Crystal Clear

For Romeo's 4th birthday (Nov. 7th) I decided to get him thoroughly checked for bladder stones and/or crystals. We've never really had him checked and he's never had any problems, but seeing chances are good for a Dal to have crystals in their urine and stones can turn into a life or death situation - it's well worth having a preventative look.  So today Romeo and I spent the afternoon at the vet's office. I'm extremely happy to report that his ultrasound showed his bladder to be completely free of crystals and stones (they also visualized his prostate gland which looks perfect as well). Then they checked his urine sample, which had perfect pH at 6.5, was free of crystals even under the microscope, free of red & white blood cells. His concentration level was on the lowest side of normal (his urine was nice and diluted) at 1010 (normal is 1010 to 1040). So he was 100% as perfect (or at least as perfect as a Dalmatian can be)!! 

Boys night

Now that Adrian has a new job in Walla Walla, it's a special treat to have him home on a weeknight. The two men of the household had a nice evening watching Monday night football in their favorite positions. (Romeo must not have found the game that exciting seeing he was actually sound asleep in this photo).

Vacation has begun.

 We arrived at Cooperfield Campground at 1:00am last night. Our friends/family arrived this morning and we're in full camping mode now. Romeo, Sky and JR had a nice run, then enjoyed laying out on the grass behind our motorhome. We're here until Monday morning, rain or shine - so we've got our fingers crossed that the weather men are wrong and we'll actually get to enjoy some nice weather. It's going to be hard to be away from the puppies this many days, but they are in good hands. We'll be sure to get new pictures of the puppies posted as soon as we get home, but meanwhile you'll just get to look at the 3 we brought (and maybe some relatives if anyone else out there wants to send in updates). :)   Deb



Video footage

This week we received a great envelope which contained a DVD from January. This was the day that Bow finished his Champion Title, Romeo won Best Of Breed and Willow was Select Bitch. It is amazing to get such great video footage of such an amazing day. Bow is being handled by our good friend Pam in this video; I (Debbie) am handing Romeo and Adrian handled Willow.

Romeo saved the day!

 Today I hosted a Showmanship workshop for the local 4H kids and then a Handling workshop for adults followed. The day started off a little rough as one of the 4H kids ended up crying the whole time she was in the ring. Her nice family dog was very scared of the show ring, judge and other kids with their dogs. At one point the poor girl was dragged across the entire ring as if she was on skies behind a sled dog! Romeo to the rescue!!! I had brought Romeo with me so we could practice a little during the adult section, but he had a much more important task today; making this young ladies day! At first she didn't want to use Romeo seeing he was quite a bit bigger than her dog, but a little convincing and watching me take him around the ring once did the trick and before we knew it she was HOOKED!! Getting to practice with a dog who didn't pull her around the ring, stood for the judge to examine and who knew what they were supposed to be doing, did wonders for her self esteem. She tried to convince her mother that they should just keep Romeo and she'll show him from now on. :)  We were thrilled that she ended the day all smiles and having fun.

Photos arrived

 Our photos from January 20th arrived today. These are of Bow after winning his final point for his Champion title and Romeo won Best of Breed the same day. Bow is one of Romeo's sons and is 1 1/2 years old. We're very proud of both of these boys!

Yesterday the show ring... today the muddy creek!

Romeo (who was Best Of Breed on Thursday)

Bow (in the creek - who became a new Champion on Thursday) and Romeo heading back in.

Quick dip

On our way home from the Portland Rose Classic we stopped to let the dogs run and play some. I never imagined they would go swimming in the Columbia River today seeing it was in the 40's. The cold water didn't seem to bother them at all and they had a great time.