Tails from the Underbelly - 4 Star Dining

Last night, we introduced the littles to solid food. We figured we'd have to encourage them to eat it, as it isn't from mom, and mom wasn't even in the kitchen. Boy were we wrong!!! Those kids took to the new food like a bunch of starving orphans at a 4-star restaurant!!!!

They were a little hesitant about it at first, until they actually tried it.

Then, they got into it a little more....or a lot more...

And still others, like Shiraz, decided to just "go for it" and go face first into the deepest part of the meal. Maybe she's training for one of those eating contests...ya think??

And then what's better for a gourmet meal than an after dinner drink?? Very appropriate with the way this litter is named, I would think!!

And finally, after all is said and done, the best and most long lived tradition in the world....the after dinner nap!!! (Editors note: I do think that Cristal looks like she had imbibed a few too many over the course of the evening)

Showing Off the Boys

I was prodded by several individuals to post up our brag results and pictures from our last show, which was October 18-19th, in Fremont, NE. We hadn't been to a show in over a month, so I honestly forgot about mentioning anything concerning the show. So, here we are.

The boys went and showed their hearts out. It paid off. Ransom won his first point on Saturday with a WD/BOS win under Mrs. Bette L. Krause, and then proceeded to win WD/BOW/BOB on Sunday under Col. Joe B. Purkhiser. He got to play in the big kid ring for the first time, and he loved it!! Thanks to Kim Jacobson for handling the little man for us in group. Phantom won BOB both days and then proceeded to win a Group 3 on Sunday under Mrs. Bette L. Krause. It was quite a thrill to have both of the boys in the group ring at the same time on Sunday, and actually not embarrass me!! LOL Boo always has a big cheering section when he's in the big ring, and Ransom had his own cheering section that had to be at least as big!! Way to go boys!!

Here are the pictures:

Tails from the Underbelly - Big Bad Guard Dogs

I have a knack of walking silently through the house when I want to, just so I don't disturb all of the inmates downstairs and set them to barking at god-awful hours of the morning. I will do this when I go upstairs to check on babies and let Ruby outside. So, when I went upstairs this morning to feed Ruby, all of the littles were sound asleep. Ruby was waiting as (im)patiently as she ever does when it comes to her breakfast (and lunch and dinner). Not a soul was stirring....until I unsnapped the flap of the food container. Then it was guard dog central...all growling, yipping, and lots of little high pitched GRRRRR-UFFFFFs, and they all started swarming to the corner of the box by where the food is stored. Once I got Ruby's breakfast scooped, I had to bend over and scratch each and every one of them, as they wouldn't let me to anything else (let alone stop barking). Once properly scratched, they quietly retired back to their respective corners (or under blankets) and promptly went back to sleep.

I know puppies have a learning curve, as do all species of younglings, and these guys are learning on a pretty steep curve, but they've obviously been doing extra credit, as they are full of Corgi attitude!!!

Tails from the Underbelly - The Hard Life

Yes, folks, they already know how hard a life they have and are already perfecting the art of quality naptime.

Tails from the Underbelly - The Eyes Have It

Yes, that's right....we have eyes!!! The littles have started opening their eyes. It's still too soon to see eye color for Cristal and Zin, but that will come with time. This morning I turned on the kitchen light, and Flame blinked her eyes at me, like "Hey!! I was sleeping!!! Turn that off!!!" And then I got barked at. Go figure.

Photo Friday - Aww Moment

All they seem to do is sleep and eat....sometimes at the same time!!

Happy Friday!

Tails from the Underbelly - The Great Escape

Here we go again. It seems that Cristal does not take no for an answer. She must have been plotting another breakout from the time she was caught the first time. She broke out again this morning and made it all the way to the gate separating solitary from the general population before being apprehended. The general population (Duchess, Phantom, Dream, Emmy, Ransom, and Bear) all thought this was very interesting, and stood at the gate to watch the trek across no-dog's land....although Phantom was very careful to totally disassociate himself from the rest of the proceedings and sit a good five feet behind everyone else. Talk about getting the cold paw from the head of the family!!!!!

Littles are in lockdown as I write now, no doubt devising new ways to sneak out under the watchful eyes of the Mother Warden.

Tails from the Underbelly - Escape from Dogcatraz Solitary

In a previous post, I mentioned that these little buggers are quite active, and love to roam the puppy box. The Warden Mother (Ruby) keeps a pretty close eye on her flock and alerts the perimeter guards (us) when things are even remotely out of the ordinary. Well, the little ones took their roaming to a whole new level. We had our first jailbreak. It looks like Cristal and her accomplice, Port, were trying to make a run for it. Port later got "cold feet" and backed out in favor of a warm corner and soft blanket. Thank goodness the Warden Mother was on the job and immediately alerted perimeter security.

The security cameras caught the whole episode. Here's the evidence:

The next frame showed the capture and return to solitary. Cristal was not a happy camper, but she has no business meeting the characters in general population yet. If she's this onery now, what's going to happen when she meets Frick and Frack?!?!?!

Tails from the Underbelly - Meet the Cast

Sorry for the late addition of pictures, but things have been a little hectic. So, without further ado, here's the cast of characters for this season's episodes of Tails from the Underbelly:

Cristal:


Flame:



Merlot:


Pearl:


Port:



Zin(fandel):


Notes on the cast:
The perspective on the pictures is a little off. I had to resize them to put them on here, and so some of the pups look a little funny. I assure you, they are normal looking in every way. Port is the male. Everyone else is a girl. As of right now, Zin is a mismark, but if you look REAL close, you can see a start of some coloring at the corner of her eye. Hopefully, it will come in. Pearl and Flame have yet to earn their "wine" names, but I have the feeling that they will have those in the next week or so. All are really active, and some are even trying to stand and walk.

Tails from the Underbelly - Day 2

Everyone has settled into their routines now. Babies have figured out that it's the best thing in life to eat, sleep, and poop. They scoot all over the whelping box, usually under a blanket, where it's dark and warm, and poor Ruby then has to figure out where they went. The first time it happened, I think she was asleep, as when I went to check puppies in the middle of the night, she looked at me with that frantic look....you know the one..."I swear they were just here a minute ago!!!" Yup, you guessed it...under the blanket, not 3 inches from her foot, but camouflaged from Ruby's sight.

We have one puppy who is a little smaller than the rest. I guess you could call her the runt (although the actual runt of the litter by birth weight has passed her up). Anyway, we have been watching her closely to make sure she gets free access to mom, so she can eat her fill. Well, this morning, she wanted to obviously do something other than eat, and as Ruby tried to move her into a feeding position, little one gave mom a piece of her mind...and then some! Glad to see these little ones have spunk, but I'm going to feel for the new owners, as these kids have ATTITUDE!!!

Here's some more pictures for your viewing pleasure:

We Have Puppies!

On behalf of Ruby and Sulley (CH Cardidreams Blue Sullivan), we are proud to annouce the arrival of 6 bouncing baby Cardis. There are 4 black and whites (1 boy and 3 girls) and 2 blue merles (both girls). Their bellies are fat with mom's milk, they are feisty, active, and VOCAL!! Oh my gosh!! I don't think anyone remebered to tell Ruby that we ordered puppies with a volume control. There's nothing like a puppy in full protest voice at 3am to wake you from a dead sleep and sit you up straight in bed!!

The rest of the Winjammin' herd has been very patient with being crated for longer than normal as we have been tending to the little ones. Everyone has gotten extra pets and cuddles for being so good. Although, Bear was making up for lost time, and got the zoomies last night for, I swear as I timed it, an HOUR+ non-stop full-on frap. He didn't care who chased him, Ransom, Emmy, or Dream. Even Boo got in on the action a little. Duchess was her usual stoic self and just watched from her throne....grumbling if anyone came too close (which I think Ransom planned LOL). Boo is a great mother hen, and is so worried about Ruby. When he hears those babies whine or carry on, he's right at the gate trying to make whatever is wrong better, or will make sure we are up to take care of the babies in the middle of the night. Geez, you'd think HE was the dad!!! What a good boy he is!!

Here's the Day 1 shot of mom and the crumbsnatchers:

The theme for this litter?? WINE!! That's right, all kinds of wine and vineyard names will be considered! If you have a suggestion, please send it! :o) With only 6 names to pick, we cannot guarantee we will use the names you send, but all names will be given careful consideration.

Stay tuned for more pictures and tales from the underbelly (Ruby's) as the babies grow and explore their new world.

Frick and Frack Together Again

Yes, that's right, Ransom is home (as of Saturday) and he and Bear are already back at it. We weren't even home 10 minutes when Ransom and Bear were already wrestling and tearing around the house at Mach 10. The peace and quiet I was writing about last week is no longer. Chaos and Frapping is now the order of the day.

Sunday brought Ransom and Bear playing tag in the back yard with Emmy, until I emptied the swimming pool and put it in the shed for the winter. Once all of the water was on the ground, all three of them found the mud and proceeded to wade/swim/drink/splash through it, until I chased them out and back into the house. I kept getting the "I don't get it" looks....can't imagine why.

They finally crashed last evening while we were watching tv. This time, I have proof that they do stop!!!

They even tired Dream and Duchess out, just by watching all the chaos!

Still Alive

Yes, we're still alive. Things have been really quiet (or at least for us) for some time now. Bear is getting bored with the girls, as Ransom is still at camp. We're working out the details to hopefully have Ransom back at home this weekend. I think everyone misses the little man!

It feels so strange to not have shows to go to, no mad packing of the van, no baths (which the dogs LOVE to be missing!). We've both felt just a little off kilter without all of the hustle and bustle of show weekends.

On the good side though, we've actually had a "date night". It's been awhile since we had one of those. We didn't do much, other than go out for a nice dinner, and then we went browsing through one of the local stores. Nothing much, but it's still quality time together, no kids or dogs. It was fun!!

Now to get busy with the rest of the honey-do list....take photos, update the website, paint, mow, shampoo carpets, rearrange the basement and garage...