Casper:)

Caspers new showlead made in Iceland by Handlers

I'm working on getting Casper in good shape now, he's going to be shown on the Amsterdam Winner show on saturday as I have probably mentioned about a 100 times here on my blog..

There are 13 toys entered to that show!! I wonder how many males and what colours.. the judge is from Spain and is a poodle breeder (miniatures)

anyway, I have been looking for a showlead for him for AGES and never found anything that I'm thrilled with. I did buy a golden one at the European winner show in 2006 but still it wasn't anything special, just gold.. . I looked for elegant white ones for him but nothing appealed to me. I have a gold snake chain on him so I needed the hook to be golden, of course whenever I found something I liked, the hook was silver, and usually rather big and clumsy in my opinion.

-I haven't found the right size of snake chain for Casper in silver, I bought one some shows ago but it was way to big and that was the smallest they had..

Then I saw on facebook that a woman in Iceland was making showleads, just trying it out at home and seeing what ppl thought and I wrote to her and told her what I have been looking for and she made this lead for me and I'm so happy with it because it's all I wanted, and then some:)

Now they are about to do these leads for most breeds in several colours in all types. There is a trial base now for the leads so they wont be available for the common user untill next spring I guess, but hopefully non icelandic ppl can get those leads through me:)

Casper had an appointment today with Wendy, his groomer. She has a beautiful white Standard poodle called Missy and she's been winning quite alot with her both in the breed ring and in senior handling competitions:) Me and Casper are thrilled with her, she clips him very well and makes him look super good and has given me excellent advice:)

So today was the appointment for "shaping". She clipped and shaped Casper up, but didn't clip him "perfectly" because that will be done next friday, the day before the show, then he wont have to be to long on the table, and the shaping and most of the clipping is done and he just needs to be refinded and trimmed to perfection so he'll look his absolute best on saturday at the show:)

Then we just have to hope that my nerves wont get to me.. it's one thing showing and IG who you can just whip out of the crate and put a lead on and go in the rings while with a poodle you need to put the topknot up, spray if you can, groom and trim some more and brush the coat in the right places and scissor a bit over the whole dog and make sure it doesn't get any dust or nothing on them (especially a white one). I haven't put up a topknot in ages, and Casper always moves his head so when I put in a normal topknow it's never in the middle because he always, always moves his head. Thankfully the toy ring is next to the standard ring so hopefully Wendy will have some spare time and be able to help me.

Everyone has been asking for photos of Casper after his trim today... well that's all I get:

Then we have one weekend off and the weekend after Casper is again entered to Brussels Winner show. I can't find how many toys are entered there, they've probably not posted it yet as I'm getting pretty good in finding this information:)

The judge for this show is also a poodle breeder, he breeds toys and dwarfs (and yorkies and maltese) under the prefix des supers supers so as you can imagine from the breeds he has presentation and coat will play an important roll along with showmanship. I hope we'll pull it off.. Casper has been trained to be a showdog since he was a tiny little puppy, but he hasn't been to a show for so long now that I'm not sure how he will react and hope to god he'll keep his tail up.

Wendy will clip Casper at the show in Brussels so he'll look super nice and from what she said he likes, Casper should be "right up his alley" so we'll see how it goes.

I think I'll then not show him untill in the summer, get his coat in superb condition and come in that ring and really show off. I want to take him to Luxembourg in the spring though, there are only 2 international shows a year there so I should go there if there is a good honest judge there.

That's all I had to say for now, Tingen is not in season yet so send her "bloody thoughts" lol...

Please, please..

I'm still waiting for Tingen to start her season!! I have marked out that december 3rd is the last day she can start so I can mate her before we go to Iceland.. if she starts after that I'm not sure what I'll do!!! Then I just hope she wont start untill after we come from Iceland, or just a few days before we come home.. but I'd prefer not to have any bitches in season while we're away.

Stella just started her season so Tingen gets to sleep with her now, she should get her season around now (middle of november) and I really, really hope she does.

Other than that, there aren't much news from here. It's been lazy weeks, no school, no training.. nothing! Need to get myself out of this period and get going again. At least training, I kinda regret signing up for school for another year because I'm just not interested in it at all.. not this, and not this class or anything.

I just got photoshop, finally and now I really want to learn how to use it properly. I know a little bit but not nearly as much as I'd like to do.

I am looking forwards in going to Iceland, it's getting close!! My niece Adda just gave birth to a baby boy 2 days ago and it will be fun seeing him, and of course my sisters little daugther whom I have yet to see!

We, finally, got our new freezer this week, it's bigger than the fridge! Plenty of space and we've managed to almost fill it already and I still need to buy dogfood to have, dogs have just been getting their food mixed with tuna and they get sick of it if they get too much of it so it's time for them to get some meat!

I don't have anything else to say really.. just want everyone to send "season thoughts" to Tingen.

Time for blog:)

The next caeles couple


The computer is up and running again, Nick finally did the reconfiguration yesterday and he's not finished but at least I have the keyboard working again with everything in the right place. But I'm still missing the office pack, photoshop (finally we can install it!!) and lots of basic things.



But as most of you know Lena came over for the weekend, we did some shopping and some showing and Lena's little "accident puppy" just kicked ass going BOB and BIG-3!!


Now she needs to come before april to finish the dutch junior championship. I had plans to get that on Dollar but I seem to be a genious in choosing judges that do mind his crossing, unstable front and don't give him the excellent because of that.. it's very irritating when I have been seeing dogs getting the CAC and even CACIBs with the same front movement as Dollar but not even close in the side movement that Dollar has.. so I have decided not to enter him to anymore shows as a junior and I'll wait untill he's all grown up and mature, I do not like to go in the ring and get a "VG" actually I hate it and lately I just feel so "beaten down" before even going in the ring that I'm not doing a good job in the ring, totally unfocused and sure that the judge just doesn't like my dogs and perhaps sabotaging for them by just giving up.. not fun.



Next shows are Amsterdam with Casper, Ira & Flame will be there and I will show him and then it's Brussels Winner with Casper only. We'll see if I manage to get myself together for those shows and at least show my dogs asses off..



I got the great news that my oldest sister will be coming with her daugthers to Iceland on december 29th so I'll get to meet them:) My birthday is the day after perhaps we'll have some coffee and cakes evening like always, my little nephew has his birthday the day before me.


I was thinking if anyone wants to give me birthday presents that everyone can just give me money because I am saving up for a camera:) Then I thought ohh man but the icelandic krona is worth so little so if I exchange it to euros it'll be "nothing" hahaha.. unless I'd buy the camera in Iceland from my dad, wich I very likely will do:)..



Anyway, me and Lena had a photoshoot on monday before she left, the weather hadn't been very good so we were very happy it was good enough for photos on monday. Of course it could have been better, IGs are not the easiest breed to stack and make pretty if it's a little chilly and the wind is blowing every now and then..



The main goal was to get photos of Tingen & Elmo, and Vita since Lena doesn't really have any photos of that type of the little star:)



Well we did get some nice headshots & movement shots of Vita and useable stacked photos but not the "it" photo because it was to cold for her to relax.




Same with Elmo... it was to cold for him and he just doesn't want to. I got 1 movement shot that I have put on his page but no stacked photo... don't think i'll ever get a good stacked photo of Elmo! Maybe next summer.. I know I'll try again when Lena comes again hehe:)



Tingen did great though, we got some nice stacked photos of her, she looks alot like her sire Marco on those photos, I also got some nice movement photos, unfortunatly I didn't get the headshot I wanted, her ears are a tad bit light so sometimes she uses them perfectly, but at other times she's a bit too curious or excited and the ears aren't quite correct..



Hopefully she and Ira will get puppies with good ears, Ira has a little bit big ears and I really hope that the girl I plan to keep will get the best from both parents and be my super dog:) I do have big faith in this combination, I like so many things about the Bling and I like so many things about Ira and they don't have the same faults so I really hope I'll get something good out of this combination.



Tingen moving

Tingen

Joey

Ira eating Lenas fingers

Ira

Ira

The only usable photo of Elmo

And last but not least, Dollar:)

Here it comes..

All right, what has happened since my last proper blog..



Well, Joey and Elmo had a fight. The dogs are spending more time out now because Nox is in season and she needs her attention too.. I was upstairs preparing dinner and the dogfood and then I was going to get the dogs up but I heard them fighting so I ran downstairs and came out and saw Joey on top of a screaming Elmo holding him down. I saw blood on both so I of course took them apart as soon as I got there but Joey was So quick that he was right back on him and he was furious! So I had to be firmer and I pushed Joey rather harshly away so he'd "bounce" far away from Elmo so that I could pick him up before he managed to run back into him..


Well that worked, Joey was all battered up and I put him inside in a crate while I let the other dogs up and then checked on Elmo.



I threw him in the bath and after the bath I saw that Elmo had no puncture wounds, no blod, no nothing... Joey just doesn't fight that way. It tells me that Joey is just defending himself.. he's not in it to hurt, but he's certainly not backing out.



It's always Joey who starts to agitate Elmo, they look at each other and Joey seeks him out, puts his head over his shoulders and growls... that's usually all they do but when they are alone outside I do not see when they do it , I often hear it and tell Joey to stop and he does, but this time I didn't and Elmo apparently had enough and took the next step..




So Elmo was fine, no problems or wounds or anything. I let him go up and took Joey out and he did not look good. I bathed him and he had some puncture wounds and bruises.


Then when I put him down, he wasn't using his right front leg... great I though.



I took him on the table and looked over him, at first I was sure it was my fault for pushing him harshly away from Elmo and that I had broken his leg or something but that's not the case.



He had 2 puncture wounds under his wrist and most likely has an injured nerve. I wrote to Lena to ask what I should do and started him on antibiotics and pain killers. He slept in a crate in the bedroom that night, at first he was in the bed but everytime I moved or accidentally touched his leg he "screamed" (not loud but he always made a noise) so I put him in a crate. The day after I looked at his leg and it was all swollen in the area around the wrist.



He had also been licking his leg so I wrapped the leg in vetwrap to give support and so he couldn't lick it.



So now Joey is basicly living in a crate because Nox is in season and he's sniffing all around and jumping in and out of the sofa to see where she's been and basicly forgetting that he needs to spare his leg. Of course he comes out in the morning and night and gets to be alone with Casper, but for the most part he's crated now... and the weird thing is that the dogs are SO calm now. Joey has AD/HD, he is never still, always busy but with him in a crate the dogs are much more peaceful.. and of course Lucy is gone and Blondie is also gone so there are fewer dogs.


I went to Ramstein in Germany to deliver Lucy, it was a 3 hour drive each way and I just stopped for about an hour or so and now Lucy is in America:)


Elisa came last friday to deliver Ira:) It was great to get him back, he's such a sweet and great dog:) We didn't do much, went to a restaurant on friday, went to the shopping center on saturday and were going to go to ikea on sunday but it was closed, it was raining like hell that day so there wasn't really much to do. It's not fun to go to some towns or cities in weather like this so we stayed at home.


I was clipping the nails on the dogs and cleaning their teeth and when it was Elmos turn I saw something I really didn't want to see... he has lost one of his tooth. I could see he had definetly lost it in the fight because he has really nice, big strong teeth and there have never been any problems or infections on him like on some of the others.. so poor Joey was definetly bitten hard.


The worst thing is that with this missing teeth his chances of finishing his dutch championship just shrank ALOT. But I will not give up, I'll get an attest that he has had all the teeth and maybe that it was lost in a fight and I'll enter him to a show where there will be a suitalbe judge for him and hopefully I will manage to finish his championship. He's just to close to it, I can't not finish him and he's finally getting slim!


Yesterday I drove her to the airport again, and she didn't go alone back home, Bling went with her and she's gonna stay with her for a few months and go to some shows and have some pretty babies:)


Now I have some days off untill thursday when I go and pick up Lena. We're going to a show on sunday. I just got the papers for the show in the mail:) I also checked online, there are 8 IGs entered, me and Lena have 3 total.


When I was cleaning up in the attic last week I went to ikea to get some boxes to sort out the stuff that was all over the place. I also bought some photo frames and printed out photos of my dogs so now when you come upstairs you'll see some friendly faces:)


My mom had also told me about a way to store rosettes, so I got what I needed in Ikea for that and it works out great:) I don't have so many rosettes anymore because I threw alot of them away when I was moving and just didn't have space for all those rosettes I had saved over the years, but I did keep the most important ones and of course the ones I got after I moved so I had plenty to work with:)

Nice isn't it:) The photos are bad, the light here isn't good but you see how it is:) I'll hang the other frame next to the one that's allready hanging, just need to get me some nails:)

I think I'll let this be enough for now... my crops in farmville are calling me lol-- help me I'm hooked on farmville!

Lazy blogger

I'm sorry I've been a bit "lazy"... but there are reasons, our freezer is "kapot" and he took out the electricity in the house for a day and it took a while to get the computer again up and running.. then Elisa has been here now, she came on friday with Ira and left today with Bling so the week prior to her coming (mostly the thursday though) I was busy cleaning..

Lena is coming on thursday and we are going to a show on sunday:)

I'll have several things to blog about but I don't have time now.. gotta feed the dogs, just came home fromt he airport and prepared their food and it's ready now and then Nick is gonna make his world famous steak and we're gonna watch some series on TV:)

So I'll probably be back tomorrow with a proper blog:) Just wanted to throw in a line and say I'm alive.... I stopped getting comments so I don't feel obliged to blog as often as I perhaps would/could...

Early christmasshopping:)

I had the car today and the plan was to go to the Lidl to check some things out there and then go to Dendermonde to buy the salmon oil I always give the dogs. Well, I did go to the Lidl, they didn't have what I wanted and instead of driving to Dendermonde I drove to Sint Niklaas to buy christmas presents for the young ones in the family, I had already decided what it was a long time ago.
Then I thought I'd look for something for my sisters as well and ended up buying more than planned but at least I have some nice presents for my sisters:) I also found something I think my mom and grandmother will LOVE so I'll have to get that next time and see if I find something clever for my dad:)
I think I know what to give Nick, the question is if I should get it in Iceland or if I should get it here.. it might actually be cheaper in Iceland so I think I'll do it there, our bags will probably be full of presents anyway so it's ok to try to get some things in Iceland:)
They were already putting up christmas stuff in the stores, I love looking at different things but I still think it's to early to be looking at actual christmas decorations so I just walked through but I will definetly check it out later:)

As I was walking through the shopping center I was checking out some clothes in H&M (actually bought a dress, 50% discount so it was like 9 euros) and other stores and there's a dress I'm totally in love with in H&M, I saw it a while back and it's still there but I can't buy it because I have told myself I can't buy anything in this size I need now, and I'm certainly not gonna buy it in a smaller size.. been there, done that, nothing happens. So if I want clothes I better work hard to drop some sizes so I can go and buy some:) I think I'm so clever, but I really hated the fact that I actually found several different clothes that would be great for shows. I've been wanting a suit for a very long time now and I found 2 and both had pants and skirts, then this dress I like so much, he'd be good for shows as well... I also found black jeans that I really liked but no can do.... "tough love" here on myself:)

That's it for now:)

training, training..

I went training today, as I do ever tuesday and friday:) Tuesdays are for some reason always better for me, I feel I do better, I'm stronger and have more stamina.. maybe it's because I get 1 more day of rest than between tue. and friday...

But next week is my 6th week of training and the trainers at my gym said they only wanted to see me do the training I'm doing for the first 6 weeks and then I could do something else as well... , so today I asked what my possibilities are and I'm going to a spinning class on monday morning! I dread the class.. I suck on the bike and I have no stamina!! But I'll do it, and I'll do it every monday. Unfortunatly there are only morning classes on mondays and sundays and the weekend are my "off time" and sundays are definetly a day off so I wont be doing more classes but I need to do something else I think in the morning and need to make some kind of a program.., I don't know if I should go to the gym in the morning of the day I do my circle with Nick tuesday, and friday afternoons.. I have to see and ask.
But mostly I' just thinking what I should do, what the next step should be and how much I should train each week...

The electicity went out yesterday.. not fun at all. I was "almost" out for electricity all the day today so I had no internet, not TV, no nothing basicly. I didn't dare to wash anything because what's the point if the electricity goes out.. so everything was unplugged and so the fridge could work and I could make food and have light if I needed it. The in the afternoon Nicks friend (who is luckily an electician) came over to see what the problem was and yes indeed it was the freezer so on saturday we need to go buy a new one.. hooray, hooray, we were going to go out to eat just the 2 of us but now we are going to buy a freezer "the 2 of us instead"....

I don't have anything else to say really... so adios:)