Susie (the Mastiff) surprised me today. Every day I go home for lunch, let out the love sick boy and then take him and Morrigan a jog. Every day the rest of the dogs go crazy while we drive off. I justify my favoritism because Trojan is locked up in solitary so often and Morrigan is, well, Morrigan. Anyway today as I was backing out the ATV Susie was really raising Hell. I happened to be watching as she backed up two steps, crouched, took a step forward and jumped the fence on the fly. I measured the fence where she jumped over it and it is 52”. The only part of her that touched it was one of her back feet. She must have hit a barb because she yelped. Anyway, I hated to reward her for breaking out but I cracked like an egg. I put her back into the pen. I put Morrigan and Trojan back and then I let Susuie out and took her for a nice exhausting run. We went over two miles and she was still running in front of the ATV. This girl has some kind of motor. I have always said, if something horrible happened, Susie is the dog I would want with me. She is smart, strong and super healthy.

Morrigan and Trojan had a big walk today. When she was younger, she never wanted to stop. Now that she has a little age on her, she was ready to head back to the house pretty quick.

Lexus is apparently ready to breed. You can imagine my dismay when I came home from lunch and saw a dog mounting her. Then I realized that it was the equllay horny Roxie and relaxed. Roxie is not near as dry mouthed as Morrigan's get and has the habit of submerging her whole head in a bucket to get a drink. Poor Lexus' whole back was literally dripping wet where those to have been trying to consummate their love. :) Trojan is locked in his cell but he has been getting LOTS of special attention when I am able because he is having to stay confined so much.

RoxiToo now has 11 points. She picked up a couple of singles in Tupelo, MS a couple weekends ago. I know she got at least one reserve up in Franklin, TN this last weekend. She and Os are now in identical situations.

Chocolate

As a Baby:

I can always count on Tammie to make me smile. Here we have a picture of a rare beastie indeed. This is a MaeganRoo resting on a doggie couch! She is slightly leggie right now!

This is a note mostly to myself. Lexus is definitely beginning her heat. Susie acts like it but I think she is faking. It's Lilly's turn but she seems to need a little time. Morrigan is ACTING like it but Trojan is not confirming her and she is showing few physical signs. Poor Trojan. Celibacy sucks.

Catie has been holding out on us! Here are a couple pictures of CH RockyTop's Dark Shadow. Morrigan's grandmother. These are the first pictures I have seen of her other than a wretched head shot. I can certainly see a lot of our dogs in this bitch. Catie said, "They're just snapshots." To me they are gold!

As an extra treat we get more pictures! Sandra sent me pics of all of Roxi's wins.

These pictures were all taken by Bob, Jennifer's dad.

Jim with Lilly in Bred By Exhibitor Group. We had been there since 8:30 AM. This picture was taken around 5:30 PM.

I know this next picture is blurry but it illustrates something very important. Sure, it illustrates how hard it is to get a good picture inside with a digital camera but is also shows something about this dog's movement. Notice how Chocobaby's foot comes out beyond her nose? This is called reach. The rear legs drive. So when you hear someone say, "that dog is not reaching" you will know what they are talking about. Chocolate has very good reach and drive.

How does she sleep like that? I would boil in my own skin.

I love this picture. Three sisters in Open class. Boudi is HUGE!

Jen and C waiting for there turn in front of the judge.

Jennifer made quite a splash on her first weekend as a handler. She started with Os and earned Reserve (second place). Not bad. Next she again took Reserve with Choclate. I was so proud of all three of them. Jennifer has worked hard with Os and he only paced a little. Of course, this was Chocolate's first show back from when she broke her back. She was magnificient.

Sidney also made her handling debut. Susie and Lilly won their classes on Saturday but Trojan and Lexus didn't. I spoke with the judge afterward and she told me why she dumped Trojan. She told me that mastiffs are not to have a tuck-up on their underline. I agreed with her, Trojan and Os were the only two dogs that had ANY tuck up. I was polite and didn't point out that the mastiff standard calls for: "Underline - There should be a reasonable, but not exaggerated, tuck-up." All breed judges, you gotta love 'em. The judge also told Jennifer to make sure that she continued to show her bitch until the end. Those words would prove useful on Sunday.

Sunday was fun. Trojan won Bred By(1 of 3) and Os won Open(1 of 3). I was sure one of us was going to win winner's dog but he gave it to the only puppy dog in the show. It was the first time I have ever seen Norlee angry. He turned bright red. When the girls went in, Lilly and Chocolate won their classes and Lexus came in second to Chocolate. When we went in for winner's bitch, Jennifer was so focused on Chocolate (remember what the previous day's judge had told her!) that she didn't notice when he pointed and gave her the win. Jennifer continued stacking Choclate while he went and recorded the win and picked up that very special purple ribbon. He then turned and handed it to Jennifer who was surprised. She asked, "Did I win?" He nodded and said, "Yes." She said, "Really?" He smiled and nodded. She said "WHEEEEE!" and everyone clapped and cheered. It was a magical moment. I will admit, I watched it with more than one tear in my eyes. Even now I am getting misty. You see, Chocolate won a major. The girl who had to stay confined to a crate for three months won a major in her first weekend back. I am proud of Jennifer but I am moved beyond words by Chocolate.

Chocolate spent the whole weekend in Bob's (Jen's dad) lap. Her front feet barely touched the floor. On Saturday, I quite literally had to pick her up and throw her into the ring. Once inside she did very well. But Sunday was special. When they went in for breed and all had been examined, Jen stacked Choclate and I finally saw the dog that I knew was inside her. She stretched out and held her stack beautifully. Her topline and head were perfect. Long body with super heavy bone. Tail straight down. A statue. For me it was very special and I will never forget that scene. The judge pulled the special girl out of line and many thought he was moving her to the front for breed. Then he pointed to Jennifer and had her stack Chocolate beside her. The words that come to mind are more and better. Not just in one feature but over the whole dog. The judge dismissed the Champion girl and called up the Champion dog. For a moment, I thought she might take breed but she earned Best of Winner's and Best of Opposite over the Champion girl. Chocolate, The girl who doesn't know how to quit. The girl who fights for her status in the pack even though she is paralyzed in the rear is back. The girl who has never whimpered in pain but whimpers constantly to be by your side so that she can sho you how much she loves you. Look out world.

I almost forgot, Sidney came back in with Lexus after Chocolate took Winner's Bitch and won Reserve! Way to go Sidney and Lexus!

What the Hell? SIDNEY!

2005-11-14
Maegan the day before Tammy picked her up.

Morrigan has learned how to open the latches on the new dog house. I guess I have to go back to using the small carabiners on my gates and doors. They are just such a pain but, she demands it, so it will be done.

Jennifer and Catie are jealous of me. I have trimmed the toenails of all four of the doggies going to the show this weekend. I did find a tick on Trojan. That wasn't fun. It was a dog tick and not a deer tick so he is fine.

I wrecked the four wheeler yesterday. First, you gotta know that my four wheeler doesn't have brakes. I was driving it up a steep 30-40 degree hillside when the engine died. My theory is that the steep hillside, low gas level and poor gas pickup location lead to an ultra lean gas mixture problem thus causing the engine to cease functioning because of not having sufficient fuel to burn. That means I sorta ran out of gas. :( Well, I'm about 200 feet up this 300 foot slope and the damned thing died. Morrigan and Lexus were right behind me. I turn and scream at them and they scatter. Gotta love that 'get the hell out of the way' instinct. Anyway, I VERY quickly decided on two courses of action. There was NO way that I was going to negotiate the hill backward so I had to either turn around or hit something, preferably quickly so that I didn't have a lot of speed. I sorta did both. When I turned around, I saw where Morrigan and Lexus were and I also saw a tree about 50 feet away. HIT THE TREE, my brain screamed! NO, DO a 'J' TURN, the other side of my brain screamed. I sorta did both. I aimed at the tree and started the J turn at the same time. Both sides of my brain won. I lost. The result was that I was whipped into a hickory tree going about 20 mph backwards/sideways. I hit the tree before the wheeler with my elbow and knee. The whole event took less than two seconds. I had to pick-up/push the wheeler uphill to get my pinned knee out. Then I had to start walking back to the house. Only about half a mile. My elbow is fine. My knee took the brunt of stopping the wheeler's weight, not to mention my own. I have a strawberry and swelling but the bruising seems minimal. All in all, I was lucky. Maybe its time to fix the brakes on the four wheeler...nevermind, its still in the woods.

20060415 - Lilly - Opposite Sex