Monday, May 25, 2009

Please Remember

Happy Memorial Day to all, and please remember all those who still serve our country, those who have served, and especially those who have given the ultimate sacrifice, so that we may have the freedoms we enjoy.

These are a couple of pictures we took at the Pearl Harbor Memorial when we were in Hawaii on December 5, 2002 (two days before the anniversary of the attack). The first is a picture of the memorial that was dedicated to the crew of the USS Arizona, and lists all 1,177 sailors and marines who lost their lives on that fateful day in 1941. Today, the Arizona still leaks oil which floats to the surface of Pearl Harbor. This is referred to by all military service members stationed at Pearl Harbor as the "Tears of the Arizona". We were able to catch a picture of the tears, and that is the second image. Lest We Forget.

















One Shot Wonder Strikes Again!!

We heard throughout the night from Cindy that Phantom is again a daddy. With only one breeding, he sired a litter of 6....4 girls (finally!!) and 2 boys. The colors are all reds and brindles.

Shooter, the mom of the litter, is the littermate to Marg, who produced the Jimmy Buffett litter, again after only one breeding, that includes Frank, Dove, and our Bear.

Cindy is so happy with the fact that Boo gave her more girls this time around, that she said he has redeemed himself and is allowed over for visits anytime he wishes. The theme for the litter, due to the Memorial Day holiday is Patriotic. Check out her website for pictures and names as they grow.

Way to go "One Shot Wonder!!"

Monday, May 11, 2009

The Power of Persuation....From A Crate

Grandpa Fred is good at keeping all of the boys under control. Some days he's REAL good....then there's this episode:

Russ and Bear were both on lead at the show and socializing rather well. They are half-brothers and are very much alike in looks and attitude. They boys started wrestling and playing, like they always do, while Kim and I were chatting. Next thing I know, I look down and Bear was on his side submissing peeing on the floor. I look over at Russ, and he had done the EXACT same thing!!!! No other dogs were in sight!! It was the funniest darned thing I have ever seen!!! Kim and I both had a REAL good laugh and decided that they had seen Grandpa Fred in each other's faces, and rolled over to him!!!

Where was Fred? In a crate about 10 feet away, sound asleep!!!! Now that's the power of persuation!!!!

Adventures of Frick and Frack - The Bonehead Edition

Just when we thought these two were making great strides in not being "Frick and Frack", they have a Dumb and Dumber moment....like trying to eat a bumblebee in flight. *sigh*

Thursday, May 7, 2009

Not Much Going On

I haven't been blogging recently due to the fact that there hasn't been a whole lot going on that hasn't been covered elsewhere. Frick and Frack, or Dumb and Dumber if you prefer, have actually been behaving themselves recently, other than one little incident that I'll get into in just a sec.

In a whirlwind, here's what has been going on around the house...

  • Bekka has become a domestic goddess...she is re-landscaping the backyard, planting grass seed and placing stones where there once was mud
  • Bekka has pulled up a shrub from the front yard that was next to our Oak tree, and is in the process of planting flowers
  • Bekka is pulling up carpet in her room and re-flooring with wood-looking vinyl stuff...looks great!
  • Bekka is also re-painting her room a gorgeous shade of light purple (called Elizabethan)
  • Bekka finished painting the basement, rearranged all of the dog kennels, re-organized everything else down there, sorted dog supplies and have shelves for everything (labels facing forward of course!)

Yes, she has been a godsend to us for getting so much done around the house. She has a laundry list a mile long of things she wants to do. Oh, and she said that she would hire out IF...the price is right ;o) (You will have to ask her what her price is hehe)

We went to the Seward, NE show the weekend after Nationals, and were awarded with a Winner's Dog on Ransom, 2 Best of Breed wins with Phantom, 2 cuts in the group and a Group 4, and Cristal was RWB both days.

Oh...and as far as Ransom goes, the little goofball stubbed his toe pretty bad on the Tuesday before the Seward show. It was bad enough that we made a trip to the vet to make sure nothing was broken, and he was placed on Rimadyl. We promised the vet that if he was still gimpy by Saturday we wouldn't show him. Well, that wasn't the issue. By Saturday, he moved fine...the problem was with the Rimadyl...seems it really got him stoned. LOL We had him off the Rimadyl by Friday morning but he was still feeling the effects all weekend. Those who know him best can honestly vouch for the fact that he is a TOTAL cookie monster....hungry is a permanent mindset for this dog. Well, when he was "under the influence" I waved garlic roasted chicken, steak, and even his favorite snickerdoodles under his nose and got NO reaction. THEN, to top it all off....he fell asleep in the Best of Breed ring on Sunday!!! Yes, he made it through the classes and was wiped out by breed. I take him in the ring, and he stacks himself beautifully, and as I'm looking at what the judge is doing, I hear this little nasally snore. I look down and there he is...on his feet, hasn't moved a muscle, eyes closed and snoring. Greeeeeeeeeeeeat....my dog just fell asleep on the judge. Oh well, we took our single point and went home, but he was the laughing stock of the Pem entry that day. Come to find out that some dogs get this way on Rimadyl and it's just like a person's tolerance to an over the counter drug...how it affects one person may not necessarily affect another person the same way. Seems that's why they create warning labels. Now we know...no more Rimadyl for him!!

Oh and let's see...we also went to Kim and Kathy's wedding and spent the night at Foggy Bottom. We were helping dog wrangle Shaker and Music. Okay, so wrangling Music wasn't an issue, but keeping Shaker quiet and occupied was interesting to say the least. He was a good boy, but just decided he had to put in his two cents worth during the ceremony...okay so it was more like 5 bucks, but who was counting? ;o) He even got to help "give away" his moms. The pastor asked him if he was giving them away and he looked at him, barked once, and then turned around and walked away without a backward glance. Absolutely priceless.

We then spent the night with the Foggy Bottom crew and had a wonderful Sunday morning. All 8 of our kids got to run on the farm, and we about came home two dogs short. It seems that Emmy decided that she needed to stay behind and keep Meredith in line, and rid the world of all of those evil birds, and went to the door of the house with her instead of to the truck to come home. Needless to say, she had to be CARRIED to the truck. She wasn't happy. Oh, and Meredith also took a shine to Cristal and Cristal to Meredith, and Bekka had to do some seriously fast talking to get Meredith to give up the lead. It seems a swap with Alec's dog wasn't part of the deal.

Now we're back to showing again...off to Rock Island this weekend and then Gardner, KS next weekend. Hopefully we'll come home with two new champions, as Frick and Frack both need one major to finish.