He IS a purty boy!!!

We took Stryker to the dog show in Albuquerque and he did so well. John and Zack dragged his crate into the show hall and we kept him there for a little while. One of the Rottweiler club members who is a judge ( not in the Rot ring ) suggested we take him out of the crate and see how he did. No barking, no aggression ( although he was super interested in the English bulldogs and the Poodles - probably thought those lil balls on Poodles hind ends were chew toys of some sort ) but interest only. Very calm and very good. Both judges and handlers thought he was beautiful. One of the top handlers in the country has said he would take him, train him for the ring and show him.

I am conflicted. I dont want to send him away and I dont want him shown without being there. The handler goes to shows all over the country and it is tempting to just say yes. Stryker is only 14 months old...still a big baby but he looks like the adult dogs we saw, except, of course, better looking. Still mulling things over....

Just can't do it ...

What I posted yesterday still holds true...there will be no puppies. However, comma, it will not be Stryker going under the knife. Schatzi will, when she is old enough, be the one who is neutered. With her shy, retiring attitude I dont think she would make the best of mothers. Rotties shouldn't be agressive but they shouldnt be wussies either. I know she is very young ( not yet 5 months old ) and her attitude could change but at this point I do not see her as a Rot-mom ( and I still do NOT want to mid-wife a dozen+ pups )!!!

Tomorrow we are taking Stryker to Albuquerque for a meet and greet with the NM Rottweiler club members and some handlers to see if they think he is as gorgeous as I do ( Westminster Dog Show anyone ??? ). If he is show material I think I will be getting involved doing that. I have way too much time on my hands and need something more than chipmunk counting to occupy my days when John is gone.  We shall see....

Stryker may not know it but he is one lucky dog !!

No puppies!!!

I know for a fact that rotties have HUGE litters....10-12 is not at all unusual. I know how cute puppies are and I do love them but I am soooo not doing the midwife thing again. It was bad enough when my poms had big litters ( 5 is a big litter for them  ) and I was changing the birthing box papers 3 times a day, cleaning up the food they walked in, the water they spilled and the crap they spread through all of the above.

That being said, I still feel very guilty about doing what we are going to do to Stryker on Friday. Ok, we arent personally gonna be doing the chopping off of things but still....I feel bad. Mostly because he is the brightest, sweetest and most loving dog I have even owned. He would make an excellent stud and his pups would be gorgeous but I just can not allow it.

Part of that reasoning is Schatzi....as I mentioned before, she is sweet and has a beautiful face but as for brains....well, not so much. All the lights are on but we are pretty sure nobody is home. How a dog can have a blank look I do not know butt she does...huh???? Then there is the issue of trying to keep a 106lb dog from doing what comes naturally for the next year and a half. Right.

Surgery is Friday. Sigh. I know this is the right thing to do but I still feel awful about it.

It's a good thing she is cute

Bless her heart...she does have a sweet face. This is a good thing because sometimes I think the lights are on but nobody is home. Stryker, by comparison is an Einstein of the canine world. Is it possible for a Rottie to be blonde? If so, then Schatzi is one. Not just a blonde but a dumb one. Sweet but stupid. I know, I know...she is young, she will learn and it is just wrong to lable her as a dummy. However.....she still doesnt know her name ( of course I call her many things....Schnitzel, Saurkraut and Liverwurst among them, so maybe she is just confused ), goes potty whenever, whereever she pleases ( then runs like the dickens to the garage where she SHOULD go if she cant get outside ), has decided kleenex and toilet paper are tasty treats, loves carrying my shoes around - she doesnt eat them, just makes sure I can only ever find one shoe of any pair....

The list is long but she is undeniably sweet. Sigh. Why in the world did I think I needed another dog??? This I do know...there will be no baby Rotties from these two. Just the thought of a dozen puppies makes me shudder.

It's only money...

There came a time, several years ago, when we decided that instead of giving presents on Christmas and birthdays we would give cash. Ok...checks actually but not gifts, per se. And at that time it was a good thing to do. Some of the kids and grands lived so far away that postage on said gifts would have been as expensive as whatever we sent.

This has worked well...until now. We are coming to the end of active earning years and the grandkidlets just keep coming with no end in sight (11 and 12 are due this summer/fall). It makes me very sad to think that we won't be able to "give" the way we used to but the reality is that we can't. I guess what I fear is the resentment or anger that might be leveled at us since cash cow has been our role for so long. And this is my fault. Need something ? Call mom.

I dont know why I have enabled so many for so long. We certainly didnt depend on our parents to provide trips or gifts or clothes....they did give to our children but we were the primary providers. I feel like a miserable failure, something familiar to me as I have failed in spectacular fashion, repeatedly, as a parent.
And I dont know how to fix this....

Guess I could win a few hundred million in the lottery....too bad I dont gamble.

Has spring sprung ?

Nope.
I went to Oregon for two weeks to meet the newest grandkidlet, Jacob John Wyman. What a cutie!!! He is a little guy but strong and loud : )

I had hoped the weather there would be warmer than Angel Fire but ( rolling eyes ) they got snow. And its a "wet cold" so it feels colder than here at home even though the thermometer says otherwise.

The day I got home ( April 2nd ) I drove into a whiteout. Visibility down to a few feet and slip sliding all the way. Actually went off the road twice...grateful we left the sand bag in the back as I am sure it helped with what little traction the car had. All told we got 18-20 inches of the white stuff. Have I mentioned I am sick of snow? No? I AM SICK OF SNOW. It's not just the snow...its the ice when it partially melts and the muck when it finally does melt.

We did get the tulips and hydrangas into the ground just before the first frost and several of them have poked tenative leaves above the mulch. Then yesterday it snowed again...only 4 or 5 inches this time. Hoping they didn't freeze and die....sigh. I guess time will tell.

We dont really get "spring" as such.....we have mud season. The dogs dont mind ( either the mud or me ) but it gets tiring when there are 20 paws tracking the great outdoors inside: leaves, twigs and assorted things I cannot identify. I have never given the poms seriously short coats but this year they may look like Mexican Hairless when I am done with them. Guess I have to wait till the snow stops since I dont want Pom-cicles but once it warms up the shears are going to fly and so will the fur.

Good and bad....health

It has been a stressful few weeks. I had my carotid doppler...the good was actually watching. My own personal internal volcano, schussing through my veins. I didn't know it would be in living color...reds and yellows and oranges. Amazing. What was not so amazing was when I saw a section that was narrowed and asked if that was bad. The tech doing the test was not supposed to give me a diagnosis ( which technically he did not ) said, no it wasnt good. Sigh. At least I didnt have to wonder for the next week until I saw the doctor : I knew something was amiss. Apparently my high good cholestrol didnt cancel out the high bad.

Doc put me on a statin drug and after a few days I was walking on jello legs. Muscle weakness is one of those little signs letting you know the drug is not ok. Off the statin. Back to the doctor...and on to another statin ( I guess they have many, many varieties), this time a generic version of Lipitor. All of them have side effects that seem worse than the medical problem they address...." may cause heart attack, stroke or death...call your doctor immediately if you experience any of the above ".

Then there is the blood pressure. Which is high. Which is new to me...all my life I have had the opposite. And now , in a few weeks he wants to put me on medication for that too....assuming the other meds havent killed me first.

I will only briefly mention an emergency visit to the dentist...one of my teeth hurt so bad I thought my head was going to explode. After many more than the normal number of xrays ( I think I glowed in the dark that night ) he couldnt find anything. I mentioned I had been sick with a cold for over 3 weeks and Mr.Dentist decided it could be my sinuses pressuring the teeth. After a week on antibiotics...presto...no pain. Who knew your sinuses could make your teeth hurt?!

Add to all the above a puppy who thinks she needs to get up before dawn, not just to pee, poo and eat....but to play. I am not my most playful at 3:40 am ( that was her wake-up time today) and laying down on the couch to try and catch a few more winks of sleep is out of the question. Stryker's face and mine are at the same level when I recline on said couch and he feels the need, every 3-4 minutes, to lick my face, just to see if I am ok. Schatzi pulls on the blanket and Lady tries to get under it with me. Loki barks at nothing which sets off Bikki.

I am tired and cranky and wishing I could look forward to retirement....unfortunately women dont get to retire. There will always be cooking, cleaning, laundry and dog poop to clean up not to mention snow to shovel ( its snowing again so at least the flood is over for the time being ).

On the bright side, I am still breathing. Yay. Thank you Lord for small favors.