Day 73 - Walks Downtown

"I am in heaven!" shouts a woman passing us in a car. Yes, with Yishai and I walking down the street with four dogs (three puppies and Fury), we were the dominant force for "cute" in the world. I'm sorry I don't have photos to share, but you'll have to live on my excellent prose.

After a fairly lazy Saturday morning, playing with puppies in the house (it was rainy), Yishai asked what we should do and I suggested take the puppies on a walk. At ten weeks old, one can really be pushing it - they've had their second round of shots and they were not taking milk in at about 7.5 weeks (and Fury is totally dry and boobless at this point - just has huge nipples). No dirt, sand, or grass, but concrete -- okay.

I might mention that at this point they haven't even been leash broken (maybe Rippa a bit more), but my philosophy in puppy raising is mainly to keep them off lead as much as possible so they learn to be responsive without the tether. So, we all strapped collars on them and leads and away we go. Moto CRIED. Every time I jerked a little on him, he CRIED. Pull, push, pull, push. But, after about two blocks, they were all trucking along. Yishai is running down the street with Fury and Rippa (he's testing her running-buddy legs), and I am desperately trying to keep up with two pulling, hacking puppies, giggling the entire way.

We ended up taking them to the mission, walking the puppies past shoppers and cars. Where we ended up resting them at the fountain in the mission.

They were super friendly and receptive to people coming up to say hello, and I refused contact with strange dogs. As we walked back, it started to rain a bit and by the time we got back inside, it was pouring. Excellent timing.

Yishai was sitting on the floor with all three of them on his lap and fell asleep sitting up that way until he moved to the couch and then fell asleep with them all over him that way - the light highlighting him in just the right artistic way that I was sad I didn't take a photo.

That was how most of the day went. That night we had friends over for movies and the puppies came out and partied again, though stayed mainly with their breeder parents because they were tuckered.

Dear readers, I am in trouble. Still no solid leads on appropriate homes for Moto and the more time I spend with him, the more I love him. Yishai decided that he was the dog version of himself, which only makes me want him more, and I agree: independent, hardcore athletic, but at the same time sensitive and snuggly. He ended up being the best leash walker after all his screaming in the beginning and . . . man, every time I see him he wiggles pure joy. I loved walking him because I really got to see his gait - it's gorgeous. I love how resilient he is. He is so fun.

But I rent, I'm in the middle of making some major life choices that might involve major upheaval of everything I know, I don't make a pile of money because I'm building up my businesses and I am a part time prof with no full time jobs in sight . . . My life isn't stable enough for two and a half dogs (Rippa's shared custody, but mostly Yishai's). What do I do about the intact male/female issue? I don't have the resources to put into properly taking him to his next potential - I don't have the time or inclination to train another dog in agility, obedience, conformation and stock. And even if I did, that's what Yishai's supposed to do with Rippa with my help. 

I keep hoping a perfect home will come along. The longer I spend time with him, the more I love him and think he's the bee's knees. And that also causes me to get even more picky with homes. If I love everything about him - how can I send him off to be someone's pet when I think he's one of the best puppies in the litter? I want to see him flourish in the way I want all of my puppies to. The only puppy that likely won't get major exposure to stock or get trialled is Emma (Fie) and she's very much got the personality of loving pet and I don't mind that. Moto, on the other hand, has all the go juice and potential that I felt the other puppies have. 

Did I mention he's gorgeous? He totally is.

Day 71 - Sun? What is that?

Got Rippa's registration in the mail. Sam must have thought, rather than just typed, because it says "Tara's Little Rippa" and we distinctly had a discussion of "Lil" vs "Little" and settled on "Lil." Oh well, we'll fix it. How cool was it to see my name listed as the breeder? SO COOL!

Given that it is an El Nino year, I was really dreading Fury's timing on coming into heat. Sure, sure, January would be cool and dry but . . . yup, the part where the puppies get active? Rain. All the time. My yard's grass is way too long, but it's so wet that mowing it will just tear it up, which means that tamping it down totally kills it, too.

My solution, after watching the kids for a while, has been to let them roam the back yard freely and only pen them when I am not within earshot of the yard. Seems to be working quite well, thank goodness.

And so, we have photographic evidence of the fun.

Let us out!

Rippa says, "Weee!" Even if this photos isn't very good, I love her expression when she does this, so I had to share.

THe puppies check out the stock trough for water. This is just outside my window and i cannot wait for the day I hear, "Splooosh."

Mama tries to head off Rips.

Out of focus, but AWWWW

No, Rippa's eyes aren't blue, but they are light!

Motzi jumps into the planter (only puppy that can do it fairly easily).

"Hah hah!"

Moto does his Aussie U

Please note that both our red merles have the same wonky ear. What is that about?

Day 67 - Puppy Party

So I am actually going to be away tomorrow so I just thought I would praise my bomb-proof pupppies for their continued awesomeness. We had an event at SLO Op (Y & I's climbing gym) and I told him to meet me with the puppies as it would be good socialization. Totally new place, bumping base, oodles of people, and they were like, "RIGHT ON! Let's party!" Puppies rolling around between people's feet, chewin' on each other, loving up on the strangers . . . yeah, all that work totally was worth it. No way could Fury handle that, not at nine weeks and not today. Good little guys.

Day 66 - Week 8 photos

Chris' exploits were a bit harder than normal (and I'm still waiting for the ones of me and Fury), so it took him a week to process them. I think they came out nicely. New computer doesn't have Dreamweaver on it, so I'll just post the photos and then describe as per usual. :)

Here's Yishai with his dog. When he did this pose I rolled my eyes, but it turned out kinda awesome, kinda David Hasselhoff-ish (what, you don't know what I'm talking about? - here you go)

Only his version is much cooler. Hey, Y, what do you think about getting NAKED with puppies? That's a brilliant idea for the next shoot.

And here's mine. I am really thrilled with Rippa. I love her coloration, I love her feisty personality. She should be so fun growing up and so perfect for doing whatever we want to do with her. I am also really hoping she turns out to be showable in conformation so I can end up getting that breeder judge qualification with my cute little working puppies. But if not, not. I honestly haven't gotten to really bond with her (which is fine, since she is Yishai's puppy), but I hope that once the other little guys are gone, I can.

Miss Curry - suspended by Yishai. I have told Amy over and over that her photos make her look less cute than she really is - I don't think she likes the flashing and posing very much. When she picked her up, she agreed. Amy is loving her puppy. Says she's a pistol and funny and really good and obedience and mindful of the other dogs. I'm pleased to say I think I matched her to her home very well. 

Here's some photos I snagged from her Facebook page:

SNOWWWWWWW! She originally bought her a little coat since she came from California, but these are working dogs and, ha ha, she does not need one. That's right! Good Curry.

Here's little baby Fie-pie as my roommate Laura likes to call her. And might as well go with it for now, because she's going to Laura's parents (although they are musing on the name Vera or Mia right now). I'll be hanging on to my loving, polite, responsive little girl for another couple weeks until they come home from vacation, at which time she will end up being the prize of the household with her own couch and everything and I've been promised she'll be going to stock lessons when she's ready.

And here's Piper. Another excellent match, I've been spoiled by Facebook and the digital age because she's another one that likes to put a whole lotta videos and photos up. Bekka told me in a message, "OMG I LOVE HER!!!!! Damn near perfect, and perfect for here!" Another successful match. Piper goes with Bekka to work and pretty much everywhere. She's working on her gaurdiness (and I think that will straighten out, given that Bekka works at a vet clinic with people in and out all day), and she's already gotten in with the sheep accidentally - and I'm happy to report she stood her ground and then came when called. :) 

Here's some photos from her new house:

Look at that brazen puppy go - pin the big dog!

Ahh, Motzi-Bear. He's still available to the right home. I keep thinking that home comes along and then it doesn't. I've decided to look at this like dating - you get rejected or you reject for a reason. You know when the right person is the right person. Everyone says so and then you find out that's true. Sometimes you really just gotta wait, right? Moto is such a mama's boy, in his heart he just wants to be with someone all the time and do whatever they want him to do. But he is so beautiful and fun and active, too. I really wish I wanted another dog (or was in the position to have one, but half a dog is good enough for me) because it would be so easy to keep him. He's got a look I love and his personality is fun as heck. Yishai had a hard time not choosing him, actually, but I kept telling him that intact boys are a lot of work and then I'd have to fix Fury and . . . anyway, I am going to enjoy training him. Reminds me a lot of Terry Martin's Leftover Puppy article on her site. 

And then there is Mr. Thinker-man, Reid. Reid gets to keep his name (and it turns out that means, "Red-haired", cute, right?). When Patrick and Kathryn came to pick him up, Patrick told me that despite not liking brown dogs, he was looking for a dog that would have a beer with him. Reid is most definitely a dog you can have a beer with. Nothing bothers him and he's very undemanding. He also reports that clearly, he is very smart - that thinking and little action thing is going to get him in trouble. Should be fun to see what he does on sheep - he found Patrick's sheep yesterday and watched them for a solid fifteen minutes without moving - that's an eternity for puppy attention spans. 

Here's a photo of him with the MacRobert's 13 year-old dog, Rip:

This photo was posted after I pointed out that Amy and Bekka were doing lots of updates and that I was worried maybe the MacRoberts's had killed him and were scared to tell me. Just kidding, but dude, give a girl some updates. These are my babies, here.

Patrick told me when I did the breeding that I did good - that clearly I had done my homework (I mean, really, who breeds 20 years after getting into a breed?) and made some fine puppies. I was really worried I'd end up with very reserved dogs like Fury is and worked hard to socialize them; thanks to many many friends in town and lots of prior dog experience, they are all very people-oriented, fun, good natured little guys that I am cautiously optimistic about turning out to have fabulous temperaments. On top of that, come on people, these are goregeous puppies! I am so thrilled with how they turned out and feel really good about having contributed to the Aussie world in a positive, intentional way. I cannot wait to see where the little guys go and what they do in life. Everyone reports they're super responsive, easy to train, and settled into their new home so easily. 

Excuse me while I pat myself on the back. Now, let's find Moto a home he deserves!