Digger - C-Myste

Out With the Old Year

By C-Myste | December 31, 2010 - 2:21 pm | Cardigans, Digger, Gone but not forgotten, Julie Kids, Pembrokes, Puppies

Yes, it is that time again: the time for remembrance and retrospection. It has been a mixed year of losses and gains for our friends; of births and of deaths. While we may have fared better than most, 2010 is still not a year that I will miss.

The losses have included:

Zipper in January

Porter in March

Fearna in July

Digger in July

Marcy-Bunny in August

Scout in August

Dancer in October

Cookie in October

Klark in October

In addition, tears for:
Megan’s Sidney in October,
Marianne’s Derri this month,
Kathy’s Elbee and Bobbie’s Merlin this week,

And for all of the other losses this year.

But then, there were puppies.

Pilot x Ell puppies in March

Chase x Magic puppies in April

Huxley x Clem puppies in October

Chase x Leidy puppies in October

Chase x Scout puppies in December

And most especially:

Wally x Hannah puppies here at home the end of May

I have always considered 11 to be my lucky number. So here is to a lucky and prosperous Twenty-Eleven to all of us.

But I always thought that I’d see you again . . .

By C-Myste | July 28, 2010 - 8:14 am | Cardigans, Digger, Gone but not forgotten

43 Comments

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Digger and Jazz

Just short of two years ago I placed a dog whom I truly loved when his hips didn’t make the grade. It hurt me to give him up more than any other ever has. I knew that he had a good home, but it wasn’t with me. We’ve been to Albuquerque twice since then, but I hadn’t been able to bring myself to visit him. I had thought that next time we were there, that I would be ready to. But it is not to be.

Losing old dogs is sad, losing young ones really hurts. CH C-Myste Baledwr Didgeridoo was lost yesterday from perforations due to rock consumption.

He had acted sick on-and-off, but nothing was found when they took him to the vet. All kinds of tests were done, but they never did the easiest: an x-ray.

Please, please, please: if your dog is throwing up and drinking what seems like excess water insist on an x-ray. The fact that waste material is coming out the other end does not mean that s/he hasn’t ingested something which is not edible. Cardigans seem to have a more-than-average propensity for this hobby. Sadly we have learned that vets are not always the most savvy when it comes to some basic dog facts. Or perhaps they picture themselves as an animal Dr House, looking for the strange and esoteric rather than the mundane and common-place.

On a related note: as you know Digger’s mother also shares the non-edible ingestion habit. I have found that a tablespoon of olive oil in her food works wonders in bringing out the worst in her, as it were.

Shoulder layback and placement

By C-Myste | February 13, 2009 - 4:10 pm | Alice, Cardigans, Digger, Pearls of Wisdom

5 Comments

First, thanks to Emily @ Pawcific and to everyone else who has joined in. And thanks to those who sent me more front pictures. I’ve made the decision to only use dogs that we own or have bred. Jeri commented that at this point in our “breeding program” we have pretty good fronts. I’m afraid that I can’t take credit for Alice or Phoebe, though they have certainly been assets.

I think that it takes most people a while before they can see shoulder placement; at least it took me a while. Part of the problem is that there are so many incorrect shoulders being shown. Until you see enough good shoulders it’s hard to spot the difference. An additional problem seems to be that some mistake the gait produced by a forward placed shoulder as “reach”. Too often it is even rewarded by judges. It is up to us, the breeders, to know the difference.

Above are the dogs that I will be contrasting: two boys and two girls. The two on the right side of the table are litter mates who we originally kept but then placed.

In the first set of photos, no lines are drawn on the dogs. You might want to scroll back up to these to compare them to the pictures below.

In the above group of pictures I have drawn a line from the shoulder blade to the point where the shoulder joins the upper arm and a second line following the upper arm to the elbow. I have then drawn a third horizontal line back from the intersection.

We think of an ideal “layback” of the shoulder as being 45 degrees. That means that the angle formed by the shoulder blade line and the horizontal line is as close as possible to that angle. Secondly, we would like the shoulder and upper arm to form a right angle (90 degrees). And third, we want a “long upper arm” which matches as closely as possible the length of the shoulder. We rarely achieve this, but we can strive toward it.

The bottom set of photos shows a way to visualize shoulder placement. Draw a line just behind the front assembly, and another before the rear. With a Cardigan, these lines will divide the dog approximately into thirds. Note in the right-hand pictures that the front section is quite apparently narrower.

Another way to think of shoulder placement is that the front legs should appear to support the body of the dog, not the head.

Road trip to Reno

By C-Myste | August 5, 2008 - 3:10 pm | Cardigans, Digger

5 Comments

Yesterday Mom and I (and Huxley) drove to Reno, NV to meet Gerri Rivera who will be Digger’s new mom. Gerri had the foresight to provide a pillow and a toy with the smells of Digger’s new sister Jazz and his new cat J.D.

Look at his big Cardi smile in his new car. Yeah, we always miss them a whole bunch more than they miss us.

Bittersweet

By C-Myste | August 2, 2008 - 1:11 am | Cardigans, Digger

17 Comments

Remember that post where I said how difficult it is to place dogs for me now? I knew at the time that this could be coming. My big beautiful bouncing baby boy will be going to a new home.

Why?Now nobody can say I wasn’t open about it.

I’ve been sad, but I know it is for the best for Digger as well. He will be one of just two dogs in the family, sharing his new “mom” and “dad” with a 3-year-old Cardi girl named Jazz. It doesn’t make sense to special a dog who we’re never going to use. And he doesn’t need to sit around the house being one of several. I can concentrate on training Huxley and Molly without feeling guilty.
Gerri and Bill have a home in Albuquerque and another in Henderson, NV. I’ll be driving to Reno on Monday to meet Gerri partway for the trade-off.

You would never guess that Digger has hips that loose from his movement or anything else. Those who special dogs without x-raying them are either in denial or just don’t care. The dog has many other outstanding features, but that is one thing I’m not going to pass on to the next generation.

Coos KC 2008 – Cardigans

By C-Myste | July 12, 2008 - 8:43 pm | Cardigans, Digger, Dog Shows, Molly, Pilot

8 Comments

A smattering of pictures from the two days in Bandon. The judging was different each day: the first day Chuck Trotter was looking for movement while the second day head and expression were what counted. I’m ok with losing for that, as long as I can tell what the judge is looking for.

Pilot won the BBE class both days, having both movement and expression. He is still very puppy, but the framework is there. He is going to be a very nice dog when he grows up. And doesn’t he have the longest tail you have ever seen?

He came very close to being Winners Dog on Sunday. He almost had it, but then the judge made a funny noise and Pilot had to bark at him. He was playing (“Hey, it worked for Uno”) but the judge must have thought he spooked.

Winners bitch line-up on Saturday. Savannah with Richelle was winners. Louise brought Mirrhi back in and took reserve.

I’m pleased with Molly’s movement (you guys know what I consider important, right?) So we still need to work on ears and expression. She won the 6-9 class the first day, lost the second. I love her coat, which is plush like Alice’s without any curl. And look at her tail carriage.

Mirrhi still needs two points to finish. She was reserve both days. Darn it.

She sure resembles her brother Digger in the picture above.

Savannah can really fly around the ring. She deserved her win on Saturday.

Best of Breed ring on Saturday

I can’t have too many pictures of Digger-dog moving.

He’s getting really good at standing on the table. But we really need expression while free-stacking. And I need to not let him sag. We were pulled up first for breed on Saturday, but then I blew it and we ended up with Best Opposite.

Chaucer standing and looking pretty. I was told that I should have entered his brother Huxley who is looking really buff right now. But he’s trying to get turned into a smart dog, and I like running around the ring with Digger.

And here’s Kacy’s grandson Ethan. I don’t have that many nice show pictures of him so I ‘m glad that Tom got this one.