getting back to normal

With only Frieda and Thaitha left, life is getting back to normal here, the older dogs have no issues now with only two babies around. So now the x-pen fences are being packed away and the pups have free run of the house. Today Puuma even found her duck toy and tried to show it to Frieda and Thaita, but Sammy saw her and became a puppy again.Yesterday was the first Rally-O training day of the season for Sammy and me - the rain was pelting down - but hey - it's great to get started? But the thing about training with a RR is also training your trainer, a new enthusiastic lady had just started and she wanted us to repeat a turn for 8-10 minutes - Sammy did it right the first time AND the second and then we decided to something else...... when the trainer asked us to repeat the movement I kindly explained to her that certain things are just not done in RR training .... ESPECIALLY not when it is raining :-)

how to....)

How do you keep a newly operated 9 week old puppy just reasonably quiet? Rosa woke up this morning in her lonely bed (no I didnt want her to sleep with her sharp toothed siblings) at 5 o'clock - howling!
since then every waking hour has been spent keeping an eye on the pack that no little sharp puppy teeth bit into the wound because Rosa herself certainly didnt care about it, she was as fresh as nothing had happened.
But early this evening also Rosa left home - to an experienced Ridgeback owner living not very far from here, I am sure that Phil and Nicole will take excellent care of my little one and I look very much forward to following her at puppy classes etc.

Dermoid Sinus

Last Thursday afternoon Sophie noticed a lump under the soft skin on Rosas throath. At first we thought it was the id-chip which had been infected. But it wasnt and even if it didnt feel like anything I have ever felt before we had to admit it was probably a Dermoid Sinus. I decided to have her operated on as soon as possible and today was the day. She was so tiny when they carried her away to the operating room.
The operation went well, the DS was a so called type V with no connection to neither the surface skin nor the spine, and even if its' texture was different from the normal ones the removal was successful.
Rosa was a little dizzy at first and we tried to keep her quiet - but as the evening progressed this was just not possible. Rosa wanted to make up for her lost day of playing NOW.
So the main problem tonight has been to try to keep them from playing too much and making Rosa relax just a little. She is finally asleep now, safely on Sophie's lap and she will soon be as good as new. The only consequenses to her future life will be that she cannot be bred from.

Rød - Lewanika Fuba - has left

Little "Red" with her sweet face and gorgeous colour has also left for her new home, she was picked up by her new family in Store Merløse

Sammy is back!

Things are returning to normal - at the show in Store Merløse DD went back to her beloved Zazu and Cassandra in Amager (no more puppies YEAHHH) and Sammy could come home to Vestekærgård and reunite with her parents Puuma and Yankee and meet her new "siblings" Rosa, Funa and Thaitha. The reunion went well and all three adult dogs are really happy to be back together - today they had the first howling bonding session and Sammy is busy telling her parents that really honestly she is still just a sweet little puppy (lick lick around the mouth, ears back, head down). Sammy is puzzled by the three real puppies - they are kind of fun, their play looks tempting, but????? of course the three little rascals have cast Sammy as LION and spent quite some time practising how to hold a lion at bay - a core compentency of a Danish Lion Hound......

DD wins best gait at Danish Specialty!

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The Ridgeback Day - or the Danish Ridgeback Specialty - is the day in the year where most Ridgebacks from all over Europe competes against each other a breed specialist judge, this year Orit Nevo from Israel had made 74 RRs find their way through the rain to Store Merløse on Central Sjælland - oh, sorry, MORE than 74 RRs had found their way - as 4 little Lewanika babies also had set up kindergarten in the corner of the big show hall (no puppy minder at home meant they had to come along)
Mandie was the first from camp Lewanika to go in the show ring - he is still in the throes of adolescense and miles too thin - but .... Margit must have done it right: he won his (Intermedieate) class!!!!
19 months old dog, with a bit of a feminine appearance - good body proportions, head a bit feminine, ear carriage could be better (he didnt want to "prick" his ears so looked more like a wet bloodhound), good dark eyes, correct bite, muzzle could be stronger, clean elegant neck, enough forechest, enough front angulation, good feet, good topline, good tail set, good back angulation, moves well, correct ridge - Ex1

Zazu was all turned on by seeing his beloved DD again and also by all the other males, so he did not behave his best and at one time we wanted to pull him as he had more eye for the other males than for Michael showing him...... But we went on with it and he ended up being #3 in his class also with an Excellent : 4 years old masculine dog of good size and good body proportions, strong head, good ears, good eyes, strong stop, muzzle could be longer, correct bite, enough front angulation, good bone, cat feet, strong topline, tail set a bit low, good back angulation, in movement a bit weak in rears, but moves okay from the side, okay ridge.
DD - with her 8,5 weeks old pups playing in the corner was most certainly not in show condition but I wanted to show her anyway as she is so lovely to show and she didnt do too badly, even though she only got a Very good :
3 years old bitch of good size,good body proportions, enough bone, feminine head, good size of the ears but could have better ear carriage (even after some desperate taping the one ear is still UP), good dark eyes, good proportions between scull and muzzle, correct bite, just enough fore chest, good feet, good depth and lenght of ribcage, topline a bit soft at the moment, rump a bit high and a croup a bit sloping (STACKING - not done she crouched like a rabbit) good back angulation, okay ridge, moves extremely well with a lot of drive and reach, too much black in coat, because of that and because of poor show condition she gets today a very good.





BUT - because of the comment about her movements I thought I would enter her her in the competition about the best moving Ridgeback in show - over 40 other dogs was on the floor and we had very little room to stretch out at first round, but then the finger pointed at me and DD and suddenly the competition became more fierce - only a few was left and with feet pounding and paws flying we went round and round the ring, now only myself and DD and the best in show male Mwisho was left for one more run ( good thing DD and I had been taking our little runs every day for the past few weeks, so we were both in shape) but a litter of puppies does take the toll and I could feel her fading on me when we where finally stopped by the judges hand - AND the silver trophy!
8 weeks and 4 days after she had her cesarian DD had won the competition about the best movements - competing against the top Champions from all over Europe!
DD you are amazing - I hope your puppies will have your grace and power

Getting packed for Ridgeback dag

Tomorrow we are all trekking to St Merløse on Sjælland very early in the morning, so the car is waiting, packed to the gills with tent, crates, a little fence to make a small run for the pups, a huge sheet of plastic for the bottom of the run if we need to be indoors (the forecast is RAIN) blankets, food + a huge pile of books on Ridgebacks for the club to sell and many boxes of the wonderful Ridgeback wine the Danish Rhodesian Ridgeback Club is sole distributor on.
But the pups couldnt care less and a certain large male is using unfair methods in keeping the girls down!

- and now there is four...

og så er der fire
Originally uploaded by kibutata.

Four pups left to share the teddy bear, plenty of room for now - Fuba will be joining her new family on the RR dag in St. Merløse, Taitu, Funa and Rosa will come along to learn about how it is to be at a dog show andmeet new people.

they are leaving now.......

The first three puppies has left the nest - Syren, Green and White pups are now safe in their new homes and learning new names like Phoebe, Diezel and Fuma and have already encountered many new things like cats, mopeds, strange dogs .... and a carpet =:-0 which was not really meant to have an accident on....
Also Lilla has moved to Viborg and got his new official name: n'kosi

paperwork

While the puppies play wilder for every day (todays game has been racing up and down the fence to the top paddock - a couple of pups on each side) they also sleep better and with the crates in good use nights are getting positively peaceful - and MOST even make it out the door in the morning before the accident happens.
But today has been hectic collecting the folders for the puppy folders, there is just so much stuff to give the new puppy owners: articles on behaviour, temperament and training, sheets and sheets of advice, the food bowl, food bags, the individual stuffed lions as well as the health insurance covering until 4 months, the DS certificate, the DKK contract and..... I think much more..... hope I havent forgotten anything.... but then again - I probably have....

The last chores

Apart from rather unsuccessfully trying to keep 8 very curious, very active puppies out of mischief such as being stung by wasps, caught in the electrical fence, getting back into whatever made the tummies unsettled, today has been spent getting the final things done to make the puppies ready to leave in the next days: the last worming, DNA swaps for the DNAaH project - 6 per puppy means altogether 48 swabs in 8 little biting mouths, a final weighing - big Green has almost hit the 8 kg mark and the print out of all the articles and information for the puppy pack - phew. Now the pups have been put to bed in their crates, which is a huge success: they all slept till 6.30 this morning and NO ONE had had any accidents in the crates, amazing! DD is still being cornered perhaps once a day for a few minutes, the pups loves it of course, but she is getting truly tired of it.

too long time away

The 7th Rhodesian Ridgeback World Congress in Portumna, Ireland was a great experience - not just the joy of being back in Ireland and the challenge of left hand driving, but the exhileration of being able to talk Ridgeback genetics, Ridgeback Health, Ridgeback behaviour and naturally Ridgeback gossip for more than two full days fantastic.
But - being away for almost three days is a long time, the pups had grown legs and is beginning to look like dogs and their range of curiosity have grown considerably. In fact so much that they had spent time in the sheep winter stables and got hold of something not quite safe for puppy tummies. So now they are on a light diet to get the little stomachs back in order and it seems to be working - certainly enough for the entire pack to enjoy a long walk on the newly harvested fields.

Healthy!

Early start today - to get 8 puppies fed, and played a little tired and to make sure all of them have pee'd and poo'd to avoid any accidents in the car - it does take some time, but at 8.04 Denise and I started carrying the pups into the clinic.
All got a clean bill of health, no heart problems, clean ears all testicles present and accounted for - and the clinic wasnt TOTALLY destroyed afterwards.....
Now I am off the the Rhodesian Ridgeback World Congress in Ireland, so this space will probably be quiet until Friday :-)

Buzy day!

Today has been very busy - Mandies US breeder Denise is visiting and not only did we go to Sunds yesterday to visit friends and do some handling classes, but this morning started with lurecoursing not too far from here - DD and Yankee LOVED being big dogs away from the pups and just running for the fun of it.
The pups have had a bit of runny tummies so today has also been a LOT of cleaning - esp as it has been raining so they have been indoors most of the day.
But finally came the long awaited Puppy aptitude test (read about it)
Jette and Stinne came and as it was raining and the ground VERY wet and not really comfortable for a heat loving RR puppy we decided to go into the barn - huge, darkish and with lots and lots of fun things to investigate.
The puppies did well, and even if it was visible that a couple of them had tummy pains they all behaved pretty much like I had expected them to. From Bordeaux and Blue being totally happy with waggy tails and little noses all over, to Red being a very careful girl and Green being taking things at a paws length and sitting for quite some time before deciding to participate. More to come later.....

finally finished

så færdige
Originally uploaded by kibutata.

...... OK that is it.... I think this is it for tonight.... zzzzzzzzz

An active bunch

It is late evening and the pack is safely tugged into the puppybox behind me in the sitting room - they are supposed to go to sleep while I get a well earned cup of tea and a chance to see the Friday night movie....... but .... I can hear little feet galloping, growling, see the shadowplay of fat bums and happy tails and I think it will be a while yet before they zonk out.
And it is not like they havent experienced anything today: a nice adventure out to the wild corners of the farm: through high grasses, brambles, up and down, climbing and crawling. Later they were supposed to go for a nap in the puppypen, but broke out for new adventures instead.

Time to explore the world

blaa i fuld fart
Originally uploaded by kibutata.

The pups are 6½ weeks now and BUSY - the day is spent playing and exploring the world around them.
Soon comes the time to evaluate them physically and mentally to fit them to the requirements of their new homes. A correct male and bitch are still available, so if you are interested in a puppy from this wonderful litter please contact me.

it's a hard life

to be a 6 week old puppy is totally exhausting - WALKS! into strange and exciting places such as the field with grass much higher than any puppy - high enough to hide 8 puppies completely to the great worry of DD. And also walks on with Helle without the rest of the pack in new and exciting places such as the sheep field which Rosa below though a lot of fun (lots of yummy sheep dropping there). Syren took a name change to Frække Frieda - no translation provided

no milk today!

Six weeks today and DD made a decision: no more milk! she blankly refused to go anywhere near the pups and even lures of nice food or even a good bone could not persuade her. Enough is enough. It held all day, but late afternoon the pressure became to much and she came down for a brief drink - which the puppies enjoyed hugely of course.

RAIN!

Today began and continued in pouring rain - a phenomena the puppies have NEVER experienced before and really never WANT to experience ever again :-( cold, wet against little fat, bare tummies and goes right to the skin. The grass was nasty and cold and.... but then they were allowed to play indoors!!! that was so much fun, especially to see me rushing around puppy securing the sitting room for a whole day of playing and not just the usual evenings - a book here, some electrical wires there, the big wonderful bag with wet papers from the puppy box and...
But that done everybody had lots of fun playing... except..... that everytime they had eaten, or slept or played - the whole pack had to go outside AGAIN - in the rain, sorry - and they werent allowed back in before everybody had done their business. Poor puppies!

Something entirely different - LURE COURSING

... puppies are cute and wonderful and there is nothing like being able to follow a litter of pups in their daily development, but it is the adult dogs and their strength and power that we live with for hopefully 12-14 years and these pictures taken by Jette Fuglsang from a Lure Coursing event in early summer really show the joy and hunting instinct of the RR - and that this does not disappear with age, Yankee is almost 10 years and still loves the hunt more than anything
See the rest of Jettes wonderful pictures from the event in Kasted at http://picasaweb.google.dk/pip2pip/LURECOURSINGKASTED02

Sammy shows the "pronk" a Ridgeback speciality for hunting and keeping eye contact with the game in high grass

Lots of biting

Bider lige hvad der er nærmest
Originally uploaded by kibutata.

Bite control is being learned at present - or rather.... what happens if you bite as hard as you can? and things happens: if it is a sibling he or she cries VERY loudly, if it is DD she growls, if Puuma... oh no, nobody has dared THAT yet and if a human being? hmmmm they seem to use the scream high approach too. But verbal communication is growing and sounds becoming important. This is also why I have introduced noisy things for them, such as an old mail box to pull along with a very loud (and a little scary ) rattle.