Ebonwald Cardigans

MItcham !

2009-12-08T22:06:00.003-06:00

Yes the big hairy beast is still here!!

I've been a little gun shy about showing photos....I've been lacking in the grooming department. Between a broken foot, work 'til I drop, and puppies its been a little...well....ok no excuses.

This past week I've spent about 3 hours (a nice long 2hr movie and a full 1 hr CD listening) each day with Mitcham and we are in the home stretch now! He may just be ready for St Paul! :)

Isn't he just turning out to be GORGEOUS! I love my big goofy boy!

Don't say I never gave you anything (cute photos!)

2009-12-07T14:03:00.006-06:00

Daily cutes...Just from today! I should sit and watch my puppies ALL the time :D

Below...Crockett getting nose pigment.......
Mr. Mismark tucked himself in cute here. I refuse to name him Tub...sorry! I have a Toller in my agility class (well ok SADIE'S agility class) named Tub or Tubbers and he kind of wrecked the name for me :)
Blue faced girl sleeping (perhaps doing the Macarena here?)

I can't believe the pups are already a week old! The sassy alpha pup (half mask blue girl) is the hog at the milk bar, and has grown the most. she has gained 13 ounces, doubling her size in a week! OINK! The other three are growing between 1-2 ounces a day, so most have gained 10 ounces, giver or take. Is there any correlation between fastest growning puppy and being the first to mature or largest dog at maturing? Since this is the first litter I've whelped (contrary to some people's accusations) I have not had any data to follow through with from any litter previous. Call me a man of numbers and data but things like birth weight, average daily gain, weaning weight etc are all very telling traits in my sheep and cattle. I would find it interesting to see if dogs have any correlation between those things in the future, i.e. if they also pass these fast growing/gaining, or birth weight sizes to their pups, and if its as genetic with them, as with livestock.

ok ok more photos....

This one is family photo at day 8
A very cute photo of Zoe-Momma and the blue faced girl.

Too cute - Crockett

2009-12-03T14:32:00.003-06:00

Hal Poe, who owns Justice's mom Molly, made a comment about the black/white boy's blaze marking in that it looked like a coon skin hat like Davey Crockett would wear. The name totally stuck and here is Crockett perfecting the on the back sleeping position. One of the blue girls was TOTALLY too cute this morning with the same pose and her paws up against her body. I so wish I had the camera for that. I guess I need to just keep it next to the whelping box :)

Day 2 - Individual shots

2009-12-01T17:05:00.004-06:00

Here is the first girl, Pup #2. Half mask. Left side first, then right side.

Below is the mismark male. Cute little black spots on the base of each ear ;)
Next two photos are of the black and white male, Pup #1.

Below is the blue girl, pup #5 (numbered in order of whelp). She is a very light/clear blue with a black patch over her left cheek.

All pups have gained about an ounce per day, are Zo-Momma is being a stellar mom. Aside from the squeeling in the middle of the night when Zoe moves, or they are nursing, they are not doing much....except breaking up my sleep....and of course I have to go and check when I hear one make a peep. I should know better, but its so hard :D

Day 1 group photos

2009-11-30T13:42:00.002-06:00

Group photo. The girls are the merles, the boys are the blacks. All look to be brindle pointed.
Well the whelp went as normally as expected. The only issue was the last two pups got stuck in the birth canal as they got hung up with placenta from the previous pups. They were delivered without a sac around them, unlike the first 5, so were not viable when they were brought into the world. We tried our hardest! Live and learn. We did what we could for them and am happy with the four healthy ones.

Super huge thanks to my vet for being 'on call' for me when she wouldn't do it for anyone else, and also many thanks to Wanda for driving up the 3 hours to come give me some peace of mind with the whelp. Needless to say if I had to do it alone, I would have been a nervous wreck. It sure made me think twice about having any MORE puppies!

This little girl has the most interesting marking on her face. Where there would normally be a white blaze, she has blue! I've never seen one like that before so it will be fun to watch her (and the others) grow up and see what the markings do.....
I had to lighten up this photo to show you the head marking on the blue girl, and can assure you the black boy behind her IS black and not brindle :) Don't want any more rumors starting! >:)

Puppies are here!

2009-11-29T22:37:00.003-06:00

Zoe free whelped 7 puppies (5 blue bitches, 2 black males) today. We had a few issues with some of the puppies and had three D.O.A. blue bitches (all perfectly marked, full white collars and blaze, with a tiny blue dot on the top of their head in the blaze, yes all of them!) due to placenta issues. Surviving are four healthy pups: one half mask blue girl, a blue faced girl, a mismark black dog and a black pup with nice blaze (more like a lightning bolt).

I'm exhausted. More about the whelp tomorrow. Puppies sure are cute but I don't know about this whelping stuff.....

Giving Thanks

2009-11-25T19:56:00.002-06:00

I have truly met some amazing people in my years with the dogs, sheep, pigeons, college and high school. Every single person I've met has lead me to life lessons and for that I am thankful. I am glad that I am able to continue to meet new people via Facebook and Blogger, and reconnect with old friends who haven't been forgotten.

I absolutely love my family. They are a pillar of strength and guidance, showing unlimited love, respect, wisdom and laughter when its needed.

I thank my Heavenly Father for all his many blessings, both large and small: my health, a thriving business, education, friends, and most importantly, His forgiveness.

God bless you all on this special holiday and please take a moment to pause and give thanks for all that you are truly blessed with!

Counts are up

2009-11-25T10:17:00.001-06:00

Zoe-momma was xrayed this AM and we have for sure 7 nice sized pups, with possibly an 8th hiding on the right horn. There are for sure 4 in the left horn and 3 in the right horn. My vet was very happy to see the wide pelvis and the already laxating of the hips for passing of the pups. It appears as though the first pup will come from the left horn and one in the right horn will be breech. Gosh its so exciting :)

I am hoping for 8, just because its my favorite # :)

Belly watch from 11.22.09

2009-11-23T10:48:00.004-06:00

My heart drops a little every time Zoe pulls this pitiful face out of her handbag..........what have I done?! :)

Below...note the pitiful look?

Daisy

2009-11-22T23:20:00.003-06:00

Daisy doesn't get a lot of face time on here it seems, although she does get a lot of photos taken of her! Here are some from just this past month....

Here is my dad with Oliver and Daisy. As you can see Daisy LOVES my dad.....this was taken tonight.

Happy Daisy girl....
hmmm...maybe not so sure of the camera?
Ok happy again.....
Daisy is always watching me ((and that big brown fluffy thing is MITCHAM who hasn't had much face time here either)(he equally loves my dad and shows him every time he visits))
Oliver, Daisy and Zoe taking some down time....
Zoe and Daisy chilling again.....

Happy 5th Birthday Sadie!!

2009-11-21T23:09:00.003-06:00

Sadie Girl, the Princess, SG, aka my heart dog had a birthday today with ice cream, a nice long walk and even some agility training and sheep herding (the rams got out today!). Sadie as you all know, was in a terrible accident about a month after her four point major in St Joe, MO under Brian Meyer, back in April 2006.

Sadie loves her herding, agility and meeting all kinds of dogs and people. She is undoubtedly my first love who brought me to the Cardigan world and no one could ask for a better first dog. She has a VERY STUBBORN but loving personality and I've learned a lot from my little brindle girl.

Every night when we snuggle in bed I always tell her how much I love her and how grateful I had another day with her. She is really truly a gift. Thanks Sadie for a wonderful life experience!

Every day with her is a gift! Happy Birthday Sadie Girl! (And to Edward and Magic and the rest of the crew!)

Belly watch aka whale watch...

2009-11-20T23:00:00.002-06:00

I've been so busy with work...I haven't had much time to blog...but I HAVE taken photos of Zoe's belly for documentation :)

Well here is Zoe on 11.10.09. Swelling and not afraid of showing it! She's such a hussy....

11.16.09 on her belly on the couch. She could STILL jump up on the couch this day.....

Today, 11.20.09. She has seemed to explode on the top side now to match the bottom. She also cannot jump up the ONE step from the back yard to the back door. She gathers herself but has hit her belly twice. NOw she just waits for me, wagging her tail and with her ears back submissively lol. I think we'll start pottying outside the front door (ok her not me....) Two weeks to go......

Litter Theme

2009-11-17T20:34:00.005-06:00

I had someone ask me about if I had picked a theme yet. The obvious ones would be an "A" litter where all of the names start with 'A'. The other would be a 'first' theme or something but they all seem so over done. I'm terrible with making a theme of my own. My friend suggested I do a Twilight theme. Not like the movie and vampires. But something that has to do with twilight and night time. My original kennel name was Midnight Forest, as that was my pigeon loft name. Diana Mann had found the words Ebon and wald in Welsh to mean Black Woods. It was the closest she could find to Midnight Forest. I liked the idea of Ebonwald and it took! Thanks again Diana!

So I was thinking of names to do with twilight/night time/dark/forest/woods/trees and thought of a few names. But might you have suggestions?

Another theme i was thinking was personal all time favorite song titles. I have a few like "Poker Face" and "Yeah" but didn't know if those were really good 'registered names' so thought maybe lines from the songs like 'Lady in the street', 'Do whop that thing' etc.

That might be kinda fun? thoughts? ideas? names?

waiting list full

2009-11-13T11:51:00.003-06:00

Isn't it fun having prospective puppy buyers contact you? Sure sure you get your head aches, or those who just don't fit the life that you want for your puppies.

I've had nearly 40 applications (no lie) and there are 18 people on this waiting list. Of course some are very specific in what they want (blue merle girl, blue eyes with a sassy attitude) but seriously what are the chances that they will get that? I feel much better with people who say " we dont' care the sex or color, we just want a healthy and happy puppy!"

Most of my puppy buyers had contacted me from a referral from other breeders (thanks for that by the way!) or from the CWCCA breeders directory. Nearly all of them said they found my litter to be what they wanted...even just pet puppies, they want healthy puppies from tested parents and from dogs that have no temperament issues.

With that being said I feel pretty good about the litter and I think any of these that are left on the list will be good puppy owners of my pups.

I'm thankful for those who are interested in the litter and those long time breeders who are supporting me with my first litter. You guys rock ;)

Belly watch

2009-11-11T19:00:00.001-06:00

sometimes it looks like this....sometimes much bigger......

makes me nervous...lol

Someone is bored

2009-11-04T14:23:00.003-06:00

ultrasound confirmed!

2009-11-03T09:01:00.003-06:00

Zoe is confirmed pregnant :)

The vet said for sure six, but more like 8. I had some techs say that with her size already, she could have 10-11. I'm happy with 8! At any given time in the ultrasound we could see 3-4 sacs with moving babies inside!

Zoe has already gained several pounds. How much weight should she be gaining per week or over the entire pregnancy? She is typically 30 pounds.

What do YOU think?

2009-11-01T20:33:00.002-06:00

My vote is YES! >:)

What's the story?

2009-10-29T22:26:00.003-05:00

So I've been getting emails and texts and phone calls wanting to know if Zoe is indeed bred.

According to emails with Carolyn, the last natural tie was on 10/4/09. 28 days from there would be November 1st, which is what my vet said is the earliest they could do an ultrasound. Since I believe her, I have an appt for Zoe-Momma on Monday.

I do however believe she is bred. She is now eating almost as much as Mitcham, and is starting to have larger nipples that are so pink I swear they glow in the dark. She also is getting rounder on her sides, I referenced pork tenderloins (small ones mind you) but maybe that wasn't a great comparison :)

We'll keep you posted

Fleece giveaway!

2009-10-20T10:41:00.001-05:00

So any of you readers interested in getting a fleece from me to spin/knit into something? I'm looking to broaden my clientele and word of mouth is great! I'd be willing to send you a raw fleece, or roving (once it is processed) for you to play with and make something. you are able to keep whatever you make, but I would like photos of the finished product, the kind of yarn it was used, how you liked the wool, etc.

Any takers?

whelping supplies list

2009-10-19T14:00:00.003-05:00

I've been chatting with several other CWC breeders about supplies needed for whelping. Since its my first litter I pretty have zero supplies. It took me two years to accumulate all of the 'needed' supplies for lambing and i seem to throw out a lot of stuff that expires each year due to not needing it, but I guess I'd rather throw it out and buy a new bottle of calcium gluconate (or something else that has expiration date) than have a ewe or lamb that needs it at 4am on a Sunday or a snowstorm.

I have already purchased a food scale...digital to the .10 ounce. I have lots of old towels, but was curious as to what else would be needed (obviously a lot)

It would be helpful if you could perhaps send me a private email with what would be needed, or you can reply here too.

I realize i need a whelping box, which I'll probably do a plastic swimming pool for starters. I need a lower Xpen so i can reach over and pick up puppies at any time, and obvious things like heat pat or lamp, but specifically what KIND you have used, or what products NEVER to buy.

Also where you go to find these supplies...ebay, petedge, etc.

I didn't want to buy too many things before she was confirmed pregnant, and have it sit here taking up space if she wasn't bred, but I guess its better to err on the side of caution right?

Suspect

2009-10-17T11:05:00.000-05:00

Zoe has been not eating all of her meals the past few days....and not even going back later to eat it. I'm not a fan of letting raw food sit out, but was hoping she'd get hungry later.......

Perhaps the sign of morning sickness? I'm no woman, so don't know the first thing about 'signs' rather than puking and not wanting to eat. :)

oh please oh please oh please oh please!

Good Dog!

2009-10-14T15:51:00.002-05:00

The other day my Grandpa had left the gate open to one of the cattle yards while he was going in with a round bale. He ended up watching in horror as the cattle ran past him and the round bale and right out the open gate! They never do that for my dad or I...and they can't really tell who is in the cab of the tractor so they must have just sensed it was him.

He came to my doorstep out of breath and really frantic. Poor Grandpa, at 83 just should not be doing that stuff and/or chasing cattle. So I went to get Oliver and he and I set out to get the cattle in. Oliver may not be able to run as fast as other corgis b.c. of his HD (although not clinical), but he sure has the heart. He chased our leased bull back into the pen and when I told him to continue to chase him, he ran through the very deep mud to go after him.......and he did end up making it through the mud to bark at him and tell him what for.

After that was accomplished Oliver and I accompanied my Grandpa out to our northern pasture via 4-wheeler to help him get his truck unstuck from the coulee he was stuck in. Oliver ran an easy pace of 15mph next to the 4wheeler the entire 1 mile there and back and was always watching me on the 4wheeler for any commands I might give out at any second.

He's such a good dog!

I couldn't even get him to wipe that silly smile off of his face until bedtime that night. He was surely pleased with himself. :) Maybe it was because he got to keep his muddy coat on until it dried and flaked off?

Cleaning house

2009-10-12T12:38:00.002-05:00

With the six inches of snow that was supposed to come last night, didn't come, I am cleaning house like a mad man. There are very few days that I have ANY time to clean, let alone six hours of time!

The dogs are muddy as the snow we DID have is melting so they are in their crates drying off (and have you ever tried to sweep or vaccuum with 7 dogs barking and trying to take your broom or vaccum handle?) Once that is done I'm out to seperate ewe lambs from ewes and more hoof trimming. A good day to get it done, as hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to go back and finish pruning at the lake homes that I started on last week......

Pity

2009-10-11T20:38:00.003-05:00

I just checked Onofrio for breed counts in Sioux Falls, SD. I didn't enter as no one said they were trying to build a major there. You need only 6 bitches to make a major. Ell only needs a major, and while I don't expect to win necessarily, I didn't enter because I didn't think it WOULD be a major, or even close to it. Ell would have been the 6th bitch.

So I guess I'm not out anything, since I didn't enter, but those who were looking for a major close to home, didn't get it. And that is the biggest pity, since we can't work together to build the majors. tsk tsk