|
|
The greening of the Georgia low country is well under way. The windows are open, the night choruses of frogs and insects sing us to sleep and the morning cacophony of hundreds of bird voices invades the last sweet hours of sleep. And deep in Bianca’s belly, quietly and secretly there too is growing life…at least it must be assumed that there is. Bianca and I will be making a trip to her veterinarian to confirm this hope on May 4th, so be sure to watch for the update!
Meanwhile, the sire of this growing life, Yorick, remains in residence. Usually the girl dog goes to visit the boy dog for breeding, but in this case, it was convenient for Rose to drop Yorick off here on her way to Florida. Yorick is a perfect gentleman and a wonderful companion to Bianca and his presence will be very much missed after returning him to his family next weekend.
I have attempted to get more pictures of Bianca and Yorick, but please note the word attempted. While they play together in the yard quite a bit, trying to capture both in the same frame has been quite challenging. I am afraid that my camera is too slow and they are too fast. At any rate, I am including several of the best ones for you.
Again, keep checking for more pictures and more updates.
 Yorick--I love my life!  Yorick and Bianca in Statesboro, GA  Bianca, full of expectations!
Another Puppy Adventure Has Begun!
Rosewood’s Yorick came to visit while his family was vacationing in Florida. Conveniently, Bianca came into heat during that time and Yorick has stayed on as a working house guest. He and Bianca have been very busy making puppies and according to my gestation calculator, puppies are expected between June 9th and the 13th.
With puppies arriving and a full schedule of school work it will be a very busy summer here. Bianca is an excellent and attentive mother so she will do a lot of the work, but I will need to keep a close eye on them, especially in the first few weeks. That means they will take up residence in my office so I can be both student and puppy watcher all in one. In fact, I will be sleeping right next to them on the futon!
Check back for updates on the expected puppies!
 Yorick and Bianca To find out more about becoming a knowledgeable owner of a Rosewood puppy, click here.
Elsinore has taken the title Emerita and has retired from breeding. I, and the rest of us here at Rosewood, found it most difficult to take this step, even though, having recently turned nine, she had every right to step down. She is often mistaken by other dog owners as much younger. Because of that, along with her sometimes ditsy temperament, I often think of her as newly minted.
Besides her age, several of her offspring have had health concerns that most likely were passed on through her. Preventing the possible re-occurrence of these problems was the most important factor in the decision to retire her. I was experiencing a stand-off between head (don’t risk passing on health problems to puppies) and heart (she, and her offspring, have so many other terrific qualities) when our vet made a discovery that prompted us to act: several growths in her mammary tissues. While dogs are prone to canine breast cancer, it occurs almost exclusively in intact (unspayed) females. While we didn’t know if the growths were malignant, we couldn’t afford to do nothing. Within a week, she had combination surgery to be spayed and to remove the growths.
 Elsie puts up with wearing The Cone after having surgery to be spayed. Sublimely oblivious to the swirling decision-making that has gone on among the humans charged with her care and well-being, Elsie continues to be her happy, confident self. She seems to have bounced back from the required surgical procedures. We have been charged with limiting her physical activity and creating a serene and quiet environment during her recovery. Staying calm has been the most difficult for her, much worse than wearing “The Cone,” a lightweight clear plastic shield.
What lies ahead for Elsie? The lab results indicate that while the lumps were a low-grade form of cancer, they were completely removed and it’s likely we’ve seen the end of that story. We both look forward to resuming our pleasant hours of rambling in the woods. More than that, I have been threatening for years to start her in agility classes and this seems like the opportune time. Will you hear from us next from the training ring? Watch this spot.
—Joyce
 The Fuller family came all the way from Texas Rod and Marta Beckstead hosted the third Kooiker Match on July 24, 2010, warmly welcoming us to their hillside home in Allentown, PA. Yorick and Elsie, Benvolio (litter B) and Cato (litter C) represented Rosewood at the match.
Continue reading Joyce’s Dog Blog–Kooikerhondje Fun Match, July 24, 2010
Over Thanksgiving weekend, I had a visit from Bianca and Jorie, on their way to have Thanksgiving with Jorie’s son Brett who is a student in Washington DC. The last time Bianca and Yorick met, Yorick was a fuzzy puppy.
 Yorick and Bianca in November, 2010 This time, the two dogs lost no time re-establishing their relationship, and Bianca made some coy older-woman promises to this handsome adolescent about things she could teach him later!
If all goes well, the two will have a litter next Spring. Check back for more details!
 Racing through the front lawn.
 Dogs 101 Season 3, Episode 5 which features the kooikerhondje is now posted on the Animal Planet web site! The episode first aired November 27, 2010 at 9:00 p.m.
Unfortunately, the folks at Animal Planet only stream the first two minutes of the episode, which doesn’t show the duck hunting for which the dog was developed. To see the duck hunting, which I think is the heart of the program, you can buy the entire episode from Amazon Video on Demand for $1.99. The one-hour episode focuses on large and small breeds, and features the Kooikerhondje (including Hamlet and Elsie, as well as other Rosewood dogs), the Leonberger, Dandie Dinmont Terrier, Tibetan Mastiff, and Affenpinscher. The kooikerhondje segment begins at minute 31:45.
A Call About Dogs 101, Spring 2008
I was sitting in my sister-in-law’s living room when my cell phone rang. It was a producer from Powderhouse Productions, who creates Animal Planet’s Dogs 101 series. They were featuring rare breeds in an upcoming season, and had seen the Rosewood website. They wanted to know if we were interested Continue reading Rose’s Dog Blog—The Animal Planet Dogs 101 Story
Happy Halloweenish Birthday from Elsie to all you other folks celebrating your birthday on this best of all days. Elsie celebrated by walking around the neighborhood this evening and barking at trick-or-treaters.
 Happy scary birthday  Me and my buddy, Elmo, hanging out on my birthday
On a recent trip to the Outer Banks, my eight year old got two hermit crabs for his birthday. More than a month later, they are both still alive and doing well! On a wet, rainy day, I put one on the floor today to see what the dogs would do. Hamlet didn’t show much interest, but Yorick, freshly showered from playing in the rain, was transfixed!
Today Justin from Dogs 101, Animal Planet, filmed at our house for an upcoming Dogs101 clip. We invited all the kooikerhondjes we know in New England: all four made it. Continue reading Joyce’s Dog Blog–Filming for Dogs 101 in Boston, Sept. 13
|
The great pleasure of a dog is that you make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, he will make a fool of himself too.
– Samuel Butler
Personally, I would not give a fig for any man's religion whose horse, cat and dog do not feel its benefits. Life in any form is our perpetual responsibility.
- S. Parkes Cadman
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
- Groucho Marx
To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
- Aldous Huxley
Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace.
- Milan Kundera
Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.
- Mark Twain
|
