Hurricane Deck

The regular job has not slowed down, the dogs still demand the same amount of attention, and SOMEHOW I still manage to work on the new house! It has been 12 days since the house has been closed on, and there has been quite of bit of work done on it by myself, with some weekend help from my baby sister and my friend Erin. Here are some progress pictures: This is the dining room with the gas heater: We ripped out the carpet and painted the wall, ceiling and then the floor. The floor was painted because mama is on a budget. I could have put more carpet down and with dogs, no. I could have had the floor refinished but I was told that it was a cheap floor that was unlevel and not worth refinishing - and if I did, it would be a pretty penny. So, I did what they did in the olden days and slapped a couple of coats of paint on the floor! The living room is also done in these same colors. This is the smaller of the two bedrooms, which will become my office: I LOVE the blue! It is my fav...

I had considered beginning a brand new blog about the work I am doing on the house that I bought in Douglas, but I figured that eventually the work will be done and there would just be this sad little blog sitting out there with no updates once I got the house finished (kinda like this one - sorta sad with it's random and often piecemeal updates!). Why the Jackalope House? Well, Douglas is the "Home of the Jackalope." It is where a very bored taxidermist took a jack rabbit and threw some antelope horns on and ta-da! A new legend was born. I find it hilarious that the town takes so much pride in the creature that their city logo has a Jackalope on it. So the Jackalope house it is! But, I decided that I might as well just add it to the existing blog that I have - especially since the Little Nothin' Rotten Dogs* are moving to new digs as well! So instead of dog updates, look for house updates! I hope to have lots of before and after shots to add to show my progress. So w...

Putting on a dog show is tough work - especially for a club's first show! There were ribbons to order, a show site to find, judges to contact and contract, forms to order, advertisement to do, rules to follow and tears to shed. Okay, I didn't actually cry, but at times I wanted to - even though I am obsessively organized I kept thinking something might go wrong. What could go wrong? Well, I don't really know. The worst case scenario is that the UKC decides we are completely incompetent as a club and doesn't let us have a show again. Right now, a week after our first show, this doesn't seem like a completely bad thing (I guess I am still a little shell shocked). Last week, however, it did. The worst thing that happened was that on Saturday someone complained to everyone that would listen about the regulation ring size- it was too small for her hunting breed. So the next day, we made it bigger. Then she had the audicity to not use the whole ring when she was...

It seems as if the dog god has decided once again to frown on my plans. First we had the PLL fiasco with everything in my kennel testing out to be either a carrier or at-risk. After the genetic test for the PLL marker came out I tested a litter that I had just had - turns out the father was at-risk and the mother was a carrier. Each puppy had a 50/50 chance of either being a carrier or at risk - and 4 out of 5 puppies tested as at risk. So much for those who said that the numbers would even out in the litter! Fortunately, all of my puppy buyers understood the issue and took it with more calm than I had. Having witnessed the effects of PLL myself, I swore off any breeding that could possibly create an at risk dog - so no carrier to carrier or carrier to at risk crosses will EVER be made here. I will spay my prize bitch before I issue a painful sentence to a puppy who was created through no fault of its own. And here we go again with the bad news. A year of waiting on a litter. A year an...

I will admit it, I am a movement snob. I believe that dogs should move as their standards have them built. Since a Rat Terrier has a well laid back shoulder and "matching" rear angulation, its movement is not flashy nor is it "terrier-like." A Rat Terrier's movement should be balanced and efficient. I've argued for years that a Rat Terrier should move like a "trotter" - mostly like a Dalmatian amazingly enough! Their movement should be smooth, their toplines should not roach, their feet should not be caught up in a tangle at mid-stride, their reach and drive should be easy and go from the tip of their nose to the tip of where their tail would have been (easy enough to figure out). They should be able to trot all day and not get tired. They are not built for sprinting like a Whippet nor stopping to dig as a Jack Russell. It is a unique movement for a terrier, but it is fantastic to see nonetheless. Previously I have discussed the exaggerations of ce...

I can't believe how busy August is going to be! This weekend is the Beartrap Summer Festival up on Casper Mountain. It's a great line up, and should be fun! I will probably be bringing Sniper with me to hang out and socialize. He needs a little bit of Mama time. The weekend after that is the dog show at the Scottish Festival and Rocky Mountain Highland Games. Athletic and broadchested men in kilts - YUM! Then we have the Greeley Kennel Club Show, a weekend off, then the Cheyenne Kennel Club Show, and a weekend off and THEN a friend's wedding deep in the heart of Texas. And THEN dear readers the Rocky Mountain Rat Terrier Club hosts its first show ever in Glendale, CO. Craziness! Ah well, if I weren't busy I wouldn't know what to do with myself.