Babies in the backyard

Had to use digital zoom, which sucks on my camera, to get this, but I finally got all three of them in one place. Here is the proof!

Ahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!

The angels are singing, there is reason to rejoice...I've just completed my last bit of holiday knitting! I have accomplished all I hoped and I'm more than a week ahead of schedule. Hmmm...maybe I should try to stuff one more gift project in. What am I thinking?!?! Of course not!!!! Ahhhhhhh, I sigh in relief! Now to knit a bit on one of my UFOs and then to begin again on the gifties in Janaury. Woo hoo!!!!

And in the other kind of cardigan news...Savannah is becoming a toothless wonder. She spit out two last night that I had to pick up. Nasty! She looks so funny...little face and a row of big girl teeth on the top and bottom, yet tiny little baby canines. Silly girl!!!

It blows....

Not life, but the wind. Damn it's windy tonight! A major deluge with immense gusts. Paul says it sounds like a jet engine when you go outside. I'm hoping it doesn't blow the roof or the siding off the house!!! Scary!!!

Took Savannah to handling class the first time this past Tuesday. We didn't practice...I just wanted her to see what it was like, get comfy around the big dogs, and get used to the noises. We'll start running her next week. Got compliments from the folks who have Libby's sisters. They're getting a puppy out of a litter in Arizona soon. I could tell they coveted my little black dog a bit, especially when they mentioned that they were unfortunately getting a blue. They were hoping for a black, too. And the famous Carbon puppy personality continues...they even mentioned how lovely his puppies' personalities are. Savannah was well-behaved, friendly, good with the other dogs, and calm. She showed off her large repertoire of tricks, including her lovely natural stacking. Too darn cute!!!

As Traci said on her blog, one of the things I've been knitting away on was a bag for her. I'm so, so glad she likes it!!! I also made a scarf for my sister that caused me some trouble, as it was the first (and only) thing I've ever knitted on straight needles. Never again, I say!!! I forgot to get a picture of it, so I'll have to rely on her, as I have Traci (see below), to take a pic and send it to me. I've also got two things done to send to Alaska, one of which needs to be blocked, and I've got something to make for my nephew that I should be able to get done by the 23rd with no trouble. Then I'll finish my clapotis and maybe work on my homespun cardigan before I start my next exciting gift project that I've got to finish by the end of January. In February, my friend at work, Jennifer, and I plan to do a bag knitalong. I've got a couple skeins of Kureyon in the deep seas colorway that I'm going to use in a Fibonacci sequence with black to make a nice felted bag. Fun!

Traci's bag

Quick Catch Up and Obligatory Pics

I have so neglected my blog lately...so much to do, so little time. Need to win the lottery just so I can stay home and get it all done...and knit a lot. Where to start?

Turkey day? Didn't really have one until this weekend. Paul and I took it upon ourselves to make it for ourselves yesterday when our original Thanksgiving weekend plans fell through. It's okay that they fell through...four days off of work is always something to be thankful for!

A week ago today was our last puppy socialization class. Savannah was a good gainer over some of the other puppies, but she's only keeping up with Sedona out of our recent group's batch of babiez. She weighed 16.8 lbs that class at 17 weeks and one day. I'm sure she's gained her lb for this week, too...she's starting to take a bit of effort to lift her up and hang onto her for awhile. Nothing like puppies to build muscle in your arms! She really blossomed in class after having been shy and clingy at first. By the end, she held all the nasty boys off and was quite vocal about having her string cheese quota met during class. :) I think I'll take her to visit handling class tomorrow night...if I can get her a bath...you'll see the dirty mud princess pretending to be show dog pictures below. I just want her to get a feel for the atmosphere and to know all is well.

Savannah also got to see her first snow last Monday. Now, you must remember, this is lower Willamette valley snow, which means it looks like a heavy freeze, just mushier, but we still call it snow here. It was dark, so not a lot of great pictures of the black dog in the white snow during black sky time, but we've got a couple.

Knitting, oy, knitting! I have been knitting and felting and trying to get things done for birthdays and Christmas and can't talk about any of it. Dang! Did try a new technique that I think is just the coolest thing, called illusion knitting, but that's about all I can say for now. Double dang!! Also have a new favorite yarn for felting, but can't even talk abou that. Triple dang!!! Loving the knitting, though...looking forward to being selfish and knitting for myself again, too. :)

Okay, pictures below will start with a couple of the psuedo snow and then move on to quickly taken table pictures taken during lunch hour today in a huge rush to catch the sunshine. It's supposed to start raining again tonight, though it's not supposed to last long.

The Mud Princess

Haven't posted in awhile...been pretty busy and didn't have much to say...but wanted to share why we call Savannah the mud princess. These pics show it a bit, but she is actually much muddier than she looks here, even. :)

Quick Update

We had a rough weekend...Ethan can't decide if he loves or hates Savannah and Libby goes whichever way he does. So, we've backed up a bit and are only having dogs out in pairs for the most part right now. Seems to help. Got to get Ef reassured that we're not going to bite his head off if he acts normal with little "get outta my face, kid" growls, but that he will be in trouble if he goes overboard. I also think Savannah may smell a bit different and he's a bit torn between her and Libby. We'll just keep working it. We know it'll have to be this way when Savannah goes into heat, so I guess we're getting practice now.

Tonight was Savannah's regular puppy class. She's pretty skittish at first...of course, the bully pem puppy jumped on her the minute I set her down. Once things calmed down a bit and the instructor, Charlotte, grabbed the pem, she came out of her shell again. Charlotte wants us to bring her to the Thursday classes, too. I guess she had one drop out and one puppy actually was killed (puppy and older dog got out and puppy got hit on the highway...older dog stayed to protect it...very sad!!!), so the Thursday class is small. Charlotte says she wants her to come and have more exposure since she'll be a show dog. Funny that she's completely outgoing at home and not at all fearful, even with Ethan and Libby being buttheads sometimes. She does all the tricks that class would offer her, so it's just for socialization. We'll also start handling class after her fourth shot next week. She's definitely growing now. She's up to 14.8 lbs at 15 weeks, so that's good. And I think it was mostly legs, length and nose this week. We'll try to get some more pictures tomorrow. Oh, and the people at class asked if we'd shaved her...guess she's growing into her hair. She's not going to be one of those black undercoated blacks, though, I'm afraid...the grown up undercoat is coming in red. Figures...we're a household of reds...one way or another. :)

Just dawned on me...

I think the way this blogger thing works, you'll see this post first, but I'd rather you go below and read that one first. Dang again!!!

Another thing...do all of your dogs' eyes glow different colors? Ours do...Libby's glow greenish yellow, Ethan's glow reddish orange, and Savannah's glow blue. Can anyone tell us why this might be? Weird! It could be pitch black, but if I could get a reflection of each of their eyes, I could tell by the color which dog it is. Strange!!!

Savannah looking pensive at the end of a bark

Playing with her Woobie

Kung Fu Corgi

14 Week and Few Days Pictures

Okay, I'm just gonna throw 'em at ya and comment below...

We figured out at this point that we should do the non-show side first, because she calms down and relaxes with a bit more working time. Hmmmm.... doh!

Seems I've reached my limit on this one, so I'll open another post for more. The last few have been an attempt to give Auntie Kate an idea of the fringe we have going on here. I have also now figured out that my camera sucks for indoor and close up shots. Damn! Also, the red on the back of the ears shows, but it's not as bright as it seems to be in the photos. I think the flash may have something to do with that. Anyway, wrapping this one and on to the next for more pictures.

Savannah finds her inner cardi bitch...

Tonight was our third night of puppy class and our little wallflower finally came out of her shell. I'm pretty sure somewhere deep down she figured out that Brandy is her grandmother and Maya is her auntie/half sister, because she told those nasty boys in puppy class right where they could put their rude little noses and if they didn't, she'd just nip 'em off for 'em. :) The other owners all thought she was the sweetest most shy little thing, but she put the other puppies in their place tonight without being obnoxious about it. She was so good, played well, and had a great time. Charlotte, the instructor, kept going on about how she really blossomed tonight. All I can say is, "You go, Girl!" :)

She also gained 1.1 lbs. for a total of 13.5 at 14 weeks. And she knows down, stand, watch, leave it, come here, and her two newest ones - up and speak. I don't think I'll have to do anything special to her body, but I'll definitely have to do some, um, weeding from her shoulders forward. We'll see. Her coat reminds me of Joey's or Caleb's. And still zero messes in the house! I lub her!!!!

Gift Knitting

The problem with holiday/birthday gift knitting is that you don't get to share as you go along. You can't even brag about the wonderful yarns you've found at great deals, or the lovely new technique you're going to use, or the beautiful colors you're working with, or the new patterns you've designed. No bragging until after gifts are given. Bummer!

Actually cardi content later today after bathing, brushing, toe nail grinding, and, of course, photo taking. Poor abused smelly puppy!!!

A breakthrough

I think the video probably says it all. Sometimes dogs know more than the humans do. Ethan's treatment of Savannah is a good example. He's been growly and ornery with her, not letting her get away with much of anything. Smart dog! Now she respects and adores him, while treating Libby as a total equal and always attacking her. I guess Ef does understand pack order. What a good boy! I love my girls, but damn I love my silly red dog!!! The original video is nearly 10 minutes long and You Tube doesn't let you use a lot...I'm new to this video stuff. I'll have to play when I have more time to learn.

Ef and Savannah 10-29-06

Freaky!

This happened lasst night, but stupid Blogger wouldn't let me upload the damn picture. No picture, no story, so here we go with what I wrote last night.

The strangest thing just happened! First, we heard this slight popping noise that the house has made a hundred times when temperatures change and it shifts a bit. Then, a bit later, we hear this loud crack from the bathroom. I don't have a lot of space in there and leave my hair dryer on the back of the toilet and it just sounded like it had fallen down onto the floor or the lid of the toilet. We keep the door closed with a new puppy in the house. When we went in to check what was up, everything seemed in place until we looked up at the window and saw this.




We were sure someone was in our backyard taking pop shots at the house until we went outside and saw that the window was whole on that side. Only the inside portion of the double paned window broke. How weird is that?!?! Paul was just about to go in and take a shower, too. Glad he didn't! Have no idea what it'll take to fix this, but it has to be one of the oddest home repair things I've ever seen. I'll have to call Dad and see what we should do!

Twelve weeks and one day and more

At 12 weeks, it's official, Savannah's a potty prodigy. I'm not bragging (much), but there have still been zero accidents...none in the house and none in the crate...and she now goes to the back door and barks when she needs to go out. Just one small bark, not incessant barking. Thank goodness!

She does have a wee bit of a temper when she doesn't like what you're doing...like grinding toe nails...and she's got a dramatic flair, but otherwise she's the easiest going of the three. She backs down when necessary and she jumps right back in when it's time. She doesn't scare easily and is willing to check things out when they do startle her. She knows "watch", "leave it", "down", "stand", and "come here". She's just plain smart! And way damn cute and a little energizer bunny. As we speak, she is busy frapping around the living room and kitchen trying to wear herself out enough to go to sleep. She's starting to go to the bedroom door where everyone but she and I are sleeping and she's looking intently at her crate, so I better wrap this up.

She's cooperating a little more...next to work on the stretch.

The light was fading fast!

On other news, my dad is happy in Alaska and having a great time. Here is a picture of him with his new Alaskan boat. He looks healthy and that's oh so important even though I miss him like crazy!!!

Another reason for a blog

Pictures are the overriding theme here, but I just had to send the latest my sister sent me of my nephews. The cutey with the upside down frog on his head is my 2 1/2 year old nephew, Keegan. The one looking proud of his rolling over achievement is my nearly 4 month old nephew, Quinn, when he was only 3 months. Yup, he's a big kid....we're already planning his future football career. :)

I suck at this

I haven't a clue how to do the stacking thing. My table is too damn big and too damn heavy to bring out every day. ACH! Guess I'm buying myself a table instead of yarn next month. :( It needs to be a wee bit higher and a ton lighter. Any favorites? I need it to fit both Savannah and Ethan. I know he can be better...he just has to be taught how and he has to be taught regularly. It's not happening now and I'm so exhausted I can barely write this with the way work and life have been lately, but it must be done and I know it's do-able. I just haven't a clue when, though I know a lighter table will help.

So, here are the obligatory attempt at stacking at 11 weeks pictures...and I'm not even showing what we tried to take of Ethan. They're inside and the flash is too close, so the quality isn't good, but we're trying.

Can you tell by the tightly gripped muzzle how cooperative she was?

So abused!

Rough night

Where did the week go?

Has it really been a week since I posted anything?!? Busy, busy week, that's for sure. Savannah's growing like crazy, Libby's decided she's staying, and Ethan thinks she's great...as long as she stays outside. It's getting better, but still a bit of a pain...always have to be vigilant inside. He'll get over it.

We went to our first puppy kindergarten at the vet's office last night. The class was big. Something like 11 puppies, so she split the group to two nights. We'll be in a group with a pemmie, a shiba, a dachshund, lab/border collie/goldie/something mix, and maybe another one or two. Savannah wasn't so sure about all those other dogs, especially when the instructor tried to put the shiba on his back. He's already bullying his owners, as shibas are wont to do, and the instructor happens to be the breeder of this particular boy, so she took him in hand to show him she was boss. Of course, when the typical shiba screaming didn't get her to stop, he decided to poop on her. Lovely! All the other puppies were like, "We'll do whatever she wants!" We've gone to this same class with our other two, so she was shocked at how calm and laid back Savannah is compared to Libby and Ethan. Can I just hear a hallelujah on this one?!? :) Finally, a calm Cardi...thank you, Louise, and Styxie, and Carbon!!!!!

Savannah did make nice with a cavalier that will be in the other class and the big mix puppy and talked a bit to the pemmie. Everyone just thought she was adorable, of course. And I'm proud to report that she's gained her pound (and a bit more) this week. She was 10.6 lbs. at 11 weeks. We'll attempt to do the obligatory stacked on the table pictures tonight between all the other things we've got to accomplish today. :)

We need to do some training

Okay, so we've been bragging about how wonderfully the potty training has been going, which it still is, but we've got to work on that table stuff! Here is our really lame attempt at 10 week stacking. No laughing, please. Remember, we didn't do early training with Ef...Traci did. :) We didn't have a clue and we weren't looking to get one, either. So, now we're learning. Oh, and there was no combing prior to the taking of these pictures...we'll do better next time, Mandy! :)

Forget me looking straight ahead!

Here's the other side...all scrunched up with a hair bump in the middle of her back.

I can look straight ahead!

All done!

First vet appointment

Miss Savannah went to visit our vet for the first time today. Actually, it was one of the two back-up vets that we don't like, but oh, well. She had her second shot and got all checked out, as they want to do the first time they see them. She didn't have any fleas or flea dirt, so that was good...and a bit surprising for the Willamette Valley. She weighed 9.4 lbs. at 10 weeks. I think that's darn good for going to a new home and messing with eating schedules, etc., just 5 days ago. And not a single accident in the house or in her crate so far, knock on wood. We'll have to get her up on the table and try to take some stacking pictures...good time to practice. I also need to order show collar and lead for her...got to have black for this one. Any preferences between silver and gold collar, folks?

Ethan is still unsure about her in the house, though definitely better. Today at lunch, Libby had rolled Ef over on his back and Savannah got too close to him. He made ugly face at her, but then seemed to apologize and check her out when it was over. A while after that, he'd found a stick he thoroughly cherished and played keep away from Libby with it. Then, when Savannah came over, he dropped it so she could take it and then stuck with her so Libby couldn't take it from her. Awwww...the first sign of sharing! Thank goodness!!!

Another one

Life is rough for cute puppies in our house...not the chewie to the right and the ball tucked under the chair cover to the left. That's the tv tray I mentioned in my last post. Thank goodness the older ones like her enough to wear her out when they play in the yard now! :)

Corgi Negotiations

Man, am I tired, but we did do much better on the sleep last night. Libby and Ethan ran Savannah all over the yard yesterday, then she went to work and the nail salon with me, so she was a wee bit tired. She eats well, if you continue to encourage her to do so.

Libby doesn't mind her so much anymore and even gave her kisses in the house today. Ethan thinks she's great fun outside, but still doesn't want her inside. He woke up so confused, he growled at everyone...Libby, the cats, and all of that. Took a mini nap, went out to play all happy happy, then didn't like her again when they came in. It wasn't as bad, though. I'm so thankful for the nice weather, so they can spend more time out in the yard playing and not protecting in the house. When Savannah is taking a nap, Ethan is all over me. He needs to know he's still mama's boy, I guess. It'll all work out, I'm sure. :)

Right now, Ef's sleeping in his crate, Libby's sleeping on the living room floor, and Savannah's right next to her, tucked under Paul's tv tray/computer table. :) I'd take a picture, but the battery on my camera ran out and is charging. I do have other gratuitous cute pictures below.

One ear up, one ear down!

Fascinated by Ethan

I'm gonna get it...

Got it!

Wait for me!!!

And a rousing game of get the stick

The reason I have a blog....

More pictures. Darn clouds came out, so they're not as bright as I'd hoped, but still way cute!

Also, cute from behind!

Savannah with big sis, Libby, checking her out

Savannah's fascinated by her bubba, Ethan.

What are the big dogs doing?