Texangals

Wednesday was a rough day ... my mama whelped, first losing one that hadn't quite closed up its skull (stillborn, thank goodness), and then two more straightforward, head-first, wiggly-body squeakers, and me with my excitement and trepidation, getting all their sexes wrong! My kids thought we'd got two boys long enough to name them Bill and Ted, and now for love nor money, they will not budge on the names even after we discovered that one of them was a girl. So, please meet Bill and "Theodora" or Ted: They're bigger by nearly about 30 g (1 oz) than any of our babies from last year, and over the first five days, they've been gaining at nearly an ounce a day! We are very relieved that both puppies have show homes ready for them, but there are never any guarantees in this kind of situation, so should you want a Toy Manchester puppy, please get in touch to fill out a puppy form. Just in case. The mama has been as good as gold as usual, ...

So now it's got to May and I haven't been posting in a long time. I don't know why not ... so much has been going on! The first thing that I want to show off is my new doggy buggy. It's a Gen7 Regal Plus that I bought to replace my old purple one after its zippers broke. This one is definitely better made: the zippers are silky smooth, the fabric of a higher quality, the frame more sturdy, and the wheels roll like they're on glass. I can't recommend it enough. The other thing we've been doing is taking Zoot to dog shows around central Texas. The highlight so far was winning OH Group 4 at Navasota back in March. In the meantime, we've had the most awesome time in catching up again with little sister, Coco AKA "Sophie Mae". She's no match for the speedy long legs of "Zooty-Pie", but they do nothing but non-stop play when they get together. And now for our biggest news: as I write this, I am on puppy watch for ...

With Christmas looming, what do I do? Drive 1100 miles from Texas to Florida of course! Come and read my debrief of the AKC National Dog Show in Orlando. Road Trip Puppy! Orlando sees the annual pilgrimage of doggy people for the AKC National Championship dog show. I went along to a) socialize Zoot for road trips, motels, and the dog show atmosphere, b) to meet a lot of the main players in the Manchester Terrier (both Toy and Standard, and agility!) scene, and c) volunteer on the Meet the Breeds stand. I was very heartened that Zoot was a good traveller. She slept a lot in the car, chewed on her bones, discovered the taste for a big chunk of natural low-salt beef jerky. At the show, she took it all in without being nervous. In the motel rooms, she had quite a good time in whizzing around the rooms with her toys, and best of all, didn't bark whenever there was a bump, a noise, or someone talking in the motel rooms. Meeting the breeders and show people was my high...

Coco, the Christmas present, arrives at her Furrever Home! For those of you who have been tracking the fate of this little puppy since she first entered the world at a mere 2 ounces, her journey has come to a wonderful and loving end: she has gone home to my friend's mother who lives a mere ten miles from me! Surprise! You got a puppy from Santa!!! No, I am not just trying to keep an eye on her! We're expecting great things from our little bundle of clever smartness when she enters Good Citizen training. Judging from her being the first to potty train - at 6 weeks! - I think it will be an easy road to success!! You've come a long way, Baby!  Did you spot Coco's head under her mother's eye on the bottom right???

Don't Breed for Greed!

Meet Justina from Minnesota. Last month, her beloved miniature pinscher of 14 years passed suddenly, and she searched and searched online for a little girl puppy to try to fill the hole in her heart. Justina's Soul Mate Within a few hours of my appeal to online homeschooling moms who pray for people's prayer requests, Justina was contacting me about Dennis. I knew this was the one. We were bandying ideas back and forth, feeling each other out, when her Facebook feed turned up a neighbor who wanted one of the puppies, too, so Tim was now spoken for. It was just a few days later when Justina arrived in Central Texas on a Delta flight to pick up both Dennis and Tim. A Fabulous Threesome! Little could I guess that Justina would bond so much with Tim over night that she talked the neighbor out of keeping him, and has now adopted both puppies into her family's lives. Cuddling Dennis would put anyone to sleep! Don't forget Auntie Bailey, th...

After lots of video and lots of long phone conversations, after bribing my young teenager to splice film and photos into a montage, after changing my mind one way and then another, it is finally time to announce the puppy that we're going to keep with us at Texangals: Meet Zoot. Zoot was our first born. She has always been the confident one, and when it comes to moving on the lead, she's happy to move ahead of me instead of being tugged along like her mama! There are times when I see her in the grass outside that I'm reminded of our little boy puppy, Ozzie, who died last year, but she's got more balance to her than I remembered of him. Even from a young age, she impressed me with her commanding presence. What I like about her, too, is how she's so comfortable in the group or alone, such as here when she's showing off her new sweater made out of fluffy socks (she's in the bright green).               Of...