Christmas 2014

We are so blessed!  We have great jobs, wonderful families who brought us up right as Christians, taught us to work hard, be honest, help others, honor and obey God, and love this country.  We are fortunate to have beautiful dogs, a small farm where we live with our horses and beautiful nature all around us.  God has truly blessed us, and we are so grateful.  Here are pictures from our 2014 Christmas.  We wish all our family and friends many blessings in the coming year!

Victory and Dodger (Dodger standing up) checking out their stockings, Jackie watching, and Vegas whose face you cannot see.

 

Vegas with her Christmas toy.  Vegas is our watchdog.  She is not quick to warm up to people she does not know, and is constantly on the alert to guard and protect.  A funny story about Vegas from last week:  I was checking the bite on one of our old goats, Fudge, as his bite has gone off all of a sudden, and the goat tried to bite me, so I said to the goat "don't you bite me!"  Vegas was out running in the goat pasture and when she heard my raised voice at the goat, she came charging into the goat barn, ready to protect me and take on the goat.  I assured her everything was o.k. and I didn't need her protection, but that is a good example of her guard dog tendencies.  Dalmatians were bred to protect their master's horses and property and Vegas takes her job seriously.

 

Vegas with Luke and Courtney, opening stockings

 

Vegas and Victory checking out Wishbone's new Kong bone toy.  Wishbone really likes this toy, and I'm so glad that at age 15 1/2 he is still enjoying life.  The toy is a soft green plastic bone with different size holes that you can insert treats into, and the dogs work to get the treats and it cleans their teeth as they chew on it.

 

Our Christmas card this year

 

Courtney with her Minnie Mouse Christmas hat

 

Humble Dog Show and Fall Color

We have had some nice luck at the dog shows lately, and some beautiful weather along with cold weather, making for some pretty fall color.  Happy Thanksgiving!  We get whistling ducks here every year, they like it here because we feed corn to our two ducks and two geese every morning and every night, so the food is a real draw for these wild whistlers.  Here is a picture of the fall color and the whistling ducks.  I love watching these wild ducks and they have a unique distinct whistling sound.

 

 

Here is a picture of Victory and Jackie snoozing on the couch together.  They look so much alike and have such lovely temperaments. 

The rest of the pictures are the photos of the three dogs that we took to Humble to the dog show and the Dalmatian Organization of Houston specialty show, where we did well.  Dodger was winners dog/best of winners at the first show for a major under judge Betsy Dale.  Betsy Dale also gave Vegas, Dodger's mother, a major to finish her championship a couple of years ago.  Dodger was also winners dog at the Dalmatian specialty show, to finish his championship.  He is such a pretty boy and beautiful mover, so he has been easy to show to his championship.  Jackie was reserve winners bitch at two of the shows, but no points for her.  She was cold, and did not want to stack nicely, she was kind of hunchy in her stacks.  Victory was Select dog at all of the Humble shows and won stud dog class, where he was the only entry.

Courtney and Dodger with his winnings

 

Courtney and Jackie with her winnings

 

Dodger showing off his ribbons from Humble

 

Victory with his results from Humble.  Love this boy!

 

 

LLL Victory Hit the Jackpot Best of Breeds

Pretty girl Jackie (also known as Jackson, Jacks, Jacqueline, and Jackie Lynn) recently did very well at the Canton shows.  She was winners bitch and best of opposite sex 1 day, and best of breed the other two days.  Here are some pictures of her in the ring and with her ribbons.  She has lovely movement and such a lovely temperament, just like her dad, Victory.  She looks very much like Victory, too.

Jackie in non-sporting group

 

Jackie with her ribbons

 

Jackie's lovely movement in non-sporting group

 

 

Jackie in non-sporting group

 

Dad Victory on left and Jackie on right

 

 

Jackie with her ribbons, winners bitch and best of opposite sex in NTNSA show

 

 

Jackie

 

 

 

LLL Victory Dodge Ram (Dodger) Best of Breeds

Our lovely puppy, LLL Victory Dodge Ram (Dodger), has had two best of breeds at recent dog shows.  Attached are some pictures of his wins in Monroe and Canton.  In Monroe he was best of breed for a major and in Canton he was best of breed, owner handler group 4 and bred by group 3.  He was also winners dog and best of opposite sex the other two days in Canton.  He sure is a pretty mover and a smart boy.

Dodger

Dodger and his ribbons from Canton

 

Dodger best of breed in Monroe for a major

 

Dodger and ribbons from Canton

 

Fun in Monroe

We took Dodger and Jackie to Monroe to the dog shows, and had lots of fun.  We visited Duck Commander headquarters, ate at Willie's Duck Diner, went to Landry winery, had wonderful seafood, stayed at a nice campground, got to watch a beautiful sunset, and both Jackie and Dodger got majors at the dog show.  Dodger was best of breed, best of winners and winners dog under judge Rodney Merry for a major.  Jackie was winners bitch and best of opposite sex under judge Rodney Merry for a major.  Both dogs did really well, and I was pleased with them.  Here are some pictures:

Dodger with Luke and Courtney and his ribbons, after we got home

 

Dodger and Jackie watching what is going on in the world outside the camper

Jackie laying on top of her crate.  Both she and Dodger prefer sitting on top.

 

Watching the sunset in Monroe with pals Jackie and Dodger

 

 

Show Results for the Past Weekend and Victory Beer

We had a decent weekend at the dog show and a great 4th of July.  Our little town had a wonderful 4th of July festival with all kinds of animals (elephants, tigers, camel, ponies and goats), fireworks, crafts, and food.  Our dogs all won points at the dog show, but unfortunately no major wins.  Dodger was the most successful, picking up winners dog and best of winners all three days, and best of opposite sex two days.  Jackie was winners bitch on Friday, and reserve winners bitch on Saturday and Sunday.  Victory showed only Friday and Saturday picking up select dog on Friday and best of opposite sex on Saturday.  Here are pictures of Dodger at the show.  Thank you to Breyers Lane for helping us show Dodger beautifully, as we had our hands full with three dogs to show.

Dodger with Breyers showing him and judge, John Shoemaker

Dodger

 

We celebrated by having a Victory beer at home.  Thank you to our family in Minnesota for obtaining the Victory beer for us.  It is really great beer with lots of flavor, and Victory and Vegas are proud to pose with the Victory beer, which they were not named after.  They were named after Rog's love of Victory motorcycles.    

 

Vegas and the Victory beer

 

Victory and the Victory beer

 

 

 

                                                                                                    

 

 

 

Biking with your Dog

Our Dalmatians are active dogs who love to run a couple of miles a day, or more if possible.  We take them to the horse barn twice a day, which is 1/4 mile from the house, and then they get to run in the goat pasture which is 3 1/2 acres, while I feed the horses and goats.  So, they are happy and relaxed and satisfied when they get back from the barn morning and night.  But, if it's possible to run more, they want to.  We got a K9 Cruiser bike attachment to attach to a pedal bike, and they think they are in heaven when they get to go for a bike ride.  The K9 Cruiser attaches to the rear wheel, and the dog can't get run over by the bike, nor will the dog be able to knock over your bike.  It works fantastic.  But, make sure never to bike too far (more than 1/2 mile to a mile at a time) with dogs younger than 18 months.  Once over 18 months, they can go farther, but never when it's really hot, and make sure there are plenty of rest stops where they can relieve themselves, and water should always be provided as desired.  Also, do not ride in traffic.  You can get the K9 Cruiser from www.adogsbestfriend.com.  When we got a second bike so Luke and Courtney could ride together with the dogs, we decided to check WalMart to see if they carried the K9 Cruiser.  They do not, but they carry something very similar and it's about half the price of the K9 Cruiser and works as well.  The only thing better about the K9 Cruiser is I like the leash better that comes with it.  Attached is a picture of the WalMart version, which we like a lot.

 

Here is Luke biking with the WalMart bike attachment taking Dodger for a leisurely ride.  Dodger loves it!

 

Now, for a lovely picture of gorgeous CC, our first born puppy from the Victory/Vegas litter.  He grew up to be such a handsome guy, gorgeous head, ears, and beautiful dark liver spots.  I love this picture of him in his beautiful Colorado home.

LLL Victory Cross Country (CC)

 

And, here is a picture of Courtney, Luke's fiancé, as a little girl.  She was destined to have Dalmatians even before she met Luke, by the looks of her shirt!

Courtney

 

 

Black Eyed Susans and Spots

I love the wildflowers here, and can't resist taking pictures of the flowers and anyone who is willing to pose in the flowers.  Here are pictures of the black eyed susans on our farm, along with our beautiful spotted friends and Courtney.

Victory

 

                                 Vegas

                          

Dodger

Jackie

Flashy

From left: Wishbone, Vegas, Dodger, Courtney, Jackie, Victory

 

Spring Beauty

I love Spring here!  It is the season of the most beauty you can imagine.  Photo opportunities everywhere you look.  I didn't think our iris were going to bloom this year, because we had so many Spring freezes.  The daffodils didn't bloom and the hyacinths froze right after they bloomed, so our Spring flowers have been kind of sad.  But, the iris surprised me and bloomed and I had to get some photos.  Also, we've had a painted bunting visiting the last couple of days, and I was captivated by its beauty, so had to get a shot of it. 

LLL Victory Dodge Ram (Dodger)

CH Atlantis Wildcat Victory (Victory)

Victory

Victory

CH Dalmino's Victory Vegas, CA (Vegas)

 

LLL Victory Hit the Jackpot (Jackie)

Painted Bunting

 

Show Results from Last Weekend & Wildflowers

We took Victory, Jackie, and Dodger to the Austin show last weekend, and all three came home with points, hurray!  Jackie was winners bitch and best of opposite sex both days, as well as best of breed owner handler, and group 2 owner handler.  She did well at the show except for wiggling around when the judge was trying to examine her.  We will work on that!  Her movement is absolutely awesome, and she is very pretty with a happy personality.  Dodger was reserve winners dog on Saturday, and winners dog, best of winners on Sunday.  So, Dodger has his first point, and is on his way to his championship.  Jackie is about 1/2 way to her championship.  Victory was Select both days, with Rog showing him.  Rog did really well on Saturday with him, as Victory was happy to be at the show that day, but Sunday not so much.  Victory is pretty good the first day, then all the female smells really start getting him wound up after day one.  Victory should have about 34 grand champion points now. 

The bluebonnets were awesome last weekend, and I hope to get a motorcycle ride in this weekend to see more wildflowers.  Nothing like seeing them and then smelling them when you ride a motorcycle.

When we got back from the dog show on Sunday, I had to take some pictures in the Indian Paintbrush with all the dogs. 

Jackie

Dodger

Vegas

Wishbone

                                                                        

Victory

                                                                             Vic & Wish

Courtney and dogs with their ribbons from this weekend, with Mom, Vegas looking on