Pfffff yesterday Zanna and I spent an hour in the freezing cold waiting ages. Our doggie class is big so its a lot of waiting before its our turn. Brrrrr…

It’s a real pity we are put in another class than our class mates from last year. Last year we were glad of the waiting time as us girls always had so much to discuss ;-) . As I was waiting with Zanna I saw our old class mates happily go inside for drinks. Their lesson is earlier than Zanna and mine….. lucky things…

Pffff I guess we will get used to our new class mates…. But at this point I am not so happy about it. Some of the people and their dogs are also so annoying. For example I cant understand how a first time owner can go for a Rhodesian ridgeback. Or maybe I mean, how a breeder can let their pups go just like that? Ok, I shouldn’t be so judgmental, but when I see how this dog is just not controlled I can’t stand it….. This poor dog doesn’t know its not supposed to pull on his leash so he dose so continuously, towing his lady master all over the place. Even when they “stand still” he is pulling and she is leaning back thinking things are normal… Of course it’s wonderful that they go to school. Maybe one day they will learn.

Better than some that we meet on walks that don’t do a thing with their dogs and only go on walks in nice weather when it suits the owner….

This reminds me of the time I was walking my dogs with prospective puppy owner Wieke. Tieka thought she had died and gone to heaven as Wieke’s children were also with us. Kids are the best according to Tieka as they will continually play with her, throwing a tennis ball!!! Yes fun, fun, fun.

At one stage we came upon a couple with a golden retriever. Personally I think GR are nice easy breeds to train, but like all dogs you have to be consequent and if you aren’t then they will take advantage of this fact. And this GR was one of the ones that had become boss in house. He was very friendly but he did what he wanted to do and decided that Tieka’s tennis ball was going to be his. He picked it up and his owners said in a rather accusing manner to us “now you won’t ever get it back!”, as if I should have controlled my dogs not to lay a tennis ball on their dog’s path!!!!

And that was that! They gave a half hearted “drop the ball” command to the GR who didn’t blink an eye and …… they were right, we didn’t get our ball back. Well actually we followed them for ages till their dog finally did drop the ball and Tieka made a fast rush and got it back. But it was no thanks to the “owners”.

Some people have no respect for their dogs and don’t take the responsibility by being the “alpha”. Not that I’m such a bossy person (ok, maybe I am LOL), but my dogs do know that they can depend on me to make their live easier by making all the important decisions.

Gosh, when I die I want to come back as a dog with a bossy but fare owner! In human form I couldnt stand it though ROFL.

We went for a walk in the “Zoesterduinen” today with Zanna’s best girlfriend Luna.

Half of the walk in bush, the other in the sand dunes.

Zanna and Luna take turns in running after each other, growling and barking at each other to go faster. They are very funny together. And sometimes Flecha decides to run with the girls as well. His long legs flop around in all directions as he acts as though he is 1 year instead of 8 years.

But this wasn’t enough for Zanna. No she had to pester her poor chubby mother! Tieka is growing at a rapped rate starting this week and has finally decided to start to run in a lower gear. So it was hard work for Tieka to chase Zanna in the soft sand, yelping loudly telling Zanna in doggy language to “STOP PESTERING ME!!” I fear for Tieka that Zanna is going to take advantage of Tiekas slowing down.

Again proving what a naughty girl Zanna is. She is so cheeky!!!

Tieka is such a sweet girl, except with annoying boys like Tuck ROFL.

I have another 15 minutes before I have to leave with Zanna to go to our first lesson of the season for our “B” obedience class. If we get this (should be a breeze for Zanna) we can either carry on with obedience or drop it and do agility like Tieka dose. I think Zanna will also be excellent in agility so it’s a hard chose….

Tieka has no classes this season. In the first place the classes for Tieka and Zanna were at the same time this season so I couldn’t combine. But this is lucky in the end as Tieka dose seem to be pregnant so she couldn’t go anyway. Well for the beginning maybe but she would miss most of the classes. And now I have a good excuse not to have to run in competitions ;-)

Ah, good! I see that Ernest, one of my computer gurus, has helped me again and put some photos I sent him in this diary. Thanks Ernest.

Well I think you can all gather what the big hairy one is…. Its Tiekas tummy at 4 and a half weeks hopefully preggy. Not such a big deal you may think, but I do!!! She is getting fatter and her nipples have grown, its 2 days since the photos were taken and they are even bigger now!!!

The middle photo is of my 3 dogs and 2 Irish wolfhounds from my best doggy friend Saskia. Gelgeis is the female IWH on the left, she is a very sweet girl and ever so pretty.
Tuck is the darker IWH, he’s a really cheaky so and so and thought he was very funny annoying Tieka who apparently in his eyes smelled really nice. In the photo you see Tieka is about to take counter action to teach this young wipper snapper a lesson!! It was very entertaining to watch ROFL. The more the women are mean to Tuck the more he likes them.

The 3rd photo is Zanna, Tieka and Flecha at the back having a good scratch.

I have to thank Saskia for making the photos, there were lots more and most so nice, but I had to make a chose… actually once I saw them here I realize that the group photo is the wrong one, there is an even nicer one. But this one shows more of a story so I’m glad I made the mistake.

We had a wonderful 2 hour walk in the bush of Zeist. Thankfully Saskia had a “global tracking system” thing with her as neither of us knew this area, and its very big!! What a cool thing to have, a definitive “must have” if you own dogs and love walking.

Gosh, it really is about time that I win the grand prize in the “staats lottery”, wonder how long I have to wait….

I have decide to think positive about the “Tieka being pregnant" thing and thus made a start to making a “delivery box”. In this box I put everything I may need when the pups start to arrive. So the big “start” was to buy an electronic thermometer. I already had one kept in a very safe place that I no longer can remember where it was. Oh well, they don’t cost the world and I really will need it. Also this new one is better ;-)

Taking Tieka’s temperature isn’t actually to see if she is sick, its for seeing when she most likely to give birth. About a week before that planned date I start to take her temperature so I know what her normal temperature is. Tieka’s is lower than “normal dogs”, and such things are good to know ahead of time. Then I start taking her temp. more often per day as the estimated time of birth gets closer. About 24 hours before the birth the temp. will drop a degree. Of coarse you have to take the temperature every few hours around that time as the drop is only for a short while, so you could miss it. I can tell you that once the drop has been noticed yours goes up!!! Its very exciting!

Other things in the “delivery box” are old towels. Old ones are the best as they absorb better, more pliable for such small babies, you can get a better grip of the pup if you have to help with the birth and they are in available in large quantities. Not only from myself but also given to me by family and friends.
A thing to help suck out the pups mouth should the occasion arise. Thankfully I still have the one from the first nest as I didn’t need to use it. I wonder if a pup has problems breathing if I wouldn’t first take the pup in both hands, rest its head on my “pointing” fingers hold it firmly with my thumbs and then raze my hands high and swing down fast to dislodge whatever is in the way….. but again I fortunately didn’t have to try that either.
Betadine drops to disinfect the navel cord, and what ever else should need disinfecting.
Cord to tie of a navel cord, should it be needed, again no experience with this.
Different colored nice hand made cords to tie around the neck of the puppies so you can identify them. And even this I didn’t use last time as all 4 pups had completely different markings! I was so frustrated; they were/are such nice cords made lovingly by my mother and myself LOL.
A note pad with headings of all the information I want to remember, “time of birth”, “sex”, “color”, “weight” etc. And a pen! My mother had to write this down, not so hard I thought but she was in such a panic when the pups were being born that I had to constantly remind her to write all this things down. It was very funny; her is a woman that has had 4 children who was very excited and panicky about it all. And me, no kids and never had a dog deliver pups, stay calm… well someone had to. Maybe next time I will be more nervous as now I am “wiser” and not so naive.
List of telephone numbers which I would class as “panic numbers”. I have some wonderful friends always willing to help.
I think you get the general idea of what I mean by “delivery box”.

But this is all in theory at the moment, still plenty of time…..

Today I got results back from a blood test I had done to check out Zanna. The test came back declaring Zanna very healthy!! Feeding Barf I was nervous that maybe that would affect the results. Now I know even more that the Barf diet is excellent for the dogs, and that I seem to be doing ok in giving all the needed nutrients. That gives me confidence.

But one thing was rather embarrassing when I went to pay for these tests…. I won’t shock you with how much they cost, but let me tell you I looked like a real idiot when I “only” had 50 euros in my hand!!! I think I will have to find a vet boyfriend, he must be rich LOL.

I also gave my vet a letter telling them (it’s a husband and wife practice) what and how I feed the dogs. I wonder if I will ever get a reaction from them. And I also wonder if they will ever check out the sites I included in the letter. Up till yesterday I didn’t tell them what I was feeding. Some how feeding Barf makes you always have to defend your self to everyone….

Flecha is being a pain at this moment. I let the dogs out for the last time today and now he wants to go to bed… in my bed room, but the door is closed. He is lying in front of the door and has been crying softly for the last 20 minutes. Poor boy, I’m such a mean owner hahaha.

Oh, and this evening I saw 4 sheltie puppies, 2 days old. Now I am really “clucky”! PLEASE LET TIEKA BE PREGNANT…

So things are abit slow at the moment... its work/dogs/sleep time at the moment so not much time to update the diary.

However its nice and early and its another 30 minutes before I have to rush around all morning so you can watch the early news.

The dogs are kept happy when I have to work the early shift with the fact that "oma" (dutch for grandmother) comes and lets them out during the morning. Oma stays till I get home, we drink a cup of thee and then we go and take the dogs out for a bush walk and after that I drop mum off and go home to potter around till its bed time again. That is about 20.00hours as I have to get up at 03.30, jump under the shower (cant wake up without that), walk the dogs (even Flecha is aloud to run off the leash as there arnt any cars to chase at that time of the morning), feed them their "chicken bodies", give them all a hug before they all go back to sleep again (oh to be a dog!!) and jump in the car and start work at 04.45.
Thankfully I "only" have to do these schifts once every 1 or 2 months. The one time for 2 days and the other for 3 days. I used to do the whole week of 5 days but couldnt handle that.... I wonder how those people that I see biking so early in the morning, to get the news papers that they have to deliver every morning, handle it!!

Well getting back to the dogs, just had to tell you my sob story, they are all doing well. Tieka is running much to fast to give me the impression that she could possably be pregnant.

Zanna I totlaly brushed out yesterday as she was getting a bit mated. I should of washed her after that but couldnt get round to that, maybe this eaving.

Flecha has been pestering me these early mornings by laying infront of the door before I leave. I wonder if he dose this on perpose, he usually lays in his basket... Tomorrow is the last day of early shift so we shall see if he dose it then too.

another day another dollar.....

The experts say that dogs cant think… and they cant remember what they have done… if they have done something bad and you haven’t caught them in the act its no use telling them off as they don’t know that they did this bad thing earlier on….

Well I’m here to tell you that’s all a load of rubbish!! (except for the telling off bit)

Every now and then Zanna doesn’t do a pooh during our last walk. This is usually not a problem, but sometimes she decides somewhere during the night that she has to go after all and goes down stairs, barks once and if I didnt hear this then she dose "it" in the house.

This doesn’t happen very often so I never go downstairs with bad or angry thoughts of what I may find, so I cant influence Zanna’s actions in this way.

But I can tell you, when she has done a “ops!” then she doesn’t rush down like she usually dose! She stays upstairs till I call her. LOL I think this is very clever of her, she certainly can remember what she has done!!

Don’t worry, I don’t tell her off as its true that a scolding doesn’t help any more. But Im sure she knows its not the right thing to do and she dose try to be the prefect dog. But just incase I do decide to get angry she keeps her distance. I just tidy the “chalk” poohs up and then call all the dogs to go for our walk.

Oh, the tidying up is very easy as she has prefect “barf” poohs! They are nice and hard and you can hear them drop into a bowl. I only have to use one sheet of toilet paper as it doesn’t get messed at all when I pick it up. I could just as easily us my bare fingers, but that’s going just a bit to far for me LOL.

I have used a pregnancy calendar for dogs that was on the internet. It tells you what is happening inside your dog from the mating till birth. Its really interesting to read what is probably/hopefully happening inside Tieka.

But it says that now her nipples should be getting bigger and pinker. They had already gotten a lot bigger from the day she came into season so I cant look at that, but she hasnt got pinker!

I dont feel she is pregnant (hope the new hopeful owners dont read this).

How ever this morning she was sick, vomited!!! Isnt that wonderful!!! And she didnt want to eat, thats great too dont you agree!! Ha, ha, ha, I know, strange to be happy that your dog vomits and doesnt want to eat. According to the calendar, starting today till next Sunday she can suffer morning sickness and may not want to eat. So you see, its hopefully good news that she vomits.

Other than that I cant say a thing about it..

3 more weeks and we shall know more.

According to the calendar on Friday she should have walnut-sized embryos. I think that is rather a cool thought!

The calendar also says I should start increasing her food intake on Monday the 20th.. I dont think so! LOL she has been very naughty the last 2 months, stealing food form the other dogs, and has put on a bit too much weight. Oh I guess thats in a little more than a week away and a lot can change in that time, so ok I will start increasing. Slowly.

Oh I do so hope she is pregnant. It would be so much fun, and we have such nice prospective puppy owners. I'm also looking forward to seeing if this litter is much different to the first as this litter will be a "Barf"¨ feed one.

I have been busy a few days so havent updated for a few days... but now I make up for lost time and give you a yukky sheep head story that I had writen for a "Barf" email group I belong to. As you may of gatherd, my dogs "Barf", which is a way of eating so to speak.... enjoy and be sick LOL
Oh, must explain that I had ordered 3 sheep heads for the dogs to eat and they arrived today

Hi all.

Well I simply must tell you how the sheep heads went down…

Thankfully they didn’t have any eyes left in them and the fur/skin was taken off so it was a lot less like a sheep head…. But boy those teeth were staring right at me through the plastic bag LOL.

I couldn’t get myself to pick them up with my bare hands so used a plastic bag each time I had to handle then, ok call me a sissy.

Needless to say, I couldn’t wait to try them out on the dogs. I put 2 in the garden.

Flecha thought he had died and gone to heaven and started straight away on one. He ate quite a lot of the outside of the head. He finally came inside a hour later…. He was very chuffed… and then he walked in the hall and in a blink of the eye puked it all out!!! Not a pretty sight…. I grabbed my mum and said it was time to drink our tea in the lounge. By the time we had finished Flecha had eaten everything again. Gross I know, but I guess that’s nature haha.

Tieka thought it much to cold to be outside. So the 3rd head went in the basket for her. She wasn’t interested, cant blame her as they had eaten only a few hours earlier, but she was the only one to remember that. I put her sheep head in the freezer.

Zanna was a bit afraid of the heads at first, they did smell different than “normal” food. But she soon got the hang of it.

Well I had to go out again, and the dogs came with me. I was talking to mum about how I would have to “smash their (sheep) heads in with a hammer” so they (dogs) could get to the insides. Yes yukky talk hahaha. They looked really hard and I was sure the dogs couldn’t break into them.

When we got home a few hours later the heads (out side) were nearly frozen. I brought them inside; it was dark and much to cold to eat out. Tieka suddenly really wanted to eat, and Flecha was even more enthusiastic. Zanna had to have luck that one would take a brake. I had to go to “school” for a few hours so I decided that they would be happy for those hours….. I would break their heads tomorrow.

3 hours later. I came inside and couldn’t believe my eyes. Gone…… the whole heads were nearly totally gone!!!!!!!!! A few rows of teeth barely being held together by a centimeter of bone… 2 scalps about the size of a lady’s hand (minus the fingers) and a few splinters…… My jaw literally dropped open!

That was it…. The rest of the heads gone!!!

I had seen photos on the home page of the “raw dog ranch” (http://rawdogranch.netfirms.com/vealheads/FrameSet.htm for those of you that haven’t seen this yet ;-) )
and the dogs had been chewing all day on their heads and still they looked nearly uneaten. And my 1 Estrela mountain dog and 2 little Lagotto dogs had devoured the lot in 3 hours!!!!! I still cant believe it. Can a sheep head be so much softer than a veal head?… I guess so.

Im so sorry I missed all the good gory bits… I really didn’t think they would eat so much, usually when I go out they all are very sad and don’t eat till I get back, let alone eat 2 whole heads. Well that was “in the olden days” LOL. They didn’t miss me one bit!

So guys, do your dogs all a big favor and get them a sheep head. They are the best thing since sliced bread!!

Oh, I think I won’t have a peaceful night, I’m sure the dogs are going to be sick or want to go for a jobby during the night. That’s only logical if you consider what went into them this evening….

Greetings all from a gob smacked Suzanne
http://members.lycos.nl/kakapo

When I opened the curtains this morning it was a beautiful sight. It had snowed. Only a very thin layer of snow… but never the less it was beautiful and white.

The dogs love it! Tieka loves to roll in it and Flecha likes to eat it. You can follow his tracks, not by his paw prints but by his tong prints, its so funny to see. I’m sure "trackers” would wonder what on earth had passed by.

By the way, not all dogs can handle snow, they get “the runs” from it…. Glad mine dont pfffff yuk!

Its a pity I don’t have a digital camera, I could make you laugh almost every day at my dogs. (if anyone has one laying about doing nothing….. LOL) After their meal this morning, of yet again chicken carcasses with some Estor C vitamins stuck in then, they all wanted to go outside and “drink” which was of coarse snow licking. And in between they looked up to watch me watching them trough the window. Their muzzles covered in snow and innocent looks were so funny.

I’m glad I have dogs to in rich my life

As I sit and read my email Zanna brings me yet another sock….

Let me let you into a secret….

I’m not the worlds best house person, in fact I’m really bad at it. I guess living alone has made me a bit lazy, if I don’t mind then who is to mind that my cloths lay on top of the washing basket… so that I “have to” throw my used socks next to it on the ground? Once every few days I gather them all up and put them in their proper place.

But….. I have a lovely Lagotto girl that finds my socks the best thing since sliced breed!! Zanna… she is crazy about my socks, I must have the best foot smell ever!!!

I never tell my dogs off when they carry something in their mouths. What I do is use these spontaneous situations and tell them how cleaver they are and encourage them to bring the object to me and “give”. This is a good thing to do with Lagotti as they are so well behaved that if you tell them off for carrying something in their mouths you have a heck of a job teaching them to retrieve when you want them too. I learnt that the hard way!!

So Zanna has always been “a cleaver girl” if she has something in her muzzle. She truly enjoys carrying things. She is really good at it, she even picks up metal things with no problem!

Tieka hates anything that isn’t wooden or plastic, that makes things harder when you want to learn further in obedience classes as they later have to retrieve really dog unfriendly things, often metal. Don’t get me wrong, Tieka is the worlds best retriever, and carries things much more fanatically than Zanna, just as long as it’s not metal and doesn’t make to much noise. But it’s not a problem as we had stopped with the obedience classes long ago and concentrated on the agility.

But with Zanna I think I will carry on with obedience. She seems to really enjoy it so why not.

But that wasn’t what I wanted to tell you… sorry got side tracked, any one that knows me knows this is a problem I have LOL…

It was Zanna and socks… Yes she loves bringing me my used socks!! One by one they are brought to me, and she looks so proud of her self, with each sock she prances even more proudly. I think she thinks she is doing me a great service. Well why not, you never know when such actions can come in handy… She is at least in the habit of bringing me things.

And this practice saves a lot of other things being ripped to pieces. You see Zanna will almost always give me the opportunity to take what every she has found from her, she walks past me with a look of “look what I’ve got” and this gives me the chance to say “give” which she then dose. And if I don’t… well then the piece of paper, or even worse the post, is hers and she will start to tear it up in her basket. I then yell at her and she stops and comes and brings it to me, admittedly perhaps with one or two corners less (she is quick!) but that’s better than a hundred pieces…..

Oh this story reminds me…. Even more embarrassing. When Ziegor (Zanna’s brother) still lived with us I had 2 nice puppies retrieving my dumped socks, but even worse things….. yes I’m sure you have guessed, I need say no more, and they enjoyed this even more if I had visitors. In those days I learnt to tidy up!!! Or at least close all doors LOL.

Hmmm I guess a man around the house really dose help to keep things tidy.

Today is Thursday, we arrived back from Denmark a week ago….. You remember, Tieka spent Christmas with her lover Caio.

Now the time is going so slowly. Isn’t that always typical!! If you just live your life time flies and when you are waiting for something it goes slow…

Just 4 more weeks and maybe I can then see if Tieka is pregnant or not…. I don’t want to take her to a vet earlier to do tests like feel in her tummy, or take an echo of her belly. Maybe I am really silly not wanting to do these things, but just the thought makes me feel very uncomfortable so I wont put Tieka through it all, just so that I know earlier if she is or isn’t preggy. It wont change the outcome…

I just go with my gut feeling as I go through life. I tend to do a lot of research into things and then go for where/what I feel most comfortable with. Up to now it has proven the best way to go. I have sometimes taken “wise” decisions that did not coincide with my gut feeling and have usually regretted that… I have learned by my mistakes.

Breeding is just a question of “waiting”. Nothing that I do can make it go any faster. Just be patient. But boy that isn’t always easy.

I have heard of many Lagotto females that have been mated and ended up “staying empty”. So things don’t sound hopeful if you look at the statistics…

The waiting list for a wonderful ball of Lagotto fluff is growing quickly as the breed is getting more well known and breeding females stay empty.

I hope the Lagotto doesn’t become a rage and breeders start to breed as many pups as possible to cater for the growing “market”. Let us all stay ethical and think of the dogs first, let us not use our breeding females as puppy producers.

I just read the following on a site for the Cane Corso dog (also a breed that is becoming very popular fast!!) and rather liked this quote…

“Buyer beware! Remember - A dog is an investment in love as well as money. Take your time!!! Don’t buy impulsively...don’t limit yourself geographically. Feel good about the person you are dealing with.”

And with these wise and heavy words I sign off for today.

Just another 15 minutes and its 2003….

How the time flies.

Last new years eve Zanna was 3 months and her brother Ziegor was still here too. My mother and I sat upstears in the dark and watched the fire works along with Ziegor laying on the floor sleeping, Zanna on my lap rather enjoying the flashing lights and noses, Tieka (the puppies mother) lay on the bed that we were sitting on and Flecha sat next to us. Flecha isnt afraid, but dose come and sit perticularly near to me on new years eve.

This year Zanna got the fright of her life when, while out walking 2 days ago, the bangs started again. I ignored her like I always do when the dogs react strongly to things. Just acted normal, although I must admit I nearly died too! The bangs are so hard and loud nowadays.

Zanna has settled ok, but all the dogs come and sit near or on top of me when the bangs get to bad….. and now in 15 minutes its going to get really bad. I only have single glass windows and they actually shake to the point that I truly am afraid that they will brake.

Why do people get such a kick out of something that scares the s_ _t out of others and especially animals????

Dear government please pass a law allowing only pretty fire works and banning all extremely loud banging stuff!!

Yours truly

The Kakapo nest dogs and Suzanne

PS we wish you all a wonderful 2003!!!