Squirrel Watchers

We have quite the houseful of squirrel watchers.  Their favorite pastime when it's cold outside is to sit on the table by the bay window and keep watch for squirrels.  Vic will wait until they are far enough away from a tree and then he will sneak quietly out the dog door and stick his nose just far enough around the corner of the house to see into the front yard, and then try to be really quiet so he can sneak up on them.  He hasn't yet mastered the art of teaming up with another dog to cut them off at the pass, but his pups are so smart, that I am sure that is coming soon.  We sure enjoy watching how they think, it is really entertaining!

Dodger falling asleep on the job

 

Dodger says "I'm not sleeping, see, I'm awake now"

 

                                                        Vegas, Victory, Jackie, and Dodger

Jackie with her new bed from Courtney

 

Jackie on squirrel watch

 

Merry Christmas 2013

We had a lovely quiet Christmas and want to wish all of our readers a very Merry Christmas and many blessings in the coming year.  We had fun with the first Christmas for the puppies getting to open their stockings and enjoy their new toys, antlers, and treats.  And, of course Victory, Vegas, and Wishbone knew all about the stockings and couldn't wait for Christmas to get to enjoy theirs.  Here are pictures of Christmas eve.  I am so grateful for my wonderful family and the blessings of being able to have and take good care of our Dalmatians and horses. 

Vegas getting her stocking with Rog and Wishbone

 

 

Victory giving Courtney one of his famous hugs

 

Dodger in the foreground and Jackie in the crate enjoying their new toys

 

Luke giving Dodger his stocking

 

Luke giving Jackie and Vic their stockings.  Don't Jackie and Vic look a lot alike?

 

Wishbone and his Christmas presents

 

We wish many blessings for lovely Vision (liver puppy girl from Victory/Vegas litter) and her new owners

 

Here is beautiful CC (liver puppy boy from Victory/Vegas litter).  Merry Christmas to CC and his family

 

Fall Update

I haven't had time to write much lately.  We went to Iowa for Thanksgiving, and I was so grateful to have the time to be with our families.  All of our siblings were there, and we really enjoyed being with them.  Here is a picture of my family, Mom, me, my two brothers and sister, 2 nephews and great niece.  Love them all!

We have had two really warm days, and I should have been riding horses, but instead have been working on Christmas and cleaning up fall leaves.  The oak trees are the bane of my existence around here, unless it's really hot summertime, and then I'm grateful for them.  The rest of the year is spent cleaning up after the 24 trees that are around our house.  Today I cleaned big horses stalls, pony paddock, and 15 fifty gallon trash cans full of leaves, which go to our compost pile.  We compost horse manure and oak leaves, and it makes the most wonderful dirt you've ever seen.  I have about 40 more fifty gallon trash cans full of leaves to go before they are all cleaned up.  The dogs love helping me in the yard and spent the whole day outside with me.  They alternated between playing, chewing on antlers and sticks, watching the horses, and laying in the leaves and on the front porch bench.  Here are some cute pictures of the dogs helping me in the yard today.

Wishbone, Victory, Jackie, and Vegas

 

Dodger

 

Jackie

Jackie and Vegas

 

Victory and Wishbone

We are so thankful for everything that has happened this year.  It was a year of many blessings.  Wishbone at 14 1/2 is still with us, and that is good, as he is the best boy ever.  We did not get to go to Dalmatian Rescue's Santa photos this year, due to bad weather, but we have our Christmas cacti from previous fundraisers to remind us of all the wonderful things that Dalmatian Rescue does, and the cactus bloom every year in December, to remind us to be grateful for the Lord's birth.  Here are pictures of my Dalmatian Rescue Christmas cactus plants and their December blooms.  I will share more stories later when I have Christmas pictures to post.  Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

Tired Dogs, Good Dogs, and Online Shopping Mistakes

Here are the dogs helping Luke cook, and wondering when they get to sample the goodies? 
I had to snap this cute picture of my tired dogs all snuggled together on the couch during a cold day.  When they are all sleeping, it's so peaceful. 

Vegas, Victory, and Dodger helping Luke in the kitchen

 

 

Victory, Jackie, and Wishbone, snoozing on a cold day

 

 

Don't Make These Online Shopping Mistakes, with the holidays coming up.  This article and lots of other good financial literacy articles are on www.360financialliteracy.org.  I've summarized here.

 

Mistake #1.  Taking a Chance on Unknown Retailers.  Buy from well known companies.  Make sure they list an address and phone number, and try calling the customer service number or check Better Business Bureau.

 

Mistake #2.  Following Unknown Email Links.  Don't click on links in unsolicited emails or social media sites.  Never divulge personal information or credit card or bank account in response to an ad or email.

 

Mistake #3.  Shopping at Sites that Aren't Secure.  Check the website address.  Look for URls that begin with https rather than http because the s indicates it is secure.  Check for the padlock icon in the address bar. 

 

Mistake #4.  Not Using a Credit Card.  I never use debit cards for anything.  If you use a credit card, you can dispute the purchase if it doesn't arrive or live up to expectations or doesn't post to your statement in the right amount.

 

Mistake #5.  Shopping Using a Public Wifi Connection.  Don't settle in at a coffee house and shop.  It's generally a bad idea and is not secure.

 

Safe shopping everyone, and happy holidays!

 

 

 

Show Dog Training and Where Will You Retire?

We have been working diligently with the puppies to prepare them for our favorite show in January.  They are coming along, and I think by January will be doing quite well.  We've been to two handling classes with them, and have been working at home with them, too.  We'll be going to handling class weekly for several more weeks.  We started out teaching them to stack on a table, and when they would hold the stack for a little bit on the table, we started working with them on the ground.  We've also been working on gaiting, and displaying their bite.  They love treats, and are so smart, so it's pretty easy to teach them to stand, show teeth, and let's go to gait around the ring.  Our handling instructor, Verjean, is very knowledgeable, and helped train me while I was training Victory and Vegas for the show ring.  Verjean was very complimentary of Jackie and Dodger and said these are some VERY NICE pups, and they move beautifully.  So, I'm excited to see what the future holds for them.  Their parents are such stunning and intelligent dogs of the finest pedigrees, and we were so thrilled with the quality of our first litter.  Here is a picture of CH Atlantis Wildcat Victory (Victory) who is the sire of these babies.  He was the beginning of our show dogs, and is such an awesome and gorgeous dog.  I just love looking at him!

Luke's fiancé, Courtney, is also learning to show dogs, and she has a real knack for it, plus the dogs adore her.  I am so excited to watch her learn and grow in her handling skills.  Here are some pictures of Courtney, teaching Dodger to stand.  Dodger loved learning to stack on the table, and will now jump up on any table just to show off his skill and get a treat, just like his mom, Vegas, does.  Vegas is quite the show girl, too, she just loves it.

Courtney and Dodger

Dodger (LLL Victory Dodge Ram)

 

 

 

 

I read an interesting article on thinkadvisor.com about the best and worst tax friendly states for retirees.  We don't live in or plan to retire in any of these, but I thought some of my readers might find this interesting.  The best most tax friendly states for retirees are:

1.  Alaska
2. Wyoming (I love Wyoming, and wouldn't mind living there!)
3.  Delaware
4. Georgia
5. Mississippi

The least tax friendly states for retirees are:

1. Vermont
2. Minnesota
3. Rhode Island
4. Nebraska
5. California

Have a lovely Thanksgiving everyone, give thanks for your many blessings, and for your spotted kids, too!

Nice Weekend

We had a really nice weekend.  We had supper with Luke and Courtney at a wonderful Italian restaurant to celebrate Courtney's birthday.  The food was great and the company even better!  Saturday night we rode our motorcycles to church and after church went to casino night at church to raise money for the building fund.  That was a great time!  Today, we took the puppies to the flea market for some great training and socializing.  When people see the beautiful Dalmatians, they all have to stop and pet, admire, and ask questions.  Jackie took it all in stride, loving everybody.  Dodger is more reserved, but by the end of the day, he was doing really well.  Flea markets are great for getting the dogs used to loads of people, and seeing all kinds of other dogs, strange things for sale, such as animal yard ornaments made out of metal, kids toys, clothes, hordes of people young and old, things on the ground that you have to leave alone, food smells everywhere, and lots of good exercise.  Then we came home and played with all of the dogs in the yard, and I'm attaching some pictures of them this afternoon. 

Jackie

 

Jackie

 

Jackie

 

Dodger and Vegas

 

A good game of tug'o'war, Jackie, Victory, Dodger, and Vegas

Dodger, waiting for the horses to come in

 

Can't wait for the horses to come in from the pasture, Vegas, Dodger, Wishbone, Victory, and Jackie.  And, Jet, the POA.

 

Tired Dogs

The dogs had a big time yesterday running laps around our 3 1/2 acre goat pasture.  The weather was cool, 60s for a high and low in the 40s, so they all had a lot of energy.  Jackie and Vegas tore around the pasture several times, hunting and just enjoying running.  Jackie moves like Vegas, her mom, and they both looked like they were lure coursing, all stretched out, flying around.  I loved watching them.  The horses were also fired up and ran around their pasture several times before calming down to eat grass.  I love to watch all their high spirited antics, so entertaining.  Here are pictures of last night, where they were all played out.

Jackie with her feet sticking straight up in the air as she slept!

Sweet little Vegas, who is now the smallest dog in the house, as her babies have passed her up in height

Cool Weather, Cute Kids

I am so thankful for cool weather today.  No snake spottings today, and hopefully no more until next April or May.  Yesterday morning, I saw another very large copperhead snake in the goat pasture, and when I screamed, it took off, and is still alive, but I'm praying it's holed up today and for the rest of the fall, winter, and spring.  Only a high of 59 degrees today, and we've had 4 inches of rain since Saturday, yippee!

I've been getting sweet pictures of Vision from her family, and she looks very loved and happy.  I am so pleased.

Here are cute pictures of the kids and dogs:

 

 Courtney and Jackie.  Jackie is so sweet, and never wants to do
anything wrong.  She's a very good girl.  And, Courtney is lovely and sweet, too!

Vegas laying on Luke's college books, saying I want to go to college with you!

Victory, the tail wagger.  See that tail going so fast?  His tail is always going!  Friendly, happy guy!

 

 

Wishbone, living the good life.  The sweetest dog ever, loves everybody, never made an unkind move toward anyone.  My most loyal buddy.

 

I am living the good life with my wonderful family!  So blessed!

 

Victory, the Snake Watchdog Saves Us Again

Good Victory, saved all of us from a copperhead again today.  We were all in the goat pasture, and the puppies were exploring, and Victory walked over to the fence and was looking around and he jumped back with a look that said something wasn't right, same look he gave me when he alerted us to a snake in the barn door a few weeks ago.  Since Rog was out there with us, I asked him to go look to see if there was a snake over there.  He said he didn't see anything.  Then, Dodger went over there, and he started barking like crazy.  Rog said "he's just barking at the goats."  Well, he wasn't even looking at the goats, so I went over there, and sure enough, there was a copperhead.  This was number 12 that we have killed this year.  At least the snake didn't get away, and no dogs were bitten.  Thank you for saving us again, Victory, good boy!  Looks like Dodger is going to have lots of brains like his Dad and Mom.  So thankful the cold weather is coming tomorrow!

Here are some pictures from the dog show this weekend.  Victory did not place, but Jackie got Best of Breed in the puppy match, over her brother, Dodger.  I thought Dodger showed better and moved nicer, but Jackie has such a beautiful head and face.  Rog showed Jackie and Courtney showed Dodger, as I wanted to see how they moved and looked in the ring.  Both puppies took the show commotion in stride, and were very calm with all the barking dogs and the noise.  I was very proud of them. 

                                                            Courtney and Dodger

Dodger and Victory

 

                                                              Rog and Jackie

Jackie and Vision

Vision has a new home, and I miss her beautiful face and her happy personality so much!  But, I am so thrilled with her new family, they are such lovely people, and she is with young people who will take her for lots of outings, fun runs, great walks, and she has another Dalmatian for a best friend, a lovely dog that was bred by Frances Pena.  So, she is in a great home, and she's in Texas! 

                                                                      Vision

Here are some cute pictures of Jackie:

Graduation from puppy class at Petsmart

 

Luke and Jackie

 

Jackie and Courtney, it's a dog's life

Copperhead Number 11

Luke killed copperhead number 11 last night when he came home from work.  There it was sitting right on the driveway by the back gate, and luckily he was able to get this one.  I am so waiting for cold weather...If your dog ever gets bitten by a poisonous snake, administer Children's Benadryl (1/2 a tablet for a puppy, and a whole tablet for an adult.)  Then get pain medication and antibiotics from your vet.  They come through the copperhead bites pretty well with this treatment.  I administer another Benadryl in 8 hours and that usually takes the swelling down pretty well.  If there is still some swelling after another 8 hours I give one more Benadryl.  I usually don't have to give more than 2 or 3 and the swelling goes away.

Number eleven, an adult

 copperhead

 

Mom, Vegas, and her daughter, Vision in back.  Vision is still looking for a wonderful home.  Vision is a gorgeous and smart girl with bilateral hearing, all of her shots, including rabies are completed, dew claws are removed, and she is a sweetheart!

Jackie, what a sweetie and smart girl she is!

Very laid back, lovely girl.

 

Vegas (mom), Jackie (black girl), Victory (dad), and Vision (liver girl)

Vegas, Jackie, and Victory