The Blog of the Frog

It’s mad here at the moment! Fancy’s puppies are a week old today 🙂 Absolutely gorgeous and although a couple of them have had 1 day where they’ve lost weight on the whole they’re all gaining nicely – and haven’t had to be supplemented once, which is quite a feat with a litter of 5! Needless to say Fancy is a fantastic mother.

I spent the morning at Ts yesterday whilst she went to an appointment and when she got back the older two litters had their first taste of meat! I got to do a couple of the puppies and Sally’s little girl dived straight into the plate (no opening the mouth and putting a bit in to give them the taste for it needed!) and then was so excited she was shaking as she was eating 😆 And the slurping! It was so funny as she got further on, she was determined that she was going to eat the whole plateful (wasn’t meant to!) but you could see her slowing down as she got fuller and fuller and by the end she was picking up a mouthful and just holding it in her mouth before eventually managing to swallow! Pig 😆

Solei had his first obedience class on Monday evening. It had been pouring with rain most of the day and so the ground was soaking. The venue has a hall and a fenced outdoor (now unused) court, initially we were going to be inside but the previous class hadn’t quite finished so we started off outside. The first task was to get our dogs to sit next to us….would Solei sit? There was Absolutely. No. Way. he was going to put his bum on the *gasp* wet ground! 😆 Each of us was then doing some individual work so whilst we were waiting I kept trying to persuade Solei that actually no-one was going to die if his bottom dared touch water 😆 Eventually abandoned sit and I asked him to lie down – he went down into a bow! A few hundred commands later he did actually lie down and then we started to master the sit…just in time to move indoors!

Thankfully, once indoors he redeemed himself! The first thing we did were individual recalls and as I happened to be on the end Solei was the first to go. I put him in a sit stay, walked right to the other end of the hall and called him, then did the same thing back the other way…and he did the whole thing perfectly 🙂 He didn’t break his stays once, came as soon as I called him and actually was the only dog who did do it perfectly. When we all did a group down stay he did that ok as well, and we also did some walking about the hall and asking them to sit or lie down – expecting an instant response – which he did – thereby proving he does in fact know how to sit and on the first time of asking 😆 All in all he was great for a first session 🙂

Tuesday was then ringcraft! I’m now going to Bath on my own as well, which is a big responsibility. There are 5 dogs going – Solei, Jason, Sarah, Tosca and Tyler. Although Solei is a pain to show I’m obviously familiar with him(!) so he’s ok. Jason is lovely to show (touch wood, hope I haven’t jinxed that now!) and as you know I had Sarah living with me & showed her for months when she was a puppy (she was 2 in March! Where does the time go..). Then there’s Tosca…I showed her once in a puppy group and she was brilliant, but when I showed her in a breed class she dropped her tail a bit – but I think that was because I took S telling me to walk her legs off a bit too literally and I think she was probably rather tired! So I’m not that confident with her but I know her well and hopefully we’ll be ok. The only one I really wasn’t confident about at all was Tyler. He’s only been here a couple of months and I don’t even know him *that* well, never mind having shown him before! I haven’t even taken him properly at ringcraft. I almost showed him once when we had two dogs entered in the same class, but it turned out S had entered the wrong puppy 😆 and so only Tyler was entered and S showed him.

So I asked T if I could take Tyler to ringcraft, which I did. He was pretty good on the floor from the get go, very silly on the table to start with but by the end of the evening he was going beautifully 🙂 So I feel more confident now and fingers crossed the tail will stay up, he’ll show well and I won’t let anyone down! Being in a class of Papillons, rather than lots of different breeds, should help as well.

Bath is now tomorrow and I’m terrified 😆 Solei hasn’t been showing very well either and I so want him to do well as it’s his last show. Fingers crossed it’ll be alright on the day!

The puppies are all doing well so far…feeding well (and Fancy has SO much milk…T says she’s never seen a bitch with so much. Poor girl looks like a cow underneath!), gaining weight and oh my gosh they’re gorgeous! The second girl is red sable so we have three red sables and two black and whites…surprised at how many red sables there are, I’d have rather had 1 or 2 less cos there seem to be so many red sable Phalenes about! I really hoped for a tri but it doesn’t look like it at the moment – and with only two black and whites (obviously the red sables can’t be tri whereas the black and whites could be potentially) my chances are now almost non existant. Ah well, as long as they have amazing conformation and movement I’m not really bothered about colour!

On Saturday we went to the SoE Pap Club open show. With S in the USA and T at home with puppies I was going on my own and was going to take 7 dogs but T couldn’t get Tansy bathed in time, so in the end I went up with Darwin, Jeanie, Sarah, Solei, Jason and Topsy.

Everyone was placed in all their classes which was good! Darwin got a 5th in Minor Puppy Dog, Solei got a 3rd in Limit Dog (beating a CC winner so we’re ok with that!) and a 2nd in Phalene Dog (judge couldn’t decide between him and an Irish Ch and took ages which does not go down well with Solei – you take too long the tail goes down!), Jason won Open Dog, Jeanie 3rd in Minor Puppy Bitch, Topsy 2nd in Novice Bitch & 4th in Phalene Bitch and Sarah 3rd in Open Bitch. Jason was Reserve Best Dog and then……Reserve Best in Show!! 😀

I was still over the moon from the puppies so I’m sure you can imagine I’m totally off the scale now! Someone can scrape me off the ceiling later 🙂

The rest of Tuesday and Wednesday passed fairly uneventfully! We had a couple of “this is it….no it isn’t” moments, but by 9am yesterday morning it was obvious this really WAS it 😆

Fancy had the first at 11:05am and was all done by 1pm, so in the end all very civilised time wise! Just a shame about the two sleepless nights beforehand whilst she had us thinking she was going to have them and then didn’t 😉 Never one to do this by halves (from one extreme to the other!) we have FIVE babies! Three boys and two girls, all absolutely gorgeous and beautifully marked! <3 Two partially white ears but I think they’ll grow out….just hope they all go from strength to strength now – 5 is a big litter for the breed, especially as it’s her first litter too! Though she’s being a fantastic mum so far. Almost too good actually, she’s so protective we’re only able to have the bare minimum to do with them, so not even 100% sure on colours yet! We definitely have 1 red sable girl and 1 red sable boy, two of the boys are black and white (though tri markings could come but no evidence yet) and the second girl I’m not totally sure about yet….initial impression was black and white but after she’d dried off I think she may be red sable. Colour odds for this litter were 50% black, 33% red sable and 17% tricolour so your guess is as good as mine!  I can’t believe it, I’ve waited going on two years for this litter and with the last pregnancy going wrong too it seems like a dream at the moment.

We had the scare of our lives midway through. She’d had four puppies and we’d been cleaning everything up and getting photos at the same time. Took photos of three of them when my card was full, so left the fourth for a minute whilst I emptied my card. A few minutes later Fancy started contracting, thought there was another puppy coming so took the other pups out of the way…..and could only find three!! There’s us looking frantically all over the box, even on the floor but pup is nowhere to be seen! We have to stop for a minute to deliver this puppy (which turned out to be afterbirth not a pup) when I see the hot water bottle (which we had already checked) moving….little sod had got himself in between the towel and the bottle! Biggest relief of my life 😆 Not looking good for him is it, that’s a very Phalene thing to do and he was only an hour old! (Physically he’s absolutely fine, though was a touch on the warm side initially 😆 )

They’re pretty good weights considering they weren’t due until Sunday at the earliest (and she was mated so late really almost Monday) and there are five of them – littlest one is the first girl at 3.5oz which isn’t terrible and biggest one is the other girl at 6oz. The boys are between 4.5oz and 5.5oz. Feeding well, the little girl keeps getting knocked off but that’s partly because Fancy teats are quite small at the moment so there isn’t a great deal to grab hold of! If you make sure she doesn’t get knocked off she’s sucking well, and I’m sure it won’t take them long to make poor Fancy’s teats more grippable 😆

Fingers crossed there’s a stunner in there for me, to follow in daddy’s pawprints! My only complaint is I really wanted Fancy to wait until today because I was hoping to have them in Puppy for the SoE Pap Club show next year and now they’ll be 12 months and 1 day 😆 but at least she’s had them before Saturday so now I don’t have to worry about potentially dashing back part way through the show (2hrs away) because she’s whelping! The question is….is the world ready for more Soleis? 😆

I seem to be doing nothing but puppies at the moment 😆

On Friday night I dreamt I went over to T’s and had Fancy upside down on my lap so I could feel for puppy movement, when she started to give birth (obviously, as you do!). T was there but not doing anything and I whelped her on my own….upside down, on my lap 😆 There were four puppies and they were born within about 5 or 10 minutes, no sacks but I was using my fingers to clear stuff from round their noses and mouths and then shaking them! After that I put them on to suckle and I don’t remember anything else, though I think there was a bit. Very strange dream indeed.

Saturday night I dreamt I got a phone call from T and she mentioned Fancy had gone into labour, I asked if I could come over and she said I suppose so…then when I got there Fancy was upstairs (clever as she lives in a bungalow!) and T wouldn’t bring her down or let me go up to see her!

Sunday morning I had minor respite when I took my three terrors to Blackdown’s agility show. I was really pleased with them; it was Solei’s third show, Jeanie’s second (though she hardly came out of the car the first time) and Darwin’s very first, but the first outdoor show for all three of them. I started off taking all three of them round together, then Solei on his own, Darwin on his own and finally Darwin & Jeanie together (I’m toying with the idea of starting Darwin when he’s old enough, but Jeanie definitely won’t) and they all coped superbly. The atmosphere at an agility show can be a bit full on cos so many of the dogs are so hyped up and OTT, but even walking them through the larger dogs they were fine which was brilliant! I also met up again with the lady who is going to be training me and Solei for agility and hopefully we can start in about 2 1/2 weeks 🙂 Firstly the ground was too wet and then we’ve been trying to find a weekend that suits both of us and failing! So I asked if during the week would be any good and all being well we’re going to try Fridays 🙂 Need to give her a ring to check because she didn’t have her diary there.

Came back home at lunchtime, grabbed some lunch and then went over to T’s to spend the afternoon there. Saw all the puppies again and Tanya’s for the first time….two look black & white which is genetically impossible so it’ll be fascinating to see what they colour they are as they mature! S was at a show so ended up staying there until after she came back to see her before she left on Monday, eventually got home about 8pm! An hour or so later I got a phone call from T to say that Tanya’s boy wasn’t looking good and could I possibly go over tomorrow (Monday) to bottle feed him whilst she took S to the airport.

So Monday was also spent at T’s! I went over about 10am so she could show me what to do before they left at half past, and I ended up staying there until gone 7pm as T didn’t get back until just before 7! I fed him more or less hourly and although he was a little sod to get the bottle in his mouth (for one so tiny he has jaws of iron!) once it was in he was away….until he spat it out again 😆 He was hungry and wanted it so don’t know why he insisted on putting up such a fight! Solei was meant to be going to his first obedience class last night but I’d been feeling quite rough since I woke up and so was in two minds about whether I could go anyway, and then the class was at 7:15pm at which time I hadn’t even left T’s, so that decided that! Puppy’s looking a bit better and stronger this morning so fingers crossed and I can’t have done too bad a job yesterday! (Puppies occupied my dreams last night also, but thanks to the way I spent my day it was Tanya’s this time!)

Fancy wouldn’t eat her breakfast this morning…and that really is NOT Fancy. Especially since she’s been pregnant, she’s on enormous meals which she usually scoffs in 3 seconds and then still looks for seconds! I would really like her to hold on another couple of days…preferably until the 15th! But what will be will be I suppose…just have to wait and see. Could be today, could be tomorrow, could be Friday…! I’m so on edge now though, can’t concentrate on anything and I’m jumping 6 feet everytime the phone rings 😆

Apparently tis the season of babies! Sally had her puppies on the 30th (2 boys & 2 girls but we lost one of the girls), Tanya had her babies last night/this morning (finished around 2am!), 3 girls and 1 boy….and Fancy is pregnant 🙂 Not going to count my chickens before they’re hatched (or my puppies before they’re whelped!) as she was pregnant last time and we didn’t have any puppies, and of course even after they’re born anything could happen. So we’ll see! She’s due a week Sunday (17th), but I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re early (hoping they’re no earlier than the 15th though…). Current guess is 2 or 3!

Bank Holiday Monday saw us at a show with two handlers (T was at home with pups) and three dogs in each class! We overcame this by roping my mother in to hold them at the beginning & end whilst I showed two in each class 😆 I had a wonderful time, though kept expecting the judge to say “oh not you again!” Tyler, Dilly and Jeanie were in the first class and Tyler won it, Dilly was 3rd and Jeanie 4th. In the second class it was Solei, Sarah and Jason – Jason 2nd, Sarah 3rd and Solei 4th. Dilly was 2nd in AV Toy Puppy. Tyler then got Best Puppy in Breed….and Puppy Group 1 again!!

I’d also entered Solei in the May Day Stakes where he came a very respectable 3rd, behind a Greyhound and a Husky! At the end the judge moved every dog again except Solei, and I thought well there goes that! But then he placed him so I’m not quite sure what all that was about, though obviously not complaining! I really thought he wasn’t in with a chance when he moved every other dog. There were bottles of wine for 1st and 2nd, but Solei won a super absorbent pet towel for 3rd which is actually more useful as I don’t drink!

There was a companion show being held in conjunction with the open show, so I entered Darwin and Solei. Darwin came a credible 4th in AV Puppy 6-9mths and Solei WON AV Hound, Toy or Terrier 😀 It was incredibly windy so he wasn’t at his best on the move but there was a lovely afghan in his class, among others, so he obviously didn’t look too bad!

Solei absolutely showed his socks off all day…I was so proud of him. As I say he wasn’t moving as well as he can because the wind was just so strong and a head wind too. Thought he might get blown off the table at one point! Though I think I was the bigger problem, because the chair is so big the wind resistance was incredible and even on my fastest speed I just didn’t feel like I was moving him fast enough. Then a bit unfortunate in the BIS challenge as he was by far the smallest to start with and as we were going along the long side of the ring (judge moved everyone individually again) an enormous gust of wind blew the tape and spooked him (shot into the middle of the ring!). He usually bounces back from the initial shock very quickly, but then every little sound will make him jump so he was flinching away from me every time the chair bumped, which was most of the time!

Bar that little incident Solei was absolutely *fantastic* though…he showed his socks off all day, didn’t drop his tail once and he was standing for ages. I think it’s the Fancy effect! The last time he showed that well was the first show (South Western Toy) he did after he mated her, then he hasn’t seen her since. I took him over with me to T’s on Sunday and he sat in his box whining for at least 2 hours, desperate to get to her. So eventually I let him out to say hello, put him on the floor and he was straight on her back! 🙄

Tuesday evening was match night at ringcraft. I thought I’d take Darwin & Jeanie as neither of them had done too much on Monday, I wasn’t so sure about Solei as he’d done such a lot but it would quite possibly be his last match and he was looking and feeling so good. In the end I groomed him up ready to show and took him with me anyway (I don’t like leaving him on his own – ie without another dog!) and he made the decision by his reaction when we arrived! He *demanded* to show 😆

Solei went like a dream still but was knocked out in the first round. Judge has Boxers and Giant Schnauzers so I doubt she’d seen a Phalene before! However, both Darwin and Jeanie got through to the final of the Puppy Match! So I had to rope in a friend who has Golden Retrievers and has never shown a Pap in her life 🙂 as I only had one pair of hands!

And Jeanie went Best Puppy in Match!!

It was a qualifier for an interclub match at the end of May so we will be off up near Bristol on the 31st, representing our club, assuming she doesn’t come into season! I wish she’d come in *now* (today or maybe tomorrow) so we could get it over and done with and she should only miss one show. Then I don’t need to worry about it for the summer! Hate first seasons, they’re so unpredictable and you never know where you are until they happen.

Bar Crufts I’ve had a lousy year so far in terms of show results – before Monday I’ve only had two firsts in 2009 and one was with a friends dog who I showed for them (so only half counts!), the other was with Sarah. So I hope this is the start of a nice run now, with Solei winning that class on Monday and then Jeanie Best Puppy in Match on Tuesday!

It seems to be when there’s the most to write about that I have the most difficulty doing it!

Club Champ Show…not a lot to comment on really. The Phalene class I thought was quite rushed and I felt rather like the judge wanted to get it over and done with as quickly as possible and was treating it like a novelty rather than a “proper” class. I would have placed them differently also, but there’s a limit to what I can say here 😉

The next Saturday I went down to watch South Western Gundog Club’s show, because I could 😆  I have a soft spot for gundogs and there was nothing else on that weekend! Most enjoyable day, I have quite a few friends with gundogs so was still a very social occasion. Though it did make me laugh as everytime I saw someone I knew they’d say “Hello!” and then you could see a look come over their faces and it would be followed up with “what are you doing here?!” 😆 Literally every single person I saw that I know said that, or something along those lines! Amused me, easily amused that I am 🙂

The weekend just gone was WELKS. The weather was lovely so it was the first show Solei and I have done outside since last August! It was quite hot which never bodes well, not at all conducive for keeping one’s tail up if you’re Solei! He went ok but didn’t feel nearly as good as he has done since Crufts. He wasn’t brilliant on the stand anyway and at the end I managed to lose my liver which really helped! The judge gave him a very hard look for 5th (which isn’t to be sneezed it in a class of 16) but Solei just wasn’t showing well enough and after he’d walked back and forth between Solei and the other dog a couple of times he went for the other! So that was a bit disappointing, but I got to meet up with some people I haven’t seen for months which was brilliant and spent far too much money on the stalls! (which wasn’t so good!)

The other thing which is probably really what’s kept me from posting is I’ve been going through emotional turmoil of late trying to make one of the most difficult decisions I’ve ever had to make.

As I’ve mentioned before (but only once so I’m not being too repetitive :lol:) Solei has had a loose tooth since August 2007. At the time I was told I’d get 12, maybe 18 months more out of it. I’ve been incredibly careful with it since and the 12 month mark came and went. Then, in October 2008, I discovered it was no longer loose but now VERY loose. I was doubtful as to whether it would stay in until January 2009 – which was my next benchmark – but as I counted down the weeks January came and with it the tooth still there. I went ahead and entered Crufts anyway because I wanted him to go regardless….but I was sure he’d have lost it by March. Crufts came with (unbelievably) the tooth still there and a change of judge worked in Solei’s favour, ending with him achieving my ultimate goal for him and getting his Stud Book Number!

For the last few months I’ve been taking one show at a time, waiting as long as possible and then when I’d checked his mouth going ahead and entering right before the closing date. I’d toyed with the idea of retiring him after Crufts but as the closing dates came and he was still ok I carried on entering shows. Then I debated retiring him in April but that was full of “important” shows (two club shows – one open one champ – & a general champ) so again as all his teeth were still there I went ahead and entered…you start believing it’s never going to happen which is obviously not good at all because it will, sooner or later!

I really have been to hell and back with him and all the agonising and upset. But as April came, the closing date for entries for championship shows started to loom near and in larger quantities. I don’t want to stop showing him but he now has his Stud Book Number, so I no longer need to worry about getting that. Champ entries are very expensive and – although there are exceptions – under most judges once they see a missing tooth they’re not going to consider the rest of the dog. I also know if I keep entering him in shows until he loses it it’s going to make it *so* much more difficult to accept than if I’ve called it a day. The tooth is also now very dirty because I can’t clean it and I’m not overly happy about him showing like this. So….I think I’ve decided to retire him this month.

I’m still not totally convinced 😆 but I haven’t entered him in the first champ show that’s closed since I’ve made the decision so that’s a start. I was so, so tempted to enter him and it was incredibly hard not to! The next one closes next week so I expect I shall be agonising again then!

He’s doing an open show this Monday, a club open show on the 16th and Bath champ show on the 22nd…and that will probably be it. I’ve had 21 months out of that tooth thus far, so I really hope he can manage another three weeks!

I’m scared to have another dog now 🙁 I know I couldn’t go through all this again.