One of the great things about puppies is that you get to make up celebration days, like today! May is four weeks old today! Actually, it is a big deal and a day that anyone who raises puppies looks forward to. At four weeks, puppies are eating solid food and drinking froma bowl. They desperately try not to step in their own poo and you can normally convince them to pee in the same place. In other words, they are starting to become dogs!

Behaviorally, she is a riot. She loves the big dogs. She loves barking at them and lunging at them. She rears up on her back legs and tries real hard to get to their ears. Trojan finds her terribly entertaining and just watches her for hours with his tail wagging. Lexus doesn't like Susie getting close but we haven't had any issues.

On an avian front, we have seven new chickens. I built their coop today and they seem pretty happy. They were raised to sleep in an igloo dog house. I just happen to have an igloo dog house of the exact same dimensions and they are safely stuffed inside. I like them quite a bit. They coo a lot more than the meat chickens I had last year. They are also tiny little critter compared to Mrs. Clux and her buddies. I just have to keep them away from CiCi!

Trojan, HRHBrian and I took a pretty good walk yesterday evening. It was storming pretty good but I didn't figure any of us would melt. Thunder and lightning are always cool. Trojan Wallace got a little tired towards the end. HRHBrian pushes him pretty hard and they run a lot. HRHBrian will give Trojan one of his patented shoulder blocks and the race will be on. Trojan was once an fast dog but HRHBrian is just too damn quick. It reminds me of James and me. Until recently I was faster in a straight line but I couldn't turn like he could. Now it is all moot since he can taunt me by staying just out of reach. Trojan, I feel your pain.

May during her three week birthday celebration!

May is growing like a weed. She is very impressive so far and seems like an intelligent pup. She has been playing games and howls like Susie did. She has us well manipulated. She likes to be held and sleeps the best when she is flat on her back beside you. I guess that is a puppy's right.

When she wakes up she runs straight to the sound and starts barking. I need to get video of it.

Since we have gotten back, HRHBrian has pretty much been in lock down. I haven't had the opportunity to get him out for our customary walks/runs. He hears me pull up and starts howling/whining. Yesterday evening, we got to go on a walk and he was a terror!

HRHBrian sprinted for half an hour! We started in the grass. Tall grass that must be run through at 30 mph to get the necessary whipping action so that when he snaps at it he cuts it off cleanly. Next he disappeared down a fire break but he was found bouncing just out of site. He took a right, I took a left. Between us is a curved fire break that looks all the world like a berm on a motorcycle track. He was leaned over about 60 degrees as he floated through the curve.

(I must point out that I DO worry about him when he does this but he is so strong that I hate to TRY to hold him back!)

He raced off 100 yards and crashed into the woods. He did not slow down. Small trees either move or are simply sheared off at the roots.... It has rained here for days and the first creek was FULL. HRHBrian hit the creek at full speed and became the HMS Brian for a few moments. It looked like a car driving through a puddle. Doggie actually had a bow wake! At this point he had been running full speed for 10 minutes. He crashed back out of the undergrowth and back onto the trail. I had walked about half a mile. He had to be approaching two! We walked to the top of the hill and this time I followed him as he turned left onto a ridge.

He disappeared in front of me and I lost him pretty quick except that I could hear him crashing off to my right. The top of the ridge is about 100' higher in elevation than a second creek which is 200' to my right. It is an extremely steep slope. (I know because I went down it backwards on a four wheeler once and almost died but that is another story...) Big crash, then silence. I yelled, 'Brian!'. Crashing and splashing resumed! He came barreling up that steep hill, gave me a shoulder block/fly-by at 30 mph and soaked my right leg. His tongue hanging was about two feet out of his face, and went right down the other side of the hill to the third creek he had visited in the last ten minutes! I walked down the ridge until it sloped down to where the two creeks meet and he joined me there.

Soaked from head to toe with eyes ablaze, he was finally pooped. We walked together about half a mile back to the house and I put him back into the barn enclosure. His toe nails may not be immaculate and he may have an occasional tick bite but HRHBrian is a happy dog.

Camera phone pictures are never the best but when you see something unusual, they are nice to have handy. I didn't even bother carrying my phone for most of the week but when your soon to be 64 year old father decides he is going to scale a tree, you gotta go get the camera...

Once he got up there, he started torturing Brian. All Brian had to do was look up but he kept going around the tree.

It didn't last to long because Brian got bored and went back to the creek where he was trying to eat the waterfall.

We got pretty bored with the NCIS marathon and went on a hike on some of the local trails. This was Brian's absolutely favorite part of the weekend. He regularly walks with me on the trails at home and we were both comfortable with him walking about fifty feet in front of us. We saw this HUGE Muscadine vine growing alongside the trail on a Hemlock tree. The tree was better than three feet in diameter to give you a sense of scale.

I am not a photogenic person. I can't smile on cue. However, last Saturday night as I was returning to our table, I smiled. That is genuine happiness folks! :)

Bottle fed babies aren't as big as mastiff fed babies. Right. May weighed in at a healthy 4.4 pounds last night, then we fed her! She is walking and her eyes are opening up right on time.

Laura has spoiled her horribly. She wants to be held and doesn't like to be alone. Its all Laura's fault. I keep telling her to put the baby down but she is doting so what is a guy to do?

Tammie has posted a ton of pictures over on her blog The Stephenson Pack. The baby girl is Corinne and she is Tammie's granddaughter. Anyone want to take a bet that Corinne grows up to love animals?

What a mad dash this weekend has been.

I left work at 5:00 Thursday and met my family (8 of us) for dinner. Then, we walked across the street for Sidney's play, Beauty and the Beast. This is Sid's first semester in performing arts and considering the number of students in the program, she was fortunate to get a speaking role, THE RUG! For weeks I have pretended to not know that she was playing The Rug and a townsperson and I have made many references to her being a teacup. She and her mother roll their respective eyes and correct me again and again. She was a very good rug and she was the only person on stage that tumbled. I can't imagine trying to do back handsprings in a sack but somehow she pulled it off.

After we left the play, I went and picked up little May/Royce (thank you for keeping her late Tammie!) and went home and took care of the doggies and got Brian ready to travel. My dad acquiesced to go with me at dinner. I packed my bags, packed Brian's crate. At 1:00AM Brian was bathed and we finished trimming his toe nails. I took a shower got in bed at 1:30AM and got right back out at 3:30AM. Dad and I loaded up a sleepy Brian and we were off.

Brian had a blanket but he just couldn't seem to get comfortable. He basically stood in the back of the wagon forever. We pulled over into a Burger King in Blue Ridge, Dad got a biscuit and I walked Brian. Brian did his business and away we went, following the GPS. We shouldn't have. The GPS unit took us down a dirt road that kept getting worse and worse. We hit a big bump and slowed to a crawl. Time was becoming an issue. Eventually we had to stop because the road was actually gated by the National Forest Sevice! I was livid and asked the GPS unit for the exact same location. It came up with a different answer, and it was 30 miles away, behind us. It was 8:30, the show started at 9:00 we were 30 miles away on roads that are called 'The Tail of the Dragon' because of how many sharp turns are on them. We were doomed.

I had already turned around and I was careening down the 'pig trail' (Dad always refers to it as 'The Pig Trail' now). We hit the pavement and I was off. Here is a hint, when a road that is known for being curvy puts up signs that read 10 MPH, they mean it. Racing is exactly what we were doing. We were desperate now. The problem was that I was bouncing Brian off the sides of the car and his anxiety was spiked at 110%. We actually had to pull off the road so that I could extract him from above the barricade because his big goofy butt had pushed it over. He had advanced from just drolling on the top of Dad's head to trying to actively slow me down!

Somehow, we pulled into the resort at the correct entrance and parked alongside the road. Smoke was coming from under the hood. Great. Nothing I could do then so I very calmly said, 'Dad, I'm taking Brian to find the handler. Park the car please.' The National Anthem was playing, I needed to find Nancy Walker who had graciously arranged a handler for us. I spoke to several helpful people and eventually found Nancy. 6-8 veteran bitches was complete and they were moving to the 8+ Veterans. Nancy introduced me to Anna. She was fabulous. I think she sensed that I was having a bad day. She took Brian and I walked away to compose myself.

To say that Anna did a good job is an understatement. Brian was SERIOUSLY stressed. She calmed him down and gave him treats and they became fast friends. We still had a little time and I watched as she and her friend worked with him. It was very impressive. I have worked with Brian but he has never had a lady 'show' him. I should not have worried. They were spectacular. In the end Brian got third. He just ran out of energy towards the end. He placed behind his brother Thunder handled by Collette and an excellent dog handled by Pam who went on to win Winners Dog. What was extra special was that Catie's Jimbo, my namesake and a Trojan/Sara Lee son, was right there too. He made the cut in a class of 18 outstanding mastiffs and finished fifth or sixth! I was pretty proud to see all three boys out there all lined up together!

Remember the car? It was leaking transmission fluid pretty badly. That big bump was worse than I expected...

We hung around and watched Winners, I spoke to Diane and a few others that I know and then we went up the hill to Catie's cabin. I hadn't eaten and I was seriously hungry. After we got Brian in his crate, Dad and I were going to get something to eat and then I realized I didn't have my wallet. I looked in every bag I had. Dad searched the car. It was gone.

Back down the hill and everyone was gone. I started telling everyone I met that I had lost my wallet and where to find me if they saw or heard of it. When we had exhausted our alternatives we went to eat. The nice lady at the register called all the local stores and told THEM to watch out for my wallet and name. North Carolinians are wonderful southerners. Dad and I each had a Rueben and then back up to the cabin. As we were sitting there afterward I was going over the thousand things that had happened in the last couple hours, I remembered putting something in the back bedroom of the cabin. Hope returned! When we got back I went straight to it and found my wallet. How embarassing.

We tried to nap but Catie had the air set on -237 degrees for the good of the dogs and since it was her cabin and she had gone home to swap boy dogs for girl dogs we just didn't have the energy or anyone with whom to argue. I slept for about half an hour and then walked Brian and another of Trojan's get, the aptly named, Winnie the Pooh. Winnie is a wonderful girl that bubbles loves and happiness. As far as I can tell, the only fault she has is that she doesn't like to go to the bathroom while on lead and she doesn't mind going in her crate. Which nessecitates a bath. Four times. Catie is a saint because I might have killed her.

I went to bed at 10:00 and woke up at 8:00. I still felt tired. Dad and Catie had been up since 5:00! I gotta hand it to the old dude, he handles sleep deprivation better than me! I went down and held Winnie and Gracie for Catie and spoke to a few folks. Winnie and Grace didn't place but they both showed well. I got an AKC DNA kit for Brian so while Catie bathed Winnie and her crate, again, dad and I went up to swab Brian. I wasn't sure exactly what they wanted back so I brought the swab, all the envelopes and the dog back down the hill.

I went back to the table were the DNA kits were and there was a different person there. We were second in line behind a VERY attractive young lady in a SHORT skirt who happened to be slightly bent over filling out paperwork. Brian. Oh Brian. Being and intelligent dog and never one to let an opportunity simple slide by, he stuck his snout between her legs and lifted her off the ground! I was mortified. The lady sitting behind the table burst out laughing, called the young lady by name and said, "did you get a little goosed?" To her never ending credit, the young lady said, "Yes I did, and I liked it!" You could have knocked me over with a feather. Apparently Brian liked it too because now he was busy whacking everyone sitting in the back row in the back of the head with his tail. I must have made quite a scene, mortified apologies to the young lady and to the folks being whacked by a well rested Brian. When he isn't tired he is a handful!

We got the kit turned in and went to find Catie. We took our menagerie to their crates and set off to eat. After we ate, we went back to the room and watched about four hours of NCIS. Of course, while my older more aged and more exhausted cabin mates would have just as soon left them in their crates, I kept letting Brian and Gracie out to wallow in the floor with me. NCIS is a great show but I was missing wrestling by now!

Soon enough the appointed hour arrived and I was off to the Ball Room for the Awards Banquet. Anxiety levels reached new highs. I wasn't nervous, just anxious and emotional. I had been developing cold sores around my mouth since Thursday evening when I raced across Alabama to get to that first dinner and now they were driving me crazy. They didn't help. I went in and was greeted by my savior, Diane Becker.

Diane has a wonderful family very much the way we have our family around Morrigan. I sat at Diane's table and watched as she and her family arranged things just so. I do enjoy people of strength and character and the folks around Diane all have tons of it. They had commandeered four tables and they were not about to relinquish them. When the call came to eat, Diane said 'come on!' I wasn't quick enough. By the time I had tucked in my chair, the line was 100 deep and we were sitting less than 50 feet from its head! Confidence is as confidence does. Diane would have none of it. She walked back over, grabbed me by the hand and took me to the front. If the folks behind us didn't like it, they didn't say a word. Like I said. Confident. I really enjoyed the time I spent with Diane and the conversation at the table. I got the sense that I was in the company of people that truly understood that it was about the dogs and everything else was just icing. Then the awards began.

The Hall of Fame inductees are first and Morrigan was the second girl called. Diane Collins massacred her name but I was expecting that and frankly, few wouldn't have. Gaelic is not exactly native to this country. It didn't detract from the moment. As I walked up to get the certificate I felt all the emotions of the previous days well up inside me. Not yet I told myself. I took the certificate and went back to our table. As I sat there, Diane leaned over and said, "I don't have one of those." I almost broke again but, not yet... I sat through a few more awards and fidgeted. It was over. Morrigan's place in history was secure. Diane soon leaned over and gave me permission, "you know, the rest is just like this with an auction at the end." I left soon after. It was raining hard and I left out the side door that got me closer to the car without exposing me to the rain. I stood there in the breezeway, alone but never alone. The sun had set but it was still twilight. You could still see the mountains and the fog. Everything was green and full of life. Beautiful. I said thank you to everyone.

When I got back up the hill, I was ready to go. I showed Catie the certificate but we loaded quickly and Dad and I were soon gone. We left at 9:30. We stopped at the first lighted location and checked the transmission fluid. It was fine and off we went. We stopped a few more times and got home at 1:15AM. I was in bed about 45 minutes later. I awoke at 11:00 the next morning and tended to the dogs. May was huge! She can crawl out of her laundry basket now and will soon graduate to the bath tub! Then I turned my focus to James' graduation party. Laura had left early to go cook at her mother's. Laura came home, jump started a sleepy James. He and Lesia had been playing video games when Dad and I got home.

I piddled around until James FINALLY left for work about 1:30 and I got started on my contribution to the party. I put together a 10 minute 'movie' with some of the 10,000 pictures I have of our lives in this laptop. I added 4 minutes of wrestling highlights to the end. Many of the people at the party have never seen James wrestle and that was going to change! Bully pulpit and all.

Dad, May and I arrived at 4:30. We were supposed to be there at 2:00. It took me a little longer to find pictures of all the people that I wanted in the movie. It did turn out well. In the rush to get out the door, I had forgotten to get May's bottle and I had to bribe Sidney's wonderful friend, Adrienne to go and retrieve it for us. The party went very well and there is nothing quite like Donald Walker pork. If you get the choice between bacon wrapped filet's and Donald's BBQ pork, go with the pork. The party was great and we got home about 9:30. I gave May a quick bath and we were in bed by 11:00. Finally, I can go back to work so I can rest.

I gotta say I am REALLY proud of Lexus. This baby is awesome and she did really well. We bred Lexus to Pounder within a month or two of the same age we bred Morrigan to Pounder. What Morrigan failed to deliver, her daughter has completed. Lexus is looking good and she loves this baby. She does NOT like it when Trojan or especially Susie get close to the baby. Lexus and her litter will surpass Morrigan on September 1st.

Speaking of May, Morrigan's Amazing just hasn't stuck well. We have moved on and the current front runner in the name department is Morrigan's Silver Seraph. Ford, Lexus, Rolls? Yep, the Silver Seraph is a Rolls Royce model PLUS it includes Pounder's Kennel name so it makes sense on several levels. A seraph is a type of angel. She is certainly that.

Tammie took some pictures of May....Check out her blog.

One more with her buddy the bottle.

Here is our May Bug sleeping on my fat belly. To give you a sense of scale, the blue square is almost exactly 4" across.

We have decided on a name. Saturday was such a good day. While we were having a perfect cesarean performed, James was at a wrestling tournament by himself. As each match went by he would text us on his wins and we would text him on Lexus' and baby's progress. James came in second this year at State but on Saturday he avenged that loss and pinned the kid that beat him in the finals. It was a good day.

During the surgery we were talking about names and Cinco De Mayo, May Day and the May theme kept coming up. We said we wold wait and see what stuck. We were talking about it again late last night and James said, 'Well, she is amazing.' I said, "That's it." Continuing the tradition of intentionally misspelled words her registered name will be 'Morrigan's Amayzing' and we will call her 'May'.

She is doing great. Lexus never really started producing milk. May got colostrum but milk production never really happened. Lexus has already started drying up and we are bottle feeding. That was the plan all along we just really wanted the colostrum for the antibodies. I don't want to risk this baby on a teat that may be infected because of low flow rates.

Regardless, all is well and Tammie has her for the first time this morning. I'm excited.

She did it. Her uterus is a minefield, she has had a hole in her chest since a week before we inseminated her and she broke her right wrist, but she is still Lexus and that means she is and always will be special.

She let us gas her down. No Valium, no injections, just me asking her to lie still. A big dog like Lexus doesn't have to let you do anything. She trusted me and I sure am glad she did. The doctor was super careful and when he cut out that baby and her face hit the air she took a big gulp and started yelping before she was even clear of the uterus. 1.9 pounds. Not 9 ounces but .9 pounds. She was feeding before Lexus was even awake.

She is gorgeous to. She is going to do her parents proud. So who is she? Well, she belongs to this guy, CH Silver's Pounds Sterling:

Then there is this young lady, CH Caledonia's Pursuit of Perfection.

Without further ado:

          +-- Ch. Silver's Double Trouble, fawn
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   +-- Champion Silver's Pounds Sterling, Fawn
   |      |
   |      +-- Messiah ELS Doormans Daughter
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 +-- Morrigan's 
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   |      +-- Champion Caledonia's Built to Last, Brindle
   |      |
   +-- Champion Caledonia Pursuit of Perfection, Fawn
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          +-- Champion Clas Myrrdin's Morrigan, Fawn