Happy Xita

In mid-November, Xita flew to Washington state to meet up with the Lord, the sire of her future litter. All went well, so she should have puppies toward the end of January!

It was a very tough decision to put her on a plane, but I thought she would handle it with aplomb. Indeed she did.

Nevertheless, both she and I are very, very glad she's back here in Virginia. Today, she held a little party for herself. :)

Puppies - Xita x Jedi

On May 19, Xita gave birth to 7 boys and 5 girls. There are two solid black males, the rest are bicolors or dark black & tans.

Surprise Snow Doggies! Part 2

Oda, Xita, Lynx

The Yin-Yang of Snow Doggies - Oda & Xita

Yin-Yang, Version 2

 

 

Gargling with snow

 

Life is good.

Herding, HRD, and Healing

Whoa... it's been too long since I've updated. Got caught up in socializing, visiting family, and training! The last 5 weekends, I've either been out of town or had company visiting here. I've done a lot of herding and HRD training and just a wee bit of obedience. Xita tried to cut her toe off on New Year's Day so is wearing a lovely black and red booty to keep her bandage dry. Jubilee ended up not pregnant, much to my dismay.

So, we're hanging out, getting whiplash from Virginia's winter weather that goes from ice and sleet to sub-20 degree temps to flooding rains to sunny and 65 degrees all in the course of a work week.

I'll be breeding Jubilee back when she comes in heat (end of February), and I'm still expecting Xita and Hunter litters this year too.

In the meantime,Hunter's got a thick winter coat and layer of happy chub. Coal has been practicing his emo sighs. Nike's scheming to steal all the toys and bones too. And Ruffian and Flint are keeping up the quality of misbehavior.

Xita's working on heeling healing, Jubilee's working on herding, Macha's had her 2nd birthday and her herding has shown a leap of confidence--she was giving me some super fast downs at full speed and doing figure 8s in the round pen this weekend! Lynx has a bright new orange and reflective vest to help him know when we're doing search work instead of agility, and Oda's trying not to be too evil (she's also blown all her coat and I bet she comes in heat in a week or so!).

Dogwalking in the Rain

This was this morning's walk with a couple of guest dogs (including Sid from the Manor of Mixed Blessings) and Lynx, Oda, Nike, and Xita.

The song is a lot cheerier than I was this morning while walking dogs in the cold, soaking wet in a coat that is no longer waterproof and in pants that had sucked water up the fabric to about knee height. The dogs only minded the puddles and the rain a little bit, fortunately.

Why I Love Dogs, Reason #214

Peanut butter.

Its a Family Affair....

This weekend, Samantha (Blackthorn's Olivia) and Sid (Blackthorn's Obsidian) were here for a visit. So we had family pictures....

 

Sid tries to appease the steely-eyed bitches

Well, we TRIED for family pictures. A lot of them turned out like this....

We were lucking to get them moving in the same direction.... 

Samantha and Sid

Or looking in the same direction... 

Not just nose to the camera lens....

 

Or, you know, not photobombing each other....

 And then it just deteriorated ....










 

 Xita got her romp on, trying to get her son to play bitey face....

 

Oda was oddly dignified....

Sid tried to figure out how to stay out of trouble with the girls....

Which turned out to not be all that easy.... 

"oh crap!"

Sid says, "i am little dog!"

 We were visited by the Four Dogs of the Adogoclypse....

Which turned into the Three dogs and the Disappearing Tail....

Don't these girls look like they're bringing Trouble your way?

Oda just looks like she's always carrying a can of WhupAss... and a can-opener

So, eventually, we got a couple of pictures that were pretty good...

Look at the camera, son!

 But we did not get the magical Four all together and all looking the same direction. Will Three do?

Sid, Oda, and momma Xita