Well, I was going to stop this blog section because sometimes there's just nothing to blog about!  LOL!  But some of you really seem to like it, and I can see a big use for it once puppies are born!  OR, I might do a separate "Current Litter" page when I've got puppies baking in one of my girls' oven, and carry it through when they leave for new homes.

BTW, I love to get pictures of your puppies as they grow, and as adults, so keep that in mind!!!   I might put them on the internet and make them stars!!!  Ha!

If you care to leave a comment, please do.  But, this is NOT the place to ask for information that requires a response from me.  Your best bet to do that is to email me direction at poshpoos@gmail.com.  It's easy to miss those comments here for a while, so if you need answers - email!  Thanks!

Ordering dog food online 

If you'd like to avoid schlepping those heavy bags of dog food, or just save yourself a trip, you can order dog food online with great success from a variety of sites -

I've used most of these with great success.  The best advice I can give you is to check the prices each time to see if anyone has it on sale;  otherwise, you're going to find that their pricing is generally pretty competitive, and check to see what the policy is on "free shipping", which can make a big difference.  My favorites -

Pet Food Direct - www.petfooddirect.com
Chewy's - www.chewy.com
and, believe it or not,
Amazon!   www.amazon.com   - most of the dogfood sites have Amazon stores, and if you're an Amazon Prime member, you get free 2-day shipping from almost all of them

I've ordered my dry kibble and canned food, treats, etc., and also the dehydrated and freeze-dried foods I use online for years.  I use autoship for most of it,, so I never run out all of a sudden and have to make an emergency run to a big box store.   PetFoodDirect gives you an extra 15% off for auto ship purchases, but you do miss sales sometimes.  Chewy's doesn't give you any additional discount, but they will give you sale prices.  Each one is a little different!    I just like not having to make that trip to the feed store and schlepping a 35 lb bag of kibble all over town!  It's nice to have it delivered right to my door.  Think about it.    Bev

READ THE LABELS! 

This is not new information, but many pet owners just assume that anything that's sold in our pet food stores is safe to feed our pets - IT ISN'T!!!!!  Read the labels, and if it says "Made In China", put it back, don't buy it, don't feed it to your pets, and mention it to the store manager where you find it.

Here's an article with more information!     - - - -    http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/19/dogs-sick-pet-treats-china/

I know someone whose dog nearly died from feeding chicken jerky treats made in China.  I'm guilty, I used to feed them occasionally years ago, and as soon as the first reports began coming in of sick or dying dogs, I stopped.   I read labels now, thoroughly.   China does not have the same quality control standards we have here (though our system is also far from perfect!).

my mailing list 

First of all, thank you everyone, to those of you who have signed up on my mailing list for "puppy news".  I hopefully will have some news to post regarding my next breeding very soon.  Watch your email for information, and if you want to talk puppies, drop me a private message via email, or call.  I always enjoy talking poodle!

Bev

Poodle Club of America National Show 

The PCA Nationals are going on this week, in Salisbury MD!  The field trials (hunting, retrieving, etc.) started over the weekend, followed by obedience, rally, agility trials, and conformation showing starts today, after the Parade of Champions and New Title Holders.  And it will all be over Friday, and we will have a new Top Poodle for 2014!

Diane Brennan has two Calisun girls, and both were entered in Agility or Rally events.  Fallon, the older girl, did quite well in Agility, but didn't place.  Aven, who is just a baby still and got a late start to her severe reaction to her rabies vaccination, got her very first Rally leg!  Nothing like the stress of your first competition at the largest poodle show in the world!!!!!  LOL!   Congrats to Diane on the success of all her work and dedication - thousands of hours!!!

And, while I don't personally have any dogs showing in conformation this year, I think Josh has at least three of his offspring showing, so I'll be cheering them on!  

If you've never been to a poodle specialty (and this is the ultimate poodle specialty), it's really quite awesome to see all of these gorgeous poodles lining the ring in all of their perfectly groomed grandeur!!!!!  It's hard to imagine the work it took to get there, and the work it takes to get them ready for the ring for this particular show!  Kudos to all of them!

Bev

Easter Sunday 

We had a great Easter - drove up to the Pretty Place Chapel at the YMCA Camp at Caesar's Head Mountain, which sits right ON the continental divide and the state line between SC and NC.  We were literally on top of the mountain just shy of 3000 feet.  And let me tell you, it was COLD!  47 degrees and windy.  That's the first time I've done that one, and a tradition has been born!      But next year, I will have on different clothes, and I will have gloves and ear muffs!   I have very short hair, and my ears were frozen.  Ha!   But it was lovely - a beautifully done Easter cantata, then a very short sermon while the sun came up, then a delightful breakfast - scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, biscuits with country cream gravy, coffee, hot chocolate, juices, fresh fruit, yogurt.  Just doesn't get much better or more beautiful!  Had a fellow poodle friend from here go with, and she drove.  Do you know how seldom I get to be the passenger?  Then a picnic at my friends' farm, the Browns, who have two poodles (one is my Casey) and a shiloh shepherd.  The North Saluda River runs through their 700 acre tree farm.  Just a perfect day.  Now I get to take a long nap!   Only 3 hours of sleep - had to get up at 3AM to take care of all the dogs and myself and be at my friend's house at 4:45AM.  But hey, it's only once a year and it was breathtaking!

Hope you all had a wonderful, beautiful Easter, but you'd have to go some to be as awesome as mine was!   LOL!

Diane and Aven learning Agility! 

Lest you think getting an agility winner is mostly fun, you can see and appreciate from this video how much work goes into it - by the owner and by the dog!  Diane does it right!!!  Her other girl, Fallon (sister to my Chloe) is a "performance" star with more than 20 titles, and Aven is just beginning.  Aven got a late start due to neurological issues set off by a severe allergic reaction to the rabies vaccination.  Very scary, and Diane gets 200% credit and a dozen gold stars for not giving up on her and working so hard to bring her back to "normal" for Aven - -  who is as Diane describes her "a pistol"!  

Here's the message I got from Diane yesterday with a link to her video album on You Tube.  Check some of her other videos out.  Diane is a true pro!!!

email:
Hi Bev,
 
Here is a link to Aven at agility today.  Did a training run with Fallon for PCA and then did a fun run with Aven where I just basically played with her on the course.  I am starting to work her contacts on the A-frame and Dog Walk, but you can see she has no hesitation about working her contact obstacles despite only having been introduced to them a couple weeks ago due to being so setback due to the vaccine issues.  You can see she also has no issues with the closed chute even though she has only been through one once or twice before.  She is a pistol!!
 

One of my puppies, in training for Agility 

This is Aven, Calisun A Storm Blue In!    Her owner, Diane, also has Fallon, another one of my pups, who has umpteen titles (like more than twenty!!!) in obedience and agility.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFpLs4ewJLs&list=UUdpy0M-3qIo05UvwVUmaj7A

If you check out the other video links that come up when you watch, you may see some videos of Diane's other girl, Fallon, strutting her stuff.  Fallon is one of mine as well, sister to my Chloe, daughter of my Casey.

Aven, sister to my own Raine (not on the website yet), has gotten a late start in her training but is doing just GREAT!!!   Diane is one of the best dog owners I know, and if it weren't for her, Aven might not be with us!     Aven unfortunately had a severe adverse reaction to the rabies vaccination (a good example of being aware of the possibility and for not over vaccinating ever), her first rabies vaccination so no way to know she was allergic.    The reaction caused her to become OCD - totally focused on some invisible thing she would search for in the grass, in the house, etc., light and shadow chasing, etc.   Kudos to Diane for not giving up on her and working hard with various homeopathic treatments, etc., to "bring her back".  She still has a way to go, but she is a living furry miracle dog!   I've alerted the other puppy owners in this litter to be extra cautious with their dogs on vaccinations, and to let the vet know about Aven's problems, so they can be careful with the other dogs in the litter.

Anyway, enjoy the video of Aven training!  Diane does it right, and does it good!!!!!!!   You rock, Diane! and so does Aven!!!    Hugs, Bev

WAHOO!!! 

Well, wahoo-ish!   Got Lizzie's OFA Hips Certificate yesterday, and she got a GOOD rating.   I would loved to have gotten an excellent, but noooo!   Drat!   In 2013, only 4% of the ratings (all breeds, all submissions) were excellents.  Happy with a good though, as that means Lizzie is good to go to have those beautiful puppies I've got planned - clear/normal on SA, clear by parentage on vWD and NEwS, and a good on hips.  Eye exam for certification on May 31 (my own vet has checked her and sees no problems), and will run a light thyroid test before breeding.  

Now, Mother Nature just needs to give Lizzie a kickstart and let her come into season so we can get this show on the road!  Bev

Update on Lizzie and breeding 

Lizzie has not come into season yet, and is officially overdue.  Grrrrr!   Mother Nature unfortunately is always in control of the timing on these things, but what this means to you is that even if she came into season tomorrow, she wouldn't be "ready" for breeding for a couple of weeks.  So that means, she won't get bred until early May at the earliest, meaning early July puppies entering the world.   Just wanted to keep you posted!   Waiting for a puppy is a lesson in patience and gritting your teeth!!!    I promise it will be worth the wait!   Bev

A star is born! 

This is Nova (American and Canadian champion), sister to my own boy, Jordan, out of my Sunny and London.  Her owners got her to show and train in agility, something they are very active in.  Nova hasn't been all that keen on agility, and they decided to give her a shot at herding, not expecting much.  Who knew!  She's a natural, and she LOVES it!   This was her very first real class, I'm pretty sure!!!