Home Field Advantage

Oh boy here it is! Not even a month ago we were hot, tired, hungry, frustrated and having a ball with the dogs at the Glenn Campbell Photo Studio in downtown Calgary trying to get some good shots of the dogs for the Bayer Advantix ‘Growing Up Multi” campaign. Lindsay at Woodruff Sweitzer had endless patience and everyone at the studio was extremely hospitable and helpful.

A quick reminder of the stars: Kika – 9 weeks old, Rory – 8 months old, Raimi – 17 months old, Seth – 10 years old. Kika was darling and squishably cute.

Rory was a fidgety teenager but we rallied and he finally sat still, Raimi was perfect, Seth was initially a grumpy old man but came shining through.

Those who are looking closely will notice in the actual ad that they neutered Raimi and gave him back his dewclaws. They also darkened Rory’s muzzle a bit and gave Seth more grey hairs than he’s earned. I think only Kika remains reasonably un-retouched because she was just so perfect!

The fruits of our labour have been realized – the photos are beautiful and the campaign itself is fantastic! Watch for these guys in magazines and on your vet’s brochure shelf!

Love Actually

Here is Rifka kicking Rory's butt when she was 6 months old at her first show. And today I got word that she is now kicking even more puppy butt on the BC coast. She won a Best Puppy in Hound Group today in Maple Ridge at the Oceanside Kennel Club. I'm sure a picture is on it's way!

She is shown as always by her mom Taryn who just moved from outside Edmonton, Alberta to the BC coast. What a great way to introduce yourself to the BC show scene!

Can't wait to hear about more winning ways in the coming weeks!

Driving Miss Daisy

Where to begin? Well, it was a rough day for Halo and family. As those who’ve been following along know, Halo lives with Tanja and her children. Halo went to stay while I was in Montana in June and she loved it so much she stayed on over the summer. Halo will leave for the US to be bred for the last time in November but til then she is with the family who will take her once she’s done with her litter (if Halo had her way that would be on day two) and spayed.

I gather this morning started out like any other, kids piled in the van for their trip to school and Halo settled in her usual co-pilot position. I understand that a different route than normal was taken to school and one thing led to another which resulted in a low speed collision in a residential intersection.

The airbags deployed and hit both Tanja and Halo. Halo suffered a helluva thump in the face on the left side of her muzzle which caused abrasions; no breakage of teeth or bones but there was a lot of superficial blood. Initially it was thought that Halo might have hit the windshield but after some discussion it is more likely that the airbags caused the damage.

Tanja and kids are fine … the van is toast and Halo's muzzle is a bit swollen but should be fine. She is clearly in some pain and will be very sore for the next few days but a couple of children’s aspirin should take the edge off. Once a new vehicle is found Halo will be fitted with a dog seat belt and secured into place, however; regardless of a seat belt the airbag would have hit her.

This is the only picture I have of the van - well, it's really of the decal on the back that I designed. There is Halo next to the crate I never used. Petal used to stand on it so she could see better but that was the extent of it's use generally. Oh yeah, I'd put Halo in it if I was going to leave her in the van for long periods because she would wreck things.

Halo doesn’t travel in a crate why? Because the minivan was not big enough to accommodate 4 child seats and a crate big enough for Halo. This is a compromise because the safety of the children is paramount (and lack of child safety seats is illegal) but not everyone can afford a 7 seater full sized monster gas guzzler.

Everyone is safe now and no permanent damage done, except the van of course which I gave to Tanja when I got my shiny new truck … goodbye Daisy van … RIP.

An American Tail

Yes yes I've been fiddling with the blog title and photo. I'm trying to settle on one that I think speaks the best for the blog. It's very frustrating because I have all these images and it's so hard to pick just one and I'm testing a few ideas and ... well, there it is.

News from the Leeloo front - little babies got their dewclaws done yesterday and while the vet used a method not many use anymore, fingers are crossed for fast healing and minimal scars.

I guess if you Googled Orovada, Nevada you'll have an idea that vets familiar with Ridgebacks are possibly a little thin on the ground. However when a vet asks you (after removing dewclaws from a litter of Ridgebacks) how short you want the tails - you probably want to check for the quickest exit.

Anyway, now safely back with Momma Tailor, and with the entire length of their tails intact, I'm sure babies are growing fat and sassy. I always worry til at least the time they are 2 weeks old about faders, smaller puppies not getting their fair share and squishing accidents. Did I say worry? I meant obsessively paranoid.

Walk the Line

Ah fall ... Raimi, Rory, Kathryn and I met tonight at the park for a warm autumn evening constitutional. The air was still and the sun sat at the perfect blinding height so we couldn't look west without searing our corneas. Sadly this just means that the sun is dropping lower in the sky and soon we will be walking in the dark.

Along the way we met a liver nosed RR named Cliff and the boys played and played and played. Rory was a bit rude with the adolescent mounting and getting his groove on but Raimi did him one better and was licking unmentionable parts of strange dogs with disturbing interest. I told Raimi he should be embarrassed at his behaviour but he didn't seem to appreciate the delicate nature of the situation.

A GSD puppy arrived with many hackles and typically odd GSD behaviour. Sometimes I think dog are a little wigged out by the creepiness of other dogs and in turn become more tetchy and nervous themselves. While Raimi and Cliff had a big run fest Rory played with the GSD who relaxed a little when he realized he was on a level playing field with another puppy.

I didn't see what happened because everyone had been playing so well but suddenly Raimi was roaring at the GSD puppy and there was much gnashing of teeth and noise. I thought it was all bluff until the puppy backed off and Raimi went after him again. Of course I shot after Raimi and grabbed his collar and started yelling at him about how bad he was and the puppy ran to his dad. Then Rory came in with "Hiya guys what's happening?" and Raimi started snarling at him.

Okay so I hardly ever get mad at Raimi. But this was so unexpected from him that I thunked him a good couple cuffs to the head and yelled some more. Cliff's dad promptly took off with Cliff and I'm quite sure he thinks I'm a terrible dog owner or a psychotic bitch ... or both. He'd been asking about when I was expecting my next litter ... I guess that sale fell through! The GSD puppy's owner took his puppy off with a wave and understanding - maybe there is hope yet for the puppy.

Raimi got another yelling at for not listening quick enough which my upstairs neighbours(who were walking their dog at the same park) said they could hear a few hundred yards away.

Every time I discipline the dogs at the park I imagine it looks way harsher than it really is. I create a lot of noise and scare tactics and only employ cuffing if the bad behaviour was violent or aggressive. I look at it this way: if my dog behaves badly people at the park are not going to say "Tamzin Horan's dog ..." they are going to say "There was a Ridgeback this one time ..." What they will remember instead was the psycho bitch who screamed at her dog and made a big scene. What kind of dog was it ... a big red one but he didn't really deserve to get in that much trouble.

If it's any consolation I hurt my hand on his skull.

Major League

Got word today that Rosie - Invictus African Queen - went Reserve to a major this past weekend! She is Raimi's sister and lives with Virginia and Jon in sunny California where the weather is hot and the competition is hotter. Reserve to a major in California is, as Erin puts it, a major anywhere else in the country so we are so proud of little Rosie who is "Halo perfected".

Rosie continues to keep Virginia and Jon on their toes and I'm looking forward to more pictures of this versatile girl in the near future! Good luck in Del Valle and at the BARRC shows!

Big Momma's House

So here we are with some exciting pictures of boring babies. They don't get interesting til they are at least 12 days old and then they start to take on some similarity to the creatures we think of as puppies.

Here's babies partway delivered - there are five here with 7 more to come. This is Tailor being the new mom. What a good girl. Remember - if the dam is an easy whelper chances are her daughters will be too - this is a godsend when you are up at 3am and puppies are on the way. No one likes rushing to the vet to induce or c-section a valuable brood bitch.







And here's a box of babies. Look at all those blondes! I would LOVE to get a blondie! I was so tempted to keep Karma from the last litter just because of her color. I found a great home for her though so I'm hoping one of these little babies is looking to come north.







And here's proud Poppa ... see where the blonde comes from? This litter is going to have kick ass heads. He is patiently waiting outside til he can come in and help change diapers. As if. This is Halo's kinda sorta quarter nephew because his mom is Halo's half sister ... if that makes any sense.

The litter was born in the middle of the middle of nowhere as far as Google Earth tells me. I can't imagine what industry is out there to cause a little hamlet to pop up as if by magic but GE also tells me that there are a large number of crop like circles and so maybe in fact these are alien puppies. Either way I get one!