Saturday, February 28, 2009

Saint Russ-O-fur








Many of you know my weakness for cats. Just a quick review of my blog archive will reveal that.

A few years ago,, we had a feral cat that showed up and was living in our goat pen,, with the goat. They would sleep together and hang out,, sun themselves, and actually seem to really enjoy each other. This cat was a torti,, so I was sure it was female and sure enough,, I was hearing little meows from inside the goat pen, marking that fact that kittens were there.

I would hear them meowing and calling for their momma on occasion, but she was there so I paid no attention till one day when the meows got really loud and continued for hours. Derek had gone down to the shop that afternoon and came right back to tell me about the little kitten he had found wandering across the yard. He put her back into the box, but she had followed him out again. I went down and sure enough,, there were 4 kittens in there. All meowing like crazy,, appearing to be about 3 or 4 wks old. Barely old enough to walk. We put a board up on the box to keep them from crawling out but so that momma could get back in. We have a lot of feral cats come and go around here,, mostly from the dairy next door. If I can catch them,, they got get altered but a lot of times they disappear before I can act. I keep food out for them and heating beds during the winter, so I figured this momma had gone to find food.
The night went on,, I looked for momma cat but saw nothing. The next day, I got up and went out to check,, the kittens were ice cold and all pretty non responsive. They laid limp in my hands. I rushed them up to the house,, feeling like a fool for not bringing them up sooner. I was so sad and mad at myself. I put each kitten under warm water to bring their body temperature up and then started to syringe some water to them. They were badly dehydrated. They all started to come to after a while though.

After I got them settled,, I went out to the road to search for momma cat. I found her lifeless body about a quarter mile down the road. She had been hit. OH NO!!
Long story shorter... I bottle fed this litter. Within the first few days,, I lost one of the kitties but the other 3 thrived. As time went on,, I became very attached to them but did end up letting my sister get one. We kept an orange and white male,, called "Russ" for Mr. Curi-Russ, since he was such a curious kitten. Very brave and outgoing. There was a grey kitten that just bitched all the time so she was "Bitch and Mona".. aka Mona. We call her Monicity now. She doesn't complain much anymore.

They have turned into great little cats. Both are full time house cats with our other 4. Russ is a total character. Loves water and takes great pride in helping me raise the puppies. He likes to lay with his back legs stretched out behind him,, froggy style. He goes to the shower to play at the water coming down and he loves the bath tub, which he puts his footy in the water continually till your done. We call him Saint Russ-O-Fur,, since he is such a little hellion. He and Mona are little blessings and I am glad I was able to save them. I just hate having so many ferals show up all the time. I wish I could take them all in, but there does have to be a point where you have to say no. So I keep them fed and watered.
The 6 we have in the house is plenty. They never go outside so cat box duty is frequent, but they are all very much a part of our lives.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Darn it


Darn it...

Sarg is the German shepherd that I rescued from the pound a year and a half ago. He has been an incredible dog. He is very large and looks crazy,, but he is a gentle giant. He came into our lives in a rush and has never skipped a beat.

I can put any of the shelties with him,, even little puppies who love to run between his feet and lick his face. He has never lifted a lip or even gave a menacing look. Such a great dog.

When I saw him at the pound he was a mess. During that time, I was going to the pound twice a week in search of my missing sheltie, Bo. I came upon Sarg,, standing in the back of the run with the most sad look on his face. He was old but intelligent looking,, he gazed at me as if to plea for help. I quick look at his paperwork revealed that he had been dropped off by his former owner. This was on a Tuesday. Thursday came,, my other visit day, and there he was still but this time he had messed in his run and he was making great effort to stay out of it but was having a hard time. He made moans and again looked at me with those eyes. I went to the counter to see if anyone had asked to adopt him. No one had and his last day would be Friday since he was so old. I thought about it all day Friday and even though the last thing I needed was another dog,, and a huge one at that,, I couldn't get him out of my mind.

So Friday afternoon at 5:30,, the pound closes at 6:00,, I showed up to see if he was still there. He was. I never even told my husband about this dog, and went and got him out of the run and brought him to the front office and began to draw up the adoption papers. Sarg yowled and moaned and carried on like shepherds do and I thought "oh no",, "what am I doing?"

I finished up the paperwork and led him to the car and got in and called Derek, my husband, to confess to my weak moment.

I got home and Derek was there and along came my friend Kristin. They both helped me to bath Sarg with the hose since he stunk so bad. Sarg was very co-operative and even let me blow him dry.

Well,, as things would go, the vet estimated his age to be around 9 or 10. Since then, we have really enjoyed Sarg. A great dog,, a clown, devoted, fun boy. He has the cutest prance with his toy around the yard.

Around Christmas Sarg began to have some trouble and about 2 weeks ago, after trying everything, I finally talked with the vet about him and his issues. So it looks like poor Sarg doesn't have much time left. It seems that he has all the workings of stomach cancer (only a stomach biopsy would tell for sure). I would put him through the tests but with his age and condition, it would only make things worse for him.

So,, we will see how things go. If not anything, he has been so good to us and for us,, we are made to feel better that Sarg did not die at that pound. Lord knows why he was taken there to begin with, but he has been a joy to us. Thank you Sarg for your addition to our crew, for being so cool and teaching us so much about the joy of a gentle giant dog.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

I did what I knew to do


"You did what you knew how to do, and when you knew better, you did better." by Maya Angelou. One of my very favorite quotes.

I pretty much live by this saying. It can be applied to so many different avenues. Loving, living, grieving, and acceptance.

Lately I have had to do a lot of reflecting. We spent the weekend going through old photos, selecting ones that we thought my dad would enjoy seeing again, and then once we had them gathered, I prepared a picture book of sayings to go with each photo. I mailed it off and I hope he gets it in time for Valentines.

Amazing that when you look back through the years how life teaches you to do better as you gain that knowledge to do so. I am sure I have much to learn yet, but for now,, I am appreciative of how far I have come.

Grief has always been a doozy for me. I have never dealt well with it. I remember losing my first sheltie and going into a bad depression. I never even left my bedroom for days,, the grief was too much to face others with. Time has taught me much about this. I have gained a remarkable peace with it that I never thought possible. I will never be quite "right" with losing someone that I love, but certainly,, I have learned to do better with it.

The same quote can be applied to dogs. At first,, my sheltie was the best. I could not see her faults. I had the rose colored glasses of love on. Then the second sheltie came,, a Champion that was sent to me to do junior handling with (pictured above, Ch. Kimrems Grin An Bear It). The difference between him and my first was so marked, he taught me to do better. From there as the dogs have come into my life and breeding program throughout the years,, each one has taught me at least one better virtue to strive for. I have made notes to myself as I have gone along as to the traits that each dog has presented to me to learn from. I think that is very important. Each one may have not been the "best" dog that I owned but the virtues and faults they presented taught me thus allowing me to do better next time..

Its all a process,, now isn't it? Life and living. Striving for further knowledge and understanding. I sure hope I never lose the drive to keep the "know better, and do better" attitude.


thats all for now folks. Until next time..

Friday, February 6, 2009

Heidi Ho,, Heidi Bell







Akadia Project Runway.

Been a while since I could get some nice shots of Heidi. She was out all last summer and fall with a litter of puppies then growing her coat back. It is almost completely back in now and she is looking plush.

Heidi is a sweet little dog. Never does a thing wrong and only asks for the occassional handout to satisfy her. I hope to get her into the ring this year, probley in the summer. She needs to be shown in the grass since a leg injury as a puppy makes her show side footy turn out. She moves fine on it and she hand stacks on it fine but on solid ground it shows. Shame,, but we will give it a try anyway to see if she can have a show career. She is a repeat breeding of my CH. Akadia Totally Intoxicating, aka "Stinky".

Heidi just turned 3 years old.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Just Heavenly!!

Congrats to Nanette Johnson, in SOUTH! Carolina, on putting a major on Akadia Just Heavenly. I sent "Kaylani" out to her in December with 7 pts, and she has her up to 11 pts, 1 major now. Great job Nanette!!
"Kaylani" is by Am/Can CH. Hillviews Patriot Games and out of Akadia HellsBells (dam of CH. Akadia Just Priceless)
I am a proud, proud breeder.