog Stuff • by Rick on 01/04/2005 at 04:47 PM
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