New blogger

Hey everybody let's welcome Rebecca to the blogging world. She has a puppy from our last litter - Lyberty's Winston Churchill. Winston is brother to Rosie and Norman.
Check his blog at http://winstonthegreat.blogspot.com/.
We can't wait to see what Winston gets into!

Cardi Claus!

I arrived home from Janet's this morning and what did I find....Cardi Claus had arrived!  What a nice box of goodies!  All kinds of cool toys and yummy treats, a Christmas stocking and a nice doggie throw.  Then I found the very special Lego ornament tucked inside.  Oh my, the Lyberty gang is going to have a very merry Christmas indeed.
A huge thank you to Kathy, Moe, Denali, Sage and Elbee from Santa Clara, CA.

Puppy watch

I'm spending a few days helping Janet with Scout's puppies.  As you can see Magic, the Brittany, is helping too...does this make them...."BRITTA-IGANS"

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A doggie Christmas Message

I just had to share this....

A Nativity Scene was erected in a church yard. During the night the folks came across this scene. An abandoned dog was looking for a comfortable, protected place to sleep.
He chose baby Jesus as his comfort. No one had the heart to send him away so he was there all night.



We should all have the good sense of this dog and curl up in Jesus' lap from time to time. By the way, no one mentioned that the dog breed is a "shepherd!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Cardi Claus

The elves have been busy helping Cardi Claus gather his goodies at the Lyberty house.  The package is ready and will hit the road tomorrow...A day late but not a dollar short.  
Where or where is it going....hint....its headed west of the Mississippi....but won't cross the Rocky Mountains.

Thanksgiving Contentment!

Rosie and my Dad (the I don't need a dog guy) snoozing on the couch this morning.  Ahhh those cardis have a way of winning everyone over.

Rosie's new best friend

Rosie and I drove my Dad to Atlanta for Thanksgiving at my sister's home.  Rosie and my sister's dog, Lola, became fast friends.  Lola is a rescue dog that survived a vicious pit bull attack ...yes she was used as bait.   Here's a shot of the girls recovering from their recent frappe

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Priceville

We had a nice weekend showing at Priceville and came home with 2 more points, despite being an awkward, nekked, noodle girl.  This brings Rosie to a total of 8 points.  She's going to stay home for awhile and grow up before we start looking for those elusive majors.  Thanks to Jeri Lamy for the delicious lunch on Saturday and congratulations to Jeri and Leslie on their new champion - June!

Priceville

Well we didn't get majors but not a bad entry....

Thus - 2-3-1-1
Fri - 3-4-1-2
Sat - 3-5-3-2
Sun - 4-5-2-2

Building Majors

We are trying to build majors at the Priceville, Alabama (Nov. 11th - 14th). This is Division 4 so we need 6 dogs and 9 bitches. By our count, we are close on a dog major and almost 1/2 way on bitches. Here is the Judging Panel (Judging both breed and group on the same day): Thursday: W. Willhauck, Friday: P. Willhauck, Sat: C. Herbel, Sun: P. Beisel-McIlwaine. This show closes on Wednesday so don't delay! Hope to see everybody there! Drop me a line and let me know you are coming.

Rosie Murfreesboro Win!

HERE IS THE OFFICIAL WIN PHOTO FOR THE MURFREESBORO SHOW

I just love the podium backdrop at this show!

Rosie in Nashville.

We had an interesting weekend at the Tri-Star KC show in Nashville.  Rosie showed well on Saturday until some idiot began playing with the microphone when we were in the ring for WB.  On the first go around the speaker came on and started a very loud buzzing and clicking noise. It was a total meltdown for all the girls.   Most judges just stopped, but not ours.  Rosie never recovered so no points for her.  This was the second loudspeaker incident for her, so I was very worried.  I almost pulled her on Sunday, but decided she needed to get back in the ring.   So my goal for Sunday was to make it as fun as possible.  We showed up with my pockets stuffed with 3 different kinds of bait and squeaky toys.  We went in the ring with some apprehension.  When I set Rosie on the table, I told Judge Linda Moore that she had a bad experience with the microphone the day before.  She was fantastic with Rosie and really gave her a chance to show and have fun.  Rosie was the only bred-by so, of course, she won her class.  When we went back in for WB, she did better and lo and behold, she won!  By the time BOB was over, Rosie was giving ears and wagging her tail in the ring.  That's more important to me than the point!

Recent events

The last few weeks have brought a lot of changes and disappointing news both at work and at home bringing an unusual amount of stress into my life. This has culminated in my "catching the crud". As I lay on the couch today nursing a serious sinus headache, I have been mesmerized by the coverage of the Chilean Miners rescue. What an amazing example of strength and faith these men and their families have shown. I think there is a lesson there....

DM Results

I just received the following good news for Lego -

36725 Lego - Cardigan Welsh Corgi Clear (2 copies of the normal allele)

DNA Result - Degenerative Myelopathy DNA Test
Report Date: 9/23/2010

Thank you for choosing DDC Veterinary for your DNA Testing needs. Your official

DNA report for each animal listed has already been mailed.

DNA Testing performed by: DDC Veterinary

Oops she did it again!

Rosie went WB again on Sunday. Woo Hoo!

Rosie

Rosie won bred by class and WB in Chattanooga today for 2 points!

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Good News/Bad News

When ever I am asked this question, "Do you want to the good news or the bad news first?", I always opt to take the bad news first and end on a good note....so here goes.

The Bad News:

Jill is not pregnant! Sigh !!!! - no puppies in the Lyberty House for a while.

The Good News:

We went to Atlanta last weekend and Norman took a 5 point major on Sunday! I am so thrilled for Carol and Frank Richardson as Norman is their first show dog. He now has 8 points toward his championship. Frank put the first 3 points on him and good friend and expert Handler Cheryl Mika took him in for his major win on Sunday! Rosie was entered in Atlanta as well. She did win the Bred-by class on Sunday, but no points for her. I'm ok with it as she is a goofy, hairless tube right now and she showed better each day!

Paws it forward

Look what arrived at the lyberty household earlier this week from Magic Fisher over at Daybreak. As you all can see our Magic is putting his seal of approval on the toys. In the sport of Paws it Forward we will pass our good fortune on to the first 2 bloggers to comment.

Poor Star

Star was spayed on Monday.  She came home that afternoon with a happy wagging tail.  That evening she got a little droopy as expected.  Then to our horror she stood up and left a pool of blood.  So a frantic call to the vet.  We spent the night with ice packs followed by tight pressure bandages.  We reduced the bleeding to an ooze but could not stop it.  She went back to the vet on Tuesday and came home looking like a part mummy.  The good news is the bleeding appears to have stopped and Star's her perky self again.  I'm sure she will be happy when the bandage comes off at noon.

Visitors

Star's boys, Solo and Mugen, came to visit this weekend while their family took a mini vacation. We are always glad when our puppies come back to visit, but this is a little bittersweet. Star is scheduled to be spayed on Monday. Mugen is from Star's first litter and Solo is from her second. Star free whelped two large litters (9 and 10) but we had complications with each. We decided not to put her (or us) through it again - SIGH!

Jill - Is She????

CH GRANGEFIELD TROUBADOUR - Trueman

Jill was bred to this lovely blue boy on July 5th. She started having some morning sickness this week (week 3). Looks like we will be having babies in the Lyberty house over Labor Day weekend!

Breeching a Stud Contract

A person I love and respect recommended Lego for a breeding to a non CWCCA member who had bred one time before. I made a verbal agreement with this person for a Stud fee with a reasonable deposit and the balance due when the puppies were 2 weeks of age, provided there were 2 live puppies. The semen was sent and the bitch took. The puppies were born 3 weeks ago. This "breeder" did not watch her bitch and had no idea that the first puppy was born under a bed. Later she did notice the bitch was in distress and took her to the vet. A C-section was performed. One puppy was stuck in the birth canal and died. Two more puppies survived. The puppy born under the bed was not found until she returned home from the Vet. Of course, this puppy did not survive either. This breeder has refused to pay the balance of the stud fee stating that she did not get what she wanted from this breeding and even demanded that I return the deposit. I know there are a lot of breeders who read this blog. Any suggestions on how to handle this unscrupulous person?

My Review of Bi-Folding Portable Pet Ramp in Black / Blue

Originally submitted at CSN Stores

This Bi-Folding Pet Ramp is great for assisting dogs of any size in getting in and out of their owner's automobile. Lightweight and compact, pet owners can bring this pet ramp anywhere to assist in getting their pet into their automobile safely and securely.

Features:...

Bi-Folding Portable Pet Ramp in Black / Blue

Great Product!

By Lybertygirl from Tullahoma, TN on 7/11/2010

 

5out of 5

Pros: Safe, Easy to Use, Easy to Clean, Quick Installation, Lightweight, Stores Easily

Best Uses: Small Dogs, Older Pets, Auto, Large Dogs, Indoors

Describe Yourself: Long-time Pet Owner

We were fortunate enough to win a CSN gift certifcate. We chose this ramp to assist our 11 year old German Shephard, Maggie. We have very steep steps going down to our back door. This ramp allows Maggie to navigate these steps with ease. Our Cardigan Welsh Corgis love it too! We will be ordering another ramp in the near future!

(legalese)

Were back!

We finally got our computer issues taken care and are back up and running!!!!

Our biggest announcement in Jill (CH Grangefield Lyberty Savannah) was bred to a lovely boy (CH Grangefield Troubadour - AKA Trueman). This was a surgical implant with frozen semen. If everything goes as planned we should have puppies around Labor Day! Stay tuned for pictures of the happy couple......

What I spent my CSN gift certificate on!

Ok folks our computer is still in the hospital so I'm doing this from my Droid smartphone....hope the pics come through.

I searched and searched for what to spend my $40 CSN gift certificate on (thanks to Laura M's giveaway). Then it hit me square in the face. I have been watching our 11 yr. old, arthritic, GSD negotiating our back steps with a lot of effort the last few weeks. As you can see in the pictures our backdoor has two very big steps inside. It's impossible to build a ramp because the door opens into them. CSN has a wonderful selection of pet ramps and this one fit the bill! It folds up out of the way and weighs about 11 lbs. Hard to believe it holds up to 250 lbs. Most of the Cardigans took to the ramp with glee and excitement. Maggie will use it with encouragement and lots of treats. Once we get Maggie use to it, we will lift it up to the top step. We will be buying another ramp for the three steps that go down into our den when the budget allows (or perhaps when I win another CSN gift certificate).

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Sick computer

Our computer has a virus and is receiving treatment.  Hopefully we will be up and running soon.  Thank goodness I got a Droid for Christmas.

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Surprise!

Wow, I won, I won, and I never win lotteries.  I won the CSN $40 gift certificate from Laura M's blog.  Now what to get....let's see our computer died (thank goodness for smartphones), my Garmin GPS is fading fast and my dryer is broke......I don't know if CSN carries any of these big items but I'm sure I can find something......the selection is endless.  Good thing I have a droid so I can shop via my phone.  Hmmmmm maybe I need to buy a lottery ticket.

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Award!

Penni at Eylan Cardigans gave us the Master of Karate and Friendship Award. I know I need this in my work and yes, sometimes in friendships - Thanks Penni.
We are passing this award on to:


Dawn of Days at Daybreak - she really needs it in her area!
Janet of Simple Things
Heidi of Shades of Gray
Jeri of Allegro

Another Laura with a giveaway!

Hey guys here is another CSN giveaway - CHeck it out here: http://coopercreekcardigans.blogspot.com/

Another CSN giveaway

Check out Sarah's CSN giveaway @ WWW.hawkswedishvallhund.blogspot.com

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Janet's giveaway

Hey everybody - be sure to get your entries in on Janet's giveway. It ends tonight!
http://liveswithcorgi.blogspot.com/

Solo Pics

I have neglected to post any pictures of Solo of late. As you can see, both ears are up and he looks more like his Dad everyday. Solo will be going to live in Nashville, TN with Debra of Everything Counts (http://twiggyr.blogspot.com/) . Debra and her family own Solo's 1/2 brother, Mugen. We will be keeping an eye on Solo to see how he develops.

Rosie's Official Photos

Here are the official photos from Rosie's first weekend out!

Here is Solo in his big boy pen!

The little stinker learned to climb out the whelping box last night.

One month celebration!

Solo is one month old today - Way to go little man! Solo desperately wants out of the lonely whelping box. He will be moving to a puppy pen in the den this weekend. He has finally decided that eating out of a bowl is better than the bottle. The little stinker is in constant motion so photos are a bit difficult right now.

Lots of puppy pictures

We have been incredibly busy at the Lyberty house so forgive us as we catch up on pictures of Solo. Solo is 3 1/2 weeks now and starting to look like a proper puppy! He is gaining around an ounce a day and has tripled his birth weight. Star's milk has dried up, so we continue to bottle feed him. We have introduced very mushy solid food, but he hasn't quite got the hang of eating out of a bowl. He prefers to lick the food off fingers instead - can we say Spoiled!

Since Solo is a single puppy now, we provided him with some stuffed brothers and sisters. As you can see he just loves his pink rabbit.

Shall we dance!

On a disappointing note...Lego's breeding to JoJo's daughter, Totsie, did not take. We will try again when she comes back in. I'm disappointed that the breeding did not take, but I have to say I am relieved not to be whelping another litter next week.

Norman's debut

Rosie and I caught a ride to the Newnan, GA show to watch Norman's debut.  I am happy to report that he and Frank took winners dog under Pat Hastings today.  Not bad for his debut.  Dummy me had my camera ring side but forgot to take any pics.  I'm sure Carol will be posting plenty of shots on Norm's blog.  

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Introducing Lyberty's Sole Survivor "Solo"

Here he is:

....LYBERTY'S SOLE SURVIVOR....

AKA: Solo at 2 1/2 weeks.

Solo has doubled his birth weight, opened eyes and is now wobbling around the whelping box. He is one tough puppy!

He still has time to cuddle with Mom

Good News

I took our little man to the Vet today. We had held off on doing his dewclaws until he was 2 weeks to avoid any undue stress. He got a clean bill of health and appears to have survived the nasty viral infection that took his littermates. He has almost doubled his weight and is one tough little guy. We are still bottle feeding him and letting Mom do everything else. Of course, I will feel better in another week when we start introducing him to solid food. His name will be Lyberty's Sole Surivior - "Solo".

Update

I have been afraid to post anything as it seems every time I do, things get worse. We have one surviving puppy - the tri-boy. He appears to be over the hump, although he is not gaining weight as much a I would like for him to. Keep the good thoughts and prayers coming. This has been one of the most devastating experiences of my life.
I have several wonderful puppy homes that I need to refer to someone. Two are specifically looking for blues. Please e-mail me if you know of anyone who has puppies available.

:-(

We lost one of the black boys - we now have 3 survivors. I am afraid to post that they are improving.
I so love to have puppies in the home and look forward to entering the puppy room to check on them. I can spend hours watching puppies nurse and love to watch them open their eyes and discover the world around them. I now dread walking in to the puppy room, afraid of what I might find.

Fab Four

The fab four made it another 24 hours, keep your fingers crossed for their continue improvement!

Sad news - sigh

It's March 21st, the 2nd day of spring, and it's snowing in Tennessee. How appropriate for yet another sad day at the Lyberty house. We lost two more puppies yesterday and have another one failing. We are powerless to stop this carnage and its breaking our hearts. The puppies will be fine one minute. then they suddenly start getting blue and die within 24 hours, despite our best efforts to save them. We have four remaining pups for now, one blue girl (a mismark), a black girl and two black boys left.
I have wanted to do this breeding almost from the day Star was born and had such high hopes for the outcome. We will not breed Star again.

Puppy picture

The final six have either gained weight or stayed the same. Star's milk appears to be coming in better and we continue to supplement with bottle feeding. All pups are very active and very loud when hungry. We are cautiously optimistic. We have 3 blue girls, 1 brindle pointed tri girl and 2 black boys (1 boy is a brindle pointed tri - Lego's mini-me).

And then there were six

Sad news -  We lost our 2 little blue boys.  One late last night and the other on the way home from the vet this morning.  The remaining 6 are doing better but we are supplementing them with the bottle.  I am heart sick and very sleep deprived.

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There here

Star whelped 10 babies between 8:35 & 1:05  - 5 of each sex.  We lost girl #7 & boy #10 both blues.  We have 8 survivors - 3 blue girls, 1 black girl, 2 blue boys, 2 black boys (one is a brindle pointed tri - a Lego mini me).  Mom & babies are resting comfortably

Laura Prosser

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Puppy Watch

Well, the sun set hours ago and still no puppies. Star is definitely in pre-labor so it's going to be a long night.

Star

Star's temperature dropped two degrees this morning. She is restlessly nesting, shivering and panting between taking short naps. Looks as if the babies are getting ready to make their entrance. Wouldn't it be nice if they decided to make a day time arrival!

Update

Jill is improving, apparently she just needed another boost of antibiotics to get her over the hump. We are still watching her closely and monitoring what she eat.
=
Star is very uncomfortable but not showing any signs of whelping yet. Bless her heart - I know she will be glad to get those puppies out of her so she can take a deep breath again.

Jill

Jill has taken a turn for the worse. She ate good yesterday morning and was barking at me to get the food to her as normal. Then last night she ate a little chicken and rice, but wasn't as spunky. This morning she refused to eat and obviously did not feel good. While she is no where near as sick as she was, we are concerned. A quick call to the Vet resulted in a steroid shot and more antibiotics. Time will tell is this helps. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.
Star is still waddling her enormous tummy around the house and showing no signs of whelping. Maybe she is holding them in until Jill feels better.

And the puppy count is.....

Star and I are just back from the vet where she weighed in at a whopping 44.2 lbs. The X-ray clearly shows 9 spines with heads and a 10th spine snaking up under her ribcage. So my Vet said "nine for sure, ten probable - wouldn't be surprised if there was an 11th in there too". OMG! She has some milk, but not a whole lot.. So...we are in serious puppy watch till they arrived. Send your good vibes, thoughts and prayer for an easy whelp and nice healthy (hopefully blue) puppies!

Good News!

Thank you all for your good thoughts and prayers. The Good news is Jill is much improved and eating! The vet said she sat up in her crate about 3 pm and started barking. She was HUNGRY! Guess the IV antibiotics worked! She will be on chicken and rice for the next few days and watched carefully but we seemed to be on the mend.

Need your healing thoughts

On Friday night our sweet Jill started throwing up. She has a slighty touchy stomach, so we were not to concerned. On Saturday she ate her breakfast as normal. She threw that up an hour later. She was still drinking water and going potty, so we chalked it up to her eating some kind of varmit in the yard. Sunday was much the same. Then she stopped eating all together. She was still drinking water so I prepared some chicken and rice for her evening meal. She refused to eat. She stopped drinking water on Monday night. So off to the Vet early Tuesday. Jill stayed at the vet all day for IV fluids, bloodwork, X-rays, etc. Her bloodwork was perfect and there was no visable obstruction on her X-rays. The Vet left her IV port in and sent her home with us last night. She pooped and peed last night and this morning, but still refused to eat or drink anything. I gave her meds and she stated vomiting again. So, off to the Vet again this morning for more X-rays and IV fluids. The X-rays are still clear. She will come home tonight, and if nothing changes - the vet will do exploratory surgery tomorrow morning to rule out a hidden obstruction. Please send out your healing thoughts for our sweet girl and keep your fingers crossed that we will not have to do surgery. All this on top of Star's impending whelp next week - can it get any more stressful in my house!

New cardi blogger

I just wanted to introduce everyone to our newest puppy blog. Debra and her husband have our Memphis Belle - now called Lucy. Debra is a Special Ed teacher in Michigan and already had an established blog. Something tells me that we will be reading about Lucy's many exploits here: http://catsinmywool.blogspot.com/

Day 53 - can we get any bigger

OMG!

Star is 10 days away & about to pop - poor thing is soooo uncomfortable!

About to burst

Star is two weeks from her due date and trying to get comfortable any way she can.

Day 44

Here is poor Star - This is day 44 from her last breeding - OMG she is about to pop - will she make it another 2 1/2 - 3 weeks?

Star

Star and I are just back from the Vet. She weighs in at a whopping 41 pounds with 3 weeks to go. Bless her heart, she is huge and could gain another 5-6 lbs. Poor baby has some uncomfortable days ahead. Star presented us with 9 puppies last litter, so I thinking 8-10 puppies this time. Star free whelped all her puppies (one every 15-20 minutes). The next morning we started losing puppies. She had contracted an e-coli infection in her uterus that infected the pups as they were born. We lost three right away, then another.... and another....until only 4 survived - thanks to a surrogate mom (a pointer!). So I am a little nervous about this litter - hence the Vet visit. Star will begin a regimen of antibiotics and metronidazole next week and stay on this course till the puppies arrive. We go back in two weeks for x-rays to count babies. I will try to get some pictures of her up soon.

Puppy Bump(s)

While Janet and I were off having fun in NYC I got a text from my husband telling me he thought Star was pregnant. These photos were taken this morning - I do believe he is right! Star/Lego puppies should arrive around March 20th!