Introducing Harry

I haven't been blogging very much lately to my shame.
But I do have a sort of a reason. We have not one, but three new arrivals to our home.

For a few years we have been showing our three, beautiful red smooth Griffons, and with our friend who also has two red smooths they've been the only Griffons in the local Open shows. One ring steward came up to me the other day and sais "Where all all the red roughs? I was looking forward to seeing some today".

This made me think that perhaps we should buy in a red rough. At a club show a friend said that he had a two-week old litter from a mating between a rough and a smooth that had produced three boys, Tom, Dick and Harry! I said that if one of them turned out to be a rough we'd be very interested.

Sure enough a few weeks later he emailed the news that one of the pups was going to be a rough and so "Hairy Harry" was created.

We then had to wait until Harry was old enough to come to stay with us, during this time the breeder asked if we would have two of his older brood bitches as well as Harry. I just love our oldies and of course we said yes. So last week we had three new residents to welcome.

Conceptis Puzzles Launches New Site! FREE PUZZLES

I know this is not doggy-related, but I just love doing these puzzles

My favorite puzzle place has updated their website. Click Here
It’s colorful.
It’s fun.
It’s Free.
And it’s easy to use.
Not to mention, it still has loads of free puzzles to work online or to print and play later.
Sudoku, Hitori, Hagaki, Slitherlinks, Cross Sums, and many other number puzzles are updated every week.
And so are the Logic Art Puzzles, which are my favorites.
Have you ever done super Sudoku? They have one that has five regular Sudoku puzzles which overlap like a checkerboard. Really difficult. Great if you love a challenge.
And, if you need help solving puzzles, they have forums to show us how it’s done.
I just may keep bragging about it in the weeks to come.
Links:
Free puzzles
Puzzle Forums

If you love these type of puzzles you'll love this site

A Mother's Day Poem from the Dog:

Seen in a card........

OUTSIDE:

You feed me when I'm hungry,
You keep water in my dish,
You let me sleep on anything,
Or in any place I wish.

You sometimes let me lick your hands
or even lick your face,
Despite the fact I've licked myself
In every private place.

You taught me how to come when called
You taught me how to sit,
You always let me go outside
So I can take a (scribbled out area) stroll.

You'll always have my loyalty
up to the bitter end,
'cause after all, it's plain to see . . .

INSIDE

You are a dog's best friend.

Time creeps up on you slowly and before you know it 6 years have past. When we took in Robbie and Sam it was because their loving owner had terminal cancer. It is always sad in these cases, to rehome someone's pets when they are still caring for them. But we kept in touch with their owner and after she had gone we corresponded with her daughter.

Earlier this year I had the sad duty of telling the daughter that Sam had to be put to sleep and now I feel Robbie is deteriorating. I have a feeling that he has Cushing's Disease, which is an endocrine disorder, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cushing's_syndrome . Robbie has lost most of his thick black coat from his back and his skin is scaly and leathery, he is ravenously hungry and looks pot-bellied.

He had one blood test at the vet's which showed a slight increase in liver function, so on Wednesday he went in for a dynamic blood test. He had some blood taken, then was injected with steroids and after two hours had another blood test. The variations in these results will show whether he has Cushing's or not.

We had one Griffon before who had Cushing's and she lived a happy life for another two years, but I feel that as Robbie is alread nearly fourteen he might not do so well.

Taunton Toy Dog Show

Yesterday we were at a dog at a venue in Taunton, Somerset, UK.

It was for Toydogs only, which was lovely as most of the dogs breeds I love are Toys.

We took Leo, Buffie and Fifi having entered them weeks ago. I had phoned up the Kennel Club on Friday hoping that they would have made a decision on whether we could show him after his cruciate ligament operation. But, although they had had the committee meeting on Thursday the details hadn't yet been published. So the news is... we still couldn't show him. Hopefully we will hear next week as there is a big Championship show coming and I want to get him qualified for next year's Crufts

However we had a good show Fifi won her Junior class and was Reserve Best of Breed against a very nice red rough.

Dog Food Commercial

A MESSAGE FROM 'MAX':

My name is 'Max' and I have a little something I'd like to whisper in your
ear. I know that you humans lead busy lives. Some have to work, some have
children to raise.

It always seems like you are running here and there, often much too fast,
often never noticing the truly grand things in life.

:Look down at me now, while you sit there at your computer. See the way my
dark brown eyes look at yours? They are slightly cloudy now, that comes
with age. The gray hairs are beginning to ring my soft muzzle. You smile at
me; I see love in your eyes. What do you see in mine?

Do you see a spirit, a soul inside who loves you as no other could in the
world? A spirit that would forgive all trespasses of prior wrong doing for
just a simple moment of your time?

That is all I ask. To slow down if even for a few minutes to be with me.
So many times you have been saddened by the words you read on that screen, of
others of my kind, passing. Sometimes we die young and oh so quickly,
sometimes so suddenly it wrenches your heart out of your throat.

Sometimes we age so slowly before your eyes that you do not even seem to
know, until the very end, when we look at you with grizzled muzzles and
clouded eyes. Still the love is always there, even when we take that long
sleep, to run free in distant lands.

I may not be here tomorrow; I may not be here next week. Someday you will
shed the waters from your eyes, that humans have when deep grief fills
their souls, and you will be angry at yourself that you did not have just "One
more day" with me.

Because I love you so, your sorrow touches my spirit and grieves me. We
have now, together. So come, sit down here next to me on the floor. And look
deep into my eyes. What do you see? If you look hard and deep enough we will
talk, you and I, heart to heart. Come to me not as "alpha" or as a"trainer"
or even a "Mom or Dad", come to me as a living soul and stroke my fur and
let us look deep into one another's eyes, and talk. I may tell you
something about the fun of chasing a tennis ball, or I may tell you
something profound about myself, or even life in general. You decided to
have me in your life (I hope) because you wanted a soul to share just such
things with.

Someone very different from you, and here I am. I am a dog, but I am
alive. I feel emotion, I feel physical senses, and I can revel in the differences
of our spirits and souls. I do not think of you as a "Dog on two feet" --
I know what you are. You are human, in all your quirkiness, and I love you still.

Now, come sit with me, on the floor. Enter my world, and let time slow
down if even for only 15 minutes. Look deep in my eyes, and whisper to my ears.
Speak with your heart, with your joy and I will know your true self.

We may not have tomorrow, and life is oh so very short.

Love,
'Max' (on behalf of all canines everywhere)

"May be reposted and shared freely as long as this credit appears with the post given to J.D. Ellis 2001"