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!

Didn't realize the family waiting for a male pet puppy ARE reading the blog.. and here I haven't been doing lots of pictures.. SORRY!!  I did some pictures this morning, but the blog site was down, (don't you love it when web sites "upgrade" and all it does is cause a mess, or you can't get in!?! blah.. not broken, don't fix it!)  Anyway.. here is Photo shoot of Puppy #2

Puppy #2 Sez - look at me posing so cute with my toys.. what is that shadow lurking on the wall behind me??  Halloween must be today!

Another shot of me an my toys, I LOVE soft cuddly toys.

Ok.. nuff of that sitting pretty.. I wanna go play!

Gonna get Miz Crystal, yes I am!

Puppy #1 sez.. hey I wanna be in the picture TOO!! how about I stand on #2 and you take the shot?

Puppy #3 sez.. please please take a picture of ME too!  Pretty please??

Puppy #4 sez - AAKKKKGGGGHHHH apparently I wasn't holding still enough for the picture.. put me down!

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:56 | link | comments (3)

Ok.. since the other "evaluation" pictures where harsh and grainy.. here are the pups.. all soft and cuddly tonight!

Puppy #1

Puppy #2

Puppy #3

Puppy #4

Posted by: Vistadei at 21:51 | link | comments (1)

We did a series of "stacked" shots this week to start to compair the pups body structure and to start to think about which ones will go to pet homes vs which ones to keep growing out to see if they will be show prospects. Unfortunately because the puppies don't stand still well for this type of photo, we used the web cam so we could get tons of "freeze frames" and the results ended up grainy in quality, but still showing what we look for in the puppies.  My evaluation is as follows:

Puppy #1 - I really really like the structure on this pup, he is balanced has a nice arch of the neck, and is stocky for his small size.  I will withhold judgement on him for a few more weeks and see how he comes along in size.  He might be too small for the show ring, but he sure is built nice, his head planes look flat and parallel, he has a nice stop, but his face is a little bit snippier than I perfer this week. It is a real plus that he carries himself really well, and moves nicely.

Puppy #2 - This puppy will be my first choice to place in a pet home.  He is nice and VERY cute, but not the blocky structure I want to see in a show puppy.  His personality is that of a more quiet guy that will be happier playing at home with some friends rather than putting up with the stresses and travel of a show pups life, so this boy will most likely be heading off in a few more weeks to the family who is waiting for a pet male.

Puppy #3 - This puppy is a nice size, very blocky, shorter on the leg, nice size head, pleasant face, definately worth watching. He is also the second most outgoing pup in this litter, which is always helpful.

Puppy #4 - Oh my "little" girl.. what do we say here.. She is by far the most outgoing of the litter always in my lap chomping my fingers, harrassing her brothers, making a general pest of herself.  I really like her, but this week she is starting to look over-done to me.  Her angulation is nice, I would like to see more neck arch, she is a little high in the rear and her tail is shorter than I would want, overall  Big Big Big, wide ,wide, wide... I am not ready to give up on her as a show prospect yet, but the hope is dwindling.,,

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:12 | link | comments (1)

This has been a week to think about evacuations with our pets.  If you all heard on the national news last week about the Norfolk Southern Train derailment that resulted in 24 exploding tankers of ethenol with flames 300 feet in the air.. yep that was in our little town!  Thank goodness it was ONLY ethenol, nothing toxic, and a limited area had to be evacuated.  Still, in the evacuated areas, pets were once again left behind, people were trying to get back in to feed them the next day.  After Katrina, I would have thought more people would have been ready to evacuate WITH their pets, but one thing people do not realize is there is no TIME to make plans when a crisis hits, the plans have to be in place BEFORE.  Then a couple days ago, late in the evening the dogs were fussing a bit, and after trying to quiet them for a while, we realized the next door neighbor's house (very close to us - 15 feet or so) was on fire.  Quickly the rolling smoke became a serious concern, by then the fire trucks and emergency equipment had blocked our cars in.  It was a delema of what to do, when do you decide all the dogs have to be moved?  Plus pups that have to be kept warm?  The air outside was worse than inside, so we crated them all in travel crates, got leashes ready for all of them, and got ready to move them.  Thank goodness we didn't have to, but it certainly raised some of these issues that every pet owner needs to contemplate BEFORE disaster strikes..

•  Do we have enough room in our vehicle to move all of the pets in the house within just a minute or so warning? Is there enough gas in our vehicle to not only get out of the area, but perhaps run the car to keep it cool or warm?
• Where will we go that allows the pets?  Relatives living outside the area but not too far away? Can we keep the pets in the car if we are housed at a school? Are there motels in the outskirts that allow pets?
• Do we have travel crate/containers that are put together, handy (not in the attic), that can be used in a moments notice to safely transport our pets (this might include soft sided purse type "sherpa bags" for cats, smaller cages for birds, etc.)
• Do we have enough sturdy ,safe leashes and collars to CONTROL our dogs leading them to safety? Flexi leashes just aren't going to cut it if you have 4 dogs trying to manuver through smoke, fire, emergency equipement, strange firemen in fire gear, hazmat crews, flashing lights, sirens, heat, etc.  You will need to walk your pet past things that on a good day would cause them to be frightened and pull or balk. AND you will be frightened, maybe even hurt, so you must be able to control your pet.
• Consider keeping pet and personal evacuation supplies in a back pack near the door of your home.  This should include bowls for food and water (even some coolwhip containers will do) extra medications, emergency credit card or info for cash advance, personal information, telephone numbers of the places you were planning to stay in an emergency. Blanket, towel, a change of clothes, extra collar/leash, anything you might need for a 24 to 48 hour stay away from home with your pets. Have a meeting place planned that adult family members will all know to try to reach, so there is some idea where your spouce or adult children would head if they can't come to the home.
• Having these items in a back-sack will allow you to carry them along in the event you have to walk out of the disaster instead of drive, the sturdy leashes and collars will also help in the case that your vehicle has been impacted by the disaster. In our case the cars were blocked in with emergency vehicles, and it was likely we would have to walk multiple dogs out of the area if the smoke got much worse.  Having emergency supplies in a back sack would have been very helpful
• Food and water can be purchased once you are outside the evacuation area, so I would not burden myself too much with the weight and bulk of that, outside perhaps a small cooler in the vehicle with water bottle in it.
• Do all my dogs have at least basic training, so they can walk without pulling, sit or stay if needed in a stress situation (to give you time to get the leash on them) will they focus on me and listen, have they been crated before, have they gone on car rides before?  All these things will help in a high stress, split second evacuation.

At any rate, I thought I would bring up this subject and really let you all know.. you have NO TIME.. there is NO TIME..  when the train derailment happened, I had just fed the dogs and was closing down the computer when the whole house shook, and when I ran outside, the sky was just lit up with fire it appeared the whole hill was on fire.   If that had been toxic, or lord forbid since we are only 10 miles from a nueclear power plant... well, anyway, there is no time to put together a plan when the disaster hits, so now is the time to make your evacuation plans.

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:38 | link | comments (1)

Yesterday the puppies had solid food for the first time.  It is always funny to watch them, I put warmed mash on a pretty flat crockery plate.  They approached with great curiousity, #1 and #2 puppy both started licking and chewing the edge of the plate, which must have felt good to their little gums as those teeth are starting to poke through and look like they hurt.  #3 pup got down to business first finding the food tasted pretty good, and #4 being a delicate lady first stepped in the food and didn't like the feel of it, then got a taste and continued to eat while standing on 3 legs and holding the soiled paw up as high as possible actually up over her head giving it a shake now and then to fling off any clinging mash.  This morning was their second meal, and no one had to be convinced it was GOOD.. darn good!!  #3 saw me put down the plate and came running and dove in with both front feet gobbling as quickly as possible.  #4 figured how to eat without walking in it, and #1 and #2 both circled taking delicate but quick bites of the mash, and the whole plate was gone in just a couple minutes.  After they finish I let their mom back in so she can wash them off before the food dries in their coat, and also so they can nurse and finish filling up.  I moved the water dish down on the side now so they can streach up and take a drink, but so far they haven't done that, but do like to chew and teeth on the cold stainless steel.  Can't leave a bowl of water on the floor of the crate or they will 1)Play in it and get cold and wet 2) sleep in it and drowned 3) spill it and make a huge soggy mess of the bedding, so I use the coop cups that sit in rings attached to the side of the cage.

Posted by: Vistadei at 12:10 | link | comments (1)

As you all know (probably) I re-designed my website a couple months ago, but ever since I did, it just didn't seem to be my "fun" site anymore, and the reason it didn't was because I missed changing the monthly picture on the opening page!  I always enjoyed that part the most, so when I recieved some very special pictures today, I decided I had to add that feature back to the web site.  Would like to invite you all to check out the poster girl for the month of October..

http://www.vistadeishelties.com/

Posted by: Vistadei at 18:02 | link | comments

Week FOUR.. already?? wow, time is flying by!!  Week 4 is a big week for the little puppies.  They got their toenails cut this week, got wormed for the first time.. ewwwww they didn't like THAT.. eewwwww they will get to start seeing the big dogs on a regular basis this week and will start to get exposed to all sorts of new things outside their welping box and their mother.  I will keep the radio on for them now all day so they get used to different voices and sounds, they are walking well and playing with each other.  I checked their mouth, and there are some little bitty teeth breaking through the surface. 

 I am starting to get an answer to my question.. Were these puppies born a little early and are small, or are they going to be genetically small?  I chart the weekly weights of my other litters and now can compair, of course it isn't 100% a forcaster of adult size, but does follow a patten. 

At this time, the Girl, puppy #4 seems to be HUGE in structure, not height, however her weight this week (2 pounds 2 ounces) is right in line with the pups we have had that have matured at about 14 to 15 inches.  As a comparison to those who own pups of ours, Genni was 2 pounds 6 ounces at this age, Cricket 2 pounds 4 oz, Regis 2 pounds - the big pups we have had were considerably heavier at this age,  Sampson 3 p 4 oz., Luke 3p 14oz, Drifter 3p 4oz.  Now our new males are coming in at a very light weight this week, actually at or under the weight of the smallest pups we have had to date.  In this litter, Puppy #1 weighs only 1p 4oz this week, and has not shown a weight gain, which is a concern to me.  I could have been sloppy on the weights last week, but I will now start closely watching his weight and growth as we add solid food this week.  Puppy #2 and #3 are both 1p 10 ounces.  As a comparison, the smallest puppy we have had to date has been from Daisy's first litter, that was the puppy Kylie who weighed 1p 8oz at this age and matured at around 9", Destiny is our next smallest to date at just barely 13" and she weighed 1p 10oz at this age.  So I am guessing we have 3 males that will be smaller for this litter.

Here are our weekly pictues, tho my flash wasn't working well:

Boy Puppy #1 - eekk the newspaper is SLIPPERY!

Boy puppy #2 - I still enjoy reading a fresh Sunday newspaper!

Boy Puppy #3 - I'm ready for action..  My head is still bigger than my body, but by gum I dare you to SAY anything about it!

Girl puppy #4 - I am stalking the camera.. oh yeah.. gonna get it.. oh yeah..

Posted by: Vistadei at 10:33 | link | comments (3)

Dis is SO depressin' every time that GIRL puppy gets in the picture, she steals the scene!

Ok.. Miz Crystal took 'way that girl puppy.. here are us BOYS!!  come on, take the picture.. come on I am getting sleepier.. come onnnnn zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Ohhh this is too warm and cozy!

DANG!! Is that mom I hear coming back inside?? Oh bad ear day.. doesn't matter, we get to EAT!

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:22 | link | comments (2)

Oh it is time for puppy shots.  They are toddling around this week making pictures nearly impossible, I just get them in focus and they bobble off in another direction or turn their heads away.  It makes for some nice blurs.  This litter is totally different for me, usually I have most if not all of the litter committed to homes at birth, so when I post pictures I am doing it "for" some family who is looking for updates on their little bundle of joy.  This time I have only taken a firm committement from one family who was waiting on a male, and I don't think they are reading the blog, if they aren't they haven't commented to me that they were and we still don't know which of the boys will be headed for a pet home, so this litter I really don't feel obligated to get new pictures up every week on time!! hahahha but here is a shot of the whole litter

And here is a shot of Porky Bess, with no ears.. hahahah  don't know how she held them back so tight against her head! Got her some good size feet there..

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:50 | link | comments (3)

I wrote the following as a responce to the comments on the post below, but I got too windy and so I moved it up here as a new entry!

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:27 | link | comments

Yipppeeeee... just got word from Shawn that "Genni" finished her Rally Novice title today with a score of 94 out of a possible 100 points!! WWWWOoooooo WWWWeeeeee way to go guys!! She is now Vista Dei Luvmen Genevieve RN, NA, 2/3NAJ, CGC, TDI 

I am soooo proud of you guys!! What a year this has been for our Vista Dei Dogs!! woooo weeeee..

Posted by: Vistadei at 16:20 | link | comments (4)

There that was almost painless!  Motime our host was down, upgraded and appears to be back on line all in the blink of an eye. Thanks!! Great service for a free program.

Oh, puppy number one was mad at him momma this morning.  Dogs generally go by the rule of the airlines, you know when they tell you "in the event of an emergency please don your OWN oxygen mask before you help others"?  Well in the doggie world when it comes to food, momma dog looking at a big bowl of food and a pile of hungry puppies eats her own food first before sitting down to feed the hungry critters.  So this morning, Daisy was busy chugging down her breakfast, and the pups wanted her to feed THEM, so they started trying to stand up on their tip toes, then tried to stand up on their hind legs to reach the "source of all good milk" and were still too short.  So while the other three muttered and kept trying, Number 1 started barking and barking and barking.. he is just a little 6 inches of fluff, but has enough of a bark that all the other dogs in the house started barking.  When mom finally sat down to feed the pups, the other three all went hurrying over to eat, and he was stuck in bark, till finally his mom had to wash his whole head to calm him down and get him directed to the breakfast bar.  It was very interesting to watch.

Posted by: Vistadei at 13:16 | link | comments

The server that hosts this blog has announced they will be "down" tomarrow for maintainence, so don't panic if the blog won't come up!

It has been a week now since Devon went away to his new home.  It was really the first time I just bawled when a puppy left, but I know he is in a wonderful new home that will love and treasure him, and he will get the best of everything.  That is one of the hardest parts of being a breeder is letting go of the older ones, it is hard enough sending an 8 week old pup off into the big world, but it is much harder when you have them around for quite a while and really get attached.  Good luck Devon and Virginia, stay in touch and send me pictures.

The new pups are growing, their ears have opened and they have started to hear this week.  My bedroom door is a little squeaky and they have learned the door opening means their mom is coming back in to them from her potty break, so they get really excited when they hear the door opening.  I have started calling the little girl Darlin' probably shouldn't name her till I see if she is going to be a show puppy and stay here, hahahah well she can still be my little Darlin' even if she goes to someone else's home eventually, eh? 

Just a trivial fact, the pups are born with their eyes and ears shut so they are not stimulated to fuss by outside sights and sounds. if they had been born in the wild it would be a dangerous thing for a small baby animal to attract attention but not be able to get away from preditors, so nature makes them stay quiet and still , by keeping them blind and deaf basically, until they are old enough to start to move and walk, then their eyes and ears come open and they can see and hear and "talk" too.

Posted by: Vistadei at 19:29 | link | comments

I thought when we bred this litter we might get some vocal pups.  Of course we are breeding to get Darby's genes and Darby and some of his brothers are all "singers".  That is not "barkers" nooo that is "singers"!!  Darby moans and grunts when he is getting groomed, leans against you making little sighs and moans, and howls when I get too far away from him and he would like to be with me. My friend used to own 2 of Darby's brothers, and they did the same full range vocal singing. Daisy who is the mom of this litter is a talker BIG time.. again, not a barker.. she has this throaty way of "talking" when she is excited, like a grumble, growly, mumble, grumble from deep in her throat as she dances around and talks to you.  It is pretty neat, but anyway, we figured we would get some noise in this litter and yes we have!  The oddest to date is Puppy #1 who makes a noise like nothing we have ever heard in a puppy.  Do you remember the Star Trek episode "Trouble with Tribbles"?  the Fluffy Tribbles made a trilling purr type noise?  Well our puppy #1 makes that noise!! It is not like a kitten purr, it is a sharper trilling noise, very different.  Puppy #4 and #3 have full on howls already, sound just like their Daddy and aren't afraid to express themselves.  Puppy #2 is the first to develope a bark, and so he tottles around and lets out a "BARK" soo big it knocks him off his feet!! 

Here is a picture of puppy #3 since all you saw on Sunday was his butt shot

Here he is giving kisses to my son

And here is a picture of Puppy #1 for this week with those ears, not sure if he is a Star Trek Tribble or a Vulcan.. logical?

Posted by: Vistadei at 08:57 | link | comments (2)

We had another good agility weekend this week at the Three Rivers Shetland Sheepdog Agility trials. 

Darby finished his NAP title with another first place win, and 15 seconds UNDER course time (a miracle for me running!)  This 4th agility title also completes his needed points for the Outstanding Versitility title offered by the CCC working dog group, so tho it hasn't been awarded to him untill we get all the paperwork together, I am very happy with meeting the goal of earning that award too.

Tim and Regis also had a very good weekend.. at the same set of shows, Christy reports the following:

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

Puppy pictures? Do I hear clamoring for puppy pictures?

Ok.. have to do this a little out of order as #1 and #3 weren't co-operative so I have to re-do their pictures for this week.. but.. first we have our -

Puppy #4 Porky Bess - she sure enjoys mommy's milk and is now weighing in at a heafty 1pound 4 ounces

Puppy #2 is perusing the Sunday paper want ads looking at the "help wanted" section He weighs 1 pound this week, both eyes open and starting to try to walk

Best we could get of #1 and #3 they are both 1 pound each, and wiggling and wiggling and bobbling along as they too try to learn to walk. #1 is the one facing the camera, #3 is the butt shot.

Posted by: Vistadei at 11:02 | link | comments (1)

Puppies are 12 days old today, Pup #3 has both his little eyes coming open, # 1 and #2 have just a glint through the slit, and #4 is still closed.  The old saying is "Last Guy Sweetest Eye" meaning the longer they take to open, the more likely it is that the eye will be small and "sweet" or pleasent expression.  I don't know that it is anything more than an old saying, because I have never seen much of a difference in expression linked to the order that their eye opens, but still.. so far I am really pleased with these pups, nice and stocky and wonderful underjaws on all of them. 

Puppy #3 seems to be the fiesty guy of the bunch, wiggle wiggle, has to give me little licks and tastes, oh Rose wish I had a scratch and sniff for the computer cause the puppy breath is soooo sweet!!

At this point I hold them several times a day, gently pinch their feet and toenails so they are used to their feet being played with.  I did take their dew claws off, but they were soooo small the day they were born, I obviously didn't get into the bone as far as I needed to, so there are a couple front dew claws coming back, blah!  They were so tiny tho, I couldn't get a good grip with the hemostates when I was doing it.  Luckily there were no rear dew claws on any of the pups, but some are going to have one on the front leg.  Well, either the owners will need to remember to cut the toenail when they do the nails, or when the dog is "under" to be spay/neutered the vet can get the dew claw off then.  Nothing I can do about it now as all their nerves are developed, that is something I only will do in the first few hours before the blood flow and nerves are activated in the area, in the first few hours it is fairly painless and not tramatic for them.

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:58 | link | comments (1)

A belated Congratulations going out to Vista Dei Luvme Genevieve NA, 2/3 NAJ, 2/3 RN, CGC, TDI "Genni" and her owner Shawn for their success this past weekend in the Rally ring!!  Genni earned her second leg in Rally Novice with a 94 point score (94 out of 100 points)  I am SO Proud of you all!!  I think we will hear very shortly that they have finished that title, good luck on the upcoming entries! 

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:20 | link | comments (1)

Guess I should be more clear about something I wrote yesterday.  I am not really keeping these puppies under a traditional 250 watt infa-red heat lamp.. NO NO NO..  I am using a 100 watt normal spectrum bulb in a heat lamp.  We had a 6 foot iguana for about 13 years and I got used to monitoring and adjusting basking heat in different types of heat lamps, including night bulbs, infa-reds, full spectrum and normal spectrum, so I do not think much when I refer to heat lamps, I just do what I need to get the area the temp. I want.. But didn't want any prospective breeders reading this and putting 250 infa-red on their pups as I am sure that could/would burn them. so NO NO NO traditional heat lamps for puppies!  Alot of breeders use heating pads under the welping box, or special no-chew heating pads under the bedding, but I like to warm the air above and keep it in the hight 80's until the pups are actually walking.  I also am sure that the pen is set up and large enough so there is a cool end to allow the mom and pups to move away from the heat too if they want.  If puppies are fussing in a tight knit pile, I know they are too cold, and conversely if they spred out till they are not touching each other, then they are too warm.  I want to see them snuggle together, relaxed and sleeping comfy, that is the right temp.

Someone also asked me what I was feeding Daisy so she made milk that resulted in such nice growth and plump pups.  When she is preg. I add a chewable doggie vitamen, the last 3 weeks she switches to eating puppy food, and then starting about 2 days before labor and continuing until the pups are weaned I make a mix of 1 raw egg beaten into about 3/4 cup of Plain or Vanilla Yogurt (NOT low fat - need the regular fat)  I split this mix put 1/2 on morning and 1/2 of evening meal.  This has worked wonderfully for me helping the mother's system adjust after the welping,  helps the mom make nice rich milk and plenty of it., and keeps her calcium levels from crashing while nursing. 

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:42 | link | comments (3)

Daisy is such a wonderful mother, these pups have really not taken much of my time or energy this week.  She doesn't need me to sleep in the room with her (some moms can't seem to get the pups all in a group so they can lay down to nurse, resulting in a squeeky smasher pup stuck in the back that needs fished out)  Daisy rolls them all in a pile, then lays down in a manner that she is holding herself over top of them and then gently lowers till they are all where she wants them before she lets her weight down, so no smashers for me to retrieve in the night.  Thanks Daisy, I like to have a good nights rest!  Today was the first day she seemed interested in spending some time out of the welping box, probably felt good to get out of the line of the heat lamp (yes Roni, I am still baking my litters!!)  I like the heat lamp on them, they seem content and not so agitated when they are warm and full, so I think it helps with the weight gain and growth.  I have been told that I keep heat on them a bit too long, but so far it works well for me.  So all I have had to do all week is hold and kiss little puppy faces.. too cool!

Posted by: Vistadei at 09:32 | link | comments (1)

What a differance one week makes!  All our puppies have gained weight shooting up to 10 to 13 ounces each, putting them right in line with all our prior litters, so they are not "tiny" pups, just were small because of being born early.  And no longer small!  They are scooting around, trying to hold their heads up, kinda like bobble dogs this week!  Here are their one week pictures:

Puppy #1 a male, 10 ounces

Puppy #2 a male, 12 ounces

Puppy #3 a male 10 ounces

And porky bess, at 13 ounces #4 female

Posted by: Vistadei at 20:36 | link | comments (2)