Patience
Patience has never been my strong suit. I’ve tried very hard to make myself more patient over the years…patient with my kids, patient with my hubby, and patient when it comes to all things dog. Because usually, anything good takes time, right?
Nash at 15 months
Now, I just need to get him trained to stack himself properly. He’s somewhat like a bumblebee on a string and when there are distractions, I’m lucky to get him to hold a stack for more than a couple seconds. He likes to stand like a GSD, with one foot cocked forward just in case something needs his attention elsewhere.
I weighed Nash the other day because it seems like he has matured so much in the past few months…he’s now 35 pounds. He was barely 30 pounds at a year old (little over 3 months ago) so yeah, I think he’s grown up a tad. 
Our (Non) Labor Day, and a small pupdate
Last week, after checking the weather forecasts, we decided to take a somewhat last-minute trip to Cincinnati OH for some family fun over Labor Day weekend. I know some people are probably saying, “Cincinnati? Really?” but the truth is that there is a WONDERFUL smaller kid area in King’s Island amusement park, and the Cincinnati Zoo is very, very good. There are other things to do there as well but since we only had two days to fill with activities, those were it…and that was plenty. We kept the trip a surprise from the kids, and Charlie was nearly bursting with anticipation by the time we got to King’s Island.
Let me just start out and say…the weather was so great. I honestly hate living in the South in the summer. It’s too hot to do many things outside if they don’t involve swimming, and the heat lasts FOREVER. We had 2 straight months in a row of days with temperature highs over 95….Two. Months. It’s always bad, but this year has been horrible. Little rain, lots of heat and humidity. So we were almost giddy when looking at the forecast for Cinci over the weekend. The high on Saturday was around 72 degrees. PANTS WEATHER, PEOPLE! It was breezy, mostly sunny, occasionally chilly, and wonderful. I can’t express what a joy it was to be outside all day long doing stuff and not sweating LOL.
We hit King’s Island on Saturday, and the zoo on Sunday. King’s Island has a large children’s area called Planet Snoopy. They have rides for just about every age of kid, including roller coasters for various heights. Charlie is a roller coaster fiend, she rode two of them even though one of them was “kind of scary” LOL. I wouldn’t classify her as a particularly brave kid, so it’s been fun to discover how much she likes rides. We had hoped to carve out some time for Dave and I to occasionally ride a big coaster or two, but there was so much for the kids to do that we never really left Planet Snoopy. The lone exception was as we were walking over there as the park opened, and Dave hopped onto The Vortex while there was no line. I posted this photo on Facebook but I thought it was cute…Jack having a snack and “watching the roller coaster for Daddy”.
Watching for Daddy
So excited!
Really, do we have to take another picture?
"Boo Blasters" ride...a little scary for Jack (and Charlie as she was tired by the time we went), but fun. You shoot the ghosts for points as you ride through!
Jack getting into the kid bumper cars. He was delighted until he got stuck going in a circle backwards, and which point he cried the whole time because it wouldn't go where he wanted it to. LOL!
Also posted on Facebook, Charlie's face painting.
On Sunday we went to the zoo (with half of Cincinnati). They have an awesome exhibit called the “Cheetah Encounter” where they actually lure course cheetahs during a show…talk about amazing. They bring out the male cheetah first so you can say “oh wow yeah, he’s fast”, and then they bring out the female cheetah and she totally puts him to shame LOL. My sister and her family came down from Columbus to meet us for the day! Especially nice as the cousins don’t get to see each other that often so it was fun for them to have a day together. Charlie has 7 cousins total on both sides of the family, but only ONE girl cousin…my niece Ashley (9).
The girls conferring about girl things. Or snacks, whichever.
Cheetah gets a drink
Petting zoo, of course
Jack being a ham while we wait for the "4D" movie experience. He had everyone there laughing at him. BTW, don't recommend the movie LOL.
Yeah, he's a cute little ham.
The obligatory "you all sit on a log and try to look at the camera at the same time" photo. Umm yeah, that's my child scowling at me in the middle LOL.
Also, I was thrilled to get an update from Wall-E’s (litter name Miles) owners this weekend! He went home with them on Labor Day weekend last year with their other cardi Cosmo. No photos, but got this nice note:
Just want to let you know he’s (still) doing great, and a very happy pup! He still acts very much like a puppy… I think the boys of this litter may take a while to grow up… LOL. We love him very much and we’re so happy he’s part of our little family. His happiness and zest for life are infectious! For example, his ‘brother’ Cosmo (our other Cardi) is content to hang out in the back seat during a car ride and just relax—oh, not Wall-E. He likes to be up looking out the window, letting the wind run through his (giant) ears, and making all the other drivers smile and laugh at him! It makes me so happy when I see children in the cars next to us point and smile at our little guy… he is such a happy dog, you can’t help but smile when he’s around.
I’m so glad to hear how he’s doing!
Happy kids, happy dogs, happy birthday!
Little Jack turned 3 on Friday! I can hardly believe my little boy is getting so big. We had a small party for him yesterday and despite some disagreements with him about WHEN we would open presents, I think he had a pretty good time. I KNOW he has enjoyed his gifts, because he and Charlie have been Very Busy playing with them all day yesterday and today LOL.
This morning I was making a grocery list and Nash brought me a really beat up, sad looking toy to play with. I looked around and realized that just about all of the dog toys were chewed up, ragged, or otherwise rather yucky LOL. So I went on a bit of a shopping spree at Petsmart today and brought home new bones for everyone and several brand new toys. I think Nash is in heaven! On a somewhat related note, I DID put together my fabulous new whelping box, and took pictures….but unfortunately, they are stuck on my camera. *cry* My DSLR’s USB connection has been broken for some time, meaning that I have to take the flash card out and use a reader to get photos off the camera. No big deal, but my card reader has bitten the dust and the new one I bought to replace it doesn’t seem to be working. Grrrr. So until I get these technical difficulties worked out, there shall be no whelping box photos. 
Big boy 3 year old!
We were off to see the wizard
I apologize for my lack of posts lately! It has been a S-L-O-W summer dog-wise, and a busy summer kid-wise. They started school last week! 1st grade for Charlie, and preschool for Jack.
Finally have dog news though! This weekend I trekked up to Ohio for the Western Reserve Cardigan Specialty. This show is second in size only to the National, and as usual it didn’t disappoint! The people, the dogs, the food…it’s a great show. It was pretty darned hot this year, but at least it was mostly dry. I entered Nash and Lizzie, and also had June…poor Leslie couldn’t take the time off to go up, so she sent the girl with me. The entries in each class were pretty good size and overall the quality was impressive.
Friday Sweeps (Kathy Davis): Nash 2nd, June 2nd.
Friday Reg (Simon Parson): Nash nothing, June 3rd.
Saturday Sweeps (Susan Lassila): Nash 3rd, June 2nd.
Saturday Reg (Janet Robinson): Nash 2nd, June 2nd.
Nothing for Lizzie on Friday…I didn’t show her on Sat. We didn’t bring home any big prizes but with the quality of competition I was very happy with the mostly naked, still growing puppies. Also want to shout out a big congrats to Sarah Keth and her girl Avery who was Best in Sweeps on Saturday, and to Janet and her girl Scout who was Best of Opposite Sex on Saturday also. They got beautiful trophies and a ribbon as tall as a child…and many bragging rights. Congrats girls!
After the show on Saturday I went to my mom’s house in Columbus and stayed with her. We went to see Wicked on Sun afternoon…it was awesome!
I also brought home a new toy…no, not a toy for Nash (i.e. puppy). A beautiful new box for puppies, when they next arrive. I need to try putting it together and will snap a picture before I store it until puppy time.
Happy 4th of July!
We’ve had a good weekend here so far! Went to the local farmer’s market yesterday and finally got to talk to a wonderful local source of beef and chicken. We’ve been trying to eat “more local”, and while we thankfully have an Earth Fare market here now that carries “local” chicken (by local they seem to mean a 3 state area), I’d rather support truly local small farmers. So we have a 1/8 of a side of beef headed our way this fall, yay! Guess I’d better clean out the outside freezer LOL. I also bought some truly delicious cinnamon raisin bread, homemade pickles, heirloom tomatoes & potatoes, and summer squash. Yum! Still waiting for peaches to come into season here, that’s my favorite!
Also had some wonderful news from puppy owners…June was in MS with her owner Leslie, and was BOS 3 days in a row to pick up 3 more points! That puts her at 12 with her majors, and Leslie is under strict orders not to finish her before the Western Reserve specialty in August. Also, sister Echo hit the show rings for the very first time with her co-owner Emily Fish…and was WB both days she showed, picking up 2 single points! That makes the FIFTH puppy to be pointed from the litter. EDIT: I also saw that Vegas was in the ring this weekend too and picked up another point, putting him at 7!
Speaking of puppies, Miss Lizzie is in season now, and we have pretty much finalized our plans to breed her again. She will be bred on her NEXT season, which should be in December or early January. You can see more details on our Puppy Page if you’re interested.
There they grow again
Today I needed to bathe all three dogs and blow out an INCREDIBLE amount of hair from two in particular (I’m looking at you, boys!). I decided to save my back for once and wash them on the table in the backyard…hallelujah. I got soaked from head to toe but it was so much easier! Especially doing all of them. As usual on bath day, I felt inspired to break out the camera. I didn’t get any good side shots of Nash as he was being a TURD on the table (umm, guess we’d better start working on that again, eh?), but did get this cute face picture of the boy:
Nash at one year - isn't he handsome?
And would you believe this, but in two days is BRADY’S 12th BIRTHDAY! I can hardly believe that he’s that old. I was thinking about it the other day…that means Carolyn and Mandy have been putting up with me for nearly that long, too, since I got Molly from them when Brady was less than a year old. Brady was bought as and has always been a pet in the best sense of the word, but this boy has taught me so much. Sometimes the things he has taught me are what NOT to do, or what I DON’T enjoy doing, but that’s valuable too. 
I joke that Brady is “Dave’s dog”, because they have always shared a special bond that he and I just don’t have. Despite that, Brady is a clever, outgoing, opinionated, full of life pain-in-the-butt that has always kept our house interesting. Even at 12, he pretty regularly fraps with Nash…he has always loved playing with dogs, as long as they understand that He Owns All The Toys. He is not a big dog (hovering +/- 30 pounds) and is structurally fairly average and light-boned, but Brady has always been a Good Dog who’s distinct personality shines through in everything he does.
So, this dog has been OBSESSED with bunnies ever since we lived in Denver where they abounded in our yard. He (and Zach) caught a baby one back then, but didn’t injure it…just slobbered all over it until I noticed something afoot in the backyard and yelled out “drop it!” at which point Brady opened his mouth and the bunny bolted. So he has spent the past probably 9-10 years of his life hoping and trying to catch another one, and in fact we can’t even say the word bunny or Brady will go nuts whining and running around looking for it. I think a squirrel would suffice too, but they are too smart. SO…Last night when I let the dogs out, I heard a ruckus so went out to see what was going on, and what do I find?? A very proud Brady, carrying a (sadly broken-necked) bunny in his mouth. I told Dave about the incident, who is out of town, and he said “That’s it…his life is complete. He finally caught and killed a damned bunny.”
It's amazing how fast they can go from looking "not that old" to "old".
Do I get cheese for this? (please ignore his old-man long nails)
I think she’s getting along OK there…
June & Leslie
Happy Birthday, Charm babies!!!
Today the Charm babies turn 1! I can hardly believe it’s been a year since they arrived…it’s been interesting! A huge learning experience for me in many ways, and a lot of fun too. I love hearing reports on each of the kids from time to time and watching them grow up.
Speaking of my own charming Plizzard kid, Nash is such a silly and goofy guy. He finally grew out of most of the “baddog” phase and is just a lot of fun! He is, in many ways, exactly what I was hoping to get out of this litter….fun-loving, sweet, gets along with everyone, pretty, structurally nice, and brindle! He’s easy to train and very agile, so after we’re done with the Ch thing I have high hopes for him in agility. Oh speaking of conformation, I’m quite proud of the other show pups from the litter….4 of them are now major pointed! June leads the way with 9 points and both majors, Vegas and Lucy both have 6 points and a major, and Nash has a 4 point major. Not bad for a group of puppies that, overall, are taking their sweet time growing up. LOL!
So happy birthday, babies! I couldn’t be prouder of all of you.
Echo
It’s been a while since I’ve updated about Echo! Dixie decided that Echo needed to get away from her sister for a while and see the world, so she went to live with Emily Fish for a bit. Now that Emily has puppies coming out of her ears, Echo is with Mandy! She’s a very sweet girl who bonded closely with Emily’s young son Evan…news that doesn’t surprise me in the least. But while she’s on vacation with gramma Mandy, they snapped a few pictures of her this weekend while at the puppy party.
Echo always has been, and will continue to be for a while, one that needs to grow up. I’m quite pleased with how she’s looking right now though…not quite as gangly, and reports are that her movement is coming together very nicely. It may take her a while to get there, but I think when she is mature that she’s going to be one striking Cardi girl.
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June goes home
After a long week or so with talking with various people who were interested in June, many of which would have made GREAT places for her to go…. she’s going to be staying very close to home. My good friend Leslie Reed of Keel Mtn corgis dabbled in Cardigans a few years ago with her happy red girl “Candy” from Kathy Davis. Unfortunately, Candy didn’t turn out to be a show superstar, so eventually she found a great pet home and retired. Ever since then, Leslie has really NEEDED a tail in her life. Remarkably, she managed to resist getting a puppy when they were born, despite helping me whelp the litter and coming over several times to snuggle puppies LOL. But June coming back home proved to be too much for her to resist.
For myself, I’m thrilled about this because she gets to stay so close! Leslie lives about 15 minutes from me and I know will take wonderful care of Miss June. And hopefully, she’ll get to have some fun in the show rings with her too. I meant to take a picture today before they left, but I forgot! Hopefully Leslie will post some soon on HER blog, http://keelmtn.com.
Nash misses her already!