April 13th Sleepless Again

He's a great runner, and normally a very quiet amenable dog. However, these past two nights, he has been a noisy beast of a dog, whining, crying, howling and carrying on. Why? Hormones! Testosterone poisoning, whatever you want to call it. Poor frustrated boy has to smell two girls who are in standing heat. Poor me has to listen to him howl most of the night. I love the boy to death, but I'm very tempted to put him in the kennel in the barn during the night. It is very airy and open, but I hate confining my dogs in 10x10 kennels. It seems cramped to me, and though he might love the custom built insulated dog house with fresh straw, I find it hard to see a big dog in such a small area. They normally get to run around the acre of fenced in dog yard unrestricted.

Ah well, hopefully this will all come to an end within the week, then we have to watch the girl puppies for their first heat. That will be the real challenge. The boy puppies will get neutered in a couple of weeks (there was a waiting list at the vet), so at least they will get to run and play together once they are no longer boy puppies. So, anyone wanting a boy puppy from our kennel before they are neutered better speak up. We have 3 again, though I want to wait at least a week before re-homing Cat to make sure he is re-adjusted and has no underlying health or emotional issues. Kirby still makes me smile and laugh, my little Albert Kirby Einstein, my siberian poodle. He's so cute and smart, but unfortunately isn't quite the show prospect. He would be a great agility or obedience dog, or probably an awesome leader dog. I've yet to try him in harness, but might this coming weekend if it is cool in the morning. Buck is the third boy puppy, and would make a good show prospect as well as a good sleddog/agility/obedience. He has symmetrical markings, is a gorgeous light golden red and looks like he won't grow larger than the standard (important in my puppies as they all seem to grow miraculously large...) All three boys are housebroken, know how to sit and lay down on command, and have been walked and socialized (sparingly with people, extensively with other huskies), taught not to bite or jump up(but sometimes they try to jump up anyway), have all their shots including Rabies and DHLPP, so most of the preliminary work with them is done.

Samantha has been pestering G'kar since he seems to be the Alpha male (though I use that term liberally, he's been fixed since he was seven months old), and the old man has finally come around to feeling some long forgotten urges. At almost 13 years, this is not an activity he should participate in lightly, but consequently, he has, and woke up sore and yelping this morning, poor boy. I gave him a doggy asprin dipped in peanut butter, but unfortunately this seemed to encourage him to give in to Samantha's teasing more... Hope he doesn't have a heart attack.

On top of all this fun, I've gotten a hold of a professional handler and trainer for conformation on recommendation of the kind folks from the Lexington Kennel Club. First up will be to attend a class as an observer, then have Princess evaluated. If all goes well, and her evaluation is good, then we'll arrange for some private lessons (missed the start of her new class which was last Tuesday... ah well). This is all very exciting, and hopefully will be the start of a great career for Princess and me in the show ring. Things are starting to come together despite the chaos.