Just a Quick Update

Before life explodes with puppies running amuck (I love that word—amuck— and am reminded of the movie, Hocus Pocus, where Sarah Jessica Parker says “Amuck, Amuck, Amuck!”) and it is suddenly July, I stole every possible minute of the glorious spring weather we’ve been blessed with lately to try to catch up on a ton of outdoor chores that I am very behind on. And, I finally got a small garden started—Yahoo! I’ve had seeds since last year—yes, ordered winter 2011)! Not exactly the magnitude of edibles I intend to eventually grow here because I think a yard should be for growing/raising food, not just for mowing! At least its something and will keep me in greens. In the fall I want to put in an acre of garlic. Yep. I use so much garlic that it seems insane to me not to be growing it myself. About an acre of garlic and an acre of Lavender. Dreamy. But for now, I finally have a wee 14′ x 4′ raised bed for luscious greens that I won’t have to buy and wonder what insecticides they are covered with. Spinach and Kale and Lettuces, oh my! I was trying to wait until the house gets painted before using this bed for anything but who knows when that will happen. Now, I just have to keep the dogs from digging it out—fingers, toes, and eyes crossed! 🙂

To pay me back for having so much fun in the dirt without them, somebody had a nice time chewing the toe out of my Sloggers. 🙁 It actually isn’t too bad and keeps one foot cooler.

Okay, who cares about my pathetic, tiny garden and shoes? I know, I know. This is supposed to be a helpful, insightful blog about Llewellins and upland hunting, right? And where are all the puppy pictures?

Well, I seem to be in the midst of loads of electronic trauma… computers, web cams, cameras—it seems when one thing breaks they all break and at the most inopportune times! It makes what I do and the way I like to do it very frustrating. I’ll get it all sorted out soon, I promise. In the meanwhile, I am running the Puppy Cam with an iPod and it works out OK, although at times I think it is running just to discover that it has been “trying to connect to the server” for a few hours! Grrr… It does stop itself every 2 hours and I have to take it out of the mount, restart it, connect to the wifi, log-in again, bla bla bla… so, it isn’t constantly running, but it will have to do for now. It is currently broadcasting Addie x Ike’s litter because they are older and doing a little more and it is where I have the bracket installed! I’ll start switching between the two litters as soon as I can get the items to make another bracket for the other puppy room.

The pups are doing well. Addie’s pups (the Michigan Rivers litter) are 2 weeks old already! They have their eyes open, but still mostly just sleep and eat. They are little butter balls and cute as all get out.  Nash’s pups (now named and themed the “Great Lakes” litter) are a week old and are doing great, too.  I noticed some eyes starting to open today. 🙂 I will figure out a way to get some good pictures—and the phone just isn’t cutting it—I take 50 shots just to end up with one usable!

 

I had a lovely encounter today while out and about somewhere in northern Wisconsin when I came along a hen Ruffed Grouse and her brood of 10 crossing the road. It was so cool to watch the little fuzzies running around and then take flight across the road! I posted the video taken with my phone over on Facebook, but for whatever reason, I can’t get it loaded to YouTube to embed here for you. Check it out on Facebook until I can get it posted here.

Update: The video is now posted here.

I’ve had a nice time getting out to work the dogs. Cowboy is such a good boy and an amazingly quick learner. He loves to retrieve, loves our walks, is heeling and whoaing like a champ, and is all that I could want. He naturally backs and is as easy to train as any Llew I’ve ever had. He is having a blast just being a Llewellin pup, pointing Robins and Pigeons in the yard, and is suddenly really maturing. He is gorgeously stylish and on high alert on our walks and we’ve worked up to 3.5 miles (or I should I have worked up to 3.5 miles… it’s no problem for him what-so-ever!) I can’t wait to get this dog to the woods and am really, really looking forward to his first season. For now, we are just having fun. The walks on lead are fantastic for him—and me to get ready for walking all day during hunting season—and the varied surfaces of paved roads (never it hot weather though!), dirt roads, etc. are great for toughening his pads. It’s a great opportunity for him to learn a ton of stuff, such as we want nothing to do with deer. I simply “AAAAHHHHH!” when he sniffs a deer track, deer skat, etc. When I know he is winding a deer (I can actually see the deer in the field), I let him know this is not something he is to pay any attention to. I don’t spend a lot of time on it, it’s just an “aaahhh” and on we go.

He is also learning to walk on the side of a road and if an automobile comes along, I take him far off to the side and sit him (yes, I teach my bird dogs “sit”). My thoughts are that this simple exercise could help save his life. He has to learn to stay out of the way of automobiles because anymore no matter how far and how remote I’d like to be, there are roads and automobiles.

 

I’m taking advantage of the great weather to work other young dogs, like my English Pointer, Gitch. She will be a year old in July and is coming along fantastic. Frankly, there isn’t much I can really teach any of my dogs. I simply give them opportunities and perhaps lead them in the right direction… the rest is just “in there” and comes out all on its own.

I dread the thought of heat coming on and going into hibernation and am so thankful for the perfect cool weather and opportunity to work the dogs. We are having a blast while we can! I wish I could work my dogs all day everyday! It’s the dream for me.

🙂

That’s all for tonight folks. I can barely hold my eyes open and need to get everyone settled in for the night and hit the hay. I love rising and setting with the sun lately.

Hope you are enjoying getting outdoors with your dogs.

Hug your Llewellin tonight…

 

-M.

P.S. A huge, great-big shout out to my youngest son—Happy 20th Birthday Hunter! I miss you terribly…

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