the boys Mandie, Thaita, Yankee

the boys Mandie, Thaita, Yankee
Originally uploaded by kibutata.

....Mandie's diary, cont... today was another weird day in this house, or rather it wasnt in this house, they put me in the car right after breakfast along with Yankee (who is actually rather nice, now I know him better) and drove for a long time. When the car stopped I was in a new place! which was a bit worrying, but then that little rascal Thaita came running and wanted to play and then suddenly the girls Funny and Sammy arrived in another car and all of us was leashed and taken for a walk. I have to say it was a bit embarrassing - I mean that Funny? she just pulls and pulls and does not have any ideas of how to behave. But suddenly we were at a wonderful BIG empty beach and we were all let off leash to run, and did we run and run and play and even Yankee played like a puppy again, and I wanted to chase the waves - but.. they were quite cold and WET! and the humans just laughed at me as I got rather wet.
Helle was annoyed as she had forgotten the battery to her camera, so no pictures.
Thaita is such a baby, everytime I just bumped him a little, he started screaming for his mum and looked like his legs were broken but of course they were not, and honestly I do play very gently.
In the end we all went into the little house - all 5 ridgies - I dont know why the humans said the house was rather full? There are some strange rules in the house: we are not allowed in the sofa =:-0 (imagine) and not into the kitchen, so us three boys spent a lot of time begging right at the edge to the kitchen.

Diary of a holiday guest

Mandie - aka Revodana's Manhattan's Transfer - is staying over for Christmas and even if he has stayed here before I do believe he is writing a secret diary - to present to his mum when he gets back home:
day one (Dec 23rd) I arrived rather late in the evening (mum said something about a broken car?) and of course all those crazy Lewanika dogs was barking their heads off when I arrived, I got a bit frightened, especially as that Sammy was telling me to p... off right away and not even think of returning. Not nice, and I would have liked to follow her advice but mum just wouldnt listen!
But then suddenly I noticed that Sammy was actually a rather lovely bitch, who smelled really nice and I mean - bitches are supposed to be ... bitchy? and she isnt really, if I am not "stupid boy" I can lie really close to her, with my head on her back.
The other dogs were fine right from start - I mean, I KNOW that the old guy Yankee will kill me if I step out of line, so of course I dont and then he just ignores me, and the little one Funny is really a lot of fun - but why do they throw the two of us out of the house all the time? something silly about not playing indoors? do they know how cold it is to play outdoors?
But the humans!!!!! they are NUTS. I had hardly arrived before they dragges a huge tree all the way through the house and stuck it up in the middle of the living room? WHY? not because I was supposed to lift my leg there, I am certain of that. Because shortly after they started putting all sorts of weird stuff like candles on it.
The next day was a bit better - I mean, when someone is cooking a goose SOMETHING at least have to fall off to a diligent dog? and then in the afternoon lots and lots of wonderful people arrived - and more dogs? dont they think they have enough? but no! Funnys brother, a six months old total terror arrived, FINALLY someone I could put right - which I did, boys like him has to learn who is in charge.
But the humans - I mean they are nice enough, and the food is brilliant - but all of a sudden they started walking around that tree and singing???? never in my life..... fortunately they sat down soon after and ate some more, which was good because then I could finally relax.
More cooking and more people the next day, lots more, and someone had been nice enough to wrap some wonderful cookies in nice paper and put it under the tree, which was a really nice surprise for us dogs.... weird that the humans sort of started shouting when they found the paper, did they expect us to eat that too?



Today has been almost NORMAL if such a thing exist here? no new people and a very nice run on the fields and a long walk sniffing deer tracks. And lots of playing (out doors again - dont they know it is freezing?) with Sammy and Funny, and even Yankee joined in a couple of times, but ouch I really have to remember that I am not the resident male here, he does something nasty with his lips when I forget.

a week later.....

The couch seems empty - and so does the house, somehow the remaining 4 dogs does not take up as much space as the one who has left even if the dog pack has been volatile and extremely noisy in the past week. Even if Puuma was old and her powers waning her presence still gave the pack a necessary equilibrium they now have to find again. The hardest hit is perhaps little 6 months old Funny, whom Puuma just had to lift her head and look at to make her shut up and behave as a good puppy - her respect for the rest of the pack is not great enough and she has been a holy terror this last week: barking and inviting to play wether the other dogs wants to or not, biting in EVERYTHING, peeing gallons indoors. Sammy has been too depressed to take up the challenge, which of course is interpreted as a weakness by the cheeky little brat - but fortunately this has been changing over the weekend. Yankee is still withdrawn, lies more by himself than he usually does but here Funny's persistance helps, he is her favourite playmate wether he wants to or not :-) The next days the house will fill with favourite humans and dogs and it will be a good change for all.

Vale Ikimba Puuma 17.2.1999-15.12.2008

Puuma is no more, the cancer had spread and today her beloved vet Dorte came to the house with a lot of lovely treats and put her to sleep right on the kitchen floor where loved to lie watching the cooking and eating. Puuma went to her final hunt with her mouth full.
Even if Puuma did not get as old as she should have been, she was one of the grand old ladies of the breed.
With Puuma everything was larger than life: her constantly happily wagging tail - which once during a Ridgeback party at the house wagged so much that it sprained, her appetite -which was legendary for its ability to eat and digest EVERYTHING (including a bag of dried chick-peas when Yankee emptied the larder for her) , her love for all mankind - reserved? not her, her courage - even in the face of ghosts at the temperament test she did not back down even for a second, her undiluted resent for all canines not in her pack- and of course her sheer size which did not dimish over the years.
The house is empty now - quiet.....

First show for the babies

Yesterday was the first show for the DD and Zazu babies - now 5 months old and it went fabolously for both Thaita (Lewanika Fulumuzi) - who won best Baby boy (of four I think) and Funny (Lewanika Fufuna) who was # 2 of many baby girls.

Thaita's critique couldnt be better:
5 måneder, fin størrelsem smukt hovede og udtryk, korrekt bid, god bredde på skalle, lang elegant hals, kraftige benstammer, pæne faste poter, lidt åben i sine skuldervinkler, god længde på kroppen, må gerne være lidt kraftigere, meget velvinklet bag, vel ansat hale, korrekt ridge, smukke frie bevægelser, fin farve og pels, vel trænet.

and neither could Funnys:
5 måneder, fin størrelse, meget feminint hovede og udtryk, korrekt bid, tilpas kraftige benstammer, god længde og dybde på kroppen, velvinklet bag, korrekt ridge, frie bevægelser, fin farve og pels, vel trænet

Both pups behaved really well in the ring, and I was especially impressed by Thaita who had never been in a show hall before and never ring trained and who still behaved really well in the ring and gaited at full speed

This is embarrassing

no posts since September!!!! and it isnt because we have all been hibernating in the encroaching darkness and wetness of Danish Autumn. We have been at puppy classes with Cassie - former Rosa, who is totally recuperated from her DS operation and Sammy and Eliza have been working hard learning the right steps and turns in Rally-O.

But we have also had some really bad news: old beloved Puuma, the mother of many beautiful puppies and the undisputed alpha female in this house started fading, during the fall she was not as active as normal, and I noticed she was limping and was in some pains.
First trip to the vet - (after a thorough physical and clear blood panels) elderly dog, maybe a little worn, but a light pain management should clear her ... it didnt and she was most definitely not better, back to vet who on my requests did a hyperthyroid panel on her - positive, but by then her pains were clearly noticeable and her limp concentrated to her left front leg. Now to x-rays : and now the truth showed it self: Puuma has osteosarcoma - bonecancer, which is irreversible and usually quick. Diagnosis was 4 weeks ago and we were not given many days to say goodbye. ... But a different (and stronger) pain management has given us a little hope that we might have her even past christmas - but with cancer nothing is sure, so now we enjoy her every day as a gift