I hope this Blog proves to be both fun and educational for anyone interested in Showing and/or Breeding Dogs. Spend some time with us and you will really understand the time and effort and emotions that goes into this hobby. Join me here for the good times and bad times, the joys and sorrows, the wins and losses. Welcome to life at Vista Dei!

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:21 | link | comments

Forget all the groomed up "show" pictures, THIS is what mornings at Vista Dei really looks like!  As you can tell, the dogs are all intent on coming back inside, they are not real big fans of their lovely yard, they much perfer to drape themselves across the furniture inside.  The couldn't quite figure why I was hanging out a window with a camera.  This is all of our gang, except for Diana and Dew-oh, who obviously must be kept separate from the others as they are still winding down out of their heat cycles. Let's see, laying down in the front of the pictures, the blue Merle is Decker, then to his right, staring right into the camera is Mysty.  Behind Mysty, to her right, the one that you can only see the tail of, is Darby, then standing to the right of Darby's tail, the dog with the most white on the face is our old guy, he is a neutered male named Dusty. On the other side of Mysty, standing behind her left side is Daisy, The dog behind Daisy looking toward the door is Ricky, and the one nearest the hand rail, whose face you can't see is Destiny.

Since you couldn't see Decker or Destiny's face in the group shot, I did manage to get this cute "Father and Daughter" shot of them, the hairy butt in the picture belongs to mother Mysty!

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:40 | link | comments (3)

The long wait.. I want to know if the girls are pregnant!!  Oh I want to know if there will be puppy breath.. pant pant pant.. I can't wait!! I can't I CAN'T!!  Here is a picture of Daisy when she was a baby, my aunt is holding her.

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:23 | link | comments (2)

Dogs really are creatures of habit.  They have their daily routines and they like to STICK to that!  I had mentioned we were getting new flooring in the dog bedroom and the laundry room.  Prior, we had an area in that room where there were 3 crates on the floor and a second layer of crates on top of them. Every dog knew exactly where their own crate was, and when you started dipping out food they all ran and got in their own crates, the same crate every day.  Well I took out a wall and enlarged that area, so that there are 4 crates on the floor and a second layer above the ones on the floor (8 crates total).  Wow are they all confused.  They can't make up their mind which crate was their own, why there are more of them, and which one they should pick!  They also are confused as to how to jump up into their crates, now that they are in a slightly different configuration.  Daisy took a flying leap off the bed to try to get into hers, instead of just hopping up from the floor.  Goof balls! 

Posted by: Vistadei at 16:03 | link | comments (1)

The linoleum for the bedroom got put down last night.  Before we did it, I tore out the closet completely and will re-build it smaller to leave more room for the dog crates. I don't need no stink'n cloths if it means more dog crate room!  The flooring looks nice, it was alot of work, I feel like someone beat me with a 2 by 4 !!  hahaha my shoulders and legs and such are aching this morning, and the laundry room still has to be done too! I hope it is worth it! 

 I may become an Odo-ban addict!  It is still keeping the urine smell away in the yard, and hasn't seemed to brown the grass or anything.  I am trying a capful added to the dog bedding that is in the washer this morning. 

 I have to wash bedding off schedule, because Diana seems to be leaking some urine in the night or having a hard time holding it in the morning perhaps.  Normally, all the dogs go out to the bathroom at the same time in the AM, but with girls in heat and now bred, the males go first, then come inside and then get put in the secure runs out back, THEN and only then are the girls let out of their crates and out to the bathroom.  That is a lot of excitement in the morning for her to sit through and not pee herself, plus almost an extra hour beyond when she normally goes, by the time I get all the leashes on, and boys walked out and given their treats and new water put down etc.  But it has to be done carefully that way to avoid any accidental breedings.  We had an accidental breeding here one time.... Now one thing we discovered in this day and age, if an accident occures, all is not lost.  They can DNA puppies and parents to be sure which male sired which puppy and they can still be registered pure bred pups! Infact they will register the litter even if one male sired some of the puppies and one male sired the rest of the puppies!  Isn't that cool?  Cost alot, we had it done  and I believe it was about $700 to have the mom, both possible dad's and all the puppies DNA's and then the results read. (In our case all the puppies belonged to just one male, but we had to be SURE) so anyway NO MORE ACCIDENTS HERE!!  All the males are kept in 6 foot Chain link runs with concrete floors and a roof before any of the females in heat are let out of their crates. Being that they are 15" dogs that weigh 20 pounds, I think that should hold them.. looks like it would hold a small tiger. but we never want a repeat of that accident!

My one friend's special dog took suddenly ill day before yesterday, keep them in your thoughts for a recovery, it is very serious.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:15 | link | comments

The girls are back home!  They were very happy to get back to their own place, Dew-oh kept jumping on the bed and barking like a little kid!  It is amazing the difference in their personalities between staying in a strange place with strange dogs (they were very subdued, not shy and cowering, but very little tail wagging, and no kisses, no jumping up etc.  Get them home and it is like you just wound up a toy and let it go.. zip zoom, bark bark bark, kiss jump zip, bark bark bark. hahahah nice to see they are happy again.  Something to be said for keeping your own colony, even if it means housing more dogs it is a lot less stress on them.  And you can imagine the stress on many females who have to be shipped to the stud owner for the breeding, at least mine could go by car. 

I think the stud owner is probably right, Dew-oh looks too far along in the cycle to have had a good breeding.  Diana I think is going to be good to go, now we just have to cross our fingers that everything got where it was to go and such.

I am tossing around the idea of getting a state Kennel license.  I have been talking to some people in our area who have the state license and boy it is a fine line between the benifits vs the drawbacks.  I have a few months to decide if I want to apply for one for 2006.  I do not have as many animals as would REQUIRE one, but it would save money on the individual county dog licensing and also "grandfather" me in if our township ever enacts pet limits.  On the other hand, I will have to have more outside runs, bigger crates in the house, and lots and lots and lots and lots of PAPERWORK!! hahahah Also have someone available for drop in inspections, that will be hard with my work schedule, so I will have to talk to them to see if they can do early morning inspections or what.

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:43 | link | comments

The Odo-ban is WORKING!!  I came home from work last night and the area I sprayed still smelled like the product and not like urine.  Then we got quite a bit of rain last night, but it still smells of product this morning rather than urine, so I am encouraged this will work.  Now how often to spray the area?  I think I will wait and see when the urine smell starts returning, to see how long it takes.  I am going to pick up Diana and Dew-oh in a few hours.  Did I mention I hate to drive (oh yeah, several times!)  I just realized last night that these trips to take them to be bred and pick them up, is costing over $100 in gas.  I think if the gas continues to rise it is going to have a serious effect on my ability to show.  The UKC shows in Sept will  cost over $100 in gas for travel, and about $270 in entry fees plus overnight fees, a day off work (plus my 2 day weekend for a total of 3 days at the show) and food expences, plus a little something I will pay my son to care for the dogs left at home.  It is getting right up there, probably a little over $500 total for the weekend of shows.. yipes!  Now, they are saying we might be looking at $5 a gallon gas by next year, that is really going to hit the wallet for traveling to shows.  The Sheltie Nationals in the spring are about 8 hours from me, so I intend to go to them, but I bet I won't be showing as much as I did this year if the gas goes that high. 

Hey "R" thanks for the cupons!! And SF, yes you figured out what makes Leo so special....

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:07 | link | comments

Got my first chance to use the Odo-ban product this morning.  It really goes fast even at the proper dilutions, so maybe I DON'T have a life time supply here!  I like the smell of it, it is a clean soapy kind of scent, not a flowery or perfumey thing.  I sprayed the grass along the house and fence which of course is where the dogs like to pee, not way out in the yard where they would only gross out some bunnies and opposums, nope they do it right up where everyone comes to the path leading to the door, so mmmm you are greeted with a whiff.  Hope this stuff does the trick, smells good wet, we will see this afternoon if there is any difference once it dries.  I think I will also put it in the steam vac for a use after I steam the carpets next time.

Tomarrow I go get Diana and Dew-oh back from Ohio were they are living in sin with their new boyfriends. Then the watching and waiting begins.  Puppies in October???  Oh I hope so!

Posted by: Vistadei at 10:56 | link | comments

awwww lookie, here is a picture of 2 pups from our first litter of shelties born here, only two hours old, all snuggled to mom.. Oh I hope we have at least one nice litter 60 days from now!

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:37 | link | comments (2)

I guess it is looking like we might be too late in Dew-oh's season for a breeding, but the lady is still trying.
That is Ok, if it takes it will be great, if it doesn't that will be ok also.  Seems quiet around here with those two girls gone for the week.

With all the heat and humidity this past month, the males urine smell lingers in the yard, so I was looking for a good odor removal product, people told me to get Odoban, but around here it is only sold at Sam's clubs, and I do not have a membership.  I asked around some friends that used to have Sam's memberships, but they had given them up, said they still new some friends and would ask etc etc.  Well finally I couldn't stand it any more, so I ordered some through Ebay, within an hour of paying for it, my friend called and she had found someone who had gotten a couple more gallons for me!!  I sure hope it works well and I like it, cause I have about a life time supply at this point I think.

I bought the linoleum that I want to replace the carpet in the bedroom and linoleum squares in laundry room.  I want a single sheet installation, so I can put some puppies in the laundry room when they are old enough to run around, and that way if they have a puddle, it will not leak through the cracks between the squares and ruin the floor.  Plus, my laundry room floor is WHITE right now, and that is where the dogs go out and come in from the yards, so in the spring I really have to mop about 6 times a day to keep up the footprints off the white floor.  Well, call me crazy, but not DUMB.. this time I am getting deep green with marbling effect in black and a lighter shade of green.  I am thinking this might cut the mopping down to once or twice a day.. yippe!!  So, tonight I have to start to take the stuff out of the bedroom, I hope this all goes quickly and smooth. (wishfull thinking)

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:19 | link | comments

Oh pooie.. I was going to tell you more about the boys that Diana and Dew-oh were bred to, but the owner of the males wants to keep you guessing until we know if they are pregnant!  Oh pooie.. well lets keep our fingers crossed that they "take"!

Luke, one of the pups from the spring litter stopped by the store today, he sure is a HAPPY fellow, no fear of things at all, full of kisses and loves.  He has such a nice temperment.  Here is his picture I took while he was here

Posted by: Vistadei at 14:37 | link | comments (3)

Ok.. here is your second hint of what makes this breeding of Diana to Leo so special..

HINT NUMBER TWO: This dog is Leo's Grt-grt grandfather (he appears in the 4th generation on the pedigree) http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/ROM/FairPlay.html

Oh.. Ok..

BIG HINT NUMBER THREE:  If you have gone and looked at the dogs indicated in hint numbers one and two.. did you notice their dates of birth???

Ohhhhh and we have yet another announcement to make here at Vista Dei!!!  An unexpected opportunity has presented itself, and we will be having... TWO LITTERS AT ONE TIME!!! wew, am I up for it????  Dew-oh will be going to be bred to an equally lovely boy, so both sisters (if the pregnancies take) will deliver within a day or so of each other.  Denise and "R", clip those cupons for me.. I am going to be needing all the help I can get!

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:46 | link | comments (1)

Ohhh lookie what I dug up!  Cricket's baby picture!! hahahahah She was a little cubby ham bone back then, and what a beautiful young lady she has grown up to be!

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:53 | link | comments

I took Diana out to be bred today, was a 4 hour round trip, but well worth the time.  Her new love interest is AWSOME.. awsome dog.  I feel privledged to have met him.  His name is Leo.  Now you have to figure out why Leo is so special!?!  I know if SF saw the pedigree he would figure it out.  Lets see here is the first hint..

HINT NUMBER ONE: This dog appears 6 times in Leo's FIVE GENERATION pedigree... http://bowlingsite.mcf.com/ROM/Peter.html

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:30 | link | comments

Hoover Steam Vac.. a MUST for a multiple dog house hold..  I do not know what I would do without it.  Just love to scrub the carpet any time that things aren't fresh, without having to rent one of those horrid leaky machines from Giant Eagle, you know the ones that appear to be empty when you pick them up at the store, but leak about a gallon of stinky fish tank type water out into the trunk of your car on the way home, then lay down 20 to 30 gallons of water into your super thick padding, don't suck much out so now you have wet dirty smelly carpets with pet stains?  Oh no more of those for me.  About 2 years ago I invested in a Hoover Steam Vac, and it is heavenly.  Gets out about as much water as it puts down, and brings alot of nasty dirt out of the carpets.  The carpet is about dry enough to walk on in less than a hour, I am always impressed at what it removes.  Had a nice scrubby last night and it makes me happy. 

Oh would you like to see some pictures?  As I said a day or two ago, going through the puppy pictures is making me long for another litter... whoo whoo might this little princess be??

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:35 | link | comments (2)

At this time we at Vista Dei are very disappointed with the AKC's support of the PAWS legislation as are a HUGE number of people and organizations. We feel that PAWS is the first step in preventing dogs from being raised and socialized in a home enviroment, that we believe is so critical to their well being and future good temperments as pets. The PAWS legislation is an effort to bring more small breeders under the licensing and inspection of the Federal USDA. On the surface one might thing it is a good thing for breeders to be licensed and inspected, however, what most people do not realize is that under the rules of the USDA, NO PUPPIES OR BREEDING ANIMALS MAY BE KEPT IN THE HOUSE! All dogs and puppies must be kept on concrete or wire, never to run in a yard or sleep on a bed. This saddens us, and we feel betrayed by the AKC's support of this action. This legislation, while currently only affecting those who have more than 25 puppies or 6 litters a year, is just the begining, even AKC acknowleges the numbers can and will be lowered in the future to include even smaller scale breeders - if this continues, soon ALL puppies will be raised in commercial kennel facilities, never to know the warmth and love of a family enviroment like we provide for our animals. We urge you to join us in contacting your law makers and opposing bill S1139 / HR2669 .  This link will take you to an easy site to email your representatives, but a phone call and a letter are even more effective than an email http://capwiz.com/naiatrust/issues/alert/?alertid=7719986&type=CO

For more information on PAWS http://www.ncraoa.com/alerts.html

Posted by: Vistadei at 07:59 | link | comments

Drifter went home last night, now Destiny doesn't have anyone to chase up and down, down and up... her mom and big sisters want nothing to do with her fun and games and when she tries to get them to play they show her the "Halloween face" as we call it around here.. they just quietly lay there and wringle up their whole face so that she can see their pink gums and BIG WHITE FANGS.. they don't growl or snap, just show off those BIG WHITE FANGS.. and she finds something better to do than pull their hair or chase them around. What is this Wednesday?? FOUR MORE DAYS.. till Diana will be bred.  oh, puppy breath is in our future I just know it! Are you excited too?  Can't wait?? Curious as to what we are planning??  Keep checking back.. once the breeding is done I will tell you who her mystery boyfriend is...

Posted by: Vistadei at 15:41 | link | comments

The re-construction of my web site is taking ALOT more time than I thought it would.  As I go through page by page, so many of the links to informational sites weren't working anymore, I have just re-designed the pages as I go with all new links, new polls, new activites,and I have alot of pictures to ad that people have sent me.   I purchased SO MUCH ROOM on this new "dot com" site, the huge website that I had, that kept shutting down if more than 4 people looked at it, now only takes up 2% of my allotted room! yippe... I can go wild and crazy!  I decided to make a separate page for each of the puppies we have sold.. wew!  I am also adding the birth to 8 week pictures of each litter.  When I get done, those of you who own pups we bred should be able to find pictures of your little girl/guy that you have never seen before, and be able to track the littermates of your puppy.  For those who don't own a pup from our breedings it will still be interesting to see the litter develop, and then see the adult pictures of each pup.  Now I have just started work on this so "R", no proof reading yet! hahahahha

Oh "R" send me a private email about your girl's allergy feet symptoms, if it is what I think it is, there is a quick fix, don't let the vet take you on a roll.  But got to get that pad healed up first.

Wow Drifter poops alot! Of course he eats alot, a growing boy! He "goes" 3 times a day!! hahahha if my others did that, I would have 30 piles a day to pick up!! yipes! How would I ever get out the door to work in the morning!! hahahhahahaha

Oh I have been working with these pictures of the litters past, and the  little one's at one to three weeks old are soooooo sweet, the pictures are making me long for the next litter.  I so hope this breeding works out with Diana and her Mystery Man!

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:48 | link | comments

Oh we are having a ball here!  Drifter is spending the weekend, and the dogs all like having company.  New games, someone to bother, some one to sniff, someone to hump.  Destiny kept trying to get Drifter to chase her, then when Drifter would start chasing, Destiny would duck behind the one couch, where Drifter is too big to fit.  This went on and on, finally one time Destiny made the error of jumping up on the couch instead of ducking behind, and Drifter jumped up and SAT ON HER! hahahha  he just sat there with this big Sheltie grin, on his face, panting with his tounge lolling out the side and all we could see of Destiny was her little head poking out under Drifter's tail.  She wiggled, wiggled, wiggled, but to no avail, she was stuck till he decided to stand up and let her go.  She hasn't tried that game again! hahahah

Diana and Dew-oh are both in heat.  I think we are NOT going to breed Diana to Ricky as was the plan.. something else different and VERY INTERESTING has come up... check back for more details!

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:31 | link | comments (2)

Stupid air conditioner didn't fit in the window, it was 1/8 of an inch too big without me drilling holes or something in the tracks of my new thermal pane vinal windows!  The dogs seem to be fine yesterday with the fans on. Dew-oh has come into heat this morning, Diana looks as if she may be too should be able to tell by tonight.  Mysty will be coming into heat soon too, so now we have to start with the "shifts" boys in - girls out - girls in - boys out.  I will have to scramble for a stud for Diana, and I haven't a clue who without a huge long drive somewhere, even then I am clueless!  I do not know why things like this just can't go smoothly like they should.

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:00 | link | comments

Ok, I have HAD it.. mid 90's again all week forcasted, heat ~ heat ~ heat and HUMIDITY.. blah!  I am getting an air conditioner tonight.. no, not for the whole house, JUST FOR THE DOG ROOMS!! hahahahhaha  Ok, Ok.. I will go and sleep in the dog's room, there is a bed so I can watch new born puppies, so I will sleep in the nice comfy dog room.  But really, with their heavy coats they are just miserable in this heat. Have to do something to keep them more comfy, I have fans running now, but by afternoon it gets hot no matter what I do.  Hopefully this will be their last hot afternoon.

Posted by: Vistadei at 14:47 | link | comments

We took the plunge to a "dot com" site for our web pages.  I know "R" has been having some problems viewing a few of the pictures, but we have gotten 36 hits today and no other emails of problems viewing.  If anyone would like to view our new address http://www.VistaDeiShelties.com and let me know if everything loads up Ok for you, that would be a great help.  You can email me a vistadei@yahoo.com if you have any comments, and please be sure to let me know what brower you are using if you have any problems.

Mysty's hot spot is healing nicely, but it looks awful that I clipped the hair off of her side.. but what ever it takes to get it dried up and healing.  Gave Darby a bath, it looks like he gained twice his volume in hair.. hahahha instead of using a hair dryer we just sat infront of a big floor fan to brush after the bath, and wow did he fluff up! Smells good too!

Posted by: Vistadei at 22:10 | link | comments