It's been a long time....

I haven't posted in a while. Part of that lack of words has been fatigue. My father's death came at a time when I was overloaded at work, and I just didn't have energy for much beyond working and taking care of the hounds. The other part: most of the writing seemed to center around death and dying. You might expect that of someone in my line of work but seriously.....

So this is a update post. Yes, I am alive. I continue to work on the Whippet Wranch, and the "clubhouse" (OK, I will likely live in it part time because I just LOVE it) is coming along nicely. The pups are growing (9.5 months) but interestingly, are both shrimps (that's what you get when you breed moderate sized bitch to nearly oversized dog?). Whatever!

So to reintroduce the kids:
Josi -- She's the "pink" dog (officially blue fawn but her coat has a real rose color to it). What to say about Josi? (Notice, since she's saying, the spelling of her name has been altered to fit: Gabi, Hudi, Mati and Josi....poor Layla). The posted pictures may look a little scary. Yes, I feed her! But this pup has one button with two settings: on and ON. OK, I exaggerate. As she gets older, she sleeps some.
I should have known: when Josi was in the whelping box, she was the first to bark and would stand in the center of the box testing different sounds. She uses them all! She is totally obsessed with catching balls. If I throw a tennis ball and she misses (and another dog gets it) she will tear across the yard hoping to get the next ball thrown.Layla (dark beauty): Layla is not a polar opposite of Josi, but she comes close. At about 4 months, she went through a "spook" phase. I disciplined her for biting and she refused to come out of her crate for two days! She would have absolutely nothing to do with strangers. For me, it was fascinating. Two pups with the same parents and similar upbringings but almost polar opposite personalities! She is no longer quite the spook, but she is still very sensitive. With her markings (the dark face) for some reason, I expect her to be assertive.Josi is frequently disciplined (she has a hard head). When I am trying to get Josi to stop barking ("NO barks!"), Layla sits right beside me, almost worried. Pups can be so interesting. Layla is much more reserved. She wants reassurance, but also prefers to be off on her own (much like her mother, although her mother was NEVER a spook).

We will see if I blog more frequently. I should probably have a professional blog to mumble about some of my other thoughts. Hmmmm.

Question of the day: why does the skunk choose to cross the road 3 feet in front of the woman jogging with whippets?

The end of the ramblings for this morning. Off to work on weeds!