Success!!

Winter for the birds

The temperature in west Michigan has been dipping down into single digits this weekend making this winter difficult for man and beast as well as our feathered friends. We keep the feeders full and offer fresh drinking water for the birds via a heated birdbath. In the summer time the dogs have a water faucet outside, but in the winter they must wait until inside to drink out of their buckets. Treasure has decided that the birdbath works as an elevated fountain and she has been drinking out of it...Of course being the smart and curious puppy that she is, she wanted to figure out how it worked (I assume) so she pulled the heating element out of it and left it on the deck floor. With the temperatures so low it didn't take long for the water in the bath to freeze. Mike put the heater back on the bird bath last night and poured hot water over it. This morning when I checked I found it was still frozen. So I spent the last 1/2 hour trying to get the bird bath working. Seems pouring hot water on top is not enough. I think the heating element needs to be fully submerged to work. I tried boiling water on the stove and pouring it on over and over to no avail. So then I got a hammer and large screw driver out of the drawer and chipped away and alternately poured hot water on it until I got enough water to submerge the heater. I'm hoping that will work. My wrists hurt needless to say, but at least the birds have some water to drink for a little while. We shall see how it works now. I guess Miss Treasure will have to change her ways!

Treasure on the table

It has been about 9 degrees F all weekend. Treasure loves to play in the snow with Boston and Korbel and she comes back in with ice all over her ruff where they pull on her and drag her down "like a wounded zebra" as Mike says. If I want her to stay dry and/or slightly clean I have to put her up on the table and blow dry her ruff and fluff it up. Here she is yesterday after I dried her a bit before leaving for a play date with a Samoyed friend.

Korbel is ready...

Korbel has decided she is ready for motherhood and she has come into season. We anticipate breeding late next week. Puppies would be expected (assuming all goes well) in late March. We are looking forward to sharing this litter online through our webcam. Check back often for updates as we being this adventure.

Saying Good-By

Wrangler and Mike both love Christmas. It is a chore to tell Mike it is time to put away the Christmas tree until next year because he loves the holidays so much, but this afternoon he decided it was time. Wrangler is just as bad. He LOVES the tree and every year tries to jump in the box to go with it to the storage unit.

Santa Bear

Lorraine shared this picture of Kody Bear taken over the holiday. He is 13 years young and just a beautiful bear dog! Great grand daughter Treasure has his pretty face!

Chance was a Star

We went down to the Spartan match today. It is the biggest non dog show of the year. Non dog show means it is a match which is a practice show. There are no champions, but lots of dogs who will be one someday. Treasure was a wild child....can't win that way. Korbel worked like a dream....but was only 2nd out of 4. Creme was a bit nervous but strutted her stuff. Chance though was the star. He won Best of Breed adult and went on to a Toy Group 1. Here he is right before going in to the Best in Match ring!

Barley in the Snow

I was so happy to see a picture of Barley in the snow looking quite grown up and very much a beautiful Samoyed boy! Thanks Sylvia and David for sharing.