Beautiful dogs and Silly Pups

Last week we had the joy of watching one of our very own babies for the weekend. This is Tia, from our Cassie and Admiral litter in August. Right behind her is Momma Cassie - boy, they are both so beautiful. As I watch the Eukanuba Dog Show I am amazed by all the varieties of dogs and how beautiful they all are - much like us people, all different but all wonderful in own way.

Now and then I notice how silly we all are as well. This is our GSP (German Shorthair Pointer) Ruger and I sharing a share. Notice the silly boy has all four feet in the air and his head hanging over the arm of the chair. He is the most lovable, goofiest boy ever!

And here is the darling Addie - 5 months old and wanting to step away from the crowd to sleep in peace.

My "Bubbie" Max, was so worn our chasing the ball and keeping up with the babies - he just zoned out in the kennel and grumbled at anyone who came near. I feel for you Maxie, I am getting those old bones myself. Everyday with my old man is a gift, the average age for a Labrador is 10-14 so I treasure every moment.

This is the scene in my kitchen when the lab bomb went off! :o) The only one missing is Ruger, but then I said it was a lab bomb!!! LOL

This is our handsome Copper Top boy from our sister-in-lab Joan at http://labtails.blogspot.com/, we have the Copper Top from her Elsie and Ridge litter of 2007 and she has Tuc from our Max and Ellie litter of May 2008. She's one of the few who truly understands the lab obsession!

This is the gorgeous Cassie girl again with a much more attractive picture of the Ruger boy. We will be taking more pictures of Ruger in the future. As a purebred rescue he qualifies for the AKC PAL (Purebred Alternative Listing) registration and will be able to compete in all AKC performance venues from obedience to hunt tests. Ruger is a very smart cookie and we can't wait to show him off to the world. I had heard that GSP's had a bit of an attitude and might be difficult to train - imagine my delight to find a charming, willing little dude to work with!

This week has been busy and next week is worse, with the homework load of a 10 year old in a very academically minded school, work, labs and preparing for the obedience class I teach in (gulp) 10 days I haven't had time to get any other projects done. Oh well - live is full and I'll keep in touch!

Let's hear is for the ARIZONA CARDINALS - 60 years of waiting and we are here - it doesn't matter if we win or lose - we are HERE! If you break out the brews for the bowl - stay home or call a cab - no one can replace YOU!

Till next time,

Peace and Love

Momma Teece

A little about me!

Happy Friday! This is a new effort for me, I built and maintain my own web site: http://www.sundancerlabs.com/ , work full time, raise and show my Labs, and have 2 kids and a husband to tend to as well. This blog will be about life and labs, with the good, the bad and the ugly all talked over and commented on. I am a forty-something tail end Baby Boomer and have opinions, jokes and stories to share. I talk a lot about dogs (of course!), and will touch on a lot of current events, dumb things people do, and anything else that catches my fancy. I love puns, so beware I tend to use them often as they make me giggle. Silly jokes are meant to be shared and with a 10 year old daughter I have more than I care to at times.

My current 10 (!) Furkids range in age from 11 1/2 to 5 months. I have 3 obedience titled dogs and am currently showing 1 in the conformation ring (think beauty pageant for dogs!). My hubby hunts upland birds with our older 2 labs and we are exposing the little ones to the job they were bred for! We work with all our puppies and dogs to be the best they can be, all have regular veterinary checkups, shots and are micro chipped. All the dogs go through an obedience class between 5-8 months and we are pleased that all but our youngest are AKC Canine Good Citizens. For more info, see http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/. My girls only have 2-3 litters and the are spayed after they are done being Moms. I feed everyone Purina Pro Plan, with the appropriate supplements. Good food is good for both the dogs and you - a premium dog food makes your dogs coat shiny, keeps them healthy with the required diet and since they absorb the nutrients better, less poop to scoop! Hurray!

The dogs are: Max at 11 1/2, my grumpy old man and bubbie; Latte (like the coffee) at 4 1/2, hubby Jeff's hunting buddy and jumper extraordinaire; Ellie at 3 1/2, the ever curious George in our bunch; Cassie at 3 the gorgeous yellow girl, Sammie at 2 1/2, Ellie's daughter and even smarter than Mom; Copper from Joan at http://www.labtails.blogspot.com/, at 16 months, full of energy and probably the next hunter; Champ at 8 months, Ellie and Max's son, next to go into the conformation ring; Ruger is 6 months old and is our German Shorthair Pointer rescue; and last but not least Cassie's babies from August, Sig and Addie at 5 months old. Max, Cassie, Copper and Champ are yellow labs - Max is the darkest shade of yellow, know as fox red. Cassie his daughter is the lightest shade, know as cream. Copper is not quite as dark as a fox red, but is a what I call caramel, and Champ is a mid-yellow with close to fox red ears! Ellie, Sammie, and the babies Addie and Sig are black, and our Latte is a chocolate lab. Our GSP Ruger is liver colored with a ticked flash on his chest and 2 feet.

Oh, did I mention the cat? One lone kitty, Leila, my daughters snuggler and foot warmer. Leila came to us from the pound at 9 months, abandoned by her owner when she got pregnant. Now spayed and well fed, the skinny domestic short hair kitten that we picked up is now a stunning long haired tortise-shell cat! Wow. what 6 months can do for a rescued animal!

So, while I do breed - that horrible thing that all PETA and USHS folks think is awful - I take great care of all my dogs (oops, and cat!) and rescue when I can. Health testing is done on all my gang and my contract states that I will take back at ANY time a puppy that does not work out for ANY reason! Here's my take on the folks who say spay and neuter - don't breed; I want dogs to be a part of my life and if we spay and neuter everything - where are the dogs? and cats? Something to think about!

So a picture of the gang last spring - I will add more of the rest as time allows.

From left - Copper, Sammie, Max, Latte, Cassie and Ellie

Let's raise a toast to the pilots at USAir - good job, guys. Thanks for a GREAT save! To the folks in the mid west and east coast - stay warm. It's 74 here ;0) !! Have a great weekend - be kind to one another!

Peace and love,

Momma Teece