It's been a slow week here, at least as far as Welshie-related topics are concerned. I finished an article about using the pedigree databases that will appear in the next Starter Barks, did some phone-mentoring with a novice breeder friend, and we've been knee-deep in renovations to the interior of the house to make it more dog-friendly. You'd think after living here 26 years we would have gotten to all these inside jobs already, but it's amazing what you can 'live with' even if it doesn't really work for you.
This weekend we're going to be making preparations for Tigg's litter, due at the end of the month. The puppy room needs to be cleaned and straightened out, the whelping box put up, scale and heating pad located, and all the linens and newspapers made ready. In hindsight, perhaps we should have done a better job planning all the renovations. Now we have to pack up ourselves and the dogs and move to a Holiday Inn for a few days so the hall tile can be put down. We'll keep Tigg with us and the others get to go to camp for a few days-not a cheap proposition but at least the tile will be perfect, and no paw prints will appear in the Thinset!
In the hallway, we've removed the 1970's sandstone painted sheetrock and ripped up the wood floors in the hall and the main traffic area in the dining room. I can hear all the real estate agents gasping now...too bad. It's just too burdensome to deal with the wear and tear of wood with dogs traipsing through the kitchen, dining room and hallway when you have a center-hall ranch style house. So, walls will be plain painted sheetrock (and will finally have all our WSS prints hanging up! on them!) and we're installing painted wainscoting with chair rail and baseboard that are IMPERVIOUS to male dogs and their marking habits because they are all PVC, plus tile flooring that is durable and moppable. So if we ever sell this house, it will be perfect for other dog owners!
Oh, and about that new breeder and her puppies-she called me about one of her pups needing emergency vet care. While talking with her, I drew on that saying "When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras" I'd had a similar situation in one of our more recent litters. Sure enough, a few days later she called back to let me know the vet felt a congenital problem with the pup was unlikely, and she was relieved the pup didn't need surgery or chronic medical care. And to me, that phone call gave me more satisfaction than anything else that went on all week. I'm glad 25 years of breeding experience was able to calm down a friend about their first litter. Sort of like paying it forward...
This weekend we're going to be making preparations for Tigg's litter, due at the end of the month. The puppy room needs to be cleaned and straightened out, the whelping box put up, scale and heating pad located, and all the linens and newspapers made ready. In hindsight, perhaps we should have done a better job planning all the renovations. Now we have to pack up ourselves and the dogs and move to a Holiday Inn for a few days so the hall tile can be put down. We'll keep Tigg with us and the others get to go to camp for a few days-not a cheap proposition but at least the tile will be perfect, and no paw prints will appear in the Thinset!
In the hallway, we've removed the 1970's sandstone painted sheetrock and ripped up the wood floors in the hall and the main traffic area in the dining room. I can hear all the real estate agents gasping now...too bad. It's just too burdensome to deal with the wear and tear of wood with dogs traipsing through the kitchen, dining room and hallway when you have a center-hall ranch style house. So, walls will be plain painted sheetrock (and will finally have all our WSS prints hanging up! on them!) and we're installing painted wainscoting with chair rail and baseboard that are IMPERVIOUS to male dogs and their marking habits because they are all PVC, plus tile flooring that is durable and moppable. So if we ever sell this house, it will be perfect for other dog owners!
Oh, and about that new breeder and her puppies-she called me about one of her pups needing emergency vet care. While talking with her, I drew on that saying "When you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras" I'd had a similar situation in one of our more recent litters. Sure enough, a few days later she called back to let me know the vet felt a congenital problem with the pup was unlikely, and she was relieved the pup didn't need surgery or chronic medical care. And to me, that phone call gave me more satisfaction than anything else that went on all week. I'm glad 25 years of breeding experience was able to calm down a friend about their first litter. Sort of like paying it forward...
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