What an awesome weekend!

January 30th, 2012

This weekend we had dog shows both mornings and tracking after the dog show each day. Both days at the dog shows Leeloo took WB/BOS for one point. She now has seven points and one major towards her AKC Championship. Both days we went tracking and Leeloo is really loving it. She is still just getting started, but after tracking just a few times, she is very excited about it. She wags her tail and lunges at the starting flag. Leeloo runs straight down the track once she has the scent.

Tucker, on the other hand, is more low key about tracking, but it’s definitely one of his favorite things to do.  He quarters when he’s tracking, running back and forth trying to find the track.  He will have to learn not to do that before we can move forward towards getting his tracking title.

Busy weekend of dog shows and tracking ahead

January 27th, 2012

This weekend we have local shows in Doswell, VA. That is only about 30 minutes from our house, so we entered Leeloo both days. We have an early ring time both days, so we will be tracking after the show.  Tucker and Leeloo will go tracking with Janie Simmons of Paws Plus Training on Saturday and Tracking Judge Judi Edwards on Sunday.

Back to Tracking

January 26th, 2012

Tucker and I started tracking again in December 2011 with classes through Paws Plus Training. Leeloo also started tracking classes this year. By the second week Tucker had refreshed his tracking skills and was able to get back to doing turns and Leeloo is progressing nicely on straight tracks.  We have now also started taking classes with tracking judge, Judi Edwards and we believe Tucker will be ready for the Tracking Dog (TD) test this spring. In our first class with Mrs. Edwards, we figured out that I am going off to the right whenever I am tracking with Tucker, so I need to know where the track is and try to stay on it. Hopefully this is something I can learn not to do before Tucker and I enter a tracking test.

Jasmine starts her first AKC STAR Puppy Class

January 26th, 2012

Jasmine and I started our first AKC STAR Puppy Class at Richmond Dog Obedience Club on Friday, January 20th. Jasmine and nine other puppies will starting learning basic obedience in this class and prepare for future obedience classes and competitions. They will also get the opportunity to socialize and play with each other before class. This is great experience for Jasmine to socialize with other puppies her own age.

Jasmine has already learned attention exercises, sit and down and we are practicing every day this week. She loves to work for food, so I know she will love these classes and the exercises she learns.

Jasmine Turned 12 Weeks Old

December 27th, 2011

Jasmine turned 12 weeks old on Christmas Day! The day after Christmas she had her second vet visit and got her third Parvo/Distemper vaccination. She has one more vaccination to go and will also get her rabies vaccination at the next visit. At the vet, she was running around everywhere and wagging her tail. She loves attention!

After her visit to the vet, Jasmine got to go to Petsmart again and get some bully sticks. She said hello to everyone in the store from her grocery basket ride. The cashier even gave her a cookie.

Jasmine Around Town

December 22nd, 2011

Jasmine has been out and about around town getting socialized since she’s been home with us. She has made several trips out to Petsmart and Lowe’s and always gets lots of attention.  She wasn’t sure what to think of her first trip to Lowe’s until she started getting lots of friendly attention, cookies and a new toy. As you can see she had lots of fun at Petsmart and got some new toys there too. Socialization is very important for all puppies, but especially for welshies since they tend to be reserved.

On Jasmine’s second trip to Petsmart, she got her picture taken with Santa Clause. She didn’t know what to think of the bearded guy holding her, but she wasn’t scared and her big brother, Raiden was with her. Jasmine has now visited with people of all ages and her tail is constantly wagging.

Jasmine and I (Crystal) will start obedience classes at Richmond Dog Obedience Club in January. We are already practicing and can’t wait to get started with formal classes. We will also be starting handling classes in the near future.

We’ve gone totally raw!

December 10th, 2011

Leeloo and Tucker started on a raw diet in September, so they’ve been on it about two months with no adverse issues and great results. They both have softer, thicker coats and very tiny stools. Raiden started the raw diet about one month later than Tucker and Leeloo because I wanted to check with his vet before proceeding because of his ongoing kidney disease. He seems to be doing well on it and we will get his kidney values tested again at the end of December to see how that is doing. I’m hoping we will see further improvement. Jasmine, our nine week old puppy started raw on Sunday, December 4th and she seems to be doing very well on it. She is eating all of her food, which she was not doing on kibble. Jasmine, like all of the dogs is gobbling down all of the raw food I give her. They love it!

Right now, Jasmine is eating a whole chicken thigh three times a day and gaining weight nicely. Now that her system is adjusting to the raw food, we will slowly start adding liver and other meats and leaving more fat and skin on the meats.

They are all a prey model raw diet, which is 80% meat, 10% bone and 10% organ meat (at least half the organ meat should be liver). We are learning as well go, but right now the easiest way to do this with only four dogs has been to buy a small (5 cubic foot) freezer and fill it with meat from the grocery store. Then, we thaw the food out as we need it. The dogs are mostly eating chicken and turkey parts with bones, ground beef and chicken liver. This is often fondly called “frankenmeats” in the raw feeding community. We will add more meats as we get more acquainted with where to buy meat in our community.

We have a new addition to Cryslen Welshies!

December 3rd, 2011

On November 25th, we brought home our newest addition and we’re calling her Jasmine. Her AKC name is Mystic Acres Cryslen’s Kung Fu Princess after her sire, Tucker. Jasmine, who we have started calling PJ for short is a very active and healthy puppy and beautiful too. She is everything we hoped for and more. PJ is a beautiful combination of her parents, Tucker and Bay Bay.  We have setup a page for PJ and you can see it here.

She’s a wild child like her half-sister, Leeloo and her dam, Bay Bay. Right now, we are working in obedience and will be taking her first puppy class as soon as she has had the required vacccinations.

Leeloo gets another point towards her AKC Championship

November 15th, 2011

Leeloo got another 1 point towards her AKC Champion title shown by her breeder/co-owner, Carla Vooris at Virginia Beach KC in Virginia Beach, VA on Nov. 5th. This gives Leeloo five points and one major towards her Championship.

Tucker & Bay Bay’s Litter of Puppies Turn Six Weeks Old

November 15th, 2011

Tucker and Bay Bay’s eight puppies are now six weeks old and have been given temporary nicknames using the theme candy.  They are Air Head (Airy), Twix, Big Red, Twizzler, Kit Kit, Tootsie, Pop Rocks and Sugar.  I went to visit the puppies yesterday and as you can see they are getting around just fine, playing with their siblings and learning to potty on newspaper.  We will announce in a couple weeks which of the puppies will be coming home with us.