A lot of people don't know this about me, but I was once a serious horse person. I rode horses for most of my life. In high school I was a hard working competitor. I loved to ride and train my horse as well as others. I managed to hang on to the horse world
My dogs have a history of surprising me. Sometimes it is by doing something to prove they are not perfect. The couch in my den has examples of that. My youngest, Bangle, has had more access to that piece of furniture without supervision than she should have. The chewed cushions are proof of that.
It’s been an awesome start to the new show season with my sweet natural mink mackerel tabby and white girl. Her very first show for the season was in Maryland. She earned finals under all eight judges at the show. I didn’t bother to look at the final results of the show until tonight,
Why is routine blood work important? There is a reason most veterinarians recommend routine blood work. I do it all the time, especially in my older patients. The advantage of doing this was evident only 10 days ago on my own cat. CC, a beautiful three year old calico Selkirk , was due for her
RagaMuffin iCandy Pixi Stix earned her CFA grand championship last weekend at only eight months of age. She started in kitten class (four up to eight months) in December, going to her first show at four and a half months. She was shown sparingly through the winter. While some judges noticed her at the very
My oldest dog Twinkle is fifteen years old today. That’s really old for a Labrador Retriever. She has certainly aged in the last year. It happens. There is no cure for old age. My job is to keep her as comfortable as possible with pain control (you know, those aches and pains that come with
Jigsaw came from a rescue in Philadelphia. Her sister Puzzles, a long haired calico, caught my eye on Petfinder. I drove down to adopt Puzzles and ended up bringing two kittens home as I just couldn’t bring myself to leave the little short haired tortoise sister behind. On the way home, I was in a
Pretty much every week I go to visit a friend of mine in a nursing home. For the sake of this blog, I’ll call her Mary. I’ve known her a long time and am well aware of the love she has for animals. Only 10 months ago, after an acute illness, Mary found herself living
This weekend I had the privilege of judging a match show for the Keystone Labrador Retriever Club. It’s the second time I have done this. It’s my Lab club, many of the exhibitors are friends of mine, but there are also people I do not know; I honestly wanted to do the best job I
Every year I fire up the oven, get out the cookie sheets and proceed with holiday baking. I know a lot of people that do the same thing. Mine is a bit different though. Instead of the usual snickerdoodles, chocolate chip, etc., I bake liver brownies. Yes, liver brownies. If you Google liver brownies, you
This week was my eight year old rescue cat Puzzles’ turn for her checkup. Even though I see my cats every day, they get their formal checkups every year. I walk the talk, as they say. I did not expect Puzzles to have any issues. But, you never know. Her examination revealed a small weight
It was time to get back to the cat show game after more than 8 months of a break. Of course, participating in a show requires that I have a cat to show. As I never do anything half way, I have TWO RagaMuffin kittens to show! Last weekend was the Santa Paws show, sponsored
Last weekend I attended a two day seminar sponsored by the Lehigh Valley Kennel Club. The presenter was world famous canine structure expert Pat Hastings. I’ve been to a number of her seminars in the past. This time was the third time I have served as part of the seminar commenting on veterinary issues caused
My nineteen month old Labrador has been a stellar retriever since birth. Bling has an intense way of watching for the throw and then a major drive to get to the object and bring it back to me. With training, she has developed patience to wait until I tell her to "fetch"; once said, she
Some say I am a crazy cat lady. They might be right. Prior to my involvement in purebred cats, I had and still have a number of rescue cats. Years ago, I would let my cats be indoor/outdoor cats. I live in a rural area and I had a number of cats disappear,
Recently, I got an unusual email with the subject line “Lab purchased from you?” It was from a woman named Maryann in New Jersey explaining that she had tracked me down as the possible breeder of a dog whose original owner had died and the current owner was critically ill. When she went on to
It’s always hard. Really hard. And sometimes it is harder than that. It is difficult to explain to those who do not have pets what a struggle it is when a beloved animal “goes over the rainbow bridge.” A couple of days ago, I lost my dog Visa. Three months ago, I lost my cat
BW RW GC iCandy Fudge Ripple Last weekend I attended the North Atlantic Region Cat Fanciers Association awards banquet. It is a time when the cat show people come together and celebrate the accomplishments of their cats in the previous season. It’s also spending a nice evening with friends. This year, I sat with
I blogged about Orchid not all that long ago. She earned her AKC championship as well as completed another performance title. She passed her health clearances for hip, elbow, heart and eyes and her genetic testing was done. So, Orchid was bred for a litter of chocolate babies to a champion in Virginia. My baby
Photo by RoxAnne Franklin All things come to an end. I’ve been showing dogs in conformation for over twenty years. I have made a lot of friends, learned a lot, and had some good times. I enjoyed taking my dogs in the ring. I took pride in their training as well as their